I’ve been on the hunt for an inexpensive high speed camera lens for a little while and I heard about Canon’s EF 50mm 1:1.8 II lens, which sells brane new for less than $100. After keeping an eye on the eBay listings for a little while I found one for $77 including shipping and a protective filter.

1.8 F-Stop: It Rocks
A nice low F-Stop like this means two things: 1) More light can reach the sensor (Enables higher shutter speed and better exposure in low light situations) and 2) a very narrow depth of field. For many situations, the narrow depth of field looks really nice. You can always lower the aperture for a greater depth of field but that requires more light or a slower shutter speed.

The end result of this low F-Stop means that my photos have a more photo journalistic feel to them, like I’m really recording moments in time rather than just snapping pictures. It also means that I am able to capture those moments (without a flash) that I just couldn’t before. Like when my daughter is playing peek-a-boo under the kitchen table. Low light, but enough for this little lens to get the shot.

Getting Used to No Zoom
I was worried about not being able to zoom at all. You can shoot at 50mm and that is all. I have to admit, however, that it’s really no big deal. There have been occasions in which I wish I could have had a wider point of view or zoomed in closer but usually the 50mm is just great. I mostly use this lens for shooting indoors and you can get close enough to a subject with this distance that my images are often framed pretty well.

4 Ounces? Wow.
I’m not all that concerned about weight because I’m not hiking around the Himalayas lugging around equipment but the nice light lens is kind of enjoyable. I like the feel of a heavier bodied camera and lens but the light lens allows for greater agility and makes you feel like looking around a bit more. If you do travel with a camera and have to carry it on your back a lot, the light weight of this lens is a real plus.

Overall Performance
I’m an amateur. I’m not going to be able to give a bunch of info on distortion levels and focal accuracy, etc. My experience with this lens is that I am better able to get the low light shots that I want, it focuses quickly and the images come out great. I hate using a flash in most situations so this is a great way to capture the beauty of natural lighting without all of the blur that comes with the kit lens.

Sample Photos
Ya gotta post photos, right? Here are some examples of situations in which the 50mm F1.8 (aka Fantastic Plastic) really shines. Again, I’m no professional but these are the kinds of shots I was hoping for from this lens.

Conclusion
If you need a high speed lens and don’t have a lot of money to spend on it, this is the lens for you. For under $100, the Canon 50mm F1.8 EF is a fantastic little piece of glass. I’m really enjoying it and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to upgrade the lens set on a modest budget.

Tags: photography, tutorials by nils
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In this tutorial, I’ll be explaining how to take advantage of non-destructive editing techniques such as adjustment layers, blending modes and layer masks to make the most of your images. I’ll be using the photo below as an example but obviously every case is unique. Play around and figure out what works for your image.

PHOTOSHOP VERSION USED: CS3
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: MEDIUM
TIME TO COMPLETE: 30 MINUTES
IMAGE SIZE USED: 4272 x 2848 (12 Megapixel)

SHORT VERSION - Here’s the quick version. For details read below this section.
1- Duplicate the background layer, name new layer “original”.
2- Add a “Curves” adjustment layer. Darken the darks and lighten the lights.
3- Duplicate the “original” layer, name it vignette. Set blend mode to multiply.Invert (ctrl i, cmd i on mac) the layer, hit d then x to get a white brush. Hit b for brush, soften the hardness to 0 and make the brush pretty large then lower the opacity or flow of the brush for softer painting. Paint the outside of the image as desired.
4- Add a hue/saturation adjustment layer. Increase saturation to about 30.
5- Duplicate the “original” layer again and name it “blur”. Apply a fairly heavy gaussian blur (effects>blur>guassian blur) with a pixel radius of 10-15. Change blend mode of layer to screen. Lower the opacity of the layer until it looks good.
6- Tweak layer opacities and settings to your liking.

In case you’re not familiar with these terms, I’ll explain a bit. If you are familiar, feel free to skip ahead.

Non-destructive editing is the process of editing an image in a way in which each change made can be modified individually. It also means that the original pixel based image is not modified or destroyed, only added to. You may have a better definition than that but that’s the gist of it.

Adjustment layers are layers that you can add that will modify any number of things, like levels, curves, hue, saturation and more. They can also be used as fill layers to add solid colors, gradients, patterns, etc. The best part about adjustment layers is that they’re fully editable and non-destructive. This means that if you want to adjust the curves layer you’ve added, you can click on it and do so, or you can turn the curves layer off completely and - poof - no more curves. None of this affects the original image. To add an adjustment layer, just click on this icon at the bottom of the layers palette.

Blending modes determine how a layer will be shown. They’re primarily used on multi-layer files to blend layers together in a certain way. For example, do you want to add a neat texture to a solid background? Simply add the texture as a new layer over a solid color layer, then change the texture layer’s blending mode to multiply or overlay (or any number of others) and you’re in business. You can then adjust the opacity of the texture layer to fine tune. We’ll use similar techniques in this tutorial. The blending modes are located at the top left of the layers palette.

OK. Now you know what non-destructive editing, adjustment layers and blending modes are so let’s put them to good use. While driving to work the other day I snapped this photo a couple of blocks away from my house. Yes, like a true geek I keep my SLR with me at all times. This is why. I knew the photo needed some work but had great potential so later on I opened it up and set to work. Here’s what I did.

FULL VERSION

1) Duplicate the layer (ctrl j, or cmd j on the mac). I always start off this way so that my original is safe and accessible, in case I royally screw something up.

2) Add a Curves adjustment layer. To do this, click on the little adjustment layer icon and select curves. I try to adjust the curves to where there is sufficient contrast and interest in the image, but not so much that you lose important detail in the lights or darks. I went a bit heavy on the contrast here to make it pop.

3) Create a vignette effect by creating an overlay layer and then painting on a layer mask. To do this I duplicated my original layer (named the original layer “original” - original, I know - and the new layer “vignette”) then set the layer blend mode to Multiply. I then added a layer mask. Click on the layer mask (the new white box on the layer) and then invert it (ctrl i, cmd i on the mac). Hit D, then X to select your default colors (black and white) then reverse them, giving you a white brush color to work with. Activate the brush tool (b) and set the size to something pretty large - 1300px in my case. Turn the hardness all the way down on the brush by holding down the shift key and hitting the left bracket key ([) several times. Set the brush opacity to a nice low percentage, like 25%. Now whatever you paint will intensify or multiply so go ahead and paint your edges and corners as you wish for a nice vignette.

What’s that? You screwed something up? Don’t hit the undo key (ctrl alt z) fifty times, just hit x to switch your brush back to black and paint over the area you want to undo. Simple as that. This is the beauty of non-destructive. You’re editing extra layers, not the photo.

4) Add a new Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Just like the curves adjustment layer, click on the fill/adjustment layer icon but select Hue/Saturation this time. In this photo I started by hiking up the master saturation to about 30. Kinda heavy but I can then make individual color adjustments. Have you played with the different colors in the hue/saturation box? Click on the dropdown that says Master and play around with other colors. I selected the yellow and desaturated it completely to give it a cool blueish feel. The cool colors seem to look more natural in this type of scene than yellows and oranges do. Makes it feel cold and high.

5) Create a gaussian blur layer with a “screen” blend mode. This is one of my favorite effects. It’s quick and simple but makes a big difference, especially in photos that need a bit of a dreamy effect, like some portraits. Duplicate the original layer, name the new layer “blur”. Apply a gaussian blur (filter>effects>blur>gaussian blur) and make it fairly heavy. Enough that it’s visibly blurred. I used a pixel radius of 15 on mine. Now for the fun part. Set the blending mode on this new layer to screen and then drag the layer opacity down until it gives a pleasant glow without being overkill. I settled on an opacity of 38%. This step is optional but I think it adds a nice bit of interest to the image.

6) Tweak. Find the look you like by adjusting the layers you’ve created. Play with the levels, play with the opacity of each layer, try adding a couple more layers with different blending modes - just experiment and see what works for you.

In the end, I ended up cropping the top and bottom out to get this image that I was very happy with, considering the low contrast of the original. Non-destructive editing is the way to go. Give it a try and you’ll be sure to use it again and again. Good luck!

Tags: photoshop, tutorials by nils
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I’ve been getting ready to sell my beloved Nikon D70, its lenses and its speedlight to upgrade to a Canon Rebel XSi with twice the megapixels and some nice new lenses. Anyway, before selling the camera body I wanted to clean out the dust in it. It had dust in it when I bought it (used) and I never really noticed it affecting my images I left it. The dust got worse but I never knew how bad it was until I tested it.

Quick Summary

• Find out how dirty the sensor is by photographing a light solid item (sky, paper) for several seconds.
• Choose from one of the following options:
  • Send it to the manufacturer: $50-70
  • Buy a cleaning kit and do it yourself: $40-70
  • Find a local shop with an experienced sensor cleaning person: $15-30
• Evaluate whether or not the cleaning was successful and decide if you need to try another option.
• From now on, only change lenses in a dust absolved vacuum chamber. Naked.

Testing the Dust Level:
To see the dust on your sensor, set your fstop to F22 or as high as it will go and set the shutter speed to somewhere around 4-10 seconds. Then take a picture of something solid and bright, like the sky or a white piece of paper. It doesn’t hurt to move the camera around a bit while the shutter is open because the idea is to see what’s on the sensor - and that that will show up better if there is no detail in the image. When you’re finished, bring the image into photoshop or a similar program and crank the the contrast up or play with levels and curves to see what you’ve got. Mine looked something like this:

Pretty bad. After watching several videos and reading several articles on cleaning your camera sensor, I decided to try blowing it out first. I didn’t have the little rocket pump blower that I see all over the web and I’m a cheapskate so I used a small electric pump that is made to inflate air mattresses. I figured that would be better than me blowing into it and spitting on the sensor.

Blowing it out:
In order to gain access to the sensor, I had to set the mirror lock to ‘on’. This is a setting on the Nikon D70 menu and I would suppose that other cameras probably have a similar setting. This locks the mirror up and keeps it there until you power the camera off. With the mirror up I gave the camera a quick blow with inflater pump and then took another picture to see if it helped. Nothing. I blew it out some more but no matter what I did there was no effect. My sensor was just plain dirty.

Options:
1) Send it in to the manufacturer for cleaning. Cost: $60. Time: 1-4 weeks! Gimme a break.
2) Buy a cleaning kit. There are tons to choose from. Cost: $70. Time: Several days. I’m too cheap.
3) Call around and find someone to do it for you! Cost: $20. Time: 30 Minutes. Hallelujah!

In case you haven’t figured it out based on option 3 above, I started calling camera shops in the area. The first one said they’d send it to the manufacturer and it would take 4-6 weeks and cost $60. No thanks. The next shop I called said they had a guy in house who regularly cleaned sensors and had a cleaning kit to do it with. They used the tape version, which you place on the sensor then lift off (and hopefully lift the gunk off with it). I dropped it off, picked it up after running an errand and then shot the following image:

Nice, huh? I couldn’t believe it! It was perfectly clean. I was fooled, though, because when I looked through the viewfinder I saw dust still. Not nearly as much but some. As it turns out, none of that dust shows up on pictures so I figure it must be in the view finder.

Moral of the Story:
Call around and find a camera shop that has someone who has experience cleaning sensors and let them give it a shot. If you don’t feel comfortable with this, there’re always options 1 and 2. If you’re like me, option 3 is great. They will forewarn you that they may not be able to get it all the way clean. In my case, they were able to. Yippy!

If you live in Utah County (UT):
Go to Allen’s Camera. The kids at the counter may not know what you’re talking about so call ahead and make sure. I visited the Orem store and the owner took care of it. $20!

Tags: tutorials by nils
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• Photoshop Version Used: CS3
• Difficulty Level (out of 10): 5
• Time to Complete: 25 minutes

Sometimes images just need a little something extra. While playing around with brush settings in Photoshop one day I realized that you could really have some fun when you combined the power of a stroked path with different brush setting combinations and layer effects. This tutorial was created in Photoshop CS3 but should work for the last few versions (and hopefully upcoming versions) of Photoshop as well. Let’s get started.
Note- I did this on a laptop with a trackpad (no mouse, no tablet) so no special hardware is required.

The Original Image
If you’d like to follow along with this image, click on it to view the full size version and then download it.

1. Create a Path with the Pen Tool.

Using the pen tool (P), click on the path button in the toolbar (see image above). Start to create a path, point by point, keeping in mind any areas that might wrap around or travel through the existing objects. To create smooth bezier curves, just click and drag as you create a new point. This will extend handles from the point that you can manipulate to adjust the path. ideally, you’ll want to keep your curves smooth and graceful. Below is the start of my path.

Continue the path until it is complete. The images here show the points and handles used to make my path. If a point doesn’t come out just how you’d like it to, simply use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to grab either the points or their handles and drag them until you’ve got a good looking path. Be sure to use the white arrow direct selection tool- the Path Selection Tool (black arrow) will not work.

2. Prepare the Brush Settings

Once the path has been created, we need to get our brush ready. We’re going to start by selecting a solid orange color. I used #ff8a00 in this case. Set it as the foreground color.

With the color loaded, select a brush shape that has some unbalance to it. The grass brush, the leaf brush or one of the faux finish brushes will work fine. If you select a round brush, there won’t be much texture or flame on the path. The next set of adjustments will vary based on the size of the image you’re working on and how big a flame path you want.

Open the brushes palette (F5) and check the Shape Dynamics box. Set the Size jitter to 100% and the Minimum Diameter to 30% or less. Set the Control method to Pen Pressure. This will allow the ends of the path to taper down. Set the Angle Jitter and Roundness Jitter to around 10-20%.

Next, click on Scattering and set as shown below. Adjust as necessary to get a jagged path.

3. Create a New Layer(Shft Ctrl N). For the sake of reference, I’ll name this layer brush1.

Activate the Paths tab (Windows>Paths) again and right click on the path that you created. Select “Stroke Path”.
Make sure that the “simulate pressure” box is checked as this will cause the tapering at the ends. Voila! You should now have a textured line of orange fire.

Because the paint that we just laid down is on its own layer, we can manipulate it at will without effecting the path that we have stroked. In this example, I’ll actually be manipulating additional copies of the original image rather than the stroked path.

Copy the iphone image layer (layer 1) using ctrl j (command j on a mac) and drag this newly created layer above the brush1 layer. I chose to rename this layer “coverup”.
Using a selection tool, such as the marquee tool (m), polygonal lasso tool (l) or any other method you choose, create a selection around the object that the fire will wrap around. You really only need to focus on the areas where the fire will go behind or in front of the object.
Then, use the eraser tool (e) to erase the section of the object where you want the fire to be visible. Once that is erased, invert the selection (ctrl i, command i on the mac) and erase the rest of the path that is outside the object, as shown below.
The object of this layer is just to cover up part of the path where the object is (the iphone in this case) to make it look like the fire wraps around the object.

The next step is to apply an outer glow to the fire whip. To do so, double click on the ‘brush1′ layer (the fire layer) and select “outer glow”. I chose a red glow with the settings shown below:

Now it’s time to create the next part of the fire path. Duplicate the brush1 layer and name it brush2. Delete the contents of the layer by selecting all (ctrl a, command a on a mac) and hitting the backspace key (delete key on a mac). Now activate the brush tool (b) and select a round solid brush, about 9px in diameter.
Choose a nice orange or yellow color as your foreground color. Open the paths palette and stroke the path just as you did the first time. You may want to go back to the layers palette and play around with the transparency of the brush2 layer that you created. We’re just about finished.

To finish the image off, we’re going to create a reflection of the fire whip at the bottom of the object. To do so, use the polygonal lasso tool (l) and select the area just outside the iphone. Be sure to select more of the fire whip than you think you’ll need as we’ll be erasing a bit of it.
When you’ve got it selected, copy merged (edit>copy merged or ctrl shift c, cmd shift c on a mac) then paste it (ctrl v, cmd v on a mac). Make sure the newly created layer is above the other visible layers.

To make it look reflected, Transform the reflection layer (ctrl t, cmd t on a mac), right click on it and select “flip vertical”. Hit Enter to apply the transformation. Use the move tool (v) to drag it just below so it lines up with the existing iPhone reflection.
With the new fire whip reflection in place, activate the eraser (e) and soften the edges all the way (shift [) and make sure the eraser is large enough to create a soft and light erasing. You may decide to adjust the opacity of the brush to make this task smooth but even at 100% opacity you should be fine.

That's it! Hopefully your "fire whip" turned out well. Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions below. Thanks and have fun designing!

Tags: photoshop, tutorials by nils
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