The Magic of Digital Filters
In the world of film photography, filters are transparent coverings that are placed over a lens to enhance or alter the image.
Digital filters serve the same purpose, but in a much more dynamic and dramatic way.
DIGITAL FILTER: Almost all image editing programs contain filters although they may be called by a different name such as Effects or Adjustments.
We discussed Picasa 2 late last year, but since then I have discovered many more wonderful things that can be done with the program. In fact, I now use it more often than any other program for my day-to-day digital photography.
HOW TO GET PICASA:
1. 
Either click on this button, or go to www.picasa.com and click on the Free Download button.
The Internet is a wonderful resource for all sorts of topics related to digital photography.
Here are a list of links and topics where you can learn more.
Researching equipment:
Filters: Various filters found in most good image editing programs allow you to make drastic changes to a photo in one fell swoop!
Digital Darkroom Basics
The inaugural meeting of our Digital Photography SIG was amazing. We literally had a standing room only crowd and as with all of your Users Groups meetings the information shared was nothing short of fantastic. Here is some of the information shared at the meeting:
Basic computer requirements
If you already have a computer and it is working great for your purposes, don’t take this as a suggestion to buy a new computer. However, if you are in the market for a new computer and want to know what to look for, here are
my suggestions from the meeting.
Holiday Greeting Cards
Using the techniques discussed this month you can create a stand-alone post card style greeting card, or make the photos on the front or inside of your greeting cards much more personalized.
Although the card above does not look that much like one you would send out for the Holidays, it uses several important effects and techniques that are only limited by your creativity.
What can you do with Picasa 2?
Picasa 2 is a free program made by Google that allows you to organize your photos without any effort on your part.
Besides organizing photos it also has some great creativity tools including gift CDs, slide shows, and blogging tools.
HOW TO GET PICASA:
1. Either click on this button, or go to www.picasa.com and click on the Free Download button.
Fun With Photoshop Elements
Photoshop Elements is great for making pictures look better, but there are a number of tools within Photoshop Elements that you may not know about. Some are practical, others are just fun.
Give layers beveled or glowing edges:
This is especially fun with text, but it can also be a handy skill for scrapbook pages or photo collages.
This technique works especially well with text – but you can do it to any layer (besides the background layer).
What’s New In Elements 3
Quirky Features:
Not all of the new features in Elements 3 are extremely useful. Although many of the new features are designed to help the beginner, they are too complicated to be of any use. Some of theses new quirky features include:
1. Create – The most useful of the quirky new features, this feature allows you to make slideshows, greeting cards, photo album pages and more. Don’t expect the versatility of a program like Print Shop though.