I’m Benjamin and am a hitchhiking photographer. In my travels I quickly realized a need to make my own postcards for my friends and family.

I wanted unique and personal postcards at a cheap price. Here is the result of that quest. This is a post for those whom aren’t familiar with Photoshop and editing their photographs. You should be able to make postcards that are one-of-a-kind and appealing at less than the cost of buying a postcard.

Read on and when you are finished, please share this post with others, whom would benefit from it. Also, check out my journey hitchhiking around the USA, sharing stories of the Goodness of People at my blog, Create Our World.

Here we Go!!!

What You Need:

1. A digital camera.
2. Access to a Computer and the Internet.
3. About 15 to 30 minutes.
4. A Free Picnik Account.
5. About 30 cents for the card and 44 cents for the stamp.
6. A Zip Drive.

Make Your Own Postcard (here is a photograph I took of my friend, Nai, in Austin, Texas)

1. Take a Photograph and Upload it to a computer

I love to photograph people. I love to remember places by the people I am with, so my postcards are of friends, either new or old. What do you want to remember about the place or what do you want to share? Be personal and be yourself. And take that shot and upload it to your own laptop or upload it at a computer lab.

After Editing

2. Edit your Photograph. (Optional.)

If you are a Photoshop expert, you can skip this page and just do what you do. Or if you don’t care about jazzing your photograph up a bit, then skip it as well. But with a few clicks, you can really improve how your image looks and trick your granny into thinking you are a professional photographer.

Open up your photo editor. I use iPhoto for my Mac. I have also used Picasa by Google, which is a free download and is easy to use. You can also do this in Picnik, which I am going to explain in the next step.

Here are two easy steps you can take to making the photograph look more vibrant. One increase the contrast of the photograph. Usually there is a little pointer that you can just drag. Contrast makes the darks darker and the lights lighter. The second step is to increase or decrease the color saturation. You can make the colors a little richer to improve the photograph or sometimes by lessening the colors, it will catch the eye more. Fool around with these two settings until you have a photograph that you are happy with.

3. Upload your photograph to Picnik

Picnik is an online photograph editor. Picnik is free for the basic edits and it has a lot of options to use. Sign up for a free account and follow the instructions to upload your photograph.

After the LOMO filter, adding a Border, and the 1960’s filter

4. Create Your Postcard

Here we are going to jazz our photograph up a bit more, add borders, and add our message. (Picnik has lots of options, so feel free to add any options that you want)

A. Open up the CREATE tab along the top of the border.

B. Click on the LOMO Filter under EFFECTS. (This simulates how a LOMO camera would take a photograph, which is toy camera.)

This increases the saturation of the photograph, adds a vignette (a dark shadow around the border), and blurs the outside of the photograph. Mess around with the settings until your photograph looks as you want.

C. Add the Border in Frames.

Every good postcard has a border. Choose a color for the border that goes well with the photograph. Go with black, if you can’t decide. Then, make it look like a postcard, by increasing thickness of the OUTER COLOR and leave the INNER COLOR alone. In my photograph of Nai, I decide on a Dark Orange and Black (University of Texas colors). Finally, increase the CORNER RADIUS too to give it an interesting look.

D. Go back to EFFECTS and chose the 1960’s effect.

I love the look of old film photographs. This adds a slight reddish tint to the photograph and also curves the outside edges. Tweak these settings again, till you like the look of your postcard.

E. Add Your Personalized Message in the TEXT tab.

Here is where you add your message. Anything you like works. “I love Mom!” or “Wish you were here!” are good. I am a huge fan of the “Greetings from…” postcard series that was popular a long time ago. There is a host of different fonts to chose from, so chose one or more that fit your style. For my photograph, I chose PANHEAD for “Austin, TX”, which is a western-looking font and then a bold font, IMPACT for the “Greetings from…” I keep my color theme similar as with the border colors.

F. SAVE your photograph & SHARE it.

Now you can save it to your computer or Zip Drive, share it on Facebook or email it.

5. Print Your Postcard

Save your postcard on something that is portable. I bought a Zip Drive for 15$ and I upload my postcards to this and head to a local store with a photograph kiosk. Walmart, CVS, Rite-Aid are very common options. However, more and more stores have a place that you can print your digital photographs on location.

Upload your postcards to the kiosk and chose the quantity, before hitting PRINT!

NOTE: Make sure your postcard fits and the border will not be cut off. Sometimes, I will lose my border by how the machine cuts the photograph, so you may have to make little edits at the machine.
Print off your new postcards!

6. Write on the back and Send it!

Write on the back like any postcard and send it off with a stamp in the top right corner. Your Mom and Granny will love you and tell all their friends!

Finished! Enjoy making your postcards and share this post with your friends. I will be blogging from all over the USA on my hitchhiking journey. I usually write about the people I meet and about the goodness of people, but I also share budget travel advice on my website, Create Our World.

If you’ve ever taken a photo with a TV in it, you might notice just how hard it can be. The picture can seem squiggly or, as in this photo, not even visible. You don’t have to be a Photoshop pro to replace the screen in post production. The answer is in shutter speed.

The screen on a TV is rolled down one pixel at a time at lightening speed. Use a speed of 1/30 or slower to catch the fully ‘rolled out’ screen of pixels.

If your camera doesn’t allow you to set a shutter speed, take a look at the automatic modes. For example, ’sports’ mode wouldn’t be any good because the shutter is too fast.

Today’s new television technologies don’t present this problem because they no longer work with a scanning electron beam like older televisions. But as you can see from my photo, some us still have the old types

Other factors that present themselves when setting such a low shutter in an indoor environment are camera shake and motion blur from your subjects. A tripod or resting your camera on an object can help with camera shake as can IS (image stabilisation) lenses. As for your subjects – well – tell them to freeze! And if they’re kids and there’s a TV in the room you probably won’t have to tell them

A Guest Post by Scott Bideau from capturedbyscott.com

Image by Roberto Carlos Pecino

A common question asked by an amateur photographer looking to turn professional is, “what equipment do I need?” I’ll skip the discussion around skill and experience being more important than equipment, but before you rush out and buy any equipment or start offering your services to others, you should consider the various liability issues and the options for operating as a legal entity that are available for your business and obtain the proper insurance for both your equipment and liability. I’ll cover specific options available in the United States in this article, although similar concepts are available in other countries.

Legal Entities

The most common mistake for beginners is to operate a business as a sole proprietorship, meaning there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business. This may sound easy and convenient, but it also means that you have unlimited personal liability for the actions of your business, and this includes the actions of your employees or even volunteer assistants. Operating as a general partnership is even riskier because all the partners are personally liable, even if it is for something done by the other partner that you didn’t know about. Even if you have liability insurance coverage for yourself, an accident caused by one of your partners or assistants (paid or not) could significantly expose you to liability.

Imagine you invite a friend to be a voice activated light stand at a wedding and he accidentally drops the boom on the bride. Worse yet, imagine he misplaces an electrical cord and someone is electrocuted. Even if your friend drives their personal car on an errand or trip for your business, such as on the way to the church for the wedding, and causes a bad accident or injury, they are liable for their negligence, but so are you since they were acting as an agent or employee of your business. If you are doing business as a sole proprietor then you are in essence personally guaranteeing everything that the business and any agents or employees do. Your spouse likely won’t appreciate you etting sued for something an assistant did which results in a judgment lien against your house because you didn’t have proper liability coverage.

A much better idea is to separate your personal matters from the business by forming a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or a corporation. In most instances, the LLC (not you) bears the responsibility for the liability of its other workers (paid or unpaid). You cannot escape liability for your own acts or negligence through an LLC, including possible claims for negligent supervision or training of employees or helpers, but you can significantly limit exposure for the acts or omissions of employees, agents or other members of the LLC. Filing as an LLC is a fairly simple process in most states and after the initial setup requires only a small fee and annual report to be sent to your state each year. Under current IRS rules, you can even include your single member LLC income and loss on your “Schedule C” form on your personal tax return.

Some photographers choose to form their business as a corporation, including making an election to become a “Sub S” Corporation (which eliminates the double taxation issue found with the C Corporation). While organizing as a corporation does provide certain benefits under unique circumstances, including the ability to carry forward a net loss from one year to the next (such as using the high startup costs for equipment this year to offset your profits next year) and has a longer track record of liability protection going back hundreds of years, often times the additional complexities outweigh the benefits. A corporation will require a separate tax return for the corporation even if there is only one stockholder. Either way, you should seek the initial advice of an attorney and an accountant to ensure your business entity is setup to your greatest benefit and protection.

Insurance

Once you’ve created the correct business entity for your operations, you should always obtain an adequate amount of liability insurance. Otherwise, you may be one accident away from financial ruin…even if you are setup as an LLC or corporation or were not even the one who caused the accident. General Liability policies can often be purchased for a very reasonable premium and if properly written can provide you and any of your employees, assistants, or even volunteers with adequate coverage. Be very sceptical if your insurance agent advises you that protection is already provided under your homeowner’s policy or tries to sell you a personal umbrella policy: personal policies almost always exclude liability or property protection for any commercial or business purposes…even part-time ventures. Always check your policy documents and get confirmation from your agent in writing! If you have filed as an LLC, both the LLC and you as the Member should be listed as “named insured.” Often times your employees, assistants and other non-members or non-officers of the company are not insured.

Finally, consider insuring your equipment. Many insurance companies who offer a commercial liability policy also offer inland marine policies, which is a strange name for a plan that protects your camera equipment from theft and accidental damage. These policies are often more expensive than the options available for personal equipment on your homeowners policy, but again, most personal policies exclude any commercial use. One exception to this rule is the popular “Personal Articles Policy” offered by State Farm, which in most states provides a “professional use” option to waive the commercial use exception specifically for camera equipment, but at a much lower in price than a full inland marine policy.

Scott Bideau is a management consultant with a strong passion for photography. You can view his photographic work at capturedbyscott.com.

Artists create remarkable digital paintings using their iPhone, a $5.00 application called Brushes…and their finger.

We’ve had quite a journey with this whole histogram and curves ordeal:

• How to Read Image Histograms
• Photo Editing With Histograms: 6 Basic Settings
• How Well Do You Know Your Curves?
• Photoshop Curves Video Tutorials
• Linear Curve Adjustments and Histograms
• Nonlinear Curve Adjustments and Histograms

And now I’d like to wrap things up with a few tips, tricks, and things to avoid when using curves. It’s a fairly simple tool once you begin to work with it and understand it, but there are a few non-obvious items worth pointing out.

photo credit: Fifi LePew

TIPS

We’ll start off with a few generic tips for working with curves, then we’ll move on to the some of the more detailed stuff.

• Always work with 16-bit images to avoid posterization.
• In Photoshop, utilize layers and adjustment layers for non destructive editing.
• Use the color channel adjustments to correct color cast.
• Start subtle in ACR/Lightroom (or with an adjustment layer in Photoshop), then bump it up or add another layer if you need more.
• In Photoshop, use a levels adjustment first rather than a linear curves adjustment, then go to curves for a wider range to work with.

TRICKS

photo credit: garethjmsaunders

Here are a few tricks for the ACR/Lightroom interface under the “Point” curve.

• Hold Ctrl and mouse over the image to see where the tones lay on the curve/histogram.
• Ctrl+click over the image to set an adjustment point on the curve.
• Ctrl+select adjustment points on the curve to delete them.
• Ctrl+Tab to move between adjustment points without using the mouse.
• Shift+select multiple existing adjustment points if you want to grab more than one at a time.
• Shift+click over the image to set your neutral point for white balance (this works outside of the curves dialog too).
• Shift+arrow keys to move selected adjustment points by 10 rather than 1.

And then we have a few general tricks:

• Use extreme curves adjustments to separate tones for creating masks. Then remove or turn off the adjustment layer once you have the mask. (tip via Niels Henriksen)
• Use curves in LAB mode on the lightness channel to minimize saturation effects of adjustments.
• Boost your saturation using LAB mode curves adjustments on the A&B channels.

photo credit: AlmazUK

THINGS TO AVOID

• Watch for vertical sections in your curve — that produces an extremely high contrast and you lose all midtone data in that area.
• Watch for horizontal sections in your curve — that produces zero contrast and you lose all midtone data in that area.
• Too many adjustment points will be difficult to manage, just use what you need.
• Avoid inverted slopes, they invert the tones. Can you roll a ball from the upper right point of the curve to the lower left (without relying on momentum)? If not, you’ve inverted a section of your curve.
• Don’t clip your shadows and highlights (unless that’s what you really want to do). Keep an eye on your histogram for this one.

I’m sure there are a few hundred other tips and tricks out there for using curves, but I don’t know them all and I couldn’t cover them in one article even if I did. These tips, combined with the previous articles linked at the top, should keep most of you busy for a while. And if you’re looking for more, here’s my final tip on the subject:

Experiment. Try things out, push buttons, make mistakes, and keep learning.

This is just a short note to remind all readers that our current forum competition ends in 24 hours time!

The competition has been running all month and centers around the topic of LIFE.

You’re invited to submit an image on this topic in our forum for a chance to win a share of $2900 worth of camera gear from our wonderful sponsors – DigitalRev.

You can get all the details of the competition here and then submit your entry for this week’s entry in this thread of our forum.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

We’ve all heard it from clients before. “I don’t like formally posed pictures of myself. I always look so stiff. Can we get pictures without being formally set up?”

Fortunately for our clients – and for us – the world of formal portrait and people photography is now coming to a new era: Portrait Photojournalism.

Stiff, unrealistic, unnatural portraiture is no longer a Photographer’s only option.

A technique used by internationally acclaimed wedding photographers of Poser Image, Jim Garnier and Jerry Ghionis, Portrait Photojournalism combines the techniques of formal portraiture and photojournalism.

The Photographer will “set up the shot” by formally posing the subject[s], to include location, poses, etc. Then, in a seeming irrational move, the Photographer will either coach the subject through expressions by pulling out emotions through dialogue, or leave them to interact with one another.

Sound too simple? Don’t take my word for it. Organize your shoot with the following steps and you’ll find a technique that will revolutionize the way you take portraits – and your results.

1. Location. Location. Location.

Just as you would in a formal shoot, find a few locations that will facilitate the look and feel you want to achieve. This location should match the subjects personality, and be creatively stimulating [Read more about finding locations here].

2. Consider your Lighting

Watch your location for the kind and quality of available light. Is it harsh and contrasty, lending to a dramatic feel? Is it soft and subdued, more conducive to a nostalgic mood? If the available light isn’t sufficient to create the portrait you want, be sure to add light with a reflector, or an off/on camera flash [Read more about using flash in on-location photography here].

3. Set up your Scene

Place your subject within the context of your entire setting. Remember, you aren’t taking only mid and detail shots of your subject; with the photojournalism aspect, you are shooting to tell a story. The story of your subject will include their place and involvement in the scene, and the mood you are creating.

4. Pose your Subject

You don’t have to pose your subject in a complicated manner. At the least, pay attention to the placement of your subjects feet, knees, and shoulders. So long as you pose to achieve variance and levels of these joints, you will be set [More on posing here].

5. “Break” the Shot

Think everything is perfect? Now is the time to make it all natural. Tell your subject to “relax”. Allow them to settle into the pose by drawing them into conversation, or allow them to interact with one another. Achieve authentic expressions, natural posing, and artistic portraits by letting go the expectation of “perfection”. After all, nothing in life is perfect. The key to perfect portrait photojournalism is controlling which elements are broken.

6. Take the Shot

Watch for that “After moment” and “Spontaneous moment”. Oftentimes the most beautiful moments happen just after you take the camera away from your eye. Allow your subject to believe you are done with that set up, and take the shot that they are most natural and relaxed – pulling a hat down, tucking hair back, the cute shoulder shrug. You truly never know what you will be able to achieve.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

Landscape photography can provide some of the most awe-inspiring photos out there. But doing it well is the key. Anyone can take a snapshot on their vacation, but it takes a talented photographer (a true artist!) to capture the scene. Lighting, angle, crop, lens, and post processing all play a part in the final image. Combining the various elements together is what makes these 25 landscape photos truly outstanding.

Winter Dusk and Angel’s Landing Zion National Park by James Crotty

Sunflower Moon 1 by Jim Crotty

Change of Direction by James Neeley

Break in the Storm by James Neeley

Mount Gould in Morning Light by James Neeley

Rainier Alpenglow by Mike Dawson

Rise against the storm by Michael Vincent Manalo

The Tree by Terry Shuck

North Gateway Rock by Marcus Panek

::HDR-Vertorama:: Shine On You!!! by Leonardo Riano

Evening Shore by Barbara Brown

Night At Owachomo Bridge by John Foster

The Advance of Light by James Neeley

Mobius Arch #6 by Inge Johnsson

La Salinas – Isle De Margarita by Rob Diffenderfer

Battery Point Lighthouse by Ken Dietz

The Forest Is Dreaming by Janel Kaufman

Take You There by Janel Kaufman

Toco Rock by Gregory Scott

Toco Sunrise by Gregory Scott

Last purple sky ~HDRI~ by RATEL JULIEN

Summer sunset ~HDRI~ by RATEL JULIEN

Zen Tree by Ben Ryan

The Last Best Place by Janel Kaufman

Home On The Range by Janel Kaufman

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

If you’re a keen photographer, chances are that you publish some of your photos to Flickr for sharing with friends and family. One of the disadvantages of Lightroom 2 is that it does not come with a built in tool for publishing direct to Flickr although this has been addressed in Lightroom 3 which does offer this ability.

There are, however, tools like Jeffrey Friedl’s Lightroom plug-in that you can use to do the job. Here’s how it works:

Step 1

To download the tool, visit http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/flickr and locate the tool for your version of Lightroom. There are different downloads for Lightroom 1 and Lightroom 2 so get the right one.

Step 2

Download the zip file which, if you are using Lightroom 2 is via a link in the top right hand corner of the screen.

Unzip the downloaded file and, when you do, you will see a .LRPlugin folder inside the zip file.

You need the entire contents of this folder so drag and drop the entire folder from your Downloads folder into the place where you plan to keep it long term.

Lightroom isn’t fussy about where you place your plug-ins but it makes good sense to place them all in a central location where it is easy for you to find them. I suggest you place it nearby your Lightroom folder or in your Documents folder where it will be included in your regular system backup.

Step 3

Now return to Lightroom and choose File > Plug-in Manager. This opens the Plug-in Manager dialog where you install your Lightroom plug-ins. Click Add and navigate to the folder that you stored the .lrplugin folder. Click the folder to select it and click Ok.

Click Update if prompted to update your catalog to support the plug-in. A dialog will appear with more instructions in it. Read the information and click Ok when you are done.

Step 4

The Plug-in will be listed in the plug-in list so click Done to exit the dialog.

Step 5

Now select a few images to upload to Flickr. Right click one of the selected images and choose Export > Export.

At the very top of the dialog you will see the Files on disk heading, click this panel and locate the Flickr (Jeffrey’s) option in the list.

Go ahead and (ignoring the Export Location settings) complete the other areas of the Export dialog as you would for any export task.

Pay particular attention to the file names, file format and quality because, when you click to Export the files they are sent direct to Flickr.

If you plan to resize the images select the Image Sizing options and choose the desired option.

Step 6

Click the Authenticate to Flickr button at the top of the dialog. You only need do this the first time you upload images. Your browser will open and you should sign in using your Flickr log-in and password.

Step 7

When prompted, click the second Next button to authenticate the connection then click Ok, I’ll authorize it if you are happy with the conditions displayed.

Once you have done this, close your browser, return to Lightroom and click the I’ve authenticated at Flickr.com button to confirm you have done so.

Step 8

Once you are authenticated, additional options are available in the Export dialog. You can, for example, select the photosets for the images and ask to view the Flickr photoset when uploading is complete.

step 9

You can also set Licence types for the images, add keywords and configure a range of options for uploading.

step 10

When you are done, click the Export button to export your images to Flickr.

This Lightroom plug-in is, what is called, donation ware. It is functional for six week and then you’re asked to register and make a donation one cent is the minimum PayPal fee. If you don’t register then functionality is reduced to uploading ten images at a time.

This plug-in works well and, until Lightroom 3 is released and you shell out the cost of upgrading to that version it is a smart addition to your Lightroom toolkit. For my money it makes the upload process seamless. And, because it saves me an entire step by rolling Export from Lightroom and upload to Flickr into a single step it represents the difference between things being left on my to do list and tasks getting a big black line drawn through them – and I like that!