Camera Distortion Fixes - Part 5

This is a picture of a temple in Taiwan. I edited this image first in Picasa beginning with straightening it as described in this previous blog. The next step was to adjust the contrast and brightness, then the color balance, and finally the problem with the blown-out sky. I will, in future blogs, explain how to do all of the above edits using Photoshop Elements 5 instead of Picasa. A final edit was necessary in order to take care of the distortion. For that purpose it was necessary to use Photoshop Elements.

BEFORE:


The type of distortion you see above is quite common and is seen most frequently with photographs of buildings. When you take a picture of a building, the camera lens is closer to the bottom of the image than to the top of it. This distance difference causes the photo to appear to be leaning away from you and the image narrows as you look at it from bottom to top. It is especially obvious if you look at the columns at the left and right sides of the temple. They are all leaning into the center (Keystoning).







STILL BEFORE:

















VIDEO TUTORIAL:


AFTER:

Camera Distortion Fixes - Part 3

This blog is about fixing pictures that are distorted with something called Pincushion Distortion. The fix is similar to the edit described in my last blog - that was about Barrel Distortion.

BEFORE:


















VIDEO TUTORIAL:


AFTER:

Camera Distortion Fixes - Part 2

This tutorial is about fixing something called Barrel Distortion. It is a relatively simple edit in Photoshop Elements.

BEFORE:























VIDEO TUTORIAL:



AFTER:

Camera Distortion Fixes - Part 1A

In my last blog I went over a method of straightening some objects that were leaning in opposite directions --- specifically a number of skyscrapers that were not "standing tall." The procedure that I described included a number of keyboard shortcuts that I encourage you to use in the future. However, I want to point out an area where I may have mislead you. Often when you make adjustments of this type you uncover some areas of transparency (denoted by a gray and white checkerboard look.) I showed you one method of eliminating the transparent areas. In this video tutorial you will see another and possibly better method of taking care of any transparencies.

Camera Distortion Fixes - Part 1

Camera lenses are responsible for a number of distortions in your photos. This blog is about fixing a type of distortion called "Keystoning." The BEFORE: picture below is a classical example of Keystoning. Notice how most of the buildings are leaning either to the right or to the left. As I mentioned before, using the Straighten Tool in Picasa will not correct problems of this type. You need a more sophisticated photo editor, such as Photoshop Elements. I will be using Version 5 for this and upcoming blogs.

I have to repeat at this point that Photoshop is the Cadillac of photo editors. It is truly a fabulous tool for enhancing images. Any photo edit that I have described so far can certainly also be done using Photoshop. The point being that 90% of problems with photos can be quickly taken care of by using Picasa's editing tools. Those of you who have been using Photoshop for some time know its power. The downside is that it takes a while to load an image into Photoshop and then once you have your hands on the image you find yourself tweaking away using all of the editor's bells and whistles. And, when you have several hundred vacation pictures to go through, you are looking at weeks of work.

When you install Picasa on your computer, the program automatically scans your hard drive and generates a copy of every image and stores these copies in the Picasa Library. If you edit an image inside of Picasa you are only working on a copy of the original. To prove this to yourself, right-click on that image, and in the popup menu left-click on "Locate on disk." In this way you can see the edited version inside of Picasa and the original version safe and sound on your computer's hard drive.

To open an image in the Photoshop editor, right-click on an image in the Picasa Library, and on the pop up menu left-click on "Open with" and finally, on the new popup menu, left-click on the Photoshop software that you are using. You will be working on the original image while in Photoshop. To ensure that you keep the original picture untouched, click on "File" and then on "Duplicate" in the drop-down menu. In the pop up dialog box, type in a short meaningful name for your image. The title of your photo at the very top of the screen will change to reflect what you have chosen for the image name. I will demonstrate this in the following video.

By the way, I didn't finish this video tutorial by sharpening the photo. This photo had already been sharpened once and you should only sharpen once. If I had been editing this photo from the start, I would have done the sharpening at the end as I always do.

There is a bonus picture at the bottom for additional practice. It would be a good idea to view this video more than once and to practice on both photographs. The keyboard shortcuts explained in this tutorial will come in handy in later blogs. Repetition is the key so practice, practice, etc.

BEFORE:

















VIDEO TUTORIAL:


AFTER:
















PRACTICE IMAGE:

Using Picasa's Photo Filters - Part 2

In this blog I will cover two other photo filters included in the "Effects" section found in Picasa's edit mode:

• Soft Focus
• Focal B&W

These two filters have one thing in common in that they allow you to highlight the most important part of your photograph. This is an artistic technique used by many photographers to direct the viewer's focus on the central object in the picture. The snapshot below is of a soldier taking his break at the Great Wall of China.

BEFORE:























VIDEO TUTORIAL:


AFTER:
SOFT FOCUS:























AFTER:
FOCAL B&W:

Using Picasa's Photo Filters - Part I

We haven't spent much time talking about Picasa's collections of filters found in the "Effects" section of the edit interface. The exception has been the Sharpen, Saturation, Warmify, and Graduated Tint filters. Of course, you should always finish off any editing session of a photo with a Sharpen adjustment.

I would like to discuss the B&W, Sepia, and Warmify filters. I lump them together for the reason that simply clicking on one of these filters does not necessarily produce the best result possible.

BEFORE:

















VIDEO TUTORIAL:


AFTER:
BLACK & WHITE:

















SEPIA:

















WARMIFY:

Revisiting Low Contrast Fixes Using Picasa

Earlier, I presented a tutorial on fixing dull, low contrast pictures - see "Your First Edit With Picasa 3." In this blog I am going to go over a more controlled method for photos having the above-mentioned problem. By the way, this picture was taken from the observation floor of the world's tallest, completed, building in Shanghai, China. There are two taller buildings, that are uncompleted, as of yet - one in Taipei (Taiwan) and the other in Dubai.

NOTE:
One thing I forgot to mention is that if you left-click one time on any picture in my blogs, you will see a blown up view of same. Please take the time to click on the AFTER: image below to see incredible detail. You will see a close up of our cruise ship located two miles away. You will see the buses and cars at the foot of the buildings, etc. When you are through looking around, simply click on the back button "<" in your browser to return here. I recommend your looking at the enlarged version of several of the photos in my blog.

BEFORE:

















VIDEO TUTORIAL:


AFTER:

Fixing the Red-Eye Effect

Sometimes when taking a picture, the result is a photo with the subject having what is known as the red-eye effect. This is caused by taking a flash picture while standing close to the subject. It is an easy fix with Picasa 3. As always, you can download the "BEFORE:" picture for editing.

BEFORE:





















VIDEO TUTORIAL:


AFTER:

Using the Retouch Tool for Fixing Blemishes

The new "Retouch" tool found in the "Basic Fixes" section in edit mode in Picasa 3 is very useful for removing small blemishes from your photos. When it comes to larger defects, Photoshop Elements is the way to go. I will have a later blog on using Elements for fixing unsightly areas.

BEFORE:























VIDEO TUTORIAL:


AFTER: