Unclutter Your Screen Work Area

Hello again,

I was just working away on a few different photos for a couple customers, and I had them all up at the same time. Don't know why, but that's just how I work sometimes. My brain likes to take a break from one project and work on something different for a bit, then go back. Always bouncing around. And a lot of the time it's not even in Photoshop - Like right now! My brain has wondered off to write in my blog instead of working on photos. Hopefully it'll be back soon - I have no control over what pops into it!

When I've got several images up at once, I like to use one of my normal keyboard short-cuts (and for those who know me, know I live by keyboard short-cuts) to clean up my screen for better viewing of the image I'd like to concentrate on.

Well, the customer I was working with, in amazement, who (whom?) also is into Photoshop just had to ask - What did I just do with the stroke of a single key? So here I am to show you too.

This is another one of those stupid, why didn't I know about that, kind of shortcuts that, once you learn it you'll use it all the time.

Here's one of my photos up on screen; notice all the clutter of other images and Bridge behind it?

It's hard to concentrate on what's important.

With simple push of the "F" key, it's all gone, and your image is full screen with a gray border around it and all your tools and palettes are still present.

Pretty nice, Huh?

Now, to get back to viewing your multiple windows, just push "Shift-F". Bam!

Now, the odd thing is that in your Photoshop drop-down menus, all (well, at least most of) the keyboard shortcuts for each function is shown to the side of that function in the drop-down menu. But this is one of those little secret ones that's not shown.

If you go to View>Screen Mode, you'll see the four options you have there - But no mention of a keyboard shortcut - Which is why I'm here to help you out.

By simply pushing the "F" Key, each push will toggle you thru each of the Screen Modes, while "Shift-F" will toggle you thru the modes in reverse order. Go ahead, give it a try, you know you want too!

See! Pretty slick, Huh?

And that's how I was able to quickly (and amazingly) clean-up my screen right in front of my customer.

Thanks again for coming by,

Tony D. Locke, MM

Tony's Tips - Today Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts

Need to Undo a White Balance in Camera RAW?

If you attempted to set the white balance in your image with the White Balance tool (I) , and you don't like what happened, you can undo your white balance setting (gotta love the ability to undo things) by double-clicking on the White Balance tool in Camera Raw. Simple huh?

Living On & Seeing The Layers Edge

Would you like to see where the edges of one of your layers lies (very handy for layers with soft edges) - Now would you? Well Bucko, just go up to the View menu > Show, and choose Layer Edges. Now a thin blue border will magically appear around the edges of your selected layer, allowing you to see and live on the edge of your layer's boundaries.

Would You Like to Move And/Or

Copy A Layer Mask?

Oh dude, this is so easy, you won't believe it. No fancy key combinations here. Just click directly on the layer mask's thumbnail and drag it to the layer where you want it. If you want a duplicate of a layer mask (instead of just moving it), press-and-hold the Option key (PC: Alt key) before you drag. Instant Mask copy - See, what'd I tell ya!

OK, enough for today. Hope you learned at least one trick/tip today. I don't have any idea why the paragraphs are formatting the way they are, that's just how Blogger works sometimes. I'm learning Wordpress too as another option, so keep track of me here, and you'll see the changes come along.

Thanks again for playing along and reading my blog,

Tony

Go Out And Take More Photos

Just like the 'ole saying goes: "Money doesn't grow on trees" - Well, by the same token... Photo's don't take themselves.

You can spend hours ogling over the photos on the internet, on the seemingly endless photo sites like Flickr (including mine of course, at www.flickr.com/photos/masterofmadness), not only admiring the work of others, but also trying to figure out how they're made.

But if you're going to take (or make actually) your own photos, you need to turn off the TV and computer, get up off your duff and either go outside, or to your work table and put in the practice time. This is a great hobby, which just like any other hobby, you learn by seeing what others have done, then go practice it yourself.

So while you're out there practicing, keep in mind these common mistakes and attitudes, all of which will make you a better photographer.

1. Set aside time and set out to take photos. Simply grab you bag and get out there! Set aside the time to actually enjoy it too. You don't have to spend more time than you actually have, as that'll just turn into an excuse for not going. Think about it as stealing time from other things that are less important, like watching TV, surfing the internet or laying around reading. Or, one of my favorites - The yard will still be there tomorrow, but that photo op won't.

2. Turn your cell phone off, or maybe... aaghh, don't even take it with you. OK, I know for some of you, it's almost a nagging habit, and you'll have withdrawals if you're without that pesky thing. So, if you must have it for emergencies, when it rings, just look at the caller ID and let it go to voicemail. There's no reason that you have to talk to them right this second - You're busy enjoying yourself right now and don't want to be interrupted!

3. Pack some food, snacks and a bottle of water or two. So now you won't be hunger or thirsty, which would otherwise provide yet, another easy excuse to go home. Grab snacks that are lightweight, have lots of energy and take no preparation time. Go get some of the 'better for you' energy bars. Cliff bars are great, as are the Luma and other brands that make energy bars specifically. Most are available now at your local grocery store too. In a pinch even the Kellogg or Quacker Oats types of 'cereal bars' would work too, maybe just not as healthy though. To make carrying the water around easier too, look into some of the various bottle holders and slings. This is again, an attempt to avoid any disincentives to carrying these around. Make it easy on yourself and you'll enjoy your time out shooting even more.

4. Dress appropriately. If you're not comfortable, you won't have fun and you'll want to come home - Remember, I'm trying to get you out to take photos, not go home.

There aren't too many things that will spoil the day like being too cold or too hot - Or too wet. Wear layers so that you can add/remove clothes as needed. Check weather reports for the area you'll be in. If it's going to cool, but otherwise nice, wear a few thin layers so you don't have to carry around a heavy coat once you've warmed up. If you going to be on a long trip, especially anything that includes the joy of hiking, you might consider bringing a complete change of clothes left in a separate bag to have ready in the car - Just in case you try to get a fish eye view from the water. You wouldn't want to get your car seats wet on the trip home.

Make sure to have good walking/hiking shoes or boots, and very important - good socks! You can have the best boots made, but if you've got thin, weak socks, your feet will make your life miserable all day, and sometimes into the next day too.

5. Pack only what you really need for this trip. After you've carried a heavy camera bag around for a few hours, you'll have wished you followed this step. There are several thoughts on this: One lens or multiple's.

If you're just going for a walk thru the woods, the park or candid street photography around town, you might not even pack your bag. Just grab your camera body and choose a lens. I usually like my trusty 'ole Canon 28-135 f3.5 IS for these trips. It takes great sharp photos, has stabilization, which generally means I don't need to lug around my tripod, and it has a nice zoom range which will cover most situations I may run into on a walk. Nikon and others also make something in a comparable range.

If you think you may run into some low-light situations, pack your flash and your tripod too. Actually, my tripod's always in the trunk, so if I need it, it's already with me. If you're thinking of exploring other areas, or maybe wanting to get a bit more serious or creative, then go ahead and pack what you think you'll need.

On my latest trip up Mt. Rainier, I carried three lens; 17-40 wide angle zoom, 28-135 medium zoom & 70-300 long zoom (oh yeah, and my fun little LensBaby, 'cause you never know when you might want something different). These packed easily, would cover most anything I ran into short of that Black Bear several hundred yards across the valley, saved weight and saved room for snacks and a light jacket. Make sure you've got a lens hood for each lens too.

If you're shooting with a 'Point-n-Shoot' or 'Happy-Snappy' type of camera, then you can ignore this step, as you've got one less reason to not get out and shoot now.

6. As an extension of the above step - Get over "Gear Envy" or "Camera Fetishes". Avoid the tendency to think "I've just got to have a new DSLR" or "Once I get that new lens I'll be ready to go out and shoot more". THE CAMERA DOESN'T MATTER (kinda).

I know I'm always lusting over the latest gear too, but due to budget issues (or lack of), they'll have to wait. Until then I'm still shooting and getting great shots with what I've got.

So, just get out there and shoot! Any camera will work, any lens will work. Even these new compact cellphone cameras will work too in the right conditions. Learn your camera, learn its limitations, adjust your photography to suit - And get out there and use it! As you grow with the hobby, go ahead and upgrade. At least you'll be better informed to make better decisions when you do, with less costly mistakes by buying the wrong gear. In the meantime, keep shooting.

Granted, yes, a better camera will technically take better pictures - But it's still the nut behind the wheel (meaning you) that's operating the camera, who'll make better photographs.

A little added note; When it comes to upgrades, you'll get your best bang for the buck with better glass/lens, which you'll always be able use later. New bodies are nice too, but you'll never stay caught up. As soon as you buy a new body, it'll be replaced with something faster, better, shinier. While your lens will always be ready to go.

7. Now that you're back from shooting - Turn your computer back on, download your images and see how you've done. The fastest way to get better at photography is to immediately throw away the bad photos!

Don't even consider saving them for later. If it's bad now, it'll be bad later too. But... Learn from them. What's wrong with them, what did you do wrong that you can do better later? Sort, name and tag the others. Then, grab the best of the best for working with - Which will be another blog entry.

While your sitting there staring at your screen, first, make sure all our batteries are on their chargers, ready to for your next photo trip. Then, go ahead and do some more research at photo websites. Google the type of photos you just took, i.e. "How to take better landscape photos", "How to improve macro shots", "How to make kids & pets pay attention".

You'll gain artistic and technical lessons, which you'll be able to use the next time you "Go Out And Take More Photos"

Thanks again for playing along and reading my blog.

Tony

P.S. Let me know how I'm doing with this blog thing. It's still all new to me. This is just as much a learning experience for me as being a photographer is. I'm going to try to be more consistent with my entries.

Are you learning anything? Does any of this make sense? Is there something you'd like covered? Is there something I can do to improve my blog, my writing, my types of articles? Or... Have you just wasted another 10-15 minutes on the computer? Be honest, let me know. Thanks again, Tony

100 Strangers In One Year (or so)

As part of a personal challenge, I've started a new project - 100 Strangers. I'm more of a landscape and abstract/macro/fine art photographer, I don't do portraits, and definitely don't do weddings. I've played with street photography, but have always been shy when it comes to shooting people - Thus this challenge: Meet and photograph 100 Strangers in the next year (or so).

I've only started about a week or so ago, and have 3 Strangers on my Flickr site so far, but I've got others lined up and plan on getting more as I can. It's not been easy, and I have been turned down, but that's part of the challenge.

I encourage all of you to find a project that gets you out of your comfort zone and out shooting more. For some people I know, who are more comfortable shooting nature and wildlife, shooting landscapes is difficult, while those who (whom?) shoot weddings, can't figure out how to shoot anything else except people. Find a weakness that also interests you, turn it into a project, and go for it. Having a project is almost like having a goal that needs to be met... But in a fun way.

Here's the description of the basics, taken from their site www.100strangers.com

100 Strangers

Step out of your comfort zone to a new level of portrait photography: take 100 portraits of people you don't know.

The idea

The One Hundred Strangers project is a learning group for people who want to improve the social and technical skills needed for taking portraits of strangers and telling their stories. The method is learning by doing.

The project is lots of fun and improves photojournalistic skills. During the process you might expand your every day living experience - and who knows, maybe you will even get a couple of new friends during the process.

We welcome both beginner and advanced photographers. You may be new to photographing strangers or already have experience of this type of photography.

The challenge

Take 100 photographs of at least 100 people you don't know. Approach a person or group of people and ask for permission to both take a photo of them and to post it to the flickr 100 Strangers group. Get to know your subjects. Who are they? What is their life like?

Try to tell a small story with each photo you take. This may be a story about the person or how you felt approaching that particular individual. You may have, for example, tried a new approach or used a new photographic technique. Try to learn something from every encounter you make.

This site

The project can be seen at the 100 strangers group in flickr. This site is to showcase the project outside the flickr framework.