The Whole Picture

What type of wide format printer do you have? I'm in the market for one soon for my scrapbooking & don't know what I should be looking for.

Hi Teresa,

There are a lot of great printers out there, how wide do you need to print? Epson has made huge strides in this arena. There are two inkjet printers that come to
mind. I really like these two personally:

Epson Stylus R220 Photo Printer

You can also print directly on printable CD's and DVD's, it looks very professional.

Epson Stylus Photo 2200

And this is the first desktop printer to use seven pigment inks. Great
for archiving photos.

Here's a link to more printers with descriptions, so you can find the one that's right for you.

Printer">http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ProductCategory.jsp?oid=-8165&ref=r03028qgpx">Printer info

Erin

What computer editing program do you use in your show?

Hi Sheila,

I use Photoshop Elements 4.0 on The Whole Picture, it's very easy to use, quite robust with features and reasonably priced. Here's a link to a free 30 day trial:
Download a
free trial

Erin

Hi Erin! Loved your first season and so glad to see you back for another round. I started watching your show before I had a digital camera. For my birthday I received a Canon SD550 and since February, I’ve taken over 800 pictures. Thanks for your approachable style. Your show points out the good aspects of students’ work while giving them (and us TV viewers) the skills to improve instantly.

When you have a moment, I have two questions for you. Have you considered taping a show about effect of light during different times in the day and then showing the student how to adjust their pictures using the histogram? Secondly, how does an enthusiastic amateur apply to be on the show?

Thanks for your time!

Hi Jackie,

That is a great idea. I will be covering this topic on a blog entry coming soon. I frequently do light studies when planning a photo shoot. I did discuss this on the architecture show (episode 202) that aired on July 12th. You will hear more about that when I post my Finding Good Light Tutorial

I would love to have you on my show. Contact DIY and let them
know!
Be on DIY!

Have fun taking pictures!

Erin

I've started to scan in my Dad's slides from 50 -60 years ago. Some slides have held vibrant colors while others have developed a reddish cast. Two questions:
1. How do I best clean the slides to scan them? 2. How can I easily correct for the reddish shift?
Thanks,
David

P.S. I showed them to a few family members and we're now interested in scanning and posting on-line whole albums of past generations and our youth on-line to share them with our children and extended family.

Hi David,

Good for you for archiving your old family photos! By posting them on the internet, your entire family has access to the old images that may have been in a box on a shelf - great idea. Photos are precious recordings of our past - I've often thought that in a disaster, my photo boxes would be the first things I'd grab! That's why it's really important to take care of the old photos/slides/film and scan them to archive, digitally repair and even print them out again on photographic paper (in-store kiosks are easy to use, or even print them with an online posting and printing service)
Here are some answers to your questions:
1. Clean your slides/film with a good photo emulsion cleaner. You can order this online or find it at your local photography store. photo emulsion cleaner
Treat all your photos/film with TLC. Buy some cotton gloves and a lint free cloth at the photo store, to avoid fingerprints and wipe away dust, dirt, etc.

2. You can correct any color shifts in your images once they are scanned/digitized, on your computer using an image editing program like Photoshop Elements.

I would also suggest scanning your film/slides/pictures at a high resolution and saving them as a TIFF. Make sure you back-up everything on an external hard drive and/or multiple CD or DVD's and put them in different locations. For extra safe measure, I'd print them out on photographic paper again and save those away in a moisture proof box.

Hope that helps!

Erin

I am considering buying a Canon Digital Rebel. I was reading your comments on what type of digital to purchase and noticed that the Rebel only has a 3x optical zoom. You suggested a higher number like 5x if you will be photographing a lot of sports. Since my daughters are swimmers, am I looking at the wrong camera?

Hi Sonja,

Thanks for the message. The Canon Digital Rebel is a SLR and has the option of interchanging lenses so depending on which lens you choose, this will effect how far you can zoom into your subject.
Canon">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007QKN22/002-8895358-6036054?v=glance&n=502394">Canon Rebel XT

If you are at a swim meet and want to zoom in to capture the action from the stands, you will need a telephoto zoom lens on your SLR, which is longer than the one that probably comes with it. Otherwise, if you are looking at a digital point and shoot camera, you will need a 10x or 12x optical zoom to take pictures from a distance. Have fun taking pictures!

Erin

Hi:
I am seriously thinking about the purchase of a digital camera. How do these cameras react to airport X-rays? A 35MM film was ruined by X-rays, and the digital seems the way to go.

I'm learning photography on-the-job and through self-training for a public utility (Memphis, TN). A Canon Digital Rebel 8 MP is the camera that was purchased for me to use for special events and meeting coverage. I need all the help I can get and am asking your advice on how to quickly improve. I watch your show, but your tips are mostly for consumer photography and budding artist, understandably. At the moment, I don't have a photo editing software for my shots. (Next year's budget will get me the PhotoShop Elements software, since our graphic artists have the full-blown, multi-layered PhotoShop software and have photo-editing in their job description. (They edit my photos, instead of me.)

Where do I go to learn about Corporate photography? The subject matter is not very exciting and I've had lighting issues in large auditoriums with spontaneously captured shots in front of large audiences. There's times where I'm competiting with news media and get crowded out.

Thanks for your insight!

Hi Erin,

I recently got back into photography but this time with a digital camera. I have been Tivoing your show for several months. It has helped me so much. I love the tips and all the possible uses -love the shows on showing items for sale and home inventory.

I have improved so much the my hubby just bought me a SLR Nikon DX 70. I am truely having so much fun. Best of all my adult daughter just got a new camera and so now we have a hobby to share (taking pictures of the children!!)

I am going to be taking a cruise to Alaska - what lens would you recommend for shooting wild life - any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Cherie

What is the difrence between color photo ink and regular color ink I have a Dell all in one printer Photo 924
thanks for your time in this matter Karen

I have a camara and I can't seen to be able to hook it up to my scanner....Is there something wrong with my camara ?

I read the instructions 10 times !!

Nikki

Hi Nikki,

I need more info to give you advice. I'm curious as to why you want to connect your camera to your scanner? What kind of scanner do you have? Is it also a printer? What kind of camera do you have? How are trying to hook it up? Let me know!

Erin

what make-model of touch screen monitor do you use? i saw it on the compositing show. also, how do you like it?

I was just wondering what do you consider to be the best printer for digital pictures.

Hi Roxy,

There are a lot of great ways to print your digital images, it really depends on what you want your end product to be AND how much time, effort and money you want to invest.

1. For medium to large print quantities on classic photographic paper, go to your local retailer and use a photo kiosk. Or upload your images to an online photo store, like Shutterfly.com or Snapfish.com, view them, share them, order prints and have them mailed to your home. You can also order other specialty items like calendars, greeting cards, etc.

2. For smaller print quantities on inkjet photographic paper, I would recommend a good inkjet printer that's geared towards printing photographic prints. I have one printer that I use to print all my photographs (Epson Photo 2200) and another I use (Epson C88) for word documents, letters, etc. so as not to waste the archival ink on mundane tasks. Here's a link to a web page that gives great info on what all of their printers do, so you can find the one right for you.

Printer">http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ProductCategory.jspoid=-8165&ref=r03028qgpx">Printer info

3. For travel and on-the-go printing, I like the Canon Selphy CP510. It's super small, and produces 4 x 6" prints.

Happy printing!

Erin

Hey,
I have a Sony DSC-S500 digital camera. I was wondering if you could tell me how to manually change the shutter speed. I've been trying to figure it out Forever! I appreciate it.
Love the show!
-Chelsea

Your presentations are easy to follow and not confusing to the ametur-what make-model of touch screen monitor do you use? i saw it on the compositing show. My dad was a professional photographer for many years. I would go with him on most of the shoots, carry his bag, change the film, etc. He has been dead for 20 years and your show has inspired me to pick up a camera , point and click. He loved black and white photography- have you done a show on this topic-

Erin,

Do you have advice for Christmas photos with all of the twinkling lights on the trees and the backgrounds? thanks

Erin,

I really like your show. I watched one this morning on restoring old photos. I am about to take on this project for our family. I am curious about the ink cartridges you mentioned for printing the black and white photos. I have an Epson R320 printer and I don't know where to find the professional inks that you spoke of. Also, if I scan and restore my photos will I get good print results if I send them to a lab. Thanks for any info you can offer.

Kristin

Your show demonstrated a monitor that was also a pen tablet. Where can I find information on where to buy one. I have neck problems and I do lots of restoration and I am wondering if that would help me by having it lie flat

Hi Grace,

I use the Wacom Cintiq:
WacomCintiq

And the Wacom 9 x 12 Intuous:
Wacom_9x12_Intuous

Hope that helps! :-)

Best,

Erin

My Mom and Dad's 50th is this year and I wanted to do a collage with some of their old wedding photos but I'm afraid of ruining them by taking them to Walmart to scan and crop. Will the light hurt them or would they be alright??

Hi Vicky,

What a nice thing to do for your parent's 50th! Old photos are precious and I understand your concern about possibly damaging them. I spoke with a Walmart photo representative today and was told that you can scan your old photos (they will assist you) on their Fuji Frontier machines and you can either print them out right there, or save the digital files to your online account or to a CD. They also claim to have basic editing software available if you want to enhance or manipulate the photos once they are scanned. Note: Be sure to scan them at a high resolution for printing purposes, 200-300dpi to size is recommended.

Regarding your question about damaging the old photos by scanning, I don't think that should be a problem. Long term exposure to direct light (especially sunlight) can damage photos, but in this case a short blast of light is worth it. Scanning and archiving old images is very important. The only thing I would be wary of, is leaving your images at any location. Don't let those photos out of your sight! To save time, energy, money, and peace of mind, I would suggest purchasing a photo scanner for your home. They come in all shapes and sizes now and are quite affordable. Even the multifunction printers now have quality scanners included. For more detailed information, click on the following link to my "Ask Erin" column and read some suggestions I provide about purchasing your own scanner - it has all kinds of good tips:
Scanning info

I hope that helps - let me know what happens.

:-)

Erin