Eric, we have some EXTREMELY creative people here who create artistic images. I haven’t ever figured out the ratio, but there are others who work primarily with photographic images.
I don’t fall into the "creative" category. And I ain’t a very good photographer, either. I use Elements mainly for restoration and retouching of old photographs, although I also have a digital camera. I’m the "snapshot" kind of picher taker. Others are extremely talented photographers, including a couple of pros.
Bottom line: All kinds of people do all kinds of different things with Elements. 🙂
Eric,
I use PSE 99% of the time for editing images, my photos prior to printing. The weekly Challenge is something I do for fun, though I have no artistic ability…
I’m glad you wrote the intro about yourself. Alaska has good memories for me. Recently, for several summers I visited my sons who were working at Denali Nat’l Park. I immensely enjoyed the environment and was felt lucky to see so many grizzlys, moose, caribou, wolves and other animals. The moose are certainly larger than in the Northeast where I grew up, but then again, everything is in a grand scale in Alaska. 🙂
Nancy
Eric,
I think alot of us started out using Elements to edit our photos in much the same way that film images can be improved/enhanced in the development process. Along the way we discovered that we could do alot more with it and Grant’s Challenge provides an outlet for creative imaging that we wouldn’t normally do. Give it a try. I think you’ll find that by trying some of the "artistic" techniques, you’ll also be able to improve your ability to enhance your "normal" photos.
Don’t let Beth and Nancy pull your leg – they are both very artistic and creative.
CR
My interest is primarily in understanding the use of Photoshop Elements for enhancing my photos. I discovered early on that image editing is an extension of the digital camera. I’ve seen the transformation of mediocre photos into great ones with the use of some basic pse skills.
I have observed that not a lot of discussion goes on at this forum regarding adjusting photos for printing. I probably would not have dipped my toe into the waters of creativity evident on this forum were it not for the many talented folks here. It’s been fun playing with these capabilities of pse.
I totally agree with Chris’ comments.
Beth and Nancy did not fool me for a second. I know everyone here is quite talented. I have admired some of the Challenge work, and I will give it a shot at some point, as I find the time. And I agree, everything I try in PSE makes me better at adjusting my photos for printing.
Currently I’m scanning and restorating old family photos for my siblings with Photoshop Elements. I’ll make a CD to all of them. It takes a lot of time though, and I really like to do something like the Challenge pictures once in a while in order not to loose my interest to that restorating job. I’m just a holiday photographer and far behind the skills of everybody on this forum. I like reading books about photography and hope to develop my skills further. The job I’m doing for living right now is totally something else than pictures, but next spring I’ll start with Photoshop and Freehand again at work.
And welcome to the Forum 🙂
Irene K
Eric, adjusting my photo’s is the only thing I do with Elements. I’m a professional portrait and wedding photographer and I discovered that I didnot need the full photoshop version like most of my colleagues seem to think.
But sometimes I feel I have to do something extra to the image than just only adjusting colour, saturation and sharpness. That’s when the "artistic" element comes in.
I’m often too busy to do the Challenge pictures, but nevertheless I consider this a good way to improve ones skills and sometimes I applied techniques I leant this way to my day to day work.
Just click on my name and have a look at my website and you will see what I mean.
Leen
I use Elements for everything except printing address/shipping labels. Now, if I can only get it to do my housework !
Jodi,
Come on now, I’m sure you could lay out your address/shipping labels in Elements if you wanted to. <G>
Rich
If she did, they may become collector items down the road…when her name is a household word. <g>
Richard, yes i probably could BUT, my dinky Print Master does it in one click…hey, it’s installed so I should use it every now and then 😉
Nancy, ya right…by the way, I sent that on wednesday so you should get it no later than wednesday next week 🙂 ….snail mail can suck…I guess if I wasn’t so poor I could have over-nighted it 😉
Hi, I got elements just so I could prepare my pictures for printing, but when I found this site I discovered the "Challenge", and have had so much fun. I am taking classes at the EclecticAcademy and have learned so much about the program. I think learning the other has really helped me know what to do to correct something on an otherwise great picture.
Hi Eric, That is what all this is about, fun, photography, art, PSE, and put it all together and add this forum, stir, and you have a wonderful recipe. Enjoy!
From a beginner who is learning here with much encouragement and help here, Jane
Eric et al:
Now Grant confesses.
I do use Elements for straight photography as well as creating images. Seeing you want to know about photography I do divide my photography into two classes digital and film. Most know my preference for film but I do use digital … mainly for recording images for web work. Photography is a hobby and I can have as few or as many restrictions placed on me and may years ago as a form of self discipline I set to never crop an image. Now has become more The way I photograph and therefore I very seldom crop. I do resize then sharpen to get back to the original sharpness that is lost during resizing. I seldom have much need to alter the colour or gamma but I am not so loathed to do these practices.
For the web I do create all backgrounds, text images, and rollovers using Elements. Also Elements is very useful in creating file size adjustments.
What type of photography do I do … oh my I could write a book on my passion so maybe another night.
—
Grant
Home Pages
http://home.cogeco.ca/~grant.dixon/index.htm Garden Pages
http://home.cogeco.ca/~gardens/index.htm *********************************************************
Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and better ideas if our efforts are appreciated.
Alexander Osborn (1888 – 1966)
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It is a pleasure to read everyone’s responses. I am slowly clicking on people’s names and visiting their sites, and I am impressed with the consistent quality of work and creativity I see. Maybe after this weekend I’ll have my own site!
Thank you all again for the warm welcome here.
Eric,
I use PSE for editing straight film photography. I shoot slide film, scan the images, edit in PSE andprint. My main interest is underwater photography which can be challeging in itself. The main editing I do is cropping, restoring color balance and removing any back scatter from the strobe.
David Jabs
Eric,
My interests are similar to Beth’s…I’m also working on a family photo archive, scanning lots of old slides and negs. I also travel quite a bit, and have two digital cameras that I take lots of pix with. I use PSE mainly for simple color corrections, cropping, sharpening, etc. I have zero artistic ability, so I haven’t yet tried any of the challenges, but I’m working up the courage to try one of these days.
If you would like to look at some of my work here’s my website, which most of the others here have visited already.
<
http://community.webshots.com/user/bigelowrs>
Bert
Thanks, Bert! I needed a trip through the Lion Cub album. 🙂 Maybe this is a good day to get little number two up on my wall. I think that picture is wonderful.
Thanks, Bert! I needed another trip through the Lion Cub album. 🙂 Maybe this is a good day to get little number two up on my wall. I think that picture is wonderful.
Edit: Whoops! I didn’t realize how easy it was to double post! Sorry everybody.
Bert,
I’m at school right now, and your site has been blocked by our internet filter. Must be some pretty offensive stuff on there! 🙂
I’ll check it out when I get home.
Bert,
Why not join in on the Challenge, artistic ability is not a prerequisite, I haven’t any and can’t draw. Ordinarily, I just incorporate the subject of the Challenge into an image I have taken and you certainly have a treasure trove of that! Hope to see your Challenge soon 🙂
Nancy
