Greetings!

After learning about the seasons at preschool, my son recently asked me when it was going to start snowing here, and whether he might be able to have a sled. When I broke the news that it doesn’t snow where we live—ever—he was dismayed. “But it’s winter!”

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, it seems we don’t do any of the seasons right. While our summers tend to be chilly and foggy, winter is typically a rainy and lush affair. By February, our brown hills have turned bright green and mushrooms start popping up in the yard. This year has been particularly mild, which means even my plum tree has gotten the notion it’s spring and started blooming.

Personally, I love it. It means I can get out of the house with my camera and the kids, and not worry about frozen toes or lost mittens. There’s no ice to slip on, no snow to shovel. But these practical concerns aren’t much comfort to a three-year-old boy who longs to make a snowman. It must be especially disconcerting when so many of the photos and books he sees at this time of the year show happy families romping around in the snow.

“I think snow must be really fun,” he said to me later that same day. “You can eat it, you know.” Perhaps he was trying to appeal to my culinary side.

The conversation was a good reminder to me that photos are no substitution for the real experience. So, we’ve promised to take him and his sister on a snowy adventure soon. In the meantime, I did make him a large cup of hot chocolate.

I hope your own winter has been a wonderful one—whether it’s white or not.

Best,

Kelly Turner
Editor in chief

February Photo Challenge: Home

It’s easy to take a photo of an exotic location or a big celebration. Our brains are already on the lookout for good shots: a bouquet toss, a first kiss, a stunning sunset. But what about the places we see everyday? Good photos happen everywhere. It’s just that our brains aren’t looking for them because we already think we know what’s there.

For this month’s P.E.T. Photo Challenge, take a second look at the things most familiar to you. Try to see your home as a stranger might, including the textures, colors, and patterns. Rediscover the beauty of everyday objects and cherished possessions. Or see if you can create an image that evokes the feelings of warmth and safety that your home gives you.

Home 3, by Muhd Firdaus (Flickr)

There are many ways to interpret this month’s theme. If you’re not feeling inspired by the inside of your home, try to take an interesting photo of the outside. Or show us a moment in your family’s life. To some, home may actually be at the office or in a loved one’s arms. (You can find a few more suggestions in the blog post announcing the theme.)

As you look for your shot, consider these tips:

• When in doubt, get up close. Then get even closer.
• Clear away the clutter. Before you snap the shutter, look for anything that shouldn’t be there—an empty coffee mug, a cat’s tail, a crumpled newspaper. Make sure we know what it is you want us to see.
• Think about your light. Good light can make even ordinary objects look interesting. And when it comes to good lighting, overhead lights are usually your enemy. Look for diffused natural light (such as a window) or a nearby outlet to plug in a lamp.

Happy hunting!

To participate in the February Photo Challenge, simply upload your image to either the PET Subscriber Gallery or the Elements Village Gallery between February 1st and March 1st. Please be sure to place the phrase “Photo-Challenge” exactly as shown (without the quotes) in the Keywords field, if uploading to the Elements Village Gallery, or in the Caption field, if uploading to the PET Gallery. Remember that photos should be taken within the challenge month.

By the way, we are still looking through all of the submissions for our January Black & White Challenge—there were a lot of you!—and hope to announce our winners in the next week or so.

What’s Happening Online

We’ve posted several great video tutorials in the last few weeks. If you haven’t visited the P.E.T. website lately, here’s a look at what you’ve been missing:

• When you set your camera to a high ISO, you can end up with a lot of image noise—especially in the shadows. But there’s no reason you have to be stuck with it. In this video, Elizabeth shows you how to reduce the appearance of image noise both inside Elements and in Camera Raw. (The video showcases one more reason why you should think about shooting in Raw mode with your camera, if it is an option.)

• We’re big fans of saving time by reusing your work in as many ways as possible. In this video, Dave Cross uses a layer mask (available in Elements 9 and 10) and built-in filters to create a fun photo edge and then quickly apply it to other photos.
• Matt shows a simple technique for fixing a “bad” eye in a portrait by duplicating the other eye, repositioning it with the help of the Difference blend mode, and adding a layer mask.
• A dirty image sensor or lens can leave small specks on all your images. These spots are often fairly simple to remove, but finding them all can be tricky. Matt shows a great little trick for quickly finding and wiping away these annoying spots with the Spot Healing Brush and Elements’ Invert command.
• We recently announced that you could send specific editing questions to our Ask-Liz email address and Elizabeth would try to find the answer. Well, we’re happy to say that many of you have taken us up on that offer. In this first installment of Ask Liz, Elizabeth tracks down tutorials for erasing backscatter in underwater photos, creating a watercolor effect and covering up power lines.

Alien Skin’s Exposure 4

Our friends over at Alien Skin Software just announced the release of Exposure 4, their photographic effects plug-in for Photoshop Elements and Lightroom. The new version has a slew of new effects for reproducing many classic film types and darkroom processes, and it’s wrapped in a much-improved interface that makes it easier to switch back and forth between black-and-white and color effects.

Click the image above to see it full-size; you can also see preview screens for portrait and black-and-white images.

There are a lot of fun and useful tools inside Exposure, ranging from Technicolor film effects to “wet plate” texture overlays, light leaks, and infrared processing.

Exposure 4 works with Elements 9 and above, and Lightroom 2 and up; it’s priced at $249, with upgrades from any earlier version for $99. You can find out more--and download a free trial version--from the Alien Skin website

If you’re new to the idea of plug-ins, check out our article, “Boost Your Elements Experience with Plug-Ins,” from the March/April 2010 issue of Photoshop Elements Techniques, and its online companion, Plug-In Vendor Resources. Most of the plug-ins in the article have been updated, but it’s still a great primer on what plug-ins can do for you.

Follow us online

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This is the second email newsletter for 2012; you can find all previous editions on the “From the Editor” home page, which can be found under the Magazine link in the PET website header.