Re: Today in pictures
 

New camera or not, i`ve a long way to go to get to your standard Dave.
I like to have a go at learning something new every now and again, so decided to have a go at photoshop. It`s slow going as there are a lot of settings, but it`s very interesting seeing what others can do.
I`m sure i`ve mentioned before my camera has a rather nasty scratch on the lens that shows up in some pics (angel of the north in the last comp for one), from what i`ve learned so far, I can now fix a lot of those.

Re: Today in pictures
 

I would strongly recommend Photoscape.......not to replace what you have already got, but as another tool. It is very easy to use and has lots of different applications.
Dave recommended it to me and I have had hours and hours of fun manipulating pictures.

Re: Today in pictures
 

It has to be number three for me...though I do like number 5 too.....but the composition of number three just does it for me(not that I really know much about composition - I just know what I like!)

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I`ve looked at that also Margaret, you mentioned it in a previous post (the one with the sketch pics I think) and I had a look then, i`ve also tried GIMP, both are very good, and free which is another bonus.

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Yes...I like FREE!
I like that photoscape is easy to use...it doesn't confuse me with vectors and rasters.

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Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey, i`m nowhere near vectors & rasters. At the moment it`s been curves, levels, lasso tool, magnetic lasso, sharpening and clone stamp (this is the tool to fix the scratch mark). These are the only things i`ve had a play with at the minute.

Re: Today in pictures
 

I haven't found any editing tool that can sharpen a fuzzy image - though I have tried. If I find that if I have a fuzzy picture, I ditch it.....saves wasting time trying to make it something it is never going to be......sharp and clear.

Re: Today in pictures
 

It`s more when you`ve resized it to post on the forum rather than out of focus, and I haven`t used it a lot really.
A good example of what can be achieved is the cat in this link -
Free Photoshop Tutorial - Sharpening I.

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This Photo software can be a very personal choice, I bought Paintshop Pro x5 thinking it would help, it just boggled my mind, so I went back to Photoscape as it did just what I wanted it to do, with plenty of stuff still to learn later.
I even dabbled with RAW, now that did mess with my melon, so its JPEG for me. However its all down to what you feel confident using, and that will always be different for each of us.
One thing that did help, now keep this to yourself or everyone will be doing it, tutorials on You Tube, I found that the series by Tony Northrup was at my level and he didn't have a voice that annoyed me, he does plug his book a bit, but that is the price for watching.

Two things guide me when I am taking a picture, the rule of thirds, and lead in lines, everything else is down to moist gussets and falling over, the last two have to be experienced by each person on a private basis. When you have experienced a moist gusset encounter you will have a moment when you say, that dave mac was right. Just a word of warning to the person new to the moist gusset, a coating of dubbin will help in the initial stages until you build up antibodies.

Having got that off my chest, has anyone else got any tips or tricks they use when snapping ?

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Dave I had an earlier Paintshop Pro...bought the book that was supposed to make it all clear.......came away from that thinking I must be thick because it still didn't make much sense.
As for tips.......I shoot first, rarely think about the lead in lines, or the rule of thirds......I snap what appeals to me and sometimes, just sometimes it works for me.
I have ideas in my head about what a pic should look like...about the kind of capture I would like to make.
Some of yours Dave, make me weep...because you got 'em and I didn't(and I mean that in the nicest, humblest way).

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I`m going to have a play with RAW also, but have to use a program provided by sony as photoshop can`t read the RAW images from my camera, I think I would have to upgrade to cs6 for that.
You`re right in that it`s what suits the individual, and i`m sure the more I learn, the more complicated things will become and I am finding I get more help if I ask a photoshop question rather than a GIMP question. I actually would have preferred to stay with GIMP as it`s also available for linux but a lot less people use it than photoshop so help is not as easy to come across.

Roll on weekend when my new camera can have a proper outing.http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/w...1136752897.gif

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I hope we get a nice dry bright weekend for you to test out your new camera...and that you have a very enjoyable time.

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I would like to think that if any of us takes a photo that appeals to others then they could go out and put their slant on the snap, or build on an idea.

This rule of thirds just means don't bang things in the middle, either vertically or or horizontally, and once you get used to it, you do it without thinking.

Its good to have ideas to work on,it keeps the interest there, I myself am looking for a specific type of street furniture, but not spotted it yet.

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Press the shutter

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I am now trying with RAW and adobe lightroom 5