Is Everything a Lie??

To my great disappointment, I think my video card is on the fritz again....

The good news?  I just bought it a month ago - so if it is the video card going bad again, it should be under warranty.

The bad news??  It might be my monitor instead...  Oh the horror!!

So - in order to figure out what the true problem is, I have changed out monitors.  I took the monitor from my husband's now dead computer (long story involving a lightning storm..... actually, not that long, but it involves a lightning storm.)

As I turned on the computer and looked at my desktop, the internet, and my photos with the different monitor, my heart sank!!

These are not the pictures I have taken and created.  I have poured my soul into many of these, my favorite, photos and now they don't look anything like what I remember!!  Has my monitor been lying to me all these months?  Did I think I was creating deep, vibrant, jewel-toned colors only to find that they AREN'T?!??


AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!   I'm melting, melting!!!!  *imagine wicked witch of the west*  Actually, it's too hot here, I probably am melting!!!

All that aside, it does bring up an interesting thing - calibrating your monitor.  I remember reading about it last year in one of the dozens of books I picked up at the library.  I remember that it was supremely important to make sure the colors on your monitor were actually true to the colors intended.  If not, you might think you are creating a wonderful portrait, only to print them off and find that everyone's skin is a lovely alien green/gray!

My problem?  I read this in one of many books over a year ago, and I can't remember how to do it!  Not only that, this isn't my monitor....  Is my hubby going to flip if I change up things on his monitor?  (He's kinda possessive about his belongings...)

Well, while I let my computer run long enough to have problems, I'll leave you with the "green" photo of children....

Original:

What it looked like when I had it printed at Wal-Mart:  :(

Sad - so sad....

Lessons learned!!!

1.   NEVER go to Wal-Mart to have your photos printed!!! 

2.  Make sure your monitor is calibrated, so you aren't living a lie!!!!

Tiffany

PS - yes, it's a touch dramatic today, but it is SO frustrating (and it's very hot)!!!  I can't do anything except take more pictures.  Posting them or editing is pretty much out of the question at the moment...

*sigh*

Processing (??)

The more I learn about photography, the more I have come to understand that post-processing is at least half (if not more) of the craft.

So, what is processing and what do you need to do?

Once you load your pictures into the computer, there is so much you can do with them.  I started out with a program that came with my camera called "Digital Photo Professional".  While it was great starting out, I eventually wanted to do more.  So I bought and downloaded Photoshop Elements 8.

Photoshop (the entire package) is very expensive for someone like me who only shoots as a hobby and is just starting out.   It also has SO many bells and whistles that one could take several classes and still just barely scratch the surface of all there is to do!  Photoshop Elements is more appropriate for someone like me.  It's less expensive and doesn't have nearly as many options that are so overwhelming, yet it still has, as the name implies, all the essentials from the full program.

There are many other programs out there, Lightroom, Corel Paint Shop Photo, Photo Studio, etc.   There are also several online - free if you just want to tweak, or subscription based if you want to do more, save, and share.  Just do a search on photo editing software and you will get way more than you asked for!  I took 3 days searching the internet and reading reviews before I made a decision.  If you are interested in purchasing editing software, take some time to look around and explore.  If you have a friend who has one of the above, you might ask them to show you around their program to see if you like it.

Wow!  I'm talking too much today - I'll say more about this later! :)

Anyway, here are some of the things I do to my photos.  I try to make them look as much like the reality seemed to me as I can.   (did that sentence make sense??)

This is a picture that is from my slideshow (on the right of the screen.)  It is from the tulip festival in Wamego, KS.  At the time, all I had to process with was the Digital Photo Professional that came with my camera, so that is what you will see.

I began by adjusting the sharpness of the photo.  I have since learned that this should actually be done last, but hey!  I was learning. :)

I then increased the saturation using this button.  I love deep colors, so of course, I went too far and got this.

In this program, it's not a problem because it uses a slider to make the adjustments.  Even so, don't be afraid to mess around in your program with all the buttons.  If you don't like the result, you can use the "undo" or "revert" button.  (Or go to the "edit" menu and choose "undo".)  In the shot above, I have circled the "revert" button.

This one is better.  The saturation is about right and I decreased the brightness just a little.

I always like to look at a before and after.  It gives me a little reassurance that I've done things I like.  I have since changed my mind and I feel I probably over-sharpened this one.

A few things to remember when you edit photos:

* Always save the edit in a different file.  Keep the original intact!  I didn't do that in the beginning so I must live with the overly sharpened image.  There is no more tweaking that I can do, or redo, or undo at this point.  Always make a copy and keep the original!! 

* There are no rights and wrongs in editing.  Photography is an art and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  These are YOUR pictures!  Make them look the way YOU want them to.

Have fun!

Tiffany

PS - sorry this post is so long!  I'll try to do better next time....