Digital Darkroom DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY WORKFLOW. Take the photos (a lot of them... they are free!) Store the photos on your computer.

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1 Hobbyists Camera Unlimited Club Digital Darkroom March 10, DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY WORKFLOW Take the photos (a lot of them... they are free!) Store the photos on your computer Fix the photos Use your photos 2

2 DIGITAL DARKROOM 3 WHAT IS A DIGITAL DARKROOM? Digital Darkroom is the combination of hardware, software and techniques used in digital photography that replace the darkroom equivalents, such as enlarging, cropping, dodging and burning, as well as processes that don't have a film equivalent. 4

3 DIGITAL DARKROOM WORKFLOW We can identify four key components in the Digital Darkroom Workflow: Photo management Photo critique Photo enhancing & repurposing Photo usage 5 PHOTO MANAGEMENT Photo Management is the first digital darkroom activity that will be performed Photo storage in not only the actual transfer of photos from your camera but also the setup of a system that will facilitate the search & retrieval Photo storage involves: import & back-up renaming & keywording your photos selecting the best photos (via stars & labels) cataloging (albums/collections) Import must be done from a memory card (don t do it from the camera) 6

4 BACKUP SYSTEMS Local USB drive Western Digital 500GB ($69.99) 1.5TB ($104) now 1.0TB ($69) 2.0TB ($104) Online Backup Services Google Storage ($5/yr for 20GB, $20/yr for 80GB, $50/yr for 200GB) IDrive ($4.95/mo per 150GB) Carbonite ($54.95/yr unlimited) 7 PHOTO CRITIQUE Once you have decided which photos to keep you need to Critique them in order to make them better with an Image Processing program: Critiquing a photo means identifying what s wrong with it: flat colors too dark, too light crooked distracting elements red eyes etc. 8

5 IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAMS All Image Processing Programs offer a set of capabilities that satisfy the requirements of 90% of the amateur digital photographer. My favorite ones: Photoshop CS5 Photoshop Elements 9 Apple Aperture Apple iphoto (free when buying an Apple Computer) Picasa 3 (free) Today we will be using Picasa 3 9 HOW TO FIX A PHOTO The process and the tools used can be tailored to suit your preference My workflow: exposure fixing (if needed) cropping to remove unwanted item and scale (I like 3:4 format) contrast enhancement disturbing elements removal red eye fixing (if needed) sharpening if needed just play around 10

6 PHOTO USAGE Once you have your beautiful collection of photos stored on your computer, you need to decide what to do with them: look at them on the computer print them (as single prints or photo albums, calendars, etc.) create slideshow share them with family, friends, the world : on a CD/DVD posting them on an Internet Photo Site 11 PRINTING YOUR PHOTOS You can print your photos in regular format (up to 8x10) on a standard ink-jet printer. I suggest though, to use an online printing service for all your photo printing needs: very inexpensive high quality fast turn around Good online printing services: Adorama.Pix Shutterfly Shapfish Apple 12

7 SHARING YOUR PHOTOS The best way to share your photos with family, friend and the world is to post them on the Internet. You can also them. There are plenty of free Internet Photo Sharing sites and a number of limited capabilities commercial sites. My favorite: Picasa Web Albums pbase.com webshots.com Flickr 13 CONCLUSIONS Always take a LOT of pictures Follow the Digital Photography Workflow Spend time on the computer to manage, fix and use your photos (remember the 50/50 rule) 14

8 CONCLUSIONS Always take a LOT of pictures Follow the Digital Photography Workflow Spend time on the computer to manage, fix and use your photos (remember the 50/50 rule)... but, most importantly,... HAVE FUN 15 THANKS 16