Posts Tagged ‘photography’

I recently needed to adjust a particular photo of Urbiztondo for printing and was at first at a loss on how to do it. I have never submitted any of my photos to any publication, out of pure laziness; and have never attempted to submit or sell my photos to any stock photo agency either, out of perhaps 80% insecurity and 20% laziness, even if I have been told by friends and family to do so for maybe, like fifty times. But out of nowhere, I get a message about one of my photos and I thought, uh, yes, okay. I even responded late because I almost never check my messages on that site nowadays. And perhaps, maybe the image will be too late too and may not even be published. But so what, what the heck!

So well anyway, I thought it would be useful for me or to anyone else in the future to have some knowledge on how to adjust photos for newsprint. Even if my photo does not get published, I am happy for the opportunity of learning how to do something I have previously never attempted to do. Hep hep for new experiences! Hooray for new knowledge!

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How to Adjust Photos for Newsprint:

Formatting photographs for newsprint requires very different considerations than formatting photographs for digital or other print uses. While digital photos are formatted to look proper on computer screens and print photos tend to have more forgiveness in color profiles, newsprint photographs often have very specific formatting requirements that must be met in order for the photo to look appropriate. In addition to the CMYK color profile, newsprint photos must conform to specific contrast, brightness, and quality specifications. Photographers who typically shoot with digital cameras can adjust their photos for newsprint with digital photo editing software.

Step 1:

Open your image in your preferred digital photo editing software, such as Adobe’s Photoshop, Corel’s Paint Shop Pro, Google’s Picasa, or the open-source GIMP.

Step 2:

Resize your photo to the newsprint specifications – determined by the amount of physical space your photo will take up on the page. When resizing, set your image to 170 DPI (dots per inch). For example, an image that will be printed in a rectangle 4 inches wide and 3 inches tall should be 680 pixels wide (170 times 4) and 510 pixels tall (170 times 3). If the particular agency requires a photo to be printed at a different DPI, multiply the desired DPI by the dimensions of the printed photo (in inches) to determine the correct resolution.

Step 3:

Adjust the image’s brightness and contrast until it appears correct on the screen. The degree of change in the brightness and contrast depends on the subject of the image and the exposure of the photograph.

Step 4:

Adjust the image’s brightness and contrast approximately 20 percent higher than looked appropriate for digital use. This will provide a crisper and clearer photo for newsprint use.

Step 5:

Sharpen the photograph using your digital software’s unsharp mask. The settings will depend on the level of sharpness that is automatically applied by your digital camera. Settings of approximately 180% sharpness with a radius of 2 pixels and a threshold of 2 levels will often work best. A sharpness setting that looks good on your screen will probably be appropriate for newsprint as well.

Step 6:

Convert your image’s color space from RGB (Red Green Blue, which is the most common digital color setting) to CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black, which is the most common print color setting). The location of this setting differs based on your choice of digital photo editing software, but will usually be under a menu option named “colorspace,” “color mode,” or “image mode.”

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To view the original article, click here.

For a more detailed (and more technical that I got confused because I am just stupid like that but maybe you will get it) article, click here. This one is from Adobe itself and even has a demo video with audio. Thank you Adobe.

Euphorbia

This I think is my favorite photo in this set taken during my stay at the Angels Hills Retreat and Formation Center in Tagaytay City during the PAGASA Workshop I attended in March 2008.

Self-portrait

This was taken right outside the door of my cottage where I was staying with a room mate. I consider this a self-portrait.

To view the entire set, small a set it may be and a bit uninspired here and there, click here.

The sun sets in Mambajao, Camiguin Island, Philippines

This is my favorite photo taken during a trip to Camiguin Island with Travel Factor, January 2009. This was the outrigger boat that took us to and from the sand bar called White Island back to the resort we were staying, Paras Beach Resort.  I was six months pregnant.

Traveling while with child can be daunting, but not impossible. I had to have my ob-gyne fill out a form that I was fit for travel, a requirement for pregnant women flying on Cebu Pacific, as with any other airline. Cebu Pacific’s guidelines require that the expectant mother form be filled out and signed by the doctor no more than three days before the flight. That was relatively easy.

What was a little harder was having a form for the flight back because we were in Cagayan de Oro and Camiguin for a total of four days and three nights. We had to find another doctor (It doesn’t have to be your own ob-gyne of course, just as long as it is another ob-gyne. Just make sure you bring all pertinent records with you like ultrasound and other test results.) to fill out and sign my travel form in Cagayan de Oro for the flight back to Manila. We also had to go to a mall to fax the document to Cebu Pacific as it had to be signed by Cebu Pacific’s doctor before the actual flight and wait for the document to be faxed back.

Though traveling while six months pregnant could be uncomfortable at times, especially when there is a two-hour travel by private van from Cagayan de Oro to the port of Balingoan in Misamis Oriental and back, it is again, not impossible. It could be tiring though and I fell asleep most times. Hahaha. It was made so much easier though because I was traveling with my husband, and a lot of good friends who watched out for me and made sure I was made as comfortable as was possible. Thank you Maya and AJ Fajardo, Tikoy Tan and Ver Esclamado. I love you guys!

Weekend after weekend of nothing but heavy pouring rain, we finally made our way to Quiapo. We thought about getting the lens from some place else except that Ryan really wanted me to be able to go to Quiapo. Why?

So I could..

…go crazy over the ukay-ukay stores
…buy fruits-all-I-can at ridiculously cheap prices (a kilo of lanzones for P80 which is the same price as that in Camiguin, a kilo of mangosteen at P100 which is cheaper than in Davao, a kilo of deliciously huge mangoes that might as well have been from Guimaras at P50)
…ogle hangers at P25 a dozen (yes I have an obsession with hangers)
…buy cheap sheets and slippers
…hoard baby wipes
…buy hot hopia, smoked fish and broccoli

Oh right, those were not really the reasons why we made our way there though they might as well have been.

So I finally got my 50mm 1.8 lens. And here are the test shots:

Lia as unwilling subject.. grainy.. grainy...

Ok, so the first test shot was grainy, grainy, grainy. Was disappointed with myself there.

Click, click, click away. This was so far the best shot.

Pretty pretty

Quite proud of myself here. No, not because the shot is pretty good but because I made such a pretty baby. Hah-hah-hah-hah! (Kung Fu laugh there)

Since I’m done with the baby or more like the baby is done with me, move on to the other [furry] baby who was told to give her best and apparently she considers this as her best.

Is my best not good enough?

After being told repeatedly that her best was not good enough, she upped and walked away. What a snob.

Not to be easily discouraged, I haunt her and coax her into giving more than her best.

This is my bestest ever

And more than her best is sticking out her tongue. Well, I say it’s good enough. She looks like she has gone to doggy heaven – which is what I actually hope for her in the long run. Hah-hah-hah-hah! (Another Kung Fu laugh)

Done with the babies in the house, I moved on to more interesting things such as…

The banister of the spiral staircase

And of course, if you know me, you should have expected this from me already. Hah-hah-hah-hah! (More Kung Fu laugh)

Obsession with lamps