Dear friends,

It’s hard to believe that summer is almost over! My family and I recently returned from a visit to Atlanta, which is where I grew up. It was wonderful to see relatives and friends; however, my son’s favorite part was without a doubt the Georgia Aquarium. If you’ve never been, it’s quite an experience. Its aquatic kingdom includes hammerhead sharks, sawfish, beluga whales, penguins, gigantic crabs and much more. Needless to say, my fish-obsessed kid was in heaven.

Even if you don’t share my son’s fascination with underwater life, aquariums offer a wonderful opportunity to practice your low-light and nature photography skills. The displays at most aquariums let you get up close to the animals without needing a long lens—and unlike scuba diving, you don’t have to bring your own oxygen supply (a serious plus in my book). But you will need a fair amount of patience to get a good shot. Here are a couple of pointers to keep in mind: Because the lights tend to be dim, you’ll want to use a high ISO—I usually stay between 400 and 800 to keep the images from becoming too noisy; but you may be able to go higher if you’re using a newish SLR. (Also be sure to turn off your camera’s flash or you’ll just end up looking at your own reflection, and you may earn some stern words from the staff.) Before I shoot, I find it helpful to spend some time watching the motion of the animals, so I can get a sense of their patterns. Then I switch the burst mode, so the camera keeps snapping as I hold down the shutter button, get right up to the glass so I don’t capture reflections from the overhead lights, and shoot. (Check out the July/August issue for more low-light photography tips.)

Creative Inspiration: Imagined Worlds

Most of the time when I’m shooting, I’m trying to capture spontaneous, unguarded moments by the people around me. But I admit that I’m completely charmed by the work of photographer Jan von Holleben, who takes the exact opposite approach. In his “Dreams of Flying” series, the German photographer uses props, drapes, and natural elements to build elaborate and whimsical scenes filled with kids living out childhood fantasies. There’s a superhero soaring over tall buildings, a couple of pirates sailing the high seas, kids lifting giant boulders, and more. Clearly Jan is still on good speaking terms with his own inner child.

It’s a good reminder that posed portraits don’t have to be boring. In fact, I’m willing to bet the kids had as much fun posing for these photos as the photographer had building them. The next time you’re taking a group shot, why not bring along a few silly accessories? I have a friend who keeps a box of wacky wigs and oversized glasses in her closet for just such occasions. Even if you’re ultimately hoping for a more traditional shot, the props might help loosen everyone up for a more natural smile.

The Joy of Doodles

Speaking of our inner child, mine totally perked up the other day when I saw Matt’s video tutorial on Adding Scribbles to a Photo. This super simple technique adds a fun, lighthearted touch to your photos. As Matt points out, you can download stock files of doodles from sites such as istockphoto.com, but there’s nothing stopping you from sketching out a few of your own and either scanning or photographing them for your project. Better yet, get the younger members of your family involved by incorporating elements from their latest artistic masterpiece—be it a robot, spaceship, flowers, or creatures yet undiscovered by science—into their portrait.

Coming Soon

We just wrapped up the September/October 2010 issue, which should start mailing to subscribers around September 9. The issue includes fun tutorials on how to use color and filters to recreate three classic film looks, and how to seamlessly blend the faces of your friends and family with vintage illustrations for funny and unusual portraits. In both cases, the skills you learn—including correcting skin tones, creating vignettes, and building layers—can be applied to numerous other projects. We’ve also got practical tips on getting better prints out of your inkjet printer. I hope you enjoy it!

Best wishes,

Kelly Turner
Editor
Photoshop Elements Techniques

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This is the fifth email newsletter for 2010; click to view the May, April, March, or January editions. Versions of this email newsletter from 2009 are also available online; click to view the March, April, May, July, September and November editions.