Digital Darkroom

Based on e-mails I've received from the first Output Options column (ColorPlus: Affordable And Easy Color Management, September/October eDigitalPhoto), many of you are struggling with the quality of prints--even after calibrating your monitor. So, just in time for the holiday season and the increase in family photos that many people have, I'd like to talk about...

One of the most frequent questions I get from readers or students is about dpi, or dots per inch. There's a great deal of confusion out there on what the best settings are, and it isn't being made any easier by the use of two different measurements for resolution.

First, we have ppi, or pixels per inch, which usually applies to image resolution. This is...

For those of you who do pro or semi-pro shooting, you probably already know about package printing. It's when you send a negative to a lab and ask them to make up an order from it that would be something like (1) 8x10, (2) 5x7s, (2)...

Over 200 years ago, scientists and photographers experimented with light-sensitive chemicals and developed a photographic printing process that utilizes watercolor paper coated with a base of gum arabic solution with dichromate salt and pigment. This solution, when exposed to sunlight, becomes insoluble and is able to withstand the test of time.

This photographic...

If you photograph outdoors in daylight you're going to have minor exposure problems. You simply can't control the light as much as you might like, or need.

Our example is typical. The red barn is exposed correctly, but the grass is "hot" and the sky is washed out. Here is how you can correct these two little faults:
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In digital photography, exposure control is sometimes considered irrelevant. “You can easily fix any problems in your computer,” some friends will suggest.

I'm a still photographer: I shoot only still pictures. Video? It's cool, but I like to capture individual "frozen moments in time." However, I often like to convey action--and the grace of a moving subject--in my still...