The New Photoshop Elements - WOW!

I know…I know. I promised a couple of months ago that I was back and was going to write my blogs on a more regular basis. But, life has just not worked out the way I thought. I’ve been working on a few important personal projects that have taken up the time I normally spend writing and researching blogs. Plus, I have been on the road traveling and photographing…seven states in three weeks in November. And my photography business has been very busy, which is good.

On our most recent trip, we were able to see my son Eric in Yuma, AZ for a few days plus visit other friends and relatives in California and Idaho. We spent time at the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Las Vegas, Zion and Bryce. The camera was really clicking away and you can see some of the photos now on my website (http://www.corkrum.com). Just click on the button marked “Stock Photos.” I have many more to put up on-line…they just take time to process.

And, guess what…I am on the road again in a couple of days heading for Arizona once again, this time for 17 days. Am looking forward to seeing Eric again and watching the NFL Playoffs with him at the Buffalo Hot Wings sports bar in Yuma. By the way, don’t ever order their hottest wings or you will suffer for hours.

When I was visiting Eric, he took me down the Mexican border area just a couple of miles south of Yuma. I was up close and personal, standing with our troops and border patrol agents looking across the Colorado River into Mexico. I could actually see drug runners (with weapons) on the other side looking for possible places to cross that night. It was weird to look at them while they are looking at us. I have lots of other stories about that visit that I will save for another day.

Now, lets talk about something I know pretty well…photography software. As you know, I am a big fan of Adobe products, specifically Photoshop and Lightroom. Recently, I had a chance to try out the latest version of Photoshop Elements V.6, the so-called lightweight version of the more expensive Photoshop.

Trust me… Elements is not a lightweight. Most everything a dedicated amateur photographer could ever want to do can be done with Elements. And they have a neat, new feature that is not available in Photoshop. It is called “Photo Blending” and is designed to help you create perfect group photos.

As a professional photographer, I learned a long ago there is one immutable law…that the more people you have in a picture, the greater the odds that at least one person will have their eyes closed, or will be looking at something off-camera, or won’t be smiling. That is why I take several shots of the same group, looking for the one photo where everything is right.

With the latest version of Elements, you don’t have to hope you get one good shot. You can make your own perfect photo by easily moving the best heads from different photos into one new perfect picture (and they are attached to right bodies, also). I tried it out recently on some wedding photos where the bride didn’t like her expression in one shot, but everybody else in the photo was just fine. I had another similar group photo that she liked where she was right and almost everybody else was wrong.

I was amazed to discover how easy it was to make the change. I did it in just a few seconds, just by circling her good head shot. Elements then moved the head automatically on to her body in the other photograph and resized it so that it matched perfectly. It was amazing, and so easy to do. I shall be using this feature more often, I am sure.

Elements has some other great features (including photo organization) too numerous to go into here. If you would like to read more about it or even download a 30 day trial version, head over to the very complete Adobe Website. Also, for your information, Elements retails for $99.95, although Costco carries it for $79.95…and if you can wait until 1/21/08 to purchase it, Costco will have it on sale (with coupon) for $49.95. That is a very good deal.

As for other photo software, I really like the latest version of “Nikon Capture NX.” It is a terrific program if you shoot with a Nikon camera in RAW. In some ways it is better than Photoshop or Lightroom.

And speaking of Lightroom, Adobe keeps updating it since I purchased the first version and it keeps getting better. The program is for folks who do a lot of shooting and is designed to improve your work flow from capturing the image all the way to final printing or to sending up to a Website. If you look at some of my most recent pictures from the Southwest as mentioned above, those pages were created with Lightroom.

Now, if you are interested in some free photo software for your digital camera, a recent video on CNET might be of interest to you. Another recent article that covers the best of all photo software, free and paid, was done ConsumerSearch.com. It is well worth reading.

I hope to visit with you again sooner rather than later.