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Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Timeline in Microsoft Word 2010

The new SmartArt feature in Word 2007 and 2010 helps you create timelines very easily:

Step 1
Choose Insert -> SmartArt -> Process and select one of the process options such as Basic Timeline and click Ok. Type the text into the textboxes in the SmartArt object. Alternately, click the arrows at the far left of the object and add text via the dialog.

Step 2
To format the timeline SmartArt, select the object and choose Format -> Design on the Ribbon and then select one of the SmartArt Styles. Click Change Colors to alter the colours used in your SmartArt object.

Step 3
From the Shape Effects list you can customise an effect such as reflection or shadow for the art. In addition, as the look of a SmartArt object is controlled by the document theme you can choose Page Layout -> Themes and select an alternate theme for your document.

Labels: how to, Microsoft Word, smart art, SmartArt, timeline, Tutorial, Word 2007, Word 2010

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:01 am2 Comments links to this post

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Photography – why you should use a polarizer

Polarizer.jpg

Using a polarizing filter on your camera’s lens ensures crisp blue skies and saturated colours even as here, when shooting into the sun.

You may have already noticed that you can encounter problems you’re capturing photos in very bright sunlight. On the beach, for example, you may find your camera exposes for the lighter areas leaving the remainder of your photograph underexposed and very dark.

In bright sunlight you can benefit from using a Polarizing Filter over the lens of your camera. These filters are obtainable for most DSLR cameras and simply screw onto the lens.

For a point and shoot camera you’ll need to determine if it can take a polarizing filter either on a bracket that screws into the camera’s tripod mount or, in some cases using a special adaptor called a tele converter that screws over the lens and that has a screw mount for the filter.

How to buy

When purchasing a polarizing filter for a digital camera you will generally want to purchase a circular polarizer. The other option is a linear polarizer – however circular polarizers are typically recommended for cameras that meter through the lens (TTL) which is what a digital SLR does.

When using your polarizing filter notice it has a marker on it that you can use as a reference point for adjusting it. Look through the viewfinder and turn the filter slowly. As you do this you will notice that the preview will change.

At some point of the rotation it may have no effect at all and at other points it will have an increasingly strong effect. Turn it until you get the effect you are looking for which is good rich color and no washed out skies. When you find the sweet spot go ahead and capture your photo.

A polarizing filter will give you better colour saturation and brighter, bluer skies. It’s also a good filter for photographing things under water from above the water surface such as a tropical reef or seaweed because it cuts out the sun’s reflection on the water surface allowing you to capture the underwater detail.

This blue sky would have been washed out if the photo had not been captured using a Polarizing filter:

Labels: better photos, how to, Photography, polarizing filter, richer color

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:41 am1 Comment links to this post

Friday, February 18th, 2011

Create Cool Spirals in Illustrator

Spiral shapes are simple to create in Illustrator using some of its built in effects.

To get started, create a new image and select the rectangle tool. Hold Shift as you drag to create a small square on the artboard. Set the stroke to around 2 pixels, set black as the stroke color and don’t apply any fill.

With the shape still selected, choose Effect > Distort & Transform > Pucker & Bloat. Enable the Preview checkbox and drag the slider to create an interesting shape. Here I dragged it to 200, which gives an interesting floral shape. Click Ok to confirm the transformation.

To create the spiral, with the shape still selected choose Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform to open the Transform Effect dialog. Enable the Preview checkbox. Set the number of copies to, for example, 75 and then experiment with various settings of the various sliders.

Changing any of the sliders will alter the shape significantly. Here I set Scale: Horizontal and Vertical to 90% so the shape gets incrementally smaller each transformation. I set the Move: Horizontal and Vertical to 72 pt so the shape moves both horizontally and vertically a small increment each transformation and the Rotate Angle to 325 degrees so each shape is rotated as it is transformed.

Once you have a shape that you like, click Ok.

If necessary, use the Selection tool to move the shape back so it sits within the artboard.

With the shape still selected, set the Stroke to a color of your choice. Select Fill and select a gradient such as the built in Green, Yellow, Orange gradient. By changing the angle of the gradient, for example, you can change the look of the filled shape.

In an up coming blog post I’ll show you more about working with Gradients in Illustrator.

Labels: gradient fill, how to, Illustrator, pucker & bloat, repeating shapes, spiral, spiral shapes, transform, Tutorial

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 6:43 am1 Comment links to this post

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

A cool resource for understanding Av and Tv

I’ve been explaining recently why you might shoot in Av (Aperture Priority) or Tv (Shutter Priority) mode.

Sometimes it can be hard to understand these things so I’ve found a cool tool you can use to see how these interact. Click here to visit the hands on simulator.

The simulator is an interactive camera that you can use online to experiment with aperture and shutter speed. You get to set the speed and the aperture and take your shot – the preview shows you what the image will look like with those settings.

Labels: aperture priority, better photos, how to, manual camera settings, shutter priority

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:09 am1 Comment links to this post

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Understand your cameras settings – Part 1 – Aperture

All digital SLRs and many point and shoots can operate in manual or semi-manual modes. If you capture most of your photos using Auto mode it’s time to look at some of the benefits you can get by switching to semi-manual operation.

With these modes you control the aperture or shutter speed and you get a chance to capture more creative photos. So how do you do this and what settings do you use? In this series, I’ll explain your camera’s Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority (Av and Tv) modes and also explain why your ISO setting is important to understand too.

If your camera can operate in manual mode you’ll have settings such as M, Av, Tv and P on your camera’s dial. The two settings we’ll focus on are Av and Tv where you set the aperture or shutter speed yourself.

What is Aperture?

This begs the question, what is aperture and what is shutter speed? Aperture is, very simply, the size of the hole through which light enters your camera. The larger the hole, the more light gets in.

Aperture is described using an f number which is calculated using a complex formula. A rough rule of thumb is to think of aperture being a fraction so an f number (often called a f-stop) of f/2.8 is bigger than f/22 for example.

Understanding aperture

Aperture not only has a direct relationship to the amount of light let in to the camera, it also affects depth of field. When you use a large aperture such as f/2.8 you will get a small depth of field so only a small distance in front and behind the point of focus in the photograph will be in sharp focus and the remainder of the image will be out of focus.

Depth of field is a creative tool that many photographers use to their advantage. For example, when photographing a beautiful flower, you’ll want the focus to be on the flower and not the things behind it. Using a large aperture such as f/2.8 throws the background out of focus. The photograph at the top of this post is an example of a large aperture and a small depth of field.

On the other hand, using a small aperture such as f/8 or f/11 gives you a large depth of field so everything in the photograph will be in focus – useful when photographing landscapes for example.

The relationship between Aperture and Shutter speed

When you set the aperture using the Av setting on the camera, the camera sets the shutter speed to an appropriate value. This is because there is a direct correlation between aperture and shutter speed.

When you use a small aperture, only a small amount of light comes into the camera so you need to compensate for this by using a slow shutter speed to ensure you capture enough light.

On the flip side, when you use a large aperture such as f/2.8, you get lots of light so the camera will set a fast shutter speed.

When you use Av mode, you’re effectively saying, I’ll set the aperture I want and you – the camera – are to adjust the other settings to give me a good picture. When you are in Av mode, there will be a dial or other option you’ll use to set the desired aperture value.

Labels: aperture, better photos, how to, ISO, manual camera settings, photography how to, shutter speed

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:52 amNo Comments links to this post

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

New Year Project – Photo flip books

I recently got asked how you make a photo flip book – you know one of those little books you flip the pages from and something happens?

Well as luck would have it those cool folks over at O’Reilly used to have a magazine called Craft! and they asked me to write an article for them on just this very topic. So, click this link and you will see how to create your very own photo flip book.

I used clips from a movie file for this flip book so there’s lots of fun for everyone involved from writing the signs to making the film and then the tech side of extracting the frames and making the book.

It’s a great snow day/rainy day project.

Labels: flip photo book, flipbook, how to, movie, Photo flip book, Tutorial

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:26 amNo Comments links to this post

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Lightening backgrounds in Lightroom

I was recently asked by photographer Rhonda Pierce to look at an image that she’d taken and to suggest how the background could be lightened to white in Lightroom.

This image raises an interesting question for anyone involved in postproduction and trying to understand when to use Lightroom and when to use Photoshop for editing.

Ultimately, if this image is to be printed at a large size then Lightroom really isn’t the tool for the job. There is too much wispy hair, particularly on the left side of the model’s face just opposite her mouth, which is cumbersome to work with in Lightroom. Selecting around the hair and doing a detailed job really isn’t possible or feasible in Lightroom. Ideally, Photoshop and a good extraction tool such as Vertus Fluid Mask would be the best combination to use.

However, if the image is not going to be printed at a large size and, for example, it’s destined for the web or if it is a preview image for a client where they’ll choose their favorite image from a series, then Lightroom is a good tool for the job. While Lightroom won’t do such a good job, it will do it very fast and, at the resolution we’ll be using the image we probably won’t see any real difference anyway. For this use, we can compromise on quality and harness the superior speed of Lightroom.

Later on, if this is the image the client chooses and if it will be printed at a large size, then we can wind back the Lightroom changes, export the image to Photoshop and do a proper job. We’ll only be spending time fixing those images that the client is actually paying for and that need a quality fix applied.

Lightening the background in Lightroom
So, assuming this image is destined for the web or for client preview purposes, let’s go back to the original question as to how the background can be lightened in Lightroom.

Any solution will require us to isolate the background. It’s not possible to lighten the background in Lightroom without affecting everything else in the image and that will destroy the rest of the image. The Adjustment Brush is the obvious solution.

Step 1
Click the Adjustment Brush in the Develop module and size Brush A so it is big enough to paint over the background. Add a small feather, and for this job, enable Auto mask so Lightroom will do most of the selection work for us. Set Density to 100.

Click and paint over the background with the brush. When you lift the brush you’ll see the Adjustment Pin. Make sure the cross hair in the middle of the brush stays on the background and then the Auto Mask feature will ensure that the brush doesn’t paint over anything but the background.

Step 2
To see the painted area, press the O key and a red overlay will appear. This makes it easier to see where you are working.

Step 3
To get the background behind the very fine hairs you might be tempted to select a very small brush and try to isolate the areas manually. However, to do the job fast, it’s more efficient to size the brush very large so the center can be positioned over an area of the background and the rest of it extends over the wispy hair area. It might help to significantly decrease the density at this point to around 30 so that you only partially select the background in the wispy hair area.

Position the brush over an area of the background so the rest of it extends over the wispy hair area and click once.

Step 4
Return to 100% density and continue to work in the other background areas making sure to avoid the wispy hair.

When the area that you want to effect are selected, press O to hide the mask.

Step 5

Now adjust the settings for the Adjustment Brush. Increase the exposure and brightness until the background is white.

Click Close to close the panel and deselect the Adjustment Brush.

Step 6
Check the wispy hair area and you’ll see that not all the grey has gone but, when viewed in context of the remainder of the image the results are acceptable.

Press the backslash key (\) to see the image before and after the fix.

Labels: Adjustment brush, background, Develop, how to, lighten, Lightroom, Tutorial

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 7:33 amNo Comments links to this post

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Plan a Family Photo Shoot

These candid photos where shot inside in front of a shawl hanging over a picture rail as mother and daughter played around and posed for the camera.

Are your memories of a family photo shoots memories of dressing up in your best clothes and sitting for hours in a hot studio blinded by the camera flash? Or were you a bridesmaid at a wedding where you endured hours of being photographed in a dress that resembled a lousy Christmas tree decoration? If so, you may not have fond feelings for photo shoots. They don’t have to be this way. With a digital camera and a sense of fun, you can turn a family photo shoot into fun for everyone.

Why digital rocks
A digital camera is a big plus at a family photo shoot – it’s so easy to get great pictures so there’s no pressure to get a perfect photo each time. If someone blinks or coughs or if your son makes donkey ears behind your daughter’s head – take another shot. You don’t have to print anything that’s not great.

Prepare well
However good a digital camera is, it can’t perform miracles! You need to prepare.

* First (and most importantly), make sure you know how your camera works. If you’re not comfortable with it, practice first until you are confident using it.

* Make sure you know how to set the delay timer if you plan to set up the camera to shoot on its own.

* Have a tripod handy to steady the camera.

Play dress ups
Organize every one’s clothes so they coordinate. A simple solution is to get everyone into a white or black T-shirt and blue jeans. Alternately, plan for clothing colors that work well together – all pastels, all darks etc.

Settle for solid colours in preference to patterns or florals.

Avoid clothes with logos on them unless there is a really good reason to wear them.

Location, Location, Location
Scout out a suitable location to use, here are some ideas:

* a local park in springtime is a good place because there are plenty of flowers to add color and there will be chairs and tables or swings and roundabouts that everyone can sit on.

* If you must shoot indoors find a room with light walls, lots of natural light and shoot on a sunny day with all the windows and blinds open.

* make sure you have an uncluttered and neutral background behind your subjects. Place people close to the light source to ensure they’re well lit.

Encouraging everyone to move in very close resulted in this photo that shows the close relationship between these siblings and their mum.

Never at night…and flash in the day
Never do a family photo shoot at night if you don’t have to – the flash will wash out the colours in everyone’s faces and the photos won’t be flattering.

On the other hand, if you’re photographing outside on a sunny day, turn your flash on (yes, On!) so it is forced to fire. When you do this, you will ensure that people’s faces aren’t marred by unsightly shadows.

Let kids be kids
If young kids insist on taking their favourite doll or toy with them, all the better – they will be more comfortable if they have familiar items around them.

When shooting, spend time with each child and take a series of photos of them by themselves (with and without the toy).

Although shy at first, this youngster soon warmed up to the task of being photographed as these pictures show.

Pair up the children too and take photos of them interacting with each other. Provided you have plenty of storage on your camera’s card, shoot lots of pictures taking time out occasionally to make sure they are focused and framed attractively.

If you’re shooting active young children, put your camera onto sports mode to speed up the shots so you freeze the action and don’t get out of focus pictures.

Enlist the help of a friend to look after the younger children while you take photos of the older ones. If that friend is also able to use the camera, he or she can take photos of all the family together.

When photographing a baby, have one parent hold the child and then photograph up close.

If your make your shoot fun and if everybody is laughing and enjoying themselves, you will get some wonderful candid shots that show your family as they really are.

Don’t forget to take plenty of photos – any empty space on your memory card at the end of the day is a wasted opportunity.

Labels: family photo shoot, how to, location

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:27 pmNo Comments links to this post

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Tags in Twitter – why and how to use hashtags

One issue with Twitter is that there can be things happening in Tweets that you’d be interested in reading but which you may not know about. So, for example, people you don’t follow may be talking about subjects of interest to you or, as happened to me this week, I was at Photoshop World and I wanted to read other people’s tweets from the conference although I may not choose to follow those folk on a more permanent basis.

So, when you want to share information relating to a particular and discrete topic you can use hashtags. Hashtags were, so far as I can understand, first supported via a website called hashtags.org. Provided you add hashtags to your Twitter posts and you Follow hashtags on Twitter, hashtags.org tracks the tweets that you post that have hashtags in them and makes them easy to find. A hashtag is simply the hash character (#) put in front of a tag name.

So, for example, at Photoshop World in Las Vegas, the tag #psworld was used to discuss things relating to the conference by attendees using Twitter. By following hashtags, any posts that you created that had the #psworld tag in them would be tracked automatically by hashtags.org and could be viewed on that site or followed using an RSS feed. However, it seems that although this should work in theory, it didn’t in practice and still the #psworld tag doesn’t appear in hashtags.

The simpler solution is to use Twitter itself to show you the tags. Simply visit http://search.twitter.com and in the search field type the tag you want to follow, for example #psworld and click Search. Now you’ll see all the tweets which include that tag. You can also grab a RSS feed for this query by clicking the RSS button in the search window.

When you track the hashtag information on either Twitter or Hashtags.org you can read tweets posted by anyone using that tag whether or not they are someone you typically follow. Of course, if you find someone posting regularly using a tag that you’re interested in then you can click their icon to see who they are and to follow them if desired.

So, here’s what I suggest:

1 Follow hashtags on Twitter (optional since its performance seems to be erratic)

2 Add #tag_name to your Twitter posts

3 Use search.twitter.com to find and read other’s posts on a particular topic.

4 If you’re attending a conference or tradeshow, try to find the hashtags used by other attendees so you can keep in touch with what’s happening.

Labels: groups, hashtags, how to, tagging, tags, Twitter, twitter.com

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 2:00 amNo Comments links to this post

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Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Timeline in Microsoft Word 2010

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Photography – why you should use a polarizer

How to buy

Friday, February 18th, 2011

Create Cool Spirals in Illustrator

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

A cool resource for understanding Av and Tv

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Understand your cameras settings – Part 1 – Aperture

What is Aperture?

Understanding aperture

The relationship between Aperture and Shutter speed

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

New Year Project – Photo flip books

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Lightening backgrounds in Lightroom

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Plan a Family Photo Shoot

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Tags in Twitter – why and how to use hashtags