Last Month….

Well a couple of months ago we had another look at the world of computer graphics and image manipulation. Someone once said that the photograph never lies. Well unfortunately that little piece of wisdom has long been consigned to the rubbish bin. In this day and age of ever more powerful home computers and software to go with them, the worlds of photography and digital imaging have grown closely together and each works hand in hand with the other.

The subject of our recent meeting was around layers and selections and how they can be used to create, improve or enhance original photographs or scans as well as your own digital photographs. Remember armed with a reasonable scanner you can scan old photographs, negatives and even transparencies into your computer for further manipulation – even that old faded Edwardian photograph of your ancestors is now fair game for the image manipulator.

For the purposes of the presentation we used Adobe Photoshop CS2 but any graphics package that supports layer manipulation such Adobe Photoshop Elements or the excellent and FREE Gimp will do the same sorts of tasks.

Getting your head around the concept of layers can be a little daunting but once you understand the principles the rest of digital imaging gets a lot simpler. So what are layers and where do they fit into the world of digital imaging. This is where the purist photographer throws up his or her arms and shouts foul or something not printable. However, film photographers have been manipulating their pictures since the dawn of photography and many are the dark secrets that were performed in the quest for that perfect photograph in the darkroom cupboard under the stairs. So now is the turn of the digital imagers.

So back to Layers. If you consider a picture as a series of separate components all brought together to produce the final image then can begin to see where we are going. Layers in Photoshop have developed greatly with each new version and there are all sorts of manipulating techniques available that may not be found on less pricier software.

Making global changes to your image such as contrast or colour adjustments do not require layers but when you want to adjust only specific areas life becomes so much easier with layers. Layers will even allow you to change the size, position and colour of separate parts of your image independent of the rest of the image. To help with this we have various forms of layer available to the imager.

The initial image is always called the Background Layer and is the basis of the final image. This layer is usually locked to prevent any accidental damage to the original image. We can then add layers above this and produce a composite image. Each additional layer is called an Adjustment Layer and these are used to build up the final image. We also have Mask Layers that allow you to mask out certain areas underneath on lower layers allowing tight control of any adjustments. There also a whole range of Blending Modes available that allows the imager to be creative and ensure that a new feature blends in effectively with the background.

From the image you can see how the composite picture can be built up. All the various image tools are available to any adjustment layer which can also be locked together to allow more global adjustments.

At the presentation we showed a short video on how to create a very effective composite image out of various shots taken at the Great Central Railway in Loughborough. The video showed the various techniques available and resulted in a very professional quality image at the end.

Our challenge was then to recreate this image step by step so that we could understand the techniques of layer manipulation and blending for ourselves. Although we did not have the time necessary to create a perfect image, we were able to get a good rendition and show how easy it is to create some pretty stunning images.

The final task is always to flatten all the layers down into the image if you want to print out the finished article. In Photoshop you can save the image in its native .PSD file which retains all the information and layer adjustments so that you can return to the project at any time. These files will of course be quite large.
Layers were never available to the original film photographers and some may say that we are taking digital photography too far and into another medium. That is another whole debate for others to pursue.

I hope everyone who was present enjoyed the evening and were given some food for thought for the next Photo Competition.

Dave Robb

2009 Photographic Competition
Here are the subject areas for this year’s competition

Recreation

People

Landscape/Seascape

Street Life

Melton Buildings

6. Flora & Fauna

I hope that Dave’s presentation gave you some ideas for this years competition. The topics are listed above, we look forward to having a bumper crop of top quality photographs for the judges to contend with.
 
Topical Tip of the Month …

Are you inundated with spam emails? My guess is that you probably are. We do not like spam emails, but a lot of what we receive is self inflicted. Whenever we contact a website and perhaps place an order online or make an enquiry we give that website the opportunity, even if we have diligently ticked or ignored the box referring to future contact with them.

All is not lost and it can be very easy to get rid of unwanted emails at a stroke. Just open up the offending spam email and go to the bottom of the page and click UNSUBSCRIBE etc and hope they will honour your request.

It may not always work of course but I have managed to get rid of 10 of these reoccurring spam mails already. Hope it works for you too.

Keith Allen
We would like to welcome you all back from the summer break and hope you had a good holiday.

This month Steve will be giving us an insight into the world of Desktop Publishing I am sure it will be a very interesting evening. We look forward to seeing you all next Wednesday.

If you would like to come to the 25th anniversary diner and you have not given your details to Ben please do so as soon as possible so we can confirm the numbers.

Windows 7
Earlier this year we had a brief look at one of the first releases of Windows 7. The release candidate has been available for download for some time now so if you want to see what it has to offer you have plenty of opportunities.
The release of the final version is
Set for October 22nd and if you are quick you can pre-order a copy at a reduced cost. This offer has been available for some so you may need to search for stock.

25th Anniversary Celebration
This year the club celebrates it’s 25th year, we have discussed at previous meetings and decided that a meal was the right way to mark this event. The proposed date for this meal is Wednesday 23rd September. Below is a sample menu, please let us know if you are interested in attending.

STARTERS

Leek & Potato Soup
Prawn Cocktail
A Fan of Melon with Fruits N Coulis
Smoked Mackerel with Creamed Horseradish
Garlic & White Wine Creamy Mushrooms

MAIN COURSES

Braised Lamb in Redcurrant Jus
Rib Eye Steak Medallions with Prune Sauce (Braised)
Grilled Chicken Fillet with Smoked Ham &
Mozzarella finished with Tomato & Basil Sauce
Salmon with Creamy Prawn & Leek Sauce
Vegetable Stir Fry with Sweet ‘n’ Sour or Black Bean Sauce
Chicken & Stilton Pasta
Pork Stuffed with Apricots in a Creamy Cider Sauce

SWEETS

A Selection of Hot & Cold Sweets

COFFEE OR TEA

£13.95