Gadgets & Gear: October 2007

Okay, so after reading last months’ article on buying a digital camera, you went out and got yourself a snazzy new camera and have shot tons of pictures with it, right? If not, what are you waiting for? It’s OK, I’ll wait here while you run to the store… Got it? Alright, now you have a memory card full of pictures looking at you as if to say “now what hotshot?” (Memory cards can be rude like that, film was always much more polite).

So what do you do with all those pictures? If you take all your pictures in JPEG format, you could just pop that card out and take it to the store and print them out if you want, but no matter what, you are probably still going to need a way to touch up some of those pictures and also a way to index and save them. If you have a DSLR camera and shoot in RAW format, you are going to have to “develop” all of those files before you can print them. If you are shooting in RAW, you probably already have a favorite program for your photos, and I may do an article on some of those programs in the future. This article is for those people with a point-and-shoot (P&S) camera who shoot in JPEG and need software to help their pictures look their best and to help keep track of them all.

Almost every single P&S camera saves your pictures after processing the image internally to a JPEG (which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group) file which you can then immediately get printed. The problem comes when you get home from that party and after downloading the pictures on your computer, you notice that all your friends look like they have satanic red eyes. Now if this is normal for them, you might want to think about getting some new friends… just a suggestion. If this is not normal for them, you will want to use some software to get rid of the red eye.

Some other problems that these programs can help with to some degree are: underexposure (not as easy to recover from overexposure – just ask Britney Spears), softness (not blurriness), color casts, skin blemishes and a host of other problems. So here is a short list of a few programs you might want to consider for making your pictures look their best.

Google Picasa: This program from the boys and girls at Google is probably my favorite “quick fix” program. Picasa also does a great job of organizing your pictures and makes it very easy to put together all sorts of gift items or even just get them printed online. The interface is incredibly easy to use and scrolling through your pictures is a joy.

Don’t let the clean interface and simplicity fool you, there is some serious software under the hood, and Picasa does more than an admirable job touching up photos. The easiest thing to do is select a picture and hit the “I’m feeling lucky button” (I’m not kidding, that is what it is really called), and nine times out of ten you will have a much better picture (this is subjective of course). You can also straighten and crop pictures as well a host of lighting functions. About the only thing you can’t do with Picasa in the “quick fix” department is take care of skin blemishes.

The best part of Picasa is the cost – it’s FREE. You heard right, Picasa is not only a free program, it is an incredibly well done program and doesn’t even make you put up with ads to pay for it. Even if you have another program that you like to use for the heavy duty photo adjustment, this program deserves a spot on your hard drive.

Photoshop Elements 5: “Photoshopping” a picture has become so commonplace now that it has become its own word. The full version of Photoshop is more than what 99% of photographers would ever need. Adobe realized this and created Photoshop Elements which is now on version five. It takes out the drawing tools from Photoshop and leaves much of the powerful photo editing tools that Photoshop is famous for. In fact, Elements even has a few tools that Photoshop doesn’t have. Best of all, these tools are made much easier to access and implement in Elements.

I consider myself to be very software savvy and even I got intimidated by the full version of Photoshop. Elements can do everything from the “quick fix” to putting your head on the body of a supermodel; not that I would ever do that. Making incriminating pictures of my editor? That, I will do.

In addition to very powerful image editing tools, Elements also has some very sophisticated tools to organize your photos. You can add all kinds of ‘tags’ to your photos so that you can look up your pictures by who is in them, or by when or where they were taken. Elements also has the ability to make some pretty impressive gift items for friends and family. You can make everything from slideshow DVDs with soundtracks, to flipbooks, to full-on printed and bound photo albums. If you also happen to maintain a family/personal website, Elements has a lot of tools to help format your images to best fit your site and can even help you post them to your domain.

If I were to recommend one image editing program that will do what just about everyone would ever possibly need, it would be Photoshop Elements 5. It can do everything from the quick fix to the really intricate work. Elements list for about $100 but you can find it much cheaper online or at Costco, where it is about $60.

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo: For the longest time Paint Shop Pro was viewed with just a little bit of distain as the “cheap” rip-off of Photoshop (meaning that the full version of Photoshop costs about $600 and Paint Shop Pro went for about $100) but for the most part that was the only difference, the price. Paint Shop Pro can do almost everything that the full version of Photoshop can do, and in some cases, even do it better. I have always liked Paint Shop and was always happy to save $500 over Photoshop. Paint Shop used to be produced by a company called JASC but now has been acquired by Corel.

Corel took Paint Shop Pro and made it more like Photoshop Elements than Photoshop, meaning it now focuses more on image editing vs. editing and creation, hence the Photo in the name now. This is actually a good thing since the majority of consumers are doing just that, editing and not drawing. The current version of PSP Photo is version XI but by the time this is printed, they will have come out with version X2 (I guess the roman numerals get too hard over eleven). From what I have already seen on version XI and what looks like is being added to X2, PSP Photo is looking to be a very nice program.

My only hesitation with recommending Paint Shop Pro Photo as THE photo editor to get is the learning curve. While not as steep as the one for Photoshop, there is still a lot to learn to get the most out of the program. If right now you are using a point and shoot camera and mostly playing around with JPEGs, but think that in the near future you might move up to a DSLR and start shooting in the RAW format, purchasing PSP Photo X2 might be a good choice since they have added a ton of new features to help with RAW processing.

Corel’s Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 will be going for about $99 when it is released at the end of September, but they often have an upgrade rebate that counts just about any other image editor as a qualifying update source. After rebate, you can look at it costing about $59.

Okay, I can’t help it. I know I wasn’t going to say anything about the more complex programs for DSLR users, but writing about PSP Photo X2’s RAW support makes me want to at least give a small blurb to my favorite image editing program…

Adobe Lightroom: I LOVE this program! I’m serious. My wife is jealous of a computer program, but it had me at install. I’m not one for doing a ton of “creative” work with my photos. I don’t like to cut and paste people in or out, nor do I like creating funky pictures with crazy colors or warping. I like to take the best picture possible with my camera and then use the tools in Lightroom to help make the picture a little more like the way I saw it through my eyes. I like to punch up the sharpness (since DSLRs shooting RAW don’t do any in camera sharpening like a Point and Shoot, the images can look a little soft). I also like my pictures with really vibrant colors that virtually jump off the photo. The only really “creative” thing I like to do to some of my photos, is to turn some of them into black and white. In all these areas, Lightroom does a superb job and does it with such an elegant layout and interface that it makes it a pleasure to work with. I had over 600 photos after getting back from my vacation to London and Paris, and Lightroom made it incredibly easy to help pare that down to about 400 of the best photos, and then from there, process them to be the best they could possibly be. If you already own a DSLR and haven’t given Lightroom a shot, I would recommend you give the demo a try, it is not a huge program, and I think you will be really impressed at how it can improve your workflow. This was a program written for photographers by photographers.

So that’s it, a quick list of just a few of the programs out there to help make your pictures look their best. Learning to have better technique when taking pictures is by far the best way to make them really shine, though sometimes even the best photo can use a little touch up.

As always, feel free to write to me about any questions you might have or if there is something you would like to see me write about. You can email me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.

Gadgets & Gear: September 2007

Photography. All of us fancy ourselves as a photographer at some time or another. There is something about photography that calls out to just about everyone. People much smarter than me have debated what it is about photographs that draw us in so much. Some say that it is our way of freezing time in our inescapable march towards death (that depressed me just typing it). Some say that it ties into our human need to document what we have done in our lives (cave paintings were just early versions of photo albums). Either way you look at it, virtually everyone loves photos, except maybe when sitting through Aunt Millie’s slideshow of her 15 cats… “Here they are licking themselves, here they are sleeping, here they are coughing up a hairball, isn’t that just the cutest thing?”

This is the first in a two-part series on photography, digital imaging to be specific since hardly anyone uses film anymore. This article is on how to buy a digital camera and next month’s will be about the software to use with your digital images. You might have noticed that I said HOW to buy a digital camera and not WHICH digital cameras to buy. Normally, I would give recommendations on products but I am going to refrain this time. Photography is a very subjective field, and people are very picky about what they like and some people are VERY territorial about their cameras. On some of the online photography forums you can get away with disparaging their mother, but never their camera. (Insult: “Your mother was a witch and you shoot with a Nikon!” Response: “How dare you, I have NEVER used a Nikon!”).

All cameras take photographs differently, even different models from the same manufacturer. Some take photos with super-saturated colors, some take very softly focused shots, some take very sharp, almost 3D photos. The thing about it is, some people will love the effect, others would think their camera is broken. My very first digital camera was from Sony, and it took very good pictures, but it was one of those that produced super-saturated colors, which I thought looked quite nice. Other people hated it because it wasn’t true to life. You are going to have to decide on your own personal tastes. What follows are the two questions I ask everyone who asks me for advice on which digital camera to buy (which is second only to which MP3 player to buy).

How big are you going to make the prints?

A camera that has a ten megapixel sensor has got to be better than one with a measly six megapixels right? Wrong! The camera companies have trained everyone to think this way so that you will run right out and sell your old camera on eBay as soon as the new model comes out with one more megapixel and not much else different.

The truth is, some very high megapixel cameras turn out far worse photos in a very objective sense than those with far less megapixels. Granted, some of these problems are due to other factors such as the quality of the lens and the software in the camera and not the sensor. The problem is, as you pack more and more sensors onto a chip, you have to make them smaller and smaller to fit or you have to increase the size of the chip, which is expensive and can change the form factor of the camera.

As you pack more and more of those sensors closer together, they can create all kinds of problems, not the least of which is “noise”. This is the thing that can make a digital image look “grainy,” like you would get with the old high-speed film. Now graininess may be something you like in an artistic way, but digital noise oftentimes doesn’t just introduce graininess. It can also produce other image problems that can destroy a picture. That just proves my point, that it’s not the size of your sensor, it’s how you use it. Actually, it is the whole package that really matters.

So how many megapixels do you need? That depends on how big of a picture you are going to produce. Ninety-five percent of the people on the planet would never need a camera over three megapixels, let alone six. Who are those 10 and 12 megapixel monsters made for? Pros typically (at least in the digital SLR arena). And, suckers (for those getting a point-and-shoot camera).

If you are never going to print a picture bigger than the typical 4 x 6” print, you don’t need any more than three megapixels! If I take a picture with a ten megapixel camera and you shoot the same picture with a three, and we both print a 4 x 6” at the same photo lab, they will both be really nice pictures and any difference between the two is probably going to be more due to the lens or the software than the sensor.

In truth, your picture may look better than mine; there is that whole subjective thing again. So here is a little guide on how big of a sensor you need according to what size of print you are going to make:

• 3 megapixel = 5 x 7” (you could even blow that 4 x 6 up to the next size and it would look great)

• 4 megapixel = 8 x 10”

• 5 megapixel = 11 x 14”

• 6 megapixel = 13 x 19”

• 8 megapixel = 16 x 20”

• 10-12 megapixel = 24 x 36”

So, unless you are planning on printing out a poster that is 2 x 3 feet, you really don’t need that super megapixel camera. You would be much better off buying a higher quality camera with a smaller sensor.

How do you plan on using the camera?

This is the easiest question to ask yourself; “Am I just using this camera to take quick shots of people/events, or do I really want to get creative with my photos?” If you are just planning on taking basic pictures of your kids, your spouse, and the trip to Hawaii, all you really need or probably want is a point and shoot (P&S) camera. What I mean by a P&S is a camera that is typically very compact and does not allow you to switch out the lenses. These are what 90% of the cameras at Best Buy or any major retailer would be classified under. That’s not to say that you can’t do a lot with these cameras – some of them have special modes in them that are pretty advanced and you can get somewhat creative with your pictures (adjusting shutter speed, maybe adjusting the aperture for less depth of field) – but mostly they were intended to be used in “Full Auto” mode most of the time.

Most of these cameras are great and will take pictures that you will most likely be very happy with. Also, they are typically very easy to put in a small case and put into a pocket or a purse. If you are a casual photographer, find one here that feels the easiest for you to use, has a screen you like and has any special features that you like (i.e. Kodak and several other brands have cameras that have little printer docks that can print out your 4 x 6” prints all in one package).

If you fancy yourself as the next Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz, you might want to consider a Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera. It will be very hard to get sweeping panoramas or portraits that almost jump out at you with a P&S camera. With power comes complexity, and while almost all DSLRs have a basic mode (you can get a DSLR and keep it in its basic mode all the time but you will basically have a very powerful and expensive P&S), they really shine when you put them into their “creative” modes. This is where you can play with the shutter speed to make a waterfall or a stream turn into a white “otherworldly” substance or freeze them to where you can see every drop. You can play with the aperture and get tack sharp focus from the camera all the way out to infinity, or open it up to take a portrait with everything but the person’s face beautifully out of focus to really draw attention to them.

Like I said above, some P&S cameras can do this to some degree or another, but none of them excel at it the way a DSLR was designed to do. Also, with a DSLR you have the ability to swap out lenses to suit the type of photography you are doing. Shooting sports? You can get yourself one of those wicked cool white Canon telephoto lenses. Want to take in a wide cityscape or interior of a beautiful cathedral? Go out and get a super wide angle lens. Want to take close-ups of a bee perched on a flower? Go grab yourself a nice macro lens (though I have to admit a lot of P&S cameras have some pretty impressive macro modes, though none will match the quality of a dedicated macro lens).

One thing about DSLRs that throws a lot of digital P&S owners is that you don’t compose the picture on the LCD on the back (that is only for reviewing the picture and menu functions), with a DSLR you go back to sticking the camera to your face and taking the picture through the viewfinder. This is due to the design of all SLRs, digital or not, and while some new DSLRs offer what they call a “live view” on the LCD screen, it’s not the best, and you should just use the viewfinder.

Quick note here on a class of cameras called “Megazoom” cameras. These are cameras that typically look like a hybrid of a P&S and a DSLR. They are more compact than a DSLR but have a bigger lens than a P&S. If you aren’t quite ready to make the jump from a P&S to a DSLR you might want to consider one of these cameras because even though they are still P&S cameras, they tend to have a little more options in the creative arena. Some of these cameras function almost identically to their DSLR big brothers with the exception of swapping out lenses (you really don’t need to though because the lens on many of these cameras cover the entire gamut of lenses you can buy with a DSLR).

That’s it?

Yep, those are the two questions I ask people when they ask me for advice on what digital camera to buy. There are just too many different features from each maker, and even within each product line, to go in-depth about all of them. Once you know how big of a sensor you need and which type of camera you are looking for, then you need to go out and find the one that fits your hands the best, has a big enough screen for you, and is easy enough for you to take around with you.

If you are looking for some specific camera reviews from some good sources, here are a few sites to look up. My favorite site is www.dpreview.com. This is a camera site for photographers by photographers. These guys give you multi-page reviews with comparisons to other cameras in the class and sample photos. Another good site is the one for the magazine Popular Photography at www.popphoto.com. You can also go to www.cnet.com and look under their reviews section. They are usually pretty good on all tech reviews though I think their camera reviews are their weakest section (I don’t think any of them are a real photographer nor do they use the real lab equipment to test the camera like DPReview and PopPhoto).

Have fun and see you next month when I’ll be writing about all the little software programs to play with all those photos from your new camera. As always, if you have any questions feel free to write me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.