Quick Photo tips

Zoom in and out in Photoshop

rodlawton — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:25:55 +0000

Everyone knows you select the zoom tool and click to zoom in on an image in Photoshop or Elements, but did you know you can alt-click to zoom out again? There are quicker ways to zoom in and out, though. To fit the image to the screen, press command/ctrl-0 (zero), to zoom in to 100% magnification, press alt-crl-0.

Zoom lens

rodlawton — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:12:00 +0000

A lens with a variable focal length or angle of view. You can ‘zoom’ in or out to take telephoto or wideangle shots. This type of lens is an ‘optical’ zoom. Some digital cameras also have ‘digital’ zooms. These are not the same. They work by enlarging a central section of the image, and the quality is reduced.

Zoom tool

rodlawton — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:12:00 +0000

Used in Photoshop to check fine detail.

xD Picture card

rodlawton — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:11:00 +0000

Smallest and newest memory card format. Used by Olympus and Fujifilm in their digital cameras, but by no-one else.

Yellow filter

rodlawton — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:11:00 +0000

Enhances skies and landscapes in mono shots. Back and white film is ‘panchromatic’ – it’s sensitive to all colours. A yellow filter will block a lot of blue light, making blue skies come out darker on the film, but it will let through the yellow and most of the green in a scene so that foliage and vegetation is largely unaffected.

Wireless (WiFi)

rodlawton — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:09:00 +0000

Cable-free connection between photo equipment. Wireless technology is used extensively in digital photography. Many cameras can be operated with optional ‘wireless remotes’, some can transmit pictures wirelessly to printers or even over the Internet to other computers, and some cameras can be used with wireless flash systems, where several flashguns can be used at the same time without the need for cables.

Widescreen

rodlawton — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:08:00 +0000

This is an aspect ratio offered by some cameras and monitors and it’s the same aspect ratio as widescreen TVs. It’s also described as ’16:9′ ratio, because that’s the ratio of the picture’s width to its height.

This ratio suits some subjects perfectly, and it’s been used for this picture of a town in Northern Italy. However, as yet ‘widescreen’ photo papers aren’t widely available, so if you want a widescreen print you’ll probably have to cut a larger sheet down to size.

Windows

rodlawton — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:08:00 +0000

Operating system for PCs.

White point

rodlawton — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:07:00 +0000

Part of an image that corresponds to a full, neutral white. White point adjustment is often used to correct colour casts in photos. You identify an area in the image that ought to be a neutral (colourless) tone, then click on it with the eyedropper.

Wideangle lens

rodlawton — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:07:00 +0000

This is a lens which captures a wider angle of view that normal or, in the case of a zoom, one which has a ‘wideangle’ view at its shortest focal length. Most compact digital cameras only zoom out to the equivalent of a 35mm, which doesn’t in fact give a particularly ‘wide’ view. Digital SLRs are much better, coming with zooms with a 28mm minimum focal length. Many better compacts come with ’28mm’ or wider zooms now, in fact.

Digital SLR owners, though, can go a step further with ‘super-wideangle’ lenses. This is a broad definition, but it’s generally taken to mean anything wider than 24mm equivalent. This picture, taken inside Wells Cathedral, was shot using a 14mm lens, which is about the widest lens available unless you resort to a fisheye design.

Wideangle and super-wideangle lenses are extremely useful for dramatic perspective effects, panoramic landscape shots, architecture and interiors. Many photographers choose a telephoto as their ‘second’ lens soon after they buy a digital SLR, but a super-wideangle lens would probably give them more scope.