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Pumpkin & Pickle BearsAs I've mentioned in a previous post, my competition bear for the BBAA won in it's category. The editor of TBCI wants to do a feature on me (aswell as doing a feature on the BBAA itself) and asked if I could take some more pictures of my bear as he looks darker in the pictures that 'in the fur'....my photography skills need some work and I've taken more pictures but they still look darker than the bear itself (not by alot, but still darker) even though he was photographed in natural light. I really don't want to let the editor down by not 'coming up with the goods' but I think this bear just doesn't want to behave when photographed! Here comes the grovelling bit....
Wouls anyone with PhotoShop be able to help by lightening a few pictures for me?....pretty please?....with a cherry on top??..... 
Posts: 3,177Just email the pics to me Gemma and i will see what i can do. 
Penny 
Jare Hares & BearsHave you tried opening the aperture on your camera?
If you have a digital camerma try looking for something called EV or exposure value. Try opening that try +0.3 to +1.0 on your pictures and see what happens. Maybe time to dig out the owner manuel.
I hope this helps.
Good Luck!
hi gemma
please !!! don`t change the image on the pc !! the quality won`t be made any better start with your camera .You need good lighting , preferably daylight and open up your camera to let more light in , that is the exposure compensation, I usually have mine set to +1.5 ... also make sure the white balance is set to daylight . I have a light tent that helps too ...you can find one on ebay don`t forget the macro feature! they are not too expensive
hope that helps
hugs
Jane
Ps save as a tiff image if your emailing them rather than a jpeg , a tiff holds more information and is better for glossy mags . A jpeg image may come out pixalated in print!
xxx
Flying Fur StudiosPs save as a tiff image if your emailing them rather than a jpeg , a tiff holds more information and is better for glossy mags . A jpeg image may come out pixalated in print!
xxx
I didn't know that. WOW! Thanks for that tip.
jane. congrats by the way.
if you need to adjust your photos in photoshop. Open your image, go into 'image' (it's by file-edit etc.) go to image adjustments. Then choose whatever, just play around. You can adjust the color, brightness and contrast etc. You'd be suprised at what you can do.
if you need more photoshop help, let me know.
Jellybelly Bearshi gemma
please !!! don`t change the image on the pc !! the quality won`t be made any better start with your camera .You need good lighting , preferably daylight and open up your camera to let more light in , that is the exposure compensation, I usually have mine set to +1.5 ... also make sure the white balance is set to daylight . I have a light tent that helps too ...you can find one on ebay don`t forget the macro feature! they are not too expensive
hope that helps
hugs
Jane
Ps save as a tiff image if your emailing them rather than a jpeg , a tiff holds more information and is better for glossy mags . A jpeg image may come out pixalated in print!
xxx
My camera doesn't save photos as tiffs...and i can't get them off my camera as anything but 72dpi. so have to change it all in photoshop unfortunately. My camera is a 4 megapixels 6 optical zoom, but seems i need a better one for options like this 
anyone know any way of getting them off the camera at 300dpi? all my settings are for best quality etc...
I was playing around with photoshop the other day and the sharpen tool is brilliant! takes all the fuzziness away
Mark's BearsGemma,
I'm working with an older version of PhotoShop, 5.0, so the buttons may be in a different location but the results should be the same.
I agree with Jared the best way is to record the best image to start with so adjusting the EV to the (+) side of 0 will lighten the overall image, going on the (-) side of 0 will darken the image. A +1 will essentially double the quantity of light on the image, a -1 will halve the quantity of light. The change will be noticeable.
PhotoShop - To adjust the image you already shot OPEN the image, Go to IMAGE/ADJUST/LEVELS (You can try AUTO LEVELS to let PhotoShop make the changes.) LEVELS will let you manually adjust for your taste. The resulting curve/histogram shows the number of pixels vs. intensity level. The left side of the curve represents the dark area of the image and the right, the light area. By moving the extreme arrows you affect the light and dark portions of the image. By moving the center arrow you adjust the mid-tones of the image. Optimally the curves will end at the ends of the box. By moving the arrows to just under the ends of the curve you will enhance the contrast. Once you hit OK you will save the changes. By toggling CTRL-Z you can go back and forth from 'before' to 'after' to view the changes you made.
PhotoShop part 2 - I believe that all digital cameras save images at 72 dpi. Again, with your open image go to IMAGE/IMAGE SIZE Another window will open showing the image in pixels and the print size in inches. (You may have to change the units in the drop down box next to the items of interest.) Leave the RESAMPLE IMAGE box unchecked and change the RESOLUTION to ~300 dpi (the resolution I use for printing) You should see the print size become something manageable. Example - I have a 1514 x 2271 pixel image, at 72 dpi I have a 21 x 31" image. At 300 dpi the image is 5 x 7.5"
Tiff's save every bit of information from every pixel. So the size of a tiff image is at least 3x the size of a jpeg. Save the images in PhotoShop as jpegs and the use the maximum quality (least compression) I have prints made with these setting all the time.
If you have any other questions please feel free to write, I don't always make it on to TT so I may not answer for a few days.
Happy bear trails,
Mark
Gemma I hate to say it, but there is little point trying to adjust the image using Photoshop if it's incorrectly exposed in the first place. You do need to over expose black or dark objects a bit to show detailing. Try going up in increments of +3 till you get the right effect...then photoshop it.
You might find that in this case indoors works better than outdoors...making sure you use a tripod and, if you have the facility, keep changing the white balance setting too to give different effects ...unless you can alter it afterwards on your computer.
Also I'd try using your spot meter ..if you have one...that means the bear's the thing that gets metered...not the back-ground. Remember though, that the wider the aperture setting the less of the bear will appear focussed...so go for a narrower aperture...longer exposure..which is why you need your tripod!!
OOOOPS I should have said increments of +0.3....sorry Gemma...it's too early for me!!!
Jare Hares & BearsI have a 5 MP camera and have no problem with using my high res .jpgs. The photos never look pixelated. But I also use the best quality setting for the jpg files too. I once tried taking and saving my pictures as .tiff and it took my computer about 5 minutes to open the file and any changes that I made took another 5 minutes to take. So I settled for the High res .jpgs and have not had any trouble with that, just look at the ads that mom and I have run in both mags. But don't miss understand me, .tiff is a better quality file than a .jpg so when you can you should use a .tiff.
Never, ever compress files when saving them to send to a magazine for printing. The quailty will be so low that it won't be worth the ink to print them in the mag.
We just ordered a new computer for mom (the main business computer). I don't have time to get it all set up before the Holidays, need to make bears, must get bears shipped to customers and stores..... 
Once I get that set up I might try saving and using .tiffs again, but if it takes 5 minutes to open the file, then I am going back to the high res .jpgs.
Gemma -
I guess what most of us are saying is make adjustments to your camera and then you won't have to do so much work in photoshop to "fix" them.
If you can't get a light tent a couple pieces of posterboard will do nicely. Check out a local art supply store they might have nice wide rolls of white paper that aren't too pricey, that you could use as your background.
I know that I posted some information on adjusting your camera on TT somewhere... I'll have to go dig for it...
Good Luck!
Pumpkin & Pickle BearsThank you so much everyone! PenPen has lightened the picture for me but i see what you mean about it losing the quality of the photo...thank you so much PenPen - if I have no success trying to figure out my camera I'll certainly use the photo! :hug:
I do have a light tent which works great in the summer....at this time of year the bears just appear dark, even when I take them outside.....I'll certainly look into the settings on my camera....wish me luck (I'm not good with technology! lol).....
hi sarah and gemma
your camera will only take a pic as a jpeg , you can save via your photo editing programme to a tiff file .
I have a 7mp camera but only use it at that setting when i`m sending pics into the magazines , or want to print out the best quality photo I can . As long as you set your camera to the highest quality , resolution , white balance , exposure and the macro setting you can then pics should be great . But you will be able to take less photos with your camera at the highest quality settings ..mine drops right down to about 7!
For web images I use the camera at 4mp and only save as a jpeg for the same reason as tim states ... the file size of a tiff is massive and takes up loads of space . Also 300dpi has nothing to do with your camera , and everything to do with the quality given by the printer thats why the mags prefer tiff images as they contain more info . Always save the original the image as a jpeg then you can go back and keep playing with the pic till your happy with the result . Hope that helps
hugs
jane
xxx
Posts: 3,177GEMMA...................i tried sending you the pic in TIF format but your inbox is too full - if you want to clear some space i can try sending the file again.
Penny
I have signed up for the photography course at EZ Bear University, at the moment I have not done much except for read the first few chapters.
Nancy has done this course to help with taking pictures of bears and dolls.
My photography skills are zippo so I needed to start somewhere. In the beginning Nancy explains about jpegs,tiff, Raw and all that so anyone who needs to promote there work thru pictures and is not sure of how their camera works, then go and book this course, we will also be shown how to use a phot editing program, but I have not seen any notes on this yet as it is later on in the course.
Lynette.
