A way to make a Digital Polarizer. A very good tutorial IMO. It helps others overcome the need to spend big bucks just to get the filter itself, now with photoshop, it can be done in just a few easy steps! Plus, you have a greater control over your final!

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/16253049/

Hope it will serve you well.

Another few guides and tutorials that i found and would like to share.

Straighten a Crooked Image with the Measure Tool
Software: Photoshop
Level: Beginner
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/36972948/

BW Colour Overlay
Software: Photoshop
How to achieve the authentic style in surprisingly few steps.
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/9771331/

QuickTips: AutoLevels-Contrast
Software: Photoshop
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/20379898/

QuickTips: Graduated Filter
Making the graduated filter effect with photoshop!
Software: Photoshop
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/20420793/

Quicktips: Lomo Light Leaks
Software: Photoshop
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/25341213/

have fun

A good site for insects macro using close up filters If im not wrong, he's using a bridge camera

IMO a still a cheap way for doing macro

http://azone.clubsnap.org/insectguide/page01.html

This post has been edited by R a D ! c 4 L: Dec 31 2006, 04:27 PM

HDR - High Dynamic Range tutorial
http://stuckincustoms.com/?p=548

Okay, this might not be related but I just wanted to post it anyway. Word is this place sells alot of various types of filters, what caught my attention is that they sell filters made by Cokin, which is the filter set that im looking for right now. So i'll just post the site here, their address is in their site. Check it out.
http://www.engtong.com/

This post has been edited by R a D ! c 4 L: Mar 23 2007, 07:23 AM

Gilad's journal entry in shooting RAW

Read up

my suggestion... shoot in color, then use the channel mixer in photoshop to make it black and white.

for dust and scratch mark, so far i've didnt see any filters that does the job. unless you put some texturized, transparent object infront of your subject. Or you can do it in photoshop again. Ill write down the technique in time. Or you can go google it out yourself

This was previously posted on the sigma thread, but i guess its a good to share it with you guys too. So here's the read.

This is what most ppl will do. Not much editing but with good results. I used an image of a forumer here for an example.

1st, To give it a little kick, boost the contrast. Go to photoshop > Layers > new adjustment layer > curves. Apply an "S" curves to the image. Like the picture below(pay attention to the points that i placed, You can increase the effects by applying a deeper S curve):


Then use Levels. Go to photoshop > Layers > new adjustment layer > levels. See the picture for example:

Here I pulled the highlights slider, which is on the right, just about near the inner end of the slope of the histogram "mountain". This will increase the highlights of the whole image. Then i go to the left side of the slider, which is the slider to tweak the shadows, i pulled it in a little, like what i did for the highlights, but different direction. Lastly I go to the middle slider, which is for the midtones, to darken the image by a little bit. The default value for this is 1.0, but I set it to 0.9, based on my liking.

You can use the preview button to see the before and after effects of the whole image. once you're done on every step, press ok.

That should add a little extra kick to the whole image. Make sure that you dont blow the highlights when you tweak the slider for the highlights. Here's my results:

Before:

After:


Hope this helps.

p.s: this is also what some of the photographers call the "velvia look". Colors which are almost as the same from Fujifilm's Velvia series film. Which produce saturated colors with a whole lot of kick.

u mean the settings for the levels? It depends, really, there's 3 sliders.

The 1st slider(the left 1) determines the shadows, slide this to the right darkens the "blacks" in your photos. In some ways this enhance the contrast of your photos. But don't stop there.

The 2nd slider(the middle slide) is for your mid tones, if you slide this to the right, it darkens the overall brightness of your photo. Vice versa if you slide it to the left. I only tweak this slider once I'm finished with the shadows and highlights slider.

The 3rd slider(the one on your right) is where u boost the highlights, you can only go left to brighten the highlights(the "whites" in your image. Careful with this slider, too much of this will result in your picture being overblown; the white being too white. Mostly for me I do not want that to happen.

So 1st of all, start with your highlights slider. Tweak it a little according to your liking, but do not overdo it. Then work on your shadows slider to increase the blacks and contrast. Then finally work on the midtones. Hope this helps.

p.s: Sometimes its good to let your imagination go wild. Try to experiment with the sliders, like what dgrebel did with this picture:

Though the highlights are blown to a certain level but it adds up to the mood of the overall photo.

A simpel "what i know about color space a.k.a sRGB or AdobeRGB or blah blah blah"

Adobe RGB has a wider, or you can put it "hidden" color range. Colors may looked pale when u see it on monitor. Thus its meant for more advanced editing. But mess up the colors then you'll have to start over again, so careful tweaking is needed.

Its the opposite for sRGB. Has so so color range, easy during editing but you wont get the most out of your photos. Colors are "richer" on the surface for sRGB, but you wont get the most out of it.

I use Adobe RGB, then convert them with a ProPhotoRGB profile in Lightroom. Because ProPhotoRGB gives me the best almost accurate colors when i print them out. And if I want to post the photos online. I'll just convert the color profile to sRGB using photoshop once I edited everything.

Things you must know when before you do editing. CALIBRATE your monitor. Spend a few hundred on calibrating hardwares like the Spider2express or newer versions. There's a good calibrating hardware like the Huey Pro too. Cost alot more than the Spider2express. Once you finished calibrating your computer, you get more accurate colors.

Note that the internet uses sRGB, so if you post a photo online with a AdobeRGB as the color profile. Then you'll face risk of losing the colors. Here's an example:

Sample A, Using AdobeRGB:


Sample B, Using sRGB:


So basicly:

#1: if you want to get the most out of your photos. Use AdobeRGB. It may look pale on your screen, but after a few adjustments, the colors are superb.

#2: Stick to sRGB if you rarely edit your photos, or you just do basic editing like levels and curves.

#3: Invest in a calibrating hardware. It comes with its own software so you can do easy step by steps on monitor calibration.

#4: Don't ask me about ProPhotoRGB. All i know that it has the widest color range known(for me). And the color quality of the print it produced is almost what i see on my monitor.

#5: Remember, if you wanna post your photos online and you're using the AdobeRGB profile. You can change them via photoshop. Go to Edit > Convert to Profile > Under "destination space" > select sRGB IEC 61966-2.1. Then save your photos. Then post them.

Hope this little info helps.

Post initially posted at the Rebel's Thread.

http://lightingtutorials.blogspot.com/

A good site with a few tutorials on how to setup lighting for studio shooting. From 2 lights to 8 lights, they have it.