Lighting and Extracting

Do-It-Yourself Lighting Panel

John Watson at Photodoto shows us how to make our own light panel in his post titled “Build your own 42″X78″ free-standing lighting panel for about $40“.  Proper lighting can often make good shots into great shots, and it's important to be mindful of how it affects your subject.  John shows us that good lighting tools don't have to be expensive ones.  These light panels can add a much more flattering light to your composition by diffusing the harsh light before it reaches your subject.  I think I'll be making one of these right after I make my lightbox from a cardboard box.

Photoshop Extract Tool

Bert Monroy at PixelPerfect put out a handy video of a Photoshop tool called “Episode 15 – The Extract Command”.  This is a quick video tutorial on using the extract command and how to deal with some of the limitations it has.  The extract command basically pulls part of one image into another image.  Hidden in the video is another great stand-alone tip for using the clone tool between multiple photos.  This alone can be very useful for many different editing needs.  Plus, you've got to see the size of the tablet this guy's using to edit his photos — wouldn't that be nice.

Photo of the Day…

Photo by Brian Auer
03/05/05 Moscow, ID
Rex Auer sitting on a bench
Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3
420mm equiv * f/4.5 * 1/100s * ISO64