Reaching the end

Well, the content migration to the new web site www.neilsphototips.com is under way. Due to this I won't be publishing any more here. But the best content from here is being copied and perhaps some additions as I do it. For example, I may just post a sample NEF file from the Tamron 200-500. A lot of people have been interested in my comparison of the Tamron lens from the Nikon 200-400. The new site will let me do more. I'll keep this blog around for a while, though, so people will have a chance to update their links.

New web site getting closer

Check it out, www.neilsphototips.com. No content yet (I'll be migrating everything from here soon) but I've got the design about nailed down. I hope to be using it as the primary site within a week.

New Nikon Coolpix Cameras

As widely expected, the rumors were true: even of the release date. So here they are: the new Coolpix cameras. Seems that Nikon wants to do better in this department that Canon dominates...

Digital Compact Camera Nikon COOLPIX P6000
Digital Compact Camera Nikon COOLPIX S710
Digital Compact Camera Nikon COOLPIX S610c/S610
Digital Compact Camera Nikon COOLPIX S560
Digital Compact Camera Nikon COOLPIX S60

Now if they would just get that rumored AFS 80-400 VR released so I can buy it...

Changing the color of an object

This one is based upon a technique I first saw on Photoshop User TV but it's still very handy. Say you have an object, such as a car, and you want to change the color of it. It's very easy and doesn't even require a mask (generally). Create an adjustment layer set to hue/saturation. Then select from the drop down list the color closest to the one you are wanting to change. Then click the eye dropper on the color itself. Now you can adjust the three parameters to change the color to whatever you want! And if it ends up coloring something you don't want, just mask it out.

This is something I did today at work. I had an icon with a base color of a deep blue-gray. Following this I was able to turn it into a brighter green with just a few clicks. It's a real time saver.

Coming soon...

I've decided to register a domain so I can do more than what this blog software allows. So be on the lookout soon for a new site!

A quick Photoshop Elements 6 tips

I've been forced to do some stuff with Photoshop Elements lately (lol) and I can definitely see why I prefer the full Photoshop. One particular thing I missed was the ability to control layer styles. You get a palette of styles in the upper right but they don't offer much. Well, once you apply the style you can double click the fx icon in the layer to bring up the layer style dialog and make adjustments. It's made things a bit easier for me.

Another thing I use in CS3 a lot is groups. I group layers into logical sections to help me sort things out. You can't do that in Elements but you can chain layers together. So I've taken to chaining the layers and then when you click on any element in the window that belongs on the chain, all the items move. So it's like moving a while group at the same time. And since you can't group layers you should definitely name them! That makes things easier.

I've also noticed that the color picker is the same with the type layer as the shape and pixel modes. Inconvenient. But it is easy to double-click the icon of the layer to bring up the color mode for a shape layer and select the text of the type layer (and then bring up the color picker).

I guess these things are tips that help me as a longtime Photoshop user get accustomed to Elements (thankfully not all my work has to be done in Elements!). I'm sure you Elements aficionados already have this stuff figured out and wonder why I'm bothering. Well, maybe it'll help someone out...

100th blog post!

Finally made it to 100! And in celebration, here's today's comic from Close To Home. Close To Home is one of my favorite comics and I encourage you to support the artist.



(cartoon is copyright 2008 John McPherson and I hope he doesn't mind me linking to it...)