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A report on

Backdropsand Props

Roy BarkerRoy Barker

Table of Contents

Tips On Photography Backgrounds And Props 3Accents and Props – Added Touches 4

A Photographer’s Guide to Image Editing Software 6

Manipulation, Touch Ups & Photoshop Made So Easy 8

Editing Images In Photoshop 11Brightness 11Midtones 11From Color to Black and White 12

Palettes for digital photos: RGB, CMYK, and HSV – new 13

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Tips On Photography Backgrounds And Props

Pictures eternalize those very memorable moments shared with your loved ones. Taking pictures is not just all about clicking that button and smiling at the camera. There are many things to consider in order to get the perfect shot.

Backgrounds and props as well as the people’s attitudes and expressions should be appropriate for the picture. As the photographer, it is up to you to arrange these things so that you can capture the best possible portrait. It will be up to you how the outcome will be so you have to be extra careful in thinking about and applying these factors.

What’s that behind you?

The backgrounds that you will use should not take the attention away from the person or people you are shooting. It should be something that will create an aura or mood without changing the atmosphere of your portraits.

Before the onset of digital photography, muslin was the most common backdrop material. This is especially true for school pictures such as yearbooks. Muslin limits creativity though. The dull colors and design attract the eyes of viewers into the subject but it does not give you much of a choice. And, the problem with muslin is, if the subject is wearing the same color as the backdrop! That would spell disaster.

Here are some tips you have to consider:

● The background color should be not too bright. It would be really disastrous to have neon

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colors and complicated designs that make you dizzy like an optical illusion!● Know what objects in the background should be or not be included. An antique, intricate

statue studded with gems will take the attention away from subjects and ruin that once in a lifetime family reunion.

● Choose the right background for the occasion. It would be very inappropriate to have beach background if you are having a birthday party, right? Of course, use your better judgment. Wedding photos can have backgrounds embracing romantic places and sunset settings. It is up to you and your subjects.

There are more tips in the category photo manipulation on this site.

As technology advanced, the world of photography has been greatly improved as well. The possibilities of digital photography are boundless when it comes to backgrounds. You can shoot your subjects in a plain white background then add the setting afterwards. With a great variety of backgrounds to choose from, you can take them around the world or better still, rent them.

Accents and Props – Added TouchesThe use of props has started since the early days of photography. You might see flowers and fruits as props in old photos. Then it evolved into something that depicts a certain place or event. Pastoral photography has been a trend in the early times and the use of shepherds clothing and crooks and even live sheep had been utilized to make the scenery look real.

For today’s photography, there are some points that I would like to suggest to you when using props.

1. Appropriate props should be used for the right atmosphere. Be selective and think about

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it.2. The colors should not be contrasting with the background although there are some

situations that might use a splash of color. Enough to accent the portrait without attracting too much attention away from the subject.

3. Seasonal props will greatly add to the atmosphere of the holiday such as Santa hats and Easter eggs.

4. Use age appropriate props. Do not use cartoon characters since these become outdated through time.

Props used in family portraits are part of the background such as a fence or gazebo. When you admire a good shot, you do not only see the smiles but the added touches as well.

So, I hope these tips are of assistance to you when capturing those moments that are special and memorable. If you’re determined to make good in this area then make sure you investigate these rare tips and techniques on photo backdrops, digital templates and more here in plain English for you to use to your own advantage. The guidance Video is perhaps the best I’ve seen so far.

Note: Watch the Video and make your own mind up …it makes photography life as easy as pie! ..well easier anyway!

If you use the links (above) and the website is empty then the offer is closed.

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A Photographer’s Guide to Image Editing Software

Once upon a time, Photoshop ruled the roost of image editing software. However, Adobe’s, Incorporated (what some say) inflated prices and callous disregard of its user-base has created a backlash. While the lion’s share of photo image editing work – particularly in the professional sphere – still happens on an Adobe product, many image artists are beginning to explore alternative software as well. In most cases, the software was already out there before Photoshop was invented. Having said all that, many swear by Photoshop (I often use it too) and use it for unique work or projects. You can see Photoshop here.

The Gimp – If you ask for an alternative to Photoshop, this is most commonly the answer you’ll get. This is misleading, because the Gimp was never intended to compete with Photoshop, and in fact the development team frankly says on their home page that they’re sick and tired of being compared to Photoshop. “Gimp” stands for “GNU Image Manipulation Program” and it is a general-purpose graphics software package. Being a member of the GNU software application family, it is licensed to the general public and is not only free to download, but free to modify and redistribute as well. In capable hands, Gimp is an exceptional tool; a master user can match everything Photoshop can do down to the last pixel and do more besides. But its interface is very different from Photoshop, and its plugins do similar things under different names and methods. In short, do not come to the Gimp expecting a Photoshop clone, because you will be disappointed and deservedly so. That would be like if you moved to China and expected them to speak English, watch football, and eat hamburgers. There is a huge degree of animosity between Adobe and GNU over this, perhaps the biggest rift in all of computing, so tread lightly when discussing it online. It is so popular now that you can even find extremely helpful guides to show you how to use it expertly in a short period. This blatant affiliate link takes you to a special Gimp guide I like (see the exhaustive list of subject matter

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there).

CinePaint – You’ll be surprised to learn that Hollywood movie studios do not use Photoshop – at all! They instead use CinePaint. CinePaint is a free open-source program which is not only used by movie production studios, but is partly developed by them as well. The tool is of course very sophisticated, and started out as a fork from the Gimp project, but has since gone its own way. The interface on it will seem quite outdated, however. This program takes a learning curve.

Corel Photo-Paint – Corel was once the leader in graphics editing software, before Adobe even came along. Photo-Paint, as its name suggests, is indeed intended to be a competitor to Photoshop. It sees much use in the freelance artist field and small businesses. It is also substantially cheaper that Photoshop. It can even use Photoshop plug-ins. Its interface is also different from Photoshop’s, but many users find it easier to learn.

Picasa – Acquired recently by our friends at Google, Picasa is a commercial freeware application which is more of an album manager with some image-editing capabilities. However, for basic tasks it is very smooth to learn and use, and is free to download and use and runs almost anywhere. It does have some filter effects and simple functions for image manipulation. This is largely targeted at the non-professional home user.

Paint.NET – This is an open-source drop-in replacement for Microsoft Windows Paint. However, it has capabilities above and beyond standard platform image software. It is actually more comparable to the Gimp that anything else, but its interface is a little easier to learn and use. Paint.NET has a large feature set and is powerful enough for daily photography use, but has not seen a great deal of uptake amongst the professional sector just yet.

Special Note: Good results with digital backdrops, backgrounds and image editing are often more easily achieved with step by step guidance rather than trying to absorb too much in one go. Why? Because you don’t want to get overwhelmed - like I do when I see food

If this takes your interest and you want to try it, this link takes you to a valuable tutorial Video you should watch.7

Manipulation, Touch Ups & Photoshop Made So Easy

A Review of Photoshop Tutorials – I have been asked too may times if I knew of any photoshop guides especially good ones… well here they are. Some of these photoshop tutorials have just been released at the time of writing hence this post…

This latest posting is an eye opener, stuff you should know even if you’ve already got a photo management program, or know a lot about them. You should know what’s out there and what’s just been released. I learned a few things just from reading the introduction pages on these!

You may be already be aware that I for one, stick with photoshop, mainly because it can do just about anything plus things I haven’t learned to do yet! Here are some pretty good options for you to consider but it will depend on what level you’re at as to which one to download. Don’t just rush in, read the ones you feel are most relevant to your situation and THEN make a decision. If you want a good price on Photoshop and would like to trial it before buying, go here.

These are currently the best tutorials available.

This one is more for the newbies and is very, VERY easy to use. It allows you to create digital backgrounds with Photoshop and present studio quality portraits from your living-room. It has free bonuses that you can use with your business and they are truly relative and help with creativity.

It truly is a good deal I think, mainly because you get an EXTRA guide called the Photoshop Guide for Newbies – so in other words, 2 guides plus the bonuses all for $47 and the 56 days guarantee

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Instant Access To Photoshop for Newbies

……………………………………………….

This one allows you to master the basics of Adobe Photoshop In under 2 hours with easy to follow instantly accessible online video tutorials and it IS easy to follow!

You need to sign up but don’t let that phase you because you can unsubscribe at any time and they do send you some freebies that are useful.

The author is David Peters who is well known and extremely experienced. This is highly recommended and favoured by most. There are sample video tips and tricks for newbies.

It’s aimed at newbies to intermediate level. It is currently the most popular.

It has 56 days guarantee and is $97

Instant Access To Newbies to intermediate level

and now for the advanced users…

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Photoshop Companion (industrial strength)

This is what it infers – for the more advanced user of Photoshop. You’ll see that it’s good value for money but I would venture here ONLY if I had some experience with Photoshop already. The author is well known internationally.

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56 days guarantee less than $30.00

Industrial Strength Photoshop

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If you want to read up a little more before getting the one you want, you can read this article on my site at -

Manipulation for Digital Photography

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Editing Images In Photoshop

If you are familiar with Photoshop you may all ready know the basic functions of the tool palette items and some of the other commands. If you are just beginning to use the software package and want to use it simply to clean up or lightly alter your own photographs there are a few basic functions that you should take the time to learn and explore.

BrightnessEven a severely underexposed photograph can be salvaged when it is adjusted in the Photoshop program. Most cameras are set to record their photographs in the JPG format, but if you don't mind a bit of a longer wait between photographs, setting the record format in RAW will allow complete control of your photographic final results. Photoshop software really loves to work with RAW images as opposed to the JPG and this is the main reason to save them in that format.

If your image is underexposed simply open it in your Photoshop software, from the menu tab select Image, then Adjust, and finally Brightness-Contrast where a slider feature will allow you to manually adjust the images. Unfortunately this may affect the overall quality of the image, and the contrast feature can then be adjusted to compensate. This is modified in the same manner as the brightness.

MidtonesPhotoshop also allows a photographer to access and adjust midtone variations of color. Because the files are saved in RGB formats and adjustment to midtones is available in those ranges as well as in a lighten or darken

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mode. A user simply selects Enhance from the top menu bar, then Adjust Color, and selects the Midtones option on the dialogue screen. The image is previewed throughout the adjustment selection period.

From Color to Black and WhiteThough Photoshop does allow a photo to be changed from color to black and white by utilizing the Image/Mode/Grayscale command sequence the end result is usually a flat image where white and gray objects are the same shade. A much better result can be had by using the Channel Mixer. Simply open the Layers window, and then select the Channel Mixer. This feature allows the user to apply various filters to impact red, blue and green colorations in the image. For example adding a blue filter to a bright outdoor scene makes the blue sky even brighter. Each image is different, but using the Channel Mixer to create a black and white picture will allow contrast and depth to remain in the image where a grayscale conversion would remove it completely.

This of course is just some of the tips required to master Photoshop. If you’re inquisitive or creatively minded, you’ll take great enjoyment and learn more techniques from Amy Renfrey’s guide on digital photography success . What will it do? It will help make your results in photography climb to professional levels and create those extraordinary shots that people stare at for ages. I want you to at least glean through the introduction page so you can see the benefits for yourself.

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Palettes for digital photos: RGB, CMYK, and HSV – new

Imagine drawing a picture using only dots. If you look very closely at a digital photo, you will see that this is exactly the case; the image is made up of millions of tiny pixels. Each pixel has just the right color and intensity to create the desired image when combined with all the other pixels. This is true of any digital picture, whether it be on your computer screen or printed on paper.

To get the right color, a pixel uses a combination of three or four base colors. Thousands of colors can be produced by combining these colors in different ways. The configurations discussed here are the most common choices for the base colors.

Red, Green, and Blue (or RGB) is the most commonly used color format because it is based on the primary colors you learned in

grade school. (You may have had yellow in your first-grade crayon box, but green is actually the third primary color.) RGB colors are sufficiently different from each other that any other color can be made by mixing them. Computer screens often use the RGB format; each pixel emits a combination of red, green, and blue light. RGB is therefore an “active format,” or a color scheme created by mixing light.

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (or CMYK) is another common color configuration. Instead of the primary colors (RGB), the complementary colors (cyan, yellow, and magenta) are used. Again, these colors are different enough that they can be combined into any other color. The most difficult color to make by combining other colors is black. For this reason, CMYK pixels also have a black component known as the “key” (the ‘K’ in CMYK). Most printed work uses the CMYK format, accounting for the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black cartridges in your computer printer. Instead of producing light, the images are formed by mixing ink. For this reason CMYK is known as a “passive format” instead of an active one.

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Hue, Saturation, and Value (or HSV) works differently from the other configurations. In this format, each color is described by its hue, saturation, and value. Hue specifies the color of a pixel, while saturation determines the shade of that color. For example, a color with low saturation appears light and faded, while a pure, distinct color has a high saturation. The brightness of the color is determined by the value, or intensity. A very bright color has a high value, while a dim color has a low value. These qualities are independent; any hue can take on several different saturations and values.

The HSV format is very commonly used in photo editing software, mostly because it describes colors using the same descriptors a human would use. Here’s an article on Photoshop for beginners. It is much easier for a person to choose a color using its color, shade, and brightness (HSV) than by specifying the percentages of red, green, and blue (RBG) or yellow, cyan, and magenta (CMYK).

While RGB is by far the most popular choice for digital images, it should be noted that any color can be described in any of these formats. Each color is represented by percentages of the base colors, and can be mathematically converted from one color system to another. As you have seen, some formats are particularly suited for certain applications. Conversion between these systems allows the image you have edited with HSV software on your RGB computer screen to be printed on your CMYK printer!

You can also gain much more technical photography knowledge from Digital Photography Secrets. They’ll probably ask you to sign up, that’s OK though because you can unsubscribe straight away if you’re not happy. Moreover, it is full of researched and valuable information – I think you’ll be pleased. I know the owner and he’s a straight up person.

If you just learned one thing from this report then you're ahead.

...stay focused

Roy Barker

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