Peg Owens, Idaho Tourism

PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

After maps, photos are the top pages requested on visitidaho.org.

GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY SELLS DESTINATIONS.

BAD PHOTOGRAPHY DISCOURAGES CUSTOMERS.

Today:

• Digital cameras

• Photo Tips and Techniques

• Digital Editing – Software & Online

• Idaho Tourism Photo Library

DID YOU KNOW?

• Digital Cameras

• Most Important Rule in Photography

• Lighting

• Composition

• Techniques & Tips

Horseback Riding in Sun ValleyJet Boat Trip into Hells CanyonPayette Lake Sunrise

“You don't take a photograph, you make it.”

Ansel Adams

Is it the camera or the photographer?

“ . . . your work becomes a dance with light and the weather. “

Annie Leibovitz

A FEW WORDS FROM THE MASTERS . . .

• Choosing a digital camera

• Megapixels, point & shoot, digital SLRs

• Prices are coming down

• Megapixels are going up

• What is a megapixel, anyway?

DIGITAL CAMERAS

• A megapixel is one million pixels.

• 28 MB file is 28,000,000 pixels.

• Pixel is short for PICture Element.

• Smallest single component of an image – a square of color.

• Higher megapixel # = larger enlargements (to a point).

• The higher the megapixels the higher the cost of the camera.

• When buying a digital camera, consider the use of the photos.

• There are no rules.

Well, there are guidelines . . .

“My first thought is always of light.”

Galen Rowell

Last Light on Horsetail Falls, Yosemite

Cloud over Owens River, Eastern Sierra

Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth and you will know the key to photography.

George Eastman, founder of Kodak

Teton River White Pine BywayPayette Lake

Rose Lake

Early Morning Light

Boulder Mountains

Lake Coeur d’Alene

Perrine Bridge

Late Afternoon Light

City of Rocks

Wildflowers Clark Fork

Henrys Fork of the Snake River

• What are you really photographing?

• Rule of thirds

• Look for patterns in nature

• Peruse the whole image; anything strange?

• Be imaginative with groups

“Of what use are lens and light to those who lack in mind and sight?” Anonymous

What are you really photographing?

Watch your backgrounds!

The rule of thirds in design.

Which images pull you in more?

• Of course, the rule of thirds can also be broken to great effect.

Symmetry can work, too.

When photographing people, find different angles or ways of showing personality.

• Never take just one. Vary your angles, move over, zoom in, wait for it.

• Don’t just shoot horizontals, shoot verticals, too.

• Change your point of view: climb up, squat down, frame a person thru doorway.

• Check that background for unwanted things. Move if you have to.

• Un-clutter your images; go in closer. Be clear what or who your subject is.

• Overcast days can work out fine, except for very wide landscapes.

• Clouds can add dimension. Best lighting is often at sunrise or sunset - “Golden Hour” - but there are exceptions, like canyons.

• Don’t be afraid of backlighting with flash fill.

• Learn from others; you can find lots of photography (good & bad) on Flickr, Photobucket.

• Learn how to process your images with editing software. Digital cameras great but not perfect.

• Even a fairly simple program can help you fix what wasn’t quite right.

• Experiment on copies so you don’t ruin the originals.

Coeur d’Alene River

Sunrise, Payette Lake

Massacre RocksLumpkins, Silver Lake

Ron GardnerRedfish Lake

Snake River, Twin FallsSnake River, Hells Canyon

DIGITAL EDITING:• Review photos and trash the lesser quality ones.

• Keep well-organized – by date, subject or occasion.

• Name your files – i.e. SnakeR1.jpg; SkiSV1.jpg

• FREQUENTLY backup on an external drive.

• Shoot & keep files in high resolution. You never know when you might want to print them.

• Print: 300 dpi or better. Web: 72 dpi.

• Experiment with copies of files, not the originals.

• Don’t trust any online storage; businesses come and go. Use but don’t rely on them for your only storage.

DIGITAL EDITING SOFTWARE:• Adobe Photoshop $700 Pro

• Adobe Photoshop Elements $100 4 out of 4

• Corel Paint Shop Pro $80 3.5

• Serif Photo Plus $80 3.5

• Ulead PhotoImpact $70 3

• ACDSee Photo Editor $50 3

• Photo Explosion $50 3

• Roxio PhotoShow $40 3

Free online editing:

• FotoFlexer Splashup

• Picnik Phixr

DIGITAL EDITING TIPS:• Start with a good photo. Software doesn’t work miracles.

• Until you master the program, work on a duplicate photo and save the original file just in case.

• Learn the “Select” tools & how you can vary them.

• Adjust lighting first. Brightness/contrast. Dodge/burn. Saturation. Highlights/shadows. Work in small increments on just the parts that need help.

•Less is more. Just a little enhancement in brightness & contrast or color saturation can do a lot for a photo.

•Color need adjusting? Some digital cameras lean towards cyan, esp. photos with a lot of green (trees, meadows) and blues (water, sky).

MORE DIGITAL EDITING TIPS:• Crop out distractions. Rotate slightly off-angle photos. Don’t cut off limbs at joints if possible.

• Use the clone tool to remove debris on grass or sidewalk. Great for small fixes.

• To lighten a complex foreground, use the magic wand to select the sky, then choose “Select Inverse”. There is also “Select Grow”, “Select Similar”.

• To enrich the sky, choose that color with the eyedropper, then select the sky and fill in using a percentage of that color to “darken” the sky.

• If your editing software allows the creation of “Actions”, you can create an “Action” that repeats something you do often, such as Brighten+5, Contrast+5, Saturation+10

• Over 4500 images.

• ¼ came from others; ¾ Idaho Tourism staff

• Photos are provided free to magazines, newspapers, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and businesses in tourism only.

• All photos have embedded file information through Photoshop’s “File Info” feature.

• Photos for listings are kept separate.

• Listing photos need to be sent to me for enhancement and upload to your listing. Max: 4.

• Listing photos: lodging properties, attractions, events or vacation packages.

Web ResourcesTop 5 Stock Photo Sites:

Gettyimages.comIdahostockimages.com Jupiterimages.com

Corbisimages.comPunchstock.comSuperstock.com

Top 5 Photo Sharing Sites Social Sites w/ Photos

Photobucket TwitpicFlickr FacebookWebshots Care2ConnectFotki

www.photoshop.com - www.adobe.com

Thank You!

Questions & Comments

Georgia Lumpkin, Sun Valley