Photo Dodo

How To Convert Color Photographs to Black and White Photographs

// March 2nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Photoshop, book, books, digital camera, digital darkroom, digital photography, photo, photo lab, photograph, photographs, photography, photohack

There is just something about black and white photographs that is just incredible. An unsophisticated color snapshot can look like a professionally-composed photograph if converted properly to the B&W format.

Additionally, you can “salvage” some really grainy color photographs by making them B&W.

There are quite a few ways to take a color photograph and make it black and white. The Digital Photography School describes several ways, all of which work. Scott Kelby also offers some killer ways to convert color to black and white in his outstanding book series, Photoshop Elements.

How to Convert Color Digital Images into Black and White Ones

Free eBook on Digital Photography

// October 23rd, 2006 // No Comments » // hacks, photo, photo hack, photography, photohack, tutorial

Dennis Curtin over at ShortCourses.com is offering a free eBook on digital photography. Simply click the link in this story and hop on over to his site.

This month’s project: Fall

// October 10th, 2006 // No Comments » // hacks, landscape, photo, photo hack, photograph, photography, photohack, scenery

Fall is here, so it’s time to take some great pictures of the changing colors, falling leaves, clear blue skies, etc. October is my favorite month of the year: There’s usually not much rain, the skies have wonderful blues and clouds, there’s a slight chill in the air, and the leaves are turning on the trees.

Tonight offers a prime opportunity to photograph the moon

// October 6th, 2006 // No Comments » // landscape, moon, photo, photo hack, photograph, photography, photohack, scenery, tips, tricks

The moon is set to appear about 12% bigger tonight, due to it being closer to the earth tonight. Even sweeter is the fact that it’s a full moon.

So set up your tripod and start shooting. Recommended: Tripod!, remote shutter release or use the camera’s builtin self-timer. Set your camera to Manual mode and set the f-stop to f/11 and the shutter to 1/250. This should keep everything in focus and give you a good exposure. Of course, try other settings — experimentation is the essence of the art.

Photododo Quick Tip: Getting sharper hand-held photos

// October 2nd, 2006 // No Comments » // hacks, photo, photo hack, photograph, photography, photohack, tips, tricks

Here’s a quick tip for getting sharper hand-held photos:

Choose burst mode. The second or third bursted photo will usually be much more in focus (i.e., clearer) than the first.

Here’s why: When hand-holding (i.e., not using a tripod or remote shutter release), pressing the shutter button moves the camera, if only slightly. This movement, especially in low light or with moving objects, can really blur a photo. However, when using burst mode, that first shutter press is the only one you’ll need to get 2 or 3 (or more) photos. Since the second and third photos do not require a shutter press, those photos will be clearer.