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If you’re only using your digital camera for vacation and
family photos, you’ve just scratched the surface of your
camera’s uses. Digital photography has opened a new world of
possibilities. Here are some fun, practical, and maybe even
profitable, ways to use your digital camera.
Enhance your photo before uploading to an online dating service
As online dating services become more and more popular, you may
be considering this option to meet Mr. or Ms. Right. You’ll want
to look your best to capture the attention of your potential
mate, so how about brighter eyes and whiter teeth? It’s pretty
easy to enhance your digital photo using inexpensive photo
editing software such as Foto Finish or Jasc Paint Shop Pro. You
can adjust the overall brightness and contrast to generally
brighten the image. Zoom in on your eyes and using the
software’s polygon or magic wand tool, select just the whites of
your eyes. Then use the ‘adjust color’ or ‘adjust exposure’ tool
to make your eyes brighter and less red. Similarly, you can zoom
in and select your teeth, then adjust the color and exposure.
And voila! A fresher, more alert and attractive-looking you.
Selling goods on eBay Research shows that merchandise with
attractive photos sell at better prices. People are naturally
drawn to appealing images. To show your items at best advantage,
you can rig an inexpensive tabletop “studio” using a sheet of
non-glare white plastic and a PVC pipe for support. The
important points to remember are having a uniform background
behind and below the object and even lighting, either with shop
lights or natural sunlight (through a window—it’s best to shoot
indoors). You may need to adjust the white balance on your
digital camera, which is easy to do on most new cameras. Then
you can watch the auction bids rise on that antique clock you’re
trying to sell.
Archive photos of your personal possessions in case of fire or
theft Using your digital camera, you can quickly and easily take
photos of your personal possessions such as TVs, DVD players,
stereo equipment, furniture, computers and other expensive items
so you have a record of them for insurance purposes. Be sure to
log serial numbers and keep a record of purchase prices too. For
safekeeping, transfer the images to a CD and keep it in a safe
deposit box, or upload the images to an online photo storage
service that offers unlimited storage, such as Pixagogo.
Digital Scrapbook Digital scrap booking, or computer scrap
booking, is the newest way to preserve your family memories.
Using inexpensive, easy-to-use scrapbook software, you can
create entire scrapbook layouts and add fun fonts and graphics
to take your scrapbook project to a new creative level. Computer
scrap booking has really taken off in the last year because
people are finding it is less expensive, fast and takes up less
space (no more taking over the family dining table) to make a
computer generated scrapbook versus traditional scrap booking
techniques. Most people already have a computer and digital
camera, and once you have a scrap booking graphics software
package and perhaps invested in a scanner for older photos,
you're ready to go. You can easily color correct images, lighten
dark photos, crop out old boyfriends, and even erase scratches
from old photos. Most software programs come with special
effects so you can enhance your photos and pages with antique
sepia tones, torn or burnt edges, crinkles, soften or fade the
edges, add digital picture frames, and much more.
Have fun with your camera and let your imagination explore the
boundaries.
About the author:
Valerie Goettsch publishes the digital photography website
http://www.digitalphotos101.com featuring reviews of photo
editing and album software and digital photo printing services.
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