I’m also testing out polldaddy.com with a quick question: do you twitter about photography?

I have a Twitter account for work. It is so useful as a work tool: a great way to promote the organisation; an easy way to keep up-to-date with what others in my field are doing, especially the exciting innovations of Archives 2.0. You wouldn’t think so, but archivists are a prolific lot on Twitter!

I have been considering using Twitter for Lilahpops but I’m not so sure it would work as well. I follow only one photographer on Twitter (it is a work account after all) but I find that I do actually visit that Tweeter’s website more as a result.

So I’d love to know – and if you do Twitter about photography, please add your Twitter name to the comments below!

This is an article by Anthea Brown of Lilahpops::Plunging into Photography

A new web theme and a twitter poll to boot!

Most Commented Posts

• Project: My Best Photos From 2008
• Cross processing with the GIMP
• How to resize an image in iPhoto

It’s also fun and easy to use. ‘Tart up’ an image from your photo collection or take one on the camera phone and edit it.

The creators of ColorSplash say:

ColorSplash lets you quickly and easily give photos a dramatic look by converting them to black and white, while keeping your chosen details in color.

In a nutshell

Take a photo and load it into ColorSplash. The image is automatically converted to B&W. Using the native abilities of the iPhone you can zoom in and out with the pinch and flick technique and then wipe your finger over a part of the image to restore the colour.

Step by step to photoart (the basics)

1. Open ColorSplash

2. Tap Start new session

3.  Choose your image

Here is a photo I took with my iPhone. On opening it in ColorSplash all the colour is wiped out.

4. Select the the Pan & Zoom tool (bottom left)

5. Flick to zoom in and find the place where you want to reinstate colour.

6. Select the Color tool and the wipe your finger over the section…just like magic, huh?

Keep switching between the Pan & Zoom and the Color tools until you are satisfied. Made a mistake while editing? Zoom into the section, select the Gray tool and wipe the color back out.

What next?

7. Save (and upload to Flickr so we can see your works of art. Also put a link in the comments below!)

Final image – fire hydrant in red

The ColorSplash tools revealed

This photography app has a ton of in-built tips. I will quickly list the tools here but you will find more in-depth assistance from the Help icon.

Top bar tools from left to right you have:

Menu – Help – Two View Modes – Brush selection – Undo (always handy)

Bottom bar tools from left to right:

Pan &Zoom – Color (select and wipe across image)  – Gray (select and wipe to remove colour)

Get the app

Go to the iTunes Apps Store to buy ColorSplash. It is well worth the money (AUD$2.49)

Related links

• Zack and Vince’s iPhone Reviews
• Flickr search for ColorSplash/iPhone tags

This is an article by Anthea Brown of Lilahpops::Plunging into Photography

ColorSplash – iPhone photography app in 7 easy steps

Most Commented Posts

• Project: My Best Photos From 2008
• Cross processing with the GIMP
• How to resize an image in iPhoto

How to take water shots

Great article by one of the forum members at Digital Photography School includes a photo of the set-up over the kitchen sink:

• Water Drops – Behind the Shot

Your favourite F/-

Brian Auer has revealed the results of his poll at Epic Edits:

• The most used F- nunmbers are…

Inspiration

We all need this sometimes. Damein Franco at Your Photo Tips provides:

• 3 simple ways to stay inspired

Twittering

If you do, or are planning to Twitter check out this useful list of photography resources by Photopreneur

• Twitter Photography Resources List

Enjoy.

This is an article by Anthea Brown of Lilahpops::Plunging into Photography

15. What I learned about photography this week

Also of interest

• 14. What I learned about photography this week
• 13. What I learned about photography this week
• 12. What I learned about photography this week

A comment from elsamuko on a previous post led me to this Lomo Script. I was chuffed to note that elsamuko updated the colours in the script based on my post.

Try it yourself

Simply follow the instructions on the GIMP Plugin Registry page and then watch your image transform before your very eyes. Have some fun with the effects you get.

You can use red, blue, green or neutral color effects and even add a vignette. If you wish, tweak the effects further by selecting the layers and adjusting them manually.

I usually try out a couple of variations before staying with one. It’s easy enough to “CTRL+Z” to undo the effect and then change the script settings to try again.

In the examples below only the color has been selected, nothing else. Look how dramatically you can change your pictures!

Green

Before Lomo

After Lomo

Blue – my fave

Before Lomo

After Lomo

Red

Before Lomo

After Lomo

If you have used the Lomo Script yourself – or decide to -  make sure to leave a link to your photo in the comments so we can check it out.

This is an article by Anthea Brown of Lilahpops::Plunging into Photography

Using the Lomo Script with the GIMP

Also of interest

• Cross processing with the GIMP
• Give your photos a retro feel with the GIMP
• Saturate the colors in a photo with GIMP

Once again 2008 proved to be an incredibly productive year for the many photographers who read the JMG-Galleries blog. The results of this “Best Photos From 2008″ blog project puts a twist to the normal “Best of Photo” list by aggregating links to the work of 93 photographers from around the globe who are passionate and dedicated to their craft.

The results from “Best Photos From 2007″ by JMG-Galleries Blog Reader’s were impressive, but this year not only did the number of participants exceed expectation the quality and vision of those who submitted were exceptional. This year participants ran the gamut of experience from enthusiasts to professionals.

Enjoy and good luck picking out your favorite from these great submissions

• “My Top 10 Favorite Photos of 2008” – Jim M. Goldstein
• My Favorite Shots of the Year – View from the Little Red Tent by Edie Howe
• 2008 Favorites – Photine by Laurie Ballesteros
• My Nephew – Amit Goyal
  My nephew woke me up in the morning and was in a very chirpy mode when this was clicked
• Another world (+Vorher/Nachher) – Visuelle Gedanken by Martin Wolf
  
• Boy, Hanoi – The Sun Shines & The Igloo Melts by Jon Gresham
• Best Photos from 2008 – Abraham Neben
• Apocalyptic Capitalism – Sultana Sandwich by James Hill
• Top 10 Photos of 2008, My first year in Wisconsin – Sierra Visions by Steven Bourelle
• My Best Photos: 2008 – Shutter Photo by D Travis North
  This past year was a huge growth year for my digital photography skills which I feel is exhibited quite nicely in my photo favorites of 2008.
• Best Photos From 2008 – G Dan Mitchell Photography
• Protesting Prop 8 - Quan Photography by John Quan
• Bir y?l böyle geçti… – Caglar.ca by Caglar Tukel
  Most of Photos taken during our traveling around Turkey and hiking around our hometown, Izmir.
• My best shots of 2008 – Jonesblog by Bryan WIlliam Jones
• Flamingo and Desert Landscape – pl?dys’s photoblog by Mike Reys
  Both pictures are from one of the most beautiful places on earth: Chile’s Atacama desert. The salt lakes there provide for some stunning colours and beautiful wildlife.
• Suspended – Mark Groves Photography
• My Favorite 10 Images from 2008 – IM Digital by Ivan Makarov
• My Best Photo of 2008 – Matt Ward Photography
  This photo was taken in Oct at 7am after a cold night in Atlanta, GA.
• Highlights of 2008 – Lori Jackson Photography
  In 2008, I picked up my camera again after a year long hiatus following pregnancy and my son’s birth.
• Favorites from 2008 – Adventures Through The Lens by Rebecca Jackrel
• Top Ten Photos of 2008 – Chris Moore Photography
• My Photo Record – Kriz Cpec Photo Blog
• Best of 2008 – Catavino by Ryan Opaz
• Looking Forward and Back – Graf Nature Photography by Mark Graf
• Lloyd’s Favorites of 2008 – L.D. Cross
• My Favorite Photos from 2008 – Epic Edits by Brian Auer
  A selection of my favorite photos from 2008, broken down by each month and supplemented with a few thoughts.
• Derryclare Lough – Focus Pocus by Albert MacSweeny
  My best photo of the year was when I was lucky enough to get a still lake in the usually turbulent west of Ireland
• Best of 2008 – News and Views by Dave Wilson
• Needle – Andel’s Photoblog by Andel Früh
  This photo has been shot with the kit lens (18-55mm f/3.5-5.6) in retro position (front lens to the camera)
• Year in Pictures – Marcin Retecki
• 2008 Top Ten – Lois Elling
• My Best Photos of 2008 – Out of My Mind by Steven L. Mullen
  These are travel and nature shots taken in Michigan, China, and locally.
• One from 2008 – Hockley Photography by Aaron Hockley
  It’s a photo taken at night, looking across a bridge towards another photographer also taking a picture of the same ferris wheel as I was.
• 2008 in Pictures – Sawlani Photography by Hitesh Sawlani
• My Top 10 Photos for 2008 – by Neil Creek Photography
• Best of 2008 – The Quiet Picture by Minna Kinnunen
  My 10 favourites from 2008, everything from flower closeups to landscapes and starry nights!
• Best of 2008 – by Stig Nygaard
  Just a quick little mixed selection of what I consider my best photos from 2008
• My Top Ten Photos from 2008 – Korn on the Blog by Justin Korn
  Of the 1,800+ images I uploaded to Flickr this year, these are what I thought were my top 10.
• Blog Project: “your Best Photos from 2008″ – Jim’s Photography by Jim Wheeler
• My Best Photos from 2008 – TrevorCarpenter.com by Trevor Carpenter
• Best Photos of 2008 – by Dave Reichert
• 2008 Favorites – by Beth Madison
• 01/01/2009 Best of 2008 – Brad Barton Photography
• 2008: My Favorite Photos – My Digital Life by Jeremy Brooks
• 2008: The year in photographs – Katie the Scrapbook Lady by Katie
• Gotham. Or maybe London – SFT Photography by Steve Thomas
  I love the dark and moody feel, combined with the futuristic look of the building. I really enjoyed shooting it!
• My Best Photos of 2008 – Malphoto.com by Andre Maltais
  I’m particularly proud of these submissions this year, as it seems I’ve made some great strides in my photography from the beginning of the year.
• Best of 2008 Project – Photos From The Top Floor by Carsten Fischer
• La Arcada seating on a rare rainy October morning – gZphotoGraph
• Jaguar – by Jarrod Erbe Photography
  This jaguar image was taken at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The background was generated using a combination of Aperture, Photoshop Elements, and DFT Light.
• Best of 2008? – Suzy Walker, Underwater Photoblog
  My top ten fav travel, underwater and macro photos taken in 2008
• My best shots of 2008 – TemujinPhoto Blog by João Almeida
• Best of 2008 – by Rick Goldwasser
• My Top 10 Images of 2008 – The Jim Stamates Collection by Jim Stamates
• #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 – Mannedspace: Photographs by MT Fanders
• Best 10 of 2008 – by Duffy Knox
• Future Christmas Card – by Massimo Belloni
• Best Photos of 2008 – MIZSPONTANEITY: A Girl With A Camera by Elaine
  I got a Nikon D40X for Christmas 2007, and although some of these photos were with my trusty Sony W70 point-and-shoot, these are my favorite 10 results of my first year with a digital SLR.
• Best of 2008 – Changing Perspectives by Jenni Brehm
• My Best of 2008 – by Eliya Selhub
  In 2008, I have found myself increasingly drawn to animals as subjects, and a slight cartoonish absurdity always appeals to me.
• My Best Photos From 2008 – Lilahpops – Plunging into Photography by Anthea Brown
  Looking back over my photos for the past year shows my increasing interest in post-processing experimentation alongside my favourite macro format.
• My top 10 favorite photos of 2008 – The Taeleman’s Blog by Kris Taeleman
• My Favorite Photos of 2008 – Coulter Photos by Scott Coulter
• Favorites of 2008 – XGray Vision by Stephen Gray
• My Top 10 Favorite Images of 2008 – Cornforth Images by Jon Cornforth
  Spectacular nature and wildlife photography, photos, and pictures by award winning professional photographer Jon Cornforth.
• Sitting Backwards on My Horse – latoga photography By Greg Lato
• Top ten images of 2008 – Enlightened Images by Gary Crabbe
  These are some of the image I took in 2008, and which rose toward the top of the – I Like – pile.
• Best 10 photos of 2008 – Have Camera Will Travel by Paul Dymond
  Images from professional Australian travel photographer Paul Dymond which ironically were all taken pretty close to home.
• Best of 2008 – Heidi Donat
• Best Photos of 2008 – by Luca Filigheddu Photography
• Favourites of 2008 – by Chris Brown
• Best of 2008 – by William Kahn
• Pics of the pops 2008 – fotoVoyager by William Fawcett
• My Top 10 Photos of 2008 – Always Breaking by Gary Hegenbart
• Best of 2008 – by Trevin Chow
  This is a set of my best photos that I took during 2008 which is a combination of Flickr’s “interestingness” meter and my own selection.
• Best of 2008 – Hotel Yankee Foxtrot by Alex McGeagh
  A collection of the better images captured in a progressive and productive year for me.
• Top 10 Photos of 2008 – Digital Kloc Photography Blog by Brian Kloc
• Burrard-Lucas Top Ten Photographs of 2008 – Burrard-Lucas Photography by William Burrard-Lucas
  We are brothers from the UK with a shared passion for wildlife photography – in 2008 we followed Meerkats in the Kalahari, stalked Jaguars in the wetlands of Brazil and waded through swamps at night to photograph Caimans…
• My best 10+3 pictures of 2008 – All Day I Dream About Photography by Antoine Khater
• Best of 2008 on Highway 89 – Ann Torrence Photography
  Transecting the west from Mexico to Canada on US89.
• Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance – by Dave Fitch
  A railway bridge in Leith [Edinburgh] that was restored and then left to rot. It’s not perfectly symmetrical, but then neither is the bridge
• My Top 10 Photographys of 2008 – Nuwomb Bits by Scott Webb
• Best of 2008 – Matt Sallee Photography
• My 10 best photos of 2008 – Stephen Trainor Photography
  Mostly landscapes, mostly of the Southwest, but with a hint of other anglophone countries.
• 10 in 2008 – k|d loftis photography
  My favorite images from 2008 which include weddings, maternity and newborns, families and babies and a few personal images from the year.
• My 10 Favorite Images of 2008 – Della Huff Photography
  My ten favorites from 2008 include California landscapes and cityscapes, with a couple of extra goodies thrown in for fun!
• Best Photos of 2008 – by Dave Schumaker
• Best of 2008 – by Jay Goodrich Photography
• My best photos from 2008 – All Narfed Up by Bryan Villarin
  Choosing my best photos from 2008 was really hard to narrow down, especially since it was my first year with a SLR camera.
• Mein Flickr Photostream 2008 – Best of – by Stefan Neuweger
• My Best Photos from 2008 – Why Yet Another Photo Place by Rafa
• Best Photos from 2008 – by Daria Sukhanovska
  Only until i created this set of 13 photos, i realized how much progress i have done this year: I have traveled a lot, got one photo printed in the magazine and had my first own personal exhibition in the university library and simply had fun with my photos
• My Best of 2008 – by Phil Price Photography

This is an article by Anthea Brown of Lilahpops::Plunging into Photography

93 photographers share their best photos of 2008

Also of interest

• Changing a lightbulb on top of the world
• Results from the Shoot Yourself photo project
• A cat photographer?

Whilst the project specifications don’t limit the number of best photos you can enter, I decided to stay with a Top 10 theme. I didn’t taken gazillions of photos during the past year but I still found it difficult to select just a small number of them.

These links take you to the images on Flickr.

1. Skies are blue and white, 2. Droplets, 3. Black cat through the fence, 4. Tulip, 5. Run run run!, 6. Blue and Gold Sunset, 7. Buzzing around the rosemary, 8. Old books, 9. Blue rust, 10. Horsin’ around

I’m happy with this set. I note that two of the images are from the April 2008 Challenge – Entropy which should be incentive enough for me to participate in more projects and challenges this year.

How did you fare in choosing your best photos? If you have a Top 10 list of your from 2008 pop a link to them in the comments below.

This is an article by Anthea Brown of Lilahpops::Plunging into Photography

Project: My Best Photos From 2008

Also of interest

• Are you testing out the new Flickr homepage?
• Have you tried Flickr with Flock?
• My entries in the April Challenge

One paperclip or many, it doesn’t matter; as long as the main subject of your photo is a paperclip.

… Funnily enough, I took a photo of a paperclip for the Entropy Challenge back in April. Time to get the brain into gear for a new idea. Any suggestions?

This is an article by Anthea Brown of Lilahpops::Plunging into Photography

A clip of inspiration

Most Commented Posts

• Project: My Best Photos From 2008
• Cross processing with the GIMP
• How to resize an image in iPhoto

This is an article by Anthea Brown of Lilahpops::Plunging into Photography

High speed photography by Chase Jarvis

Also of interest

• Changing a lightbulb on top of the world
• Medieval helpdesk video
• Street magic spoof video

• Check out the Flickr blog for more details

I have to say I’m loving the new look. Everything I could possibly want is there on the homepage. Not only do I get an instant view of the recent activity on my own photostream, I see the threads from where that activity is coming from; so if a comment is from a group I posted a photo to then parts of that thread are included. And for PRO user, those stats – do you sometimes get hooked on those stats? C’mon, we all do from time to time :-) Simply click the graph to the right of “Your Photostream” to open them up.

My contacts

I love viewing my contacts’ photos and this option is still there [note: I prefer using the Flock sidebar for this]. And if I have made a comment of faved a photo I can see recent activity on their photostreams, too. In fact, the recent activity includes the “Comments You’ve Made” option – you can change this in the recent activity settings if you wish to.

My groups

One new feature I enjoy has evitalised the social aspect of Flickr. Flickr is social media after all. Each time I visit my homepage I have a preview of the latest uploads from one of my Flickr groups … and it’s a different group each time. Try refreshing your homepage to see what I mean. The visual preview shows the latest uploads to a group rather than a simple notification telling me there is an upload. I don’t even have to click to see the new photos. But I find that I am clicking the new photos – and ‘fave’-ing and commenting more than I did with the old homepage.

Get lost

Hours at a time lost. I can lose loads of time Exploring photos on Flickr. Now it’s all there on the homepage. And do you remember when you first got hooked on Flickr? That feeling comes back. As I learn more about photography my focus on its different aspects changes and hence my interest in the groups. As you learn new techniques you become obsessed fascinated with particular groups and tend to forget about others. But, seeing the thumbnails of the recent uploads of these forgotten groups has reignited my interest. Perhaps you can give back some of your knowledge, or simply fave a few and comments on others.

Minimise your options

Too much going on with the new homepage? Simply minimise some options. Click the arrow to change the options.

Switch over

So how do you switch to this cool new look? Log in and then check to the bottom of the screen for an invite to ‘preview’ the new look. You might already have it … in which case I invite you to add your tips/thoughts in the comments below.

Can you switch back? I’m sure you can but do you think it’s worth it? After all, this will be the new look and we may as well start using it now.

This is an article by Anthea Brown of Lilahpops::Plunging into Photography

Are you testing out the new Flickr homepage?

Also of interest

• Have you tried Flickr with Flock?
• Project: My Best Photos From 2008
• My entries in the April Challenge

Again, Cordelia has agreed to model for this installment in the iPhoto series of Tips and Tutorials. In this article we’ll make a cartoon effect using iPhoto.

I have a lot of photos of my cats and like many hobby photographers they can be very hit and miss. Sometimes, though, the expression caught in an otherwise ordinary photo makes deserves some post-processing.

The photo

Here we have a photo of my British Shorthair, Cordelia.

You can see that it’s quite grainy and blurry at the same time, very low light conditions and not exactly result I was hoping for. But the look on her face made me want to try to improve the photo somehow. So I decided to do a little more experimenting with iPhoto. In no time at all I had a cartoon/comic type of effect.

It’s all about smoothing the grain

The Reduce Noise option is the key to a cartoon effect. It smooths out all the grain in the image and almost gives it a paintbrush texture.

To start with I opened the Adjust settings and moved the Reduce Noise slider all the way to the right. Play around with this as you mightn’t need to always set this to maximum. In fact, I decreased it a little (to 89.0) as the effect made the image so smooth it became even more blurry. However, even with the decrease the eyes are still out of focus and as any eager amateur photographer knows – the eye have it.

So instead of decreasing the smooth paint-like effect even further I increased the Sharpness (to .71). Instantly the eyes stood out and the cartoon effect was still in tact. There was also more of an outline around the cat.

A few more minor adjustments

To polish up the final image I made a few more adjustments.

Levels and Contrast and Crop for an overall improvement. Saturation to bump up the color. The change I was most impressed with, possibly because I don’t use it very often, was the effect an adjustment to the Highlights setting produced.

Here is the Adjustments window showing the final settings.

And the final result. Voila!

If you have other iPhoto tips you’d like to share let us know in the comments. If you’d like to write a guest post about using iPhoto then get in touch with me via the Contact Form.

This is an article by Anthea Brown of Lilahpops::Plunging into Photography

Make a cartoon effect using iPhoto

Also of interest

• Make your images outstanding using iPhoto effects
• Share the love
• Duplicate an image in iPhoto