Watch the video:

From Adobe’s press release:

First Major Release since April 2010 Packed with New Features and Huge Performance Enhancements

SAN JOSE, Calif. — March 22, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 beta, a preview of what’s to come in the next release of the industry standard in digital imaging, is available as a free download from Adobe Labs. Customers can download the beta, try out the experience and provide feedback to the product team. Packed with groundbreaking new innovations, features and incredible performance enhancements, Photoshop CS6 beta is available for the Mac OS and Microsoft® Windows® platforms. The final release is expected in the first half of 2012.

“Photoshop CS6 will be a milestone release that pushes the boundaries of imaging innovation with incredible speed and performance,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “We couldn’t wait to share this beta of Photoshop CS6 with our customers and are looking forward to hearing from them and seeing the ways they are incorporating the beta into their daily creative workflows.”

New Features in Photoshop CS6 Beta

Photoshop CS6 beta demonstrates Adobe’s focus on huge performance enhancements, imaging magic and creativity tools that offer customers a new experience in digital imaging. Key features include new additions to the Content-Aware tools: Content- Aware Patch allows greater control by letting users select and duplicate an area of an image to fill in or “patch” another, and Content-Aware Move lets users select and magically move an object to a new place in the image.

Customers will experience incredible performance, powered by the new Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine*, enabling near-instant results from popular editing tools including Liquify, Puppet Warp, Transform and Lighting Effects; and a refined, modern interface featuring dark UI options to make images pop. New and re-engineered design tools make creating designs faster and more efficient. Vector layers allow users to apply dashed lines and gradient strokes, searchable layers quickly zero in on any layer, and new type styles let designers swiftly apply type treatments to their designs.

In addition, the Photoshop CS6 beta offers all the features of Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, such as new 3D editing features and quantitative imaging analysis capabilities. These features will be included in the shipping version of Photoshop CS6 Extended when it becomes available.

Pricing and Availability

The Photoshop CS6 beta is available immediately as a free download in English and Japanese. At installation, users will be required to provide an Adobe ID to complete a one-time login and online product activation. For information on how to install Photoshop CS6 beta, visit www.adobe.com/go/photoshopcs6. Customers can submit feedback via the Photoshop CS6 beta forum.

Users can also connect with the Photoshop team via the community-powered site; on Facebook; YouTube; Photoshop.com blog; or via Twitter.

Press Release

Boinx Software, a multi-award winning developer of cool software for the Mac and iOS devices including the iPhone, iPad and iPod, is pleased to introduce its latest creation for digital photographers and photo enthusiasts – the PhotoBox iPad Application. Designed as a tool for photographers on the go, PhotoBox analyzes the technical quality of photos imported from camera to iPad via the iPad Camera Connection Kit. The first of its kind, this breakthrough app provides photographers with an on the spot analysis of images in terms of exposure, focus, color, and overall look and composition. Post-shoot, photographers can connect their iPad’s to a VGA projector to show their photos on the big screen for a deeper analysis and critique. With a long history of developing image applications the Boinx team is taking a different path by offering its users the first version FREE. Working closely with early adopters on evolving its functionality, Boinx is developing PhotoBox into a photo app unlike any other.

“It is our goal that Boinx users will come to think of PhotoBox as their own personal photography assistant,“ comments Oliver Breidenbach, CEO, Boinx Software. “We have an exciting vision for PhotoBox and view the initial release as a springboard for early adopters to help define the tool. The feedback we can receive from professional photographers in the field will be invaluable – helping not only our team produce a higher-quality product, but also in the end helping photographers produce that perfect image. Our team is equipped with extensive experience in producing fantastic image applications, thus we have an arsenal of ideas up our sleeves to make PhotoBox truly shine. We look forward to working with our customers to turn PhotoBox into the ultimate photographer’s assistant.”

Early Adopters: Help Mold PhotoBox Into a Picture-Perfect App
The initial, free download provides photographers with an in-depth and invaluable on-the-spot analysis of each captured photograph, ensuring they leave their assignments or shoots satisfied with their images. PhotoBox serves as a guide to help adjust photographic elements on location, such as lighting, exposure and focus, while histograms show the tonal distribution across your image. The app will not only save photographers hours of precious time sifting through images in the studio post-shoot, but also the cost of repeated setup and travel to attain usable images. Breidenbach further comments, “Professional photographers, to photo enthusiasts, and everyone in between, will benefit from PhotoBox’s extraordinary ability to produce an on-the-spot analysis of each and every captured photograph, ensuring they have captured the perfect shot.”

Analyze Your Shots on the Big Screen
PhotoBox comes complete with the capability to connect a VGA projector to your iPad for deeper analysis of image quality on the big screen. Different from a slideshow presentation of your images, where you have to wait for the image to appear and are only granted sequential access, PhotoBox allows you to simply tap on the image you’d like to view and it will appear instantly on the screen. The pan and zoom feature also translates to the big screen, in order for photographers to focus in on and dissect very specific image details. With PhotoBox and a VGA projector, your photos can truly be “larger than life.”

PhotoBox Tips and Tricks:
- Enable masks for an in-depth view of dark and light areas.

- Tap to select an image and get the color and luminance histogram.
- Double tap to zoom in on an image.
- Use the buttons in the button bar to turn on the over and under exposure detection tool.
- PhotoBox allows users to view images in any orientation; in landscape mode, the RGB channel histograms can be combined and expanded into one with a simple two-finger pinch/zoom.
- While in View mode, a double finger tap and hold will zoom to 100%, giving users the ability to glance around the photo and immediately zoom out again after releasing both fingers.
- Attach a VGA projector using the VGA out cable to show your photos on the big screen. Pan and zoom while connected to the projector for an “in your face” view of image details.

To learn more about PhotoBox please visit www.boinx.com/photobox/ www.boinx.com/photobox.

Availability and Pricing
PhotoBox is available today as a FREE download at http://itunes.com/apps/photobox.

With the advent of affordable digital cameras and photo-editing software such as Photoshop, what used to be an expensive profession is more and more accessible to casual individuals.

There are many tutorials and guides on the web to help you become a photography master. This is a collection of 50 of the best tutorials and guides we could find for helping you capture better digital photos.

1. How to Capture Stunning Fine Art Landscape Photographs

Learn how to compose beautiful monochromatic landscape photos through this easy-to-follow guide.

2. Photoshop Quick Tips: Light Leaks in Photography (Video)

Process your photos to have a vintage-style appearance with the aid of this Photoshop tutorial video found on Abduzeedo.

3. HDR Explained

HDR is a popular photo technique. If you’re interested in this genre, take a look at this quick start informational tutorial on HDR.

4. Overprocessing in Photography

This tutorial aims to teach readers how to mimic photo-processing techniques inspired by popular photographer, Dave Hill.

5. Street Photography Explained

Nothing comes close to the unpredictability of taking photos in urban landscapes. This guide shares tips and basics for great street photography.

6. Hand Colouring a Black and White Photo in Photoshop

It’s quite simple to convert full-color photos to black and white, but how do you go in the other direction? Check out this Photoshop tutorial to find out.

7. Self Portrait Photography Guide

Photographers often spend their time at the opposite side of the lens. If you want to make yourself your subject, this guide shares some useful tips for snapping self-photos.

8. Action Photography – The Tips You Should Use

This photography guide goes over tips, techniques and tricks for capturing dynamic subjects with your camera.

9. Water Photography the Easy Way

How do you capture water beautifully? This guide offers suggestions and techniques for taking photos of water.

10. Create a Colorful Portrait with Easy Lighting Effects

Spice up your ordinary photos by infusing interesting light effects into them. Learn how to do this through this easy-to-follow Photoshop tutorial.

11. Capturing The Smoke – Amazing Smoke Photography Tutorial

Ever wondered how you could effectively take pictures of smoke? Learn how to set up a stage that will allow you to take beautiful photographs of smoke.

12. Desaturated Film Style Photos

In this Photoshop tutorial, you will discover a method for processing your images to give them a desaturated and trendy appearance.

13. How to Create HDR Photos

This is a tutorial on how to make high dynamic range (HDR)-style images using Photomatix, a popular HDR software.

14. Retouching a Studio Portrait

Often, we need to retouch photos even if they are taken in professional studio settings. Learn basic techniques for correcting photos through this Photoshop tutorial.

15. A Guide to Nightclub Photography

In event photography, nothing is as tricky to cover as nightclubs. Here are a few tips to help you take great photographs in bars and nightclub scenes.

16. How to Make Your Twins

Have fun with photographs by learning how to compose photos that make it look like you have a twin sibling.

17. Edgy Style Photo Treatment

In this quick and easy Photoshop tutorial, you’ll learn how to give your photos a dark and mysterious appearance.

18. How to Create an Atmospheric Car Portrait

Learn how to take stunning photos of cars in this excellent tutorial that goes over the preparation, suggested equipment, and more.

19. How to Photograph Comets

Comets are rare and wonderful things. Make sure you don’t fudge up that sometimes once-in-a-lifetime event by learning the basics of photographing comets.

20. How To Photograph Wakeboarders & Waterskiing

Water, rapid movement, loud noises: taking photos of water sports is a tough gig. This basic guide shares tips for effective photography of water sports.

21. 5 Second Eye Enhancement

Learn to retouch the eyes of your photo’s subject quickly and effortlessly by reading through this awesome Photoshop tutorial.

22. Photographing Buildings – A Guide

There’s an art and science to capturing buildings in photos. For inspiration, check out this guide.

23. Dual View Photo Editing in Photoshop

This tutorial promotes the use of a dual-view workspace set up for efficient editing of images inside of Photoshop.

24. Color Blending Collection I

This is a particular post-processing technique for blending colors into photos to make them look more interesting.

25. Infrared Photography Technique

Infrared photography is a post-processing technique for giving images interesting — and often unpredictable — effects. Learn all about it through this guide.

26. Changing Hair Color

Photoshop’s Brush Tool and the Soft Light blend mode are utilized in this technique to change a person’s hair color.

27. Local Contrast

This tutorial shares a method for utilizing Photoshop’s Unsharp Mask filter to enhance the contrast of certain parts of a photo.

28. Retouch a Girl with Lighting Focus

This tutorial goes over retouching techniques, paying attention to accurate lighting considerations when photo-manipulating images.

29. Selecting & Extracting Hair

The most difficult part of selecting subjects in Photoshop — to isolate and superimpose them into another photo, for example — is the hair. This is a technique to help you better select hair.

30. How to Fake Reflections in Photoshop

Want to add a digitally-placed reflection in a photo? This Photoshop tutorial uses layer duplication, quick masking and the Gradient tool to get the job done.

31. Make Up a Girl

Give a subject’s face an appearance of having make-up in this Photoshop tutorial that involves Curves adjustment and the Gaussian Blur filter.

32. Basic Exposure Blending in Photoshop

Using layer blending and tweaking exposure can result in better images. This Photoshop tutorial walks you through a cool process of photo blending.

33. How to Create a Serene Panorama from Multiple Photographs

Learn how to piece together a beautiful panorama using multiple photographs in this tutorial on Psdtuts+.

34. Use Photoshop to Turn Day into Dusk

Realistically fake evening shots by following along this excellent Photoshop tutorial on how to convert day photos to look as if you took them just before nighttime.

35. Wedding Photography Explained

This wonderful guide goes over tips and techniques for taking professional-level photos at weddings.

36. Add a Realistic Rainbow to a Photo in Photoshop

This Photoshop tutorial will instruct you on how to add a rainbow into a photo with the use of the Gradient tool and the Screen blending mode.

37. Devil’s Eye

Learn how to process eyes to look dark and eerie with the help of the Burn tool, the Brush tool, and blending modes in Photoshop via this tutorial.

38. Add Dynamic Lighting to a Flat Photograph

Learn how to create a surreal scene that incorporates dynamic lighting by studying this Photoshop tutorial.

39. How to Smooth Skin without Losing Texture in Photoshop

Learn how to realistically smoothen the skin of your subject with the help of blending modes, image adjustments, and more by reading this Photoshop tutorial.

40. Remove a Person from a Photo with Photoshop CS5

Photoshop’s Content Aware feature is full of awesomeness. One way to use it is to remove a person from an image; this tutorial will walk you through the process.

41. Glisten in the Sunshine

This Photoshop tutorial will cover how to give your photographs that popular “Bokeh” photography effect, among other techniques.

42. How to Use Lines in Photography Compositions

Effective knowledge of photocompositions involves the use of lines in the scene in question. This guide will discuss the usefulness of lines for better shots.

43. How to Capture Really Sharp Photos

If you’re having a hard time taking photos that aren’t blurry, it might be best to read this guide on how to take crisp photos.

44. Look More Muscular

You can beef up your photo subjects with the Liquify filter in Photoshop; discover how in this step-by-step tutorial.

45. Tilt Shifting Miniature Photography with Photoshop

Tilt-shift photography is a popular style of photography that simulates miniature scenes. This tutorial utilizes Photoshop to mimic the effect produced by tilt-shift lenses.

46. Color Correction Basics in Photoshop

An important part of photo-processing is the ability to enhance and correct the colors of a digital image. This guide will go over the basic tools on color correction in Photoshop.

47. Infrared Photography: Tips on How to Get Started

This multi-part guide discusses the hardware, techniques and tricks for capturing beautiful infrared photos.

48. 13 Steps for Shooting the Perfect Water Droplet

This tutorial on Phototuts+ shares tips, tricks and techniques for capturing water droplets with your camera.

49. How to Create a Radical Photo Sequence

Learn how to take those stylish and dynamic photo sequence shots with the use of “Burst Mode” capabilities found in many digital cameras, and Photoshop to compose the image.

50. How to Shoot a Sequence Photo

This 3-minute video tutorial goes over tips and techniques for capturing professional-level sequence photos.

Sometimes when you take a photo the result isn’t quite what you expected, it could be overexposed (too much light), underexposed (too dark), or simply is out of focus. The principal settings you have to adjust when taking a picture are the film speed, shutter speed and aperture of the camera.

If you read the paragraph above and couldn’t understand what I was talking about, well don’t worry, this article intends to guide amateur and beginners in the world of photography.

Please note: in the paragraphs to come there will be values for different camera settings. These values are not standard in all cameras but they are the most common ones and will serve as reference.

Film Speed and Light Sensitivity

First, a little bit of history. Back when cameras needed to use photographic films, they came with different ASA (American Standards Association), DIN (German Institute for Standardization) or GOST (state standard, from Russia) values according to the film sensitivity to light, where lower numbers are less sensitive and higher numbers more sensitive. This means that lower values were used in situations with a lot of light and higher values in darker environments.

For example, to take a picture on a sunny day it would be recommended to use an ASA 100, if you had to take a picture in a not so bright environment, such as a room with mild light incoming from a window, you could use an ASA 400 (and for night shoots you could use films with higher ASA value).

Now imagine this; the film is composed of grains, each of them store a part of the picture you took. The lower the ASA value, the smaller the grain diameter, so an ASA 100 film will have finer detail compared to an ASA 400 and thus, the quality would be better. But, as the 100 has more grains, it needs more time of exposure to store the same information as it would take in a 400, so the first film is considered slower than the second.

Film grain comparison could be illustrated like this:

Nowadays digital cameras use a plaque instead of an organic film, it could be a CCD sensor or a CMOS sensor. The sensor captures the image, registering the quantity of light, then the camera stores it in memory. The international standard for film speed in digital photography is called ISO which can be selected even in some cell phones.

Screenshot from the Camera settings of a Samsung Omnia SCH – i910:

Which ISO Fits Your Needs?

Low sensitivity, ISO 25 – ISO 50

Pros: Excellent definition and great contrast, the best range to use when you need to amplify an image.

Cons: Used in places with good illumination only, use of tripod is recommended.

Recommended seasons: Summer and Spring.

Medium sensitivity, ISO 100 – ISO 200

The most popular range for beginners and professionals, maintains a good proportion of definition and contrast and can handle decent amplifications.

Used in places with normal illumination.

Recommended all year around.

High sensitivity, ISO 400 – ISO 3200

Pros: Ideal for indoor photography, night shots, concerts. When using with flash you can achieve greater depth.

Cons: Contrast and definition can be a little poor, and the big grains associated with high speeds are notable (meaning your photos can appear pixelated).

Recommended seasons: Autumn and Winter.

Now let’s see some examples. The following photos were taken at night without flash, just a common light bulb on the wall.

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 400

As we expected, there are notable differences between all three. In the first one it’s too dark to appreciate anything. The second one has a better light distribution and you can see the environment. The third one shows you more of what’s surrounding the tree and even caught the TV light from the room at the back.

Shutter Speed (V)

The shutter speed is the length of time we let light pass through the camera, or the time we expose the image to the sensor. This time directly affects the illumination degree in our photo. That’s the reason we use the term underexposed when a picture is too dark and overexposed when it is too bright. In both cases the problem was incorrect exposure time.

Example of Overexposure

Example of Underexposure

To avoid these problems, it’s common to use slow speeds in places with poor light because these situations require a longer exposure time to achieve a good result. On the other hand, if our location is well illuminated we should use a fast shutter speed, or short exposure, so the camera can capture the correct colors without the interference of light.

These speeds are measured in fractions of a second, like 1 / x where x is the number you can select. For example if you see a 500 speed available, the time the shutter remains open is 1 / 500 or 0.002 seconds. Other example, a value of 2 means the shutter remain open for half a second as 1 / 2 equals 0.5.

If you see quotation marks on the right side of a number (like 1″) it means the shutter will remain open for a full second, so please take a good look when selecting the speed since 2″ is very different from a single 2. The former means the shutter will remain open for two full seconds and the latter, as we said before, will remain open for just half a second.

In some cameras you can also find a “B” or “T” speed available, these letters stand for:

B (Bulb): Keeps the shutter open until you release the button.

T (Time): Keeps the shutter open until you press the button again.

Commonly, the shutter speeds are divided in two ranges: slow and fast. The first one is for speeds from “B” or “T” up to 30, and the second is for speeds from 60 and above. When shooting with slow speeds it is highly recommended to use a tripod to avoid involuntary movement of the camera, one of the main causes of blurry pictures!

As a summary we can say:

Aperture (F)

Your camera has a diaphragm, the function of which is to control the amount of light that passes though its aperture. It is located in the lens or objective. Most cameras have an adjustable diaphragm with a mechanism of blades that can open or close according our needs.

The aperture is responsible for the Depth of Field (DOF). This is how sharp the focal point in the picture will appear, and the amount of blur that other areas will take on. Aperture is measured in what is called an f-number. The relation between the diaphragm, depth of field and f-number is the following:

So, with f1.4 selected, the blades of the diaphragm are wide open letting more light pass through and we get a poor/shallow depth of field. As the f-number increases, the diaphragm blades reduce the aperture letting less light pass and resulting in a greater depth of field. A common mistake is to assume a high f-number means a bigger aperture when reality is the complete opposite.

Example of open diaphragm:

Example of closed diaphragm:

Notice in the first picture how only the bricks in the front are well focused and as the image goes back the objects start to get blurry. In the second picture you can see how all the objects well defined; this was achieved by using a smaller aperture.

Photometer

Illumination is the key factor in photography; according to it we select the ISO, define the shutter speed and regulate the diaphragm to let an adequate quantity of light reach the sensor.

Fortunately there is a device that measures the amount of light in the environment. It’s called a photo meter, or light meter. It meters the light that passes through the lens and lets us know if it is adequate or whether we need to make some adjustments. If your camera displays a photo meter you should be able to see a little indicator like the following:

- 2 . 1 . 0 . 1 . 2 +

An indicator will let you know you if your current settings are right, normally if it’s around “0″, you are ready to shoot. If the indicator is at the right, the positive side, it means there is too much light. If it is on the left side, the negative, it means you need to let more light pass though. In both cases you can change the current ISO, shutter speed or aperture until the indicator is around the 0 – it really is up to you which one to move.

In cameras, this metering is called TTL (Through The Lens), calculating the light reflected from the object. The most common modes are matrix and spot. The first one calculates the average light in the entire scene, like pieces in a puzzle, and each one has its own value. The second one just meters the spot you are pointing at and excludes all of its surroundings.

Exposure Value (EV)

Almost every camera comes with this tool; it’s the combination of the shutter speed and aperture that let us adjust the exposure by adding or subtracting light gradually without changing any other setting previously made. This tool is mostly used for quick fixes, but if you can’t achieve the desired amount of light, you need to adjust the traditional way.

Take a look at this photo, the flower in the meddle is the “original” picture taken with 0 EV, the one on the left was took with +1.0 EV and the right one with –1.0 EV.

Theoric Examples: Apply What You’ve Just Learned

These specific figures may not be accurate for your camera – the values and situations are for practice purposes only.

Situation 1: Imagine you are visiting a new town and you just saw a building you want to photograph. Your current settings are: f 4.0 v 250 ISO 200, your photo meter is slightly toward the right side and you don’t want to lose quality.

Solution: When the photometer is at the right side it means you have excess light, so you can select a faster speed (lets say v 500), or you can simply close the aperture a bit taking it to f5.6. As you don’t want to lose quality you don’t change the current ISO.

Situation 2: You are a motor sports fan and want to take pictures in a race. The current settings are: f8.0 v 100 ISO 400 and your photo meter is again heading to the right side.

Solution: You know cars will pass fast, so you need a faster speed like v 1000. That will make the photometer come down a little bit, but it still is on the right side and you notice your ISO is too high for the occasion so take it down (let’s say to ISO 200). Finally the photometer is at the middle, and you can sit down and wait for the cars to pass by!

Situation 3: Your friend is playing with his band in a pub and the only illumination is candlelight in the tables and some low light in the venue. Your settings are: f11.0 v100 ISO 200. The photo meter is heading to the left side, and flash is not allowed.

Solution: It is really dark so you may need to adjust everything. Choose a lower speed like v30, and increase your ISO to around 500. Still at the left? Finally, open the aperture. Take it to f2.0, and now you are ready to shoot (but remember you have low speed settings so you may want to use a tripod or something to lean on!)

Other Advice

People learn in different ways. Some find easier to understand their camera by learning to change one setting at a time, while others like to experiment with all the things they can. Do what makes you feel more comfortable!

If you can, write down the settings each time you take a picture. It’s the best way to know your camera and will let you analyze the results later. If it went right, you may want to use those settings in the future, if it wasn’t quite what you expected you can analyze and try to figure out what went wrong.

The photo meter is there to help and should not be taken as the final word. If you are just beginning, it’s better to take multiple pictures of the same situation and see which one ended well.

Take some extra memory cards, as there’s nothing worse than going to take a picture and realising that you have no space. Well, actually there is something worse… a camera without battery! But you already know what to do to prevent that.

Conclusion

Sometimes you’ll find something you want to highlight but the object itself could be a little problematic due the quantity of colors and light involved; thankfully you can configure your camera according to your needs.

I hope this tutorial has helped introduce you to a few new concepts in an easy way – feel free to ask any questions in the comments, and we’ll do our best to answer!