When photographers talk about the “depth of field” in an image, they’re referring to how much of the picture they choose to have in focus. You may think “but don’t I want all of my image to be in focus?” Frequently you do, but sometimes you can bring more attention to your subject by reducing the depth of field in a scene, making the background soft and blurry.

This image has very deep depth of field. Everything from the foreground to the horizon is in focus. You'll usually choose deep depth of field for landscape shots.

If you own a DSLR but aren’t experimenting with your aperture settings, you’re missing out on one of the most useful tools in a photographer’s arsenal. Here’s a primer to get you started.

How to use depth of field to take better pictures [Macworld]

I really enjoyed this tutorial, I hope you will too. Make sure you check out part two. Steve

From DaniDraws.com

“I will be creating a series of posts explaining the making of this illustration in-depth. For part 1, here is how I prepared my line drawing for painting in Photoshop.”

Link Part 1 Part 2

I recently updated my tutorial on creating custom signatures for Photoshop. It’s a simple method for applying your signature to your photos or artwork using the custom shape tool. The custom shape tool is a much better method for applying your signature since it uses vector imaging. Some people like to use a custom brush for their signature. The problem with using a brush is the larger the brush the softer the the signature becomes. Using the custom shape tool you just click and drag. It doesn’t matter what size you create your signature the quality remains the same. The original tutorial was created several years ago using Photoshop version 7.  So I revamped it using CS 4. Doesn’t really matter which version of Photoshop you have because the steps are the same. The tutorial is available in two formats, WMV Windows Media Video and Adobe Flash. Link

Video of a cool technique for removing people from an image in Photoshop.

Here is a nice tutorial on formatting and partitioning your hard drive. Link

Partitioning your hard drive has never been easier. Free options, including the Windows install disk, make this once monumental task a fairly simple two-click experience that many of us don’t spend nearly enough time thinking about when we first install our OS’s. It can sometimes be difficult to anticipate your storage needs up front, and many users just assume they are stuck with decisions they made long ago.

With the recent release of Lucis Pro 6, a program that I highly recommend, I thought I would share a tip on how to save presets.  Of course, most of you know that a preset is the settings previously used on an image saved for future use such as batch processing or sharing with friends.  As of now, in this latest version, there is no option to save your settings.  However, I understand that this feature is being considered for future releases.   In the meantime I’ve created a little video showing how I save my presets using actions in Photoshop.

I also would like to mention that if you decide to purchase Lucis Pro 6 or Lucis Art 3, if you use Trimoon in the coupon section, you will receive a discount.  Lucis pro 6 Tip

When it comes to famous images the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the most recognized in the world. The Mona Lisa has been at the center of much debate and speculation over the years but why is it an image that intrigues people so much and what can we learn from it as photographers today?

While we live in a different time (the Mona Lisa was painted in the 1500s) and use different technology – is there something in this famous image that we can be inspired by as image makers today?

Lessons from the Mona Lisa for Photographers

by Eren Göksel