This image was taken by me using my phone. The object (jeep) in the middle of this picture was or sale by my friend who deals in scrap business and wanted to sell one of his jeep. He is a fan of jeeps and due to the nature of his business he often spots some restorable jeeps in scrap yard which he restores and sells it. Anyway that’s another story, here what he wanted from me to take a good picture of the jeep for posting on online classifieds. Since the jeep was standing in a not so good looking background and being in a hurry I did not wanted to drive this jeep to a good location. I took the picture and told him that I’ll email him after editing it. Apart from usual brightness and contrast correction that most of us do, you can do something more if you want to highlight any object in picture. Here the main object to be highlighted was the jeep and rest of the not so good looking was not at all important. Here’s what we need to do.

1. Open the image to edit in Adobe Photoshop and view the image in 100% zoom level which means viewing it in its original size. Always take the higher resolution picture, almost double the size of picture actually needed. For example for online catalogue, 640×480 pixels is good size so for editing use at least 1280×960 pixels image. We need to work on large size image so that for final use we can resize the image to required size and thus hide minor flaws in editing.

2. Now from tool box select the Lasso Tool. I used Polygonal Lasso Tool; you may use other 2 lasso tools if your image allows them. Basically the simple Lasso Tool is for very fine image with lots of irregular edges and it’s hard to use. The Polygonal Lasso tool is for those images which have lots of straight line edges like the image I am working on is a Jeep with lots of straight edges. The last one is Magnetic Lasso Tool which requires least effort but works only on simpler images with not much irregular edges and cleaner background.

3. Using your Lasso Tool, select the object to be highlighted. No need to select with too much precision but, still don’t do a lousy work here in selecting either!
4. Now click Select and then click on Inverse. This will select the outer region which we actually need to work on.

5. Now click on Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Slide the radius until the background turns blur to desired value. The background should be blurred to that extent that it should still give the hint about the background but not completely.

6. All Done! Resize the image to smaller size to hide flaws if occurred during selecting. If you selected very precisely then you might not need any resizing at all. Save the finished image. Isn’t it looking cool now?

Going out for an adventurous holiday but afraid to take your expensive digital still camera with you as it may get spoiled? Water, dust and mechanical shock are few things that your camera may be subjected to in journey and these things will definitely harm any digital camera. Why refrain yourself from shooting nice pictures when you have the new Casio Exilim EX-G1 digital camera which is shock-resistant, waterproof, dustproof.

The EX-G1 is designed with shock-resistant elements throughout the camera, both inside and out, creating a smart look in a slim-line camera with functional beauty. In addition to capturing high-resolution 12.1 effective megapixel images, the EX-G1 also features modes such as interval shooting and multi-image capture which utilize the camera’s endurance qualities. The interval shooting function can automatically take still photos or movies at fixed intervals, enabling users to capture great shots while engaged in active sports such as snowboarding or cycling.

Through rigorous testing, the EX-G1 has been designed and created with a shock-resistant shell which passes drop tests including multiple falls from seven feet. Featuring a two-layer construction with a stainless steel outer-casing, the EX-G1 inner body withstands shock and water damage. The camera’s intelligent design is constructed with a resin cover to protect the body side near the shutter and a resin lens ring to protect the lens.

The technologically-advanced design features waterproof performance and corresponds to IEC/JIS Protection Class 8 (IPX8) waterproofing. The EX-G1 can be used at depths at 10 feet for 60 continuous minutes. Water will not penetrate the camera even when directly sprayed with jets of water from every direction corresponding to Protection Class 6 (IPX6). Capable of withstanding temperatures as low as 14°F, Casio’s EX-G1 boldly captures images where any adventurer goes.

PENTAX has announced its 10.1M compact digital camera ‘Optio E60′ which will be available in October in North America for under $140.

Newly equipped with an optical 3X zoom lens featuring a wide angle of view (equivalent to 32mm to 96mm in 35mm format), the Optio E60 features a variety of modes including auto picture, face recognition, high-sensitivity digital shake reduction, and a popular green mode that sets exposure, sensitivity and other parameters with just a touch of a button for the newest of digital users.

Fujifilm Korea announced the launch of its 11M high-end digital camera ‘FinePix S100FS’ featuring Film Simulation (FS) modes that allows photographers to select the ideal film mode with a choice of four modes that optimized for portraiture, low-contrast, vibrant colors, or general use.

The FinePix S100FS is equipped with a 28mm~400mm F2.8-F5.3 14.3X optical zoom lens, Fujifilm’s 8th generation 2/3-inch Super CCD sensor with 11-megapixel, third generation RP III processor, a 2.5-inch tilt LCD and ISO capabilities of up to ISO 6400.

Scheduled to be released on 14th March, it is expected to be available for below 900,000 KRW.

PENTAX plans to roll out its 14.6M high-end DSLR ‘K20D’ in Japan market, which is expected to be available on March 7th.

Equipped with a high-performance 23.4mm x 15.6mm CMOS image sensor and a 2.7-inch 230,000 pixel LCD, the K20D features Live view function and image stabilization technology ‘Shake Reduction’. Supporting up to ISO 6400, it can shoot continuously up to 38 photos.

No words on pricing yet.

(Picture: EF200mm f/2L IS USM lens)

The EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM and the EF200mm f/2L IS USM are professional L-Series lenses that incorporate the latest generation of Canon’s high-performance Optical Image Stabilizer system, giving them a stabilization effect equivalent to a shutter speed four settings faster. In addition, they feature optical systems utilizing fluorite and UD lens elements to provide excellent chromatic aberration correction for high-resolution, high-contrast shooting performance.

(Picture: the EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM lens)

The new Canon EF200mm f/2L IS USM is scheduled to be available in April at an estimated retail price of 5,999(USD) and the new Canon EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM is scheduled to be available in May for an estimated retail price of 11,999 USD. Both lenses use only lead-free glass, and also incorporate lightweight yet durable magnesium alloy lens barrels with enhanced resistance to moisture and dust.

If you are planning to buy a digital camera then this is the right time as this is the festival season and you can get some good offers. Ok that was money wise, on the technical part what you should look in a camera are as follows:

Brand and color reproduction: I have seen that every brand of camera has its own characteristic color reproduction. Nikon and Sony has a good natural color reproduction while that of fujitsu is faded type and not at all lively. In Kodak colors are not natural looking and image have color noise. Pentax produces good image tones. Canon produces vibrant colors and lively but not so natural looking. Casio quality is somewhat like that of fujitsu but much better. What you should do that before selecting the brand; you should look at sample photographs and decide which camera is for you.

Zoom: Never ever go for a camera that shows huge digital zoom capability. It’s almost useless. What’s important is Optical zoom. Higher the optical zoom, better is the camera.

MegaPixel: Anything above 3.2MP CCD (cmos/vga is not good) is good for home use if the camera has a good optical zoom capability and uses good quality lens.

Battery: This is very important. Always buy a digital camera which runs on two AAA size pencil battery and can also run on CRV3. Why? A CRV3 battery is a lithium ion battery which is available at quite low cost and offer excellent backup compared to Ni-MH batteries. But as you all know, rechargeable batteries can go down anytime (especially in winter) and if you are outside and cannot recharge the battery then you can just go to any shop and buy two alkaline batteries and continue with your photography work. At least you don’t get struck. In those cameras which have mobile phone type rechargeable batteries, users are left with no option to go home and wait for hours till the battery get charged.

Olympus Korea announced the launch of its top level DSLR camera ‘E-3’ and its new DSLR lenses in Korea market.

The E-3 has a 10.1M Live MOS sensor along with Olympus’ TruePic III digital processing engine. Fitted with 11 AF Full Twin Cross Sensor, the E-3 Digital SLR delivers the best AF speed in the world with the new Zuiko Digital Specific SWD 12-60mm lens. Supporting 5 frames-per-second nonstop shooting and 1/8000 second top shutter speed, it features a dual-axis swivel 2.5-inch Live View LCD covering all the viewing angles from low to high and side to side.

Fujifilm launched Finepix S8000fd which is a 8MP digital camera with an 18x optical zoom lens and a 3x digital zomm. This super zoom camera offers an equivalent focal range of 27 to 486mm stabilization, and featues face detection tehnology. The S8000fd has a 2.5 inch LCD screen and is powered by four AA Batteries.