Barack Obama came to my church today to give his testimony. I was able to fire off a few pictures of him with my cell phone’s built-in camera, but as you can imagine, the quality was a little less than spectacular. I want to be able to post these to my MySpace page, but they need some serious work before I’ll be satisfied enough to show them off. So here’s a few easy steps to quickly tweak your cell phone photos.

First, open up your picture in Photoshop. Click and hold the Eyedropper Tool until the tool’s option window pops up select the Color Sampler Tool. Move the Color Sampler tool over your image until you find the darkest black in your image (Tip: the Info Palette displays the corresponding RGB values for the pixel the Color Sampler Tool is hovering over. To select the darkest value in the image, look for the lowest RGB reading in the Info Palette. 0 is the lowest value for any RGB output). Click to set the value which will appear on the info palette as RGB #1.

Next we want to select the whitest white in the image. Using the Color Sampler tool again, find the lightest white value in your image. In the Info Window, light colors will have a higher RGB reading - 255 is the highest value for any RGB output. Click again to set this value which will appear as RGB#2 in the Info Palette.

Now to correct the color of the image. Go Layers>New Adjustment Layers>Levels and then click OK. You should be looking at the Levels dialog window now. Change your channel from RGB to Red. Enter the R value from your RGB#1 reading top left box to set the image’s black point and the R value from your RGB#2 reading in the top right box to set your white point. Now you can use the sliders to fine tune these settings to your liking and hit OK.

Flatten the images next Layers>Flatten Image.

Now let’s sharpen the image a bit to add a little clarity. Choose Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. A good place to start with sharpening a photo is Amount - 120%; Radius - 1.5 pixels; Threshold - 10 levels. Every photo is different so feel free to adjust these settings to your liking for your photo.

And finally, it’s time to sample different color variations. Go Image>Adjustments>Variations. The resulting window will show you several different color variations of your image, from here just pick the one that you think is best.

Heres my final product!

It may not be as good as a pic coming from a hi-res SLR camera with a good zoom lens, but it certainly looks better than the original!

Many of us will be enjoying the upcoming long weekend at the beach somewhere, whether it’s at the favorite lakeside barbecue or the ocean - and with all the advances in photography (and the popularity of digital now) all of us want to take great pictures to help remember the special moments.Sand, Sand EverywhereSand at the beach is inevitable. Remember to keep lenses covered when not in use to reduce the chances of scratching your glass. Sand is also notorious for getting into any and every crevice imaginable, try to avoid leaving your camera in areas where sand may be blown or kicked up onto it (like a beach towel). The other big issue with sand is that the sun’s reflection from the sand can blow out the highlights in your pictures. If your camera has manual adjustment settings, you may want to stop down your exposure to slightly underexpose your image so your images aren’t washed out.ISO What?The ISO rating (for film and digital) refers to the film’s (or digital image sensor’s) sensitivity to light. The lower the number, more light is required to properly expose your image. For shooting at the beach, I’d recommend using ISO 100 (or slower if you can find it) film, or setting your digital camera to its lowest ISO setting. Unless it’s extremely overcast, you should have more than enough light to still use a fast shutter speed to catch all the action, and the slower ISO rating will help keep colors saturated and graininess to a minimum.Remember the Rule of ThirdsDon’t just line people up with the beach behind them, place subjects to one side with the shoreline filling up the rest of the frame. This makes for a more interesting photo while still making for a nice portrait.Foreground, Middleground, BackgroundTo add more depth and interest to your shots, try to include subjects of interest close up (like a beach ball, person, coconut, etc) in your foreground, a curvy palm tree in the middleground, and still include that beautiful sunset in the background. Don’t be afraid to let your main subject fill up a third or more of your frame.Gotcha!Not all pictures need to be posed. Don’t be shy when it comes to picture taking. Catch your friends playing volleyball, building a sand castle or just chatting it up.This is a great way to catch memories, not just picture after picture of your friends squinting at the camera and other cheesy poses.Enjoy the long weekend!

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In the name of being a professional shutterbug, I broke down and bought a point and shoot camera to keep in my pocket at all times. I’ve already got a Nikon D70s along with a full compliment of lenses and other accessories that I use for all my product and event photography, but it’s not always convenient to lug around thousands of dollars of heavy camera equipment in order to fire off a few quick shots.

Not only that, chances are even if I did have all my equipment with me, whatever I was wanting a picture of would have probably already passed by the time I was able to set everything up for the shot.

Enter the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX7.

True, it’s not the latest and greatest of the Lumix offerings, but for my purposes it’s fitting the bill perfectly. It’s a 5 megapixel camera sligtly larger than a credit card and just under an inch thick at its girthiest point. It shoots in an ISO range of 80-400 with a shutter speed varying from to 1/2000 to 8 seconds, which is perfect for freezing action and sports and long enough for night photography (most compacts won’t allow the shutter to stay open nearly that long for night shooting). What’s amazing about this line of point and shoot cameras is that they are one of the few that offer in camera image stabilization. Many lines don’t offer this feature until you reach their digicam or prosumer level cameras. SLRs only have this option available in certain lines of lenses.

In addition to image stabilization, the Lumix line also comes equipped with Leica optics. For those not in the know about Leica, they make some of the most expensive, sharpest and well color-balanced lenses on the market, their cameras are world-class as well. This combination of image stabilization and lens quality make the DMC-FX7 a heavyweight contender in the world of compact cameras. I was floored when I saw the quality of the images coming from it.

The lens is a 3x optical zoom, and has some digital zoom reach as well, however the image quality degrades noticably when the digital zoom is used. I avoid using it at all costs. The lens is rated at 5-17.4mm f/2.8-5.0 aspherical, which would be a 35-105mm lens in 35mm film format. The somewhat fast f/2.8 rating allows for good low-light use at the wide angle setting.

The smallish looking flash proves to be absolutely bright enough to work well with the lens even at the widest zoom setting. I’ve noticed no indication of light fall off to date. It is important to note, however, it works best with subjects that are no more than about 13-15′ away. The flash is a little too close to the lens for my tastes, I realize it’s hard to move it much farther away in such a compact design, but it’s close proximity does tend to increase the dreaded red-eye that’s common in compacts. There is a red-eye reduction option for the flash, but as many photographers will tell you, red-eye reduction is a double-edged sword. Yes, it reduces the red flares, but it does so by pre-flashing, constricting the pupils, which is undesirable as eyes look more attractive when dialated.

The 2.5″ LCD display takes up about 2/3 of the back of the camera, and so far proves to be nice and bright (without being too bright in low-light conditions) as well as fairly color accurate. There is an option to gain up the LCDs brightness to aid in visibility for bright outdoor conditions. The large LCD screen eliminates any extra space for a traditional veiwfinder, which is a slight bummer, but livable nonetheless.

This camera has more than it’s fair share of built in features including 11 preset scene shooting modes as well as a macro mode and an option to take videos. The length of video you can take depends on the size of your memory card.

Buttons and controls are simple and straight forward on the camera. I have fairly long and slender fingers, so moving around the keypad layout is easy for me. Those with larger fingers may have problems as the buttons are spaced somewhat close together.

The in-camera menus are well thought out, easy to navigate and not too confusing. When initially setting up my camera the only question I had about any of the options was regarding image compression, which was not clearly defined in the menu but a quick read through the well put together manual set the record straight.

The DMC-FX7 records to SD cards, which was a bit of another downer for me. I have tons of compact flash cards laying around becuase that’s what my D70s takes. It would have been great if I could have used them in this camera as well, but it seems that the SD format is becoming the norm for this size camera so I guess I can’t complain too much. It merely means I’ve got to invest into some SD cards (which is the same format my wife’s Canon SD550 takes, so for now I can just steal her card’s when she’s not looking).

Startup is quick at just under one second. You’ll have little to no excuse for not capturing that precious moment. Battery life is more than adequate. I’ve yet to miss any shots due to the battery dying, that’s even with using flash the entire shoot.

My biggest complaint for this camera is a lack of more manual options. I’m used to having complete control over all settings of my D70s; shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc. The Lumix is made to be a little more automated, which is great for the casual user and makes the camera a bit more transparent in the photography process, just not what I’m used to…

All in all this camera packs a huge punch. The combination of the 5.0 megapixel image sensor, image stabilization and Leica optics allows me to make acceptable quality prints at up to 12×18″ and high quality prints at 8×10″. The Lumix has more than enough features and options for the average user. It would be the perfect point and shoot camera to me if it had an optional viewfinder in addition to the LCD and stored to compact flash cards.

Each day I’m becoming more and more a photography junkie. Just the other day I broke down and bought a Lumix DMC-FX7 camera (more on that after I’ve had enought time to thoroughly test it) to add to my arsenal. I love my Nikon D70s, but carring around 50lbs of camera equipment isn’t always fun or practical, nor easy to set up to get those quick snaps. Now I’ve got something sleek, portable and spyish to carry around in my pocket 24/7.

That said, however, I did make my first pinhole lens for the Nikon. It was painlessly easy and cost me a whopping $7.84 (by far, the least expensive lens in my collection)! I’ve known of pinhole cameras since my first shoebox and piece of film, but never considered digital pinhole cameras…

I ran across a few sites describing do-it-yourself instructions on making a pinhole lens using a body cap. So I broke the bank, found the best bargain I could on eBay and paid my $4.85 plus $2.99 shipping for my brand new Nikon BF-A1 body cap.

For those not familiar with pinhole photography, it’s the simplest camera to make and operate. You can make a pinhole camera from nearly anything. I’ve heard people using shoeboxes, cardboard boxes, buildings, even their own mouth!

The technology is simple; use some type of container for your camera body, fix a piece of film to the inside back wall and punch a small hole in the opposite end. There are many ways to calculate how large or small a hole to use. For my lens, I went with a hole a little larger than .25mm. The smaller and more perfectly round the hole, the sharper your image will be. In fact, there are companies out there that make precision, laser-cut pinhole lenses that are incredibly sharp (considering there’s no corrective glass lens!), but that’s too high falutin for my first pinhole lens, and a little to rich for this project (they usually go in the neighborhood of $35-65).

Making the necessary modifications was a no brainer. The trick with making one of these is to center your hole for the “lens.” If the hole is not centered, you’re likely won’t achieve proper exposure across the frame of your image.

To do this, I simply measured the width of the cap at it’s widest point and etched a line arcross the back of the cap at this diameter with an exacto knife. I did this several times in several different directions. The place where the lines intersect should be the dead center of the cap. To make the actual hole, I used a push pin from my memo board and started boring into the plastic cap. It took me all of about five minutes. When I managed to work the pin completely through the cap, I sanded down both sides of the hole and made sure I didn’t have any obstructions in the hole. Here’s the finished lens:

I made quite a few test shots from the studio, here’s one of Bobula, my wooden people model… and yes, he does run like a girl.

To make this shot, I set up my D70s on a tripod and used a shutter release cable. I set the shutter speed to 15 seconds. I’m planning on using this one a good bit. I love the soft edges and the diffused colors. It reminds me a bit of my Lensbaby, without the extra work of manually focusing the bellows-stlye lens. I’ll post more sample pics up here as I capture them.

One thing to keep in mind when using a pinhole lens on a digital camera, there’s nothing to protect the insides of you camera from dust. Additionally, I did notice that the long exposure times needed to take a picture with this lens allows any dust on the camera to show up extremely well in your pictures. Make sure you’ve got good Photoshop skills for processing!

I do a good bit of product photography as well as social event here and there, but most of what I shoot is just for me.

I’ve been fairly serious about photography for a few years now. I’ve always had a camera, but broke down and purchased my first film SLR about 8 years ago. Since then I’ve aquired a Holga medium format camera to mess around with, as well as a couple of old Kodak Brownies. I also got my wife a Canon SD550 that I try to steal whenever I can.

The move to digital was a no brainer. No longer to I have to wait for processing. I can shoot, process, proof and print in a matter of a few minutes.

When I go on a shoot, I get a lot of questions as to what all I carry. Honestly, it does tend to look like I’m carrying the kitchen sink on my back when I pack up and go, but then, I don’t want to miss anything while I’m out either! So whether I’m on a job or just out for fun, here’s what I grab for the trip…

Lowepro Computrekker Backpack - Love it, wouldn’t dream of carrying any equipment without it. I don’t always take my laptop along with me, but it’s nice to have the option if I need it. I love the adjustability of the pack, not to mention it’s extremely comfortable!

Nikon D70s- What good would it be to go shooting without a camera eh?

Sometimes if I’m shooting for fun I’ll take along my Holga and a couple of rolls of Illford 120 Color film. Despite thousands of dollars of digital equipment, sometimes nothing beats the beauty the soft focus of a plastic lens in a $12 camera.

As far as lenses go, I’m never without my Nikon primes. I always carry my 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, and my 120mm f/2.8. Along with these I also carry diffusion, 81A warming, cirular polarizing and UV protection filters. I’m in the market for a couple of good wide angles as well… but until then, I make due with what I’ve got. As Ansel Adams once said “the best wide angle lens is taking two steps back and finding the ‘ah-ha.’”

Another lens I’ve come to love is my Lensbaby 2.0. At first I wasn’t all that impressed with it, but as I’ve learned how to use it better (or should I say, now that I know what I’m doing and can get predictable results…) I abolutely love the possibilities it gives me. I don’t think I’ve done a single portrait shoot without pulling this lens out at least twice!

In addition to the basics, I always keep a cleaning kit with me that includes lens solution and wipes, various types of Q-tips, and the ultimate must-haves: a Giotto Rocket Air - nothing gets rid of particle dust better than this thing!; and a Nikon Lens Pen.

I also bring my iPod along with me, both for tunes and storage if I need to dump some pictures on it to free up my cards.

I usually carry at least 8 gigs of 2gig compact flash cards. Many manufacturers are offering up to 16 gig cards, but honestly, I feel safer carrying multiple smaller size cards. I don’t ever want to get in a bind where a card goes bad and it has 3-4 jobs on it. 2 gig is really the maximum size card I want to deal with.

Depending on what type of shooting I’m planning on doing that day, I may or may not take a tripod, monopod, various cable releases, lights and umbrellas, reflectors etc.

But that’s about it for what’s in my bag, what’s in yours?

This is a bangin’ DSLR! Many pros prefer it to the more costly “pro” models. When I bought mine, the body only was just under $1000, they’re available now for just under $700. The D70s is an update to the earlier D70. To my knowledge, the main difference between the two is the D70s’ larger screen. There may be some firmware differences as well, however, all buttons, menus and other functions appear to be identical.

Granted the new D80 proves to be the D70s’s successor in the Prosumer lineup of Nikon’s DSLRs, but even in our world of 10+ megapixel cameras, the D70s packs quite a punch.

Don’t believe the megapixel myths about limits on print sizes. Manufacturers and resellers want you to spend the extra bucks on denser megapixel sensors. It’s not about just the megapixels, but moreso the quality of the sensor and what you, the photographer, are able to do with the image both in camera and afterwards that makes the difference (not to mention how you’re printing your photos).

I’m able to get stunning 24 x 36″ prints off my D70s. I’m sure I could get great quality at bigger, but haven’t tried as of yet. There’s far more to consider than megapixels when it comes to the camera; focus, lens selection, lighting, post processing…

Pics look great at most every ISO setting, I don’t start noticing excessive noise until around ISO 1200, and it’s still acceptable even then. Supposedly the D2Hs doesn’t have bad noise at any setting, but then again, it is nearly three times the price.

I got mine about 8 months ago and have taken more than 20,000 captures with it. It’s a great do-all camera and highly recommended for anyone wanting to move either from 35mm film or step up from point and shoot digitals. I traded my film SLR in on this and haven’t missed it since, if anything I was kicking myself in the head for not making the switch sooner. Sure, medium format film still reigns supreme for those doing large landscape or high fashion photography, but for the rest of us that need good quality pics, and need a way to incoporate them into a workflow fast and seamlessly - digital just makes sense, and the D70s is a great camera to work with.

A few tricks I use with the camera:

1. Shoot in sRGB mode. This way colors in your camera are far more likely to match what comes off your printer. I use Macs and Apple monitors, so I don’t really have much of an issue with color matching, it just works.

2. Always shoot RAW… yes, the file size is bigger, but you’d be amazed at the processing options that shooting in RAW gives you, especially when using a RAW converter like Adobe’s Lightroom. If the image matters, shoot RAW.

3. If you love wild, over-saturated colors (like me), pump up the saturation setting in the camera’s shooting menu.

4. I find that the D70s pics come out a tad more on the cool side than what I usually prefer, so I use an 81A warming filter almost always, but that’s me…

5. Nikon publishes the ISO sensitivity for this camera as 200 - 1600. By using the camera’s built in EV adjustments, it’s possible to get an effective ISO 50 - 3200 sensitivity!

Vital Specs:

Type of Camera: Single-lens reflex digital camera

Effective Pixels: 6.1 million

Image Sensor: RGB CCD, 23.7 x 15.6mm; total pixels: 6.24 million

Autofocus: TTL phase detection by Nikon Multi-CAM900 autofocus module with
AF-assist illuminator (approx. 0.5m to 3.0m) Detection range: EV -1 to +19 (ISO 100 equivalent, at normal temperature: 68 degrees F/20 degrees C)

Focus Lock: Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single-servo AF) or by pressing AE-L/AF-L button
Image Size (pixels): 3,008 x 2,000 [L]; 2,240 x 1,488 [M]; 1,504 x 1,000 [S]

LCD Monitor: 2.0-in., 130,000-dot, low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD with brightness adjustment

Storage Media: CompactFlash(TM) (CF) Card (Type I and II ) and Microdrive (TM)

AF Area Mode: 1) Single Area AF, 2) Dynamic Area AF, 3) Closest Subject Priority Dynamic Area AF

Shooting Modes: 1) Single frame shooting mode; 2) Continous shooting mode: approx. 3 frames per second; 3) Self-timer mode; 4) Delayed remote mode : 2 sec. delay; 5) Quick-response remote mode

Focus Area: Can be selected from 5 focus areas
Picture Angle: Equivalent in 35mm [135] format is approx. 1.5 times lens focal length

Lens Servo: 1) Autofocus (AF): single-servo AF (AF-S); continuous servo AF (AF-C); predictive focus tracking automatically activated according to subject status; 2) Manual focus (M)

Remote Control: Via Remote Cord MC-DC1 (optional) or Wireless Remote Control ML-L3 (optional)

Storage (Number of): RAW approx. 44, FINE approx. 73, NORMAL approx. 144, BASIC approx. 279, RAW & BASIC approx. 39 (Number of frames per 256MB CF card, image size L)
Viewfinder Information: Focus indications, AE/FV lock indicator, Shutter speed, Aperture value, Exposure/Exposure compensation indicator, Exposure mode, Flash output level compensation, Exposure compensation,Number of remaining exposures, Flash-ready indicator

Exposure Mode: Digital Vari-Program (Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close up, Sports, Night landscape, Night portrait), Programmed Auto [P] with flexible program; Shutter Priority Auto [S]; Aperture Priority Auto [A]; Manual [M]
Exposure Metering: 1) EV 0 to 20 (3D Color Matrix or center-weighted metering); 2) EV 2 to 20 (spot metering) (ISO 100 equivalent, f/1.4 lens, 68 degrees F/20 degrees C)

Storage System: Compressed NEF (RAW): 12-bit compression, JPEG: JPEG baseline-compliant

Sensitivity: 200 to 1600 (ISO equivalent) in steps of 1/3 EV

White Balance: Auto (TTL white balance with 1,005-pixel RGB sensor), six manual modes with fine-tuning, preset white balance, white balance bracketing possible

Built-in Speedlight: Auto flash with auto pop-up [P], [S], [A], [M]: manual pop-up with button release Guide number (ISO 200/ISO 100, m): approx. 15/11 (manual full 17/12)
Accessory Shoe: Standard ISO hot-shoe contact with safety lock provided

Auto Exposure Bracketing: Two or three frames ±2 EV in 1/3 or 1/2 steps

File System: Exif 2.21, Compliant DCF 2.0 and DPOF

Auto Exposure Lock: Luminosity locked at detected value with AE-L/AF-L button

Depth of Field Preview: When CPU lens is attached, lens aperture can be stopped down and previewed by pressing the preview button

Exposure Compensation: ±5 EV in increments of 1/3 or 1/2 EV

Eyepoint: 18mm (-1.0m -1)

Flash Sync Mode: 1) Front-curtain Sync (normal sync), 2) Red-eye Reduction, 3) Red-eye Reduction with Slow Sync, 4) Slow Sync, 5) Rear-curtain Sync

Self-timer: Electronically controlled timer with 2 to 20 seconds duration

Playback Function: 1 frame: Thumbnail (4 or 9 segments); Magnifying playback; Slide show;
Histogram indication; Highlight point display; Auto image rotation

Delete Function: Card format, All frames delete, Selected frames delete

Power Source: One Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3a or EN-EL3, Three CR2 Lithium batteries (with optional MS-D70 CR2 battery holder), AC Adapter EH-5 (optional)
Dimensions (W x H x D): Approx. 5.5 x 4.4 x 3.1 in. (140 x 111 x 78mm)
Weight (without battery): Approx. 1lb 5 oz (600g)
Supplied Accessories: Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3a, Quick Charger MH-18a, Video Cable, USB Cable UC-E4, Strap, Body cap, Eyepiece Cap DK-5, Rubber Eyecup DK-20, LCD monitor cover BM-5, PictureProject CD-ROM. Supplied accessories may differ in each country or area.

Video Output: Can be selected from NTSC and PAL

Interface: USB: Mass storage and PTP selectable

Text Input: Up to 36 characters of alphanumeric text input available with LCD monitor and multi-selector; stored in Exif header

Focusing Screen: Type-B BriteView Clear Matte screen Mark V with superimposed focus brackets and on-demand grid lines
Viewfinder Frame Coverage: Approx. 95%

Viewfinder Magnification: Approx. 0.75x with 50mm lens at infinity; -1.0m-1

Shutter: Combined mechanical and CCD electronic shutter, 30 sec to 1/8000 sec. in steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV, bulb

Sync Contact: X-contact only; flash synchronization at up to 1/500 sec.

Flash Control: 1) TTL: TTL flash control by 1,005-pixel RGB sensor Built-in Speedlight: i-TTL Balanced Fill-Flash or standard i-TTL flash (spot metering or mode dial set to [M]) SB-800 or 600: i-TTL Balanced Fill-Flash or standard i-TTL flash (spot metering); 2) Auto aperture: Available with SB-800 with CPU lens3) Non-TTL Auto: Available with Speedlights such as SB-800, 80DX, 28DX,28, 27, and 22s4) Distance-priority manual available with SB-800
Flash Compensation: -3 to +1 EV in increments of 1/3 or 1/2 EV

Tripod Socket: 1/4 in. (ISO 1222)

Exposure Meter Coupling: TTL full-aperture exposure metering system(1) 3D Color Matrix Metering with 1,005-pixel RGB sensor; (2) Center-weighted: Weight of 75% (8mm dia. circle) given to 6, 8, 10, or 12mm dia. circle in center of frame, or weighting based on average of entire frame; (3) Spot: Meters 2.3mm dia. circle