Traditionally a photographer could control the outcome of his photos in the dark room by using a variety of films, chemicals, papers and processes. Now all of this can be done on the computer or in some cases on the digital camera all with photo editing programs.
The advantages of editing digital photos is that costs are much lower, you can do it anywhere you have access to a computer and an editing program, and there it takes less time. You can also easily undo any edits you make. Photo editing software can be used to improve an image by getting rid or flaws, it can crop photos and easily change the color, or making it look completely different.
There is one disadvantage to digital photos, and that is that they can easily lost on your computer, or you can’t find the one you are looking for because they all have irrelevant names. This creates a need for a good database or system to save and store digital pictures. There are many software programs that will help you organize your photos. These programs can:
· Acquire images from the camera
· View the images on the system
· Catalog the images, usually using thumbnails
· Edit the images
· Post thumbnails of the images on the Web
An active digital photographer may also want to consider having a system for storing photos on CD’s or DVD’s. If this is the case you will want to create a database that lists the photos and which CD or DVD they can be found on.
Improving Photos
All photo editing software offers a feature called Unsharp Masking, which sharpens your image. This feature reduces blur and can greatly improve a photo. This feature is so commonly used that many scanners, printers and cameras offer it. Resizing an image allows you increase or decrease the pixels used in a photo. This can have an effect on the quality of the photo. Cropping an image is also another way to improve photos and is a standard feature of even the most basic photo editing software. Did you capture something in the background you rather not have in the photo? Don’t worry crop it out. Brightness and contrast are also another standard feature for editing photos. This is great for photos that you really love but are too dark or light. You can also change the color balance in your photo to make the more true to life, or to make it look unreal. Saturation is the intensity of a certain color and is often close to the color balance.
Manipulating Photos
Filters are the easiest way to manipulate digital photos. There are numerous effects that can be achieved with filters, everything from making a photo look like a painting to embossing and adding textures. Most software programs come with at least a few filters, and many offer upgrades where you can add more. Another way to manipulate photos is by making a composite photo. This is done by combining the images of two or more photos. Digital photography makes this very simple.
Chris Simons is a prolific freelance writer. You are welcomed to visit http://digital-cameras.theconsumerguide.net, for more information on Digital Cameras.
Written By: Chris Simons
