Have you ever come home with a camera full of dull, washed-out travel pictures, despite a lovely destination?

Well, these days, you can fix that by knowing how to digitally manipulate your pictures.

Pro shooter Rick Sammon shares his tips and tricks on using Photoshop to “defrost” his icy RAW photos.

Like most of my professional photographer friends, I enjoy a photographic challenge. Combine that with a Photoshop challenge, and I’m in digital imaging heaven!

My most recent challenge was a self-assignment to photograph the Ice Hotel (www.icehotel-canada.com) in Quebec, Canada, which is about a 30-minute cab ride from the airport. One of my goals was to get cool, new images for my Photoshop sessions at the Photoshop World Convention.

At the hotel, my challenges included:

• photographing clear ice against a snow background
• getting detailed pictures of the soft ice and snow
• dealing with strong contrast between the elements in the scene
• shooting in the relatively tight conditions of the relatively small rooms
• getting colorful pictures of white subjects
• reducing reflections on the ice and snow, inside and outside of the hotel
• keeping my cameras warm so as not to lose battery power
• avoiding having people in my pictures, because I did not want to get model releases
• keeping myself warm

Before I go on, I am sure many of you want to know: “What was it like sleeping in the Ice Hotel?”

Well, with no heat and a “mattress” placed over an ice slab, the rooms are literally frozen, especially at 2:30 a.m. when the outside temperature is below freezing.

That’s why I stayed in the cozy lodge next door.

At the hotel, I shot with my Canon EOS 5D, keeping my four extra batteries warm inside of my coat.

Outside, I used my Canon 17-40mm lens with a polarizing filter, which helped reduce the glare on the snow and ice. Inside, I used my Canon14mm lens, which let me get super-wide shots of the rooms.

After my shoot, in the comfort of my toasty lodge room, I downloaded my images and worked on, and played with, them in Photoshop.

Get photography and Photoshop tips and tricks and check out a slideshow of Canada’s Ice Hotel here.

Article and Photographs © Rick Sammon

Rick Sammon has published 34 books, including his latest, Rick Sammon’s Secrets to Digital Photography, Face to Face and Exploring the Light – all published in 2008! His book, Flying Flowers won the coveted Golden Light Award, and his book Hide and See Under the Sea won the Ben Franklin Award. Rick, who has photographed in almost 100 countries around the world, gives more than two dozen photography workshops (including private workshops) and presentations around the world each year. Visit him on the Web at www.RickSammon.com.