Fun With PhotoShop Elements 7.0

As you can see from Wednesday's post, I do enjoy photography. Thank you to those of you who complimented me on my shots. Truth is, it's not that hard, at least not since the innovation of digital photography and PhotoShop Elements. Any good photo editing software will work, but I just happen to like PhotoShop Elements 7.0. It will do EVERYTHING the average photo hobbist could ever want and do it for $600 less that PhotoShop CS4. The key to any good photo is the subject and the composition of the photo. In sports photography, you don't get much of a chance to compose the photo. The action just happens and you have to shoot what you can and edit later. Here are a couple of examples.

While there is nothing wrong with this photo, your eye has a hard time trying to figure out what is important. The three players on the left keep drawing your eye to them while the action is actually happening on the right side of the frame. So...let's crop it.

Bang! Now there is no doubt where the action is and your focus is on the most important part of the game. Nothing was done here but a simple crop.

Again, there is nothing really wrong with this photo, but it has a little too much information in it. That player on the right is distracting and that goal in the background is not even a part of this game. So...let's crop it.

Bang! Again, we're focused on the important part of the game and the one on one match-ups that are often the heart and soul of this team sport. This photo is much more intense than the raw shot. Again, I did nothing but a simple crop.
So, what did we learn today. Buy a photo editing program. Take lots of photos. When you get home from a photo shoot, look for the photo within the photo. I guarantee there are some gems among your snapshots.

Okay, now it time for a little soul music, or should I say music for your soul. A brother and two sisters make up one of my favorite groups, The Martins. Here they are singing "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever" Enjoy.

I Could Sing of Your Love Forever - The Martins


And here they are doing one of my absolute favorites. The song is commonly know as Doxology, but what I love is the family harmony of the Acapella performance. It is wonderful.

Doxology - The Martins