Digital Imaging Software

As an absolute novice using PhotoShop Elements, I am really amazed at what it can do. I watched several tutorials in order to get started because there are a number of intimidating tool palettes. One tutorial by Corey Barker called Photo Fun was amazing. http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/
Corey was able to take an ordinary photograph of a car and turn it into a cool poster quality image.

There is power in this program. We can make our own posters from pictures that are meaningful to us, take care of old photographs with the spot healer, and eliminate any distractions that may have been captured in a photo. I think I could get addicted to scanning in old photographs and creating digital scrapbooks using PhotoShop Elements. I look forward to the day when I have the time to do that. I have always enjoyed taking pictures and now I can see how to take that hobby to the next level and really do something meaningful with the images. There are endless possibilities.

I will now be forever skeptical of any images that I see. I'll wonder if the image is actual or has been altered. There was a magazine that moved a pyramid in a picture in order for it to appear in cover photo with other pyramids. We know that images of models have been "doctored" for years. I now see that it's really easy to modify anything in a picture. I wonder how wise it is to put images on the web that others can manipulate. You could see your face in a compromising position through digital enhancements...

Photography's Pandora's Box has been opened...

PhotoShop Elements

Hello Cohort

I am really excited about the opportunity to play with PhotoShop Elements. I have been doing some research on it and this is what I have learned. If you order PhotoShop Elements for your school computer from the Howard County purchasing site, it's $26.75.

http://www.howard.k12.md.us/purchasing/contracts/Software/Adobe/AdobeLicense.html

If you want a copy of the loading CD it costs extra > click in the upper right where it says Adobe Media for more info.

One of the Tech Resource teachers said if you purchase a copy for your school computer, you have the rights to put it on one computer at home for that price. (I believe you would need access to a loading CD.)

I know a teacher now who is really in to digital scrapbooking. She uses the full blown version of PhotoShop but says that PhotoShop Elements is amazing, and, perfectly adequate for the needs of most people. If you are interested in pursuing digital scrapbooking, she recommends a book called Digital Scrapbooking by Kerry Arquette to get you started.

I came across a site this week that says that Mark Twain was a scrapbooker:
http://www.pbs.org/marktwain/scrapbook/index.html

Here is an example of a school objective for scrapbooking:
http://www.pbs.org/marktwain/learnmore/activites_scrapbook.html

I really wish we had the the money to buy PhotoShop Elements for our labs, and to have time to use it. I believe that it would be a terrific way for a number of students to shine with creativity.

I'd love to hear your ideas for using PhotoShop at school.