Creating a panoramic image using Photomerge

Large printed panoramic images are amazing. The days of spending hours manually blending and combing your photos are over. Photomerge is a powerful tool available in Photoshop CS4 that will do just as advertised, merge your photos together in a matter of seconds. This tutorial posted by Jay Kinhorn on Layers Magazine gives a great overview on how to use the action and get the best result. I really like his tip about zooming in and making sure your seams do not have any soft spots or aberrations, those are very apparent when printed large.

Photoshop CS4 Photomerge

In the new CS4, there are some minor improvements to the Photomerge function, including the new collage option. Jay Kinghorn goes over the different ways of bringing your images into photomerge, the layout options, and some quick tips for creating better quality panoramas.

Imaging USA Convention & Expo this weekend

The PPA, SEPCON, EPIC, and CPI jointly are hosting Imaging USA Convention and Expo this year right here in Phoenix. Besides the numerous educational classes that they offer, they are also holding one of the largest photo industry tradeshows of the year. Over 223,000 square feet of floorspace will be dedicated to the event at the newly re-built Phoenix Convention Center. Classes start tomorrow, and the Imaging Expo tradeshow starts on Sunday. The entire event runs through Tuesday January 13th. World-renowned photographer Anne Geddes will be giving the keynote talk on the evening of January 12th.

There is still time to sign up if you would like to see the latest and greatest in photo world. Hope to see you there!

We're not just serious about photography; we're serious about your business. Start your year off right at Imaging USA - it's the best place for you to ignite the energy and passion for doing what you love, while learning how to grow your business, push the boundaries, and gain an edge over the competition. Don't miss:

• An Evening with Anne Geddes
• Unbeatable Pre-Convention Classes
• World-Class Instructors, 5 Program Tracks + 3 Conferences
• 223,000 sq. ft. Tradeshow

Take better pictures with your phone

Many people have already converted to one unit for all their audio and visual communication needs. Cameraphones have improved dramatically over the past couple of years. Companies consistently add cameras with larger megapixels and better lenses to their latest models. I recently saw an image by an amateur astronomer of Jupiter taken with an iPhone. Granted, it is not the most detailed shot, but still a big leap for the capabilities of a cameraphone.

If your phone has also become your camera Photo Industry Reporter has some tips on how to capture better shots.

10 Tips for Taking Better Cameraphone Photos:

Middletown, CT— Wireless Zone reports that cameraphones are increasingly becoming the picture-taking device of choice. According to a recently published study, the company says about 1 in 5 consumers already use a cameraphone as their primary camera.

Mark Asnes, vice president and COO of Wireless Zone (wirelesszone.com), shared some wireless wisdom that can help consumers take better cameraphone pictures.

1. Good lighting is key. The ideal is natural light, but you can still get good results inside by turning on a few lights.

2. Adjust the white balance. Select your setting based on the type of lighting. If the lighting is mixed, stick with the auto setting.

3. Just say no to digital zoom. The picture quality will be reduced drastically. Optical zoom is OK if the phone has it.

4. Get ready for your close-up. In place of digital zoom, get the cameraphone closer to whatever you’re taking a picture of.

5. Stay very, very still. To prevent blurring, hold the cameraphone with both hands and brace your arms against your sides or lean your elbows on a stable object.

6. Get accustomed to the shutter lag. For better timing, get a feel for how long it takes between the moment you press the button and the moment the picture is captured.

7. Don’t get trigger-happy with the delete button. An image that looks grainy on your phone could look just fine on your computer screen.

8. A clean lens takes clean pictures. Use a glasses or lens cleaning cloth to avoid scratching the lens.

9. Turn up the resolution unless the sole purpose is for picture messaging.

10. If at first you don’t succeed . . . just keep experimenting with different angles, lighting and settings.

Photoshop classes for photographers

Scott Condray of Visualville teaches Photoshop classes specifically designed for photographers. Since Photoshop is such a complex software, many new users become overwhelmed and do not know where to begin. Scott focuses on the tools that are specific to image editing. He keeps his class sizes small to ensure that every student fully grasps each session. Past students have told me they learned a great deal from Scott's instruction.

Scott has a 5 week course starting next Tuesday night, with spots still available. You can go to the Visualville's website for more information on how you can attend.

Our classes are designed for photographers, but are not limited to photographers. They are open to all who need to learn how to incorporate the power of this amazing software into their creative process.

• All of our classes are designed to meet the needs of photographers, both professional and amateur.
• Each class is designed to introduce students to key features of the program that can benefit both their creativity and productivity.

• Students learn at their own Visualville computer . In person instruction is supported by a class workbook of step by step exercises, and real world example images.

Correct barrel distortion with Fisheye-Hemi

Image Trends recently released their Fisheye-Hemi plug in for Aperture 2.1 (Apple's photo-editing software). The plug in helps you correct barrel distortion created when shooting with a fish eye lens. Mac users who would like to purchase the plug-in for both Photoshop and Aperture, or customers who already own the Photoshop plug in and would now like to add the Aperture plug-in, will receive a 50% discount on the second copy.

The plug in is also available for Windows users.

For more about Image Trends and another of their great products, PearlyWhites, you can read one of our earlier posts here.

Fisheye-Hemi is a set of plug-in filters for Photoshop, Photoshop plug-in compatible applications, and Apple Aperture which provide correction for hemispheric fisheye lens distortion.
Fisheye Hemispheric lenses in the hands of a photographer provide an expanded view of the world across approximately a 180 degree diagonal field. Until now, the primary option available to the photographer was to render these fisheye images using rectilinear mapping techniques. These methods have many drawbacks, such as distortion of people near the perimeter and loss of resolution and data. Although the image is similar to what is seen by the eye, printed, the images appear distorted.

Tips for shooting fireworks

Tomorrow is July 4th. From coast to coast there will be fireworks displays to commemorate our nation's 232nd birthday. If you are planning on bringing your camera along with you to catch one of the shows, here are some great resources with tips on how to get the perfect fireworks shot.

Smithsonian Photographers (like Nicholas Parrella whose image is seen here) share their experiences and offer some technical notes on what lens and exposure settings they used to get their shots.

DPhoto Journal offers a check list of things needed to position yourself for the best shot.

1. You must arrive early

This is the first important thing to do if you want to get the best spot in the venue. It is even better if you spend some times to scout the location and have a little talk to the event crews to determine where the fireworks will be launched. Once you’ve got all the information needed, try to position yourself wisely. Find a clear, unobstructed view that meets your compositional requirements based on the terrain. Also try to find a place where people won’t be able to wondering around in front of the camera or worse kicking your tripod in the mid-exposure

TFC - The Fireworks Channel is all things fireworks. Not only for the 4th of July, but also New Year's Eve, carnivals, and celebrations all around the world. They also have their own list of tips on how to get the best shot.

Most of all enjoy yourself and have a safe and happy holiday!