GeekSugar

iPhoto Face Recognition FAIL: Grandpa Is Not Mr. Potatohead

GeekSugar — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:07:38 -0700

I love the newer versions of iPhoto for many reasons, one of them being the face recognition feature. Just tag a photo with a person's name and highlight their face, and iPhoto neatly organizes all the photos with them in it. Perfect for when you need to find a specific shot or you want to rag on a certain someone for all those late-night debauchery pics you've collected over the years.

But when I was organizing photos of my family over the weekend, I ran into a little problem when iPhoto tried to recognize my game-loving grandpa as you can see in this screenshot. How can a sweet-faced senior be mistaken for a Mr. Potatohead tattoo? Mistake one senior for another, sure, but not for a sharpie-drawn pic on my forearm. I thought it was pretty hilarious, and if you're wondering about the tat, don't. It was Halloween 2006. 'Nuff said.

Buuut, I can't hate on iPhoto for too long, since it comes packed with some other amazing features as well. To find out what they are, just read more.

Besides iPhoto's (sometimes wonky) facial-recognition ability, with the help of a GPS enabled camera (or your iPhone's camera), your pics can be organized by location, and you can check them out on a map. Kinda like Flickrvision, but without having to tag all the photos yourself. Plus, if you're into sharing, you can upload your snapshots right to Facebook and Flickr without having to leave iPhoto. I think it's pretty sweet, even after the Mr. Potatohead incident.

5 Great Places to Shop For Tech Savvy Moms

GeekSugar — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:01:25 -0700

Mother's Day is quickly approaching (plan your brunches for May 10), and if you haven't the slightest idea as to where to start your search for the perfect gift, I'm here to help. If your mom knows how to upload her pics to her computer, record shows on her TiVo, turn the flash off on her digital camera, then these places will offer up some great gifts she'll really love.

View Slideshow ›

Geek Tip: Remember Optimum Camera Settings For SLRs

GeekSugar — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:03:46 -0700

Learning to shoot amazing photos on an SLR doesn't come overnight. Sometimes all it takes is a lot of experimentation, sometimes someone teaches you, and sometimes you get a great tip.

Have you scored once on shooting photos or a series of photos where the lighting and settings all came together and you got gorgeous results? You can replicate those results, and you don't have to have written anything down or memorized it.

Each of your digital photos will tell you what most of the used settings were - just click Apple + i (or right click and 'Get Info') on the file (that is, if you use iPhoto). Under More Info, the F-stop and shutter speed (on your camera) you used correspond to FNumber and Exposure Time, respectively.

To see how to get more settings in iPhoto, just read more.

Additionally, if you're using iPhoto, you can right click on the photo, click Show Photo Info, and you'll get the aforementioned settings plus the ISO.

Re-use those settings under similar circumstances (and you can adjust your settings from here using the old ones as a guide), and you're all set.

This is great for amateurs who are just getting used to their SLR, and even for more seasoned users who notice they shot some photos spectacularly once and want to do it again.

Make Mom a Sweet Photo Book in iPhoto - But Do It Today!

GeekSugar — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:01:17 -0700

Although it's still another few weeks away, it's never too early to start thinking about what to do for mom on Mother's Day. This is especially true if you were considering making her a custom photo book using iPhoto's printing services - you have until tomorrow to whip it up, place your order, and have it in your hands (and all wrapped up) by May 10.

If you've never used Apple's printing services before, I suggest you give it a try. It's easy to import your photos into a photo book template of your choice, customize the colors and layouts, and add messages and embellishments to your heart's content.

You can even choose between hard or soft cover, wire bound books or calendars and cards. The best part is, books start at just $20 bucks so you can still afford to take your mom out for a nice brunch and indulge her with some mimosas. Let's face it - Mother's Day just isn't complete without mimosas!

How-To: Create Slideshows and Movies For Your Reception

GeekSugar — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:05:10 -0700

If you haven't noticed, it's wedding season here on the Sugar Network and I've been busy telling you how to keep up with your own wedding website, pick out the perfect photographer, and manage all those photos - yours and your guests - after the big day. This week, we're moving into the wedding planning stages, and today I'm talking about slideshows. But this isn't the after-the-event, it-was-such-a-beautiful-day slideshow, this is the slideshow you play during your reception, usually packed with photos of you and your betrothed throughout your relationship together.

Although I've already given you some tips on what you should consider when putting together your slideshows, you may not know where to begin once you have all your photos chosen. If you don't have a Mac (I know I've talked your ear off about the simple joy of iPhoto), you can still make professional-looking slideshows and videos with your PC. Who woulda thought, right?

Find out what software you should consider, and what to do with those stacks of (nondigital) photos when you read more.

If not all of your photos are digital, it's OK - you can scan your photos, get them onto a CD and ready for uploading just by toting them down to your local Walgreens (or similar drug store that offers photo developing). And you're on your way to getting all your treasured pics into a slideshow.

Once you have all your photos uploaded to your computer, all you have to do is choose your software to start putting it all together. With any of these programs, you can arrange your pics, choose your (optional) background music that will play during your slideshow, and will even let you add in video clips if you want to switch things up. My first love is iPhoto, mostly for its ease of use and ability to export to not only a DVD but to your website, mobile phone, and iTunes to enjoy later.

But for you PC users out there, software like DVD Picture Show, My Memories Suite, and MediaShow 4 will get you the same great results, accommodates photos and video clips, and will export online or to a CD/DVD.

Do you have a photo program you'd like to recommend? Let us know about it in the comments below!

Source

How to Use iPhoto's Tags, Hotkeys to Make Slideshows Easier

GeekSugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:01:16 -0800

The idea of tagging photos is nothing new, but most people use it for things like identification, ala Facebook or Picasa (whose face-recognition technology continues to blow me away). After having had several parties in the last few months for people, and thereby putting together slideshows featuring the guests of honor, I realized how much photo tagging could help me - but with the original files.

I'm finally putting iPhoto's tagging to use; not only will tagging the photo files by the names of the people in them to sort through later, it couldn't be easier. iPhoto lets you assign hotkeys to the names of people who frequently appear in your pictures.

To see more of how you tag and use hotkeys in iPhoto, just read more.

Once in iPhoto, go to Window, then Show Keywords.

From this box, you can add in all the names of your friends and family, or even themes (like couples, dogs, etc.) that come up often in your photos. In the box, click Edit Keywords.
Click the plus sign, and start typing someone's name. Once you hit enter or the OK button, you'll see the saved name, and iPhoto will have assigned the name a hotkey (it calls them shortcuts). It's usually the first letter of the keyword you entered, like M for Mike.
Your Quick Group consists of the names you've added as iPhoto keywords, and you'll see them at the top of the keyword box. You're ready to start tagging once you've added the names.

Hover over a photo in iPhoto.
The phrase "add keywords" will appear under the photo. Click it, and a window will open.
Start typing a hotkey. iPhoto will populate it with the corresponding keyword you already set. Add as many names or phrases as you want.

Then, the easiest way to get to a grouping of photos - say you want to make a slideshow consisting of your friend Sam - is to type the name in the search bar at the bottom of the iPhoto window. Voila, iPhoto shows you all the photos tagged Sam!

Geek Tip: Permanently Deleting Pics From iPhoto

GeekSugar — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:50:09 -0800

If your iPhoto is full of pics that you don't need and you want to free up some space on your hard drive, here's a quick fix that will instantly increase your storage space. When you are in iPhoto, click on the images you want to delete in the photo library. Most people make the common mistake of deleting images in an album that only deletes them from that album and not the entire library.

Don't ask me why but pictures are copied to albums, not moved, so essentially you will have two copies of a picture if it's in an album. Once you delete certain pics from your iPhoto library, make sure you empty the trash can as well to permanently delete!

How To Save and Share iPhoto Slideshows

GeekSugar — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 12:03:49 -0800

So you've got all these great pics in iPhoto slideshow format and now you want to showcase them to others. Here are a few simple steps to follow that will have you sharing your pic collections in no time!

Click on the slideshow you want to save and share
Go to file export
Type in a name for your slideshow next to save as

For two more steps, just read more

Choose a size for your slideshow. Keep in mind that the larger the size, the bigger the file will be
Click the export button
The final export will be a quicktime move that can be watched on both PCs and Macs. You will be able to send this file as an email attachment or you can burn it to a CD or DVD.

iPhoto Tip: Changing Pics To Black and White

GeekSugar — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:30:48 -0700

If you just got the new iLife ‘08 suite and are playing around with iPhoto, here is a tip that will explain how to convert your colored images to black and white. After you import your photo, click on the album and give it a name. Now click on the image you want to edit and make a duplicate copy of the original. Once you select it, it should be surrounded in a golden edge and the image should be in full screen mode. To access the edit bar, roll your mouse over the bottom of the screen and click on effects.Choose from a variety of effects including black and white, sepia, antique, fade color, original, boost color, matte, vignette, or edge blur. According to photographer Mark Kuroda, if you don’t like the desired effect, you can click on original and it’ll cancel out the effects and If you really like the effect, keep clicking the mouse on it to create more layers. Good luck!

Cool Capture: An Aerial View of London From Sammi_784

Geek Community — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:07:00 -0800

Check out the impressive shots reader Sammi_784 recently uploaded to the Cool Capture group:

To view another stunning capture and find out more details, .

A couple of pictures from a recent visit to the London Eye. Taken on a Canon 450D. I kept my camera on auto as the light conditions were fluctuating quite a bit and I couldn't keep up with switching the settings quickly. I edited them a little in iPhoto once I'd uploaded them.

Do you have a photo you absolutely love? Join our Cool Capture group and share your image, the model of camera used to take the photo, and a little about the image or moment you captured and it could be featured on GeekSugar. Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.