September 30, 2008

Avatar

I'm sure you've all heard of the term "avatar" before, right? I mean, it is a pretty common word on the Web today, but even then, you may have heard of it and propecia trials still not know what it means or what all it entails. Now, we here at WorldStart have touched on avatars a little in the past, but after looking through our archives, I didn't feel like we really gave a good definition of it. So, here you go!

An avatar is basically just an icon that helps represent you on the Internet. They are mostly used on Web site forums, game programs and on some other online communities, like chat rooms. A lot of people use a picture of themselves for their avatar, while others just use a favorite picture of something they like. For example, right now, my avatar on WorldStart's message board is a beautiful yellow flower. I chose that, because I'm tired of the winter season and I'm in the mood for some warmer weather!

Most Web sites that allow you to have an avatar will have instructions on how to get yours posted. They will probably have certain guidelines (sizes, content, etc.) that you will have to follow, but they're generally easy to create. For instance, WorldStart's maximum size allowed is 100×100 pixels or 19.5 KB (whichever is smaller). So, now that you know exactly what an avatar is, you can get started on creating your own.

Permalink • Print • Comment

August 30, 2008

Photoshop Lady

Photoshop can be tricky to learn at first. There's just so much you can do with it. So, of course, the Internet is swarming with tutorials. But now, you can look in one place for everything you need. The aim of Photoshop Lady is to collect all of the best free tutorials on the Web and store them in one place for easy access!

In order to save your favorite tutorials, you’re propecia on nhs going to need to register. Never fear! Registration is easy. Just type in a username, provide a working e-mail address and a password will be mailed to you. (You can change the password by clicking on the Change Password button and typing in what you'd like it to be).

On the left side of the page, you’ll find the site menu. The categories you have to select tutorials from are: Most Viewed, Highest Rated, 3D Effect, Abstract Effect, Drawing Effect, Photo Effect, Text Effect, Textures and Patterns and User Interface Design. That covers just about everything you can do with Photoshop!

With new tutorials added everyday, you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed. You can do that by clicking on the word "bubble" by the little postman at the top of the page.

Below that, you'll find the featured tutorials of the day. At the bottom of the page, you can use the numbers to navigate back through past tutorials.

This is an excellent Photoshop resource! If you use Photoshop, I suggest bookmarking this page so that it's never more than one click away. Check it out today!

www.photoshoplady.com

Permalink • Print • Comment

Choosing the Right ISO

An ISO can make or break a picture. Changing the ISO can change the sensitivity of the image sensor. To put it simply, setting a higher ISO raises the shutter speed and reduces the aperture value to let less light hit the sensor. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive the sensor is to light. Similarly, the higher the number, the more sensitive it becomes. That comes in handy when shooting in variable lighting conditions. It's particularly beneficial when the light is low, but you don’t want to spoil the mood of the picture by using a flash. That's an example of when you can increase the ISO and compensate for low light. The only problem with that is there would be more "noise" or "grain" in your shots. Yes, the higher the ISO, the grainier your picture will be. Therefore, the best rule to live by is to choose the lowest ISO possible for smooth shots.

So, without further ado, here are a few guidelines you can follow to choose the right ISO for your photos:

1.) When you're using a tripod, use a slower shutter speed. That will allow you to lower your ISO.

2.) If you don’t need a large depth of field, increase your aperture and allow more light into the camera. You'll then be able to lower your ISO.

3.) Using a flash will help you decrease your ISO setting as well.

4.) Bump up the ISO if you're into abstract photography and you need a grainy look to give your pictures mood and a certain character.

5.) If you're not planning to blow up the picture, you don’t have to worry about graininess. You can increase the ISO as much as you want.

6.) You can change the ISO only if you're shooting in manual or semi-manual mode. If you have a camera with preset modes or you're opting for the auto mode, you don’t have to bother with changing the ISO, because the camera picks the lowest ISO for you at that particular setting.

7.) In cases where your picture conveys the right mood, but has a lot more noise, you can salvage that photo by playing around with a free tool called ND Noise. Other tools can be found by doing a Google search for "Noise Reduction Software."

8.) If you're photographing fireworks, shoot them at an ISO of 3200.

9.) Many times, you'll end up changing the ISO for one photo shoot and you won’t remember to change it back to its default position later. Therefore, it's best to write yourself a note and put it just below the viewfinder so that you see it every time you're doing a shoot. Another way is to try and shoot in manual all the time. That way, you're more likely to check the ISO when you're adjusting the aperture and shutter speed.

10.) One rule of thumb to go by is to always set the ISO to the lowest number possible. Start with ISO 80 for bright conditions and 100 or 200 for darker conditions. You can then increase it, if necessary. Photographers rarely shoot at ISO 400 and above for fear of more noise. However, if you're dealing with tricky light conditions, select the aperture priority mode and adjust the aperture and ISO accordingly.

11.) Another handy rule is to try different ISO settings all the time when you take pictures. Try several different shots with different ISOs so that you can choose the propecia normal dosage best of the bunch. With practice, you'll get better at finding the best ISO for the light conditions you have to work with.

12.) Graininess becomes a lot more visible when you add contrast in post-production. A photo that looks fine before editing can look awful once you’ve given it more life. That's just another example of when noise reduction software comes in handy.

Just some thoughts to keep in mind. Happy shooting!

Permalink • Print • Comment

August 20, 2008

Climbing With Your Photos

There are different ways to do climbing photography, depending on where you are and what you want to show. Let's take mountain climbing for example. Basically, you take pictures while you're climbing. If you only take a close up of your partner, it's not that interesting, so you need to include some background to show how high up you are, what kind of climbing you're doing and so on. Climbing photography is actually closer to scenic photography, except you want to convey that you're living an adventure and not just taking a picture of some mountain from the roadside.

There are three basic kinds of pictures that can come from a climbing expedition: climber close up, pure landscape and climber(s) included in the scenery. It's quite important to vary those shots, especially if you're showing a slideshow of your trip. No one wants to see 100 pictures of mountains in a row, even if they are all perfect!

On the other hand, take rock climbing photography. You want to show the difficulty, the movement and the strength of the climber, but you're not particularly interested in the rock itself. For that, you need to act more like a real photographer. You have a subject and the need to show it in a certain way. You need to be a better photographer by making sure the light is right (climbers always have their face in the dark against the rock), finding the proper angle, managing facial expressions, etc.

The Right Time

Mostly, when in the mountains, the trade secret for the best landscapes is to take your pictures at the right time. For example, around sunset or sunrise, you have a 10 minute window when the light is perfect.

Avoid propecia low price taking pictures in the middle of the day, unless the light of the sun is parallel to a cliff, thus casting long shadows off tiny outcrops and highlighting details. Watch for cloud movements as well. Those are just a few suggestions you can follow when taking climbing photos. Happy shooting!

Permalink • Print • Comment

August 12, 2008

Dusting Off Your Photos

Before

After

It's sometimes normal to end up with bad spots on your photos because of dust that collected on your camera’s sensor. Luckily, you can use Photoshop Lightroom to remove those dust spots and make your photos look like new. It's very quick and easy, so let's get right to it! Just follow the tips below to clean up your photos:

1.) First, you need to pick your picture. The worse the picture is, the better the procedure will go.

2.) Open Photoshop Lightroom and highlight Develop Module. Use the Remove Spots tool right below your photograph and select Heal. Once that tool is activated, point it to the dust spot on your picture and left click. Photoshop Lightroom will then make that the default "heal spot" location that you can apply to any photo that has a dust spot in the same place. If you want to tweak the location a bit, you can drag the circle around until you find the best healing spot. You can then repeat the same procedure for any other dust spots visible on your images.

3.) Once all the spots have been selected and healed, you’re ready to apply the changes to any other photos you have. Even while selecting the edited image, you can highlight the other images you want to correct with the slider bar at the bottom. While holding down the Ctrl key, you can select individual images. Once you’ve selected all the images you want to clean up, you can click on Develop and then Sync Settings.

4.) Go to the Synchronize Settings screen and check the box that says Dust Removal. Then click on Synchronize. Depending on the number of images, propecia discount dust spots and the speed of your computer, Photoshop Lightroom will take anywhere between a few minutes to an hour to erase all the marks.

5.) Even though the automatic healing spot is located in every picture, you have room to change the location for each individual image. All you need to do is select the Remove Spots tool as you click through every image. Once you do that, you're given the option of moving the heal location at will. That means, you don’t need to create a new healing spot. You only need to adjust its location for every individual image. Happy dusting!

Permalink • Print • Comment
« Previous PageNext Page »
Made with WordPress and the Semiologic theme and CMS • Sky Gold skin by Denis de Bernardy