Basic Digital Photo Editing Ideas
It is no good just using your digital camera ‘as is’ if you want to have some fun with the shots. Take advantage of simple (or powerful) photo editing software to fix up your photos that have some minor problems or even make an ok photo look fantastic. The following tips will give you an idea of what you can achieve with some basic photo editing. With a little bit of practice you will begin producing amazing digital photography from any camera: Sony, Canon or Olympus digital cameras.
Below we look at a few common problems and how you can fix them with basic computer software:
- Removing red eye
- Cropping an image
- Basic airbrushing techniques
- Automatic photo enhancement
Removing Red Eye
Red eye is when a subjects eyes appear as red dots in a photo and are caused by a cameras flash. Many modern cameras now come with ‘red eye reduction’ which will cause a flash to do a ‘pre-flash’ preparing a subjects eyes for the shot. Even though your camera may feature this technology you can still remove red eye very easily from new and old images.
The first step is finding either software that came with your camera, purchased photo editing software or free software. Photo editing software will usually have an automatic red eye removal feature and the most you will have to do is click on the eyes of the affected subject and the software does the rest. Or, you can also use imaging software to manually adjust the pupils to black and blend with the eye.
Cropping Your Image
Sometimes an image looks great but might have an odd arm or other unwanted intruder in the side of the frame. This can be overcome by cropping an image and this used to be done manually by cutting the image (usually with a guillotine) or adjusting the image before exposure to photo paper. These days digital photos are quick to crop and the most basic of image editors will allow you to do this.
Before you crop check the size of the image you may want to print as it may affect how you crop. Then drag the selection tool over the photo leaving out the areas of the photo you no longer want. It is then a simple task of hitting the crop button.
Basic Airbrushing
Airbrushing is the technique that you will see in many advertisements as well as magazines that has models looking almost too perfect. This will usually require something along the lines of Adobe Photoshop to achieve. Using both the ‘blur’ and blend tools (and ‘repair’) you can work through misplaced hair and any blemishes on the skin.
The best way to think of it is the same as when someone applies make-up. You need to ‘rub’ the cursor over the subjects problem areas so that they blend in with the surrounding skin. Using the blend tool is best for this as it will select a ‘good’ section of skin and blend this over the problem areas. This is also useful for removing wrinkles or any darkness under the eyes.
Photo Enhancement
While we all want to take perfect photos with the first shot this is not always the case. There may be something only slightly wrong with your image that makes it less than perfect. This is where automatic filters on image editors can really enhance a photo. Common filters will fix contrast problems, white balance as well as bring out more colour in your photo whilst also correcting it.
