U3A Group Lesson 5: Simple Editing 5 November 2013
Programme Buxton & District 19 September Exploring your camera 1 October You ve taken some pictures now what? (Viewing pictures; filing on your computer) 15 October Printing & Composing a better picture (part 1) 29 October Camera modes/scenes & Composing a better picture (part 2) 5 November Simple editing to improve your pictures 19 November Understanding exposure 3 December Controlling exposure/focal length/perspective/composition for a better picture & Taking Pictures of people 17 December Everything you want to know about digital photography but never dared ask.
Last Time How to improve my pictures. Camera modes and scenes Composition part 2 Zoom and perspective
Last Time - Modes/Scenes Any 2 cameras (even if same manufacturer) will probably have different options So you really need to look at your own camera and manual.
Last time Zoom / magnification Buxton & District / angle of view SLR 18 mm Compact 1x Wide Angle 39 mm 2x 100 mm 5.5x 250 mm 14x Telephoto
Last time - Perspective (relative size of objects at different distances) How can I make the bollards look bigger? Zoom Relative sizes of bollard, car and road sign stay the same.. Or get closer. Bollard has got relatively much larger than sign and house.
Last Time - Perspective what happens to parallel lines Buxton & District 45mm lens 1 m distance Wide angle and close to front bottle makes closer bottles appear relatively larger so parallel lines running along top and bottom of bottles come together quickly 140mm lens 3 m distance Long focal length and further from front bottle makes closer bottles appear relatively less difference in size so parallel lines running along top and bottom of bottles come together gradually
Homework 1- Zoom / Magnification 1. Make sure you know how to change the focal length (zoom) on your camera. 2. Take a range of pictures of similar scenes at different focal lengths. i. Find out how to get the focal length information from the camera or on the PC when you have downloaded the picture ii. How much bigger is an object if you double the focal length? 3. Find what is the closest distance you can focus on an object? How does it change as you zoom in and out?
Homework 2- Experiment with Perspective Buxton & District 1. Experiment with taking shots with different perspective of the same scene: i. Take shots closer with wider angle then move back and take shots with longer focal length. ii. iii. How do the relative sizes of foreground and background objects change? How does this change the emphasis on the objects in the picture? (Composition?) 2. Take pictures looking along a street. Again take shots closer with wider angle lens and further back with longer focal length. i. Find a line joining points of similar heights along the street (e.g. along the top of the buildings or joining 1 st floor windows). ii. iii. iv. Compare this to a line running along the foot of the buildings. How does the angle between these lines compare if I move back to take the shot? How does the angle compare if you stay in the same place and change the focal length?
This Time Using Windows Photo Gallery to edit photos Fixing Red eye Straightening Cropping Adjusting exposure Retouching Using Picasa to edit photos A quick look at what Photoshop can do
How to edit in Photo Gallery Double click on a picture to edit
This Time Using Picasa to edit photo s Fixing Red eye Straightening Cropping Adjusting exposure Retouching A quick look at what Photoshop can do
This Time Using Windows Photo Gallery to edit photos Fixing Red eye Straightening Cropping Adjusting exposure Retouching Using Picasa to edit photos A quick look at what Photoshop can do
How to edit in Picasa Double click on a picture to edit
Commonly needed fixes Picasa editing window Lighting and colour fixes Fun and useful image processing
Red-eye repair Click to select Redeye repair
If Picasa finds a face it will try to fix red-eye. If it doesn t then it will offer you the option to select each eye that is to be fixed. Red-eye repair
Straightening
Straightening Slide left to rotate image clockwise Right for anticlockwise
Cropping If you don t like how an image is framed in the photo you can select just a portion.
Cropping You can manually choose a shape and size of the finished picture Or choose a predefined shape
2. Look at the preview and adjust outline as necessary 3. When you are happy apply the edit Crop using manual 1. Drag outline to shape, size and position of image you want
Before and after cropping
Finely-tuned lighting and colour fixes Buxton & District
Fill Light At times, photos with bright backgrounds can darken or compromise important details in the photo. Add fill light to the foreground of photos, making them more balanced. Lighting fixes Highlights Increase the highlights to amplify the bright spots of your photograph. It can help make the whites in your composition more vibrant. Shadows Darken the shadows in your photo to provide additional depth or contrast. Use this in conjunction with the Highlights slider to add contrast to a flat-looking photo.
Colour fixes Color Temperature Make your photos warmer by sliding the ticker to the right. This can make your colors more vivid and help bring to life the composition of your photograph. Neutral Color Picker Tell Picasa which part of your photo it should treat as gray or white. Photo Lab will then use that selection to balance the colors in the photo.
Retouch Use the Retouch tool to remove unsightly blemishes and improve photo quality. It can also help you to restore old photos with marks, water stains, and scratches to excellent condition.
Click the Retouch button. Click once to highlight the area you'd like to retouch. A few tips: Adjust the size of your brush using the slider (or use the + and - keys on your keyboard). Use Ctrl-drag to pan across the image, especially useful when viewing your image while zoomed-in. Use your mouse wheel to zoom in on an area you indicate with your cursor. Move the mouse around the image to find and preview a replacement area. Click on the replacement area to finalize. Retouch
This Time Using Windows Photo Gallery to edit photos Fixing Red eye Straightening Cropping Adjusting exposure Retouching Using Picasa to edit photos A quick look at what Photoshop can do
Homework 1. Try editing a few of your own pictures in Windows Live Photo Gallery or in Picasa: Fix red-eye Straighten Crop Adjust exposure Adjust colour 2. Bring any questions along next time
Next Time Understanding Exposure
Course notes I will put this presentation on the Buxton and District U3A website at : http://u3asites.org.uk/code/u3asite.php?site=179&page=25298 Or 1. Go to www.buxtonu3a.org.uk 2. Select Groups 3. Select : 4. Select materials from previous sessions from the links on right hand side of page