Cut the Junk - Effective Cut Out Image Techniques for Product Packs

Freelance photographers or ad agencies have been doing creative pack shots of products for a long time now. With the emergence of graphics it has become convenient for an agency to apply some creative impressions to put the spotlight on the product. Crisp images elicit positive reactions even from buyers and it is critical online tool for e-commerce. The cut out image techniques are possible with clipping path. And with a couple of twists and turns, the job can be done. In the first place why do some pack shots appear to have junk around or look flawed? The main reasons are under exposure, bad lighting, product not being highlighted well, background is not appealing and a host of other causes. When such excuses give the products a bad name, they (images) can be bought to the editing table. Photoshop has several tools that aid the designers to hide the flaws, eliminate them, or even make drastic changes to improve the image quality. The editing process has become more affordable as offshore companies are now giving good services with less time consumption. These services are a boon for small firms, which do not have big budgets for visuals or advertising. They depend on visuals that can help them get business via Internet. They have been able to reduce the catalogue printing costs with this simple solution. Investing in product packs, which can have different backgrounds, is possible digitally. With offshore firms giving low cost and a professional way out, the investment is ideal and a wise decision. The benefits are immense too.

The actual process begins with a clipping path being created for the image. A vector path is created to cut out the junk. The cut out is done in one layer. This isolation helps in cleaning the image easily. Multiple backgrounds can be created to see which fits the image the best. The pen tool is the main technique that is used for cut out image. An experienced designer is comfortable with the use of the pen tool. It gives many options to a designer. He can tweak a Bezier point, remove sharp edges, and use curves more effectively. In fact there are several short cuts also that can be used with this versatile tool. It is like a Swiss army knife, sharp and efficient to do great business. This is a better way to get cut out image than the magic wand. It can help to draw shapes of all kinds. It also removes the background. With the lasso tool exactness can be achieved.

Designers try to experiment with many techniques, which can make the product look appealing on the web and also in print. They can remove the junk no matter what kind of pictures the photographer may take. They are able to bring a professional touch at affordable costs. Offshore companies can be deployed for this online. Outsourcing the job has become a common trend. A free sample also can be provided to the client to judge the difference between the 'before' and 'after' look of the product pack.

Atiqur Sumon
Chief Executive, DTP & SEO Expert at Outsource Experts Ltd.
Cut Out Images | Photoshop Clipping Paths

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Photography Tips - Basic Photography Techniques You Should Know

Digital photography is undoubtedly one of the most popular hobbies of today. You can easily capture precious moments with a digital camera and see the results in a matter of seconds. It can't be easier than that! Even so, if you want to take good pictures, you will need to know some basic photography techniques. You need to learn more about them to get satisfying results. Here are several photography tips that you need to know:

1. Before you get started, you should familiarize yourself with all the features on your digital camera. You need to know what they are for, how they work, and how to operate them. This is to make sure that you can maximize the use of your camera. There are some adjustments that you should make in order to capture a good picture. Thus, you should read your camera's manual book thoroughly.

2. Higher resolution does not necessarily mean better. Image resolution determines how much detail or the number of pixels an image can contain. Digital cameras with higher resolutions can be very expensive, and you do not really need them if you are not going to print your images at large sizes. A 13 megapixel camera should be good enough for beginner photographers.

3. You need to know a thing or two about lighting. Many beginner photographers often find their photographs are either over exposed (too bright) or under exposed (too dark). The only way to avoid it is to understand the concept of lighting. The lighting requirements for indoor and outdoor photography are of course different. Thus, you will need to spend some time to learn about them either from photography books or from professional photographers. There are also some valuable photograph tips that you can find online. You just need to explore more and almost all the knowledge about photography is there.

4. Learn how to manipulate the shutter speed. When taking a photograph of a fast-moving object, such as a Formula 1 car, you need to use short shutter speeds. That way you won't miss any important moments that you want to capture on your camera. Longer shutter speeds can create a dramatic effect on the appearance of moving objects such as a waterfall.

5. Last but not least, you should know how to avoid blurry pictures. Adjust your camera settings so that you will get sharp and clear pictures. You need to take into account the shutter speed and the aperture width that you use. You can also mount your camera on a tripod to prevent camera shakes.

Many people nowadays have digital cameras, but most of them do not know the proper photography techniques for taking good photographs. If you are a beginner, you can try the above techniques. For more photography tips, visit out website.

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Street Focusing Techniques I

Hyper focal distance is a popular technique used mostly with rangefinder cameras.  If you are using a Leica or Contax manual focus rangefinder - you'll find the lenses marked and easy to read the hyper focal distance.

Look at the lens and see foot and meter distance measurements for a given F-Stop.  Since most street photography is done between 7 and 15 feet you can easily set the lens so that everything that falls within this distance will be in focus for a given f-stop.  It's not what I'd call exact focus - but it's close enough so that focus will seem fine.  After that you can walk around and know that if your subject is within your hyper focal distance you'll be fine.  Obviously, you need to be able to judge distances, and it will not be possible if you are shooting "wide open" at say f1.4.  There just isn't enough depth of field (DOF).

Modern SLR lenses don't usually show the hyper focal distance (because they're auto-focus).  I like to have the foreground and/or background out-of-focus.  In other words, even when I was shooting with a Leica M, I would tend to pre-focus and use a lower f-stop.  In fact, I brought neutral density filters with me (since I usually shot a fast film) so that I could shoot at a wider, more-open f-stop if I wanted to.

Pre-focusing, whether with a manual focus camera or an auto focus camera involves anticipation.  You have decided what your shot is going to be and find an object that is at an equivalent distance to focus on.  With a manual camera, once you've pre-focused the lens, just leave it as is, and point it at your subject and take the shot.

With an auto focus camera, you need to know how to "lock focus."  On the Canon line of digital cameras (both digital and film) you can move focus lock to a button on the back of the camera and keep your thumb on it to lock focus - or even flip off the auto-focus once you know the general area you are aiming for.  This is found in Custom Function 4.

You can also just work with the built in focus.  I use the center spot only.  I don't want the camera to make the decision as to what is going to be in focus.  Though the Canon's also have an interesting Depth of Field setting that will attempt to emulate hyper focus.  I haven't used that much.

If all you were interested in shooting was street stuff, then I'd have to give the rangefinder a strong edge.  If you are (like me) a generalist, you could have two cameras.  One for your scenic work and another for street work, but I have a problem with that - I like to stick to one camera at a time and let it become a part of me.  I don't want to have to think about what switch to hit or where such-and-such is buried in the menus.  I set the camera up once, and that's usually it.

There are other techniques for street focusing that can be used in combination with these focus techniques.  One of these I'd call - the street ballet.

For example: you are walking down the street and about 20 feet away you see someone approaching that you want to photograph.  Just point the camera at a spot on the sidewalk where you are planning to photograph them and lock focus.  Then turn around with your back to the subject.  If you hold the dslr in the right position you can see the reflection of your subject approaching.  You still have focus lock on.  As they are approaching the spot you locked focus on - turn slowly with the camera already to your eye - as if you are just looking through the camera at just about anything and if your timing is good you can take your shot and keep moving so that they are puzzled by what you are doing.

Takes some practice, but works well.  It's sort of a street ballet.

Remember, as I've said before, you never lower the camera from your eye after taking your shot because this is a dead giveaway.

Yes - it's sneaky - but if you are attempting to photograph people at a close distance without alerting them - this is a useful technique.

Another caveat: the shot from the hip has been around forever.  And there are times and places when you may need to do this.  But as a general rule, I'm in favor of looking through the viewfinder.  Especially when you are starting out.  You should get used to various techniques that allow you to take a quick shot with time to frame.

EXERCISE: Find a busy corner where you can practice this technique.  You don't need to stand in the same spot but can move around but try it about ten times to see if you can master it.  It's most useful on a deserted street where there's only one person walking towards you.  So once you think you've got it down - try it on a quiet street.

http://www.beckermanphoto.com/ (The black and white photography store)

http://dbeckerman.wordpress.com/ (My main photography blog)

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