Photo Software for Your Digital ImagesWritten by Gary Hendricks
If you’re just starting out in digital photography, you may be worrying a lot about which digital camera to get. While that is important, do remember that there is another element – image editing. After digital photos are taken, they can (and should) be cleaned up using an image editing program. In this article, we’ll take a look at various types of photo software available in market. Beginner Photo Editing Software If you’re new to editing digital photos and images, a basic photo editing software is what you need. These programs tend to have standard image editing features and allow you to perform basic image editing tasks like rotation, sharpening, cropping and like. You can refer to my list of top 5 beginner photo editors for more information.Personally, I rely on a great tool called Ulead PhotoImpact 10. This program allows you to all sorts of image effects to your photos using clean, simple-to-use wizards and menus. What’s more, it’s one of cheapest commercial grade photo editing packages I know of. Advanced Photo Editing Software If you need more power in your photo editor, you need to turn to advanced photo editing software. Examples include Adobe Photoshop CS and Corel Painter. These programs have high-end features not found in typical lower-end packages and are used by professional photographers. Their prices are also much higher – so do your research first if you’re thinking of buying one. Free Photo Editing Software There are, in fact, many photo editors available for free download on Internet. These programs offer basic image editing features and are usually written by individuals. If you want to have a feel of how to edit your photos, try one of these programs out. You can refer to my list of free photo editors for more information.
| | Kodak Easyshare CX7430 Digital Camera ReviewWritten by Gary Hendricks
The Kodak EasyShare CX7430 is an excellent point-and-shoot digital camera that is currently selling very well. Just consider its features: 4 megapixel resolution, 3x optical zoom, 16MB of memory, as well as a movie mode. Given it’s low price (around $190), it’s an amazing deal. This camera is most suitable for beginners – it has all of basic functions you need in a simple digital camera. Let’s have a look at its various features:Design and Construction Like all point-and-shoot digital cameras, Kodak EasyShare CX7430 is designed to be compact enough to fit in your pocket. It’s silvery finish will certainly attract lots of attention too. Its dimensions are 4.0 inches by 2.6 inches by 1.25 inches (weight-height-depth), and it weighs only 6.3 ounces. There is a little 1.6 inch LCD screen behind camera for viewing images. Initially, I found LCD screen a tad on small side, but I got used to it after snapping a couple of photos. Optics and Resolution The Kodak EasyShare CX7430 is equipped with a Kodak Retinar lens and offers with a 4 megapixel resolution. There’s also a 3x optical zoom for taking subjects faraway. What is interesting about this camera is its wide range of scene modes. Most point-and-shoot cameras have a handful (maybe 5) scene modes for photography under different conditions: macro, landscape, night photography, etc. The Kodak EasyShare CX7430 has 9 scene modes to choose from, which is much more than competition. I didn’t expect much in terms of manual control in camera’s optics. If you’re looking to play around with shutter speed, aperture, white balance and other photography options, then this camera is not for you. Sure, there are some basic exposure controls but they are nowhere near fine settings allowed in advanced digital SLR cameras. That being said, quality of photos taken by Kodak EasyShare CX7430 were nothing short of outstanding. The photos, when printed out, were of extremely high quality. So if you’re type you just whips out a camera and takes quick shots, with a minimum of fuss, then this camera will be great for you. User Controls The user controls in Kodak CX7430 are located on both sides of LCD and also on mode dial at top surface of camera. Those more accustomed to Canon or Sony models will find that controls take a little getting used to. However, I did not have any problems reaching commonly used functions like flash control or image viewing. Movie Mode If you like to shoot some spontaneous movies with your digital camera, then you’ll be glad to know that CX7430 comes with a movie mode. You can capture video at 13 frames per second (fps) at VGA size 640 x 480. The movie mode is continuous, meaning that camera allows you to record movies up to memory limit of your memory card.
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