Lighten up

Residential Architect, July, 2003 by Bill Lagna

A quick note after paging through the May residential architect: The 2003 residential architect Design Awards are the best yet. It would be nice to profile even more creative designs for all of us to enjoy.

Next, a comment on your "From the Editor" column ("The Dangers of Digital Cameras," page 15): Though not much can be done about poor composition, the biggest failing of digital photographs is the "dull, flat, or obscure lighting," as you stated. In general, it is easy to fix such photos with the editing software provided with the cameras. People want to see the vibrant color and contrast of the midday summer sun. So, take those dull digital photographs, call them up in the editing software of your choice (usually provided with the camera), and crank up the contrast, crank up the brightness, and dial in a bit more color saturation. The process takes about one minute, and the results are well worth the time.

In short, a few extra minutes with the editing software you probably already own may make that digital camera a more useful tool.