Winners of the V7N Without a Face Photography Challenge!
Without a Face Photography Challenge Winner, Ejingram
Without a Face Challenge Winner, Amy Sue of My Happy Crazy Life
Without a Face Challenge Winner, 3ncryptabl3_lick of OpticalDevotee
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2008 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
Winners of the V7N Black and White Photography Challenge!
Black & White Photography Challenge Winner, Todd of ToddW Blog
Black & White Challenge Winner, Suzanne of SKJordan Web Designs
Black & White Photography Challenge Winner, V7N Member, Lively
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2008 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
There are some wonderful photography challenges posted in the Digital Photography section of V7N right now that you will definitely want to take part in. Use this as an opportunity to share your photography, get some recognition, and just plain have some fun!
Go ahead and do it. You know dang well ya want to! 
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2008 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
Another example of blending layers in Paint Shop Pro Photo X2.
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2008 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
One of my favorite photo effects is editing an image to give it the look of a black and white image with just a hint of color.
There are probably hundreds of different ways that you can accomplish this, but one of the easiest is by blending layers using an image editor.
The original of the photo above had quite a bit of black and white in the scene already, so the results were a bit more dramatic.
It is really a matter of playing in your editor until you like what you see but this tutorial should help point you in the right direction.
Although this tutorial was written for Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, you will find that this process is very similar in many image editors, including previous versions of Paint Shop Pro.
Start by making a copy of the original full color photo.
To do this, simply right click on the image and select, Copy.
Then right click again, and select, Paste > Paste as New Image.
You should now have two identical color photos.
The next stage is to convert one of the color photographs to black and white. The number of ways that you can do this are almost unlimited.
You may want to download Virtual Photographer Plugin Filter Effects if you prefer dramatic black and white photo effects.
However, with Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 you will find multiple options already available by default within the program.
From the menu select, Effects > Photo Effects > Black and White Film
You can then either choose the Suggest Color option, or you can experiment until you are happy with the results.
Make a copy of the black and white image, by once again right clicking and selecting, Copy. Now, click on the tab for the color image and select, Paste > Paste as New Layer.
You should now see both the color and the black and white image in your layer palette on the right side of the program.
If you do not see it, as shown in the screenshot below, you may need to enable it by selecting, View > Palettes > Layers, or by selecting F8 on your keyboard, as a shortcut.
Click thumbnail image above to view full size screenshot.
Click on the black and white thumbnail in the layers palette on your right, to make sure you are working from the raster layer.
Near the top of the layers palette you will see a number that is probably set at 100, with a small triangle arrow below it.
Slide that arrow to the left by left clicking on it (keep holding it down) and dragging the arrow to the left until you are happy with the results. The smaller the number you choose, the more color you will see.
For this particular photograph, I left in quite a bit of color, while still softening the results to my liking.
Once you are satisfied with the results, merge the two layers by selecting, Layers > Merge > Merge All (Flatten).
You are now ready to resize and optimize the photo for web use.
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2008 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
I promised a few folks that I would start sharing basic steps that I use to edit my photos using Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2.
The photograph above is a good example of a quick and easy edit you can add to spruce up your images using the glamour photo effect.
This was the original image (shadow added for display) with nothing more done to the photo beyond applying the unsharp mask.
Although I felt the photo was fine, it seemed to be missing something, so I decided to add some minor photo effects, in this case, a little bit of glamour to add some romance to the shot.
Select: Effects > Photo Effects > Film and Filters
Click thumbnail image above to view full size screenshot.
A new smaller window will open. Next to film looks, select glamour from the drop down menu and then click ok.
That is all there is to it. The entire process, including resizing and optimizing for the web, takes less than 2 minutes.
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2008 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
Occasionally I find some good shots hiding in everyday type snapshots that I have taken just for the fun of it. Most of the time I discover them by playing with the photographs in an image editor, just experimenting until I find something that really jumps off the page for me.
This is an original (sized for displaying on the web) snapshot that I really liked, but there was so much going on in the picture that it distracted the look I was going for. I wanted people to see the look of peace that I was seeing on Haley’s face, while she waited on these steps for me to catch up to her.
By cropping and editing snapshots, we can change the focus of what our eye is naturally drawn to within the shot. As you see above, I have removed a lot of the distractions, and brought the focus in on her, but it still wasn’t quite right for me. The shot was still missing something.
The key was cropping the image down to the expression on her face. This natural photograph above, happens to be my personal favorite.
Some folks prefer a warmer and softer look (glamour effect) for these types of pictures, as seen in the example above. I accomplished this just by using a few effects within Corel’s Paint Shop Pro Photo X2.
I like the more tradional classic approach of a basic black and white photograph, as long as it doesn’t lose the vivid personality in the eyes.
If you are going for a dramatic look you can add some clarifying effects and play around a bit with the shadows within the shot.
In the end it all comes down to experimenting until you find the effect that portrays the look you were going for.
Which effect do you like best for this snapshot?
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2008 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
Displaying photos on the internet is similar to how you might display them when decorating in your own home. Usually, we don’t just tack photographs up on the wall.
We like to frame them and make them stand out from the wall a bit. When we are displaying photographs on our websites though, the frames we find in image editing programs tend to distract from the photos, rather than making them stand out.
Simply framing the picture with a soft shadow can solve this issue. This technique allows the focus to remain on the photograph itself, while still standing out from the page.
This very professional photograph (below) does not render as well on the web as it does in print, and it ends up losing something on the pages of a website.
By adding a very small amount of clarification to the image, along with a gentle shadow we can once again make this photograph almost pop off the page.
Adding these tiny details to photos displayed on your website, can make a huge difference in the overall visual appeal of your site. Sometimes those tiny deatails add up to increasing your sales!
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2008 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
A very special thank you to Laura Thomas of Purrinlot Persians for allowing me to use photographs from her website as examples for this tutorial. Now I want a kitty! (grin)
Sometimes no matter what I do, I just don’t end up with the shot that I saw in my mind when I was taking the picture. Today, I was standing on the side of the road trying to get a quick photo of an old barn.
There was an icy cold wind, the natural light was just about gone, and I was too cold and cranky to spend the time getting the shot.
Salvaging Bad Photographs
Of course, I was more than disappointed with the result above, but that doesn’t mean I automatically delete these types of pictures.
If the quality of the image is good enough, I am very likely to open Corel’s Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 and experiment. More often than not, I end up salvaging bad photographs into something useable.
Lighten and Clarify
This is the exact same photograph as above, but I decided to lighten and over clarify the image to give it a more dramatic effect. You may also noticed that I have cropped and straightened the photo.
Lighten, Clarify, and Sepia Toning
Again, this is still the exact same picture as above, but I added sepia toning to the final image for an almost spooky effect, ending up with a photograph that I truly like.
When All Else Fails . . .
When all else fails, I just go back to shooting photographs of my daughter and I know everything will turn out just fine!
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2008 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
Several people have asked me recently how to shoot quality portrait style shots. Since I am not a professional studio photographer, most of the time for me, it is a matter of pure luck and a lot of trial and error.
Copyright © 2007 Mississippi Photo Gallery
The odds of ending up with a great picture greatly increase in direct correlation with the number of pictures I take, so I take a ton of them!
My best photographs are usually the result of taking hundreds of pictures in a short period of time and not being afraid to experiment with several different camera settings for the same scene until I find exactly what I am looking for.
For these types of shots, like the one in this article, I adjust my camera settings for a shallow depth of field, blurring the background, while keeping the subject in focus, and I move in pretty close.
Later in the image editor, I used a basic filter (adding a few tweaks) because I personally preferred it in a soft black and white.
I usually take my photos outside, with natural lighting. This also allows me the freedom to enjoy outside activities and end up with much more candid shots instead of heavily posed scenes.
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2007 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
Over the last few days I have learned that photography is every bit as much about attitude as it is about skill, maybe even more so.
Similar to what writers go through now and then when they are faced with the challenge of writers’ block, I have had a few months here where I simply stopped seeing the beauty in the world around me.
I found it very difficult to even pick up my camera, let alone get out there and actually take some decent shots. The longer I waited to get back out there with my camera, the harder it became.
Fortunately, a good friend of mine challenged me to make a commitment to take one or more pictures every day for a while.
For some reason, if I didn’t look at it as a whole photo shoot, it suddenly seemed like something I could do. Heck yeah! I can promise just to take one or more pictures every day for a while.
As I headed out the door, I reminded myself it was no big deal. I could get one picture in about 5 minutes flat and be done with it.
My favorite person in the world to photograph is my daughter. She is a natural in front of the camera, and above all she has the patience of a saint when I get in a groove and want to keep on shooting, so I figured she would be perfect for this day.
We headed to the park in town and just started talking. Eventually I pulled out my camera and started looking at the world through my lens again, while she played on the jungle gym.
My promise to myself to take at least one picture turned into more than an hour as I began to remember how much I enjoy seeing my daughter smirk at me through the viewfinder while I keep trying for
the perfect outdoor portrait.
At least one photo a day, for 30 days. I can do this.
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2007 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
UPDATE:Click below to follow each day of this challenge.
Carolina Chickadee Looking at Me
This cute little guy, the Carolina Chickadee, was a lot more difficult to photograph than I expected.
The biggest challenge was that he doesn’t stay in one place more than a split second, and when he does, he’s doing acrobats. He seems to love to swing upside down from a small branch, while eating.
I swear he plays peek a boo with the camera sometimes!
Because the Carolina Chickadee is so small (4-5 inches) I had to get a bit closer to him than he was comfortable with me being. Since the best shots were often just outside the zoom range of my lens, it meant getting him used to me being around, a few steps at a time.
I started this process by sitting quietly on the ground, very near to the tree, and reading for 30 minutes or so at a time. This seemed to help him get used to me, and also expecting small amounts of movement.
After a few days had passed, I noticed that he would watch me now and then, almost as if he was curious what I was doing.
Carolina Chickadee Singing for Me
As long as I didn’t make any sudden movements, he didn’t fly off, but he was still a nonstop moving target.
This is probably right about the time that I reminded myself that I have to begin seriously thinking about putting a better camera near the top of my priority list of things that I want to buy this summer.
I was still certain though that if I was patient enough, there had to be a way to get a few halfway decent shots of this little songbird.
Carolina Chickadee on the Feeder
By spending more time watching him, I began realized that he was far more predictable than I thought initially. During the early morning, and about an hour before dark, this particular Carolina Chickadee spends more time eating, and less time singing and playing.
He also has a predictable pattern of which branches he chooses to hang out at, even working his way up and down, one branch at time.
Because I was now able to more easily predict his behavior I knew which areas he would likely stay a bit long and I had the camera ready for where I knew he would go next. This kept me from continually trying to following him and risking the movement scaring him away.
Finally, I ended up with a couple of photographs that I like, but I haven’t stopped watching his playful antics in hopes of one day getting an absolutely perfect shot. If I do, I will be back to add a few more Carolina Chickadee photo tips.
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2007 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
Female Northern Cardinal
I have been watching a pair of Northern Cardinals in my front yard for a few weeks now. Over time, I began to realize that if I saw one of them that the other would not be far away. From what I have read, it appears that Northern Cardinals mate for life and both help care for their babies, so it isn’t surprising that I tend to find them together.
Listening to them sing together in an almost humanlike manner, fascinates me.
“A mated pair shares song phrases, but the female may sing a longer and slightly more complex song than the male.” All About Birds
The male Northern Cardinal is known to be pretty territorial and will try to chase off other male birds coming into the area. I have noticed that this one isn’t too crazy about squirrels around either, but he sure doesn’t have any qualms about stealing the squirrel food when other birds are occupying the feeders.
Of course, this doesn’t make the squirrels any too happy, but watching them fuss at each other brings a smile to my face every time!
After a ton of trial and error, I have come to the conclusion that photographing Northern Cardinals takes perfect timing and a ton of patience. Even the slightest unexpected movement sends them flying off in another direction all together.
I would love to be able to get a picture of the two of them together, but the male cardinal has proven to be a bit camera shy and hasn’t given me a clear shot of him yet.
His warning call to the female Cardinal, whenever I am moving about has made it difficult to get more than a quick occasional photo of her.
To increase my chances of getting a good picture, I set up a tripod on the porch a few days ahead of time so they would get used to it being around. Then one morning I went ahead and set the camera in it, and hooked up the remote control.
Once I was sure I was focused well on the area, I was able to sit nearby and wait for one of them to land in the feeder.
Using this method, I could take several pictures in a row without startling the cardinals because the only movement I needed was the slight movement of my thumb activating the remote.
This technique has not yet been successful for getting a good photo of the male cardinal. No matter which bird feeder I have the camera focused on, it is almost as if he knows and he chooses a different feeder to land on.
Patience is definitely the key to this photography tip!
Eventually the timing is going to be perfect and I will be able to add his photograph to this article.
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2007 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
Male Brown-headed Cowbird
For birds that seemed to be hated by so many people, I actually found the Brown-headed Cowbirds to be interesting to say the least.
When I first started watching a few male Brown-Headed Cowbirds fuss at each other over a female, I mistook them for common blackbirds. It wasn’t until they became accustomed to me and started letting me get a closer look, that I saw how regal they look.
Initially they caught my attention because of the liquid sound that they make, almost like big drops of water falling into a pond.
The female Brown-headed Cowbird isn’t exactly in the running for the mother of the year award. Not only have they been known to be more than a bit promiscuous, they don’t even bother making a nest.
Female Brown-headed Cowbird
They add their eggs to nests belonging to other bird species, and then lets those mamas raise her babies!
For a bird that has all the free time in the world to do nothing but flirt with the males and find as many as 40 nests a year to leave her eggs at, she sure looks like a cranky little thing.
On the other hand, if I laid as many as 40 eggs a year, I might not be all that happy either!
As long as you don’t make any quick movements, photographing Brown-headed Cowbirds proved to be a simple process, especially if you spend a day letting them get used to you being around.
They spend quite a bit of time eating from the ground. Unfortunately, this didn’t give me the background scene that I wanted.
Once I added pieces of apple to the bird feeder, it didn’t take more than about 30 minutes for one of the male Brown-headed Cowbirds to check it out, and I got the picture I was looking for.
One thing that I did notice when setting up to take pictures of the male is that it helped to use the early morning sunlight shining through the tree. Otherwise, his coloring tended to blend into his surroundings.
It did take me a bit longer to get a picture of the female, but mostly because I couldn’t find her right away. There only seems to be one female in my yard, compared to about six males that hang around.
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2007 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
Most mornings I find myself sitting on my front porch enjoying a cup of coffee and mentally preparing myself for the day. As I sit there slowly rocking, enjoying the quiet moments of pure southern tranquility, the birds begin to relax with me there, and their musical serenades begin.
Just off my front porch, an old dogwood tree attracts just about any bird imaginable in these parts of the south. Some mornings it feels almost as if they are putting on a special performance, just for me.
I enjoy watching them so much that I added a few bird feeders to the tree and even a birdbath and fountain nearby. Some folks have teasingly mentioned that it is starting to look like a little bird sanctuary around here. Let me tell you though. It has sure opened up some perfect bird watching photo opportunities for me.
Photographing these wild birds has proven to be a challenge though, and each has required different techniques to get a decent shot. Several species have continued to avoid me like the plague if I have a camera in my hands.
It is a standing joke around our house that the birds just seem to know the very moment that I take the camera out. They immediately send off a shrill warning to everyone that it is time to leave.
Those that do bother to hang around love to taunt me by taking flight a split second before I can bring the picture into focus.
It turns out that one of the best ways to improve your wild bird photos is by getting to know them a little better, not just birds in general, but the specific species that you want to photograph.
Initially I just set out to be able to identify them and the different sounds that they make. It wasn’t long though before I wanted to know everything from their habitats to the stories behind how they got their names!
As you begin understanding their habits, and even their temperaments, you start being able to predict their behavior. Once that happens, you greatly improve your chances of getting some incredible close up pictures of birds!
I thought that writing a series of articles about my experiences trying to get pictures of some of the species here in Mississippi might be fun. I would love it if our readers would jump in and share some of their backyard bird photography tips too!
Small Business Marketing Consultant and Scenic Photographer
Copyright © 2007 J. Walker of Mississippi Photo Gallery All Rights Reserved
