Welcome to our digital photography section.

Image manipulation is the ideal way to give your digital images the perfect makeover.

Most image manipulation software that is available today gives the digital photographer the perfect opportunity to smarten up images and the amateur photographer the opportunity to improve their work immensely. With some simple tips your images can be transformed from ordinary shots to great images.

The following is a short summary of the most important image manipulation tools.

Burning-in and dodging: are terms used to describe the way you can change the density of an image. Burning-in increases the density of an image, where dodging decreases the density. This form of image manipulation is very effective when shadows and highlights are low in contrast, and is capable of bringing out some detail by increasing image contrast.

When applying burning-in and dodging, start off with a low-pressure pen and gradually increase up to the strength required. Use soft-edged feathered brush tools to achieve more realistic tonal results. Burning-in and dodging can be also used to correct exposure but it is always better to get it right the first time round.

When dodging shadows, set the tool to dodge the highlights and this will give better results.

Removing Dust: Dust can easily destroy a great image and will affect a digital image when it gets into the camera’s photo-sensor. It can be easily removed using your photography software, but take care. The clone tool is a great tool to remove dust and scratches for your digital image.

The clone tool works by copying a part of an image over another. For example: you have a speck of dust in the corner of your image - the clone tool can remove this by copying a similar piece of the same image. When using the clone tool set it to the maximum pressure, a low-pressure tool may leave your image with a smudge.

Sharpening: modern digital technology is capable of making soft images sharp. This is achieved by using filters. A sharpen filter works by holding back certain information. The easiest way to sharpen an image is to apply an unsharp mask, but be careful not to make the image too sharp.

Blurring: can be introduced to your image by lowering contrast. It is used in digital photography as a creative tool and is helpful in throwing the background of an image out of focus.

Noise: is a term used to describe pixels that are not related to the adjacent pixels. This may occur when shooting an image with two different light sources. The end result will give your image strong tones. Noise can be reduced from an image by using filters - applying filters will smudge image information and remove most of the noise.

Cropping and Rotation: Did you ever take a seascape image and find that the horizon has a tilt? Thanks to image manipulation tricks this can easily be resolved by rotating the image. Don’t rotate an image too much, it may lead to the image becoming unsharp. The cropping tool is also very useful and is ideal for getting rid of any unwanted parts of your image. Cropping and rotation will reduce your image size.