By Steven Boudreau
Advances have been made so much in technology surrounding photography over the years with in introduction of digital photography. There is so much to be learn about photography, even with all of the point and shoot cameras available on the market today. Point and click cameras lead us to believe that all we have to do is pick up a camera shoot the picture and presto a work of art has been captured. Boy is that ever wrong. While these point and click cameras do offer so much in the lines of ease of use and convenience, capturing a high quality photo does require a bit more work than that.
It doesn't really matter if your camera that you have is a $100 point and click or the latest and greatest digital SLR with 85 megapixels you can take some great photos with either one.
The secret to taking great pictures is having sufficient lighting. I don't care how great your camera is with out sufficient lighting, your photos are only going to be so so. I'm going to include some of the secrets that the professionals keep to themselves that will help you make the most of your photos.
The time of the day that you take your pictures has a major impact on how your photos will turn out. Natural sunlight and light from say a halogen lamp have huge differences in your end result. You can take pictures indoors without any lights turned on, but have natural sunlight shining in and turn out with crystal clear photos. This can even be accomplished with the cheapest of digital cameras all the way up to the most expensive high end cameras on the market today. In fact telling the difference between the two can be very minimal if the megapixels are about the same on each. Natural daylight does wonders for your photos.
What about night time photos? Well without natural daylight available, you're going to have to depend on some good lighting. Digital cameras usually come with a built in flash, but they can only do so much. Many times, in low lighting situations, you'll end up with pictures that are too dark or even grainy or possibly both.Halogen lights work great if you want photos that are bright and clear. White halogens however seem to wash out photos, so you don't really end up with very colorful photos. They will however be bright and clear. You will want to ensure that your light is focused on your subject from the side, anything but from behind as the light will end up in your line of site. You don't want that.
For softer photos, having different color lights is what you want.
I never was happy with the way my photos turned out until I reviewed Digital Photography Secrets. How do your pictures turn out? If your not happy with them visit my blog for a review of a top notch book. Click Here!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
The Secret of Digitizing Your Old Photos
By Alex Don
Do you have a large collection of old photographs taken by traditional cameras? It is then really necessary for you to digitally process all these old photographs and import onto your computer. Otherwise all of the old memories collection would be lost in no time.
It is observed that all the photographs imported from a photo scanner come with a very big size image file. The file is a TIFF file supporting very high quality image resolution and color depth. You may find that your photographs are imported with varying sizes as they might have on actual print. Now it is necessary to resize all those photographs to similar sizes for easy storage and maintenance. I generally prefer to use a free online picture resizer to resize my photo collection. These picture resizing tools make it very easy to resize multiple pictures at once.
An online picture resizer is a free web based service on a website, generally offered with some functionality limitations (picture size limit, file size limit etc.). These tools help you to resize pictures online from wherever you are. It is essentially used by people moving around the world or travelers. You don't need to have a photo editor on your computer or laptop to resize your pictures.
Before you resize the photographs, you can adjust the brightness, contrast and other properties for each imported old photograph so that they look consistent when viewed as an album or a slideshow. Don't make pictures too bright or adjust contrast too much otherwise you will lose original picture quality when you resize pictures with an online image resizer.
You should choose the right storage medium for all the imported photographs. I will prefer to store all the photographs on a DVD. This way it becomes portable and durable for longer time. Using portable hard disk is another good way for long term data storage. Hard disks generally require maintenance and protection so choose this option carefully.
Another best way of storing photographs for long term is to use an online storage service provided by websites such as xdrive.com and idrive.com. This service offers more than 2 GB online disk space to store your pictures collection. This kin d of service is useful for periodic backup and long term archival of important data and photographs. Again, please make sure that you have properly resized all of your old picture collection with an online picture resizer tool before uploading it online otherwise it would eat up lot of disk space.
Keeping your old photographs online with a storage services really helps you when you want to share all those good memories with your family members, friends and colleagues located all over the world. You don't need attach that bulky bunch of old photographs to your e-mail and send it to everybody. You can just send the links of those photographs in your e-mail and send it.
All in all, it is necessary to adjust picture properties of your old photographs and resize them with a free online image resizer which is also available on reshade.com before moving them to a permanent digital storage medium.
Alex Don writes about image resizing for the company Reshade . Reshade specializes in image processing offering a freely available online image resizer Additionally it offers a commercial photo enlargement software.
Do you have a large collection of old photographs taken by traditional cameras? It is then really necessary for you to digitally process all these old photographs and import onto your computer. Otherwise all of the old memories collection would be lost in no time.
It is observed that all the photographs imported from a photo scanner come with a very big size image file. The file is a TIFF file supporting very high quality image resolution and color depth. You may find that your photographs are imported with varying sizes as they might have on actual print. Now it is necessary to resize all those photographs to similar sizes for easy storage and maintenance. I generally prefer to use a free online picture resizer to resize my photo collection. These picture resizing tools make it very easy to resize multiple pictures at once.
An online picture resizer is a free web based service on a website, generally offered with some functionality limitations (picture size limit, file size limit etc.). These tools help you to resize pictures online from wherever you are. It is essentially used by people moving around the world or travelers. You don't need to have a photo editor on your computer or laptop to resize your pictures.
Before you resize the photographs, you can adjust the brightness, contrast and other properties for each imported old photograph so that they look consistent when viewed as an album or a slideshow. Don't make pictures too bright or adjust contrast too much otherwise you will lose original picture quality when you resize pictures with an online image resizer.
You should choose the right storage medium for all the imported photographs. I will prefer to store all the photographs on a DVD. This way it becomes portable and durable for longer time. Using portable hard disk is another good way for long term data storage. Hard disks generally require maintenance and protection so choose this option carefully.
Another best way of storing photographs for long term is to use an online storage service provided by websites such as xdrive.com and idrive.com. This service offers more than 2 GB online disk space to store your pictures collection. This kin d of service is useful for periodic backup and long term archival of important data and photographs. Again, please make sure that you have properly resized all of your old picture collection with an online picture resizer tool before uploading it online otherwise it would eat up lot of disk space.
Keeping your old photographs online with a storage services really helps you when you want to share all those good memories with your family members, friends and colleagues located all over the world. You don't need attach that bulky bunch of old photographs to your e-mail and send it to everybody. You can just send the links of those photographs in your e-mail and send it.
All in all, it is necessary to adjust picture properties of your old photographs and resize them with a free online image resizer which is also available on reshade.com before moving them to a permanent digital storage medium.
Alex Don writes about image resizing for the company Reshade . Reshade specializes in image processing offering a freely available online image resizer Additionally it offers a commercial photo enlargement software.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Digital Photography Tips - Choosing the Right Lighting
By Steven Boudreau
Regardless of how great a digital camera you have, there isn't too much that you can do about poor lighting unless you know what you're doing. I will tell you a few lighting tips that will boost your digital photography skills to the next level. To get your digital photos just right in poor lighting conditions, you need to learn how to place your subject just right. If you are using artificial lighting, you don't want to put the light directly behind your subject as this will cause glare in your photos. You should have your lighting either directly behind you, the photographer, or to the sides and ahead of your subject.
A lighter colored backdrop is the best choice when choosing a backdrop to use. Dark colored drops absorb most of your light, and when you're fighting for light you don't want anything absorbing it. White is the best choice, but any other light colored drop is fine. The simplest white backdrop can be achieved by using a white sheet taped to a wall behind your subject.
Be aware of shadows that may creep their way in to your photos. If your lighting is too low, your photo may come out to dark and you won't see your subject. Be aware that an image that you may see in your LCD screen is normally brighter than your picture when it comes out. This is why it's important to test various lighting and positions. When you're using a digital camera, you can snap as many pictures as you want to, if your memory card fills up, just delete some pictures and keep going. You don't have to worry about film and developing numerous rolls of film, so go shutter finger crazy.
These are a few things that can improve your lighting in your pictures.
Are you tired of underexposed and blurry pictures? In my blog I review an amazing book on [http://digitalphotographyonlinetips.blogspot.com/]Digital Photography Secrets...
Regardless of how great a digital camera you have, there isn't too much that you can do about poor lighting unless you know what you're doing. I will tell you a few lighting tips that will boost your digital photography skills to the next level. To get your digital photos just right in poor lighting conditions, you need to learn how to place your subject just right. If you are using artificial lighting, you don't want to put the light directly behind your subject as this will cause glare in your photos. You should have your lighting either directly behind you, the photographer, or to the sides and ahead of your subject.
A lighter colored backdrop is the best choice when choosing a backdrop to use. Dark colored drops absorb most of your light, and when you're fighting for light you don't want anything absorbing it. White is the best choice, but any other light colored drop is fine. The simplest white backdrop can be achieved by using a white sheet taped to a wall behind your subject.
Be aware of shadows that may creep their way in to your photos. If your lighting is too low, your photo may come out to dark and you won't see your subject. Be aware that an image that you may see in your LCD screen is normally brighter than your picture when it comes out. This is why it's important to test various lighting and positions. When you're using a digital camera, you can snap as many pictures as you want to, if your memory card fills up, just delete some pictures and keep going. You don't have to worry about film and developing numerous rolls of film, so go shutter finger crazy.
These are a few things that can improve your lighting in your pictures.
Are you tired of underexposed and blurry pictures? In my blog I review an amazing book on [http://digitalphotographyonlinetips.blogspot.com/]Digital Photography Secrets...
Friday, September 26, 2008
10 Steps to Digital Camera Heaven
By Adam Jonathan Raymond Westrop
So you are about to purchase a digital camera, you are getting excited about the prospect of having that slick new camera in your hands and you are now off to the store to buy that digital camera you want, right? No, wrong. There are 10 steps you must consider to purchasing a digital camera, read this article then by all means pop down the shop and make your purchase because you will already be wiser.
Here are the ten steps.
1. Know your budget. Yes, unfortunately this is the most important consideration. There is no good in considering the top of the range camera if you are unable to afford it. Also make sure if you going to a store to buy your digital camera, tell the salesman straight away what your budget is! Do not be pressured into expanding your budget.
2. What use is the camera for? Is this for professional use or taking the odd pictures of your children? Will your camera be used mostly indoors, outdoors, or both? Always keep in mind the specific purpose of the camera, this alone will help elimination of the various cameras and help you select the camera right for you.
3. Desire Versus Needs. I think it is obvious that everyone would have the best camera in the market if money was no object, however money is an object for most people and what determines the price of cameras is the amount of features included. When looking at your camera give serious consideration over what features are absolutely necessary. It is all good having a camera with hundreds of features, however if you only end up using several features you have wasted your money!
4. Do your research. Read independent reviews etc. Fight the urge to react to any advert or advice your friend has given you. Although the information they give you may be factual, there may well be a better digital camera on the market. Read and read, and once you become tired, read some more. Then you will have even more knowledge to make an informed decision.
5. Having a LCD screen or not? Having a LCD screen will mean you can review your pictures, however consider that it is an extra cost.
6. Memory Cards. Does the camera have an option to insert memory cards or do you just have the internal memory to go on? Obviously the option for memory cards will result in more flexibility.
7. Pixels and Resolution. The higher the mega pixel range, the better quality the pictures. Again consider that the higher the mega pixels the higher the cost. If you are just using the camera to view pictures on websites etc then a lower mega pixel range may suffice, if however you will be printing large scale photos of your pictures then a higher mega pixel range will have to be considered.
8. Is the camera compatible with your computer? This is not normally a problem, however should be borne in mind for older computers and MAC computers.
9. How user friendly is the camera? The digital camera should be very easy to use. It is no good to you if the digital camera has endless features which you do not know how to use.
10. Consideration of the digital camera brand over the features and price. It is a lot easier to consider the big brands and go with one of their top models, but take a look at the lesser brands which do not immediately spring to mind and look at their models and features, you may well get a better deal.
Using these 10 steps will put you in a better position to purchase your next digital camera.
Adam Westrop has a passion for delivering key information and showing the best prices on the [http://www.camera-compare.com/canon-elph-digital-cameras.html]Canon elph digital camera range.
So you are about to purchase a digital camera, you are getting excited about the prospect of having that slick new camera in your hands and you are now off to the store to buy that digital camera you want, right? No, wrong. There are 10 steps you must consider to purchasing a digital camera, read this article then by all means pop down the shop and make your purchase because you will already be wiser.
Here are the ten steps.
1. Know your budget. Yes, unfortunately this is the most important consideration. There is no good in considering the top of the range camera if you are unable to afford it. Also make sure if you going to a store to buy your digital camera, tell the salesman straight away what your budget is! Do not be pressured into expanding your budget.
2. What use is the camera for? Is this for professional use or taking the odd pictures of your children? Will your camera be used mostly indoors, outdoors, or both? Always keep in mind the specific purpose of the camera, this alone will help elimination of the various cameras and help you select the camera right for you.
3. Desire Versus Needs. I think it is obvious that everyone would have the best camera in the market if money was no object, however money is an object for most people and what determines the price of cameras is the amount of features included. When looking at your camera give serious consideration over what features are absolutely necessary. It is all good having a camera with hundreds of features, however if you only end up using several features you have wasted your money!
4. Do your research. Read independent reviews etc. Fight the urge to react to any advert or advice your friend has given you. Although the information they give you may be factual, there may well be a better digital camera on the market. Read and read, and once you become tired, read some more. Then you will have even more knowledge to make an informed decision.
5. Having a LCD screen or not? Having a LCD screen will mean you can review your pictures, however consider that it is an extra cost.
6. Memory Cards. Does the camera have an option to insert memory cards or do you just have the internal memory to go on? Obviously the option for memory cards will result in more flexibility.
7. Pixels and Resolution. The higher the mega pixel range, the better quality the pictures. Again consider that the higher the mega pixels the higher the cost. If you are just using the camera to view pictures on websites etc then a lower mega pixel range may suffice, if however you will be printing large scale photos of your pictures then a higher mega pixel range will have to be considered.
8. Is the camera compatible with your computer? This is not normally a problem, however should be borne in mind for older computers and MAC computers.
9. How user friendly is the camera? The digital camera should be very easy to use. It is no good to you if the digital camera has endless features which you do not know how to use.
10. Consideration of the digital camera brand over the features and price. It is a lot easier to consider the big brands and go with one of their top models, but take a look at the lesser brands which do not immediately spring to mind and look at their models and features, you may well get a better deal.
Using these 10 steps will put you in a better position to purchase your next digital camera.
Adam Westrop has a passion for delivering key information and showing the best prices on the [http://www.camera-compare.com/canon-elph-digital-cameras.html]Canon elph digital camera range.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Basics of Digital Camera Care
By Roberto Sedycias
Your digital camera is an expensive and sophisticated possession. It is a long-term investment and hence, worth protecting. This delicate gadget needs special care and attention at all times for better performance. Though most of us know the importance of taking care of a digital camera, barely anyone go for the safe and proper way to do that. Everyone knows that the camera body and lens should be handled with care as they are prone to damage and scratches. But few people know that there are also some other aspects that are critical to the digital camera care. Just put in some efforts and follow some basic tips and make your precious camera perform efficiently for years.
Camera Lens:
Lens is the most important part of your digital camera; it is the window towards the outside world. A small scratch or spot on the lens will destroy the whole picture. Hence, care should be taken to keep it clean but not by touching with the fingers directly. If there is any dust, first try to blow it up, if it is still there wipe it with a soft lens cleaning tissue or you can use a lens brush or lens blower. You can even find lens cleaners specifically meant for digital camera. Do not forget to cover the lens while the digital camera is not in use.
Delicate Parts of the Camera:
Memory card is one of the most delicate components of your digital camera. You may find CompactFlash, SD or MMC cards in your camera. They are small and play a vital role while taking snaps. The other delicate part of your digital camera is camera panel. You need to handle all these delicate components carefully.
Battery:
Taking care of the batteries also comes under digital camera care. Getting the right kind of battery will enhance the performance of the digital camera. Clean the battery component and remove the batteries while the camera is not in use for long time.
Storage:
Another important thing is to turn off the camera while you are not using it. The care of a digital camera also depends on how you are storing it. Make sure that you are keeping it away from any kind of magnet. Magnet in any form may affect the circuitry of the digital camera. It is also essential to store your camera against condensation. Put the silica gel capsules in the storage box of your digital camera to prevent condensation. If you are storing your digital camera for a long duration, there could be corrosive leaks from the battery over the time. You can take the batteries out of the camera in such case. Temperature is one important aspect of consideration while storing camera. Keep your camera away from extremely cold or hot temperature.
Travelling:
We prefer to store each and every memory of our holiday trip or any other trip. Photographs are the best way to preserve the memory for a life time. Everyone likes to take the camera so that they can capture every single moment worth remember. A delicate device like digital camera should be taken care of properly while travelling. Take a digital camera case with you in your trips. It is safer and can protect your camera from scratches. Security is the main concern. Remember to insure your digital camera as the chances of robbery increases when you are travelling.
Your digital camera is a real treasure as it costs a lot of money. Taking care is something that you ca not avoid if you want to use it for a years. Apply every single tip you know to take care of your camera and keep its performance intact for ever.
Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil
Your digital camera is an expensive and sophisticated possession. It is a long-term investment and hence, worth protecting. This delicate gadget needs special care and attention at all times for better performance. Though most of us know the importance of taking care of a digital camera, barely anyone go for the safe and proper way to do that. Everyone knows that the camera body and lens should be handled with care as they are prone to damage and scratches. But few people know that there are also some other aspects that are critical to the digital camera care. Just put in some efforts and follow some basic tips and make your precious camera perform efficiently for years.
Camera Lens:
Lens is the most important part of your digital camera; it is the window towards the outside world. A small scratch or spot on the lens will destroy the whole picture. Hence, care should be taken to keep it clean but not by touching with the fingers directly. If there is any dust, first try to blow it up, if it is still there wipe it with a soft lens cleaning tissue or you can use a lens brush or lens blower. You can even find lens cleaners specifically meant for digital camera. Do not forget to cover the lens while the digital camera is not in use.
Delicate Parts of the Camera:
Memory card is one of the most delicate components of your digital camera. You may find CompactFlash, SD or MMC cards in your camera. They are small and play a vital role while taking snaps. The other delicate part of your digital camera is camera panel. You need to handle all these delicate components carefully.
Battery:
Taking care of the batteries also comes under digital camera care. Getting the right kind of battery will enhance the performance of the digital camera. Clean the battery component and remove the batteries while the camera is not in use for long time.
Storage:
Another important thing is to turn off the camera while you are not using it. The care of a digital camera also depends on how you are storing it. Make sure that you are keeping it away from any kind of magnet. Magnet in any form may affect the circuitry of the digital camera. It is also essential to store your camera against condensation. Put the silica gel capsules in the storage box of your digital camera to prevent condensation. If you are storing your digital camera for a long duration, there could be corrosive leaks from the battery over the time. You can take the batteries out of the camera in such case. Temperature is one important aspect of consideration while storing camera. Keep your camera away from extremely cold or hot temperature.
Travelling:
We prefer to store each and every memory of our holiday trip or any other trip. Photographs are the best way to preserve the memory for a life time. Everyone likes to take the camera so that they can capture every single moment worth remember. A delicate device like digital camera should be taken care of properly while travelling. Take a digital camera case with you in your trips. It is safer and can protect your camera from scratches. Security is the main concern. Remember to insure your digital camera as the chances of robbery increases when you are travelling.
Your digital camera is a real treasure as it costs a lot of money. Taking care is something that you ca not avoid if you want to use it for a years. Apply every single tip you know to take care of your camera and keep its performance intact for ever.
Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tips For Shooting During the Autumn Season
By Saad S Kamal
Autumn is probably my favorite season out of the four we have here in the states. Not really because I feel the best or do the most, but because I sweat a lot (the cooler weather helps maintain that) and because I feel I look bast in dark layers (I have the face/body/color tone for it). Pathetic reasons, I know.
But hey, when I'm comfortable with the crisp chill and looking good, I'm happy shooting. Just wanted to share with everyone some tips I've complied when it comes to shooting during fall.
-Focus on backlit leaves
This is something I really like to do all the time, and not just during autumn. The distinct shapes of each edge, curve, or wedge of the leaves start to pop out when there's that contrast between the light in the background, and the darker leave in the foreground. You might have difficulties metering this properly because you don't want you leaves to look washed out, but you don't want highlights in the background either. Doesn't work all the time, and you have to pick and choose you shots. But when it does, you'll be happy with the results.
-Tell the story of the season
Some of the best series I've seen show how our environment starts to change gradually. A series of photographs over a few weeks starting from leaf filled, luscious, vibrant areas start to fade. They don't go down without a fight though. Almost as if the tree puts out all her effort to show you she has something left, she'll explode with color. But inevitably, mother nature wins out. That trees/forrest's story deserves to be heard (better yet, seen).
-Play around with white balance
Being creative with your white-balance is one of the easiest ways to add that dimension of mood to your photographs. You can make things cooler and expose the death of life around you, of you can warm it up to show there's still life left even after the colors fade.
-Get a little wet
Shooting near a lake or river is great, but only if you can do it well. The reflection of the season bouncing back at you. You might even by lucky enough to find a still pond where the leaves blanket the surface of the water, but the trees in the background are completely naked.
-Catch the wind
Slowing down the shutter to capture the motion of the wind is great for fall photos. Take a picture of a pedestrian standing by the bus stop bundled, and see the wind blowing through their hair. You can even take a picture of colorful leaves flying around, going which way the wind takes them.
Please feel free to ad anything else you guys think would improve everyone's light capturing ability.
Autumn is probably my favorite season out of the four we have here in the states. Not really because I feel the best or do the most, but because I sweat a lot (the cooler weather helps maintain that) and because I feel I look bast in dark layers (I have the face/body/color tone for it). Pathetic reasons, I know.
But hey, when I'm comfortable with the crisp chill and looking good, I'm happy shooting. Just wanted to share with everyone some tips I've complied when it comes to shooting during fall.
-Focus on backlit leaves
This is something I really like to do all the time, and not just during autumn. The distinct shapes of each edge, curve, or wedge of the leaves start to pop out when there's that contrast between the light in the background, and the darker leave in the foreground. You might have difficulties metering this properly because you don't want you leaves to look washed out, but you don't want highlights in the background either. Doesn't work all the time, and you have to pick and choose you shots. But when it does, you'll be happy with the results.
-Tell the story of the season
Some of the best series I've seen show how our environment starts to change gradually. A series of photographs over a few weeks starting from leaf filled, luscious, vibrant areas start to fade. They don't go down without a fight though. Almost as if the tree puts out all her effort to show you she has something left, she'll explode with color. But inevitably, mother nature wins out. That trees/forrest's story deserves to be heard (better yet, seen).
-Play around with white balance
Being creative with your white-balance is one of the easiest ways to add that dimension of mood to your photographs. You can make things cooler and expose the death of life around you, of you can warm it up to show there's still life left even after the colors fade.
-Get a little wet
Shooting near a lake or river is great, but only if you can do it well. The reflection of the season bouncing back at you. You might even by lucky enough to find a still pond where the leaves blanket the surface of the water, but the trees in the background are completely naked.
-Catch the wind
Slowing down the shutter to capture the motion of the wind is great for fall photos. Take a picture of a pedestrian standing by the bus stop bundled, and see the wind blowing through their hair. You can even take a picture of colorful leaves flying around, going which way the wind takes them.
Please feel free to ad anything else you guys think would improve everyone's light capturing ability.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Finding Inspiration in Photography
By Rand Larson
Many people get into the business of photography because they enjoy the creativity. They love the chance to express themselves thru their photographs, their prints, their "artistic vision". Other people get into photography from the technical side. In the days of film it was the appeal of chemistry, or the mystery of the dark room work that drew them. In the world of digital photography it's often the technology person who loves to play with the images on the computer.
Regardless of why a person gets into photography, there comes a time when they need help finding some inspiration. How do you keep from letting another assignment be "just another assignment"? How do you find the beauty and uniqueness in what you need to photograph?
I like to share the lesson that my high school photography teacher taught. A good way to develop a creative eye is to limit the tools at your disposal, and to focus on one subject for a while. The example given was to go out into the desert (this was Palm Springs High School). Once out there, take only a single fixed lens and find a plant or flower that might be an interesting subject. This is the hard part: spend a full hour taking photographs of that subject. Try all kinds of angles. Crop the image one way, then try another.
This really does work. Before long you understand how your lens can determine the image's look and how your camera's distance from the subject will change the story in the photograph. I find this helpful when I have what I consider a boring subject to photograph.
Often times I'm hired to photograph the setup of a corporate event, the decor before a party starts. But when I show up all I see is a few flowers on the tables and some lights on the wall. It doesn't inspire me at all. This is especially try when the previous job was something very extravagant. So what do I do? I hear my teacher's voice telling me to think of the basics.
The basics in photography are light, color, contrast and composition. So I pull out my favorite lens (the lens really does make a difference) and start looking thru it. Since I like flowers, I get up close and find some nice form. I try different composition and angles. Sometimes the light is different on one side than another. As I back off I might find a way that the flowers on the table relate to the scene in the rest of the room. Maybe the stage is lit in a way that compliments the flowers. Or maybe I can angle the photograph so that the stage and table tell a story of what the room felt like. Before long my time is up and I feel like I just barely started. There is so much more to photograph!
It all comes from going back to the basics. Thinking simple. Breaking it down to small parts then before long, inspiration will come!
Palm Springs photographer Rand Larson specializes in photography for Corporate Events, Weddings and Interiors. His work can be seen at http://www.morningstarproductions.com
Many people get into the business of photography because they enjoy the creativity. They love the chance to express themselves thru their photographs, their prints, their "artistic vision". Other people get into photography from the technical side. In the days of film it was the appeal of chemistry, or the mystery of the dark room work that drew them. In the world of digital photography it's often the technology person who loves to play with the images on the computer.
Regardless of why a person gets into photography, there comes a time when they need help finding some inspiration. How do you keep from letting another assignment be "just another assignment"? How do you find the beauty and uniqueness in what you need to photograph?
I like to share the lesson that my high school photography teacher taught. A good way to develop a creative eye is to limit the tools at your disposal, and to focus on one subject for a while. The example given was to go out into the desert (this was Palm Springs High School). Once out there, take only a single fixed lens and find a plant or flower that might be an interesting subject. This is the hard part: spend a full hour taking photographs of that subject. Try all kinds of angles. Crop the image one way, then try another.
This really does work. Before long you understand how your lens can determine the image's look and how your camera's distance from the subject will change the story in the photograph. I find this helpful when I have what I consider a boring subject to photograph.
Often times I'm hired to photograph the setup of a corporate event, the decor before a party starts. But when I show up all I see is a few flowers on the tables and some lights on the wall. It doesn't inspire me at all. This is especially try when the previous job was something very extravagant. So what do I do? I hear my teacher's voice telling me to think of the basics.
The basics in photography are light, color, contrast and composition. So I pull out my favorite lens (the lens really does make a difference) and start looking thru it. Since I like flowers, I get up close and find some nice form. I try different composition and angles. Sometimes the light is different on one side than another. As I back off I might find a way that the flowers on the table relate to the scene in the rest of the room. Maybe the stage is lit in a way that compliments the flowers. Or maybe I can angle the photograph so that the stage and table tell a story of what the room felt like. Before long my time is up and I feel like I just barely started. There is so much more to photograph!
It all comes from going back to the basics. Thinking simple. Breaking it down to small parts then before long, inspiration will come!
Palm Springs photographer Rand Larson specializes in photography for Corporate Events, Weddings and Interiors. His work can be seen at http://www.morningstarproductions.com
Monday, September 22, 2008
Beautify Your Home by Decorating With Picture Frames
By Susan Slobac
I've always said decorating is an art form. Nothing decorates your home like art, especially pictures adorned in beautiful custom picture frames. However, it isn't as simple as picking out any picture frames and hanging them up. Choosing the right frame and picture framing supplies greatly increases the overall look of the picture itself and works to complement the feel of the entire room.
A framed piece of art is built around of several components. Obviously, there is the art, the frame, the pre cut mat board, the external surface placed over the art work to protect it, mount board, and everything that comes in picture framing kits. Of all these, the picture frames are the most important and the most straightforward, being manufactured in either wood or metal and installation is a snap with picture framing kits.
Hanging those pieces of art or even an everyday picture can be a real challenge. The first thing you need to do is know that there are two parts to the picture frame hanging process. There is the mounting hardware on the frame itself, and then mounting the frame on the wall. My advice is purchase picture framing kits. They make life much easier.
There are a number of different options to choose from for picture framing supplies. The one you go with depends upon several variables, such as the size and weight of the picture, the material of the frame, and the surface you wish to hang the picture on.
The pre cut mat board is used for primarily for two reasons. Firstly, it serves as a support for the picture frames, preventing them from getting damaged through bending and folding. It also creates a layer of separation layer between the picture and the glazing so that nothing is directly in contact with it. The majority of framed art pieces come with a single mat layer and a mount board as part of a picture framing kits. You can choose to use double, even triple mat layers.
When it comes to picking out a color for the mat, I recommend going with more neutral color, such as your whites, creams, ivories, sandstones, pearls, grays and blacks. I like neutral colors since they tend to enhance and guide the attention to the picture. Neutral colors can easily fit into any room, as well, with never a worry about them seeming out of place.
Above all, remember to have fun and enjoy yourself when decorating. There is no point in doing if you aren't enjoying it. In my opinion, decorating your home with custom picture frames is one of the easiest ways to beautify your home in a warm and personal manner.
Susan Slobac is an avid photographer. Susan believes a picture frame is more than just fashion; it's a safeguard for something you love.
I've always said decorating is an art form. Nothing decorates your home like art, especially pictures adorned in beautiful custom picture frames. However, it isn't as simple as picking out any picture frames and hanging them up. Choosing the right frame and picture framing supplies greatly increases the overall look of the picture itself and works to complement the feel of the entire room.
A framed piece of art is built around of several components. Obviously, there is the art, the frame, the pre cut mat board, the external surface placed over the art work to protect it, mount board, and everything that comes in picture framing kits. Of all these, the picture frames are the most important and the most straightforward, being manufactured in either wood or metal and installation is a snap with picture framing kits.
Hanging those pieces of art or even an everyday picture can be a real challenge. The first thing you need to do is know that there are two parts to the picture frame hanging process. There is the mounting hardware on the frame itself, and then mounting the frame on the wall. My advice is purchase picture framing kits. They make life much easier.
There are a number of different options to choose from for picture framing supplies. The one you go with depends upon several variables, such as the size and weight of the picture, the material of the frame, and the surface you wish to hang the picture on.
The pre cut mat board is used for primarily for two reasons. Firstly, it serves as a support for the picture frames, preventing them from getting damaged through bending and folding. It also creates a layer of separation layer between the picture and the glazing so that nothing is directly in contact with it. The majority of framed art pieces come with a single mat layer and a mount board as part of a picture framing kits. You can choose to use double, even triple mat layers.
When it comes to picking out a color for the mat, I recommend going with more neutral color, such as your whites, creams, ivories, sandstones, pearls, grays and blacks. I like neutral colors since they tend to enhance and guide the attention to the picture. Neutral colors can easily fit into any room, as well, with never a worry about them seeming out of place.
Above all, remember to have fun and enjoy yourself when decorating. There is no point in doing if you aren't enjoying it. In my opinion, decorating your home with custom picture frames is one of the easiest ways to beautify your home in a warm and personal manner.
Susan Slobac is an avid photographer. Susan believes a picture frame is more than just fashion; it's a safeguard for something you love.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Holiday Greeting Cards - How to Create Your Own Photographic Greeting Cards
By John Huegel
Here are some tips for creating great holiday greeting cards.
1. Pick an Interesting Theme. If you're doing a family shot, think up something creative. The setting does not need to be winter or holiday themed. In fact if it is non-seasonal, your recipients may keep your card out for more than just the winter season.
2. Use Existing Images. If you had a great holiday trip, consider using one of those images. If you have some good photos of the kids around the house, use them.
3. Get Outdoors. Often, lighting is better outside. Find a good scenic location and compose the image. Then grab someone nearby and ask them to shoot. Almost anyone will step in to help. Or, prop that camera, set the timer and run! Sometimes the timer-race photos are quite funny.
4. Get Exposed. Consider forcing the flash on your camera to fill in some highlights around the eyes. Most cameras have the opportunity to do this. Just a touch of flash will remove shadows or bags under the eyes, and will not appear artificial if used lightly.
5. Edit for Impact. Crop, level and edit your image carefully so the important stuff is left for your viewers to enjoy. Consider some interesting edits such as watercolor finish, sepia, softening, and other effects to create the desired mood on your images.
6. Choose a good printer. Flat glossy cards are inexpensive and easily made, but to really wow your friends, consider using a professional card printing service to make coated, folded cards. The quality of many online labs is first-rate. Expect to spend $1-2 for small runs of cards made this way. Larger quantities may cost less per unit. Try web searching for "holiday cards".
7. Don't Break the Law. If you are considering using a professionally made photograph, remember that you cannot use anyone else's images on your card without their permission. Even if you bought a print, you don't have the right to scan, copy or otherwise use a professional image.
Designing your own holiday cards is a great way to develop your photography, editing, design and computer skills. Have fun creating your cards!
John Huegel is a photographer in the Erie, Pennsylvania area who specializes in Seniors, Dance Studio, Families and other groups. He is active in many charitable and volunteer activities in the Erie area. His work can be seen at http://jhphotomusic.com
Here are some tips for creating great holiday greeting cards.
1. Pick an Interesting Theme. If you're doing a family shot, think up something creative. The setting does not need to be winter or holiday themed. In fact if it is non-seasonal, your recipients may keep your card out for more than just the winter season.
2. Use Existing Images. If you had a great holiday trip, consider using one of those images. If you have some good photos of the kids around the house, use them.
3. Get Outdoors. Often, lighting is better outside. Find a good scenic location and compose the image. Then grab someone nearby and ask them to shoot. Almost anyone will step in to help. Or, prop that camera, set the timer and run! Sometimes the timer-race photos are quite funny.
4. Get Exposed. Consider forcing the flash on your camera to fill in some highlights around the eyes. Most cameras have the opportunity to do this. Just a touch of flash will remove shadows or bags under the eyes, and will not appear artificial if used lightly.
5. Edit for Impact. Crop, level and edit your image carefully so the important stuff is left for your viewers to enjoy. Consider some interesting edits such as watercolor finish, sepia, softening, and other effects to create the desired mood on your images.
6. Choose a good printer. Flat glossy cards are inexpensive and easily made, but to really wow your friends, consider using a professional card printing service to make coated, folded cards. The quality of many online labs is first-rate. Expect to spend $1-2 for small runs of cards made this way. Larger quantities may cost less per unit. Try web searching for "holiday cards".
7. Don't Break the Law. If you are considering using a professionally made photograph, remember that you cannot use anyone else's images on your card without their permission. Even if you bought a print, you don't have the right to scan, copy or otherwise use a professional image.
Designing your own holiday cards is a great way to develop your photography, editing, design and computer skills. Have fun creating your cards!
John Huegel is a photographer in the Erie, Pennsylvania area who specializes in Seniors, Dance Studio, Families and other groups. He is active in many charitable and volunteer activities in the Erie area. His work can be seen at http://jhphotomusic.com
Friday, September 19, 2008
Sunset Photos - Tips For Creating Great Sunset Images
By John Huegel
Here are some tips for great sunset photos with subjects. This assumes you have a digital SLR and controllable flash, either on camera, attached or triggered.
1. First expose for the background. Start with Aperture or Shutter priority mode and adjust your exposure compensation until you get the right exposure. I find that I often have to dial down the exposure a couple of stops from the default to deepen the colors.
2. Switch to Manual. Using the settings in the first step, set manual mode. If the shutter speed is faster than your flash "sync" speed maximum, you may need to increase the f-stop and/or lower the ISO to get the shutter speed in flash range.
3. Set the camera to flash color balance. This will correctly expose the skin tones. Or you can shoot raw and correct it at import.
4. Choose a fill-flash that does not overexpose the people. The sunset is dark and soft behind, and an overly lit subject will look artificial. Also try to avoid harsh shadows from on-camera flash.
5. Stabilize and shoot bracketed flash exposure. Hold the camera steady and shoot a set of images with the flash compensation varied.
6. Edit for foreground and background. When you edit the image, you can tweak the contrast and saturation to emphasize the sunset colors. If you have an underexposed subject, you can create a duplicate layer, edit that layer for the face or skin exposure, and combine the layers to show the original sunset and the tweaked skin tones. It's a lot easier than you think!
Once you have practiced this a few times, you can get some really great sunset images.
John Huegel is a photographer in the Erie, Pennsylvania area who specializes in Seniors, Dance Studio, Families and other groups. He is active in many charitable and volunteer activities in the Erie area. His work can be seen at http://jhphotomusic.com
Here are some tips for great sunset photos with subjects. This assumes you have a digital SLR and controllable flash, either on camera, attached or triggered.
1. First expose for the background. Start with Aperture or Shutter priority mode and adjust your exposure compensation until you get the right exposure. I find that I often have to dial down the exposure a couple of stops from the default to deepen the colors.
2. Switch to Manual. Using the settings in the first step, set manual mode. If the shutter speed is faster than your flash "sync" speed maximum, you may need to increase the f-stop and/or lower the ISO to get the shutter speed in flash range.
3. Set the camera to flash color balance. This will correctly expose the skin tones. Or you can shoot raw and correct it at import.
4. Choose a fill-flash that does not overexpose the people. The sunset is dark and soft behind, and an overly lit subject will look artificial. Also try to avoid harsh shadows from on-camera flash.
5. Stabilize and shoot bracketed flash exposure. Hold the camera steady and shoot a set of images with the flash compensation varied.
6. Edit for foreground and background. When you edit the image, you can tweak the contrast and saturation to emphasize the sunset colors. If you have an underexposed subject, you can create a duplicate layer, edit that layer for the face or skin exposure, and combine the layers to show the original sunset and the tweaked skin tones. It's a lot easier than you think!
Once you have practiced this a few times, you can get some really great sunset images.
John Huegel is a photographer in the Erie, Pennsylvania area who specializes in Seniors, Dance Studio, Families and other groups. He is active in many charitable and volunteer activities in the Erie area. His work can be seen at http://jhphotomusic.com
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Event Photography
By Rand Larson
I have been providing photography for corporate and special events for over 20 years. Our company is based in Palm Springs. There are quite a number of large resorts including the Marriott Desert Springs, Westin Mission Hills, La Quinta Resort, Renaissance Esmeralda Resort. Many companies hold their sales and incentive meetings at these resorts and frequently need photography. But what kind of photography?
It's very important for me as a photographer to ask the planner what they want to use the photography for. Are they going to use the photographs for a company newsletter? If so then I need to let the photographs be descriptive. They need to show what happened at the event, who was there, what they learned. Hopefully each photograph will tell the story of what the company did at their meeting and what their objective was.
What if the photographs are intended as gifts? Often, especially at incentive trips, the photographs are part of a thank-you gift to the attendees. In that case the photographer needs to capture images of the guests having a great time, enjoying the trip. Photographs that they might want to have in their home or in a scrap book. A favorite type of event to photograph is a multiple day incentive trip for a group of less than 200 people. The photographer can get to know the people and they get to know the photographer. Then it really shows in the photographs. People are more animated in the photograph. If they feel that their photographer is a friend, they they look at the camera in a different way. It shows in their face in the photograph. And the photographer has fun too!
We recently updated our website. As we were looking for photographs to put on the website it was clear when the people were having fun and knew the photographer, versus when the people didn't even though they were having fun. But the over riding objective when we photograph a corporate event is to make sure that we deliver what the planner wants with their photography.
Palm Springs photographer Rand Larson specializes in photography for Corporate and Special Events. http://www.morningstarproductions.com
I have been providing photography for corporate and special events for over 20 years. Our company is based in Palm Springs. There are quite a number of large resorts including the Marriott Desert Springs, Westin Mission Hills, La Quinta Resort, Renaissance Esmeralda Resort. Many companies hold their sales and incentive meetings at these resorts and frequently need photography. But what kind of photography?
It's very important for me as a photographer to ask the planner what they want to use the photography for. Are they going to use the photographs for a company newsletter? If so then I need to let the photographs be descriptive. They need to show what happened at the event, who was there, what they learned. Hopefully each photograph will tell the story of what the company did at their meeting and what their objective was.
What if the photographs are intended as gifts? Often, especially at incentive trips, the photographs are part of a thank-you gift to the attendees. In that case the photographer needs to capture images of the guests having a great time, enjoying the trip. Photographs that they might want to have in their home or in a scrap book. A favorite type of event to photograph is a multiple day incentive trip for a group of less than 200 people. The photographer can get to know the people and they get to know the photographer. Then it really shows in the photographs. People are more animated in the photograph. If they feel that their photographer is a friend, they they look at the camera in a different way. It shows in their face in the photograph. And the photographer has fun too!
We recently updated our website. As we were looking for photographs to put on the website it was clear when the people were having fun and knew the photographer, versus when the people didn't even though they were having fun. But the over riding objective when we photograph a corporate event is to make sure that we deliver what the planner wants with their photography.
Palm Springs photographer Rand Larson specializes in photography for Corporate and Special Events. http://www.morningstarproductions.com
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Why Digital Camera Megapixels Don't Matter
By Kurt Hansen
You see it every time you look at an advertisement for a digital camera. The ad screams 8 MP or 10MP. It looks impressive. It's persuasive. It's important, isn't it? Nope. As a matter of fact, many people don't even know what it means. Many people understand what a 4 cylinder versus a 6 cylinder car means. They might even know what 145 versus 225 horsepower means. But megapixels? Not likely.
The number of megapixels is a measurement of the ability of the camera to capture light and color. A film camera uses film that is exposed to light and color through the camera lens. When the film is exposed, it changes chemically and when processed captures the picture. A digital camera uses an electronic circuit board to capture light and color. This circuit board consists of millions of light and color sensing charge coupled devices (CCDs). That's electronic speak for thingamajig. When the CCDs are exposed to light they capture the picture. Unlike film, digital photos don't need to be processed. They're available immediately.
The CCDs are arranged in an array. Think of it as a checkerboard with millions of squares. The number of squares is calculated by multiplying the number of rows by the number of columns. An 8 MP camera would have around 8 million CCDs. The circuit board might have 3,000 columns and 2,650 rows of CCDs which equals 7,950,000 CCDs. This is close enough for our example to state that it's an 8 MP camera. Each of these CCDs provides a numeric value, called a pixel, for the light and color when exposed by the lens. These values are saved in digital format to create the picture file.
"Doesn't a 10 MP camera capture more and thereby make my pictures better?" you ask. Yes, it captures more pixels. No, it doesn't make your pictures better. "What?" you exclaim. "How can this be? The camera manufacturers keep telling me I need more megapixels. Are they lying to me?" Well, no but they are being a bit misleading. Here's why: resolution determines the quality of the display on your monitor or the quality of a printed picture.
"So now what? How does resolution come into play?" you wonder aloud. Resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi). It determines how many pixels are needed for a specific size display or print. Digital photos are displayed and printed at specific resolutions. Increasing the resolution will display or print more dots per inch but the image size will go down. Decreasing the resolution will increase the image size but display fewer dots per inch.
Let's say you have a 10MP camera and take photos with the highest number of megapixels. Your camera might produce images of 3,888 pixels by 2,592 pixels. If you multiply these two numbers, the result is just over 10 million or 10MP. Send your pictures over to Walgreens and the standard resolution for printing is 128 dpi. If you want to print an 8 X 10" print you only need ((8 x 128) x (10 x 128)) = 1,310,720 pixels or 1.31 MP. What happens to all of those megapixels? Well, they're wasted! Not needed!
In this example, a camera with the ability to capture 1.31 megapixels will be sufficient to print a quality 8 X 10" print. More megapixels simply allow you to display a larger picture on your computer monitor or print a bigger picture without decreasing quality. That's all megapixels will buy you - bigger pictures.
Camera manufacturers still focus their ads on the number of megapixels. But when buying a camera, don't focus on the number of megapixels. You'd be hard pressed to find a camera with less than 2 MP today. Megapixels are mostly irrelevant unless you want to print or display very large pictures.
Kurt Hansen High FX Photo.net - Free Photo Stuff!
You see it every time you look at an advertisement for a digital camera. The ad screams 8 MP or 10MP. It looks impressive. It's persuasive. It's important, isn't it? Nope. As a matter of fact, many people don't even know what it means. Many people understand what a 4 cylinder versus a 6 cylinder car means. They might even know what 145 versus 225 horsepower means. But megapixels? Not likely.
The number of megapixels is a measurement of the ability of the camera to capture light and color. A film camera uses film that is exposed to light and color through the camera lens. When the film is exposed, it changes chemically and when processed captures the picture. A digital camera uses an electronic circuit board to capture light and color. This circuit board consists of millions of light and color sensing charge coupled devices (CCDs). That's electronic speak for thingamajig. When the CCDs are exposed to light they capture the picture. Unlike film, digital photos don't need to be processed. They're available immediately.
The CCDs are arranged in an array. Think of it as a checkerboard with millions of squares. The number of squares is calculated by multiplying the number of rows by the number of columns. An 8 MP camera would have around 8 million CCDs. The circuit board might have 3,000 columns and 2,650 rows of CCDs which equals 7,950,000 CCDs. This is close enough for our example to state that it's an 8 MP camera. Each of these CCDs provides a numeric value, called a pixel, for the light and color when exposed by the lens. These values are saved in digital format to create the picture file.
"Doesn't a 10 MP camera capture more and thereby make my pictures better?" you ask. Yes, it captures more pixels. No, it doesn't make your pictures better. "What?" you exclaim. "How can this be? The camera manufacturers keep telling me I need more megapixels. Are they lying to me?" Well, no but they are being a bit misleading. Here's why: resolution determines the quality of the display on your monitor or the quality of a printed picture.
"So now what? How does resolution come into play?" you wonder aloud. Resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi). It determines how many pixels are needed for a specific size display or print. Digital photos are displayed and printed at specific resolutions. Increasing the resolution will display or print more dots per inch but the image size will go down. Decreasing the resolution will increase the image size but display fewer dots per inch.
Let's say you have a 10MP camera and take photos with the highest number of megapixels. Your camera might produce images of 3,888 pixels by 2,592 pixels. If you multiply these two numbers, the result is just over 10 million or 10MP. Send your pictures over to Walgreens and the standard resolution for printing is 128 dpi. If you want to print an 8 X 10" print you only need ((8 x 128) x (10 x 128)) = 1,310,720 pixels or 1.31 MP. What happens to all of those megapixels? Well, they're wasted! Not needed!
In this example, a camera with the ability to capture 1.31 megapixels will be sufficient to print a quality 8 X 10" print. More megapixels simply allow you to display a larger picture on your computer monitor or print a bigger picture without decreasing quality. That's all megapixels will buy you - bigger pictures.
Camera manufacturers still focus their ads on the number of megapixels. But when buying a camera, don't focus on the number of megapixels. You'd be hard pressed to find a camera with less than 2 MP today. Megapixels are mostly irrelevant unless you want to print or display very large pictures.
Kurt Hansen High FX Photo.net - Free Photo Stuff!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Beautiful and Inspiring Nature Photography
By Nick Awkward
Ever since I remember, photography has been the most accessible and impressive way of capturing beauty but many artists consider it as the refuge of an artist with very less talent. Despite photography's wide acceptance as a fine art medium, there are still issues that some photographers face. People believe that the work produced by painters and graphic designers, have less possibility of being identical but photography is held to similar limitations.
However, I disagree. I would like to share a post with you, which clearly speaks for the creativity and art behind the brilliant photography.
Digital technology has radically changed photography. Now we get to see masterpieces of photography and photographers practicing new techniques to make their work memorable. I take the opportunity to brief you people about different types of photography techniques used now.
Abstract Photography:
Abstract photography is a popular form of art where the photographer uses his creative imagination to create stunning work of arts. Abstract photograph does not mean the same to everyone. Abstract photography leaves more to the imagination and helps us concentrate on texture and color rather than the whole subject.
Black and White Photography:
In today's digital technology, black and white photography is still regarded as favorite with many photographers. In most situations, black and white photography has the tendency to make photos look more like works of art.
Nature Photography:
Photographs of wildlife, flowers, birds, reptiles, snowfall, landscapes, sunsets and other sceneries are often used as stock photographs. Nature photography is always in great demand among publishers, graphic and web designers for web design and publishing their websites, books and greeting cards.
These are just few types of photography I have discussed, we all know photography has more to offer.
To see wonders of photography do check out: http://www.graphicdesignblog.org/nature-photography/
Ever since I remember, photography has been the most accessible and impressive way of capturing beauty but many artists consider it as the refuge of an artist with very less talent. Despite photography's wide acceptance as a fine art medium, there are still issues that some photographers face. People believe that the work produced by painters and graphic designers, have less possibility of being identical but photography is held to similar limitations.
However, I disagree. I would like to share a post with you, which clearly speaks for the creativity and art behind the brilliant photography.
Digital technology has radically changed photography. Now we get to see masterpieces of photography and photographers practicing new techniques to make their work memorable. I take the opportunity to brief you people about different types of photography techniques used now.
Abstract Photography:
Abstract photography is a popular form of art where the photographer uses his creative imagination to create stunning work of arts. Abstract photograph does not mean the same to everyone. Abstract photography leaves more to the imagination and helps us concentrate on texture and color rather than the whole subject.
Black and White Photography:
In today's digital technology, black and white photography is still regarded as favorite with many photographers. In most situations, black and white photography has the tendency to make photos look more like works of art.
Nature Photography:
Photographs of wildlife, flowers, birds, reptiles, snowfall, landscapes, sunsets and other sceneries are often used as stock photographs. Nature photography is always in great demand among publishers, graphic and web designers for web design and publishing their websites, books and greeting cards.
These are just few types of photography I have discussed, we all know photography has more to offer.
To see wonders of photography do check out: http://www.graphicdesignblog.org/nature-photography/
Monday, September 15, 2008
Creative Photography - Rules Are Made to Be Broken
By Andrew Goodall
Creative photography is a mix of many ingredients; art and technology, skill and patience, cold mechanical knowhow and individual flair.
As a beginner, wouldn't it be nice if the whole thing could be explained with a simple set of rules that were easy to understand. Surely someone could just tell you what aperture to use in a given situation, or how to structure a composition to get the best results every time?
Photography is a lot like learning to drive. With a car, you need to know the road rules, and you need to know the basic skills of steering, accelerating and braking. These can be learned easily with a bit of practice. But even when you have mastered the essentials, you still need to get to know your car, because each car is a little different. Then you need experience with night driving, wet-weather driving, off-road driving...
What you must understand is that following the rules will only take you so far. In photography, you will find that rules help you in the beginning, and some rules will stay with you throughout your career. The trick is to understand when the rules don't apply, or when you should choose to ignore them. This is the type of knowledge that can't easily be taught. It comes with experience, and is what gives you individuality as a photographer.
Below are just a few of the rules that, for an experienced photographer, are just made to be broken.
Photography Rule #1. Outdoor Photos Should Be Taken In The Early Morning Or Late Afternoon. This is one of the first principles of landscape photography, and can be applied to almost any outdoor photography. The softness and warm colour of the sunlight at these times adds beauty and character to almost any scene. It also creates much lower contrast, allowing you to avoid harsh shadows and over-exposure of the highlights in your photos.
When can you break this rule? I can think of two situations immediately.
Black and white photography is defined by contrast rather than by subtle colour, so you often want stronger shadows to create the best image. For this reason, black and white photos are often best taken closer to the middle of the day when the light is stronger.
Rainforest photography is also best in the middle of the day, but this time you don't want bright sunlight; you want cloudy weather to create an nice even light throughout the forest. Otherwise the patches of light coming through the canopy will create 'hot spots' all over your image.
Photography Rule #2.The Rule Of Thirds. The rule of thirds is an excellent guide for a beginner learning about composition. In simple terms, it divides your photo into three parts, vertically and horizontally. The dividing lines are the best places to position long objects in a photo (like trees and horizon lines). The points where the lines intersect are the most effective places to position smaller objects for most impact.
Photos that are taken according to the Rule Of Thirds appear balanced. They satisfy our natural sense of visual order and simply look 'right.' Unfortunately, the world is not so easily organised as the rule, so it is impossible in nature to take every photo this way. Moreover, sometimes you may decide to ignore the rule, giving more impact to the photo by shaking up the normal balance of the composition.
When can you break this rule? Here is one obvious example, but I am sure you can think of many more.
Sunset photos feature colourful skies, and silhoettes in the foreground. If you have a truly spectacular sky, it doesn't make sense to fill a third of the picture with empty blackness. You may choose to tilt the camera up to make a feature of the sky, and reduce the area filled by the foreground.
Rule #3. Your Lightmeter Is Always Right. Most of the time you can trust your lightmeter. If it indicates your photo is well exposed, it probably will be...but not always.
When can you break this rule? When there is a big difference in the level of light between the subject and the surroundings.
You may be photographing a person, an animal, a flower etc. in full sunlight, but the background is shady. This is a very effective way of making your subject stand out from the surroundings. In this situation, the different levels of light are bound to trick the lightmeter. In fact, if you take your photo on auto, your subject will most likely be overexposed. The best approach is to switch your camera to manual, and adjust your aperture or shutter speed until the photo is underexposed by one or two stops. This will darken your background and bring the subject into perfect exposure.
Can you see a pattern developing here? Rules are there for a reason, and your skills will improve in leaps and bounds if you learn them and practice them. But having done that, you are ready to take the next step. Start experimenting outside the rules and see where it takes you. Knowing and following the rules will make you a good photographer. Choosing how and when to break them will make you even better.
Check out Andrew Goodall's popular wildlife and landscape photography at http://www.naturesimage.com.au - and learn from his experience with the top selling ebook "Photography in Plain English." Don't forget to sign up to the online newsletter for tips and updates...it's free!
Creative photography is a mix of many ingredients; art and technology, skill and patience, cold mechanical knowhow and individual flair.
As a beginner, wouldn't it be nice if the whole thing could be explained with a simple set of rules that were easy to understand. Surely someone could just tell you what aperture to use in a given situation, or how to structure a composition to get the best results every time?
Photography is a lot like learning to drive. With a car, you need to know the road rules, and you need to know the basic skills of steering, accelerating and braking. These can be learned easily with a bit of practice. But even when you have mastered the essentials, you still need to get to know your car, because each car is a little different. Then you need experience with night driving, wet-weather driving, off-road driving...
What you must understand is that following the rules will only take you so far. In photography, you will find that rules help you in the beginning, and some rules will stay with you throughout your career. The trick is to understand when the rules don't apply, or when you should choose to ignore them. This is the type of knowledge that can't easily be taught. It comes with experience, and is what gives you individuality as a photographer.
Below are just a few of the rules that, for an experienced photographer, are just made to be broken.
Photography Rule #1. Outdoor Photos Should Be Taken In The Early Morning Or Late Afternoon. This is one of the first principles of landscape photography, and can be applied to almost any outdoor photography. The softness and warm colour of the sunlight at these times adds beauty and character to almost any scene. It also creates much lower contrast, allowing you to avoid harsh shadows and over-exposure of the highlights in your photos.
When can you break this rule? I can think of two situations immediately.
Black and white photography is defined by contrast rather than by subtle colour, so you often want stronger shadows to create the best image. For this reason, black and white photos are often best taken closer to the middle of the day when the light is stronger.
Rainforest photography is also best in the middle of the day, but this time you don't want bright sunlight; you want cloudy weather to create an nice even light throughout the forest. Otherwise the patches of light coming through the canopy will create 'hot spots' all over your image.
Photography Rule #2.The Rule Of Thirds. The rule of thirds is an excellent guide for a beginner learning about composition. In simple terms, it divides your photo into three parts, vertically and horizontally. The dividing lines are the best places to position long objects in a photo (like trees and horizon lines). The points where the lines intersect are the most effective places to position smaller objects for most impact.
Photos that are taken according to the Rule Of Thirds appear balanced. They satisfy our natural sense of visual order and simply look 'right.' Unfortunately, the world is not so easily organised as the rule, so it is impossible in nature to take every photo this way. Moreover, sometimes you may decide to ignore the rule, giving more impact to the photo by shaking up the normal balance of the composition.
When can you break this rule? Here is one obvious example, but I am sure you can think of many more.
Sunset photos feature colourful skies, and silhoettes in the foreground. If you have a truly spectacular sky, it doesn't make sense to fill a third of the picture with empty blackness. You may choose to tilt the camera up to make a feature of the sky, and reduce the area filled by the foreground.
Rule #3. Your Lightmeter Is Always Right. Most of the time you can trust your lightmeter. If it indicates your photo is well exposed, it probably will be...but not always.
When can you break this rule? When there is a big difference in the level of light between the subject and the surroundings.
You may be photographing a person, an animal, a flower etc. in full sunlight, but the background is shady. This is a very effective way of making your subject stand out from the surroundings. In this situation, the different levels of light are bound to trick the lightmeter. In fact, if you take your photo on auto, your subject will most likely be overexposed. The best approach is to switch your camera to manual, and adjust your aperture or shutter speed until the photo is underexposed by one or two stops. This will darken your background and bring the subject into perfect exposure.
Can you see a pattern developing here? Rules are there for a reason, and your skills will improve in leaps and bounds if you learn them and practice them. But having done that, you are ready to take the next step. Start experimenting outside the rules and see where it takes you. Knowing and following the rules will make you a good photographer. Choosing how and when to break them will make you even better.
Check out Andrew Goodall's popular wildlife and landscape photography at http://www.naturesimage.com.au - and learn from his experience with the top selling ebook "Photography in Plain English." Don't forget to sign up to the online newsletter for tips and updates...it's free!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Photographing in Dark Indoor Settings
By John Huegel
Here are several tips to help you capture the best images in dark indoor settings.
1. Camera Stability. You will be taking long exposures, and any camera motion could impact the quality of the image. Try to utilize a monopod or stabilize the camera on the back of a theater seat. Do not hold the camera in front of you without support. Some cameras and lenses have stabilization features which help, but will not be able to compensate for large movements in the camera. If you have an SLR, you may want to tuck your elbow into your belly, relax, hold your breath and gently press the shutter button.
2. Equipment. A digital SLR with a fast (2.8 or better) lens and the ability to capture images cleanly at high sensitivity is best. If you are using a point and shoot, you may have some challenges in getting clean images in a dark room.
3. Flash Off. Most indoor settings that allow photography specifically state "no flash photography". In many cases, you'll just ruin the existing lighting, distract the other viewers and get yourself ejected from the event. Also, from seating distance and angle, many on-camera flashes will be largely ineffective.
4. Exposure parameters. You will generally need to set your camera for high ISO or sensitivity (800 to 1600, some newer cameras will go to 3200 or more), low shutter speed (depends on your subject), and wide open F-stop (2.8 to 4.0). For those of you with point and shoot cameras, there may be a "night mode" or other preset which will attempt to deal with these conditions.
5. Shutter Speed. Integral to the exposure parameters above, you'll need to set a preferred shutter speed for the activity being photographed. Indoor sports events are often well lit, but you'll still want to stop motion at 1/120 or faster speed. Indoor dance performances may be much darker, but also require at least 1/60 to 1/100 to stop motion. Speeches and plays may have less motion, so you may be able to drop below 1/60. For images of still items such as museums, you can afford to drop to a low speed to get a better exposure at higher f-stop or lower sensitivity. Just remember that low shutter speed amplifies the need for camera stability.
6. Underexposing. Sometimes, to get the right shutter speed, you may not have enough sensitivity and aperture to get a good exposure. Instead of lowering the shutter and getting a guaranteed blurry image, keep the shutter where you need and underexpose the image. In your image editor, you can push the exposure a couple of stops and get a good image, even though it looked too dark on the camera preview.
7. White Balance. Getting this right in the camera will save you time. Many SLR's have a white balance custom fuction, where you photograph a white or gray image and tell the camera to use that for your white reference. If you can't do that, try the canned settings on the camera and review the playback of samples to see the best playback of color tones to the actual room colors. Or, you can shoot RAW and fix it at import.
8. Focus. Often cameras will have trouble focusing in dark settings. You may want to switch to manual focus, compose a test shot at the same distance to your subject, playback and zoom in the image to verify crisp focus on your subject. Then you'll avoid the "hunting" and missed focus of your images when the action starts.
9. Post Processing. I already mentioned pushing dark images and adjusting white balance. Another good tool for dark image editing is noise reduction. When you shoot at high ISO, you often get digital noise on the image. Running a noise reduction will remove some of that noise, but at the expense of image detail or sharpness. You'll have to weigh the amount and benefits of noise reduction in your case.
Please make sure that you don't take photos where you are not allowed, but given permission and these techniques, you can take some great indoor images in dark settings!
John Huegel is a photographer in the Erie, Pennsylvania area who specializes in Seniors, Dance Studio, Families and other groups. He is active in many charitable and volunteer activities in the Erie area. His work can be seen at http://jhphotomusic.com
Here are several tips to help you capture the best images in dark indoor settings.
1. Camera Stability. You will be taking long exposures, and any camera motion could impact the quality of the image. Try to utilize a monopod or stabilize the camera on the back of a theater seat. Do not hold the camera in front of you without support. Some cameras and lenses have stabilization features which help, but will not be able to compensate for large movements in the camera. If you have an SLR, you may want to tuck your elbow into your belly, relax, hold your breath and gently press the shutter button.
2. Equipment. A digital SLR with a fast (2.8 or better) lens and the ability to capture images cleanly at high sensitivity is best. If you are using a point and shoot, you may have some challenges in getting clean images in a dark room.
3. Flash Off. Most indoor settings that allow photography specifically state "no flash photography". In many cases, you'll just ruin the existing lighting, distract the other viewers and get yourself ejected from the event. Also, from seating distance and angle, many on-camera flashes will be largely ineffective.
4. Exposure parameters. You will generally need to set your camera for high ISO or sensitivity (800 to 1600, some newer cameras will go to 3200 or more), low shutter speed (depends on your subject), and wide open F-stop (2.8 to 4.0). For those of you with point and shoot cameras, there may be a "night mode" or other preset which will attempt to deal with these conditions.
5. Shutter Speed. Integral to the exposure parameters above, you'll need to set a preferred shutter speed for the activity being photographed. Indoor sports events are often well lit, but you'll still want to stop motion at 1/120 or faster speed. Indoor dance performances may be much darker, but also require at least 1/60 to 1/100 to stop motion. Speeches and plays may have less motion, so you may be able to drop below 1/60. For images of still items such as museums, you can afford to drop to a low speed to get a better exposure at higher f-stop or lower sensitivity. Just remember that low shutter speed amplifies the need for camera stability.
6. Underexposing. Sometimes, to get the right shutter speed, you may not have enough sensitivity and aperture to get a good exposure. Instead of lowering the shutter and getting a guaranteed blurry image, keep the shutter where you need and underexpose the image. In your image editor, you can push the exposure a couple of stops and get a good image, even though it looked too dark on the camera preview.
7. White Balance. Getting this right in the camera will save you time. Many SLR's have a white balance custom fuction, where you photograph a white or gray image and tell the camera to use that for your white reference. If you can't do that, try the canned settings on the camera and review the playback of samples to see the best playback of color tones to the actual room colors. Or, you can shoot RAW and fix it at import.
8. Focus. Often cameras will have trouble focusing in dark settings. You may want to switch to manual focus, compose a test shot at the same distance to your subject, playback and zoom in the image to verify crisp focus on your subject. Then you'll avoid the "hunting" and missed focus of your images when the action starts.
9. Post Processing. I already mentioned pushing dark images and adjusting white balance. Another good tool for dark image editing is noise reduction. When you shoot at high ISO, you often get digital noise on the image. Running a noise reduction will remove some of that noise, but at the expense of image detail or sharpness. You'll have to weigh the amount and benefits of noise reduction in your case.
Please make sure that you don't take photos where you are not allowed, but given permission and these techniques, you can take some great indoor images in dark settings!
John Huegel is a photographer in the Erie, Pennsylvania area who specializes in Seniors, Dance Studio, Families and other groups. He is active in many charitable and volunteer activities in the Erie area. His work can be seen at http://jhphotomusic.com
Friday, September 12, 2008
Photography Techniques - Getting People to Notice You
By Vickie E Gibbins
Getting people to notice you as a photographer is key to your success. The more people recognize you the more you're name will be passed around. Passing your name around by word of mouth is the biggest and best publicity you can get.
How to get your name out there
There are many ways to get your name out for people to hear. If you can do this for free even better but most of the time you have to absorb some costs. Absorbing costs is part of running your own business, the whole point is to promote your name and get it out there for people to hear.
Hold a contest
Holding a contest is a great way to get your business out there. New or expecting mothers are a great area to target when thinking of holding a contest. Why? Babies grow so fast and change so quickly. Capturing those cute little baby features when their itty bitty make great keep sakes for parents.
Make up some ballets stating contest rules and end times and put a cap on the number of entries. Hold the contest for a month, taking a picture of every baby entry and have a different random winner every week. The winner of the contest will get a gift certificate to a local baby store.
Why not give a FREE photograph as the prize?
Every photographer known to man has done this contest and give a FREE 8 x 10 picture of the winning baby. You're going to do things a bit different. Go into a local baby store and tell them you want to hold a contest for a month and would like to use their store as the prize (given in a gift certificate). Ask them to put your ballets near the register, make sure to put a nice picture of a baby that you've taken to show your talent.
The store may even give you a free certificate because you are driving traffic to their store. Make sure you make it clear that the winner of the contest is chosen by random selection, not cuteness of baby or best picture. Also make sure to post a picture of, "last week's winner" when mothers see the picture they will know their baby is cuter is want to get in on the contest.
The Results
I previously stated that new or expecting mothers are great to target for getting pictures, and it's true. One of the best things, as a mother, is having the choice to call up a professional photographer and get pictures done when you need them. Showing locals in your area that you're serious about what you do will get you results.
Contests are one of the greatest ways to get people to notice you and your work. Using great opportunities like this will help make your business a success. To find out more information please visit Photography Basics
Getting people to notice you as a photographer is key to your success. The more people recognize you the more you're name will be passed around. Passing your name around by word of mouth is the biggest and best publicity you can get.
How to get your name out there
There are many ways to get your name out for people to hear. If you can do this for free even better but most of the time you have to absorb some costs. Absorbing costs is part of running your own business, the whole point is to promote your name and get it out there for people to hear.
Hold a contest
Holding a contest is a great way to get your business out there. New or expecting mothers are a great area to target when thinking of holding a contest. Why? Babies grow so fast and change so quickly. Capturing those cute little baby features when their itty bitty make great keep sakes for parents.
Make up some ballets stating contest rules and end times and put a cap on the number of entries. Hold the contest for a month, taking a picture of every baby entry and have a different random winner every week. The winner of the contest will get a gift certificate to a local baby store.
Why not give a FREE photograph as the prize?
Every photographer known to man has done this contest and give a FREE 8 x 10 picture of the winning baby. You're going to do things a bit different. Go into a local baby store and tell them you want to hold a contest for a month and would like to use their store as the prize (given in a gift certificate). Ask them to put your ballets near the register, make sure to put a nice picture of a baby that you've taken to show your talent.
The store may even give you a free certificate because you are driving traffic to their store. Make sure you make it clear that the winner of the contest is chosen by random selection, not cuteness of baby or best picture. Also make sure to post a picture of, "last week's winner" when mothers see the picture they will know their baby is cuter is want to get in on the contest.
The Results
I previously stated that new or expecting mothers are great to target for getting pictures, and it's true. One of the best things, as a mother, is having the choice to call up a professional photographer and get pictures done when you need them. Showing locals in your area that you're serious about what you do will get you results.
Contests are one of the greatest ways to get people to notice you and your work. Using great opportunities like this will help make your business a success. To find out more information please visit Photography Basics
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Capture Your Precious Moments With Digital Photo Printing
By Thomas Jack
Gone are the days when people used to enjoy limited independence in taking photographs. In the past, taking photographs meant paying huge amount of money. Now the time has changed everything. Modern photography allows you to take multiple number of photographs as many as you want. In the past, the photographs had many limitations. One of these limitations was that traditional photographs were lacking in providing clear view of the captured moments. As this is the age of computers, so cameras are also getting the benefits of computerized features.
Now, people are almost familiar with the phrase "Digital Photo Printing". There are many digital cameras around us but few of them provide us the right kind of digital photographs. Sometimes, it happens that many photographs get stuck in the digital cameras and you find yourself in big problems not able to get prints of those valuable photographs captured in them. Get your outdated digital cameras changed today with the best digital photo printing cameras available in the market. Or you can make use of the websites which offer various online digital photo printing products and services.
The world wide web has many digital photo printing websites which can solve all of your photography problems in a couple of minutes. Such websites also sell various products for photography. Do not worry if you are not able take out the prints of the photographs from your digital cameras. These websites are the simple way to follow. These websites are well managed by experts who all the time work with the latest digital photography techniques.
There is another advantage of these websites providing digital photo printing products and services. The products and services offered by these websites are far higher in quality and price in comparison to the high-street photo studios. These photo studios always charge you high price. So, do not waste your valuable money with these photo studios. Better it is worth to carry on with the websites offering digital photo printing products and services. These websites provide you many attractive offers and discounts which are the best ways to save a lot of money.
Author: Thomas Jack is an expert in the field of digital photo printing and has been associated with it since years. After years of professional life thomas jack now wants to share his information about photo printing with others.
Gone are the days when people used to enjoy limited independence in taking photographs. In the past, taking photographs meant paying huge amount of money. Now the time has changed everything. Modern photography allows you to take multiple number of photographs as many as you want. In the past, the photographs had many limitations. One of these limitations was that traditional photographs were lacking in providing clear view of the captured moments. As this is the age of computers, so cameras are also getting the benefits of computerized features.
Now, people are almost familiar with the phrase "Digital Photo Printing". There are many digital cameras around us but few of them provide us the right kind of digital photographs. Sometimes, it happens that many photographs get stuck in the digital cameras and you find yourself in big problems not able to get prints of those valuable photographs captured in them. Get your outdated digital cameras changed today with the best digital photo printing cameras available in the market. Or you can make use of the websites which offer various online digital photo printing products and services.
The world wide web has many digital photo printing websites which can solve all of your photography problems in a couple of minutes. Such websites also sell various products for photography. Do not worry if you are not able take out the prints of the photographs from your digital cameras. These websites are the simple way to follow. These websites are well managed by experts who all the time work with the latest digital photography techniques.
There is another advantage of these websites providing digital photo printing products and services. The products and services offered by these websites are far higher in quality and price in comparison to the high-street photo studios. These photo studios always charge you high price. So, do not waste your valuable money with these photo studios. Better it is worth to carry on with the websites offering digital photo printing products and services. These websites provide you many attractive offers and discounts which are the best ways to save a lot of money.
Author: Thomas Jack is an expert in the field of digital photo printing and has been associated with it since years. After years of professional life thomas jack now wants to share his information about photo printing with others.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tips For Photography
By Lucy Bushman
Anyone can be a good photographer with a little patience and thought. The following are some photography tips to have you well on your way to making great photographs.
Get To Know Your Camera.
In most cases this can be done by reading your owner's manual. Find out the flash range. If the range is 3-15 feet, only plan on using your flash in that range. Find out where the focus points are located in the viewfinder or display screen. Is your camera able to focus on subjects in the center? Right side? Corners? Knowing these focus capabilities will help you when framing your shots.
Get Closer.
Don't be afraid to get close to your subject. If you think you are close enough, get closer. When photographing people, large background areas can be distracting. Too much space above a person's head can be distracting. Feel free to fill your screen or viewfinder with your subject. Keep in mind, however, not to get closer than your camera's focus range can handle. In most cases this will be around 3 feet, but you can use your zoom to get in closer than that.
Rule of Thirds.
Many photographers believe in the rule of thirds. Imagine your photo is divided into 3 equal parts, both horizontal and vertical, much like a tic-tac-toe board. Placing your main subjects at the intersections of these lines are thought to produce a more eye-pleasing photograph. This can be done with both vertical and landscape images. Moving your main subject away from dead center of the photograph can produce a very different, more interesting, image.
Move Your Feet.
Move around until you find the best side of your subject. If you are outdoors in full sun, always place the sun behind you. Don't just move side to side, move up and down. If you are photographing children, get down to their level. If you are photographing flowers, get right over it and shoot it from above. Simply moving your self around your subject can yield surprising results and amazing photographs.
Watch Your Backgrounds.
It is easy to get so wrapped up in your subject that you forget to check your background. Is your subject standing in front of a tree? Does the tree look like it is growing out of their head? Is your subject wearing a plaid sweater and standing in front of a patchwork quilt? Believe it or not, it is easy to miss these things. Keep your background simple. Move your feet to avoid unsightly background clutter. You don't want to get that perfect smile and later notice the large trashcan with neon orange sticker on it in your background.
These are a few photography tips that can significantly improve your images. Photography is an art, and like any art, it requires practice. Take some time practicing with these tips, and you will be well on your way to making great photographs!
Lucy Bushman is an accomplished niche website developer and author.
To learn more about photography tips, please visit Fun Photography for current articles and discussions.
Anyone can be a good photographer with a little patience and thought. The following are some photography tips to have you well on your way to making great photographs.
Get To Know Your Camera.
In most cases this can be done by reading your owner's manual. Find out the flash range. If the range is 3-15 feet, only plan on using your flash in that range. Find out where the focus points are located in the viewfinder or display screen. Is your camera able to focus on subjects in the center? Right side? Corners? Knowing these focus capabilities will help you when framing your shots.
Get Closer.
Don't be afraid to get close to your subject. If you think you are close enough, get closer. When photographing people, large background areas can be distracting. Too much space above a person's head can be distracting. Feel free to fill your screen or viewfinder with your subject. Keep in mind, however, not to get closer than your camera's focus range can handle. In most cases this will be around 3 feet, but you can use your zoom to get in closer than that.
Rule of Thirds.
Many photographers believe in the rule of thirds. Imagine your photo is divided into 3 equal parts, both horizontal and vertical, much like a tic-tac-toe board. Placing your main subjects at the intersections of these lines are thought to produce a more eye-pleasing photograph. This can be done with both vertical and landscape images. Moving your main subject away from dead center of the photograph can produce a very different, more interesting, image.
Move Your Feet.
Move around until you find the best side of your subject. If you are outdoors in full sun, always place the sun behind you. Don't just move side to side, move up and down. If you are photographing children, get down to their level. If you are photographing flowers, get right over it and shoot it from above. Simply moving your self around your subject can yield surprising results and amazing photographs.
Watch Your Backgrounds.
It is easy to get so wrapped up in your subject that you forget to check your background. Is your subject standing in front of a tree? Does the tree look like it is growing out of their head? Is your subject wearing a plaid sweater and standing in front of a patchwork quilt? Believe it or not, it is easy to miss these things. Keep your background simple. Move your feet to avoid unsightly background clutter. You don't want to get that perfect smile and later notice the large trashcan with neon orange sticker on it in your background.
These are a few photography tips that can significantly improve your images. Photography is an art, and like any art, it requires practice. Take some time practicing with these tips, and you will be well on your way to making great photographs!
Lucy Bushman is an accomplished niche website developer and author.
To learn more about photography tips, please visit Fun Photography for current articles and discussions.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
5 Simple Steps to Whiten Teeth in Your Portraits in Photoshop CS Or Elements
By Sharon Beth
There is nothing quite so disconcerting as yellowish or gray teeth in your portraits! As an example you get a really good shot of your favorite "model" and when you look at the image in Photoshop you notice her teeth are a muddy white with a yellowish cast. Even if her teeth are less than perfect in real life, you can add extra snap and sparkle to the image by giving her a bright clean smile!
1. Open your image in Photoshop CS or Elements. I have made this simple so am not using Layers. Just make a copy of your image to work on.
2. In your Toolbox on the left, choose the Lasso tool. Along the top of the page you will see "feather" - set that to about 10% as it will soften the edge between the lightened teeth and the lips or gums. Now using the Lasso tool select just the teeth. There should be a "marching ants" line around them now. Work on this selection to make sure you are satisfied with it and that it covers all of the teeth, even the ones in the back.
3. Now you have the teeth selected, go to the top toolbar where it says "Image". There is a pull-down menu. Select "Adjustments" and then "Brightness/Contrast" from that menu. Use the "Brightness" slider bar to increase the lightness of the teeth to where you think they look natural, and then press "OK". Check out the overall effect of what you have done to see if it is satisfactory.
4. The next step would be to de-saturate any color cast such as a yellowish or sometimes pinkish tones on the teeth. You should still have the teeth selected. Go to the "Image" tab again, click on "Adjustments" and then "Hue/Saturation". Take the Saturation slider and move it to the left, de-saturating the color from the teeth to a more neutral gray tone. You can also use the "Hue" slider to get a more pleasing tone to your finished product. Press "OK"
5. A final step would be to go to the Toolbox again on the left and click on the "Dodge" tool. Set it to a soft edged brush at about 10% exposure and click on "Highlights" in the "Range" menu on the top toolbar. Gently whiten the central area of each tooth to make a realistic roundness to each tooth. This can make the teeth look more natural. The teeth are still selected so you go up to "Select" on the top toolbar and then use the "Deselect" from that pull-down menu. This will turn off the selection leaving your adjustment to the teeth still in effect. Save your file!
This small touch on just the teeth of the subject can make a major difference in the appearance of the subject and she will be much happier with the result!
Written by Sharon Beth http://www.letmefixyourpictures.com
Sharon Beth is a professional photographer and excellent in the use of Photoshop CS3 to fix,alter, restore, change and make art out of your pictures!
She has 30 years experience as a photographer and 8 years with Photoshop. Her expertise is in Real Estate head shots and portraits, although she is very much a photo artist as well, creating works of art from hers and others photographs!
There is nothing quite so disconcerting as yellowish or gray teeth in your portraits! As an example you get a really good shot of your favorite "model" and when you look at the image in Photoshop you notice her teeth are a muddy white with a yellowish cast. Even if her teeth are less than perfect in real life, you can add extra snap and sparkle to the image by giving her a bright clean smile!
1. Open your image in Photoshop CS or Elements. I have made this simple so am not using Layers. Just make a copy of your image to work on.
2. In your Toolbox on the left, choose the Lasso tool. Along the top of the page you will see "feather" - set that to about 10% as it will soften the edge between the lightened teeth and the lips or gums. Now using the Lasso tool select just the teeth. There should be a "marching ants" line around them now. Work on this selection to make sure you are satisfied with it and that it covers all of the teeth, even the ones in the back.
3. Now you have the teeth selected, go to the top toolbar where it says "Image". There is a pull-down menu. Select "Adjustments" and then "Brightness/Contrast" from that menu. Use the "Brightness" slider bar to increase the lightness of the teeth to where you think they look natural, and then press "OK". Check out the overall effect of what you have done to see if it is satisfactory.
4. The next step would be to de-saturate any color cast such as a yellowish or sometimes pinkish tones on the teeth. You should still have the teeth selected. Go to the "Image" tab again, click on "Adjustments" and then "Hue/Saturation". Take the Saturation slider and move it to the left, de-saturating the color from the teeth to a more neutral gray tone. You can also use the "Hue" slider to get a more pleasing tone to your finished product. Press "OK"
5. A final step would be to go to the Toolbox again on the left and click on the "Dodge" tool. Set it to a soft edged brush at about 10% exposure and click on "Highlights" in the "Range" menu on the top toolbar. Gently whiten the central area of each tooth to make a realistic roundness to each tooth. This can make the teeth look more natural. The teeth are still selected so you go up to "Select" on the top toolbar and then use the "Deselect" from that pull-down menu. This will turn off the selection leaving your adjustment to the teeth still in effect. Save your file!
This small touch on just the teeth of the subject can make a major difference in the appearance of the subject and she will be much happier with the result!
Written by Sharon Beth http://www.letmefixyourpictures.com
Sharon Beth is a professional photographer and excellent in the use of Photoshop CS3 to fix,alter, restore, change and make art out of your pictures!
She has 30 years experience as a photographer and 8 years with Photoshop. Her expertise is in Real Estate head shots and portraits, although she is very much a photo artist as well, creating works of art from hers and others photographs!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Great Free Photo Editing Programs
By Robert Grazian
Digital photography is a wonderful thing, but soon one ends up with hundreds of pictures which would be great except they need just a little correction or tweaking. Maybe there are problems with red eye, or the contrast or brightness was not quite right. Few people want to spend fifty to three hundred dollars on a photo editing program to deal with these problems. Luckily, there are plenty of quality free photo editing programs out there to choose from.
FxFoto
FxFoto's standard edition is one of many photo editing programs that does most things that the casual photographer would like to correct in their pictures. Included in the standard edition for FxFoto are tools like lighting and image adjustment, red eye correction, blemish correction, smoothing, cropping, photo frames, and text enhancement. Of course, it goes without saying this application will save and rename standard image files. FxFoto has one of the higher user ratings from unaffiliated websites such as downloads.com hosted by CNET. The deluxe version of this software does much more including slide shows, scrapbook layouts, and collages to name a few.
Photozig Albums Express
Another great pick in editing programs would be Photozig Albums Express. This application is a great solution for managing digital photos and slide shows on your computer. This program makes it easy to transfer pictures from your computer to your camera and organize them in any way you see fit. Tools such as red eye correction and their own "quick fix" allow you to automatically adjust brightness and contrast intensity to the optimum level. The Photozig application also saves the original so it is easy to go back to your original photo if you don't like the correction. It's easy to use interface makes this program wonderful for all levels of users from advance to beginner. This program works with both the Windows XP and Vista operating system.
Pixresizer 2.0.3
Pixresizer is an easy to use photo file resize application. Have you ever tried to send your pictures to friends and relatives only to find that they have a hard time viewing them because the resolution or size of the photo is just too big? This nifty little program will have you quickly resizing one or ten selected photos for easier use within email applications and on the web. The smaller sized pictures are saved to a separate file so that the original photo is unchanged. It also converts photos between various different formats. As far as free photo editing programs go, this one should be included with every digital camera sold.
These are just a few choices of the numerous free photo programs and tools out there for the general public to use. Whether you desire to create digital photo albums, online scrapbooks, or slide shows, there is certain to be a quality product out there for your use. Just be sure when you are downloading an application that you are doing it from a reputable website so you can be sure you won't get any unwanted viruses.
Robert Grazian is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about great free photo editing programs visit My Digital Photography Classes for current articles and discussions.
Digital photography is a wonderful thing, but soon one ends up with hundreds of pictures which would be great except they need just a little correction or tweaking. Maybe there are problems with red eye, or the contrast or brightness was not quite right. Few people want to spend fifty to three hundred dollars on a photo editing program to deal with these problems. Luckily, there are plenty of quality free photo editing programs out there to choose from.
FxFoto
FxFoto's standard edition is one of many photo editing programs that does most things that the casual photographer would like to correct in their pictures. Included in the standard edition for FxFoto are tools like lighting and image adjustment, red eye correction, blemish correction, smoothing, cropping, photo frames, and text enhancement. Of course, it goes without saying this application will save and rename standard image files. FxFoto has one of the higher user ratings from unaffiliated websites such as downloads.com hosted by CNET. The deluxe version of this software does much more including slide shows, scrapbook layouts, and collages to name a few.
Photozig Albums Express
Another great pick in editing programs would be Photozig Albums Express. This application is a great solution for managing digital photos and slide shows on your computer. This program makes it easy to transfer pictures from your computer to your camera and organize them in any way you see fit. Tools such as red eye correction and their own "quick fix" allow you to automatically adjust brightness and contrast intensity to the optimum level. The Photozig application also saves the original so it is easy to go back to your original photo if you don't like the correction. It's easy to use interface makes this program wonderful for all levels of users from advance to beginner. This program works with both the Windows XP and Vista operating system.
Pixresizer 2.0.3
Pixresizer is an easy to use photo file resize application. Have you ever tried to send your pictures to friends and relatives only to find that they have a hard time viewing them because the resolution or size of the photo is just too big? This nifty little program will have you quickly resizing one or ten selected photos for easier use within email applications and on the web. The smaller sized pictures are saved to a separate file so that the original photo is unchanged. It also converts photos between various different formats. As far as free photo editing programs go, this one should be included with every digital camera sold.
These are just a few choices of the numerous free photo programs and tools out there for the general public to use. Whether you desire to create digital photo albums, online scrapbooks, or slide shows, there is certain to be a quality product out there for your use. Just be sure when you are downloading an application that you are doing it from a reputable website so you can be sure you won't get any unwanted viruses.
Robert Grazian is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about great free photo editing programs visit My Digital Photography Classes for current articles and discussions.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Zoom Effect - Racking the Lens Technique
By Affendy Ahmad
Zoom Effect Technique - Racking the Lens
Zoom Effect in photography terms is where you capture an image which looks like the subject is moving either towards you or away from you with a motion kind of lines. It's also known as racking the lens. What I'm writing today is where the effect is created or done while shooting the image through camera and not the post production techniques (in photoshop terms its call "radial blur"). During my assignments I would look for opportunities where I could apply this technique where possible just to give some varieties to my client.
3 basic steps to follow in order to get the effect.
1. Set your shutter speed to a longer exposure
2. Composed, focus and take a shot.
3. While taking the shot between when the shutter opens and actually closes, you need to zoom in or zoom out your lens.
As usual you need a lot of practice in order to be able to capture a nice zoom effect and that's what fun about photography.
Tips to help you get better results.
Choosing the shutter speed - Choose a shutter speed long enough to zoom your lens from one end to another. There is no one standard setting on your shutter speed in order to achieve the effects. There are few factors to consider. Always look on the situation at the point of your shooting.
1. Level of available lights.
2. Type of lens you are using.
3. Amount of movement of your camera or the subject
Again, always experiment with different shutter speeds and see the result. Different setting may result in different level of effect.
Aperture - While aperture setting is not the most critical to obtain a nice zoom effect but when using a slower shutter speeds you might have a problem in over exposed situation (depending on the overall lighting situation) as it lets more light into your camera. You can cope with the potential over exposed situation by selecting a larger aperture (large f numbers).
Zooming - To get a nice smooth motion lines in your image, you need to be able to zoom smoothly and constantly (nice smooth flow while zooming). Do not speed up at one point and later slow down at another point while zooming.
It does not matter if you either zoom in or zoom out to get the effect as zooming in on a subject will give you a different result than zooming out. Try both way and you will see the different effects.
Making use of lights - Lights can produce really spectacular effects.
The two pictures below was taken during a stage performance where the stage was well lighted with colourful lightings where else the foreground where the audiences are seated where dark. ( The first picture to show you the actual situation while the second picture I took by racking the lens).
In this situation I fire my flash gun just enough to freeze the subjects on the foreground (notice the video crew and part of the audience which are in the darker sport are being freeze).
During the long exposure, I managed to freeze part of the image in this case the video crew and the audiences while getting movement behind it (in this case the stage performers) and around it (see the infra red effect coming from one of the audience's camera).
Hope this would be a useful tips. Keep a look out for more photography tips and tutorial. Enjoy and have some fun with your camera. Remember to practice and keep practicing.
For more photography article and tips visit my blog at: http://www.affendy.com/blog
Affendy http://www.affendy.com
Photographer for All Occasions
Zoom Effect Technique - Racking the Lens
Zoom Effect in photography terms is where you capture an image which looks like the subject is moving either towards you or away from you with a motion kind of lines. It's also known as racking the lens. What I'm writing today is where the effect is created or done while shooting the image through camera and not the post production techniques (in photoshop terms its call "radial blur"). During my assignments I would look for opportunities where I could apply this technique where possible just to give some varieties to my client.
3 basic steps to follow in order to get the effect.
1. Set your shutter speed to a longer exposure
2. Composed, focus and take a shot.
3. While taking the shot between when the shutter opens and actually closes, you need to zoom in or zoom out your lens.
As usual you need a lot of practice in order to be able to capture a nice zoom effect and that's what fun about photography.
Tips to help you get better results.
Choosing the shutter speed - Choose a shutter speed long enough to zoom your lens from one end to another. There is no one standard setting on your shutter speed in order to achieve the effects. There are few factors to consider. Always look on the situation at the point of your shooting.
1. Level of available lights.
2. Type of lens you are using.
3. Amount of movement of your camera or the subject
Again, always experiment with different shutter speeds and see the result. Different setting may result in different level of effect.
Aperture - While aperture setting is not the most critical to obtain a nice zoom effect but when using a slower shutter speeds you might have a problem in over exposed situation (depending on the overall lighting situation) as it lets more light into your camera. You can cope with the potential over exposed situation by selecting a larger aperture (large f numbers).
Zooming - To get a nice smooth motion lines in your image, you need to be able to zoom smoothly and constantly (nice smooth flow while zooming). Do not speed up at one point and later slow down at another point while zooming.
It does not matter if you either zoom in or zoom out to get the effect as zooming in on a subject will give you a different result than zooming out. Try both way and you will see the different effects.
Making use of lights - Lights can produce really spectacular effects.
The two pictures below was taken during a stage performance where the stage was well lighted with colourful lightings where else the foreground where the audiences are seated where dark. ( The first picture to show you the actual situation while the second picture I took by racking the lens).
In this situation I fire my flash gun just enough to freeze the subjects on the foreground (notice the video crew and part of the audience which are in the darker sport are being freeze).
During the long exposure, I managed to freeze part of the image in this case the video crew and the audiences while getting movement behind it (in this case the stage performers) and around it (see the infra red effect coming from one of the audience's camera).
Hope this would be a useful tips. Keep a look out for more photography tips and tutorial. Enjoy and have some fun with your camera. Remember to practice and keep practicing.
For more photography article and tips visit my blog at: http://www.affendy.com/blog
Affendy http://www.affendy.com
Photographer for All Occasions
Friday, September 5, 2008
Styling and Color Tips For Flower Photography
By Timothy Spencer
Flowers are a passionate subject to shoot. Whether you're shooting below, above, on the side, far or up close, flowers will always remain to be an interesting subject with many possibilities. If you're using a DSLR for shooting roses or any type of flora and fauna, it is important to remember the color rule - that red is the most powerful color in photography. Even so subtle, the color red if placed in any photograph will tell your eyes to move towards it. Thus, red attracts the human eye.
If you have styling experience and want to go the extra mile, experimenting with dew drops can create very pleasant effects to your photos. Have you ever seen those photos where a plant leaf has a single dew drop hanging by its tail, waiting to fall to the ground? This very dramatic shot can be achieved in many ways but the formula for creating the dew can be made at home. There are two ways to recreate the image that your flowers are "fresh from the rain." Simply put dewdrops can be sprayed onto flowers with water to create that artificial effect.
For a more "solid" dew you can hop over to your local drugstore and purchase a bottle of glycerine (Mercury Drugstore in the Philippines carries these) which in turn you have to mix with a little water. A 50-50 solution of glycerine and water and poured into a small spray can can create a more consistent dew effect for your flowers.
Of course, there is nothing better than the real thing. Studio shots are great but don't you think something out natural should be taken out in the wild? The best way to photograph flowers out in its natural habitat would be to do so early in the morning or sometime in the afternoon but never with the noon sun because your subject will appear saturated.
Besides, the reward for waking up early is it allows you to photograph flowers fresh from the evening dew. If you want warmer and more vibrant photos, you can wait till the afternoon to shoot. You'll be surprised to see different results of shooting the same subject at different angles during different parts of the day.
The end all of shooting a subject as beautiful as flowers is that it should also inspire you, as a photographer to enjoy what you're doing. It is such a big irony to go out into the wild to shoot beauty when you're in a bad disposition. Flower photography, or any photography for that matter should have a therapeutic effect - and for this purpose, you'd be hard pressed to find a subject as relaxing as flowers.
This article was written by Timothy Spencer for Island Rose - Flowers Philippines. We hope you enjoyed this article and encourage you to visit our website. Through island Rose, you can send Philippines Flowers or simply browse through our blog for more informative articles.
Flowers are a passionate subject to shoot. Whether you're shooting below, above, on the side, far or up close, flowers will always remain to be an interesting subject with many possibilities. If you're using a DSLR for shooting roses or any type of flora and fauna, it is important to remember the color rule - that red is the most powerful color in photography. Even so subtle, the color red if placed in any photograph will tell your eyes to move towards it. Thus, red attracts the human eye.
If you have styling experience and want to go the extra mile, experimenting with dew drops can create very pleasant effects to your photos. Have you ever seen those photos where a plant leaf has a single dew drop hanging by its tail, waiting to fall to the ground? This very dramatic shot can be achieved in many ways but the formula for creating the dew can be made at home. There are two ways to recreate the image that your flowers are "fresh from the rain." Simply put dewdrops can be sprayed onto flowers with water to create that artificial effect.
For a more "solid" dew you can hop over to your local drugstore and purchase a bottle of glycerine (Mercury Drugstore in the Philippines carries these) which in turn you have to mix with a little water. A 50-50 solution of glycerine and water and poured into a small spray can can create a more consistent dew effect for your flowers.
Of course, there is nothing better than the real thing. Studio shots are great but don't you think something out natural should be taken out in the wild? The best way to photograph flowers out in its natural habitat would be to do so early in the morning or sometime in the afternoon but never with the noon sun because your subject will appear saturated.
Besides, the reward for waking up early is it allows you to photograph flowers fresh from the evening dew. If you want warmer and more vibrant photos, you can wait till the afternoon to shoot. You'll be surprised to see different results of shooting the same subject at different angles during different parts of the day.
The end all of shooting a subject as beautiful as flowers is that it should also inspire you, as a photographer to enjoy what you're doing. It is such a big irony to go out into the wild to shoot beauty when you're in a bad disposition. Flower photography, or any photography for that matter should have a therapeutic effect - and for this purpose, you'd be hard pressed to find a subject as relaxing as flowers.
This article was written by Timothy Spencer for Island Rose - Flowers Philippines. We hope you enjoyed this article and encourage you to visit our website. Through island Rose, you can send Philippines Flowers or simply browse through our blog for more informative articles.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
How to Sell Puppy Pictures
By Eliza Maledevic
Taking puppy pictures and compiling them for a photo album or a scrap book is indeed a very enjoyable activity to do. But have you ever considered the possibility that you can actually sell those puppy pictures?
While you might have not thought of it before you ever read this article, allow us to assure you that this is really something that you can do so you could earn some money out of this activity. Just read on and find more details about the topic at hand.
In reality, there is really a huge demand for puppy pictures these days. While we cannot compare the demand to other products like modern gadgets, cosmetics, or food, it is still a fact that there are a lot of people out there today who are willing to pay a good amount of money just to obtain puppy pictures
For example, you can sell your puppy pictures to magazines and publications that feature animals.
Other than that, you can also sell those photos to people who collect puppy pictures as a hobby. It is really possible for you to do that. In the end, what would determine your probability to sell the puppy pictures is how you find the target customer. Although it might be challenging to find customers on your own at first, it's all just a matter of consistent effort and you will have a lot of customers for this profitable activity.
But before finding a client, your first concern should be that the puppy pictures you take have high quality. With that, what we mean is that you should make it a point that your shots would be clear and crisp. It really shouldn't be blurry or you won't be able to sell them at all. Investing in a high-end camera can be an advantage for you but using a point-and-shoot digital camera and knowing how to use their configurations well can be enough. Besides, you can always use a photo-editing software of your choice if you are not satisfied with the results you get out of the digital camera. With the use of the software, you can adjust the brightness and even modify the color of your puppy pictures.
As you master using your camera, your next step would be to add more and more canine species to your gallery. You should always bring your camera with you so you could be ready to take puppy pictures whenever there is an opportunity plus you could also attend dog shows for more chances to meet your goal. It is always important for someone who sells puppy pictures to have a huge gallery, of course.
After doing all of that, you can then showcase your gallery by putting up your own website. This way, you can reach out to more and more customers not just in your particular area but in other places across the country, and even in other parts of the world. That will definitely increase your chances of selling those puppy pictures you have.
Eliza Maledevic writes for http://Jump2Top.com - SEO Company
Taking puppy pictures and compiling them for a photo album or a scrap book is indeed a very enjoyable activity to do. But have you ever considered the possibility that you can actually sell those puppy pictures?
While you might have not thought of it before you ever read this article, allow us to assure you that this is really something that you can do so you could earn some money out of this activity. Just read on and find more details about the topic at hand.
In reality, there is really a huge demand for puppy pictures these days. While we cannot compare the demand to other products like modern gadgets, cosmetics, or food, it is still a fact that there are a lot of people out there today who are willing to pay a good amount of money just to obtain puppy pictures
For example, you can sell your puppy pictures to magazines and publications that feature animals.
Other than that, you can also sell those photos to people who collect puppy pictures as a hobby. It is really possible for you to do that. In the end, what would determine your probability to sell the puppy pictures is how you find the target customer. Although it might be challenging to find customers on your own at first, it's all just a matter of consistent effort and you will have a lot of customers for this profitable activity.
But before finding a client, your first concern should be that the puppy pictures you take have high quality. With that, what we mean is that you should make it a point that your shots would be clear and crisp. It really shouldn't be blurry or you won't be able to sell them at all. Investing in a high-end camera can be an advantage for you but using a point-and-shoot digital camera and knowing how to use their configurations well can be enough. Besides, you can always use a photo-editing software of your choice if you are not satisfied with the results you get out of the digital camera. With the use of the software, you can adjust the brightness and even modify the color of your puppy pictures.
As you master using your camera, your next step would be to add more and more canine species to your gallery. You should always bring your camera with you so you could be ready to take puppy pictures whenever there is an opportunity plus you could also attend dog shows for more chances to meet your goal. It is always important for someone who sells puppy pictures to have a huge gallery, of course.
After doing all of that, you can then showcase your gallery by putting up your own website. This way, you can reach out to more and more customers not just in your particular area but in other places across the country, and even in other parts of the world. That will definitely increase your chances of selling those puppy pictures you have.
Eliza Maledevic writes for http://Jump2Top.com - SEO Company
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Ready To Go Pro?
By Jonathan Popoola
Have you ever wondered what the cameras of professional photographers are called? We have seen it everywhere, people with big black cameras adjusting the lens and focusing on their subject, but we really do not know what their cameras are called. They are called SLR cameras short for single lens reflex camera.
People who are ready to embark on the next level of photography usually buy SLR cameras. The top manufacturers of SLR cameras are Nikon, Canon and Olympus. These brands offer different styles of SLR cameras and with various features.
Using an SLR camera has a lot advantages and disadvantages. First for the good parts, SLR cameras have a lot more lens versatility. For SLR cameras you have the option of having to change lenses depending on what shot you want to make. It all depends on the angle that you want to take. Another nice thing about SLR cameras is that they perform better in terms of autofocus and faster shutter speed to prevent blurred pictures. You can shoot better shots with the said feature which results to a good quality picture. As compared to compact cameras the SLR prints have a better quality this is because 10 megapixels from a common digital compact camera is nothing compared to 10 megapixels from an SLR camera.
Now let's go to the not so good parts of SLR cameras. The most obvious reason is that these cameras are very bulky. They are not practical when you are in a hurry and you don't want to carry big things. As compared to compact cameras which are very handy, having SLR cameras will weigh you down. Another thing is that SLR cameras are generally higher in price than your compact cameras. This is because of the more complicated composition of these cameras.
They have higher quality and they use special kinds of materials to be able to build a camera with high capabilities. One more disadvantage is that SLR cameras have a tendency to consume more energy. Their batteries are more complicated, complex and more complicated. Charging the batteries of your SLR camera is a crucial part when you want to have good shots. When you run out of battery power in the middle of your shoot this will be a problem because you'll have lower quality pictures.
There are several accessories you can buy to gear up you camera. You can add filters to protect your lens. Some filters are designed to add special effects to your shots, like when you want soft focus shots. Another accessory for your lens is the lens hood that helps lessen the unintentional light artifacts in your images. Lastly, if you want more bright lighting for your shots you can buy add on flashers. This will help eliminate shadows and make your pictures clearer.
That's about everything that you need to know about SLR's, the next thing that you have to do is to research the brand and model that will best suit your needs.
If you need help or more information on which digital slr is best for your needs please visit our site. For detailed reviews and feature break downs on digital slr camera visit my site for all types of digital camera resources.
Have you ever wondered what the cameras of professional photographers are called? We have seen it everywhere, people with big black cameras adjusting the lens and focusing on their subject, but we really do not know what their cameras are called. They are called SLR cameras short for single lens reflex camera.
People who are ready to embark on the next level of photography usually buy SLR cameras. The top manufacturers of SLR cameras are Nikon, Canon and Olympus. These brands offer different styles of SLR cameras and with various features.
Using an SLR camera has a lot advantages and disadvantages. First for the good parts, SLR cameras have a lot more lens versatility. For SLR cameras you have the option of having to change lenses depending on what shot you want to make. It all depends on the angle that you want to take. Another nice thing about SLR cameras is that they perform better in terms of autofocus and faster shutter speed to prevent blurred pictures. You can shoot better shots with the said feature which results to a good quality picture. As compared to compact cameras the SLR prints have a better quality this is because 10 megapixels from a common digital compact camera is nothing compared to 10 megapixels from an SLR camera.
Now let's go to the not so good parts of SLR cameras. The most obvious reason is that these cameras are very bulky. They are not practical when you are in a hurry and you don't want to carry big things. As compared to compact cameras which are very handy, having SLR cameras will weigh you down. Another thing is that SLR cameras are generally higher in price than your compact cameras. This is because of the more complicated composition of these cameras.
They have higher quality and they use special kinds of materials to be able to build a camera with high capabilities. One more disadvantage is that SLR cameras have a tendency to consume more energy. Their batteries are more complicated, complex and more complicated. Charging the batteries of your SLR camera is a crucial part when you want to have good shots. When you run out of battery power in the middle of your shoot this will be a problem because you'll have lower quality pictures.
There are several accessories you can buy to gear up you camera. You can add filters to protect your lens. Some filters are designed to add special effects to your shots, like when you want soft focus shots. Another accessory for your lens is the lens hood that helps lessen the unintentional light artifacts in your images. Lastly, if you want more bright lighting for your shots you can buy add on flashers. This will help eliminate shadows and make your pictures clearer.
That's about everything that you need to know about SLR's, the next thing that you have to do is to research the brand and model that will best suit your needs.
If you need help or more information on which digital slr is best for your needs please visit our site. For detailed reviews and feature break downs on digital slr camera visit my site for all types of digital camera resources.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Smile, Baby!
By Jonathan Popoola
First smile, first yawn, going on her first trip to the doctor or wearing her first shoes. Nothing can give new moms and dads so much joy then having all these baby firsts captured in great photos.
And this new found hobby just doesn't stop at baby's first few months. It goes on and on to the first time baby crawls, the first steps, the first visit to grandma and grandpa and a host of other reasons to keep on clicking and clicking. This makes the digital camera a great gift for new parents. Furthermore, this makes us pop the question, is the camera a baby necessity? Should the digital camera be included in the new mom's shopping list?
Well it certainly is not as necessary as hampers, feeding bottles or diapers, but for most parents, they just couldn't do without a handy compact camera once the baby comes around. They're just too cute!
The more affordable compact digital camera would be one good equipment for new moms and dads to start with. It operates with your basic point and shoot that comes with auto focus and zoom functions. It also allows neophyte parent-photographers to adjust the lighting from indoor to outdoor to night time photography. In other words the compact digital camera provides you with the basic photography needs.
The quality and size of photos you take and print would depend largely on the compact camera's capabilities, from the very basic three or four or even up to ten mega pixels.
However, for new parents who would like to begin taking up baby photography as a serious hobby, the digital SLR camera may be a more appropriate choice. While it could come at a cost that is five or perhaps even ten times more expensive than the basic, the quality of photographs, its versatility and speed, and more importantly for documenting, baby's firsts, and its capability to take action as it happens, easily explains why.
The compact camera's auto focus and auto zoom functions are limited only to what has been electronically programmed. The digital SLR camera allows you to experiment and combine a wide range of options in terms of the choice of lens (such as whether for landscape or action photography) as well as its light sensitivity and shutter speed. It also allows you to choose the focal point of your photograph as you can manually adjust both the zoom and the focus separately, as much or as little as you want.
Of course, the digital SLR would require much careful handling compared to the compact camera, considering the sensitivity of its parts and the cost it entails when it comes to having them repaired or replaced. Chances of your digital SLR camera surviving as a toy-- such as a teether or a ball--, should your baby accidentally get hold of it, are slim compared to the compact camera.
Having a digital camera handy, may it be the compact camera or the digital SLR camera during your baby's first adventures is a sure fire way of making sure that happy baby memories are preserved and shared.
For more information on which [http://www.slr-digital-cameras.co.uk]digital slr to buy or for help in choosing which is the best digital slr camera for your needs. Visit my site for information on compact and slr digital cameras. Including reviews and user reviews
First smile, first yawn, going on her first trip to the doctor or wearing her first shoes. Nothing can give new moms and dads so much joy then having all these baby firsts captured in great photos.
And this new found hobby just doesn't stop at baby's first few months. It goes on and on to the first time baby crawls, the first steps, the first visit to grandma and grandpa and a host of other reasons to keep on clicking and clicking. This makes the digital camera a great gift for new parents. Furthermore, this makes us pop the question, is the camera a baby necessity? Should the digital camera be included in the new mom's shopping list?
Well it certainly is not as necessary as hampers, feeding bottles or diapers, but for most parents, they just couldn't do without a handy compact camera once the baby comes around. They're just too cute!
The more affordable compact digital camera would be one good equipment for new moms and dads to start with. It operates with your basic point and shoot that comes with auto focus and zoom functions. It also allows neophyte parent-photographers to adjust the lighting from indoor to outdoor to night time photography. In other words the compact digital camera provides you with the basic photography needs.
The quality and size of photos you take and print would depend largely on the compact camera's capabilities, from the very basic three or four or even up to ten mega pixels.
However, for new parents who would like to begin taking up baby photography as a serious hobby, the digital SLR camera may be a more appropriate choice. While it could come at a cost that is five or perhaps even ten times more expensive than the basic, the quality of photographs, its versatility and speed, and more importantly for documenting, baby's firsts, and its capability to take action as it happens, easily explains why.
The compact camera's auto focus and auto zoom functions are limited only to what has been electronically programmed. The digital SLR camera allows you to experiment and combine a wide range of options in terms of the choice of lens (such as whether for landscape or action photography) as well as its light sensitivity and shutter speed. It also allows you to choose the focal point of your photograph as you can manually adjust both the zoom and the focus separately, as much or as little as you want.
Of course, the digital SLR would require much careful handling compared to the compact camera, considering the sensitivity of its parts and the cost it entails when it comes to having them repaired or replaced. Chances of your digital SLR camera surviving as a toy-- such as a teether or a ball--, should your baby accidentally get hold of it, are slim compared to the compact camera.
Having a digital camera handy, may it be the compact camera or the digital SLR camera during your baby's first adventures is a sure fire way of making sure that happy baby memories are preserved and shared.
For more information on which [http://www.slr-digital-cameras.co.uk]digital slr to buy or for help in choosing which is the best digital slr camera for your needs. Visit my site for information on compact and slr digital cameras. Including reviews and user reviews
Monday, September 1, 2008
The Key to Precision Shooting
By Jonathan Popoola
Ever wonder why sometimes, the scene you see within the viewfinder of a camera is not exactly the scene that is captured in the photograph you have taken? This is because some models don't have automatic moving mirror system that is present in single-lens reflex cameras or SLR.
It has been a noted fact that before the inception of this technology, most models utilize two optical light paths-one is directly going through the lens that capture images, the other is slightly off and is directed towards the eyepiece or viewfinder. This is the reason why the photograph taken is slightly different from what to photographer sees. With the advent of the SLR technology, photographers can capture in the frame what needs to be captured.
But digital models have undermined the success of SLR. And previewing the shot on the LCD screen seemed to be the way to go for most people. After all, it doesn't matter to them if their shots are not perfect as long as they are clear. The good thing about most digicams today is that they have live-preview capability. That means that even if some people prefer to use the LCD display rather than the viewfinder, what they see on the display is what will actually come out in the photograph.
One of the advantages of a single-lens reflex model is that it has a wider aperture range (or the device that controls the amount of light that passes through the lens). Because of this, a photographer will have a narrower depth of field as he can shoot in low-light conditions without using flash. A more dramatic photograph can be achieved because of the depth of field, which is essential when you want to make your subject more prominent than its background. Also, there are models with lenses that have long focal lengths. This will help a photographer to shoot his or her subject at a distance without compromising the quality of the photograph.
But single-lens reflex models are not without disadvantages. The most notable of all is its size. Since these units have pentaprism and mirror box, it needs a bigger case. It is also because of that mirror box that simple wide-angle lenses could not be incorporated. In lieu of the simple lenses are retrofocus designs that are more complex. You can't even have a live preview on the LCD display of digital single-lens reflex models. You still have to preview the shot through the viewfinder. This minor setback, however, will be resolved with the arrival of new products in the market this year and in 2009.
They say a good camera needs a good photographer to take good pictures. But if you are still learning the basics of photography, it's good to know that some cameras will help you achieve success in taking photographs. Most models are equipped with certain features, which you can use to your advantage. Still, to get the best photos, a photographer would have to rely on his or her instincts and skills. Features will only make it easier.
For more information on which digital slr to buy or for help in choosing which is the best digital slr camera for your needs. Visit my site for information on compact and slr digital cameras. Including reviews and user reviews
Ever wonder why sometimes, the scene you see within the viewfinder of a camera is not exactly the scene that is captured in the photograph you have taken? This is because some models don't have automatic moving mirror system that is present in single-lens reflex cameras or SLR.
It has been a noted fact that before the inception of this technology, most models utilize two optical light paths-one is directly going through the lens that capture images, the other is slightly off and is directed towards the eyepiece or viewfinder. This is the reason why the photograph taken is slightly different from what to photographer sees. With the advent of the SLR technology, photographers can capture in the frame what needs to be captured.
But digital models have undermined the success of SLR. And previewing the shot on the LCD screen seemed to be the way to go for most people. After all, it doesn't matter to them if their shots are not perfect as long as they are clear. The good thing about most digicams today is that they have live-preview capability. That means that even if some people prefer to use the LCD display rather than the viewfinder, what they see on the display is what will actually come out in the photograph.
One of the advantages of a single-lens reflex model is that it has a wider aperture range (or the device that controls the amount of light that passes through the lens). Because of this, a photographer will have a narrower depth of field as he can shoot in low-light conditions without using flash. A more dramatic photograph can be achieved because of the depth of field, which is essential when you want to make your subject more prominent than its background. Also, there are models with lenses that have long focal lengths. This will help a photographer to shoot his or her subject at a distance without compromising the quality of the photograph.
But single-lens reflex models are not without disadvantages. The most notable of all is its size. Since these units have pentaprism and mirror box, it needs a bigger case. It is also because of that mirror box that simple wide-angle lenses could not be incorporated. In lieu of the simple lenses are retrofocus designs that are more complex. You can't even have a live preview on the LCD display of digital single-lens reflex models. You still have to preview the shot through the viewfinder. This minor setback, however, will be resolved with the arrival of new products in the market this year and in 2009.
They say a good camera needs a good photographer to take good pictures. But if you are still learning the basics of photography, it's good to know that some cameras will help you achieve success in taking photographs. Most models are equipped with certain features, which you can use to your advantage. Still, to get the best photos, a photographer would have to rely on his or her instincts and skills. Features will only make it easier.
For more information on which digital slr to buy or for help in choosing which is the best digital slr camera for your needs. Visit my site for information on compact and slr digital cameras. Including reviews and user reviews
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