Photography Studio
Click to return to Archives
 |
 |
Various Photography Tutorials
Sarah and Crog82
1. Resizing in Irfanview by crog82
2. Instructions for putting pictures into your Album
3. Buying a Digital Camera
4. Shooting Landscapes by crog82
5. Replacing skies by crog82
6 Uploading pictures to Exhibitions
7 Batch changing jpgs
to tifs in Irfanview
Instructions for resizing Photos in Irfanview for posting in Forums and Albums
ALWAYS MAKE A COPY OR DUPLICATE OF YOUR PHOTO AND WORK ON THAT.
MAXIMUM SIZE FOR FORUMS IS 50Kb , 600 pixels. MAXIMUM SIZE FOR ALBUMS IS 150Kb, WIDTH 650 pixels, HEIGHT 600 pixels. It is recommended that you always use LESS than the absolute maximum size. > means left click.
FOR POSTING IN FORUMS:-
Open Irfanview then >file >open
then double click on chosen photo, if it opens too large on your screen
then > the minus magnifier until it is about 7" x 5" , > on the
Image heading, then on Resize/Resample in the drop down menu.
In the next box type in 580 for the longest side of your pic, the other
side will self adjust.
In the Dpi box type in 72, and in Units put a dot in Pixels radio button.
At bottom left put tick in Preserve aspect ratio.
On
righthand side leave all radio buttons unticked except for Resample
(better quality), Resample filter will show Lanczos filter (slowest). >
OK then > File > Save as Jpg-Jpeg file.
Next >File then on dropdown list >
Save as then set the slide no higher than 80.
Put tick in top little
square box entitled Save as progressive JPG, leave all other boxes empty.
Type file name then select JPG-JPEG files,
> Save....it is important that you > save to close the file.
Then reopen in Irfanview to check
on new , smaller file size.
To
resize for posting in the albums just follow the above routine using the
album sizes posted above
Instructions for putting Pictures into your Album
1.Make sure that you are logged in to
IDF50.
2.Click on Album near top of page.
3.Click on Personal Gallery
On the left and top of the page that has now opened up you will see Upload pic. In the page that then comes up you put in the picture title and in the box below this you put in anything that you want to say about the picture (this will appear when you hover over the thumbnail).
Browse until you find the picture on your
computer - the sizes that are allowed are underneath and to the left
of the Browse button. Then click Submit.
Repeat this every time you want to upload or delete a new
picture.
What should I look for in a digital camera?
1. Something that you find easy to handle and the more pixels you can afford the better. Always go for one grade up from what you think you might manage with as you will surely want a bit more after a few weeks!!!
How many pictures can I take on one memory card?
2. A memory card comes with the camera
of your choice but you are bound to find that you want a larger one
as well. I suggest you go for about 64MB as that should do you for a
time.
You can upload your pictures straight from the camera but we recommend
a Card Reader, some spare batteries and a battery charger.
These, including
the memory card, can be bought cheaply from http://www.7dayshop.co.uk/ You
can carry the spare memory card and a set of spare batteries with the
camera when you go out.
What extra software do I need?
3. If you have no editing programme I
would suggest you download Irfanview which is free and there is a step
by step guide to using it on another sticky at the top of this forum.
At the beginning of this Sticky there are links which show where you
go to get it and links to preview sites and where you can buy.
If you look at the sites which have previews on most cameras you will
learn everything about the camera that takes your fancy.
When you like something go along to
Jessops or the like and try them for feel and size before you purchase
anything. On the whole digital cameras are cheaper on line.
Shooting
Landscapes
Most camera owners naturally want to take
landscapes, but usually they just point their lens into the far distance
and press the shutter button and are often disappointed because their
shot is not as good as they expected, mainly because it is not very
sharp and not exposed correctly because the sun or sky has influenced
the exposure meter.
Remember that two operations are performed when you
HALF press the shutter button :-
1. The exposure meter takes a reading for the exposure.
2. The lens will focus on the nearest object it can see.
All camera light meters are configured to read at 18% grey on a scale of white to black. OK, what is approx 18% rey to get our exposure reading from? A DRY tarmac road (not the very dark tarmac), also medium green foliage or grass, or anything similar.
FOCUS. Instead of pointing the lens into the far distance, choose a spot approx one third of the distance into your chosen scene, on something on or near the ground that is approx 18% grey, then half press your shutter button, keep it half pressed while you raise your lens to compose your chosen landscape, then fully press the shutter button.
Set your camera to Aperture Priority, then set the lens to the highest or second highest f number.(that means to the smallest apertures).
Replacing skies
NEW SKY IN PS 7.0 > means left click.
Open PS7 then your picture > Windows > Layers then double click on Background Layer. In box that appears type anything, I just type three ms mmm, then > ok. > Magic Wand in toolbox then in tool bar above your picture see Tolerance box, type in 32 then use Magic Wand to select the whole sky, after the first click hold down the Shift key while clicking until the complete sky is selected, then hit keys Control and X together to remove the old sky and leave you with what is called a transparent background.
Find your new sky and open it on top of your first pic, then drag the new sky one down a bit until you can see all your transparent sky. Select your new sky with the Crop tool (3rd one down on left) then > on Move tool (top right) then drag your new sky selection on to the transparent sky. You do not need the Move tool any more. Next > Edit > Transform (NOT Free transform) then > Scale then > on each handle in turn to completely cover and slightly overlap the old sky, then with cursor anywhere on the new sky double left click to remove those handles.
Now comes the magic bit, in the Layers
panel > on the bottom little pic and drag it and release it on the
top mini pic, and VOILA your new sky has been adjusted to fit your initial
pic, >Layer >Flatten image....that's it....job done.
This looks very difficult, but you will find that
with practice and repetition it becomes quite easy. Good luck.
How it is done in Paint Shop Pro
Open the picture with the sky that you want to alter. Using the magic wand select the sky. Go to materials. Double click on your gradient tools. Choose the gradient and the colour that you want to use for both foreground and background. You can edit it underneath the sample you have selected, ie. more or less blue, or more or less very pale blue. Go to your flood fill tool and click on the sky. It should now have the gradient of colour that you wanted. You can create clouds by selecting a sky that you have saved which has clouds or import clouds from your picture tubes.
Uploading Pictures to the Exhibitions
Click on Album on the top menu then click on the month's exhibition that you want. On the top left you will see Upload Pictures. Go down to Browse and upload the picture you want from your computer. Picture sizes should be not more than 600 pixels on the longest size and not more than 50KB.
How to convert single or a batch
of files from Jpg to Tif in Irfanview
> = Left click.
Open Irfanview, > File > Batch Conversion/Rename,
in the next window > Look in, then > in the dropdown list on the
folder of files that you wish to convert, > on Browse then a window
of photo folders will appear, > the ones you wish to convert, then
> ok. In the space for File name type in the exact title of your
folder, then > the button Add all. Your selected files will appear
in the empty box. > the radio button named Batch Conversion then
in the Output format box select the Tif - Tagged Image Format, then
> the Start button.
On completion of the conversion >
Exit.