Different Shades of Ridea: Selective Coloration

Last night we were at the Live House watching Ridea perform.

Getting good photos of a band, on stage, when the house is full, can be a real challenge.

Not real wild about the way shadows, colors and light turned out, I tried something new today.

Using the original photo (top above) I ran it through Selective Coloration in Adobe Elements.

Only, I told the thing to leave her lips alone.

You'll have to decide which shades of Ridea you like best.

Meanwhile, I'll be busy trying to chase that band down, to get model releases signed.

Before and After (Photos) A Subtle HDR

Before HDR

What the Heck is HDR ?

 

It's just an acronym for High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI).

As it turned out, it got shortened to HDR, to save people from talking so much.

Remember when "application" was a long word ?

We have an app, for that, nowadays.

 After HDR

Cameras Have a Hard Time with High Contrast Scenes

 

High Dynamic Range, in photography, helps capture the scene as you would have seen it.

Three, or more photos are taken at different exposures.

Then, they are combined, to give more details in the finished image.

Plenty of the new model cameras have this as a built-in feature.

But, I don't like taking my cameras off Manual Mode.

So, when I run into a scene like the one above, I just shoot the best photos, I can.

Then, if I'm not satisfied with the results, do an HDR back in the office.

Why a Subtle HDR Photo ?

 

Because, I didn't want the people in the picture looking like cartoon characters.

There are plenty of software programs available for creating HDR photos.

And, even more people using them to create cartoon-character-looking pictures.

They sort of over-do it, a bit too much for my taste, with the artwork.

 To me, a subtle HRD photo looks more like the scene as I saw it.

Adobe Elements is all I needed to use for this scene.

If I ever get tired of toting around cameras, I may decide to become a cartoonist.

Did you know, a digital artist doesn't need cameras and lenses ?

RELATED POST:  HDR Photography Basics

Visit my Homepage for today's Feature Photo

Flower (花) Photos: The Christmas Candle (Senna alata) Okinawa

These Christmas Candle Flowers (花) bloom near my house about this time every year.

When I see them, I'm usually walking dogs and in a hurry to get home out of the cold wind.

This morning I almost hitched the dogs up to a guardrail to shoot a photo with my phone camera.

The position they are in is on top of a hill that's just too windy, though.  Then, I thought about snipping of a nice looking stem with my Swiss Army Knife scissors.  But some nosey old bat looking out her window might be watching me trimming her plants.

So, I figured, nah.  No sense going to jail this close to Christmas.

Well, sonovagun if I didn't already have some photos I took of these bright yellow flowers way back in December of 2008 !

See, I'm doing my 1st end-of-the-year-photo-file-shrinking, today.

That's where I shrink all the humongous 10 megapixel files down to almost nothing.

Then, throw all the computer-space-hogging stuff away.

The Adobe Elements Program I use flashed these photos on my screen as it was crunching them.

Yeah, I already had some photos of the flowers, stashed away.

These flowers took some time researching.  After about two hours of squinting at yellow flower photos from all around the world,  I finally nailed and ID for you.

They have all sorts of common names for this plant.

Golden Candlesticks, Popcorn Senna, Seven Golden Candlesticks, call it whatever you like.

From now on they are Christmas Candles (Senna alata) to me.

MORE INFO ABOUT CHRISTMAS CANDLE PLANTS 

Do you have any Christmas Candle Flowers (花) where you live ?

If not, maybe, I can pinch a few seeds for you when nobody's lookin' !

Adobe Elements Product Review (Photos) and How To

HERE'S A QUICK REVIEW AND HOW-TO FOR FRIENDS WHO SHOOT UNDEREXPOSED PHOTOS AND FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T MY FRIENDS, YET.

        A BEFORE ADOBE ELEMENTS 8                                                     AND AN AFTER ELEMENTS 8

This is a product I use every single day.  Now, nobody can get away with calling me a PhotoShopper because that's not what I use the stuff for.  The idea I got into my head when I first started takin pictures with a digital camera was learn to shoot photos that don't need anything done to them but framing after they came outa my camera.

Once I started posting photos online I discovered there's a buncha thieves around the world who think it's alright to just take your stuff for FREE !

So, I ended up buying programs to help me discourage them. Let's just say I alter the photography enough to make it worthless for printing and easy for me to find when some knucklehead decides to swipe my picture and re-post it on line as his or hers.

Today, all I want to show you is a few steps you can take in Adobe Elements.  I'm using Elements 8 but, there is a newer version available, Adobe Elements 9.  Either one you can get for under $100. 

I have used other programs.  For the computer challenged nothing beats Adobe Elements.

HERE IS ALL I DID TO THE PHOTO ABOVE WITH ELEMENTS 8 IN 30 SECONDS OR LESS


Clicked on FILE and opened my Pictures File for 17 April 2011 and clicked on this image.
Boom.  There she is and she's underexposed.  So, I want to enhance her.  I CLICK "ENHANCE". Hah !


Being the lazy person I am, all I did next was hit AUTO SMART FIX and let somebody else do all the work.


         Little guys running around inside my computer fixed her up in no time.  Bless their hearts.


Next, I CLICK on IMAGE to size it for my blog and HIT "ROTATE" to get the gal standin on her feet. 

All that took me less than 30 seconds.  You can probably do it even faster.  I only type with one finger.

Adobe Elements gets a five star rating from me. 

Would I reccomend this product to my friends ?

Yup. They'd be crazy not to have it.

RELATED POST: HDR PHOTOGRAPHY BASICS USING ELEMENTS 8