Taking pictures is a great way to capture memories. They serve as constant reminder of those great vacation trips (In case you want to know, these are the Top ten most relaxing vacation ideas for the stressed-out), birthday parties, and weddings, among other events. Now that digital photography is dominant, preserving these memories is also a lot easier.
However, there are some times when you take a picture that you wish you moved the viewfinder a little to the left or got it from a different angle because the picture now has something that kind of spoils it. Removing such unwanted items in a photograph is now very easy; all you need is photography software.
Photo Editing: Remove those Unwanted Items You know the term “picture perfect,” right? Sometimes, perfection is quite hard to achieve when taking pictures (Read 10 ways to look good in photos). Good thing we have technology that will help change that picture into something you can finally call perfect. Most basic photo editing software that comes with digital cameras offers basic photo editing that will help you remove unwanted items in your photos. Did you accidentally include a stranger in your beach trip or did the flash in your camera produce a “freaky” red eye effect? When that happens, you can easily remove those with a few mouse clicks. Some software makes removing these very easy by using automated wizards.
Cropping Photos Cropping a photo is the easiest and simplest photo editing task you can do, but it works perfectly. It is just like cutting a printed picture with scissors. Cropping is a task that simply cuts the frame of the picture to remove elements at the edges. To crop a picture, here is what you do:
•Analyze the picture, especially the edges and determine which part or parts you have to remove.
•Open your photo editing software and look for the crop function. In most cases, you will have to drag the side or sides of the photo until you reach the point where you have completely removed the unwanted element in the picture.
When cropping a picture, make sure you balance the picture so it still follows the rule of thirds as much as possible. To avoid cropping photos, make sure you examine the elements in the frame before you press the shutter button of your camera. It is also nice to take multiple shots with different angles of a certain scene so that you have backup copies.
Removing the Red Eye Effect The red eye effect is one of the most common unwanted items in a picture. This happens when the flash of your camera is on and the light directly flashes into the eyes of the subject. The light then reflects off at the back of the eyeball and comes out as a reddish glow on the picture. Red eyes on your picture look frightening because the red glow is usually only seen in movies. Since it is a very common problem, it is also very easy to remove. Red eye removal is a very common feature even in the most basic photo editing software. To remove red eye, open that picture and do the following:
•Zoom into the eye area using the zoom tool of your photo editing program.
•Click on the red eye removal function of your software and carefully click or select the exact spot that has the red eye. To avoid having photographs with the red eye effect, turn off the flash of your camera if there is enough lighting in the area. If it's quite dim, you can use the flash but do not take the picture with the flash directly in front of the person. (For more information, read how to get rid of red eye in photographs)
Advanced Photo Editing There will be some cases when cropping will not remove the unwanted item in your picture. In such cases, you may need good photo editing software that can do tasks such as blurring, cloning, or patching. Software like Photoshop and GIMP are popular photo editing programs that have these features.
Blurring: Removing Unwanted Small Items in your Picture A good trick to remove, or at least hide, unwanted items in your picture is to blur the background of the photo. Blurring is a good option to do for close-up pictures that have small nuisances in the background. To do this, you will need to select the person or item in the foreground and either create a new layer out of that selection or have it locked to prevent changes. The amount of blur you will need depends on the size or relative distance of the unwanted item. Experiment with the amount of blur by starting with a small degree. Adjust it slowly until that unwanted item is no longer seen or recognizable.
Cloning and Patching: Tricky but Very Rewarding You will come across some pictures where the mentioned tricks my not be applicable. If you are faced with pictures like that, there is still a remedy, given that you have capable photo editing software. Ever wonder what the clone and patch tool in your program does? Well, these are advanced editing tools that you can use to fix up photos. However, these are just tools and are not magical. It is still up to you to use them properly to come up with good results. The clone tool is ideally used to recreate patterns. Say you have a picture of beautiful waves of the sea and you happened to include a swimmer that simply spoils the picture. You can use the clone tool to recreate the waves over that swimmer. The patch tool is quite similar but can be used on things that don't have patterns. For example, you took a close-up photo of yourself or your friend and you noticed a lot of pimples. You can use the patch or healing tool to hide the pixels of that pimple. Both the clone and the patch tool need a clean sample area to be effective. For the beach picture, it will be the part of the sea that has no swimmer. For the pimples, it could be any area nearby that does not have the zits. The way to select a clean area varies on the software being used. In Photoshop, the CTRL key is used for selection. After that area has been defined, you can “paint” over the swimmer or those ugly pimples and see the result. Sometimes, it can be a trial-and-error process, so be very patient with it.
Patience and Backup is the Key Though simple editing tasks are quite easy to do with the help of wizards, there are some tasks that may require a little patience to achieve a picture perfect effect. Photo editing software is not magical; it still requires a degree of skill too. Practicing and reading more tips will help you master photo editing. When editing photos, it is also very important to make backup copies even if the software you use has an undo feature. Using the “Save As” function is the easiest way to make a backup copy of the picture you are working with. You will never know when you need the original picture, so remember to make an extra copy.