Review Digital Camera World 07-06-2013

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Digital Camera World

15 non-photography gadgets every photographer needs Jul 5th 2013, 23:01, by jmeyer When thinking of gadgets for photographers, most people immediately list tripods, camera bags, filters, and other accessories that usually attach to your camera or directly aid in the picture-taking process. In fact, there are a number of very useful gadgets that aren't actually photographic tools, or are even designed with photographers in mind, but are invaluable for getting the job done. In their latest guest blog post our friends at Photoventure have listed 15 non-photography gadgets that can give you an extra advantage towards getting shots to be proud of.   Best non-photography gadgets for photographers 1. GPS GPS comes in a number of forms and can be designed for use in your car, for taking out with you on a hike, for wearing as a watch, or as an app on your smartphone. If it works properly, you'll never be lost no matter where you are in the world as long as you have your GPS device on you. 2. Compass The compass: it's centuries old and its basic design has changed little. Compasses are reliable tools that still remain essential to many of the more adventurous photographers today. Okay, many people these days have access to GPS to tell them where they are in the world, but should your data fail you in more remote locations, you know you can still rely on your trusty compass. 3. Access to Google Maps and Google Earth Google Maps and Google Earth are extremely useful (and free) services. Photographers can plan the best route to take to their shoot using Google Maps, and Google Earth really comes into its own for landscape photography. Photographers can view any location, anywhere on the planet using Google Earth. The service allows you to view terrain in great detail amongst other features. This is incredibly useful for planning a landscape shoot – you will know just where you need to be before you arrive in order to take the shot you want. 4. Power adapters For photographers who travel abroad, power adapters are a gadget you can't afford to be without. Imagine getting off a long flight, reaching your hotel exhausted and finding that you can't plug your laptop or iPad in, or charge your batteries, because you haven't brought the right adapter with you. There's nothing more frustrating. We know – we've been there! 5. Hard drive Hard drives have become essential to the photographic process. Photographers often have a number of hard drives in order to store and back-up their work. READ MORE 16 Lightroom 4 tutorials for creative photographers How to use a camera: exposure modes made simple 99 common photography problems (and how to solve them) 15 common photography questions from beginners (and how to solve them) Rim Lighting: simple Photoshop effects to enhance your landscapes Jul 5th 2013, 10:55, by jmeyer In this Photoshop tutorial how to use a few simple Photoshop effects to recreate the look of rim lighting in your landscapes. Let’s face it: not all of us who like to shoot landscape photography have the opportunity to visit our favourite photo locations over and over again to capture the scene in perfect conditions. If you fall into this category, you don’t have to let your images suffer. In the tutorial below we’ll show you how to use a few simple Photoshop effects that mimics the effect of sunlight caught on rocks. How to create a rim lighting effect in Photoshop 01 SELECT THE ROCKS Open your start image. Right-click the Background layer and choose Duplicate Layer>OK. With the Lasso tool, make a selection around the outer edge of the rock. Choose Layer>New>Layer via Copy. Reselect the 'Background Copy' layer and repeat the process to select the inner edge of the rock door and copy it to a new layer.   02 CREATE A GRADIENT Select the outer rock layer. Choose Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay. Click the gradient, click New and set colour stops as follows: R195 G180 B165 at 0%, R230 G190 B140 at 40%, R215 G155 B75 at 55%, R215 G155 B75 at 70%, R0 G0 B0 at 100%. Adjust Midpoint between the last two stops to 75% (all others are 50%). Set a 100% Opacity stop at 0% and a 0% Opacity stop at 100%. Click OK.   03 ADD THE GRADIENT Select Reverse and Align With Layer, set Angle to -4, Scale to 130%. Set Opacity to 100 and Blend Mode to Vivid Light. Click Blending Options and set the Opacity to 65%. Click OK. Right-click the Style in Layers Panel, choose Copy Layer Style. Right-click second rock layer and choose Paste Layer Style. Add a mask to each layer and paint with a soft brush and black paint to remove glow beyond the rock edge.   04 FINE-TUNE THE IMAGE Choose Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves and drag down on the curve so Input is 160 and Output 80. Add a black to white linear gradient to the mask to target the sky. Set layer Opacity to 50%. Choose Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Color Balance. Target the Midtones and set Cyan/Red -50, Yellow/Blue +70. Select the Layer Mask, fill it with black and paint with a soft brush and white paint to make the water blue. Set layer Opacity to 20%. READ MORE 34 Photoshop effects every photographer must try once 14 photo editing tips and tricks every landscape photographer must know 13 ways famous landscape photographers make money from photography 10 quick landscape photography tips

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