I got a call the other day from my friend Dan asking how to take some better photos of his house that he has decorated for the Holidays. Well, Unfortunately he has an older camera that doesn't have much in the way of any manual control. But I worked with him - I stated the obvious (Tripod, Use the Night Mode etc. etc..) Well I have to admit for the camera and the first time trying to shoot these photos himself I have to say he did a FANTASTIC job. Below is one of the photos that he had sent to me showing what he ended up with.

Some additional links to taking better Holiday Photos are: 5 Minute Video Called Take Great Holiday Lights Photos & New York School of Photography and Holiday Light Photography 

Technorati Tags: Holiday, Light, Christmas, Home, Homes, House, Tree, Twinkle, Bulb, bulbs, Christmas+Lights, Photography, Night, Nighttime, Time, Exposure, Long, Timed,

Today topic I will show you a few pages that can help turn your regular drab standard photos into a photo that says more then just WOW!

The first lesson will show you how to use your new Wacom Tablet (Or Your Trusty Mouse in case you have not bought a Tablet just yet - But as They State and I whole Heartily Agree using a Wacom Tablet can speed up and take your Photo Retouching up a notch and as Emeril Would Say "BAM" plus it makes it much easier ) The tutorial is at EyesOnTutorials.com and it is Called Photo Retouching Photo Effects.

Before and After Photo Retouching

The next tutorial is a video I found on MetaCafe that demonstrated how to use a wacom tablet to perform some basic Dodge and Burn Techniques to again enhance your photos and turn them into a masterpiece to print and hang on your wall to proudly display for all to see.  As the Author/Teacher in this Video States "We'll use the pressure sensitivity of the Wacom Pen Tablet to create a dodge and burn effect with a lot of control and flexibility"

Using a Wacom Table to Dodge and Burn 

 Now if you are interested in purchasing a nice Wacom Tablet be sure to check them out on Amazon: Wacom Tablets on Amazon

Technorati Tags: wacom, tablet, Photoshop, Wacom+Tablet, Wacom, Intous, Graphire, Bamboo, Photo+Retouch, Photo+Retouching, Retouch, Retouching