May 2008 Archives

Ken writes,

"What program or programs are recommended for captioning digital photos? I want to be able to choose the location of the caption, the font, and the colour of the text."

Most photo editing packages allow you to add text to your images. I seldom add captions to photos (and SmugMug automatically watermarks my uploaded images for me there), but when I do I usually just add a text layer in Adobe Photoshop. I just checked Photoshop Elements 6, and it supports text layers as well. Just click on the "T" in the toolbar, click on the image,and it will create the layer for you.

Many companies have downloadable trial versions online. For example, you can download Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 here and see if it meets your needs.

For a good depth of field example, check out this image on Dooce's blog.  Note that the battery on top of the nose is in sharp focus, the one at the back of the head isn't, and the wall is pleasantly blurred.

In photography, depth of field (DOF) refers to the range of distances from the camera that appear to be in focus. A lens can only focus at one distance. However, the sharpness as one moves closer or farther away from that distance diminishes gradually and within a certain range nobody notices it.

Perhaps you want to take a photo of a friend standing in front of another object. If you have a narrow (or short) DOF, your friend may be in focus while the foreground and background appear out of focus. At the other extreme, a wide (or long) DOF could result in the entire image appearing to be in focus.

There's a good example of effective DOF control here.