Lets allow ourselves that one question that requires a little more thought before answering….. If you had to name one aspects of photography that you think are thee most important skill you need, what will that be? Before scanning through the article, allow your own mind to play with this thought for a few minutes. If you feel strong about what you think feel free to go to the forum and to take part in the new discussion I opened on this question, I am really interested to hear what you think.

Image taken with my E3 in Monaco

The above image was edited such that it brings out the specific result I wanted. How often do you see an image unfold in-front of your eyes, you grab for the camera and when home and seeing the image on your computer screen you think, no that is not what it looked like? You open Photoshop, adjust the brightness, contrast and saturation and it just becomes worse. You also know that many images you see in the web or magazines have been edited and you die to know how to……

RAW version of above image developed with PSE9

Photography has so many different aspects that it is nearly impossible to name the one aspect that will help you see the difference you are looking for. One can start with the camera lens combination, camera settings, how to hold the camera, framing and so many more. These are all critical in our search for better pictures but will they make the difference to really help us get the best from the recorded data in an image. Keep in mind that the image data is there, once you push the shutter button huge amounts of data are recorded. In most cases the challenge is the "tiny" little processor that is build into the camera and which are tasked to develop all the image RAW data into a fantastic looking JPEG image.

The new E-P3 from Olympus I read was fitted with a Due Core processor. I was interested to know what part of taking the image enjoy the biggest portion processing power of that powerful new processor. It is well known that Olympus has the best JPEG output from all cameras today. Did Olympus add more image processing power to the E-P3 range? As I understood from reading the article, most of that additional processing power was assigned to the operation of the camera, the FAST focussing speed, touch screen, responsiveness of the camera and many more.

RAW image edited in PSE9 with no further editing

In a previous article I referred to the importance of having and using image editing software. Think of software as the film development room hobby photographers used in the old days to get the most out their 35mm negatives. Exactly the same is true for digital images. I remember years ago when I started with my first 2MP Fuji digital compact camera. Those were the days Photoshop Elements 2 were introduced to the hobby photographer. I tried to get use to Elements, I tried PaintShop Pro hoping that it would be easier to master, I then tried working with RAW images and the harder I tried the more difficult it appeared to be. I think the only reason I managed to develop my editing skills were an intense interest into what are really available in the huge data files these digital cameras produce.

That brings me back to that one aspect we started with, if I had to name one then this it would be. That one aspect that are relatively easy to master and that can help you change your complete photographic experience, are layers. Various software packages offer layers, my personal favorite is Photoshop. It is true that the Pro version referred to as CS are the better one, but again if you ask me then I would say Photoshop Elements is more than enough to really help you start enjoying the unique power of photo editing software.

The above image is a picture of what the layers pallet in Photoshop CS look like. All the most important buttons or functions are market. I copied this image from another website, something I not do as rule. I think the mentioned site is really interesting and has great information on layers. You will find it at www.lanoie.com Go to the layers pages for a great explanation of what layers are and how to use them.

Personally I have a few books, several video lessons and many hours of practice. I am still far from being an expert but I did manage to master layers to the extent of really enjoying working with it. I was looking for a suitable image for this article and did a Google search using the string "layers image". Several layer images pointed me to several sites offering information on layers. My advice is, do the search and go find you a site or more with which you can familiarize yourself with layers.

I am planning to start a unique page on layers that will discuss and show unique ways of applying layers. I will only show info which I think will help you improve your image. The information will therefor be specific and not enough to master layers. You will have to find more information to help you really familiarize yourself with layers. This will be fun and I trust you will join me on this journey.

Kind Regards

Siegfried

Erik has been a long term follower of the Photography is Fun website and he always send me a few of his images after being on holiday or when he was out enjoying nature. I picked two of Erik's autumn images to show you guys.

The next image is an interesting mix of strong colors. I particularly enjoyed the deep blue background against the orange like autumn foreground. The only thing I like to recommend Erik is to up the exposure with one stop. You can do that with the curves function in Photoshop.

I think it is a lovely time of the year to start thinking of a calendar for next year or to think of doing your own December festive season cards to the family. As something more special you could decide to create a book for somebody special. Last year my son made my wife and me a photo book with a selection of great images of his and his fiancé. That is something really special.

I have promised more guys to show their work on the site, please be patient guys, the only thing keeping me from placing more readers images is finding the time to update the site. I really look forward placing more reader images because I have seen some amazing work and talent recently. If you think you have something interesting to show or you have a interesting event to report on then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Siegfried

I decided to start a series that will take a look at everyday photographers. People who does it for a living as well as people enjoying photography purely as a hobby. If you a hobby or professional photographer then you more than welcome to contact me and I am happy to add a short story about yourself plus 30 to 40 images to this series. I saw images from Walter and contacted him. Walter immediately came back to me with a short feedback on himself plus a beautiful set of images. You can see the images in the Picture Section.

My name is Walter Soestbergen, I live in the Netherlands nearby Utrecht. I have been doing nature photography for almost 5 years. Doing photography is second nature for me and that without any photography classes. I worked with a Pentax K100D and K10D fitted with a 600mm tele-lens from Pentax. With my Olympus I used the 300mm f2.8 together with 2x and 1.4x tele converter. I was also happy with my Sigma 150mm HSM EX f2.8. At this moment I am working again with Canon fitted with the 500mm IS USM f4 and the new Sigma 150mm f2.8 EX DG OS.

I had many requests for photography workshops and I then decided to start with a few workshops a year. Not many because I prefer to do photography myself and when giving workshops it is not always possible to do photography myself. I offer 3 different types of photography workshops. First is photographing the white-tailed eagle in Poland. Most of these workshops are filled very quickly and I give this course three times a year. It is a great experience to see these eagles flying outdoors so nearby and also having the opportunity to photograph them.

Macro photography I do closer to home. This is one of my favorite photography disciplines. I enjoy to get up very early in the morning and to then do early morning dew walking. Its a great way to experience sunrise. That is a true nature experience for me, especially when it was warm the evening before or a breeze with a cold night is perfect for great morning conditions :-)

Then of course I love bird photography. That is my main or first passion. I find birds are so beautiful, they are difficult to approach, also when you have a place to get close to them. It is a real pleasure to photograph birds.

I am hoping to do a 2 days photography in the week, regardless of the weather. It is good to walk around in Nature and like this I find new spots to photograph. Like this one can discover many rare species.

Photography in nature is a way of life I think, walking through the bush with your gear and then come home with a good photo is really great.

Regards Walter

Some people like it and they kindly gave me good feedback. I was working on another editing technique when getting all caught up “painting this image. Least on my mind was dynamic range, image quality, noise, basically the stuff they write about on large forums. The technique is about painting the image with light using layers. Sounds difficult but it is not, all you need to learn is how to duplicate the bottom layer and how to apply a mask. If you can do that then the fun can start.

It did not stop there, I continued doing a few more variations of that same image. I ended with a black and white image also using layers but this time painting with color and light. With the above image I reduced the Saturation just a little and selectively. The image below is the original to the above image. Be careful the “original” has also been painted. I used several images from a bracketed HDR series to create the original.

I used a deeply saturated image to create the black and white image below. What I like most is the fact that its all the same image. Once you have a good quality image plus good editing software then the sky is the limit. Having said good software, Photoshop Elements together with the aftermarket add-on from Elements Plus is more than enough.

Image was taken with the Olympus E-PL2 plus 14 - 150 mm zoom lens.

Taken with the Panasonic GF1 plus 14 - 45 kit lens

My wife and I were out on Sunday afternoon taking pictures and the weather was great and the view absolute breathtaking. Normally I prefer to take my PEN or my E620 when shooting important images like this. Well, it did so happen that I took the Panasonic GF1 with the Panasonic 14 - 45 mm kit lens plus Panasonic 45 - 200 mm lens. I thought high of the 45 - 200 mm, and were happy to keep it until I saw the images below. It is a screen print of my Bridge view showing the images I took the day.

I think we get spoiled with our Olympus lenses and the outstanding image quality one get from them. I never saw this level of vignetting from an Olympus lens. What I also find really difficult is to get a reasonable color from the GF1 images. They not like the E-PL2 images that literally jump of the screen at you. I thought I will hang on to the GF1 but after seeing this I am not so sure. Its now a few days later and while having a free moment I was thinking about the vignetting I saw. One option will be to remove the lens hood because most images I saw to date was without using the lens hood on this lens. I will continue testing the GF1 kit and will not let it go as quick as I thought. The main reason being I saw a flood of GF1 cameras on auction recently and that really pushed the prices down. For those interested getting this camera its now the time to get it....

One of our readers, Erik Larsson has been a long time supporter of the MyCanonG7 website, then each update we had until the Photography is Fun website as we have it now. Erik is an opera singer and has seen many countries during his career as an opera singer. With many years experience Erik developed a very sensitive eye for art, and the presentation thereof. Talking to Erik for the fist time during the last days, I met an interesting guy, relaxed and with a fine sense for detail. He has a passion for photography and I can picture him, with his camera in his hand, filming every interesting and unique scene in the village he lives.

While talking, Erik said to me it will be so nice to arrange a get together of Photography is Fun readers, somewhere in Europe. I agree with Erik, we have such an interesting and passionate reader's group on the site. I have no doubt that we will have a interesting time together. We did it in 2008 and at the time Pius, Herman and his met with my wife and I in a lovely village in the Swiss Alps. Often I think back to the good time we had together, wonder if Pius and Herman still read the site..... Herman and his wife were on a Kajak tour in Switzerland taking many exciting and interesting images from their kajak. Also being a musician Herman also has a good eye for the right scene or image. One can write a book about all the guys we met on the site. For those who know Richard and his series of special camera grips, it all started during the MyCanonG7 days, Richard contacted me asking if I would help him promote something he believes would be a great product. Later many manufacturers used similar designs..... We have Max (little dog), tongue always hanging out....how is Max doing Steve? Rob who has some awesome wildlife images he took during several visits to South Africa, I will be so happy to show more of his work. The story writer Hans wrote a number of interesting stories of his travels....now he is working on more E5 reports. There are many more and I am excited to see much more interesting work displayed and discussed on the Photography is Fun website.

Erik, like many others still have his G7. He says he will not sell it, the pictures he takes with the G7 is still better than many newer models he believes. Unfortunately I sold mine. I have considered getting one again and did start to monitor the 2nd hand prices. Erik mailed me a few of his recent images and I decided to place them on the front page, one can see his enthusiasm in the detail of each of his images, thanks Erik.

In terms of contributions to the site, I have been in contact with talented readers and I have more exciting news. I saw a series of really awesome panorama images and decided to contact the photographer. Friendly and open guy, he quickly wrote me a short story with a few of his images which I may place on the site. I will place it over the weekend. He also agreed to be available on our forum to answer any questions. I also met a nature photographer specializing in bird photography on the web. Personally, I grew up in an area that was known for its rich bird life and I have always paused a moment when I saw something linked to wildlife birding. Ned Bagno agreed to open his own "linked" blog on the Photography is Fun website. In addition we discussed to have a separate image page that will only be for bird images. Having said that I like to invite those who are interested to contribute something interesting to contact me and I am more than happy to seek ways to include active contributors to the site. I believe that bring diversity plus there is nothing better than looking at and enjoying the work of others.

Below is the two remaining images by Erik:- (9 - 18 WA Olympus lens)

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