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

Now that you have your digital camera you want to start playing around shooting some black and white photos. Well, I have one suggestion today - Don't shoot in Black and White. Still shoot in color and then use the computer to convert to Black and White afterwards. There are several way to do this. If you are using Photoshop I recommend using the channels and individually selecting the color levels to get the best Black and white image that you can.

If you are interested in performing this check out Galvin Photography and his technique. It give a basic run down on how to use the channels to convert from color to black and white.

Some additional resources to help you learn about Color to Black and White Conversion are listed here:

Adobe PDF Guide to Black and White Conversion.

DesignByFire has some Wonderful Examples and Great Method to Accomplish this.

Keep Shooting and Share your work.

Technorati Tags: Photo,, Black,, White,, BW,, Conversion,, Photoshop,, Technique,, DIY,, Hack

Today on Digital Camera Gear - We are trying something different - I found a few really good video tutorials on how to take a better portrait making sure the Skin Tones are better. These videos will show you how to adjust your camera and how to manipulate the skin tones in your various software. But in case you are a book learner and like to have some visual reading feel free to check out the additional links after the videos from some various sources across the internet.

DIY - How to adjust Skin Tones Part 1/4

DIY - How to adjust Skin Tones Part 2/4

DIY - How to adjust Skin Tones Part 3/4

DIY - How to adjust Skin Tones Part 4/4

Additional Resources: 

Using Photoshop Hue/Saturation To adjust Skin Tone - Nikon-Euro.com 

Skin Tone Color Corrections - RetouchPro Forums 

Help on How to Adjust Skin Tones Via - SmugMug Help Files

Technorati Tags: Color, Skin, Tones, DIY, Help, Digital, Camera, Gear, Hack, Video, Photoshop, Elements, PSP, PS, Paint, Shop, Pro

Today's Photo is a photograph of a light bulb burning out. It was taken in a completely dark room with the camera ready to take the photo and then the light bulb switch was thrown. The bulb then burn out and this photo was created. I have to say this really is a great photo and I loved learning a new techinique for the day. Any one else have something like this please let us know and leave a comment.

Digital Alan 

Technorati Tags: Photo, Technique, time, lapse, bulb, setting, light, , bulb, burning, out, how, to, guide

It is that time of year where a major portion of the US gets a nice cold blanket of snow. Unless you are one of the lucky people that life outside of the snow belt or you have a winter home in Florida (You need to check out how to photograph at the beach - And I have to say to you is —> )

But if you are like the rest and have snow piling up at your doorstep take advantage of it by bundling up and snapping a few photos of the snow. But you have noticed the snow looks blue, grey and ugly - not at all like it looks outside.  Below are a few pages that will help you make the most of this winter time precipitation.

Ken Rockwell's Site and How to Photograph Snow 

Outdoor Eye's - Winter Photography Tips and Tricks 

Technorati Tags: digital, camera, photography, snow, winter, blanket, cold, grey, day, blue