Digital Photographer Blog

DPBlog moved. We are now at sergykal.me

2009-01-04T18:55:00.006-05:00

Hello, after a long break from posting, I am happy to inform you that Digital Photographer Blog has moved to

http://sergykal.me

The site's been redesigned to make navigation easy. Most importantly, I am working on new content. Please, bookmark the new site, or better yet, subscribe to the RSS feed to stay updated.

Thanks

Serge

Demystifying Ansel Adams' Zone System

2006-07-24T16:07:00.001-04:00

THIS POST HAS BEEN MOOVED TO HERE

FanArtReview.com Photo Contest

2006-07-21T00:13:00.000-04:00

FanArtReview.com has a great photo contest going on right now! The theme is "Summertime". Grand prize is $100 pre-paid VISA Gift Card!

"Take a picture that somehow captures this time of the year. It can be poolside fun or a shot of the beauty that you find nearby. The contest judges will be looking for pictures that inclorporate the theme in some way."

Deadline: 30 July 2006. One entry per person. Submit your entry!

Adobe Project: Lightroom (beta)

2006-07-18T00:20:00.000-04:00

Below is what Adobe Labs has to say about their new product Lightroom (beta). I think it's worth a try. Check it out!

Adobe Lightroom beta is a new, exciting product built from the ground up for professional photographers. It is an efficient, powerful way to import, select, develop and showcase large volumes of digital images. It allows you to spend less time sorting and organizing images, so you have more time to actually shoot and perfect them. Project Lightroom aims to get direct product feedback from the photography community, via our new Adobe Labs web site, so that photographers will have a huge say in what Adobe actually ships.

Project: Lightroom™ is Adobe’s effort to engage the professional photography community in a new way, giving you the opportunity to kick the tires and shape the feature set of a new tool being created just for you. Ultimately, we want Lightroom™ to be truly built from the ground up by photographers, for photographers, helping solve your unique workflow challenges.

We’re releasing a preview build now so that you have plenty of time to give us feedback on what’s working for you, and what isn’t. Your participation is important. Download now and send us your feedback before the Lightroom™ Beta 3 build expires January 30, 2007.

To learn more, check out the Lightroom Beta Overview and Getting Started with the Develop Module video below which will help get you up and running on Lightroom.
Note: Although initially available as a beta for Macintosh, Lightroom will later support both the Windows and Macintosh platforms. Sign-up to be notified when the Windows version becomes available.

Get Lightroom Beta for Macintosh Now or Discuss Lightroom in the Labs Forums

Information provided by Adobe Labs

O'Reilly's Photoshop Contest 2006

2006-07-15T19:35:00.000-04:00

Win some great prizes (and learn new tricks) in the 2006 O'Reilly Photoshop Cook-Off!

"This contest is open to anyone and everyone in the United States* who shoots photographs and manipulates them with Photoshop. Not only can you win Adobe Creative Suite 2, an Epson Stylus Photo printer, and other cool prizes, but you'll also quickly expand your knowledge of Photoshop with easy-to-follow recipes from the O'Reilly Photoshop Cookbooks. And we've lined up judges from the industry's A-list — here's a chance to get your work in front of experts like Mikkel Aaland, Bert Monroy, Deke McClelland, Katrin Eismann, Vincent Versace, Eddie Tapp, John Beardsworth, and the glitterguru, among others."

The contest ends August 15, so grab a few recipes, fire up Photoshop, and start cooking!

Enter Contest at O'Reilly Digital Media

Nikon Capture NX trial available

2006-07-14T08:58:00.000-04:00

Last week, Nikon has made available a trial version of its all new image workflow, editing and conversion software Capture NX. Announced back in February this year NX is a result of collaboration between Nik software and Nikon, and is widely anticipated by Nikon owners (as its speciality will be Nikon raw, NEF, conversion). Capture NX will cost $149.95 for the full package or $89.95 as an upgrade when it goes on sale later this month. The 30-day trial is availlable for download at the nikonusa.com website. Read full report on dpreview.com

Memory Cards Explained

2006-07-12T19:55:00.000-04:00

Memory cards are used by digital cameras to store photos and video clips. In this sense they perform the same role as film in a traditional film camera. There are many different types of memory card available. You need to be careful when buying a memory card to make sure it is compatible with your camera.

The capacity of a memory card is measured in megabytes (MB) and Gigabytes (GB). The number of photos you can store on a memory card depends on the number of megapixels your digital camera has. The more megapixels the lower the number of images you will be able to store.

To give you a very rough idea of capacity a 1GB card can hold 400 photos taken with a five megapixel camera, 335 with a six megapixel model and 280 with a seven megapixel camera.

A memory card is not always supplied with a new digital camera. This is because more and more cameras are being made with small amounts of memory built into them. Typically you will be able to store between five and twenty photos on the card that comes with the camera or in the internal memory. Therefore before you are able to do any serious picture taking you will need to buy a card with a higher capacity.

Most digital cameras are only compatible with one type of card. Others can use two, three or even four different types of card.

The most common type of card used in consumer level digital cameras is now the SD card. This type of card can also be referred to by its full name, Secure Digital. There are two reasons for the growth in popularity of the SD card. The first is its relatively small size (30mm x 22mm approx). The second is it is capable of storing large numbers of photos. The SD card is commonly found in Canon, Casio, Kodak, Nikon, Panasonic and Pentax digital cameras.

Olympus and Fuji have worked together to produce the xD card. These cards are smaller than SD cards (25mm x 20mm). All current Olympus and Fuji consumer level digital cameras use the xD card to store photos on. There are three types of xD card. These are the H card, M card and a standard card that comes without a letter. The standard card was the original xD card. The two newer types were introduced because they could hold larger numbers of photos. The H card is a higher speed card. This means photos can be stored more quickly on the card. This can increase the speed at which the camera is ready to take the next shot. The M card and the standard card are both normal speed cards.

Sony have their own type of memory card. This is known as Memory Stick. There are two types of Memory Stick. One is original Memory Stick. This is around 50mm x 20mm in size. More recently smaller Memory Stick DUO cards have made their mark. These have dimensions of 30mm x 20mm and are also thinner than the original Memory Stick. Memory Stick DUO cards are now being used as the card of choice by Sony in their digital cameras.

Previously CompactFlash cards were the most common type of memory card. Their large size (42mm x 36mm) has counted against them and they are now only found in a handful of the most advanced digital cameras.

Points to keep in mind when buying a memory card include the fact that you can buy high speed cards and that there may be a maximum capacity card that your camera is compatible with. Although a high speed cards may sound like a good idea it is quite possible that unless your camera is an advanced model it will not be able to utilize the higher speed capabilities of a fast card. This is because of limitations of the technology within the camera itself. Before you go out and buy a 4GB card check with your manufacturer that your camera is capable of working with such a high capacity card.

With regard to brands I happily use cards from Sandisk, Lexar and Kingston.

This article was provided by Andy Needham of http://www.cameras.co.uk/
Cameras.co.uk provides digital camera reviews, price comparisons and general help for buying digital cameras. There is also a special section where you can ask a question if you would like further help.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Needham

Understanding Image Resolution

2006-07-05T22:13:00.000-04:00

Resolution is a term used a lot in photography these days - regardless which type of photography you do, or which type of camera you use, understanding image resolution, pixels and the different properties attributed to them is so important.

Whether you are printing, scanning or sending an image by e-mail, you need to understand and know how to keep your images sharp and preserve as much detail as possible in your final print.

This topic does cause some confusion, so I hope the following will help.

Image resolution explained: Photography resolution is a measurement of image quality, so you may define resolution by how much detail is in your print. If your print has sharp detail you may consider your image to be of good resolution. If detail is blur in your image you may consider your image to have poor resolution. Good resolution is a direct result of having a large number of pixels in an image.

Pixels explained: Digital images are made up of millions of small dots - each dot is called a pixel. Each dot contains a small piece of image information, and when added together with the other pixels you’ll get your final image.
Print resolution is measured in pixel per inch (ppi) or in dots per inch (dpi) - both hold the same value. 300ppi means that there are 300 pixels per inch or 90,000 pixels per a square inch.

What size can I print my images?

A digital image that’s 1500ppi wide will print a 15-inch wide print if the print resolution is 100ppi.

If you change the same image to a print resolution to 300ppi your final print size will become a 5-inch wide print.

If your image file is 3000ppi wide x 2400ppi high with a print resolution 300ppi, your final print size will be 10 x 8 inch. The same file with a print resolution of 150ppi will give you a final print of 20 x 16 inch.

Divide the print resolution into the pixel width or height of your image.

Higher resolution should not be taken to mean that your images would be of higher quality - your images would only be of high quality if you print to the correct format.

Example - if you print a 3000ppi x 2400ppi size file to a print size of 20 x 16 inch at 300ppi, the pixels may be visible resulting in a blur image. You need to print it at 600ppi to attain good quality.

What size resolution should I use?

At 600ppi (which is an extremely large resolution) your image will be supreme sharp. You will be restricted with print size.

Printing your images at 300ppi is the standard quality. Image sharpness doesn’t get much better. The only setback is that the maximum print size will be restricted - you might need to drop the resolution to get a larger image.

If you need a large print from a small file print your file at 150ppi - your print will lack detail and the pixels may be visible. You should not print an image any smaller than 150ppi.

72ppi is standard with your computer screen. Don’t print your images at this size - the pixels will be visible.

Resolution tips: Scan your images as large as possible; it's easy to resize them later. If you scan an image to small you may have to re-scan at a later date to get a larger print.

If you need a print that’s twice the size of the original - scan it at 600ppi and print it at 300ppi.

Try to print your image at 300ppi.

If you use a tripod when taking an image you may be able to push the print resolution lower than the recommended 300ppi - this will enable you to get a larger print.

Other Tips: Be very careful when cropping an image, if you crop it too much you will reduce the print size.

Be careful not to confuse print resolution with printer resolution; printer resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi), but these values are a great deal higher- common printer resolutions are 2400dpi and 5760dpi - this is a measure of the amount of ink dropped onto your paper per inch.

About the Author: TJ Tierney. Award winning Irish Landscape photographer. If you are looking for more photo tips visit http://www.goldenirishlight.com/photographytips.html to view some of his images visit his on line gallery @ http://www.goldenirishlight.com

Article Source: http://www.articlematrix.com

How to Photograph Fireworks

2006-06-30T08:54:00.000-04:00

NY Institute of Photography has a great article series covering all aspects of photographing fireworks. With the 4th of July (Independence Day) approaching, I thought it would be fitting to feature this article by Jim Barthman. Enjoy.

"Regardless of the camera equipment you use, making good photos of fireworks can be challenging. Here are some tips on digital fireworks photography as well as some basic things to consider whenever you are shooting a pyrotechnics display."
Read More...

Another tutorial covering fireworks photography is written by Michael Carr, a writer (guide) at About.com. Michael lists 7 tips that will help you take better photos of fireworks.

"Fireworks displays are certainly stunning and colorful. Capturing those moments with a camera is a challenge, though. Often times, you'll end up with shaky, blurry messes that hardly resemble what actually happened. This year, get stellar fireworks pictures. Watching fireworks go off on the 4th of July is always fun to do, but photographing them can sometimes be your biggest headache. Here are some digital photography tips for shooting fireworks pictures."
Read More...

Darren Rowse of Digital Photography School posted a great (as usual) tutorial HERE

My reason for this advice is that back when I bought my first ever SLR (a film one) one of the first things I photographed was fireworks and I was amazed by how easy it was and how spectacular the results were.
Read More...

Along with the articles mentioned, check out Tips for low-light photography. It may give you some ideas and a better understanding of the subject (which is a photographer's goal; or at least mine)

If you have a technique that you use to photograph fireworks, share it with our community by leaving a comment - I would love to hear it and try it out!

New to Photoshop? Check this out!

2006-06-26T18:31:00.000-04:00

Anyone who has ever used Adobe Photoshop will tell you that there is a lot to learn in order to perform even simple tasks. You would be forgiven for admitting that you felt a little bewildered by the large array of menus, floating palettes and tools on offer.

I have been using Adobe Photoshop on a professional basis for the past 10 years and have seen it continuously grow. I currently lecture at a local University in this very subject and still find that during each and every lesson I find something new within this excellent photographic tool.

My students, daunted by the overwhelming size of the application, often ask ‘Where do you start?’

This article is intended to answer that very question. Whether you are an absolute beginner or a veteran, I believe that the approach outline here will benefit your further learning.

1. To Begin...Don’t be afraid, it won’t explode!

Explore Photoshop. Feel free to open up an image and run through each menu, clicking on menu items and buttons or slide bars and submitters…EXPERIMENT!

Of course, it would be wise to ensure that the image that you are using has been back-up elsewhere before you start this expedition.

What could possibly go wrong? The only thing I could imagine that may go astray is the odd floating palette. If this happens, you can recall them by using the ‘Window’ menu. So just relax, sit down and muck around with your image.

2. Photoshop Navigation

In order to become proficient and effective in using Adobe Photoshop, you must be comfortable with navigating around an image. A few tricks of the trade should come in handy here.

There is nothing worst than trying to move from one area of an image to another using the default Zoom tool and Hand tool. Using these two toolbar ‘criminals’ will MASSIVELY slow you down!

EXPERIEMENT 1: Try it out for yourself for yourself…

a. Open up an image.

b. Start your stop watch.

c. Use the Zoom tool to increase the zoom factor to about 200%.

d. Now, using the Brush tool, draw a line from the left hand side of your image across to the right

e. Use the Hand tool to reveal the next part of the canvas.

f. Stop your stop watch! How long did it take?

You’ll find it both a slow method and a challenge to keep focused on the task, i.e. pick up brush - paint, pick up hand tool - move, pick up brush – paint, etc.

EXPERIEMENT 2: Now try this:

a. Open up an image.

b. Start your stop watch.

c. Use Ctrl + to increase the zoom factor to about 200%.

d. Now, using the Brush tool (press B), draw a line from the left hand side of your image across to the right

e. Hold down the spacebar and left click and drag to reveal the next part of the canvas.

f. Stop your stop watch! How long did it take?

Firstly, Experiment 2 will only take a fraction of the time to get the same results as found in Experiment 1. Secondly, I bet you barely had to think about it! You mind was allowed to wonder onto other things.

Holding down the spacebar toggles between the Hand tool and the currently selected tool. Take you thumb off the space bar and your back to Brush tool.

Keep on practising through the above exercise.

3. So what have we learnt from this?

Using quick-keys or shortcuts are simply the best way of operating within Adobe Photoshop. They will both increase the speed of your workflow and free up valuable brain processing power. In fact, you’ll find that if you adopt the use of quick-keys, you will soon start to work on a reactionary and instinctive basis. Photoshop by reflex!

I rarely have to think about what I am doing while using Adobe Photoshop. That is, I don’t have to think about the technical runnings, just the creative objectives.

This is comparable to driving a car. I’m sure that any motorist reading this article will agree that while driving from A to B, you are not necessarily aware of all of the physical operations involved in controlling your car. You do it by reflex. Using Photoshop can be the same with practice.

Feel free to use this article online and in your email newsletters as long as you leave it intact and do not alter it in anyway. The by-line and resource box must remain in the article and you must acknoledge the author.

James Middleton
http://www.turningturnip.co.uk
http://www.turningturnip.co.uk/photoshop

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Middleton

Photoshop Tutorial - How to get Great Skintones

2006-06-23T18:07:00.000-04:00

Good skintones. The search for the holy grail of digital photography. I have been banging our heads against the wall for years trying to perfect "THE ONE SIZE FITS ALL" solution to working with skintones and I'm talking about capturing, workflow, output, the whole nine yards. What I've figured out so far is that skintones are somewhat subjective. The procedures that ultimately create good skintones are as follows:

Good capture: When you capture the image 99% of your job is done. If your exposures are off and your colorbalance is off, then your skintones will be off.

Of course this means your lightmeter will be your best friend (second to your dog). Be on top of your exposures like dirt on a pig. Know your histograms and image tones. Don't just use your LCD as a reference. Your LCD brightness varies, and is not 100% reliable to use on it's own, however it is an integral tool that works with everything else. Never get lazy here, always check your exposure, know your exposures and keep it accurate. Make this a part of your mind set and workflow. And don't forget to test new stuff, never assume....

Colorbalance: I like to shoot a greycard under the lighting conditions we are shooting in as a custom whitebalance setting. For some reason a greycard seems to work better for us than a whitecard. What can I say. I get images that are neutral, I can warm them up later if I choose. However, for many digital photographers, using a white card to create their custom white balance weems to work just fine.

Workflow: I like to get an idea of what a good skintone is by using the colorpicker. Now remember, skintones are subjective, so it's purely arbitrary but you will get used to it in time. So, as a rule of thumb, using the color picker, depending on the actual pigmentation of the subject we find the reds are about 20% higher than the green and about 30 - 40% higher than the blue. Since during the capture the tone has been turned off (in camera parameters), I can add more to the skintone by using colorbalance and saturation.

Assuming that you have good capture, (exposure/whitebalance), there are several ways to acquire or enhance skintones. One of the best ways is by using the selective color (IMAGE/ADJUSTMENTS/SELECTIVE COLOR, or ALT-I-A-S). I have been using this for a little while now, and so far it's rendered me outstanding skintones. Here's how it works:
Simply reduce the amount of cyan in the reds. Usually about 40-50%. I could go more, but I hold off. Why? Because when I adjust the contrast later it will bring out more tones in the image, thus giving me more red in the skin. There is al lot or red in the skin, especially caucasians, so by doing this technique you will give most people more warmth and glow to their skin tone- but be careful!! Do not over do it.

The thing I like about using the selective color this way, is that I am only working with the red tones. If I didn't want to affect any other reds (like the reds in her coat) I can simply do several things:

Make a selection around her face and then perform the adjustments.
OR
After the adjustments simply use the history brush and erase the areas I don't wish affected.

That's it. Simple isn't it, when you get down to the basics.

Robert Provencher has been a professional portrait and wedding photographer for over 25 years. He has trained hundreds of professional photographers throughout North America in live workshops and through his online forum. Robert has authored several manuals on digital photography and photogaphy marketing. http://www.nobsphotosuccess.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Provencher

Color Calibrating Your Computer

2006-06-21T12:12:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been disappointed with the quality of the prints you received from your local photo laboratory? Or wondered why you can spend hours tweaking your digital images and still get them back with strange colour tones or too much light? Welcome to the often frustrating world of colour calibration!

Problems with colour calibration occur because every computer screen has a different way of showing a particular colour. Even primary colours can be shown very differently if you view them on a different monitor or computer. To see this in action, try looking at the same image on both your own computer and that of a friend or colleague.

The frustrating thing is that the problem gets worse over time - as your computer screen ages it becomes less precise in the way it displays colours. What this means is that while an image may look great on your screen, it will look different and be printed differently at the printers. Some printing labs will try to adjust your photos for you - unfortunately this can often make them look even worse.

Calibrating your computer and a printing facility can be difficult - but in this article we outline some simple ways to achieve greater consistency.

Basic calibration: There are a number of free online options you can use to achieve better calibration of your monitor. Easy RGB has a simple step-by-step guide that will assist you to adjust a number of settings.

Software calibration: The Adobe Photoshop image editing suite automatically installs a program called Adobe Gamma into your control panel (START-SETTINGS-CONTROL PANEL). Using this type of colour-calibration wizard will allow you to achieve far more accurate colour calibration settings. For a free alternative to Adobe Gamma you should take a look at this program.

Hardware calibration: The best possible calibration results are achieved by using physical calibration devices. By placing the device against your monitor, it can adjust your colour profile to a recognized standard. Although expensive, the Spyder 2 (http://www.colorvision.com/) is used by many professional design and printing companies.

Color Profiles: To achieve as perfect as possible a match between the image you see on your screen and the one you get back from a printing lab you should ask for a copy of the colour profiles used to calibrate their printing machines. This is a small file that will tell your computer exactly how to display each colour for the greatest accuracy. Large photographic laboratories may be unwilling to provide you with this information, but many smaller agencies will be very amenable.

A final word: Taking photographs is an important part of capturing and preserving the important milestones and events of our lives. Many people will often spent hours in front of a computer editing their images before sending them off to be printed. Making sure your computer monitor is properly calibrated is one way you can make sure that your passion and effort is rewarded with stunning photographs.

Dylan Tovey works at the Australian canvas printing company http://www.brilliantprints.com.au/ He gets to see the good, the bad, and the ugly when framing and printing customer photographs. His own keen love of photography has turned him into an evangelical spokesperson for good photographic habits.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dylan_Tovey

Photography 101: What's a Megapixel?

2006-06-19T13:41:00.000-04:00

With the rise in popularity of the internet, digital photography is getting closer and closer to becoming the widespread standard. Not only for use in digital publications but hard copy as well. For those in the technology and photography industry the transition has been relatively easy, whereas most of us “regular folks” are now in a bit of a fog when it comes to all this crazy terminology, like megapixel, that we know nothing about. You’ll hear lots of people (mostly “gurus”) talking about how great it is and how much easier digital photography is. Now go and try to explain megapixel to your grandfather!

To make the transition to digital photography easier it’s important to understand the relevant terminology. One of the most important terms you'll hear when discussing the topic is the MEGAPIXEL. Megapixel, translated literally stands for one million pixels. A PIXEL is a single point in a graphic image. Therefore a digital picture that is one megapixel is an image that has been created using one million pixels of varying colors. Being the inquisitive person that you are, I bet now you’re wondering how those pixels come together in color to create this picture. Well my answer to that is… BABY STEPS FIRST! If you really want to learn, let’s cover all our megapixel basics before we get into bits and bytes.

So now that you know what a megapixel is, let’s talk about how this translates into your every day life. You’re at the store comparing five different digital cameras. While there are a number of different elements that differentiate cameras, the megapixel is the most obvious element to consider. A one megapixel camera takes pictures using one million pixels or points. You may be thinking to yourself “Wow that’s great!”, and it is, but what you need to consider is the kinds of pictures you want to take and what you will be using them for.

For someone who is just looking to send family photos through email or simply store them in their computer for later viewing, one megapixel is fine. Even if you are looking to print some small 4x6 size photographs to take with you, one megapixel can still suit your purposes depending on how picky you are. On the other hand, if you are planning on taking pictures so that you can blow them up to 16x20 and hang them on the wall, one megapixel simply isn’t going to cut it.

Think of billiard balls put away neatly in their little tray, all lined up next to each other. The mixture of colors brought closely together creates a “picture” of sorts. Now spill them out onto the pool table and try to create the same “picture” on this much bigger background. Obviously to recreate the “picture” you’re going to need a lot more balls. Basically that’s how megapixels work. The bigger the canvas is going to be the more millions of pixels you will need to cover the space without distorting the image.

See how easy that was?! You are now one step closer to becoming a digital photography genius. Good luck and don’t forget to take it one step at a time. Just think of it as gathering your pixels together one by one. Soon enough you’ll have enough to understand the “BIG PICTURE”!

This digital photography tip article is brought to you by award-winning professional photographer Warren Lynch. Exciting articles gives both beginners and advance digital camera enthusiast the leg up.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Warren_Lynch

Rule of Thirds: Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, But Not This One

2006-06-12T21:18:00.000-04:00

The "Rule of the Thirds" is a fundamental truth among photographers and artists. I suppose that it's not really a rule though. You can think of it more as a "guideline". So, in that case, I guess that there are times when it can be broken. Before we talk about breaking the rule, let's talk about what the rule is all about. It's tough to know when to break a rule if you don't know when to apply it.

The "Rule of Thirds" calls for you to draw imaginary lines that divide the scene into a grid of horizontal and vertical thirds. That is, you mentally "draw" two horizontal lines which divides your image equally into three rows or bands. Then you draw two vertical lines which divides your image equally into three columns. The end result is a checkerboard of nine evenly spaced squares. Check out this example.

Experts say that by using the lines as a guide it's easy to produce a nicely composed image that avoids the common practice of centering your subject in the middle of the shot. Since there is no intersecting pair of lines in the center of the image, it's impossible to place your subject there if you follow the rule.

Camera manufacturers aren't big supporters of the "rule" because they design their auto focus circuitry around the assumption that the subject of the photograph will always be centered in the viewfinder. So, when shooting using the Rule of Thirds, you may need to switch to manual focus if your camera refuses to focus properly.

Now that you understand the rule, let's explore the wisdom of breaking it from time to time.
An interesting result of drawing those imaginary lines is that not only do they intersect, but they also run parallel to each other. That results in a side benefit which can give you an entirely different perspective when composing certain shots.

Let's suppose you're in the desert on a clear night with a full moon and a sky full of stars. You've got nothing but a miles of white sand, glistening in the moonlight, between you and a large butte in the distance. Instead of placing the butte at one of the intersecting points, like the rule requires, center the butte horizontally in the viewfinder and then move the camera so that you place the top third of the butte slightly above the bottom horizontal line. The result will be a dramatic dwarfing of the mountain by that magnificent night sky and a perspective that the average photographer would have never seen if it weren't for the "rule".

The nice thing about the "Rule of Thirds" is that it always works when there isn't something else that will work better. That means that if you don't have time to compose a perfect shot, you'll at least end up with one that's better than ordinary if you let the "Rule of Thirds" take over.

Have more questions about rule of thirds? This digital photography tip article is brought to you by award-winning professional photographer Warren Lynch. Exciting articles gives both beginners and advance digital camera enthusiast the leg up. With cutting-edge digital photography blogs, forum and review resources.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Warren_Lynch

Sony enters the dSLR market with Alpha dSLR

2006-06-11T19:58:00.000-04:00

What do you do when you're the latecomer to a very exclusive party? You've got one of two options: Dress up like everyone else and blend in with the crowd or make a huge entrance wearing an outfit that's louder than a Rolling Stones concert. Sony has chosen the latter when it comes to their new digital SLR camera.

The Feature Fight. A year ago, there were five dominant players in the digital SLR camera business: Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and Konica Minolta. Canon and Nikon duked it out for the attention and admiration of professional photographers, while Olympus, Pentax and Minolta preferred to target the consumer market. With the megapixel race pretty much over, these three companies gained consumer attention with their own proprietary features.
Olympus developed the Supersonic Wave Filter, a device that "scrubs" the camera's electronic sensor, removing tiny particles of dust. Pentax made their cameras small and light, some of the most portable digital SLRs on the market. Konica Minolta beat everyone else to the anti-shake arena, and made it an integral part of their cameras. The built-in anti-shake reduced camera vibrations for clearer hand-held shots, and it worked with every compatible Minolta lens.
But here's the key: since all of these technologies were proprietary, there was no one SLR that had them all. Until now.

The Sony DSLR-A100. Sony claims that their new digital SLR camera has all of these features and more. It includes a dust-repellent sensor (like Olympus), built-in anti-shake (like Konica Minolta) and a compact frame that mimics the size of the Pentax digital SLRs.
Then Sony takes it one step further. The A100 has one feature not available in any camera from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax or Minolta. In fact, only two lesser-know cameras made by Fuji have something similar: extended dynamic range. The human eye has exceptional dynamic range, and can perceive a lot of detail from shadow to light. Cameras can't. A digital SLR will either lose detail in the shadows and correctly expose highlights, or will blow out the highlights when exposure is set for the shadows. A camera with extended dynamic range is better equipped to capture detail from dark to light, even when there is a lot of contrast in the scene.

In addition to the extended dynamic range, the DSLR-A100 also has an autofocus feature which activates when you bring the camera up to your eye, 10.2 megapixels for huge 16x20 inch prints and all the other goodies you'd expect on a high-end digital SLR.

What the Future Holds. Only time will tell how well Sony competes with the established digital SLR companies. Even though Sony is late to the SLR party, they are prepared to make a big entrance. If they continue to release feature-rich cameras like the DLSR-A100, Canon and Co. will have to watch their backs.

Chris Roberts dispenses practical plain-English advice and information about digital SLR cameras at the Digital SLR Guide. His 5-week ecourse in digital SLR technique helps beginners get the most out of their digital SLR cameras.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Roberts

Press Release
SAN DIEGO, June 5, 2006 — Sony is jumping into the digital single lens reflex
(D-SLR) camera market with today’s introduction of the α (Alpha) DSLR-A100
system. The system combines advanced SLR features with other Sony digital imaging innovations.

With its 10.2-megapixel APS CCD image sensor, the DSLR-A100 camera is expected to have the highest resolution available in its class. It will be introduced with 19 high-quality Sony lenses, and will be compatible with most of the former Konica-Minolta
Maxxum® mount lenses. The system will include a wide range of accessories as well.
Sony developed a new Dynamic Range Optimizer image analysis technology
to provide exceptional picture quality and natural color reproduction, along
with a new Bionz image processing engine. This new engine supports a continuous
burst mode for fast-action shooting and performs intelligent power management.

“Our system will be attractive to people who are ready for something beyond what’s
available in D-SLR cameras today,” said James Neal, director of marketing for
digital imaging products at Sony Electronics. “Sony enthusiasts who want to upgrade from point-and-shoot cameras, as well as former Konica-Minolta digital and film SLR camera users who have already made substantial investments in lenses, will welcome this initiative.”
Read more at dpreview.com

Silhouette Photography Tips

2006-06-10T11:31:00.000-04:00

Silhouette Definition: In the area of photography, a silhouette is defined as an outline that appears dark against a light background. More specifically, it is where your subject appears as a plain black shape against a brighter background. It is an artistic photography expression that many photographers like to refine and perfect in their images. This effect can be achieved with any bright light source with the sun being the most common. In a sunset silhouette photo, the sunlight in the background is exposed correctly forcing everything else in the photo to be underexposed causing the effect.

Silhouette Techniques: When you are preparing to take a silhouette image, there are many things to keep in mind. These tips are equally effective for both digital and film photography. First of all, you need to make sure that there is not too much light on your subject, even if it is being reflected on to your subject the stray light will ruin the effect. If there is not enough light in the background, your subject will appear grey instead of black. The effect is just multiplied when you have multiple colors of bright lights in the background. Some photographers focus on artificial lights, others focus on the sun at certain times of the day, the possibilities are endless.

My Silhouette Tips and Techniques: I usually take my silhouette images when the sun is just above the horizon. I prefer the time around sunset because the sun causes the sky to be brighter than everything else for greater contrast. Another technique I use is to align the sun directly behind the subject so it causes a glow effect around the main subject. I usually use a relatively big subject so it creates a more drastic effect then a small insignificant subject.

I always use a narrow aperture (high f/stop) so the camera captures the whole scene with a high depth of field so everything is in focus. I usually use the aperture manual mode on my camera so I can control what the aperture will be and then the camera automatically selects the right shutter speed necessary for the photo. If you are trying to create the effect with a point-and-shoot camera make sure you compose the photo with the background light by pointing the camera at the background. If you compose the image by pointing the camera at your dark subject, then the background will be over-exposed and you will not end up with a silhouette.

There is no exact science to taking a great silhouette image. It will take practice, luck, and experience to capture truly amazing silhouette images. So keep practicing.

Trisha Leung is a digital photography enthusiast and regularly submits articles to http://www.picturecorrect.com/ which offers tips and news about digital photography, digital camera reviews, photoshop tutorials and computer wallpaper.

Also, check out an article on how to photograph silhouettes posted by Darren Rowse:

"I normally talk about the importance of using a flash when taking shots into the sun to give sufficient light to add features to your subject but there are also times when making your subject featureless apart from their outline against a bright background can be most effective - or when in other words silhouette is a worth exploring."

Scanners Exposed: Which is Best for Photographs?

2006-06-06T14:53:00.000-04:00

Scanners range in price from under $100 all the way up to $40,000 or more. Obviously there's a lot of difference in features between these two price points, so let's take a look and see what type of scanner is best for your needs.

If you only need to grab some scans to send by email or put up on the Internet, then you can get the job done with a scanner in the $100 price range.

If you are a professional photographer, or you want to print your scans to photographic paper or use them in commercial printing processes, then you're shopping in the $800 to $2,000 range.

Functionality and specialization are the two price-drivers for scanners. Your first step is to determine which of the three basic scanner types is best for you.

Flatbed Scanner: A flatbed scanner scans photographs, clippings, book pages, small 3-d articles, etc.

Film Scanners: Specially designed to scan negatives, slides, and transparencies.

Combination Scanners: Does the work of both a flatbed and a film scanner.

Some film scanners are highly specialized so make sure that the one you are considering supports your preferred film format.

The major quality determinator for any scanner is the optical resolution rating. Not only does the resolution dictate the quality of the scanned image's appearance, but it determines the maximum size print that can be produced from the scan.

Optical resolution ranges from 300 Dots Per Inch (DPI) up to 4000 DPI and higher. Anything below 600 DPI is not worth considering at all and an optical resolution of 2700 or better should handle most projects that the average photographer will encounter.

Make sure that the scanner's DPI rating is the true optical resolution rating and not the "interpolated DPI rating" which requires software to achieve. DPI is one of the features that drives up the cost of a scanner but it is a critical performance item for you so it is worth spending time on.

Color depth, a measurement of the number of colors that the scanner is able to process, is another performance measurement that's worth understanding. In scanners color depth is measured in bits. A 24-bit scanner is OK but 30 bit is better. Pro photographers may want to consider 36 or 48-bit models.

Another performance item is the scanner's density range rating. Density range refers to the tonal quality that a scanner is capable of capturing. The higher the range the better the image quality. A good scanner will have at least a 3.2 rating. Ratings of 3.4, 3.6 and higher are even better.

Although you also need to consider hardware compatibility and bundled software issues, the last of the most important performance items is scan time speed which is measured in pages per minute or PPM.

What's the perfect scanner for you? It's hard to say but we've given you all the information that you need ot make the right choice.

Check out our photo scanners techniques. This digital photography tip article is brought to you by award-winning professional photographer Warren Lynch. Exciting articles gives both beginners and advance digital camera enthusiast the leg up. With cutting-edge digital photography blogs, forum and review resources.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Warren_Lynch

Battery Life and Your Digital Camera

2006-06-05T09:36:00.000-04:00

With a traditional camera, you can take pictures even when your batteries are empty. So, how are you going to take pictures with your digital camera, when the battery is empty? There is not much choice. To get the most out of the cameras batteries, you should start using some energy saving tactics, that are easy to remember and implement.

Switch off the camera when not in use
Use the motor driven zoom lens only when you really need it, don't use it to show off
Shorten the time for previewing the picture on the LCD screen
Shorten then time for the automatic shut down of the camera (only do this when timing isn't an issue, like it is with snapshots, animals or sports photography)
In cold climate, keep the camera warm. Batteries loose their power rapidly when they are getting cold.
When working in cold climate, take a spare set of batteries along
Always use the best batteries you can get. Usually the more expensive batteries keep their voltage for a longer time on a steady level.
When using reloadable batteries, get the more expensive NiMH types with the highest capacity available. They have a very long life between reloading and no memory effect.

Tom has spent most of his free time behind cameras of different types. He specializes in close-up work and travel photography. To share his experiences and fascination about digital photography, he has set up http://www.digitalcameratips.de which covers topics for beginners as well as advanced users of digital cameras.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Juuls

How Long Will My Digital Prints Last?

2006-06-02T08:47:00.000-04:00

The question in the title of this article would be much easier to answer if you took the word "digital" out of it. Color photographic printing has been relatively unchanged since its debut, and you can expect those prints to last up to 100 years if stored properly. [And by properly, I mean away from light in a consistently cool environment without extreme highs or lows in humidity levels.]

But anyone who hasn't been living in a cave the last five years knows that digital photography is rapidly taking over traditional film processes. It's time to ask some tough questions about what that means for the lifespan of your treasured family photographs.

Manufacturer's claims. You're shopping in your favorite office supply superstore and pick up a box of glossy paper for your ink jet printer. The box says it will last 104 years. But how accurate is that claim?

Independent, third party testing. Thank goodness for Henry Wilhelm. His company, Wilhelm Imaging Research, conducts research on the stability and preservation of traditional and digital color photographs and motion pictures.

Brand matters. I'm not a "brand loyalty at any cost" kinda gal, but in this situation brand really does matter. Manufacturer X designed their paper and inks to work together, and it's in your best interest to use them the way they were designed. Wilhelm's testing has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that cheap inks fade more rapidly. So while it's OK to use them for short-term documents, but it's the wrong choice for photographs you'd like future generations to enjoy.

Inkjet vs. traditional prints. "When properly stored, dyebased inkjet and dye diffusion thermal transfer prints have stability comparable to that of traditional photographic prints." But ink jet prints are more vulnerable to certain kinds of damage:

Water damage. According to tests, traditional photographic prints are fairly stable in water. Some types of digital prints are completely destroyed when they become wet, while some are more water-resistant. Dye-based ink jet images, for example, showed serious damage after even a brief immersion in water.

Pollution. Airborne elements such as ozone can cause some colors to fade very rapidly. Some ink jet prints had this color shift problem less than a month after printing. Photos encased in frames are less susceptible to damage from pollution. Use use glass or inert plastic that is specially manufactured to block damaging UV rays.

Personally, I've decided to skip the ink-jet altogether. I had some not-so-great experiences with printing my own photos (and cutting them out - ick) before I started researching ink jet longevity. Now, I upload digital photos to my trusted local photo processor. The web interface is quick and painless, the prices are reasonable, and I pick up my prints on my way home from work.

One final word of advice: Stay away from quickie one hour shops because that rapid turnaround time doesn't always allow for proper rinsing. Residual chemicals (no surprise) will cause prints and film to degrade more quickly. I also noticed once that a popular online printer (they like to flood my in box with free print offers) charged extra for trusted paper brands like Kodak. Hmmm... Something to think about.

Still have questions? Send email queries to Ask the Archivist: ask@jacobsarchival.com

About the Author: Sally Jacobs has a Master's Degree in Library Science
with a Specialization in Archives Management from the University of Wisconsin-
Madison. She has worked on collections at the Library of Congress, the Wisconsin
Historical Society, the Chicago Chapter of the American Red Cross, and many family
collections just like yours. She teaches non-archivists how to organize,
preserve and share their treasured memories.

Did you like these tips? Would you like to receive FREE articles
like this one every month? Get your very own subscription to our free Ask the
Archivist e-zine! Subscribe online [http://www.jacobsarchival.com] or send a blank
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Photography Basics - Maximum Sharpness

2006-05-28T20:43:00.000-04:00

All photographers at some point were completely ignorant when it came to photography. Think about that. At one time even Ansel Adams could not tell you the difference between an F-stop and a dark slide. At some stage of a photographer's life something happens to spark the passion and drive to improve. Quite often beginning photographers focus their education on exposure, depth of field, film types, etc., and overlook the most basics of photography; one of which being creating sharp images.

I cannot tell you how many times a photographer has emailed a digital image, or shown me a print, of an image they have produced - of which they want feedback. Many of them have been creatively composed, perfectly exposed, matched with the right depth of field, but looked like there was an earthquake going on while they took the shot!

Let these words sink in: Nothing will place the stamp of 'amateur' on a photograph more than an image that is anything less than tack sharp.

For those of you with aspirations to shoot professionally, and receive compensation for your work, this aspect of image reproduction is crucial. Show an image to a potential client that is even just a miniscule out of focus, it is very unlikely they will become a client. They do notice!

So, with the point now being driven home, how can you produce tack sharp images - alive with dazzling detail? Unless you are running around with a camera that doesn't even have a brand name on it, and is estimated to be a leftover from the dark ages - you can dismiss the notion that spending a big chunk of change on a new lens will solve your problem. While no experienced photographer will argue that all lenses are created equal - most all major manufacturers of lenses produce high quality results when used properly. Of course there are exceptions, but this article is not about product promotion.

About Lenses: Keep your lenses clean, and keep them protected!

Nothing will make me cringe more than seeing someone hiking around with their camera dangling without a lens cap! It takes very little to scratch them and once you do you can kiss a paycheck or two goodbye. Clean them with a high-quality lens tissue only...not the sleeve of your flannel hiking shirt.

The less glass between your lens and the subject the better!

Many photographers keep UV filters on their lens just to protect it. Take it off and protect that lens like it's your baby! Adding anything to the lens will degrade the quality of the image. It may be miniscule, but do not settle for 'close enough' - ever. Besides, there will be times when you will want to use filters. Eliminate or minimize the extra glass!

About Tripods: Well you knew I was going to bring up the use of tripods, right? Don't like to use them? Too bad! When you start shooting landscapes at the right aperture, with the right film or ISO setting - you will be working with very slow shutter speeds. In my earlier years I despised the idea of hauling a tripod around. Unfortunately I have a lot of very nice photographs from those days that I would not show except to prove my point!

Remember, there is no such thing as a lazy successful photographer. So if you are not using a tripod because they are a pain - get over it, and get on with improving your photographs.

Simply put, a quality tripod is one that is solid and will not allow your camera to move one bit. An elephant could sneeze on it and it won't budge! Good tripod. Unfortunately good quality tripods like this are not featherlight. So you will burn a few more calories when you are hiking. The other benefit with using a tripod is that it will slow you down. By slowing down you will think more about your shot, get your visualization process going, and make less exposure mistakes. Therefore - less wasted film, and no more getting back to your PC and uploading images that make you want to cry.

Mirror Lock-Up: If your camera has a Mirror Lock-up feature - use it for these types of shots. When you typically take a picture the mirror slaps up so the shutter curtains can open to expose the image. Even with the best cameras this movement can cause your image to blur slightly when using very slow shutter speeds. Once you lock up the mirror you will not see anything through your viewfinder, so you do this after you have composed, focused, and set the exposure for your shot.

Shutter Release Timer: All SLR cameras have a timer - usually a choice between 2 or 10 seconds. I use the 10 second setting so that if I am shooting with shutter speeds at 1/4 of a second or slower it gives me time to lean my weight into the tripod to hold it extra still.
Even using a timer at 'normal' shutter speeds will get my hands off the camera, so that even the slightest movement from pushing the shutter button will not affect the image.

Auto Focus: Automatic focusing is wonderful for photojournalism, wildlife, and sports photography - but has no place in producing fine art landscape photographs. I once watched a young man take about fifteen minutes to set up for what was probably a very nice shot. He composed, recomposed, measured the light, adjusted the tripod some more - then pushed the button which resulted in a 'beep' as the lens automatically focused - and shot. That's kind of like polishing up your new car and then choosing to drive it down the dirt roads. Why??

While the best cameras have incredible auto-focus capabilities, they can be off just slightly when you are shooting landscapes (even with long depths of field) and being off even just slightly can mean the difference between ultra sharp details and a so-so image.

So unless you are dealing with uncorrectable nearsightedness, switch the lens to manual and focus yourself. You'll enjoy the results!

In summary:

1- Keep your lens protected, clean, and with only the necessary filter attachments.

2- Use a tripod! If you are serious about producing professional quality landscape photographs, you cannot get around this.

3- Mirror Lock-Up: The first step at reducing camera shake at the time of exposure.

4- Shutter Timer: The second step at reducing camera shake at the time of exposure.

5- Manual Focus: for more accurate focusing!

Utilizing these techniques will enable you to take one more step towards producing rewarding, high quality fine art photographs!

Chip Clark is a San Diego based professional photographer, with over 20 years experience in landscape photography, wildlife photography, sports photography, and portraiture.

Chip Clark's photography tutorials are available at: http://www.chipclarkphotography.com/advanced-techniques-for-beginning-photographers-PL.htm

Publishing and reprint rights are granted solely according to the guidelines set forth by Ezinearticles.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chip_Clark

Lightweight Portable Tripods - Shoppers Guide

2006-05-26T12:15:00.000-04:00

The tripod is an absolute must because after hiking into an area you become winded and tired and are much less likely to hold your camera still. Also, if you are using a telephoto lens, setting up a panoramic shot or using long shutter speeds you will need a tripod to eliminate shake and create sharper photos. You'll want a tripod that is lightweight, compact but still has the features you need. 1. Important Elements in Chosing a Tripod No one tripod will meet all your requirements, so you must determine the elements most important to you and chose the ones which meet your main needs. When you are purchasing a tripod you want to pay attention to these five things.

1. Weight 2. Height [with and without the center column raised] 3. Stability 4. Durability 5. Ease of adjustment

The lighter tripod is easier to carry around. There are trade-offs, of course. The lighter tripod is not as stable particularly when raised to its maximum height. There are materials on the market now such as carbon fiber, which help cut the weight of larger tripods. The down side of these tripods is the price. They are quite a bit more expensive than those made of aluminum.

Height is crucial, because standing hunched over your camera all day will really put a crimp in you enjoyment. Also, you want to think about the portability of the tripod. The smaller it compacts down, the more portable it is.

Stability is very important because this is basically the point of using a tripod. Some tripods come with a hook in the bottom of the center post so you can hang a weight on it to keep it steady, particularly if it is windy. Camera shake, even just a little will decrease the quality of your photographs. A tripod is just about mandatory if you are going to take long exposures, use a telephoto lens or take panoramic shots.

When you use your tripod for out door photography and/or nature photography, you want to make sure it will stand up to the elements. A tripod should be able to withstand hard use over a long period of time without breaking. It makes no sense to invest in a product if it is just going to break in a few weeks or lock up because it got wet.

Last but not least you don't want to fumble around with ungainly controls. You want a tripod that will adjust rapidly and easily so you avoid missing important shots. Flick lock legs that adjust individually are great. A ball-head and a quick lift enter post makes for fast adjustments once you get the tripod set to the right height. 2. Lightweight Portable Tripods After a lot of research, the best portable tripod I found is the Velbon Maxi 343E Mini Tripod. I take it with me everywhere. It compacts down to less than 17 inches and weighs just 2 pounds. You'll never be tempted to leave it behind because it fits easily into your backpack or suitcase. It is constructed of all die cast metal, which means it can put up with a lot of abuse. It is quick and easy to adjust. Each leg has 3 quick lever leg locks and the feet have rubber tips with retractable spikes so you can use it on any surface. The center column lifts easily into position and the ball socket head can be adjusted without taking your eye off the viewfinder. Maximum height is 62.4 inches with the center column fully extended and 52.7 inches with the column closed. Maximum load capacity is 8 pounds. Best of all, you can purchase this tripod for under $100 and it comes with a 5-year manufacturer warranty. Did I mention it comes with a case?

You can read users reviews of this tripod at Amazon.com. They are getting harder to find and I hope that doesn't mean they will no longer be manufactured.

5/9/06 - I received information from ToCad America who are the distributers for Velbon in the U.S. and this model has been discontinued. If you find one on eBay or another site, grab it now.

Here are some other brands of light weight portable tripods that compare favorably with the Velbon Maxi 343E:

Bogen - Manfrotto Compact Black Digi-Tripod with Integral Tension Ball Head & Carry Case An ultra-compact tripod - folded length of just under 14", compact ballhead, quick-action leg locks, a rucksack-style bag is included. Weighs 2.2 lbs. with a load capacity of 5.5 lbs. Costs about $85.

Slik Sprint Mini Tripod with a Ball Head & Tripod Case Weighs just 26 ounces (1.6 lbs/740 grams) and folds to 14.1 inches, it has a maximum height of 43.3 inches, speed release leg locks, gearless center column, can easily handle a camera up to 3.5 pounds and has a 3-year warranty. Priced about $60.

Slik Sprint Tripod - Silver Finish - with Ball Head & Case The SLIK SPRINT is a compact model with features that compact digital photographers are looking for. A maximum height of 63.1 inches reaches eye level yet the SPRINT folds to an impressively compact 17.9 inches, weighs 1.9 lbs for easy travel, speed release leg locks, gearless center column and can hold a camera up to 3 lbs. Price is about $70.

Slik Sprint Pro Tripod - Silver Finish - with Ball Head & Case a maximum height of 64 inches reaches eye level yet the SPRINT PRO folds to a compact 18.9 inches and weighs in at 1.95 lbs for easy travel, has speed release leg locks, gearless center column and can hold a camera up to 3.5 lbs. It has 3 position adjustable angle legs for easy set up on uneven ground or steps. The adjustable legs angles can also be used to lower the tripod. When used with the built-in short center column, (the included center column unscrews into two pieces) the camera is just 6.4 inches off the ground for extremely low angle or macro photography out in the field. Another way to get the camera low is to reverse the center column which could be used for macro photography or copy work. It sells about about $80.

Sunpak DigiPro 4B Tripod with Ball Head Features: Versatile Quick Lock Ball Head, Flip Lever Leg Locks, Grounder with Split Center Column, Free Nylon Carry Bag w/Shoulder Strap, Load Capacity up to 3.3 lbs., Extends to 55.9 inches, Ultra Light Weight at 1.8 lbs. Sells for about $60.

Sunpak 3300 PRO Tripod Manufactured from Tritanium, an alloy of Titanium, Magnesium and Aluminum substantially increases the overall strength-to-weight performance of the 3300 PRO. Able to support equipment weighing up to 11 lbs., the 3300 PRO is incredibly lightweight, at a mere 2.7 lbs., while its dual groove leg design adds additional strength without adding any extra weight. With an operating height of 62.9", the Sunpak 3300 PRO tripod has three leg sections, with integral quick release lock levers, and features multi-angle leg adjust-ments for use on uneven terrain or for extreme low angle photography. With "grounder" capability, the Sunpak 3300 PRO can operate at a minimum height less than 11", without need for a short center column, and folds to a compact 23.2". Price is about $70. 3. Alternatives to Tripods There are some alternative solutions for steadying your camera if you don't have a tripod or don't want to carry one. I have an old (clean) sock filled with rice that acts like a beanbag to steady my camera. You can use it just about anywhere, on a rock, a ledge, car window etc. You could also take an empty sock and fill it with gravel or dirt when you get where you are going if you don't want to haul rice around. You can also use your pack or a bag of your clothes to steady your camera. If you must take a handheld photo, try to use a shutter speed of at 1/60 second or higher. The longer your lens the faster your shutter speed should be.

Here is a nifty alternative to a tripod that beats rice in a sock all together! The POD Camera Platform ( Bean Bag ) with YELLOW Base, 3.75" Diameter, 2" Thick, has A 1/4 x 20 Screw Thread for Securing Your Camera. You can plop this on a rock, post, stump or even the ground for low shots. I will post my review after I get it and try it out.

I've never tried one of these but the idea is sound. Here's the write up: Novoflex's Chestpod is a great way to lend support when shooting with long lenses in scenarios where monopods and tripods would be impractical or prohibited. It begins as a comfortable neckstrap, which articulates to a wide rubberized base that rests on your chest. Attached to this base is an arm that ends with a swiveling plate that has a 1/4"-20 screw for attaching the tripod collar of the lens.

Bogen-Manfrotto Self-Standing Pro Monopod, Black Anodized A monopod is another alternative to the tripod. It can serve double duty as a hiking pole. All the features of the 681B Professional Monopod with the handy addition of three retractable legs. The 682 is a black anodized aluminum three-section monopod featuring sure rubber grip, wrist carrying strap, quick action lever leg lock system with 45° flip, large 2.3" camera/head platform with plastic cover and dual 1/4-20" - 3/8" camera screw. Weight is 2.4 pounds.

Last but not least, there is the the car window pod. Perfect for unexpected opportunities where getting out of the car could ruin your shot. A car can work well as a blind for wildlife shots. Don't forget to turn the car off to eliminate shake. There are many brands but for maximum versatility, a ball head works best. If you follow the advice in this article you will be more likely to bring your tripod and ensure sharp photos without breaking your back or your bank account. Roberta Hochreiter is an avid photographer, hiker and backpacker with 5 years experience in nature photography. This article gives new photographers advice on how to chose photographic equipment that is lightweight and portable. For more information please to to http://www.womengophoto.com for information on: tripods http://www.womengophoto.com/tripods/

Roberta Hochreiter is an avid photographer, hiker and backpacker with 5 years experience in nature photography. This article gives new photographers advice on how to chose photographic equipment that is lightweight and portable. For more information please to to http://www.womengophoto.com

Top 11 Tips For Photographing People

2006-05-23T21:45:00.000-04:00

There are very few rules to portrait photography. The few rules there are can be broken and still result in good images. What I have attempted to give you here is some quick tips to hopefully help you to improve your image taking.

1. Make it Personal. When photographing people involve sopmething that makes it more personal and about that individual. One of my favourite images shows a little girl in what is to her a very natural environment. Her grandfather breeds and races pigeons and since she could walk she has helped him in the daily tasks of cleaning and feeding them. The photograph shows her with the pigeopn on her lap as she feeds it peanuts. I always look to try and capture images that tell stories and capture a little bit of the true spirit of the person being photographed making it so much more personal.

2. Have Fun. False smiles are hideous and should be banned. Asking someone to smile or say cheese is a last resort. If you want natural smiles and laughs you need to create things for people to smile or laugh about. Personally I much prefer images with people laughing out loud to a posed straightforward Victorian styled portrait.

3. Always be Ready. I always remember a certain portrait session. I had been photographing a family on the beach. The little girl decided she wanted to climb onto a small pier that led out to sea. Luckily I had my camera out and managed to capture a few frames as she crawled along. Had I attempted to set this image up there are a million things that would have got in the way. As luck had it everything went right and a fantastic image was captured.

4. Get in close. Don't be afraid to get in close and clip the tip of peoples heads out of the frame. Very often it helps the image, giving it a more dramatic approach.

If your camera doesn't have a zoom facility then move closer physically.

5. Take Photographs Outside. You will get far far better images of young children if you allow them to play. As long as you pick a safe area you can let them run loose and do as they wish leaving you free to concentrate on capturing some magical moments. In my portrait business I take 98% of my images outside. I know this works as I continually receive more and more referral business from happy clients who recognise the joy and happiness in their childs expressions.

6. Catch people unawares. Very often the best images are when people don't realise they are having their photograph taken. I recently shot a portrait session in London of a young couple. The girl had large ties to a market and wanted some atmospheric images. However her partner wasn't keen to be photographed in public. I solved the problem by using a long lens and concentrated on capturing some totally natural images as they were walking around the market.

7. Change the angle you are shooting from. I always have a change of clothes with me when I am on a shoot because I tend to end up covered in mud. Don't be afraid to lay on the ground. You will be rewarded by the images you take.

8. Capture natural reactions. Encourage people to react normally as they would every day. One of the joys of my job is taking images of new mums and their babies. I know if I ask mum to get in close to the baby nine times out of ten I will get a totally natural reaction as the baby and mother react to each other. All that is needed is for me to them judge the right time and capture the image.

I find if you ask people to get closer than they would normally do it will cause them to laugh. However this is not the case with teenagers as they see it as uncool to like brothers / sisters so with this age group differant approaches are needed.

9. Consider your background very carefully. The background is as important as the subject you are photographing. Ensure it is pleasing to the eye without distracting away from the image. Some colours are worth avoiding. Red for example will trigger the eye to look at it immediately and drag attention away from the main subject. People far cleverer than me have attempted to explain why (something to do with it being nature's danger colour). The best thing to do when lining up your photograph is to avoid red altogether.

10. Practise. You can read a million books and visit every website on the planet but I believe there is no substitute to actually doing something and learning by experience. I personally run training days for people who like yourself just want to have a go at a new style of image making. The people who attend have various skill levels but as I place the emphasis on being as low tech as possible they are of use for everybody from the amateur through to the seasoned professional.

11. Be different. Try and do something out of the ordinary. Use your imagination to create images that stand out. If everyone else does a top ten do a top eleven, it will bring more interest guaranteed because it is out of the ordinary.

I wish you luck on your future image making and hope we can talk at some stage in the future.

Have Fun

Martin W.

All images and words are subject to copyright and cannot be reproduced in any way without written permission from Martin Wilmott Photography.

Martin Wilmott is a highly successful lifestyle photographer based in the UK who undertakes work all over the world. People with an interest in portrait photography can sign up for his free online course at http://www.martinwilmottphotography.com. Martin also runs regular portrait classes for people with an interest in his style of work.

Photographic Style - Fresh Perspective

2006-05-22T21:32:00.000-04:00

So, you like photography and want to improve your skills. Yes, you can learn how to manipulate shutter speeds, ISO's, or even photoshop, but what makes you different than every other photographer out there. Style. Without his personal style, Ansel Adams would of been just another Joe in the world. Without style in photography or any art, all photos/paintings/sculptures would look alike. Now, you may be asking yourself how you develop your style, and in truth I don't know. For in all actuality, as everyone's style is different, so is the development of their style. What I can tell you is a few tips that might come in handy.

Tip #1-Your never finished developing your style. Let's first take a look at Pablo Picasso, though most known for cubism, he switched through four different styles in his career. In other words your style is never really your style. You can equate the last sentence to Plato's idea of forms, or for every object there is a perfect form of that object which is unattainable. However, don't take this the wrong way. I am not saying that any style you create is futile, but that any style you create can be changed if your natural evolution of photography points you that way.

Tip #2-What feels right generally is right. When you take a photo, does it feel like a photo or an energy. Well, you know you took a good photo when it feels right inside. Unfortunately this is hard to explain, but keep on taking "right photos" and your style will slowly develop.

Tip #3-Don't give up. It may take a very long time to develop a sttle that fits you, but keep on trying. And even when you create your style, you may feel the need to change it. And that's okay, because like Tip #1 says your style is never your style. Also don't change your style because your friends disagree with it, follow what feels right.

Well those are my tips, and good luck developing your style.

Author of http://www.cameronmoorephotos.com/. Currently am aphotographer who is enrolled in high school as a freshmen student.

Flash Photography Tips and Techniques

2006-05-20T17:28:00.000-04:00

Flash photography is the use of a camera flash bulb in a variety of possible situations where there doesn’t seem to be enough light. The most common use of flash photography is group portraits at gatherings where there is not enough light to take a satisfactory exposure.

But there are many other situations where the flash could be used such as: fill-flash situations when the background is brighter than the subject, using the flash to light up a room and creating better coloring, or using the flash to freeze a moving object in a dark situation.

Indoor Flash Photography. In typical indoor situations there will probably not be enough light to take a normal hand-held well-exposed photo. There are many indoor flash photo opportunities you may be faced with. You may want to cast light on a group of people for a portrait photo. You may want to throw light into a room for an architectural photo. Or you may just want to cast light on certain objects in a lighted room that appears too dark for an exposure.

If your camera’s auto-exposure settings say that the photo would require a shutter speed slower than 1/60 of a second then you probably shouldn’t hand-hold the camera or the photo would come out blurry. The reason it would come out blurry is because the shutter would be open long enough for any minor hand shake to distort the composition. The use of a tripod or faster film will probably be needed but many of us do not regularly carry a tripod. Most photographers simply use their flash bulb when they are inside.

In order to take effective indoor flash photos there are some techniques you should keep in mind. When using the flash do not point it directly at a mirror or glass that will create a lens flare or just ruin the photo. Stand close enough to your subjects so the flash is actually effective (four to ten feet). Try to make sure your main subjects are about the same distance away from the flash as each other or some that are closer to the flash will appear brighter than ones that are farther away.

Fill Flash Situations. Fill flash fills in the areas of a photo that would normally appear too dark. Fill flash can be used for sunny day portraits for shadows on a subject’s face or to fill any shaded area that is out of the sunlight. Fill flash can also be used to cast light into a room where there are no windows. Fill in flash is ideal for back-lit and side-lit situations. In a backlit situation there will be a lot of light in the background but no or little light cast on the front of the subject. This would normally create somewhat of a silhouette effect, but with a fill flash it would balance the photo nicely. But in order for this technique to work, you must be careful to stay in flash range which is usually around four to ten feet. With common cameras in order to add fill flash to a photo just toggle the flash to go off when it normally would not be needed.

Other Types of Flash. Many newer cameras now have a red-eye reduction mode where the flash may fire before the picture is taken in order to cause the subjects’ pupils to contract. The red-eye reduction modes in newer cameras are surprisingly effective and many work in different ways to contract pupils.

A slow sync flash is for more complicated exposures and is used commonly to create blurry long exposures. The flash fires at the beginning of the exposure, but the shutter still stays open for a moment after the flash has fired. This can freeze a car at dusk and create a blurry streak in the cars path. Or the slow sync flash could capture a sunset and freeze a closer subject that is moving through the frame. There are countless situations where a slow sync flash could possibly be used to enhance an exposure. There are also other versions of the sync flash such as the rear sync flash (where the flash fires at the end of an exposure) or the stroboscopic flash (where the flash fires multiple times throughout an exposure).

Many photographers also choose to bounce the flash off a wall or ceiling to get a softer diffused kind of light commonly sought after for portraits. This kind of flash technique requires a flash that can be aimed in a direction that the camera is not pointed. It takes practice to refine this technique and only a small percentage of photographers actually use it.

Conclusion. Practice using flash in your photos even when it is not necessarily needed and pay attention to your results. The best way to become better at flash photography is to analyze your photos and try to figure out what you could have done differently in order to create a better flash-filled exposure.

Richard Schneider is a digital photography enthusiast and founder of http://www.picturecorrect.com/ which offers tips and news about digital photography, digital camera reviews, and photoshop tutorials. Please also visit http://www.picturecorrect.com/freewallpaper.htm where there is free high resolution desktop wallpaper available.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Schneider

Photography Tips While Traveling

2006-05-19T05:15:00.000-04:00

Whether you’re embarking on a family vacation or your family reunion, it’s going to be a special time. When we think of trips we’ve taken, we tend to remember them best with photographs. Here’s some ideas to enhance your vacation as well as your memories of them.

Location Preparation

1) Since you know where you’re going (that's a minimum requirement), doesn’t it make sense to check out the location before you get there? Create a list of attractions, accommodations, special points of interest, amusement areas, shopping, etc. A good source to help you do this is: the Places and Travel section of msn.com ( http://groups.msn.com/Browse?CatId=179)

2) Figure out the photo opportunities for each appropriate venue. Anyone can take a “that’s nice” picture of the kids at an amusement park. Wouldn’t you rather capture a “WOW” photo that could be hung over the mantle?

3) Depending on the location you’re traveling to, you can see what books are written about them that highlight the best photo opportunities for the entire area

4) If you’re cyber-savvy, start at www.google.com and search using different combinations of: your destination, best photography locations, for images of the location, scenic spots, etc. The options are endless.

5) If you’re off to a non-big city area, scout out the national parks in the area. The great thing about national parks is that the scenery is usually so breathtaking, that a so-so shot looks
outstanding, just because of the subject. Once in www.nps.gov, do a search on photos and you will be presented with terrific shots of all the parks

Photography Preparation

OK, you’re either traveling through or you’re at a wonderful location full of photo opportunities. You began this leg of your trip at the crack of dawn and as you’re pulling into the most scenic overlook for 400 miles, the sun is just starting to crack the horizon.

You instinctively pull the car over, grab your camera and your tripod, and look for the best spot to set up. Just one tiny little problem… YOU FORGOT YOUR TRIPOD! Rather than smack yourself on the forehead then, why not plan these things now, before you leave?

Your list should include AT LEAST the following consideration…

1) Do I need to repeat – BRING YOUR TRIPOD? It doesn’t take up much room, and as explained at www.best-family-photography-tips.com/tripod-photography.html, tripods allow you to capture entirely new categories of photographs that won’t be possible without one

2) Memory. Of course, bring all the memory you have, but also pack your portable storage device (explained at http://www.best-family-photography-tips.com/digital-photography-tutorial.html)

3) If your camera has a hot shoe, bring your external flash, and any additional equipment that can be used to help with bounce flash

4) Remember your external shutter release cable for those long exposures. How else are you going to get that “angel-hair” look of the waterfalls?

5) Don’t forget the basics like: batteries, battery charger, camera bag, and additional lenses and filters (if applicable on your camera)

6) And just in case you need it, bring the manuals for your equipment.

Finally, don’t get so wrapped up in taking perfect shots that you don’t enjoy the trip. Remember to use the tripod so that you'll be in at least some of the photos.

Article courtesy of Best Family Photography Tips.com, where you can see some sample pictures including more photography tips.

Copyright 2005 Robert Bezman. All rights reserved.

Robert Bezman is a professional photographer and owner of Custom Photographic Expressions. Robert has created http://www.best-family-photography-tips.com to help the digital photography users create better photographs. Robert has a blog at http://www.best-family-photography-tips.com/family-photography-news.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Bezman

What is Depth of Field - Photography Basics

2006-05-17T09:28:00.000-04:00

At some point all beginning photographers are confronted with certain technical aspects of photography that have them either burning up rolls of film, or loading up memory cards! Two in particular: Exposure (which will be addressed in a different article) and Depth of Field (or DOF) leave the newly shutterbug bitten novice shaking their head, wondering what they are doing wrong.

When I first started taking on an informal teaching role with beginning photographers it was interesting that the single most common question asked by them was: "How do I make the background blurry and my subject sharp?" and of course, "what do I need to do when I want everything in focus?"

It's inevitable. If you desire to take your photography to a higher level of quality, you will need to understand what causes short and long depths of field, and especially how to manipulate it to express your vision. Let's get started...

First - what is a photograph with a short Depth of Field, and what is one with a long DOF? Quite simply, a photograph with only the subject in focus, and everything before and behind it blurry, is a photograph with a short DOF. An image with everything in the foreground to the background sharp and in focus has a long DOF. With this highly sophisticated formula I'm sure you can figure out what a medium DOF is!

Why use a short DOF? When you reach this level of being able to control exactly what you want in focus (typically referred to as Selective Focus) in your photograph you will have developed a dynamic tool that will create powerful photographs! You will see this used extensively in photojournalism - such as the photographer focusing on one particular individual in a crowd of people. Creative use of this tool certainly gives sustenance to the term: A picture paints a thousand words!

Quite often you will see the use of a short DOF in glamour portraiture. A classic example is when you see the model's eye closest to the lens sharply focused, and the one furthest is blurred. It's one of the most unique techniques a photographer can utilize to convey her or his message.

What about a long DOF? Landscape photography is the best example of the long Depth of Field in use. Shooting images of seemingly endless vistas would render a photograph worthless if only a small portion of the 'field' was in focus. Since you want virtually everything from closest to farthest tack sharp - you will want to shoot with a long DOF. You can see this utilized with incredible results in the works of the greatest fine art photographers such as Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. But even when making photographs of spectacular scenes, there will be times when your creative vision will want to focus attention on a tiny, fragile flower amidst nature's grandest formations. Developing these techniques will arm you with that kind of photographic versatility.

So now that you understand what DOF is, how do you make it work? This is where we begin to get a bit technical, but it's important you understand it. Since DOF will vary depending on the focal length lens you are using, my examples will be in regards to using a normal SLR lens in the 45mm - 70mm range. To be able to manipulate DOF you must be able to adjust the aperture (or F-stops) on your camera. Most all SLR cameras that are even remotely modern can do this by switching your mode to Aperture Priority mode - or AV mode.

While I will not give a detailed explanation about aperture in this article - the simplest way to understand is this: An F-stop is the adjustable opening that controls how much light coming through your lens hits the film or digital sensor. The shutter speed is involved with this as well, but for now let's stick with aperture. The F-stop also controls the DOF of an image.

Older SLR camera lenses typically have the F-stop numbers on the lens barrel. An older very basic lens may have numbers around the aperture ring like: 2.8 - 5.6 - 8 - 11 - 16 - 22. These are the F-stops, or the aperture opening settings.

More modern cameras are electronic and the F-stops are usually seen at the bottom of the viewfinder. Contemporary lenses usually have more F-stop settings available, such as: 2.8 - 3.5 - 5.6 - 6.3 - 7.1 - 8 - and so forth, possibly all the way up to 32.

To choose the DOF you wish to use for a particular shot you need to understand this very basic concept: The lower the F-stop number - such as 2.8, the shorter your DOF will be. The higher the F-stop number - 22, the longer the depth of field. To simplify it further - making a photograph with F22 or higher is going to have everything in the final image in focus. Shooting with the aperture set at 2.8 is going to mean that only what you specifically focused on is going to sharp.

Take a moment to absorb this because this basic concept is the nuts and bolts of creating a quality photograph, rather than just taking a picture. The very best exercise you can do to practice this technique is to line up 3 objects - such as apples. Place them on a table about 2' apart lined up going away from you at just enough of an angle so the first one isn't blocking the other two. Place your camera about 3' from the first one, and focus on the apple in the middle. Shoot several shots - each one at a different f-stop, starting with the lowest number (short DOF) and changing to the next higher f-stop after each shot...all the way to the highest F-stop.

If your lens has an F-stop number as low as 2.8 you will see that maybe only the forward surface of the apple is in focus - everything from closest to furthest is gradually very blurry. With each shot changed to a higher F-stop number you will see more of the field in focus. By the time you get to the highest F-stop setting, virtually everything in the photo will be sharp and focused.

Most SLR cameras have a DOF Preview Button. If you use it while looking through the lens at your scene - you will see what the final image will look like. Only problem is - the higher the F-stop number is, the smaller the amount of light is let in. So it can be very difficult to see because it will be very dark. After practicing with these techniques you will not bother with the DOF preview button. You will know how the image will be reproduced.

That is the mystery of Depth of Field in a nutshell! Yes, there is more in-depth aspects of DOF - such as understanding Hyper Focal Distance, and of course knowing that you will get different DOF results with longer and shorter focal length lenses. But understanding these basic DOF concepts will revolutionize your photography, and give you one more step up in photographic quality.

Chip Clark is a San Diego based professional photographer, with over 20 years experience in landscape photography, wildlife photography, sports photography, and portraiture.

Chip Clark's online galleries can be seen at http://www.chipclarkphotography.com.

Publishing and reprint rights are granted solely according to the guidelines set forth by Ezinearticles.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chip_Clark

Night Photography: Low Light Tips and Techniques

2006-05-14T16:05:00.000-04:00

Photography at night can be used to create mysterious and amazing photos. When I say photography at night I mean the hours from around sunset until when the stars are clearly visible. The long exposures associated with low light can create unique effects and unusually sharp photos. And when I say long exposures I mean exposures lasting from half a second up to even 30 seconds. An exposure that long would seem impossible to prevent shaking, so my technique that I use very often is to compose the photo like I would normally and then to set the self-timer so the camera takes the picture on its own and I don’t even have to touch it.

Equipment Options

For low light photos, a tripod (or some kind of substitute) is very necessary. I almost always keep a tripod in the trunk of my car or carry a miniature tripod around on trips. A miniature tripod can be very handy because it is typically small enough to fit in a pants pocket so it can be taken anywhere. Some photographers carry around a bean bag or something like it so that can set their camera down and tilt it in any way they like. Some of my best pictures I have taken simply by setting my camera down on a newspaper stand and setting the self-timer.

Many photographers are convinced that they need a cable release to take long exposures but the self-timer release option on just about all cameras works just as well. All you have to do is set the camera up, configure the self-timer, press the shutter button, and wait the specified amount of time (usually 10 seconds) and the camera will take the photo automatically. And you don’t have to touch the camera so the photo won’t be blurred from hand shaking.

Night Photo Opportunities

Landscape Photos - My favorite kind of night photo usually includes a landscape with some kind of foreground element, some sort of framing element, and lots of lights throughout the scene. Adding some kind of foreground item to the frame helps to create a greater depth of field, this technique works for any kind of photo but I have found that it makes night landscape photos much better. Another tip you should keep in mind is that the main subject of a night photo should probably be the most well lit. Lots of light is good for a night exposure but there should still be some focus applied to the major objects in a scene.

Capturing Motion – A very popular kind of night photography includes a steady camera with some sort of fast moving object streaming through the frame. When cars are photographed at night with a long shutter speed, the headlights make a bright pathway of light and in most cases the car can’t even be seen. Another option would be to set up your camera next to a lighted area with lots of people moving like a night club or an illuminated street. Just about any kind of motion captured with the camera steady produces a very interesting photo.

Balancing Aperture and Shutter Speed

When taking photos at night you should keep aperture in mind as well as shutter speed. It is without question that you will need a long shutter speed, but the aperture that you choose will provide the depth of field. When I take night photos I usually have a very long shutter speed (5-15 seconds) and a very narrow aperture (high f-stop). This combination creates a huge depth of field and makes everything very crisp and in focus. Of course sometimes you will not desire a great depth of field and in those situations you should widen the aperture (small f-stop).

Calculating the Exposure

Figuring out what exact shutter speed and aperture you should use can be very challenging in Manual Mode. I would recommend that you just try many different combinations for each scene and eventually you will refine the settings that you prefer. Another technique I use is Bracketing, if you bracket all your photos so the camera takes multiple exposures at different settings, you are more likely to end up with a photo that has a satisfactory brightness.

Conclusion

There is no exact science to night photography; I hope some of these tips will guide you in the right direction. But the best night photographers are usually the people who experiment a lot when they are taking low light exposures and eventually they figure out the best scenes and best exposure settings to match. Just remember that you need a very long shutter speed setting, and that you need to keep the camera very steady.

Richard Schneider is a digital photography enthusiast and founder of http://www.picturecorrect.com/ which offers tips and news about digital photography, digital camera reviews, and photoshop tutorials. Please also visit http://www.picturecorrect.com/freewallpaper.htm where you can find many examples of the techniques described in this article to use as your desktop wallpaper.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Schneider

Why Canon Digital Cameras Are Better

2006-05-13T06:55:00.000-04:00

Have you held a Canon digital camera in your hand? If you have not had the ability to take a few photos with these high quality and often superior cameras in the digital line, you should get the chance. There are plenty of opportunities out there for you to get the best possible product for your needs. Here are some of the things that a Canon digital camera can provide for your specific needs.

• Quality versus Price: There are many digital cameras on the market today. Some of those that offer the best pictures are those that are high priced though. Yet, with many of the Canon line, you will find a more affordable choice that matches up to other brands more costly choices. In short, you get more for your money in quality here for a much lower price.

• Features: While there are several Canon digital cameras for you to choose from, you will find that most are packed with not only the latest and the greatest features but also with the things that really make a difference in your viewing. The point and shoot capabilities are just one of these features. Consider the LCD screen, the various options in lenses and various other features.

• Easy To Use: Another aspect of the Canon digital camera is the fact that it is more affordable to use than virtually any other type of camera out here. That is not to say that it is just so simplistic, but it seems as if canon has built in the features that are easy to use to provide you with the highest level of quality photo possible.

There are plenty of other reasons that you should considering a Canon digital camera. If you like a high quality, affordable and well designed camera, it is possible that this may be the right line for you to consider.

Mike Barus specializes in Cameras and Photography

Article Source: Free Web Site Content Article Submission - it's here! Your Top Source For Free Website Content

Digital SLR Camera Reviews - Best Picks

2006-05-12T17:37:00.000-04:00

A digital single lens reflex camera is an incredibly versatile and flexible piece of photographic equipment that can help you take the best photos of your life. There are several brands to choose from today that all have interchangeable lenses, allowing you to choose from a wide variety of shots from wide angle and closeups to telephoto images.

But before you decide that a digital single lens reflex camera is just what you need, first consider how you plan on using it. If you mainly like to take snapshots of your family and friends and maybe some special events like weddings and anniversaries, you probably don't really need a camera as sophisticated and complicated as a digital SLR. In fact, a compact digital camera with a fixed lens will probably do the job just fine. So you can save yourself the added expense and steeper learning curve associated with dSLRs.

But on the other hand, if you are a photography hobbyist or perhaps you plan on increasing your photography skills in the near future, then a digital SLR camera will probably fit your needs well. Or perhaps you need a camera that can do double duty as both a simple fully automated point and shoot camera and a more sophisticated manual camera too, as more than one person with different skill levels will be using it. Happily, a digital SLR can fit the bill here too as most of them also have completely automated settings that can be used by almost anyone.

But if you decide that a digital SLR will work for you, which camera is best for you? Most likely you will need to do some research to find out what models are available in your price range and then read some digital SLR camera reviews online to learn more about which models are the best in that price range.

But from reading many of the online digital slr camera reviews by both independent reviewers and consumers, we have found two cameras that we can highly recommend based on their popularity in these unbiased reviews. For beginners, the Pentax ist DX is often mentioned as an extremely easy camera to learn and use and with a 18-55mm zoom lens and costs just under $1,000. For more advanced users that require even more features and capabilities, the Nikon D70s is well reported on by almost all reviewers that we saw, and with a 18-70mm lens, it costs around $1200. Of course, both of these cameras can be bought for less if you really make a good search for them online.

Regardless of which digital single lens reflex camera that you choose, they will all bring a higher level of photographic capability and sophistication to any photo that you take. If you follow the guidelines and tips provided above it can help you decide whether or not a digital SLR will fit your needs and help you decide also on which one will work best for you.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including digital photography. You can find digital slr camera reviews and a digital cameras comparison by visiting our Digital Photography website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thad_Pickering

Photoshop CS2 Killer Tips by Scott Kelby

2006-05-11T09:19:00.000-04:00

Wouldn't it be cool if there were an Adobe Photoshop CS2® book that was nothing but tips cover-to-cover? Seriously, imagine how fast you'd be in Photoshop if you learned all those little "insider tips," those timesaving shortcuts, workarounds, and undocumented tricks. Well, you're holding that book. The book where every page is packed full of nothing but cool tips, tips, and more tips.There are no special effects, no flaming type, no glows, no buttons, no bevels, etc. - it's just packed cover-to-cover with nothing but tips. It's designed to teach you those hidden productivity tips and little-known shortcuts that the pros use to get twice the work done in half the time, and help you "smoke the competition."

Read full article at ScottKelbyBooks.com
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FREE Photo Editing Software

2006-05-10T16:39:00.000-04:00

Today, I'd like to talk about some FREE software that you can use to keep track of your digital photos. You can also do some image editing and other fun stuff with this software. I'm talking about Picasa, available from Google. You can get a free download here...

Read full post at families.com written by Bill Hall
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Digital Photography Tips - The Big Five Of Digital Photography

2006-05-08T16:37:00.000-04:00

Digital Photography Tip One - Busting The Dust:

Digital SLRs with removable lenses are prone to dust landing on the sensor. Static electricity around the sensor can possibly contribute to attracting dust particles, or other elements to this sensitive area of your camera.

To get rid of the dust you can use a camera blower brush, and tilt the camera down while blowing. Take care not to get any of the hairs snagged inside!

Digital Photography Tip Two - Shedding Light On The Night:

For night photography using only a flash can leave you with a well exposed - but isolated - subject against a dark background. Most digital cameras nowadays have a slow-sync flash feature, which combines the short flash exposure with a proper exposure for the rest of the background. On a camera such as the Olympus SP500, this feature is a preset mode called "Night Portrait".

To ensure expert nighttime shooting, a good digital photography tip is to look for a digital camera with the following features: shutter speed of up to 30 seconds; shutter priority mode; manual ISO settings at least to 400; slow-sync shutter mode.

Digital Photography Tip Three - Nit-Picking About Pixels:

When buying a digital camera you will be confronted with a vast choice of various megapixel specifications. It is worth knowing that not all pixels are created equal!

Some cameras have more pixels crammed onto the same sensor size as another model. More pixels in this case means smaller, and therefore less effective pixels. In this situation the camera with fewer pixels on a similar-sized sensor, might actually produce better images all round.

Digital Photography Tip Four - Spice Up Your Space:

With digital photography you will find yourself taking more pictures - and chances - than ever before, without the worry of the cost of failure. However, that means you will need a lot of digital storage space, especially if you are diligent about making backup copies of your best work.

If you're doing out-of-town nature photography, a digital photography tip to keep in mind is to make sure you take along enough storage devices, such as a laptop, DVD's, and external hard drives. RAW images can quickly get you into storage problems!

Digital Photography Tip Five - Remember To Flash:

For great outdoor portraits, make sure you use your digital camera's fill flash, or flash on mode. Don't wait for the camera to decide whether or not the flash is necessary. It might decide that there is generally enough outdoor light.

The fill flash mode will ensure proper exposure for the background and enough flash to expose the subject in the foreground, leaving you with a professional looking portrait.

Lastly, remember that, if someone offers expert advice, they may expect a generous digital photography tip!

For more information visit Best-Digital-Photography.com

Rika Susan of Article-Alert.com researches, writes, and publishes full-time on the Web. Copyright of this article: 2006 Rika Susan. This article may be reprinted if the resource box and hyperlinks are left intact.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rika_Susan

How to Use Wide Angle Lens

2006-05-07T17:54:00.000-04:00

This lens is my favorite. (wide-angle lens that is - S.L.) I cannot say exactly why, but I can give you a few points that I like most in the lens. And those points are: stretching the perspective, making the object that closer to the lens look much bigger (in relation to all other objects), the lens allow you to fit a lot of things into the image and there is certain dynamics added by the lens to the image (it could be because of the distortions, which such lens inevitably bring to the photograph). There is one more thing, when you photograph a certain subject, the lens require to get close, real close, to the subject and it makes the subject kind of very personal for you, you feel it better, if you see what I mean.

Perspective

One of the most interesting features of wide-angle lens is the capability to stretch perspective. What do I mean by that? I mean that when you look through a wide-angle lens, it seems that the distance between objects has extended. The objects that were not so distant could appear too far away. And the proportion of objects dramatically increases, so the one that close to the camera look enormous, but those, which are father away almost disappear in the distance.

The wider the angle the shorter and stronger the difference in the sizes of the elements in the photograph. If we think of two parallel lines that stretch out away from the camera, these two lines will visibly merge at some point. This is a point, which I would call perceptive vanish point for wide angle lens. What do I mean by that? Well, theoretically at this point and beyond (at this distance from the focal plane) all elements would be represented as a dot or not visible at all. For normal lens (of in reality) this vanishing point is somewhat farther from the focal plane then for wide angle lens.

What do those two vanishing points mean (for normal and wide angle lens)? They mean that the wide angle lens reduce the actual (visible) distance to the vanishing point. Which results that our brain, when judging the distance and sizes of the objects in the photograph, assumes that the distance to the vanishing point is the same as with normal lens (i.e. reality). But this assumption makes it to stretch the perspective recorded in the image to the normal one.

Making it big

Let's take for example a simple situation, where we have two kids, which should be of similar size. The girl is playing closer to the camera while the boy is watching several feet farther. We make a shot with a wide angle lens. What effect the lens would bring here? First of all compare the size of the girl and the boy. The boy probably would be two-three times smaller than the girl, while in reality their somewhat of the same height. OK, the perspective added its effect and make the boy seem smaller. But in the reality the boy is not that far away. On the photograph I it could seem as 15-20 feet (5-7 meters) between the boy and the girl, actually only a few feet separated them at that moment. So here you see the first effect of the wide angle lens - stretching perspective.

And I should say that there is additional benefit for a photographer in this. Because the girl appear to be bigger than the boy she becomes the main subject without any doubts or additional thinking, we just assume it by judging the relative sizes of subjects/objects in the frame. It means that with wide angle lens its much easier to focus viewer's attention on the primary subject - the size matters. If we consider the relative sizes and how it reduces the significance of the objects/subjects that farther away from the camera, we can say that the other elements of the photograph (not the primary one) easily become the background for our primary subject. And this trail of thought leads me to a conclusion that by using wide angle lens we can separate the subject from the rest of stuff in the image by making all other elements to become the background. It looks like we push all other elements farther away from the camera and pull the subject much closer to the camera.

Though there is one side thought, it may not always be possible to get close to the subject and enforce that distance between elements in the photograph. It only works when you are very close to the subject, otherwise the use of wide angle lens will have the opposite effect - it will blend your subject in with the rest of the elements of the photograph. And sometimes it may even worsen things, such that some insignificant object on front plane becomes almost huge and draws a lot of unwanted attention. That's why there are limits to this techniqe, as always.

Seeing a lot

So, by pushing the subject farther from the camera we blend it with background. But what if we need to include a lot of the scene? What if there is no single subject? Let's say there is a vista or a big room full of people (some kind of event) and we want to get everything into the frame. Well, again the wide angle lens could be your choice, because the name of that range says it all. Wide angle means that you can fit a lot of stuff into the image.

Though when you put a lot of stuff into the image everything becomes small and less significant. And then the emphasis shifts to the overall "wow effect". When the quantity of elements and their relation to each other play more importance, than qualities of a single element, this mix of many elements becomes the primary subject.

Wide angle lens help when there is a limited space and you need to jam a big subject into the picture. One of the examples is the interior design photography. Let's say we have an assignment to take photographs of a kitchen, which I had some time ago. In my case I had plenty of room to move around, the kitchen was for a show, not for real purposes. But there are times when the space is a great issue, then the only choice is to use a wide angle lens, if you are not focusing on the details and need the overall view of the room.

Dynamics and distortion

Sometime ago I've taken a shot of a man sitting on a car. It was taken with "a hidden camera", I just pointed the camera at the man from the waist level at pressed the shutter. The lens, of course, was the wide angle one - at its widest angle. The legs of the man were closest to the camera, and the head is most distant. How was it represented in the photographs? My first answer would be the disproportion of the man, his legs seem much bigger in relation to his whole body than a person usually would have. That is one of the the distortion effects which I wanted to point out. It relates to the "Making it big" issue covered earlier in this article. The body parts of the man, which are closer to the camera (in our case those are the legs) appear to be bigger than his other limbs, which are farther away. Such a distortion sometime may add a funny look to a portrait or highlight specific features of the subject. You probably have seen many images taken with a fish eye lens - the lens that cover 180 degrees and with most distortions. The first example that comes to my mind is a picture of a dog, which is sniffing the camera. The nose of the dog has the size of the dog's head, which makes it so funny.

The other effect of distortion is that straight lines that cross the frame may appear not that straight. The farther from the image center the line crosses the frame the more it will be bent by the optics. Sometimes with fish eye lens it seems like a couple of lines create a circle around the lens. That's how strongly a distortion can affect the scene in the photograph.

But we have not talked about the dynamics. Where are the dynamics in the photograph created with a wide angle lens? In my mind the dynamics in all aspects described above: the stretch of perspective, the differences of the subjects, which are on different distances from the camera, the unreal proportions of known shapes and forms and the distortion of the straight lines (or any other usual and known graphic elements).

Getting personal

Among those technical aspects of the wide angle lens, there is one, which adds its own appeal to me. Considering that you are using the lens to take photographs of a person, you are bound to come closer to the subject. Coming closer, huh? It means that most probably the person would notice you and your camera, which will almost touch him or her. And if your are noticed by the subject, then the attention will be turned at you and all the activities or interests that kept that person busy and made him/her interesting for you will be forgotten for a little while. And the scene, which you were hunting for, is gone. It seems like you are loosing the advantage of a candid shot and are left with a posed one.

Not at all, if you stick just for a few more minutes and spend some time around the subject, the person would be bored with you and shift his attention to some other, more interesting activities or objects. That's the moment we have been waiting for - we are close and unnoticed. And the time which we spent waiting for that we made an invisible connection with the subject. We learned about some personal side and probably made some impressions and conclusions. All those small things count, they will appear in the photograph, it will create that personal touch and add the mood to the photograph, which is based on the photographer's understanding and impression of the subject. I consider this side-effect of the wide angle lens one of the important aspects. And even if the subject is a simple rock laying in the grass, we will have to pay more attention to the rock and by doing so we cannot escape a deeper impression. This personal connection makes as think more about what subject we select to include into the frame and what we know about it, what we want to express, which is the core of photography.

Technical stuff

There are a few technical things that you may need to know when using the wide-angle lens. Here is the short description of those (I am not that much into technicalities):

Lens Hood and Flare - because the lens covers a very wide area there is a great chance that the sun could mess with your image. To overcome this small problem most of the lens are supplied with a lens hood. The hood creates a protection from the sun, but there are two things that collide: the lens is created to allow view as much as possible and the hood tries to provide a protection from the sun. These two concept are somewhat contradictory, so one of them should give in, and that's why the hood for wide angle lens is not such a good protection after all. So, it's your job to watch for the flare and it may be useful to use some other objects (such as a sheet of black card) to protect the lens from the sun rays.

Polarizer - with polarizer you have two concerns. One of them is that the simple thickness of the metallic rim around the glass may cause vignetting. The other one is the unevenness of the effect, which is partially depends on the all those various reflection angles that these lens will let through. If we take for example the sky, the best effect will be when the sun and the camera are at 90 degrees to each other. Though the lens cover a lot more of other angles, where the angles will vary from 45 to 135 degrees. As well I noticed that even without the polarizer the lens saturates the sky more than any other type of lens.

Depth of Field - the design of the wide angle lens and its optical constraints make the DOF wider than with any other lens. It's very hard (almost impossible) to have a shallow DOF with such lens, so look for other ways to simplify background (such as framing).

Sharpness - if you have a wide angle zoom lens than you may notice slighter less sharpness at the very wide angle, especially with the widest aperture. That's another design constraint, which very hard to avoid as I understand (almost any wide angle zoom lens has this drawback, even the best lens).

Vignetting - some lens (especially of cheaper price range) may have dimness in corners at the widest angles and apertures. You may want to check this issue before buying the lens.

Roman Zolin
Friendly photography with a smile

Visit http://tips.romanzolin.com for more photography and photoshop related articles.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roman_Zolin

Scene Modes and Your Digital Camera

2006-05-07T17:44:00.000-04:00

Most people don't want to mess with their digital camera's settings. The rest of us may not understand what they are for and what they can do. Camera manufacturers realize this and are making it easier to take great photos. It is done through a feature called scene modes. Scene modes are mini-programs designed to automatically adjust your camera's settings that are best suited for the situation. By merely twisting a knob or pushing a button a few times, you are able to quickly and easily adjust your camera to get a great shot nearly every time.

Here are some of the more common scene modes and what they do:

Backlight - eliminates dark shadows when light is coming from behind the subject or when the subject is in the shade.

Beach/Snow - this mode is used when photographing beach, snow and sunlight water scenes. Exposure times and white balance are set to help prevent the scene from becoming washed out looking.

Fireworks - shutter speed and exposure are set for shooting fireworks: pre-focusing and the use of a tripod is highly recommended.

Landscape - this mode is used to take photos of wide scenes. The camera automatically focuses on a distant object.

Macro - is used to take close-up shots of small objects, such as coin, flowers or insects. The lens can be moved closer to the object than in other modes. The use of a tripod is highly recommended.

Night Scene - is used when photographing night scenes - what else? Slow shutter speeds are used. You'll need that tripod again.

Panning or Action - this mode will "freeze" the action of the subject while blurring the background to give the feel of motion or speed.

Panorama - is used to take a series of shots from one point and "stitch" them together with software to make a wide angle scene.

Party Mode - is used to take photos in a dim lit room. Exposure and shutter speeds are adjusted for room brightness. The camera must be held very steady in this mode.

Portrait - this mode automatically focuses on the subject and puts the background slightly out of focus.

Sports - is similar to action modes. Fast shutter speeds "freeze" the action. Best shots will result when taken in bright lighting conditions and when you are pre-focused on an area.

Sunset - is used to take photos of sunsets and sunrises. This mode helps keep the deep hues in the scene.

Some cameras have as many as 20 different scene modes. Some modes will automatically adjust the size of your photo for on-line auction. Some are supposed to take 10 pounds off the subject. Regardless of how many scense your camera has, always read the instruction manual. Each manufacturer has their own terminology. By understanding and using scene modes, you will get a great shot every time.

Mike Browns

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Browns

8 Simple Tips for Taking Great Baby Photos

2006-05-06T05:13:00.000-04:00

Taking pictures of your new baby is a great way to preserve life long memories. Baby pictures can also make great postcards, keepsakes, or baby shower gifts. Here are some simple tips to get great baby pictures:

1) Avoid bright light - Babies are especially sensitive to bright light including harsh sunlight and flash photography. If possible, try to take photos during the day when flash photography is not necessary. You can also use lamps to create lighting.

2) Take pictures from different distances - Try to take pictures from different distances. Most people like to take closeup pictures, but pictures that are too close can be blurry and out of focus. By taking several pictures from different distances, you can keep the ones that are the best.

3) Be aware of your baby's mood - Try not to start a photo session when your baby is cranky or crying. If your baby is in a bad mood, then wait awhile until he or she is better rested or calmed. You will get better pictures when your baby is in good spirits.

4) Use a high quality camera and film - This tip may seem simple, but is worth saying. Using high quality cameras and film can make a big difference in the quality of the photo, especially if you are creating photo gifts or favors.

5) Get rid of any distractions - Make sure there are not too many distractions when taking pictures. Anything that moves or makes noise, like the TV, should be turned off is possible. Having too many people around can also be distracting for the baby.

6) Take multiple shots - Taking different shots is a good idea for any type of photography, particularly if you are making photo gifts. Sometimes it is hard to tell if a shot will turn out good until it is actually produced, so get those extra shots just in case.

7) Background - Make sure that there is not too much distracting stuff in the background. The focus should be on the baby, so plain backgrounds usually work best.

8) Other people - Try taking pictures of the baby with other people as well, including yourself. A baby will interact with other people and these interactions captured on film can make great keepsakes.

About the Author - Criss White is a professional web writer on baby and new mother topics for baby and pregnancy websites. For baby shower picture frames, go to Baby Picture Frames - Favors and Unique Baby Shower Favors.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Criss_White

Photography - Top 10 Tips

2006-05-06T05:07:00.000-04:00

If you ask the experts, they'll tell you that there are ten things you can do to make sure that your photos are as good a they can be. These are by no means the only things that will give you better photos but most of the pros agree that these are at the top of the list.

Surprisingly, the first thing they tell you to do, when photographing another person, is to look your subject in the eye. This technique engages the subject and gets the best possible expression out of the subject. Take the photo at eye level. If the subject is a child then stoop down to their level. This is called getting a bird's eye view and is very effective.

The next tip is to use a plain background. You don't want to take attention away from the subject. By using a plain background the attention is squarely on the subject. Make sure there are no objects of any kind sticking out from the sides of the photo area. Your subject is going to look pretty silly having a car sticking out of her right ear.

Third on the list is to use flash outdoors. While this is actually not necessary, the pros say that this will actually improve the quality of the photo. By using a flash this lightens the facial area and eliminates shadows that can be caused by the sun. It's a subtle difference, but a difference just the same.

Number four is to move in close to your subject. This will make the photo as sharp as possible. Plus, you want to fill the photo area with the subject itself and not the things around the subject. Don't get too close or the photo can turn out blurry.

The fifth tip is to move the subject from the middle. This may sound wrong by instinct but what this does is bring your subject to life by moving him from the middle. Try playing tic tac toe with the subject to get the most interesting effect.

Sixth on the list is to lock the focus. Many cameras have auto focus options. Use them. Unless you are a seasoned pro, the camera will do a better job of focusing in on the subject than you can.

The seventh thing to do is to know the range of your flash. Not every flash travels at the same distance. If you are too far away from your subject for your flash to reach you are going to end up with a very dark photo.

Coming in at number eight is to watch light coming from other sources. A bright flash of sun on your grandmother's face can bring wrinkles more to view. This is not something you want. You want the light to be even throughout the photo. This may involve moving your subject a number of times.

At number nine, the pros suggest to take some vertical photos. In other words, turn your camera on it's side. For whatever reason, vertical photos just look good and can make a new photographer's photos look that much better.

At the bottom of the list at number ten is to be a photo director. Don't just passively take your photos. Move your subjects around. Try to create a composition with your photos. Let them tell a story.

The above tips should get you on your way to being a much better photographer.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Photography

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell

Travel Photography Tips - Prague

2006-05-04T16:31:00.000-04:00

While living in Europe, I had a lot of opportunities to travel, explore and photograph. Not every time I've taken advantage of them, but last weekend I had a chance to visit Prague (Czech Republic). The following are some of my experiences and lessons learned.

For those who's interested in Prague's history, check out PragueTourist.com. For the purpose of this article I am gonna concentrate on the photo aspect of my trip.

After reading the quick info card about the tour, I checked out my photo bag to make sure I got all my gear and everything works. This quick inspection is very important; not only to make sure that your gear works, but also to make a decision what to bring and what to leave home. I usually bring everything I got. Here's my list:

Nikon F5
AF Nikkor 50mm f1.4, AF Nikkor 24-80mm, AF Nikkor 80-200mm 2.8 D
Nikon SB-600 flash unit
Various filters
FUJI Superia Press Pro 35mm color negative film
Manfrotto tripod
LowelPro AW Commercial Bag

Since I figured the pace of this trip will be pretty fast, I decided not to take the tripod with me; carrying the bag is bad enough. Everything else on the list was packed into LowelPro bag.

After an uncomfortable 7 hour bus ride, we finally arrived. The weather was ok, a few clouds, a bit overcast - nice for photography. The plan was to take a quick tour with the group, then lunch, and then explore the city on my own.

Photo 1 - Billboard in Prague

Photo 2 - The View from Charles Bridge

The tour was short and sweet - just how I like it. There was a lot of tourists around, so I snapped a few shots and moved on. After lunch, I decided to check out Charles Bridge located in the Old Town. While strolling through narrow streets of the Old Town, I noticed a homeless man sitting on the street. I didnt want to be obvious, so I pre focused the lens and snapped 2 shots. Both came out a bit blurry, cause my focus was not dead on, and also I got the feeling that I shook the camera a bit...

To be continued...

For more travel photography tips, check out this blog

logo 2006

2006-05-01T13:02:00.000-04:00

Famous Photographers (by Michael Russel)

2006-04-30T15:20:00.000-04:00

Thinking of joining the ranks of the greatest photographers of all time? Well, it might be a good idea to check out a few of them and the works they've done so you know just what it is you're up against.

Probably one of the most famous photographers of all time was Ansel Adams. Adams was born In San Francisco California in 1902. He lived in Carmel until he died in 1984. His most popular photo was titled "Moonrise Over Hernandez, 1944". This is a breathtaking photo showing a beautiful night view and the small town below it. Other famous photos by Adams were "Clearing Winter Storm" and "Winter Sunrise". Adams did a lot of outdoor photography with some breathtaking views. His most popular photo has about 1000 copies in print. The price range of these photos, depending on condition goes from $5,000 to $175,000 if you can find one.

Moving from outdoor photography of landscapes to nude women on beaches we have the works of Jock Sturges. Sturges was born in the big city of New York in the year 1947. He currently lives in Seattle, Washington. His most popular images, all of beach nudes, are "Misty Dawn 1991" and "Northern California, 1991". His prints range in price from $1,000 to $3,000. His most expensive print sold for $4,000.

Herman Leonard was known for taking great photographs of jazz legends. He was born in Allentown, PA in 1923. He currently lives and works in New Orleans. His most popular images are photos of great jazz legends Dexter Gordon, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. Herman Leonard was one of the more active photographers even when not working at his craft. He often traveled with great entertainers like Marlon Brando, who he hung out with in 1954. His photos range in price from $950 to $5,500.

Another great photographer was Irving Penn who was born in Plainfield, NJ in 1917. Penn was actually known for a number of different styles of photography including fashion photography and provocative life style portraits. His most famous work was "Cuzco Children" which sold for as much as $175,000 at the turn of the century. Penn worked for some of the most popular magazines of our time including Harper's Bazaar, Saks Fifth Avenue and Vogue Magazine.

Another great photographer, who most people have actually heard of, was the one and only Helmut Newton, who just recently passed away in 2004. He was most known for photos involving fashion and nudes illustrating themes of mass media, glamour, sex and theater. Newton's work was often categorized as bizarre. He was once quoted as saying "My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain". He most certainly did that better than just about anyone else. His most popular image is "Sie Kommen I, II". His photographs are in such demand that some go for as much as $400,000 each.

The list of famous photographers goes on, literally forever. So if you are thinking of joining the ranks of these greats and many others, then you're going to have to work hard at your craft.

Very, very hard.

Michael Russell - Your Independent guide to Photography

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell

The 5 Deadly Sins of Photoshop Compositing (by Sean Baylis)

2006-04-20T03:59:00.000-04:00

Photoshop is a wonderful program that allows you to edit a photograph in as many ways as you can imagine. It allows you to control every aspect of a photograph and gives you editing tools that a traditional photographer could only dream about. With this wide range of editing and compositing tools comes the ability to create fantastic works of art. With the rise in popularity of photography and personal computers, the door has been thrown open, now anyone with a half decent PC and a few spare dollars to buy PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS can and are calling themselves RETOUCHERS.

In the hands of a skilled user Photoshop can produce awe inspiring work; in the hands of a novice it can produce images of extremely poor quality. Unfortunately, as the popularity of the program grows and people become more and more exposed to these poor images, this lack of quality is becoming accepted as the norm. Here are the things to watch for when creating Photoshop compositions:

1) Feathered edges. When you make a selection, using the dancing ants around an area you wish to move, change, colour or otherwise edit, you have to feather the edge by at least 2-3 pixels (depending on the resolution of your image), in order to avoid the jagged edges we so often see in photo montages. Feathering creates a soft edge that blends the area of the selection with the area it abuts. Feathering an edge by a high value is also a useful way to fade out a selection.

2) Correct Perspective. If you have one element in an image that has a different geometrical perspective that does not match the rest of the image the whole image will look odd. A viewer will generally not know what is specifically wrong with the image, they will just know that it looks odd and generally undesirable. This is generally seen in buildings or cars that have been composited in from other images and not had their perspective adjusted to match the greater image as a whole. This would happen if two images shot at different focal lengths were then combined. An image from a 28mm lens combined with an image from a 200mm lens will need perspective adjustment to look right.

3) Correct Depth of Field. Images that have one object or area in focus and then behind that an object out of focus, and then behind that another object in focus will look very odd and be completely unbelievable. Like perspective, combining images shot with differing depth of field will require you to adjust the focus of the elements to correct the Depth of Field. One draw back, while it is possible to soften objects to make them appear out of focus or have short depth of field, it is next to impossible to sharpen soft objects to make them appear to be in focus. Depth of Field problems are one of the most common mistakes made in Photoshop compositions.

4) Direction of Light. When montaging images it is important to combine images shot with the same lighting conditions. The play of light on an object creates a series of shadows that have a specific directional play depending on where the light source was in relation to the object. If you montage together two images with differing light sources the image will look unreal and undesirable.

5) Colour cast. All images have a colour cast otherwise know as WHITE BALANCE, this is the HUE of the white areas. Also know as the colour temperature of an image. Be careful to adjust the colour cast of montaged images so that the white areas look the same, doing otherwise will render your images unreal and undesirable.

The human eye has an amazing ability to spot subtle changes in what it considers normal. Stare at a picture of a pink banana, after a short while the banana will start to appear yellow, but you will still have the feeling that something is not right. This also applies equally to Colour, Focus, Perspective and Light Direction. When creating montage images in Photoshop it is important to watch for mistakes in these areas as you will want to have your images look as real as possible and thus as desirable or aesthetically pleasing as possible. I have seen far too many images used in big advertising campaigns with blatant disregard for these basic principles. Done right Photoshop can create compelling compositions; done wrong and it just looks, well… wrong!

Sean David Baylis is a professional photographer who has been using the popular photo editing program Adobe Photoshop since 1994 version 2.5. He is considered by many an expert user and is called on to retouch major national ad campaigns and art books in addition to his own commercial and editorial work. Examples of Sean’s work can be seen at http://www.sdbphoto.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_David_Baylis

Editing Digital Camera Photos (by Chris Simons)

2006-03-18T10:12:00.000-05:00

Traditionally a photographer could control the outcome of his photos in the dark room by using a variety of films, chemicals, papers and processes. Now all of this can be done on the computer or in some cases on the digital camera all with photo editing programs.

The advantages of editing digital photos is that costs are much lower, you can do it anywhere you have access to a computer and an editing program, and there it takes less time. You can also easily undo any edits you make. Photo editing software can be used to improve an image by getting rid or flaws, it can crop photos and easily change the color, or making it look completely different.

There is one disadvantage to digital photos, and that is that they can easily lost on your computer, or you can’t find the one you are looking for because they all have irrelevant names. This creates a need for a good database or system to save and store digital pictures. There are many software programs that will help you organize your photos. These programs can:

· Acquire images from the camera

· View the images on the system

· Catalog the images, usually using thumbnails

· Edit the images

· Post thumbnails of the images on the Web

An active digital photographer may also want to consider having a system for storing photos on CD’s or DVD’s. If this is the case you will want to create a database that lists the photos and which CD or DVD they can be found on.

Improving Photos

All photo editing software offers a feature called Unsharp Masking, which sharpens your image. This feature reduces blur and can greatly improve a photo. This feature is so commonly used that many scanners, printers and cameras offer it. Resizing an image allows you increase or decrease the pixels used in a photo. This can have an effect on the quality of the photo. Cropping an image is also another way to improve photos and is a standard feature of even the most basic photo editing software. Did you capture something in the background you rather not have in the photo? Don’t worry crop it out. Brightness and contrast are also another standard feature for editing photos. This is great for photos that you really love but are too dark or light. You can also change the color balance in your photo to make the more true to life, or to make it look unreal. Saturation is the intensity of a certain color and is often close to the color balance.

Manipulating Photos

Filters are the easiest way to manipulate digital photos. There are numerous effects that can be achieved with filters, everything from making a photo look like a painting to embossing and adding textures. Most software programs come with at least a few filters, and many offer upgrades where you can add more. Another way to manipulate photos is by making a composite photo. This is done by combining the images of two or more photos. Digital photography makes this very simple.

Chris Simons is a prolific freelance writer. You are welcomed to visit http://digital-cameras.theconsumerguide.net, for more information on Digital Cameras.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Simons

Digital Photography Tips...

2006-01-23T06:32:00.000-05:00

Digital Photography Tip 1 - Busting The Dust:

To get rid of the dust you can use a camera blower brush, and tilt the camera down while blowing. Take care not to get any of the hairs snagged inside!

Digital Photography Tip 2 - Shedding Light On The Night:

Digital Photography Tip 3 - Nit-Picking About Pixels:

When buying a digital camera you will be confronted with a vast choice of various megapixel specifications. It is worth knowing that not all pixels are created equal!

Digital Photography Tip 4 - Spice Up Your Space:

Digital Photography Tip 5 - Remember To Flash:

The fill flash mode will ensure proper exposure for the background and enough flash to expose the subject in the foreground, leaving you with a professional looking portrait.

Lastly, remember that, if someone offers expert advice, they may expect a generous digital photography tip!

For more information visit Best-Digital-Photography.com

Rika Susan of Article-Alert.com researches, writes, and publishes full-time on the Web. Copyright of this article: 2006 Rika Susan. This article may be reprinted if the resource box and hyperlinks are left intact.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rika_Susan

Improving Your Landscape Images - Part 2

2006-01-22T15:56:00.000-05:00

We use filters in photography to bring back an image to the way our eyes have perceived the original scene. Some times it’s not possible for our cameras to record an exact scene - so we have to rely on the manufacturers of camera products.

If you are only going to buy one filter for your landscape photography a polarizing filter is the one you’ll use most. A polarizing filter can be used with colour or black and white and is probably the most important filter on the market today.

Lets take a quick look at the science behind it. A polarizing filter is made up of two pieces of glass which when rotated cut out all glare on non-metallic surfaces. Light travels in waves - these waves travel in all directions and at different rates and speeds. The polarizing filter works by limiting the amount of waves that enter your lens. You decide how many waves pass through your lens by rotating the filter.

The polarizing filter is most effective with side lighting.

For example: if you are taking a picture of a scenic lake area and there is a messy reflection of the clouds in the lake; it will be too much of a distraction in the final picture. This can be simply removed by rotating the polarizing filter ‘til the clouds disappear. You can view the filter working in the viewfinder of your camera.

The polarizing filter will also darken the blue sky to give it a strong rich colour. It will make mist stand out and can be also used to give fast flowing water a misty effect.

You don’t have to rotate the filter the full amount to get the maximum affect you need, sometimes you will only have to rotate it a small amount. You can decide best for yourself by viewing through your viewfinder while you rotate the polarizing filter.

This filter is not just for a landscape photographer.

There are many different uses for a polarizing filter, which make it so important for all photographers. Property photographers would find this filter extremely handy - when taking an image of a shop front, the polarizing filter will remove glare that reflects off the glass.

Take extreme care when calculating exposure. Remember that you will have to add two stops of light when using the polarizing.

TJ Tierney. Award winning Irish Landscape Photographer. If you are looking for more tips visit Photo tips. To view some of his images visit his on-line gallery: Pictures of Ireland.

http://www.goldenirishlight.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=TJ_Tierney

How to Buy Digital Camera Lenses

2006-01-04T10:05:00.000-05:00

"It's not the camera, that makes a photo, it's the photographer... and the lens" - S.B.

With new technology comes new opportunity. This statement is particularly true in the case of digital cameras, and more importantly, as the title of this article suggests, in the case of digital camera lenses.

There are so many different lenses with varying specifications available that it can be quite overwhelming to find exactly what it is that you require from a lens, but that is where we step in to help.

This article acts as a guide to explain the jargon and to allow you make a better-informed purchase the next time you are shopping for a new digital camera lens.

Choosing a Suitable Focal Length

Focal length is probably the most important factor that should be considered when choosing a lens, and for good reason: focal lengths determine the field-of-view of the photos you will be able to take successfully with your camera.

The two main types of focal length are telephoto and wide-angle, and while telephoto lenses have a narrow field-of-view and are best suited for close-up shots and portraits, wide-angle lenses have a wider field-of-view which is perfect for indoor photography and landscapes.

Keep in mind that the performance of lenses can differ from camera to camera, with the magnification power behind a lens generally being greater on a digital camera than on a 35mm film-based camera.

The Need For Speed

When you hear about fast and slow lenses, reference is being made to a lens's maximum aperture, which is the maximum amount of light that a lens can let in. A simple rule of thumb is that a fast lens lets in a lot of light, while a slow lens lets in less light, which defines how your photos will look.

Maximum apertures are measured in f/stop numbers, which are actually a ratio of the size of the lens aperture and focal length. The smaller the f/number, the more light is let in. An increment in the f/stop number doubles the amount of light let in, so f/2.0 lets in twice as much light as f/1.4.

This may seem quite confusing at first, so the easiest way to make sense of it is to remember the following: fast lenses are best suited towards successful photography in darker lighting conditions, and slow lenses are targeted towards photography in lighter conditions.

The Ins and Outs of a Zoom Lens

Unlike a fixed-focal-length lens, a zoom lens often gives you the diversity of a range of focal lengths all rolled into a single adjustable lens. This can be great if you often have to switch between various lenses for different shots, but it is important to remember that not all zoom lenses have a constant maximum aperture, and those that do are often larger and more expensive.

Although the maximum aperture may be reduced as you zoom in using a lens with a variable maximum aperture, this may not be as important to some photographers as the reduced cost and size of such lenses. Keep this in mind when purchasing a zoom lens.

Add-on Lenses

Add-on or accessory lenses are targeted towards compact digital cameras, and allow owners of such models to significantly lengthen or reduce the camera's built-in focal length while at the same time being able to automate camera functions including f/stop settings and focusing.

These lenses can be an excellent low-cost add-on to your digital camera, with telephoto add-on lenses being able to increase focal lengths by up to 300%, and wide-angle versions allowing for reduction in focal lengths of up to 30%.

Final Considerations

There are several other terms to take into consideration when buying a digital camera lens to make sure you are making the best purchase. If your lens utilizes aspheric lens elements, then you can rest happily with the knowledge that your lens will help produce sharper photographs and help keep lens weight to a minimum.

Lenses using internal and automatic focusing also keep lens weight down thanks to less moving parts, and of course allow for faster focusing. Low-dispersion glass leaves photos looking less hazy or fuzzy, while stabilization systems help to keep images sharp when taken using slow shutter speeds.

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has helped you to better understand what to look for in a digital camera lens. There are a lot of terms to remember here - so before shopping for your new lens it may be a good idea to take the time to make a list of what you want to do with your camera. Then you can double check your requirements against the features of different lenses. If you are still unsure if a lens will cater for your needs then by all means try to test it so that you can see some results before you buy!

Gary Hendricks runs a hobby site on digital photography. Visit his website at Basic-Digital-Photography.com for tips and tricks on buying digital cameras, as well as shooting great photos.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Hendricks

"Hands" by Sergykal

2006-01-01T23:04:00.000-05:00

This photo was taken at a concert in late July 2006. Some basic adjustments then were applied in Picasa, as well as some cloning in Photoshop. I'd like to know what you think about it!

Camera Reviews

2006-01-01T17:48:00.000-05:00

Book: Sergykal Procedure

2006-01-01T17:35:00.000-05:00

This is a project that I have been kinda working on for a long time; it's just now I decided to take a bit more action about completing it. This book will feature some of my photographs taken during my 7 year tour with the US Army. It will also include some of my creative ideas and projects covering approximately 10 years (1996-2006).

Not sure, when the book is actually gonna come out, but if you're a member of Sergykal Studios, you'll get a free copy (e-book or hard copy - your choice), so register now (FREE membership!)

I will keep ya'll updated on the progress here at Sergykal Studios Blog.
I am also planning on posting a few sample photos, to give you a taste of how the book is gonna look.

Photoshop CS2 Channels Book by Scott Kelby

2006-01-01T16:47:00.000-05:00

"Hope" - a portrait of a young Afghan girl

2006-01-01T15:26:00.000-05:00

I shot this image of a young Afghan girl in late 2005, while deployed to Afghanistan with Task Force Lightning, US Army. We've participated in a lot of humanitarian aid missions there, and once again we went out to a village about an hour away from Bagram.

The girl was standing in a group of other girls watching US Soldiers downloading the truck with school supplies, clothes, shoes and toys. I caught her looking at a US Soldier, who was getting ready to pass out a toy. Her eyes said it all. There was hope. To her, we were bearers of good, these strange people from a land far far away from where she lived, yet she trusted us to do good, and her smile expressed her feelings.

After distributing all the supplies, we went back to our base. I looked at the photo, and was overwhelmed with emotions. I was sad that this girl couldn't have even basic amenities, the ones that we (Americans) are so used to and take for granted. At the same time, I saw that sparkle in her eyes, that indicated to me that there's hope and maybe one day, she'll live a better life.

Note: The the background in the original photo was blurred in Photoshop 7.0. I wanted to get viewers attention on the girl by blurring out elements of the photo that are not important. I could have achieved the same effect by using a longer focal length lens, but at the time, I wanted to capture her emotions; there was no time to change lenses.

The Situation Room

2006-01-01T10:01:00.000-05:00

12 July 2006

Today, Digital Photographer Blog broke the 50,000 hits mark. It may seem like a small number, but in little over 6 months that I've been working on this blog, there are more and more visitors every day. I am going to bring more original articles in the near future, to utilize a wide spectrum of experiences I've had during my 7 years as a photographer with the US Army. The members section 'members Lounge' is also under construction. Grand opening is planned for September 5, 2006. Stay tuned!

5 July 2006: Back to what was good!

Today I changed the header from a logo to a simpler (text only) heading. The page loads faster and has a cleaner look (I think). As usual comments are welcome.

30 June 2006: Happy 4th of July!

I am going to be out of town for a few days to celebrate the 4th of July. Check out my new post about photographing fireworks. I may try to do some fireworks shooting on my own if the situation permits. Happy 4th of July!

22 June 2006: DPB is back to narrow layout format

After messing around with wide and narrow layout formats, I went back to the typical blog narrow layout format to comply with lower resolution monitors. DPB Weekly poll is now located in the sidebar.

9 June 2006: Blogger issues...

Last few days Blogger has been having some major issues. Besides being extremely slow, the service was down the last 2 days. Isn't that great? Not. My apologies to the members, subscribers and readers. Normal posting will resume tomorrow.

6 June 2006: Cool shot

While looking for some photo articles this morning, I stumbled across a cool shot of the Charles Bridge (in Prague, Czech Republic). The article is titled 'Night Light Photography - Charles Bridge at Night'. Since I spent a few hours during the day on the bridge last month, it was interesting to see it at night. Check out my Prague trip photo article Part 1

5 June 2006: It's been busy

Hello, it's been a few days since I posted an update here - been kinda busy with the move from Europe to the US. I also got a puppy, so it kept me busy all day. I am working on some original articles, so I should have those by the end of this month!

29 May 2006: I am back...

Well, actually... I have been back in the US for a few days now, but I have been busy picking up my car, registerling it and other stuff. I have posted a few articles though... I should be back to my normal posting schedule - once a day. I am also working on some original content based on my own experiences as a photographer. Stay tuned!

22 May 2006: Flying back to US

Today I am flying back to the US from Germany. Because of this I may not be able to post for a day or two. My apologies.

21 May 2006: New name (final) (I should have made this a contest)

After receiving a few critical comments about the name photo-copy, I have changed the name to digital photographer blog - a name that is descriptive and yet easy to remember. I also own the domain now - http://digitalphotographerblog.com

19 May 2006: New Sergykal Gear in stores now

I've got some new products available from Sergykal Gear. Stop by and check it out. Working on making some of those products FREE for Photo-Copy members. Even more reasons to get your free membership now!

18 May 2006: Final changes (I promise)

Finally, the final changes to the blog are done. The biggest: new name (I know I have changed the name twice in the last few days, but this one is final). Also, some layout modifications were also completed - hope you like it!

18 May 2006: Recommended books

I am currently reading Creative Photography Techniques by Lee Frost. "Most of the pictures photographers take are of specific objects, recorded in a literal way so that the viewer can identify what has been depicted..." (more)

17 May 2006: show your support...

...by putting our button on your website or blog. Right click on the button, then Save Picture As... Then upload to your server and link to http://sergykalstudios.blogspot.com

16 May 2006: new name and a new layout (again)

As I mentioned before, I wasn't satisfied with the layout, so I tweaked it once more. There are couple of things I still have to work out (i.e. lower resolution monitors compatibility), but I like it better. Also, you may have noticed that the name has changed - this is part of a slow migration process to a new host and new domain (photo-instructor.com). For now contunue using your bookmarks and I will try to make the transition to a new host and a new domain as seamless as possible. I'll keep you updated on the developments. In the mean time, please take my quick survey and let me know what you think about the new layout and a new name. Thanks!

13 May 2006: My Book

This is a project that I have been kinda working on for a long time; it's just now I decided to take a bit more action about completing it. This book will feature some of my photographs taken during my 7 year tour with the US Army. It will also include some of my creative ideas and projects covering approximately 10 years (1996-2006).
Read full post

Members of Sergykal Studios will get a copy for FREE, so sign up now!

12 May 2006: Messing with layout

After receiving comments from the subscribers, I wasn't totally happy with the layout of the site, so I messed with it a bit. Still think there are some improvements that can be done...

11 May 2006: Help me help you!

In the last few weeks I've been working hard on improving the site. Please take a survey and let me know what I need to work on to improve your experience here. In advance, thank you!

10 May 2006: Digital Photography School Blog

Phalinn, a reader of Digital Photography School asks:
ÂIÂm using a compact digicam and i would like to ask it is worth it to upgrade to a DSLR camera? How huge a difference do DSLR cameras make compared to compact digicams?Â
Thanks for the question Phalinn - IÂll attempt to keep my answer brief and not too technical. This is a question that IÂm regularly asked, increasingly so as the price of DSLRs have dropped and become much more in the reach of the average digital photographerÂs budget.

There's an interesting and informative post "Should you buy a DSLR or Point and Shoot Digital Camera?" on Digital Photography School blog hosted by Darren Rowse. Check it out if you have the same question.

8 May 2006: Subscribe and stay informed

Well, the community is growing, slowly... I am going to put in more time in creating quality content, so subscribe and enjoy the photography tips. Note, that the feed does not cover The Situation Room - you have to check the website.

7 May 2006: New logo

We have a new logo now! Oh, and to be a bit more descriptive it's a lounge now ;). Sergykal Lounge. Let me know what you think of the new logo HERE.

6 May 2006: More design layout and content updates

I've been working on updating both site layout and content. The layout has changed a bit. Take a vote and let me know what you think about it. Based on RSS feeds, I bring you relevant news about photography, book reviews, and extensive tutorials. Please note, this content is a collection of resources from some of the best photography sites on the Web. I am working on my own tutorials and articles, but at this time, they are not ready for release.

5 May 2006: This site now qualifies to feature the SiteScore button!

Cool, eh? I had to tweak the code a bit, mostly to get better search results on Google. Well, it worked, and the site qualified for a SiteScore Icon from the awesome site Silktide.com

1 May 2006: Spiced up design

Today I spiced up the design of the site a bit. Now, there's a new section Book Spotlight. This feed-based section features links to books about photography sold on Amazon.com. The Headlines and the new Book Spotlight section now share the mid portion of the screen. There also 2 polls featured: both designed to help me improve the site's content in the future, so please vote! Last, but not least there's now a place for you to add your link to my Link List; it's on the right hand side, all the way on the bottom; click 'Add your site to my list'. Hope you like these improvements!

There is now also a section for members. Membership is free, so sign up! Members will have access to special features, deals, downloads and more!

30 April 2006: Prague in the spring

This weekend I visited Prague (Czech Republic). Overall, it was awesome, although the weather was crappy at times. I had my trusty F5 with me, so in a couple of days I will post a short article about my photo adventures in Prague. Stay tuned!

28 April 2006: PopClicks.com Hotness

Turns out Sergykal Gear was featured on HOTNESS (by Blog Daily) on 4 April 2006.

27 April 2006: Surreal images

This is a great site that has a tutorial on creating surreal images in Photoshop. Pretty cool. Check it out. Digit.co.uk
Stop just enhancing reality and start subverting it with our guide to surreal digital effects in Photoshop. Part one: the end of the rainbow. Thanks to The Wizard of Oz, the myth of the Leprechaun's gold, and a hundred other childhood tales, the rainbow is a powerful image in all our dream landscapes. This image is the answer to a question on every child's lips at some stage of their development -- where do rainbows start or end? . (Continued)

26 April 2006: Cool Photoshop Skills

Recently I came across this post on DSLR Blog. It talks about digital retouching. Check out the link there. (Photographic Retouching)
Very cool! http://dslrblog.com/blog/chris/cool-photoshop-skills

Cool Photoshop Skills
Posted by Chris on Thu, 30/03/2006 - 12:09pm

While I wouldn't say I am a complete convert to the allure of Photoshop, things like this Photographic Retouching case study could change my mind. Taylor James shows in their project for Coca-Cola how a scene was put together, piece by piece all in the computer. Pretty neat stuff and an idea for a future challenge...Shame it's a flash site otherwise I could have linked directly to the interesting stuff.
Technorati Tags: photoshop, retouching, photographic, photography, tips

Weekly Polls

2006-01-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here are a few previous polls. They are open, meaning that you can still cast your vote!
Your participation is appreciated.

It's Dark - Get Your Camera Out

2005-12-30T08:17:00.000-05:00

Wherever you live, there will be a time when it is dark and dreary. Dark evenings can be a bit depressing but also great for photography!

When it's dark it can be refreshing to take pictures of .... lights! No, it’s not a misprint. And, of course, light is needed for all photography otherwise we would never see an image. But seeking out artificial lights on dark days can be rewarding.

Where do you find these lights? That’s an easy question to answer - everywhere!

Street lights, house lights, lights for bars and restaurants. Monuments lit up. Boats on water (don't forget the reflections), piers, lagoons. Cities and towns, buildings, shops, institutions. Roads and thoroughfares - lights form street lighting, cars, bikes. Fireworks, fairgrounds ..... Everywhere!

The great thing is that you can capture some fantastic images by using long shutter speeds at night (you will HAVE to use a longer speed in any case due to the lower ambient light levels). Longer shutter speeds will result in trails of light across your image if the light source is moving. This is particularly so when photographing moving vehicles - the front and rear lights can produce exciting and interesting effects.

Shooting at night can give spectacular effects and can make a familiar subject appear totally different. Worth a go.

Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_Hartwell

Related Posts:
Light Trails
Digital photography tips
Night photography - low light tips and techniques

A Camera is Like a Woman

2005-12-21T12:48:00.000-05:00

The Canon 20D - a semi-pro camera. Much reviewed, much used and much admired. With such expectation, I bought it but within minutes, horror of horrors, I hated it with a vengeance. In womanly terms, it was a hag on a broomstick.

But wait no longer - what is this, that's yonder coming, fair of cheek and sleek of hair, with a smile to die for and a body worth caressing? Why, it's the 20D (again) with a renewed brisk turn of step and a glint in its eye and an owner who's profusing undying love and eternal wonderment. So, what changed...?

Well, of course, it's no good taking a camera straight out of the box and snapping away, with all that diffused backlighting. Noooooooooooo, sir. One must get used to the controls, handle the machine with care and (very important, this) READ the flipping manual! Otherwise, random knob-twiddling results in random pictures. Most of which are as poor as ...... well, you get the idea.

So, dear readers, I read the manual and found the PARTIAL metering switch, and - hallelujah - it's made all the difference. I recommend reading the blurb. One day, all cameras will have lovers - it's just that sometimes they play hard to get. Enjoy.

Eric Hartwell is an enthusiastic photographer. He owns and runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums http://www.theshutter.co.uk/forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com. Anyone interested in getting involved contact him at shutter@theshutter.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_Hartwell

Street Photography - An Introduction for Non-Photographers

2005-12-12T09:18:00.000-05:00

Street photography is an approach to photography rather than a location, although the streets are the usual place that it happens.

"When I saw the photograph of Munkacsi of the black kids running in a wave I couldn't believe such a thing could be caught with the camera. I said damn it, I took my camera and went out into the street." Henri Cartier-Bresson

Alternatively it is refered to as no rules photography. The plethera of equipment (tripods, lenses,filters,lights etc etc) associated with "serious" photography is left at home, or better still in the camera store. Its just too heavy and bulky to cart around, takes way too long to set up and by the time it is set up the moment is gone.
Street photography is shooting from the hip.

Likewise the rules of photograph, the f stops, the shutter speeds, the rule of thirds etc etc are left in their dust jackets on Amazon shelves. By the time all the technical considerations are taken into account, the birdy is in another country.
Thank Canon, Nikon, Fuji et al for point & shoots.

It is just the camera and the photographer with their enthusiasm, intuition and open mind.

Street photography can be and often is: Out of focus; a tilted horizon; a soft focus.

Street photographers are optimists, for them the glass is always half full. They go out on a photo shoot with no plan in mind secure in the knowledge that this wide world of ours will provide. A subject, a situation, a scene will present itself all they have to have is the presence of mind to capture it when it does.

Street photography can be and often is: Odd things in the foreground; no central focus; odd crops.

Street photographers see the usual, the every day with fresh eyes. The reflection in a rain puddle, the colours in a crowd, the balance of a negative space. Their minds are open to all the stimuli that they see and they curse the days when they leave their camera at home.

Street photography can be and often is: very busy; a tilted perspective; upside down.

Street photographers are not only on the streets, they are at weddings,school concerts, next to you on the train. They look a lot like tourists, its their favourite cover but they are one without the big flash. It was left at home, the available light will do.

Street photography can be and often is: under exposed; blurred; suffering from vertigo.

Street photography is, what all photography is, a snap shot.
What shines through is the photographer, his/her interpretation of the scene, what they see in the situation, their reaction to the stimuli, the art they see in the every day.
Technicians take technically correct and often pretty pictures.
Visual artists, whatever their medium, create images that stimulate the mind, the heart and validate the human condition in all its guises. Because, after all, pretty is in the eye of the beholder and consequently very subjective, whereas art speaks to all who are prepared to listen.

Henry Bateman is an artist/photographer who finds his inspiration on the streets he wanders. His work can be seen at http://www.pissedpoet.com and this article with pictures at http://www.pissedpoet.com/street_photo.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Henry_Bateman

The Myth of Megapixels

2005-12-06T21:24:00.000-05:00

"...The fact is that megapixels are NOT everything. Despite point and shoot cameras now coming with up to 10 megapixels (Casio released one last month) their quality level is not necessarily as good as a DSLR with only 8 or so..."- Darren ( Digital Photography School )

For most things in life, more is better. As a business it's better to offer more features, more services or more products. What individual doesn't want to have more money, fame, or control over his or her life? So the same rule should apply to megapixels. And that's how the myth got started.

The Megapixel Race

Think of the rush to add more megapixels to digital cameras like the arms race between the U.S. and Russia back in the 80s. Each camera company felt the need to overcome the other, and the one number that made comparisons easy was megapixels. It makes sense. How would you rather compare 2 different digital cameras? Is it easier to tell that they are different because one offers low noise at ISO 800 while the other only offers ISO 400? Isn't it much simpler to say: "This one has 4 megapixels and that one has 5"? It made comparing cameras a lot easier. Notice the use of past tense. Why doesn't it work any more? Because today there are many cameras that offer the same number of megapixels. It's no longer enough to compare cameras on megapixels alone. Now you actually have to understand more camera terms to find the one camera that you really like.

What Megapixels Are Good For

During the rush to add more megapixels to digital cameras, something got lost along the way: what megapixels are good for. What also got lost was the fact that not everyone NEEDS an 8.0 megapixel camera. Despite what the ads and salespeople tell you, it's just not necessary for most of us.

Megapixels are good for one thing: printing your digital photos. The more megapixels your camera has, the larger the size you can print.

An 8.0 megapixel camera will produce beautiful prints at 12x16 inches, while a 4.0 megapixel camera is limited to 8x10.

What do the pros use? Anywhere from 16 to 22 megapixels. This is what's required for magazine and advertising work. It's no coincidence that their cameras cost anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000. You pay a lot of money for that many megapixels.

So what about average Joe photographer out on the street? If he rarely needs to print photos larger than 8x10, then a 4.0 megapixel camera will suit him just fine. No need for anything more than that.

Find Your Megapixels

The first thing that you need to decide before you go out and shop is how many megapixels you really need. Here's a quick rundown of how you might use your digital photos and the appropriate number of megapixels for each one:

You want to e-mail to friends and upload to websites - 2 megapixels will get the job done. If you're never going to print your photos, you don't need a huge amount of megapixels. Less megapixels results in smaller file sizes for your digital photos, and will make it easier for you to e-mail them to everyone you know.

You make standard prints - while 2 megapixels is enough for a 4x6 print, I recommend you go up to at least 3. This just gives you some additional breathing room if you get a spectacular shot and decide you want a 5x7.

You don't like tiny prints - if what really gets you going is a nice 8x10 print, then you're going to want 4 megapixels or more.

When you decide on the right number of megapixels first, you're going to save a lot of money.

First, you'll save money on the camera itself, since the price of a digital camera is directly related to the number of megapixels it can capture. Here's the real kicker: you'll also save money on the hidden cost of owning a digital camera. What do I mean by this? Photos with more megapixels result in larger files which require more storage space. When you get an 8 megapixel camera, you are also going to have to pony up for at least a 512 MegaByte memory card to go with it to store all of those giant files.

Furthermore, all of those files are going to take up a ton of space on your computer's hard drive. If you're not diligent about weeding out the photos you don't like then your hard drive is going to fill up fast. With a 2 megapixel camera, you can get by with a 64 MegaByte memory card, and you won't have to worry about running out of room on your hard drive for a very long time.

In Conclusion

I hope this article has helped to debunk the myth of megapixels for you. If you already own a digital camera, now you know what all of those megapixels are really good for. And if you're just about to get a brand new digital camera, you'll save yourself a lot of hard-earned dough by making the right choice about how many megapixels you really need.

Chris Roberts purchased his first digital SLR camera 3 years ago, and hasn't looked back. He continues to learn and write about digital SLRs to this day on his web sites, the Digital SLR Guide and The Best Digital SLR For You

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Roberts

A Primer on Digital Cameras - Everything You Need to Know

2005-12-04T12:40:00.000-05:00

It wasn’t long ago that digital cameras were essentially for the rich and the geeks; if you spent just a few bucks you didn’t get anything worth having, and if you really wanted something good.. well, you’d better be in the book about the Rich and Famous.

Technology and costs have changed drastically in the last few years, and it seems as if today that digital cameras nearly outnumber all the classic film cameras, and to all but the classic photography buffs, digital is the way to go.

Even traditional photography studios use digital, often in combination, with film.

Why? What’s the attraction? Instant availability and the ability to discard unwanted photos without cost penalty is one main attraction. The second is the ability to share, publish, store your pictures.

The purist will still argue that for professional grade photography and the widest range of effects that film is the only way to go. If he were shooting today, it is doubtful that Ansel Adams would be using digital.

For the rest of us, digital seems to be the way to go.

Now assuming you have not yet made the plunge, the biggest question is "Where Do I start?" or "What do I buy?" or "How Do I Compare?"

Articles have been written on just these subjects and if we were to expand on all, this article would be a text book instead of just a primer. You can do a search on any of the popular article sites to find many articles just on that subject, (one site for example is Article City.com, but not to promote one over the other.. chances are you may be seeing this on an article based site). You can also use search engines.

But sometimes it’s nice to have interactive expert advice. We suggest you read and research for background, but then for selection, visit you closest specialty photography or camera store. One where that’s all they sell.. not a general all purpose discount or department store that probably has that department "manned" with part time help.. but go to the specialty store. The person will know what to ask you and how to guide you.

Your biggest question will end up being an ethical one: After you have been taught and guided, do you buy from that store, or take your knowledge and model to the internet or a discount store and make your buy. If you do, keep in mind that the full service store may offer just that.. service after the sale; maybe an upgrade trade in policy, and other intengiblesthat must be assigned value.

Before you venture out, choosing the right camera begins with asking yourself "What do I want this for?" "What kinds of pictures do I expect to be taking?" "How many at a time?" (Addresses memory and storage issues). "What kind of light will most of my pictures be in?" "Will I be carrying this camera for long periods of time?"(Think of weight). And lastly, and this is important.. What kind of batteries does this camera use; how available are they, and what do they cost? Most digital cameras are real battery hogs, so it is important that batteries are readily available.. and possibly rechargable.. but if you are on a 3 week safari in Africa and you don’t have chargers handy.. what are your options? How many pictures? Memory cards available easily? Or do you have to dump and download often? On a long vacation you don’t want to shoot all day and fill up.. and then not have a computer handy to dump into?

Compared to film where it’s just "pop a new roll" digital cameras purchased that don’t match the photographers needs can be a detriment, not an asset.

Once you choose, then you need to know how to compare pricing and benefits.. but that’s the subject for another article.

Choose wisely and you’ll love your new camera!

Joe Leech is a serious amateur photographer, not only shooting "snapshot" photos but also professional. http://digitalheadquarters.ouronlinebusiness.com is a great resource on the subject.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Leech

Photo Critique - Darla Long

2005-12-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

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2005-12-01T07:15:00.000-05:00

Get The Most Out Of Your Camera (Part 2)

2005-11-27T14:10:00.000-05:00

In part 1 of 'Get the most out of your camera', we looked at how to use the aperture and the creative uses of depth-of-field. In this part we’ll look at how to use the shutter button on your camera and how both the shutter and the aperture control exposure.

The shutter is a mechanical device that controls the length of time that light is allowed to act on the film. Most standard cameras allow us to use a range between 16 second and 1/1000 second. You might be wondering, why anyone would use a long shutter time of 16 seconds: I’ve used this and even longer shutter times when taken lowlight landscape images. I would always advise the use of a tripod with these long exposures time to avoid blur images.

Using a shutter speed of 1/125 second should safely avoid overall blur due to camera movement if you hold the camera by hand. Any longer shutter time should require a tripod.

Each time you open the shutter by one, we double the light, when we close down the light by one we half the light. Open the shutter at 1 second allows twice the light as that of a ½ second.

The shutter can also be used creatively when taking landscape images or sport images. If you want to add motion to your image a slow shutter speed can give an image an extra bit of sway. No more so than taking images of streams. Using a slow shutter speed when photographing water will cause the water to blur, resulting with the image expressing motion.

By contrast, a fast shutter speed of 1/250 would be used in shooting wildlife or where the subject that you’re shooting needs to be still and sharp. Most wildlife photographers would use a fast shutter speed.

By using the shutter and aperture together we control exposure. Both allow light to enter the camera: the shutter by time and the aperture by the size of the hole in the lens.

For example: you’re shooting a landscape scene; you get an exposure reading at f/11 at ¼ second. You know that by using f/11 that the entire image wont be sharp. You want to shoot at f/22, which is four times less light than f/11. You need to quadruple the light through time; each time you open the shutter by one you double the light, so open it by two stops and your exposure time will be 1 second. Your final exposure should read f/22 at 1 second.

At the best of times, calculating the correct exposure can be a difficult task, but with a few simple tips our images can produce eye-catching colours that we see all around us every day.

TJ Tierney, Irish Landscape photographer. http://www.goldprints.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=TJ_Tierney

Using Digital Kiosk Photo Printing

2005-11-27T03:05:00.000-05:00

You’ve probably seen digital kiosk photo printing centers before at some point in your life and may have even used their services. However, if you haven’t used one before they can be a bit intimidating, kind of like using self check-out at a grocery store for the first time. No one wants to be standing at a printing kiosk looking like an idiot trying to figure out what in the world all of those different buttons do. It’s better to just use an online service and learn how to get digital photos into picture form within the confines of your own home or go to the store and let the professionals handle the job, right? Well if you think that way I’d like to put your anxieties to rest by explaining how using digital kiosk photo printing is actually pretty easy.

The process of working a digital photo kiosk begins with a user putting their camera’s memory card into the machine. After completing this task, simply use the buttons on the touch screen to select the photos that you would like to have printed. While it may take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the buttons, once you get the hang of it there is no problem. You might even be allowed to do a little editing on the pictures before they are printed but this depends on the kiosk used. After selecting the prints of choice, you will either receive the photos instantly or have to wait an hour or so to pick up the prints from the store photo lab.

Even though using digital kiosk photo printing is fairly simple, there are warnings that must be heeded. Kiosks can vary from machine to machine especially in the area of photo quality. In fact, sometimes the kiosks don’t even work at all. Assuming that you have access to a working photo kiosk, it is probably best to use the machines that take an hour for the store’s photo mini lab to develop the photos so that you can get the best quality prints.

To view our list of recommended sources for digital photo printing online,
visit Recommended Sources For Digital Photo Printing Online.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mindi_Haehl

Composition - Improving Technique at the Picture-taking Stage

2005-11-24T10:54:00.000-05:00

Out of all the steps involved in taking a photograph, the one that creates most impact is correct composition. It is also the one that is the most fun and where you are likely to have the greatest control. It follows, then, that getting composition right in the viewfinder at the time of shooting will yield the best results with regard to the final image.

So, how can you ensure great composition and a great image?

Fill the viewfinder: if your subject is too far away, get closer; if it is too near, move further back. Alternatively, use a zoom lens to alter the relative size of the subject in the viewfinder avoid empty space: look around in the viewfinder and only choose to shoot when you are certain all the elements you require are in view.

Don't just look at the subject: check the background and the foreground. Are there unsightly objects or distractions? If so, what can you do about it? Moving your subject might be an option. Otherwise you can either remove the distractions or shoot from a different angle check your viewfinder: next time you have your camera to your eye, look around at the whole field of viewin the viewfinder. Look at the edges, the top and bottom and both sides. It is so easy just to focus in on the subject without being aware of the huge spaces around it.

Isolate your subject: anything near to the subject will create a distraction. You can isolate it in a number of ways: move the subject or move the distractions; use a larger aperture to throw the foreground an background out of focus; wait until the surroundings get clearer (e.g. when taking pictures in crowds); get in close.

Turn your camera: most cameras have a rectangular screen and picture taking capability. Most shots will be in landscape format (with the long sides of the image at the top and bottom resulting in a postcard-shaped image). If you turn the camera 90 degreesyou then have "portrait" view. Try using this for some of your subjects and see what difference it makes.

Many of these steps may seem simple, but you will be surprised how many photographers ignore basic rules. By thinking about your composition when you take your photography, you will enhance the potential of the final image and improve your photographic skills.

Eric Hartwell is an enthusiastic photographer and owner of the photography resource site The Shutter. He would pleased to hear from anyone who might wish to become involved in the site - email click here to send email

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_Hartwell. Photo by Serge Batyrshin

Silhouette Photo Tips and Techniques

2005-11-24T02:21:00.000-05:00

Many photographers probably have stared at a silhouette image and pondered to themselves how exactly it had been taken and composed. Silhouette images could contain a couple looking at a sunset, a cityscape with the sun shining through buildings, or just a normal horizon. In order to get an effective silhouette image, a photographer must be in the right place at the right time and have the right exposure settings.

Silhouette Definition
In the area of photography, a silhouette is defined as an outline that appears dark against a light background. More specifically, it is where your subject appears as a plain black shape against a brighter background. It is an artistic photography expression that many photographers like to refine and perfect in their images. This effect can be achieved with any bright light source with the sun being the most common. In a sunset silhouette photo, the sunlight in the background is exposed correctly forcing everything else in the photo to be underexposed causing the effect.

Silhouette Techniques
When you are preparing to take a silhouette image, there are many things to keep in mind. These tips are equally effective for both digital and film photography. First of all, you need to make sure that there is not too much light on your subject, even if it is being reflected on to your subject the stray light will ruin the effect. If there is not enough light in the background, your subject will appear grey instead of black. The effect is just multiplied when you have multiple colors of bright lights in the background. Some photographers focus on artificial lights, others focus on the sun at certain times of the day, the possibilities are endless.

My Silhouette Tips and Techniques
I usually take my silhouette images when the sun is just above the horizon. I prefer the time around sunset because the sun causes the sky to be brighter than everything else for greater contrast. Another technique I use is to align the sun directly behind the subject so it causes a glow effect around the main subject. I usually use a relatively big subject so it creates a more drastic effect then a small insignificant subject.
I always use a narrow aperture (high f/stop) so the camera captures the whole scene with a high depth of field so everything is in focus. I usually use the aperture manual mode on my camera so I can control what the aperture will be and then the camera automatically selects the right shutter speed necessary for the photo. If you are trying to create the effect with a point-and-shoot camera make sure you compose the photo with the background light by pointing the camera at the background. If you compose the image by pointing the camera at your dark subject, then the background will be over-exposed and you will not end up with a silhouette.

There is no exact science to taking a great silhouette image. It will take practice, luck, and experience to capture truly amazing silhouette images. So keep practicing.

Trisha Leung is a digital photography enthusiast and regularly submits articles to http://www.picturecorrect.com/ which offers tips and news about digital photography, digital camera reviews, photoshop tutorials and computer wallpaper.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trisha_Leung

Replacing a Dull Sky in Photoshop Elements

2005-11-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

Starting Out with a Bad Sky
I don't know about you, but I often get pictures where the sky is dull or washed out. This is a perfect opportunity to use photo editing software to replace the sky in your picture. Whenever you're out and about on a nice day, try to remember to snap a few pictures of different types of skies, for just this purpose. For this tutorial, though, you can use a couple of my own photos.
I have used Photoshop Elements 2.0 throughout this tutorial, though it can also be done in Photoshop. You may also be able to follow along using other photo editing software with some slight modifications to the steps. Right click and save the picture below to your computer and then continue to the next step.

Getting a Better Sky Photo
You'll also need to save the image above to your computer.
Open both images in either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and begin the tutorial.
1.) First, we want to make sure we preserve our original image, so activate the t36-badsky.jpg image, go to File > Save As and save a copy as newsky.jpg.
2.) Use the magic wand tool and click in the sky area of the image. This will not select all of the sky, but that's OK. Next, go to Select > Similar. This should add the rest of the sky area to the selection.
3.) Make sure your layers palette is visible. Go to Window > Layers if it is not. In the layers palette, double click on the background layer. This will convert the background to a layer and prompt you for a layer name. You can name it 'People' and click OK.
4.) Now the sky should still be selected so you can press delete on your keyboard to erase the boring sky.
5.) Go to the t36-replacementsky.jpg image and press Ctrl-A to select all, then Ctrl-C to copy.
6.) Activate the newsky.jpg image and press Ctrl-V to paste.
7.) The sky is now covering up the people because it is on a new layer above the people. Go to the layers palette and drag the sky layer below the people. You can double click on the text 'Layer 1' and rename this to 'Sky' also.

The New Sky Needs Tweaking
The majority of our work is done and we could stop here but there are some things I don't like about the image as it is now. For one thing, there are some obvious fringe pixels that don't blend well around the dark hair on the two people on the right. Also the sky darkens the picture too much and overall it just looks faked. Let's see what we can do to make it better...

Adding an Adjustment Layer

If you've ever observed the sky, you may have noticed that the blue color is lighter the closer it is to the horizon and the sky darkens farther away from the horizon. Because of the way my sky photo was shot, you do not see this effect in the photo. We will create that effect with an adjustment layer mask.
8.) In the layers palette, click on the Sky layer, then click the new adjustment layer button (the half black/half white circle at the bottom of the layers palette) and add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. When the Hue/Saturation dialog box appears, just click OK for now, without changing any settings.
9.) Notice in the layers palette the new adjustment layer has a second thumbnail to the right of the Hue/Saturation thumbnail. This is the adjustment layer's mask.

Selecting a Gradient for a Mask
10.) Click directly on the mask thumbnail to activate it. From the toolbox, select the Gradient tool (G).

11.) In the options bar, choose the black to white gradient preset, and the icon for a linear gradient. Mode should be normal, opacity 100%, reverse unchecked, dither and transparency checked.

Editing the Gradient
12.) Now click directly on the gradient in the options bar to bring up the gradient editor. We are going to make a slight change to our gradient.
13.) In the gradient editor, double-click the lower left stop marker on the gradient preview.

14.)In the HSB section of the color picker, change the B value to 20% to change the black to a dark gray.

15.) Click OK out of the color picker and OK out of the gradient editor.

Using the Gradient to Mask the Adjustment Layer

16.) Now click at the very top of the sky, press the shift key, and drag straight down. Release the mouse button right about at the top of the little girl's head.
17.) The mask thumbnail in the layers palette should show this gradient fill now, though your image will not have changed.

Adjusting the Hue and Saturation

By adding a layer mask, we can apply the adjustment more in some areas and less in other. Where the mask is black, the adjustment will not affect the layer at all. Where the mask is white, it will show the adjustment 100%. To learn more about masks, see my article, All About Masks.
18.) Now double click the regular layer thumbnail for the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to bring up the Hue/Saturation dialog box. Drag the Hue slider to -20, Saturation to +30, and Lightness to +80 and notice how the sky changes as you slide. See how the lower portion of the sky is more affected that the upper portion?

19.) With these values, click OK to the Hue/Saturation dialog.

The Final Result!
Notice there is less fringing around the dark hair and the sky looks more realistic. (You can also use this technique to create a very unrealistic 'alien' sky effect, but it would be harder to blend into your original image.)
Now there is just one more minor adjustment I would make to this image.
20.) Click the people layer, and add a Levels adjustment layer. In the levels dialog, drag the white triangle under the histogram to the left to until the input level on the right reads 230. This will brighten up the image slightly.

That's it... I'm happy with the new sky and I hope you learned something from this tutorial!

From Sue Chastain, Your Guide to Graphics Software from About.com

Improving Your Landscape Images

2005-11-18T14:09:00.000-05:00

Article contributed by TJ Tierney. Photos by Serge Batyrshin.

Landscape photography can be a challenge, but with the right composition and good natural light it can be made a bit easier.

All the world’s cameras, films and other photographic equipment are no more than tools for making landscape pictures. Cameras don’t think for themselves. Whether we use digital or film camera, the same photographic principles apply.

We don’t have to stick to many rules to produce great landscape images, but knowing what they are will make your pictures more successful. There are two salient points in landscape photography: how to compose your image, and how to use available natural light in any given situation.

Lets start off with light: There are three basic qualities of light: intensity, direction and colour.
Intensity: refers to the strength of light. If the sun is high in the sky, light can be harsh and too strong. Cloudy days bring soft and defused light.

Direction: this refers to light placement. There are three categories of light placement: front, back and side-lighting. Side lighting produces more texture between light and shade.

Colour: the colour of sunlight varies depending upon conditions and time of day. If the sun shines at the beginning or the end of the day, the colour of the light will be much warmer, and will lead to a much more dramatic scene.

Understanding natural light will develop your ability to see. You will start to see the beauty of light in a different and exciting way.

In landscape photography it is very important to take care with composition. A normal scene can be transformed by paying close attention to detail. Composition is all about how you arrange the elements in front of you.

Here are a few ideas in which you may find useful.

Lead with lines: To lead with lines into the main part of the scene will draw your viewer into your image. These lines don’t have to be straight. Lines, such as tracks, riverbanks or fences, may work successfully.
Foreground interest: Simple foreground objects can give your landscape a greater sense of depth. Use a small aperture (f/22) to keep the entire scene in focus.
Natural frames: Frame your scene with the elements all around you. This will focus attention on the main part of the picture. Trees make great natural frames.

These are just a few essential guidelines, and combined with a good eye, you have all you need to get the best out of photography - especially landscape photography. These are just a few rules to get you started, but like all rules, they are there to be broken.

TJ Tierney is a Irish Landscape Photographer. Check him out at http://www.goldprints.com

Get the Photos You Want: Learn to Crop

2005-11-17T12:22:00.000-05:00

The photo from a 3.2 mega pixel camera can print a fair quality 8 x 10 print at 200 dpi. So, why do people buy 4, 5, or even 6 mega pixel cameras?

Well, maybe they want 11 x 14 prints, which at 200 dpi require a 6 mega pixel camera.

However, more importantly, a higher mega pixel camera lets you "crop" your photo. That is where you cut away part of the photo, not only giving you the photo you want, but also making the photo smaller in pixels. As long as you start with more pixels, it is easier to cut stuff out and still keep enough pixels to make it good for prints.

Speaking of cropping, look at the ratios of common print sizes.

a 4 x 6 has a 1.50 ratio
a 5 x 7 has a 1.40 ratio
an 8 x 10 has a 1.25 ratio

What about cameras? Most newer point-and-shoot digitals have a ratio of 1.33 !!!

What do the photo finishers do when you send them a 1.33 and ask them to print a 1.50? They crop the picture where they think you want it cropped.

How often are they wrong? A great thing about ordering on-line through the better quality photo finishers is that the web site shows you where the cropping will occur and allows you to change it. That is a great feature.

A better solution, though, is to learn how to do the cropping by using your home computer. Programs like Photo Shop and Paint Shop Pro have pre-defined cropping tools set to the same common ratios as I listed above. Simply open the photo file in your paint program, choose the crop tool, set to the correct ratio, and choose the portion of the photo you want to print.

Now, just save all of the newly cropped files in a separate folder for easy uploading to your retailer or to a memory card that you take in to their 1 hour service.

There are 3 common guidelines to consider when composing a photo

know your subject
draw attention to your subject
simplify

By cropping your photo, you not only assure that you get the photo you wanted; you also follow guidelines # 2 and 3 from the list. Happy cropping.

Richard Killey is an amateur photographer who shares the love of his hobby with readers of his website. Visit http://www.photosbyrichard.ca to read other articles of interest.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com

Maximize Your Camera's Potential

2005-11-15T03:26:00.000-05:00

Did you ever see an image where only a small part of it is sharp? Using the aperture ring correctly can maximise the artistic look of your image.
READ MORE...

Easy photo technique - Light Trails (updated)

2005-11-12T07:22:00.000-05:00

This is a creative photo technique that produces light trails in your night photos.

Position your camera on a tripod and compose. It's best to have a bit of moon light or city building lights in the shot, as well as a road of some sort. (maybe, a high traffic area)
Set aperture/shutter speed according to the guide. Your shutter will have to stay open for extended amount of time (the photo above had an exposure of around 30 seconds), allowing the light from the cars' headlights (and taillighs) to register on film by leaving a trail of light. Braketing will ensure usable results (30, 45, 60 seconds).
Touch up in Photoshop or other photo-editing program to achieve some creative and unique results (i.e. experiment with levels, filters, color balance, etc...)
Submit your photos to Sergykal Studios Critique Program to get some feedback.

For more information on shooting at night check out "How to take better night photos" from Basic-Digital-Photography.com

Digital Camera Buyers Guide

2005-11-11T02:26:00.000-05:00

Looking for a great digital camera? Check out this guide to help you make the decision.

"Wanna go digital? The time is right. With camera prices down and features up, you'll wonder how you ever lived without one."
READ MORE at image-acquire.com

Digital vs. Analog on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2005-11-10T03:26:00.000-05:00

Here's some thoughts on the Analog/Digital debate from Badison on Flickr: "...The body is completely metal, I think it'll out last all my other digital equipment ... the problem being that compared to digital, printing 35mm film is restrictively expensive..." READ MORE

Analog or Digital? (updated)

2005-11-09T14:16:00.000-05:00

Here's 2 great articles covering the battle between Analog and Digital Photography: Digital vs Film - The Great Debate by Michael Reichmann and a commentary on it by Australian photographer Nick Rains titled Digital Is Not Film. Below is my position on the subject.

I am not trying to convince any one that analog is better than digital; whatever works for you is what you should go with. The following is my perspective on the situation.

I still shoot 35 mm negative film with my Nikon F5, although I do use a digital camera for work-related projects (Because it's difficult to develop film in Afghanistan, which is where I am in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.)

People ask me all the time though: "Is that a digital camera you're using?" What's the obsession with digital? I shoot film, drop it off at a 1-hour lab, have them scan the negatives, and there - I have some 4x6 proofs and a CD with HI-RES scans, that I can manipulate in PS7. The Nikon F5 is the best camera on the planet (in my eyes at least) for the following reasons: It is practically indestructable, easy to use, features precise metering, a long list of available lenses and accessories to name a few... Yes, it is heavy and big, but I just can not see the latest digi-cam hitting the ground and surviving the fall. The F5 can. That's what's important in my line of work. Shooting in a combat zone requires equipment that can take the abuse. Another major point is that I KNOW I will get the shot I need withough messing with little buttons and menues on the digi-cam. So while you're scrolling through the menues, I am getting the shot that you're missing.

While having instant image feedback on a digi-cam is a very nice feature, it does not warrant spending 5,000 on a 12 MP SLR camera (excluding the lens). At least not now. As for quality, it's becoming less of an issue - today's digital cameras are capable of delivering same quality as a 35mm film camera, unless you're blowing up poster-size photos, and I have. Digital's got a way to go there.

Well, that's it. Again, I am not trying to convince any one here, just stating my personal opinion. Whatever gets you the results you're looking for - that's what you should use. The camera does not make a picture, the photographer does any ways, the camera is there to help realize your vision, so there's no reason to get all bent out of shape about this long on-going ANALOG/DIGITAL argument.

Photoshop to rescue

2005-11-08T21:53:00.000-05:00

Most people don't use Photoshop to its fullest capabilities. Here are just ten uses to which you could put this highly versatile software.

1. Restoring Old Photographs. Have a look through that old family photo album - the really old one from up in Grandma's attic. Inside there are probably a few photos from way back when that haven't stood the test of time so well. They've got cracks and tears that really spoil their appearance. Scan them into Photoshop, and then set to work with the Clone Stamp, Healing Brush, and Patch tools. The Healing Brush in particular is a great tool for this purpose as it samples data from one part of the picture and blends it in with what's already there.

2. Correcting Mistakes. We've all done it: Had an attack of "finger over the lens syndrome," or got too close with the flash, so our subjects suffer from "red eye" and look like extras from a horror movie. Use the crop tool to salvage something usable from your obscured photo, and the enlarge wizard to blow it up to a reasonable size. For "red eye" and "pet eye," use the eyedropper tool to sample color from around the iris, and a brush to paint away the red.

3. Adding Graphics to Videos. It's a little known fact, but many domestic and professional nonlinear editing systems (especially the Mac based ones like Avid or Final Cut) enable you to import Photoshop .psd files directly into the timeline.

4. Creating Text Effects for Print and Web. There's an almost unlimited amount of things you can do with text in Photoshop. Use the Type Mask Tools to create picture filled text, then upload the results to your web page - or print them out for a one of a kind T-shirt.

5. Turning a Photo Into a Work of Art. Everyone likes to have nice things to look at. Most of us like to have pictures on the wall, and something that looks different from what other people have on their walls is a definite plus. Unless you're blessed with artistic talent, though, this can be very expensive - until now. Use one of Photoshop's many Artistic or Brush Stroke filters to turn your photos into "new masters," then print them out on quality art paper.

6. Designing Web Banners and Buttons. Photoshop comes with a predefined web banner sized canvas. Photoshop's sister application, Image Ready, comes with several - and lots of tools for animating text and pictures. You can also create interactive buttons that enhance a web browsing experience.

7. Adding Text to Photographs. Impress your boss by putting the company name on the side of an airliner, building, or racing car. Use the Move Tool to skew the text to fit the contours of the picture, adjust the opacity a little, and hey presto! The text will look like it's always been part of the photo.

8. Combining Pictures, Text, and Graphics to Make Covers for Books, Reports and CDs. Photoshop contains many of the image manipulation capabilities of high-end DTP applications that cost thousands. Use the "Layer via Cut" command to make your title text go behind part of the picture - just like on the cover of "Rolling Stone."

9. Designing Web Pages. Did you know that Photoshop and Image Ready can turn your photograph or artwork into a web page? Use the slice tool to cut your work into easily downloadable pieces, then the rollover function to embed website URLs.

10. Combining Pictures to Make the Impossible Possible. Come on! You didn't seriously think that Michael Moore and President George W. Bush really stood hand in hand on the White House lawn for the Fahrenheit 9/11 poster, did you? I don't know for certain that they used Photoshop to fake that picture, but they certainly could have done. With Photoshop you can remove the background from one picture, take some elements from another, and combine them with the background from a third to create a picture that could never have been taken for real. Who says the camera can't lie!

Shaun Pearce is a writer and video maker. His latest production "Photoshop Master" shows you how to get the most from Photoshop, and can be downloaded from http://www.learnphotoshopfast.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Photo tips, tricks, and techniques - What's New

2005-11-07T06:11:00.000-05:00

Check out our November Photography Tips:

Sergykal Gear - your solution to Holiday shopping!

Check out Sergykal Gear - Apparel, Housewares, Baby gear, Hats and Bags, and more...

Photo Critique

New submition: Brian Muhr - Babylon, Iraq
Last submition: Shaun Hannon

Site Additions

Now you can search our photography tips, tricks, and techniques database with Sergykal Search powered by Freefind. Click on Search this Site link under Features block on the right side.
We've also installed a NEWSLETTER module! Type in your email address there and stay informed about our developments! Look for it on the right (it's red)

Photo Critique - Babylon, Iraq - Brian Muhr

2005-11-06T06:51:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken around September of 2003 in Babylon, Iraq during OIF 1. It is of the Euphrates River about 45 miles south of Baghdad and was known to quench the thirst of the original people on earth according to the Bible (old testament) well before Christ, because at the time Babylon was the center of all civilization and the spot were man-kind had originally come from or whatever you believe, but that’s the info I got from this old Iraqi guy, I’m really not all that religious. I think the picture is pretty cool though and I enjoy the reflecting palm trees glistening off the Euphrates during a sunset in good old Babylon.

Professional High-end Digicams: Weaving Delight for the Serious Shooter!

2005-11-05T07:12:00.000-05:00

Professional High-end Digicams: Weaving Delight for the Serious Shooter!
By Lopa Bhattacharya

Are you a serious shooter looking for more precise controls, enhanced features & better lenses, superior image quality while purchasing your cherished digicams for professional product shoots, adwork or publicity campaigns? Well, come out of the idea once and for all, that all these cameras are necessarily big and expensive beyond your affordability. Truly, digital has really come a long way in a short time, and professional high end digital cameras today cover every assignment for real-life application, so that the photographer can concentrate fully on making stunning images with cutting-edge technology. After all, there is the growing need for digital images in both print and electronic media, for which most photographers and graphics professionals are examining the options for capturing images digitally, whether by scanning film or by using digital cameras. And here, they are preferring the functionalities of the professional high-end digital models because of the gains in control, efficiency, flexibility, and productivity.

Did you know before reading this that with consumers worldwide buying 10 million digital cameras in 2003 and 2004, the sales of film scanners have declined considerably? Ask any commercial photographer today about his/her purchasing plans in the near future, and you’ll find a whopping percentage say that they plan to buy a professional SLR over a usual point-and-shoot variety. "Our point of view is that color scanners are past their sweet spot," says Vince Naselli, director of TrendWatch Graphic Arts. "Increasingly, we think that creative professionals are going to be acquiring their content digitally in the first place so that, down the road, the increased use of digital cameras will lead to a decreased use of color scanners”, he adds. Kerry Flatley, research analyst at InfoTrends, also comments that "as digital cameras continue to improve in quality and provide professionals with needed flexibility, they will most likely cut into film scanner sales”. Thus, at the cusp of a migration from film and scanners to digital cameras, we are standing in the face of a vast expanse where the buzzword has shifted from ‘scan’ to ‘direct digital capture’.

Now, let us have a look at some of the market-leaders of this huge variety of professional high-end cameras, the ones that creative professionals are buying and using for the best-quality scans, with high resolution, wide image density, large film format as their hallmark.

Kodak EasyShare DX6340 (MRP: Rs. 18,900): a unique combination of advanced performance, ease of use and value in a sleek design, this 3.1 MP camera, with a large high-resolution 1.8" Indoor/Outdoor LCD display screen and unique, wide aperture professional-quality 4X Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon zoom lens that provides stunning image quality, has high-performance features such as aperture and shutter priority modes for the discerning photographer. No wonder that it has been declared the “Best performance” and “Best value camera” for the year 2003 (as per the Digit magazine's Test Drive on digital camera comparison)

The latest offering for the Indian consumers from Eastman Kodak Company is the sleek EASYSHARE LS755 zoom digital camera (priced at Rs. 21,900/-), sized like a deck of cards to fit the pocket of the person having acumen for design and style. Featuring a professional-grade 4X Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 3X (36 –108 mm equivalent) zoom lens and 5.0 megapixel CCD sensor to optimize photo quality, it comes with a 3X optical zoom and continuous auto focus capability.

Cannon India Pvt. Ltd., a pioneer in manufacturing a comprehensive range of the latest digital imaging products, has come up with professional high-end models like Canon PowerShot A95, Canon Ixus 500 and so on.

Featuring an increased sensor size of 5.0 Megapixels, the A95 has a total of 21 shooting modes – more than any other Canon digital camera. Including many features found in Canon’s higher end S and G series cameras which offer users flexibility and creative control, it stands for outstanding image quality and ease of use. While the 5.0 Megapixel CCD sensor enables it to provide superb image quality (suitable for high quality photo prints up to A3 size), its 21 shooting modes, ranging from fully Auto to Manual, offer users total control for complete creativity. An added advantage of it is that it can simplify things to ensure great looking photos in tricky situations.

On the other hand, Canon’s Ixus 500 model happens to be the ultimate in stylish, high performance digital photography, delivering quality prints up to A3 size. With a super hard Cerabrite finish, it brings together uncompromising build quality and an abundance of integrated technologies. With a 3x optical zoom offering a wide angle of coverage, with the 9-point AiAF ensuring accurate focusing, even with off-center subjects and with its DIGIC delivering superb image quality at high speed with less drain on the battery for extended performance; beautiful, instant photo prints are achieved effortlessly, thus making I an obvious choice for professional shooters.

Again, with the Digital SLR range of Canon’s professional high-end digicams (like the EOS 300D high resolution 6.3 megapixel cameras, the EOS ID Mark II cameras with faster processing of large files with superior color rendering and detail precision), digital technology is taking a quantum leap.

Thus, offering an extensive range of professional hi-end digicams, these brands are gratifying any and every need of entertainment and digital imaging. And, we welcome the new technology and price cuts for the quantum jump of sales of these “hi-end photographers’ toys”.

Lopa Bhattacharya is a content writer/developer working on websites for overseas/Indian clientele. Has worked for various corporate website projects, CD-Rom presentations, brochures, flyers and other communication materials on varied themes ranging from travel, hotel industry, photography, web design and software development to US-based clubs and network communities. Was previously an editorial associate for a news, culture and entertainment portal based on the life and times of Kolkata.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com

Digital Camera Photos: 7 Ways to Improve Them

2005-11-05T07:08:00.000-05:00

When I bought my first digital camera, complete with its little viewing screen, people would invariably ask, “Can I see the picture?” Children would ask me to take their picture, and then run over and ask to see it, then go back and ask me to take another!

It’s great to have all that excitement, but were my pictures actually the best they could be?

Here are 7 tips that I have learned that have improved the quality of my photos.

1. Use the high resolution setting. At the start, I had the resolution set to medium. That way I was able to take about 100 pictures before having to download the memory card to my computer’s hard disk. That was fine for viewing on screen, but then one day I wanted to do an 8x10 paper version, and the results were disappointing. Now I always use the highest resolution my cameras can provide. I have had to spend some money on more memory cards, but it was worth it.

2. Use a Tripod. Even the slightest movement of the camera can create a blurry image. Invest in a tripod. I have also found that when taking group shots, I am better able to judge when to “click” if I am looking directly at the group, rather than through the view finder.

3. Buy a Good Photo-Editing Program. Perhaps your camera came with Photoshop Elements, or similar. If not, go to your computer retailer and buy one. Not only can you fix blemishes (maybe Susan was having a bad zit day), but you can do more creative things as well. Recently I combined a photo of my grand-daughter with one of Dora-the-Explorer. Jasmine loved it.

4. Watch the Compression. As you use that fancy photo editing program, be careful of your compression setting. Most programs default to “jpeg” format, which saves space by selectively removing pixels, and recreating them the next time you view the photo. If you open, edit, and save a photo multiple times, the over-all quality decreases. Try to do all your editing in one pass, using the lowest compression, or use a format like “tiff”, which does not compress.

5. Get in Close. Don’t waste pixels on excess background. Get in closer, either physically or with an optical zoom setting.

6. Good Things Come in Threes (or more!). Considering the incremental costs of taking a photo with a digital camera (close to nil!), you should take lots of shots. If the shot is available for more than a few seconds, take more that one exposure. I always tell the subjects of my photos that I will be taking at least 2 or 3 shots of them. A blink at the wrong time ruins the potential.

7. Read the Manual In fact, read it more than once. As if I have to explain this one!

Here’s an equation for you.

(LOTS of photos with your digital camera) + (the above tips) = (a day coming soon when you’ll be proud to show off your creations)

Richard Killey is an amateur photographer who shares the love of his hobby with readers of his website. Visit http://www.photosbyrichard.ca to read other articles of interest.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com

Get To Know Your Camera - More Than Just Megapixels!

2005-11-05T07:01:00.000-05:00

Get To Know Your Camera - More Than Just Megapixels!
By Lopa Bhattacharya

Today, while you go shopping for ‘feature-rich’ digital cameras physically or on the Internet, often you will find manufacturers running out of their ways, telling "this camera takes great pictures." And which snap taker of our times will fail to equate ‘great pictures’ with great resolutions? Well, with today’s 3, 4 or 5 megapixel digital cameras offering the flexibility of digital zooms, storing high-resolution images on their memory cards and an LCD panel that shows 100% of the subject, you will get digital images of superb quality; whether you want to print posters or put your images online.

With manufacturers recognizing a market for simple, sleek and sophisticated cameras in all pixel categories, today you can find basic point-and-shoot digicams, with resolutions typically ranging from one-megapixel at the low end to six-megapixels in professional-grade equipment. And here, the bottomline is, the more pixels a camera has, the sharper the images it produces.

With today’s manufacturers realizing that the buyers actually intend to match their purchases with the specific needs of the camera at a price that best suits them, they have also come up with many midrange models that feature lots of adjustable focus, exposure settings and several flash/picture modes (like portrait, landscape, nightmode, etc). Clearly, more sophisticated models require more time with the manual, and prospective buyers should know that there's a learning curve involved with such cameras. As a whole, while you go for buying one for yourself, you'll learn:

• How to use camera functions to the best of their capabilities

• How to select and use accessories to enhance your shooting experience

• How to use the digital cameras to create great images

• How to spark up your images (using the most popular image editing software: Adobe Photoshop7). Very recently, however, Webshots.com, the premiere online photo community website has introduced free online courses to teach buyers the technicalities of digital image touch-ups/reworking, creating stunning web pages and rich media websites with their digital images.

However, in order to choose the right camera--one with the right picture resolution at the right price--you'll need to figure out what you'll be doing with it. For example, if you are a casual snapshooter, interested in taking photos that you can e-mail to friends and family, post on the Web, or print in sizes smaller than 8x10 inches; a 2-3 megapixel will suffice.

There are lot of these models introduced by Kodak Eastman company (Kodak EasyShare CX6200, Kodak EasyShare CX6230), Canon (Canon Powershot A75), POLAROID (Polaroid PDC2050 2.1 MP Digital Camera), stressing on the fact that these are easy enough for the whole family to use and small enough to take anywhere.

On the other hand, to shoot onsite or in the office, photographs for product-ads and publicity in print and on the Web with professional-looking results without hiring a pro, a business user will find 3 megapixel cameras great.

Again, someone with the frenzy to buy the newest, shiniest toys to impress friends and business associates with the latest technologies and coolest features will find 5 megapixel cameras really ‘cool’. Among the latest feature-rich cameras in this category, you’ll find Sony's stylish, pocket-size Cybershot DSCP100 digital camera offering an amazing 5-megapixel resolution and a wealth of photographic features normally found on full-sized, high-end cameras. On the other hand, Panasonic has today revealed the new Panasonic DMC-FZ20 with five megapixels, an improved body design and an improved processor (the "Venus Engine II"), promising better performance, improved image stabilization and image quality. Canon Powershot G5 5 Megapixel is also a smash hit with the resolution-junkies.

Expert photographers and reviewers have time and again said that as much as they would like to give a one-word answer to one asking how many megapixels would be fine for him/her, this one happens to be of the trickiest questions in digital photography.

A final answer by experts: For any images you plan to print or retouch, 3-megapixel resolution and higher should be okay; web and e-mail-only photos should be fine at resolutions below that. For prints 8x10 or larger, one should look for digicams with 4-megapixel resolution or higher. And last but not the least, for displaying or printing pictures at smaller-than-actual-pixel size, resolution doesn't matter much. Instead, in that case, one should opt for the camera with the best color.

However, in spite of the experts’ verdict, the fact remains that the craze for high resolution digicams soars higher every day. With the enthusiasm of camera nuts willing to pay huge amounts for their photographic toys, 8-megapixel cameras launched by Canon (Canon EOS 20D) are having a good market in the western countries. Lori Grunin, a photo-columnist of Webshots.com, however, says that these cameras appeal to relatively specialized groups within the entire photographic market.

Before buying one, identify whether you are one of them.

Lopa Bhattacharya is a content writer/developer working for various overseas corporate website projects, CD-Rom presentations, brochures, flyers and other communication materials). Has worked on numerous SEO copywriting projects on varied themes ranging from travel, hotel industry, photography, web design and software development to US-based clubs and network communities. Was previously an editorial associate for the news, culture and entertainment portal based on the life and times of Kolkata.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com

"Painting with light" by Kenneth Hoffman

2005-11-04T13:03:00.000-05:00

Photo Critique - Shaun Hannon

2005-11-03T07:37:00.000-05:00

Please post a comment regarding this photo. This program is designed to give the photographer some feedback on his/her work. Submit your photo HERE.

Photography tips - Digital or Film?

2005-11-02T10:37:00.000-05:00

For many, digital photography is a breath of fresh air, but be wary - believing our landscape images will be superior could be a serious blunder. Having lost count of the number of people who have asked me: “have you gone digital?” I am always left wondering why it’s such a much-asked question. The camera is only a tool in which a photographer creates an image. His personal ability to create a unique image remains the same. Read More...
Contributed by TJ Tierney (Irish Landscape Photographer. http://www.goldprints.com)
Article Source: http://www.articlematrix.com

Get The Most Out Of Your Camera (Part 1)

2005-11-01T22:58:00.000-05:00

Did you ever see an image where only a small part of it is sharp? Using the aperture ring correctly can maximise the artistic look of your image.

Not only does it determine the depth-of-field, it also has the power to direct the human eye.

The human eye is instinctively drawn towards noticeable points of an image. These are usually the sharpest and most important parts of an image. Using a wide aperture to limit the area of sharp focus can direct attention to the most important elements of your image and blur out any off-putting backgrounds.

This isn’t that hard to accomplish, and can be blissful if done correctly.

Lets start off with understanding depth-of-field, aperture and f/stops.

Depth-of -field: The distance from the front to back that is in reasonable sharp focus is called the depth-of-field. There are two ways of controlling depth-of-field: Use a small aperture or focus on a point farther away from your camera.

Aperture and f/stops: The aperture is an opening in the centre of the lens through which light passes. The amount of light, which passes through an aperture, is indicated by f/stops. The lower the f/stop the more light that passes through the aperture. Opening up one full f/stop doubles the amount of light entering the camera. F/4 admits twice the light of f5.6.

By selecting a small or narrow aperture (f/16 or up), all or most of the scene will be reasonably sharp. This is ideal for landscape photography. By using a small aperture you increase the depth-of-field.

By selecting a large or wide aperture (f/5.6 or below) you decide which part of your image is sharp. This is ideal for taking pictures of wildlife, portraits, sport and small objects. By using a large aperture you decrease the depth-of-field

The smaller the f/number, the wider the aperture.

There is about twice the depth-of-field behind the point of focus as there is in front of it, using any aperture.

Now you know how to isolate your subject, so it’s time to put it to use. Set your camera to aperture-priority (AV) mode, and then select a large aperture (f/2 - f/5.6). By doing this the camera will select the shutter speed automatically. If you are shooting wildlife choose a low viewpoint to maximise the image, try putting the camera lens at eye-level with the subject.

While the above will help to isolate you subject, it’s only a start. Know your subject, especially when shooting wildlife. Don’t be fooled into thinking all elements of an image must be sharp to be considered a good photo.

TJ Tierney (Irish landscape photographer) http://www.goldprints.com

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com

Read Part 2

Feature your feed on SergykalStudios.com

2005-11-01T13:29:00.000-05:00

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Photo Critique - Thomas Tierney

2005-11-01T10:22:00.000-05:00

I don't know the name of these ducks, but would be very greatful if someone could tell me.

General Photography

2005-11-01T08:56:00.000-05:00

Photo Editing

2005-11-01T08:54:00.000-05:00

Advanced Techniques

2005-11-01T08:49:00.000-05:00

Photography 101

2005-11-01T08:37:00.000-05:00

The Evil Within

2005-10-18T11:29:00.000-04:00

I had a few minutes today to make this photo. It's a self-portrait. (Above is the final version. HERE is the original photo, HERE is the photo that I took the eye from (tiger), and HERE is a variation version with a zebra pattern overlay.) The final version has been cropped to get the dramatic perspective. The eyes were taken from a photo of a tiger (contrast and color balance were then altered in Photoshop). Made my face black and white to draw attention to the eyes. Edited in Photoshop 7.0. Photo on the very bottom is a variation where I've added a zebra pattern overlay. Let me know what you think about it.

If you'd like to purchase a T-shirt with this photo on it, please click HERE

Official Contest Winner

2005-10-08T17:30:00.000-04:00

"Afghan Kids" photo is now officially a CONTEST WINNER. Check out ThriftyFun.com Contest Results for details! I am still waiting on the results of Picture.com Contest (but I do know that the photo is in the Finals). Read more about how this photo was made and see what other people are saying about it. Please, use this Post to comment on the photo. Thanks.

US Soldier gives out toys to Afghan children

2005-10-07T17:49:00.000-04:00

This photo was taken a few months back. While we were on a mission, we made a short stop in a village (location can not be disclosed for security purposes). US Soldier pictured here gave out some toys to the chidren. They were really excited to see US and Coalition Forces roll through their village. As always, there was a big commotion, you can see it in the photo. Once the kids saw that we had some toys, they "stormed" us really quick trying to get the goodies before their friends...

US Army helps Afghan children

2005-10-05T15:18:00.000-04:00

There's not much coverage in the media about US and Coalition efforts in Afghanistan. I'd like to share these photos with you; what you see is US Army Soldiers (and other members of the Coalition) giving out toys, school supplies, food, and other nessecities to the kids a village situated deep in the mountains of Afghanistan. Soldiers risk their lives every day to help these people, and their efforts are appreciated. READ MORE. Check back here for more photos and stories from Afghanistan, or subscribe to SERGYKAL FEED.

Changing history...

2005-10-04T21:32:00.000-04:00

While deployed to Afghanistan with the US Army, I had a chance to participate in some Humanitarian Aid missions. This photo was taken in a village north of Kabul in May 2005. US and Coalition forces distributed school supplies among the girls in this all-girls school. (C) 2005, Serge Batyrshin. More photos from Afghansitan (OEF) HERE.

Life On The Line

2005-10-04T16:09:00.000-04:00

Some people still don't understand why military personnel do what they do for a living. This exchange between Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one man's explanation of why men and women in the armed services do what they do for a living. This IS a typical, though sad, example of what some who have never served think of the military. Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn): "How can you run for Senate when you've never held a real job?" Senator Glenn (D-Ohio): "I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was ! hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different occasions. I was in the space program. Itwan't mycheckbook, Howard; it was my life on the line. It wasnot a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take thedaily cash receipts to the bank." "I ask you to go with me ... as I went the other day...to a veteran's hospital and look those men ....with their mangled bodies in the eye, and tell THEM they didn't hold a job! You go with me to the Space Program at NASA and go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee...and you look those kids in the eye and tell themthat their DADS didn't hold a job. You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand inArlington National Cemetery, where I have more friendsburied than I'd like to remember, and you watch those waving flags You stand there, and you think about this nation,and you tell ME that those people didn't have a job? What about you?" For those who don't remember, During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorneyrepresenting the Communist Party in the USA. Now he's a Senator!
If you can read this, thank a teacher.If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.

"Painting with light" by Kenneth Hoffman

2005-10-04T13:11:00.000-04:00

You've all heard the phrase, "to see light". Everything that we see is made up of light. Light has direction, width, intensity and color. While understanding all the properties of light would be beneficial to the photographer/artist, it is just as effective to recognize the effect of light on a subject when you see it.
Outdoors, sunlight shows crisp edges, creates dimensional shapes, reveals textures and outlines silhouettes. The color differences between direct sunlight and light from the open sky intensifies the feeling of outdoors, though this effect must be used with discretion. A cloudy day usually portrays a somber mood, lighting everything with a top-weighted blue cast. A warming filter changes the blue mood to one of happier emotions.
Indoors, the light from a window is very shape-revealing in nature. Care must be taken to provide light on the shadow side in order to balance the picture. A blue sky as a source must be warmed up with a filter (80A) when using outdoor film. Sunlit clouds are a perfect source of light for your window pictures. Incandescent light is much warmer and must be used carefully. When incandescent light is used, a cooling filter (81B) will prevent the photograph from appearing too orange. Fluorescent lights are lacking in red may not portray skin tones properly.
The width of the light source must be taken into consideration. The widest possible light source is the wrap-around effect of a cloudy day at the beach. Round shapes are flattened, detail is obscured, and areas of similar color are often presented monochromatically. A point source like the sun or a light bulb throws sharp shadows and will emphasize small detail. Every effect of light can be used as a tool to further the aims of the artist. If there is a special effect which is necessary to the message within the composition, the photographer must wait for that perfect time and weather. Medium wide sources of light are desirable for their flattering, yet shape-revealing effect on the human face.
Practically, when outside, look for a white wall sit by the sun with a shaded area nearby. A low reflector like a sunlit patch of concrete, a beach, a light colored car, or anything with an appreciable area which will reflect light makes a good source of light. Unless wanted, make sure the surface is not too far from white, or the subject will take on that color.
The angle of the light is also important. For faces, the hours between nine AM and one hour before sunset are not the most flattering times. The moments just after sunrise and just before sunset is often referred to as "The magic hour" for the beneficial effect it has on the human face as well as on most other objects. The next time you see an advertisement for a new car, try to ascertain the direction and time of day the photograph was taken. I think you will find that "magic Hour" played an important role.
There are certain combinations of light that has proven itself in the world of photography and art. Food often is photographed with a broad source of light straight toward the camera, just missing being in the picture. The human face is most flattered with a soft light at a 30 degree angle to the right or left of the camera and slightly above the lens, (sometimes referred to as a loop light). The "north" light of painter fame presented an unchanging source of light whose direction was controlled with movable drapes. Unfortunately, the built-in flash used by millions of photographers, while lighting the subject evenly, flattens the three dimensional subject, hiding the true roundness of shape. Occasionally in your travels, you may come across a quality of light which strikes a chord in your brain as being perfect for you photograph. Try to place this effect in your permanent memory for future use. Happy shooting.
Luck is recognizing the moment of opportunity. Comments welcome.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/