Tuesday Tip: Traveler's Guide to Photographing Your Trip

The most common photos we digitize are those from our customers' travels. Here are some tips fromPhotographyTips.com on how to prepare and make the most out of your vacation pictures!

• Take plenty of pictures. You don't want to return home and try to describe a wonderful scene that you could have photographed if you had planned to shoot generously.
• If you are planning to share your adventures while you're on the road, send your most representative pictures to friends and family by email or upload them to a photo-sharing website. Be selective, though, and don't overdo it. People will enjoy seeing two or three great pictures much more than 30 or 40 shots of everything you encountered.
• If you are traveling in a group, each member should bring their own camera, even when one person has agreed to take on the role of principal photographer. You would be surprised at how individuals see photographic subjects in different ways.
• When photographing an exciting or funny event, take the time every now and then to shoot behind you or beside you to show the reaction of others.
• When using a digital camera, take the time to review the shots you took that day, and delete those that are unsuitable.
• Be sure to take along plenty of film or several digital media cards. It's frustrating to come upon amust-photograph scene, and discover that you're out of film or your cards are all full.
• Bring your battery charger along on your trip. Although you can usually charge batteries while they are in your camera, a separate charger permits you to use a second set of batteries while the first is being recharged.
• If you are undecided about whether to take a picture of an interesting scene that has caught your attention, just take it. You can always toss it out later if you don't like it. But, it's usually difficult to return at a later time to find the same circumstances.
• The same principle applies to photographs that you think may not turn out. It may seem too dark or too cloudy, for instance, or your subject may be in deep shade or moving quickly. But, go ahead and take the shot anyway. You will sometimes amaze yourself by how a tricky shot turns out better than you expected. Also, many photographs that have minor problems can be saved using digital editing software or in the darkroom. And, if it simply doesn't work, you know what to do...toss it out.

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Digital Photo Restoration

We've all had them.  Photos that have been written on.  Maybe mustaches drawn on faces.  Extreme fading due to unfavorable storing circumstances.  Whatever the damage may be, Larsen Digital Services offers Digital Photo Restoration services to help repair and preserve your favorite photos.  What you thought was a lost cause is now a great opportunity to give your memories a face lift!

Here in this example, we have taken the photo with writing and fading and we have not only removed any evidences of those markings, but we have sharpened and brightened the photo to make it look crisp, clean and new.

Your memories and your legacy deserve the best.  They deserve Larsen Digital.

Did you know... Larsen Digital not only offers Digital Photo Restoration for photos that have been damaged, but we also include free automatic color and fade corrections to your negative, slide, and photo scans?  That's right, FREE!  You can also upgrade to receive more personalized corrections to be made to your film, or get a quote for your custom Digital Photo Restoration.  Not only can we remove writing, but we can repair ripped photos, remove persons, or add color to your black and white photos.

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Beginners Guide to Color Correction Using Curves

Have you ever looked at a photo and though, "That looks a little blue...?"  Thankfully with digital photo editing, when your digital photo colors are not balanced you can quickly and easily fix it!

For this tutorial we are using Pixlr, which is a free photo editing software.

Step 1:

If you have old film that has been scanned and converted to digital you are probably wondering why the color doesn't seem balanced.  There are two reasons for this.  First, the dyes in the film fade over time, so if the film itself is already faded, the only way to fix or adjust it is digitally.  Second, some films scan better than others, so some films will need to be balanced after they have been digitized.  If you have a newly taken digital photos and the colors are not balanced, you can easily fix it using the curves tool in Pixlr.

After you open Pixlr and load your photos, simply go to the tool bar at the top and select "Adjustment."  A drop down menu will appear after which you will scroll down to "Curves."

Step 2:

At first sight Curves can appear intimidating, but don't fret- it's extremely easy and the results are dramatic!

If you look to the right side there are three droppers.  The top is white, the middle is gray, and the bottom is black.  What you need to do is select a dropper based off the color.  Then, you will take your cursor (which will now look like a dropper itself), and select a part of the picture that is supposed to be the color you selected.  For example, if there is a silver watch in the photo you are editing, you will want to select the middle gray dropper, and click on the watch.  The color will automatically adjust for the entire photo.  If you are not happy with the results, just click on a different spot until you get the right balance.

Step 3:

After you have clicked on a spot within your digital image, you will notice that the lines in the curves box will have adjusted and moved according to the changes it just made.  Once you really get the hang of curves, you can use your mouse to grab the gray line and move it up or down. If you move the gray line up/left it will lighten the photo.  If you move it down/right, it will darken the photo.  We don't necessarily recommend doing this, but wanted to let you know that it is indeed an option.  We personally recommend using the dropper tool until you get the right balance.

Step 4:

Now, while you are clicking around trying to get the right balance for your photo, don't panic if your image goes a bit discolored or outright crazy!  It happens, just click on a different spot and it will adjust itself again.

Step 5:

Here is our finished product.  It was super simple and it looks supremely better.

Stay tuned for more tutorials on how to make your digital images perfect!  

Larsen Digital Services specializes in converting your old film to a digital format.  After digitizing your photos, slides, movie film or negatives, we also offer color correction services to bring your memories back to life.  Don't have your film converted to digital yet?  Have no fear- Larsen Digital offers the best quality along with the best price. 

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