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Digital
imaging - Getting to grips with concepts
by
Gordon Beddis
Reproduced
from in focus 66 (October
1999)
See
also: COMPUTERS
: SCANNERS & PRINTERS
: FINE TUNING
by
Gordon Beddis
and
DIGITAL
SLIDE SCANNERS & SCANNING by Brian Pitkin
Nearly
every photographer I have spoken to recently seems apprehensive
about Digital Imaging, most see it as a direct threat to their
photographic art.
Digital
cameras at this time produce good quality images that can
be downloaded directly on to your PC, but as yet not the quality
of modern slide film. It is getting there, as the march of
technology increases, so prices drop. I was intrigued to see
Nikon release the new D1 digital camera: it looks and views
like a 35mm SLR, as well as taking most of the lens'range.
It won't be long before someone puts one in housing.
Good
images
I
have spent many hours working on a below average picture that
I thought I could make into a winner, only to end up with
an average picture. So we need good images in the first place
to use on our computers and it has to be said if we take good
enough pictures, why then do we need to digitally enhance
them anyway? Well the truth is you don't, you can just scan
and print. That is, if you can produce the good photographs
in the first place! The reality is that most underwater photographers
are never entirely happy with their work. How often have you
missed the highlight in the fish's eye? In the past you would
make a very small hole in the slide on the fish's eye, so
that the light came though when projected. What about the
dreaded backscatter? You would have to spend a long time spotting
them out with paint or felt tip pen!
Digital
Printing
Most
photographers produce straight or little altered work from
scanned images for portfolio and competitions. What then is
all the fuss and hype about, I hear you say? People think
that you can make a great picture from a very bad one and
that any twit with a computer can do it. In my view you need
the knowledge and skill to produce quality prints on a consistent
basis.
Digital
Enhance
This
term applies to the same enhancements that con be made via
normal processing, they tend to be subtle in their application
and generally considered acceptable for competition work.
1.
Hue and Saturation - shifting the colour within the colour
range.
2.
Colour Enhance - making a colour more/less vivid.
3.
Contrast - adjustments to make parts of the picture stand
out.
4.
Dodge and Burn - making parts of the image darker or lighter.
5.
Small alterations in pixel - e.g. highlights and backscatter
removal.
6.
Cropping - zooming in on one part to make a better composition.
These
should be applied to the one image (no multiple images) and
should be owned by the photographer presenting the image.
A
small rule of KISS applies here, that is, KEEP IT SIMPLE (STUPID).
Do not over-cook the application of enhancements and I believe
you will end up with a more pleasing result.
Make
something you con show people, they will admire your work.
Then, you hit them with "It's a digital print you know!"
What a good feeling when they ore not sure, so remember, be
subtle.
Digital
Manipulation
Any
thing goes, you are only limited by your imagination, but
I have listed a few of more of the common techniques used.
1.
Cloning - copying pixels of one item to create an identical
one in a different part of the picture.
2.
Filters - too numerous to mention (my favourite is Lighting
Effects).
3.
Background/foreground change.
4.
Montage - blending more then one photograph.
5.
Cut and Poste.
The
sky's the limit but think about every change very carefully,
save your work often under new fi le names so you con go back
when you mess it up.
I
got into this to produce prints, faster than by normal processing
and so the irreplaceable film never went out of my possession.
For that reason I also process my own film.
More
detaiIs and maybe some "before and after' photo's next
time?
See
also: COMPUTERS
: SCANNERS & PRINTERS
: FINE TUNING
by
Gordon Beddis
and
DIGITAL
SLIDE SCANNERS & SCANNING by Brian Pitkin
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