Before digital photography came of age, photographs had to go through the darkroom. Like cars on a conveyor belt, each image had to go through a series of steps, all the way through the development and printing process. Digital photography doesn't require a darkroom, but it does help to keep that conveyor belt in mind, and run each picture through the same process, or Workflow.
Everyone develops a workflow that's best for them, and a process that makes perfect sense to one photographer will be hopelessly confusing to another one.
First, the pictures have to be transferred from the camera. Most cameras have an Upload feature, where the camera is plugged directly into the computer. Plugging the chip into a chip reader also works well. Archive off a master collection, so that you don't overwrite the original with the edited version.
Second, filter the collection. Delete the accidental shot of the photographer's knee and the portrait where the baby crawled out of the frame.
Next, make the edits that will apply to the entire image. Color balance, contrast, brightness, and cropping, for example. If you're working with RAW images, you have a lot more control at this stage.
Once the large adjustments are made, it's time to focus on the smaller ones. Are there areas of the picture that could use cloning (like painting away the electrical wires passing through the subject's head)? Would a little bit of background blur make the subject stand out better?
When you're satisfied with all of the large and small scale edits, it's time for one final sharpening step, like using Unsharp Mask. Multiple sharpening steps will make a picture look terrible, so only do it once. Save the edited and sharpened version under it's own name, and then save a JPG compressed copy for emailing and web work.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wildlife Photography, Catching The Animals By Surprise
Photography has been around for more than a century and our topics will never cease. There is portrait, landscape, wedding, and wildlife photography just to name a few. One of the most rewarding styles of photography centers on wildlife. It may take you several hours before finding the perfect picture and capturing it, but the reward is more than worth the wait.
Wildlife photography is perhaps the most difficult in the profession. You have to have the time, inclination, and of course the camera. Most wildlife shots are captured using a telephoto lens because the animal will not walk near you. Every once in a while you will be able to capture the fox, elk, bear or other animal as it comes through the woods in your path, however most of the time they are yards away and elusive.
Wildlife photography doesn't wait for you to happen a long and snap a photo. You need to immerse yourself in the site you choose your camera at the ready, and set for the light of the day. Most automatic cameras work great on the preset for those who are just learning to take wildlife photographs. Photography has always been about the moment and the best photographers can catch the moment with a speed and agility of the animal they are capturing.
Start with small subjects when you begin your foray into wildlife photography. Practice on your pet. Let them roam naturally and see if you can capture the wild and crazy moments on film without the photograph ending up blurry. All great photographers have studied and practiced. They also use more than one shot. Making sure your camera has a quick shutter speed will help you take more than one shot as your move with the animal. When you have the subject in your site you need to follow it while focusing and then quickly snap as many pictures as you can before they move out of site. This technique is known as panning. Rather than the subject coming to you, you follow the subject.
When you have mastered your pets you can begin to explore the outdoor world of wildlife photography. Some of your subjects will be standing still and this is another practice technique. Be aware of the lighting and placement while trying not to disturb the animal. It is most easy to get a squirrel when they are intent on eating or foraging for food. If you stay silent and walk carefully you can often get pretty close.
If you are choosing a larger subject such as a deer or bear you will want to stay far enough away to get the shot, and not draw attention to yourself. Bears are dangerous creatures, but they can be photographed if you use common sense and don't tread upon their territory. Wildlife photography and thus the photographers have a code of ethics when attaining the perfect shots. You will want to follow these ethics for your safety and the animals.
Wildlife photography is a waiting game for the perfect picture to sprint across your viewfinder. It takes patience and a lot of practice, but the reward of having a family member or friend go, ' where did you get that photograph? I have got to have one,' will sweeten the deal.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Wildlife photography is perhaps the most difficult in the profession. You have to have the time, inclination, and of course the camera. Most wildlife shots are captured using a telephoto lens because the animal will not walk near you. Every once in a while you will be able to capture the fox, elk, bear or other animal as it comes through the woods in your path, however most of the time they are yards away and elusive.
Wildlife photography doesn't wait for you to happen a long and snap a photo. You need to immerse yourself in the site you choose your camera at the ready, and set for the light of the day. Most automatic cameras work great on the preset for those who are just learning to take wildlife photographs. Photography has always been about the moment and the best photographers can catch the moment with a speed and agility of the animal they are capturing.
Start with small subjects when you begin your foray into wildlife photography. Practice on your pet. Let them roam naturally and see if you can capture the wild and crazy moments on film without the photograph ending up blurry. All great photographers have studied and practiced. They also use more than one shot. Making sure your camera has a quick shutter speed will help you take more than one shot as your move with the animal. When you have the subject in your site you need to follow it while focusing and then quickly snap as many pictures as you can before they move out of site. This technique is known as panning. Rather than the subject coming to you, you follow the subject.
When you have mastered your pets you can begin to explore the outdoor world of wildlife photography. Some of your subjects will be standing still and this is another practice technique. Be aware of the lighting and placement while trying not to disturb the animal. It is most easy to get a squirrel when they are intent on eating or foraging for food. If you stay silent and walk carefully you can often get pretty close.
If you are choosing a larger subject such as a deer or bear you will want to stay far enough away to get the shot, and not draw attention to yourself. Bears are dangerous creatures, but they can be photographed if you use common sense and don't tread upon their territory. Wildlife photography and thus the photographers have a code of ethics when attaining the perfect shots. You will want to follow these ethics for your safety and the animals.
Wildlife photography is a waiting game for the perfect picture to sprint across your viewfinder. It takes patience and a lot of practice, but the reward of having a family member or friend go, ' where did you get that photograph? I have got to have one,' will sweeten the deal.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
White Balance and Color Cast
Light has color.
Most people don't realize what difference light sources make in photography until they see the results--and then wonder why the picture looks absolutely nothing like what they remember pointing the camera at.
Light of various temperatures is associated with a temperature in Kelvin. For example, a candle is about 1500 K, a standard light bulb about 3400 K, and the flash on your camera about 5600 K. Light from a sunset, for example, is a rich golden yellow. Light from flourescent bulbs actually shows up as purple in some photos! If you really want your subjects to look like people and not refugees from a planet of purple-skinned strangers, you'll need to keep White Balance in mind.
White Balance is an automatic setting on most digital cameras to account for these adjustments in light sources. Cameras come with a variety of pre-programmed settings. The camera recognizes that if the setting is for flourescent bulbs, then "white" is actually going to look "purple." It will find an example in the frame that it thinks is supposed to be white, and adjust the spectrum for the picture accordingly. Then the picture will turn out with the colors that people expect to see. Unless your picture has wide areas of just one color, it's generally safe to let the camera decide the white balance automatically.
But, if your camera didn't do the white balancing job correctly, then you'll get purple-people syndrome, and you'll have to use your photo-editing program to make up for what the camera missed. Most programs have some sort of color balance control, and the majority of them work the same way the camera was supposed to. Select a point in the picture that was supposed to be white, and the computer will then adjust the entire color spectrum of the picture appropriately. Presto, no more purple people.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Most people don't realize what difference light sources make in photography until they see the results--and then wonder why the picture looks absolutely nothing like what they remember pointing the camera at.
Light of various temperatures is associated with a temperature in Kelvin. For example, a candle is about 1500 K, a standard light bulb about 3400 K, and the flash on your camera about 5600 K. Light from a sunset, for example, is a rich golden yellow. Light from flourescent bulbs actually shows up as purple in some photos! If you really want your subjects to look like people and not refugees from a planet of purple-skinned strangers, you'll need to keep White Balance in mind.
White Balance is an automatic setting on most digital cameras to account for these adjustments in light sources. Cameras come with a variety of pre-programmed settings. The camera recognizes that if the setting is for flourescent bulbs, then "white" is actually going to look "purple." It will find an example in the frame that it thinks is supposed to be white, and adjust the spectrum for the picture accordingly. Then the picture will turn out with the colors that people expect to see. Unless your picture has wide areas of just one color, it's generally safe to let the camera decide the white balance automatically.
But, if your camera didn't do the white balancing job correctly, then you'll get purple-people syndrome, and you'll have to use your photo-editing program to make up for what the camera missed. Most programs have some sort of color balance control, and the majority of them work the same way the camera was supposed to. Select a point in the picture that was supposed to be white, and the computer will then adjust the entire color spectrum of the picture appropriately. Presto, no more purple people.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
What Do You Know About Stock Photography
Stock photography, groups of photographs that people take, grouped and licensed for selling purposes. Instead of taking new pictures every time they need pictures, many people use the stock photography method. People that work for magazines, as graphic artists, and advertising agencies sometimes use public pictures instead of hiring photographers for individual projects.
Alternate names for stock photography is picture libraries, photo archives or image banks. Typically, in order to use these pictures, although publicly available, there is a small fee or a purchasing of usage rights that comes with a fee in order to use the pictures. Sometimes a membership purchase allows you to have access to a particular group of stock photography.
Saving time and money, stock photography is a great way to enhance newsletters, blogs, advertisements, company brochures and more. It is obviously less expensive than putting a full time photographer on staff and takes less time if you need images of something specific. Many times, it is as easy as using a search engine or checking an email.
Sometimes full rights and usage is available for purchase. Other times, full rights are limited. In those cases, photographers might be requiring that they receive a certain percentage of sales and or royalties of usage. Agencies usually hold the images on files and negotiate fees. With the technology and easy access that the internet provides, negotiations are quicker and easier.
The cost of using stock photos depends on how long the pictures will be used, what location the images will be used, if the original photographer wants royalties and how many people the photo will be distributed to or seen by. Prices for stock photography can be anywhere from one dollar to two hundred dollars.
There are several different pricing arrangements. Royalty free stock photography allows the buyer to use photographs multiple times in multiple ways. When you buy royalty free pictures, there is only a one-time charge for unlimited usage. When the images you purchase have a royalty free section, the agency is able to resell the image to others. If an image is rights managed, there is a negotiated price for each time that it is used.
Sometimes a buyer of stock photography might desire to have exclusive rights to the images. In that case, no one else will be able to use the pictures once exclusive rights have been purchased. It may cost thousands of dollars to purchase exclusive rights because agencies who handle the sales have to make sure that they are making a profitable sale. If a photograph would make more money staying in circulation, they would lose out selling exclusive rights.
Stock photographers sometimes work with agencies producing images for them alone. Different subjects and categories might need multiple varieties of images. Sometimes contributors work for multiple agencies selling their photographs for a fee. They work out arrangements for royalties or they sell their shots for full rights. This has proved to be a big business for photographers around the world.
Stock photography started in the early 1920s. It especially grew as its own specialty by the 1980s. Galleries hold hundreds, thousands and even millions of pictures available for purchase. Stock houses sprung up in many different places. By 2000, online stock photography became microstock photography, which we call photo archives online. Companies like istock photo and bigstock photo offer you the opportunity to purchase so many pictures and when you use them up you can add more credits for another fee. Photos that are distributed online are typically less expensive than those that are sold hard copy.
Websites like www.shutterpoint.com and www.fotolibra.com allow stock photographers to upload and sell their images. It is a great way to market pictures and earn money with photography. You can also purchase images at those websites as well. With all the stock photography sites available, one may find pictures you never even heard of before.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Alternate names for stock photography is picture libraries, photo archives or image banks. Typically, in order to use these pictures, although publicly available, there is a small fee or a purchasing of usage rights that comes with a fee in order to use the pictures. Sometimes a membership purchase allows you to have access to a particular group of stock photography.
Saving time and money, stock photography is a great way to enhance newsletters, blogs, advertisements, company brochures and more. It is obviously less expensive than putting a full time photographer on staff and takes less time if you need images of something specific. Many times, it is as easy as using a search engine or checking an email.
Sometimes full rights and usage is available for purchase. Other times, full rights are limited. In those cases, photographers might be requiring that they receive a certain percentage of sales and or royalties of usage. Agencies usually hold the images on files and negotiate fees. With the technology and easy access that the internet provides, negotiations are quicker and easier.
The cost of using stock photos depends on how long the pictures will be used, what location the images will be used, if the original photographer wants royalties and how many people the photo will be distributed to or seen by. Prices for stock photography can be anywhere from one dollar to two hundred dollars.
There are several different pricing arrangements. Royalty free stock photography allows the buyer to use photographs multiple times in multiple ways. When you buy royalty free pictures, there is only a one-time charge for unlimited usage. When the images you purchase have a royalty free section, the agency is able to resell the image to others. If an image is rights managed, there is a negotiated price for each time that it is used.
Sometimes a buyer of stock photography might desire to have exclusive rights to the images. In that case, no one else will be able to use the pictures once exclusive rights have been purchased. It may cost thousands of dollars to purchase exclusive rights because agencies who handle the sales have to make sure that they are making a profitable sale. If a photograph would make more money staying in circulation, they would lose out selling exclusive rights.
Stock photographers sometimes work with agencies producing images for them alone. Different subjects and categories might need multiple varieties of images. Sometimes contributors work for multiple agencies selling their photographs for a fee. They work out arrangements for royalties or they sell their shots for full rights. This has proved to be a big business for photographers around the world.
Stock photography started in the early 1920s. It especially grew as its own specialty by the 1980s. Galleries hold hundreds, thousands and even millions of pictures available for purchase. Stock houses sprung up in many different places. By 2000, online stock photography became microstock photography, which we call photo archives online. Companies like istock photo and bigstock photo offer you the opportunity to purchase so many pictures and when you use them up you can add more credits for another fee. Photos that are distributed online are typically less expensive than those that are sold hard copy.
Websites like www.shutterpoint.com and www.fotolibra.com allow stock photographers to upload and sell their images. It is a great way to market pictures and earn money with photography. You can also purchase images at those websites as well. With all the stock photography sites available, one may find pictures you never even heard of before.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
What Photo Editing Software should I use?
If you're serious about photography, and if you're looking for the best and most powerful photo editing program around, the de facto standard and market leader is Adobe Photoshop CS2.
Unfortunately, with it's steep learning curve and equally steep price tag, Photoshop is overkill for the people who just want to play with their pictures. Photoshop CS2 has every possible feature that a digital photographer could want except a low price. What other programs are available?
Adobe recognized that their flagship product was a bit much for the beginner, so they scaled it back. With a few of the more complex features removed and a price tag under $100, Photoshop Elements still packs quite a punch, and might be considered the market leader in it's own price range. It has the same basic interface as the full powered Photoshop, and most of the same functionality.
Elements' leading competition is Corel's Paint Shop Pro XI, and some reviewers prefer Corel's product to Adobe's. Paint Shop Pro, in general, is easier to learn in many areas, and is just as powerful in most of it's tools.
Both Elements and Paint Shop Pro have red eye removal features and bundled photo organizer programs, and quite literally run neck and neck in terms of features and ease of use.
Another product on the market is the Microsoft Digital Imaging Suite. With the latest version, Microsoft has added wizards to help novice users work their way through the program. While the new features are an improvement, most reviewers still don't rank this product as highly as either Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro. One feature that really stands out in Microsoft's package, though, is the slide-show program called Photo Story, which is much better than the equivalent in Elements. Photo Story is offered separately as a free download.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Unfortunately, with it's steep learning curve and equally steep price tag, Photoshop is overkill for the people who just want to play with their pictures. Photoshop CS2 has every possible feature that a digital photographer could want except a low price. What other programs are available?
Adobe recognized that their flagship product was a bit much for the beginner, so they scaled it back. With a few of the more complex features removed and a price tag under $100, Photoshop Elements still packs quite a punch, and might be considered the market leader in it's own price range. It has the same basic interface as the full powered Photoshop, and most of the same functionality.
Elements' leading competition is Corel's Paint Shop Pro XI, and some reviewers prefer Corel's product to Adobe's. Paint Shop Pro, in general, is easier to learn in many areas, and is just as powerful in most of it's tools.
Both Elements and Paint Shop Pro have red eye removal features and bundled photo organizer programs, and quite literally run neck and neck in terms of features and ease of use.
Another product on the market is the Microsoft Digital Imaging Suite. With the latest version, Microsoft has added wizards to help novice users work their way through the program. While the new features are an improvement, most reviewers still don't rank this product as highly as either Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro. One feature that really stands out in Microsoft's package, though, is the slide-show program called Photo Story, which is much better than the equivalent in Elements. Photo Story is offered separately as a free download.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Unsharp Mask
Yes, the name is backwards. The "Unsharp Mask" tool in Adobe Photoshop and other programs does exactly the opposite of what the name implies--it sharpens pictures. But, it does it by emulating an old photography sharpening trick. It also happens to be one of the best tools in the photo editor's drawer.
Darkroom photographers discovered a trick for making pictures appear sharper. They would start with the negative they wanted to print, and would develop a positive of the same image. When they went to print the negative, they would shine the image through both the positive and a sheet of glass. The end result would be that the image would "stand out" more.
Photoshop does almost exactly the same thing, only with pixels instead of glass. Inside the computer's memory, it produces a negative image of the one on the screen. Black dots in your picture are white in the negative. It blurs this negative, just a little bit, and then it compares the two images, pixel by pixel. In areas where there isn't a lot of difference (like sky), the unsharp mask doesn't make any changes. But, in areas where there's plenty of detail, the original is going to be very different from the blurry negative, and that's where the program goes to work. It makes slight changes to the pixels between areas of different colors, making those borders "stand out" and, in effect, making the picture look sharper.
The three controls for the Unsharp Mask program control how much of an effect it has on the picture. Amount will differ with each picture. A Radius bigger than .8 starts to affect pixels away from the actual edge, so it's a good idea to keep this number low. And you'll probably want to keep Threshold as low as possible, too, because anything over zero affects the "grain" of the image.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Darkroom photographers discovered a trick for making pictures appear sharper. They would start with the negative they wanted to print, and would develop a positive of the same image. When they went to print the negative, they would shine the image through both the positive and a sheet of glass. The end result would be that the image would "stand out" more.
Photoshop does almost exactly the same thing, only with pixels instead of glass. Inside the computer's memory, it produces a negative image of the one on the screen. Black dots in your picture are white in the negative. It blurs this negative, just a little bit, and then it compares the two images, pixel by pixel. In areas where there isn't a lot of difference (like sky), the unsharp mask doesn't make any changes. But, in areas where there's plenty of detail, the original is going to be very different from the blurry negative, and that's where the program goes to work. It makes slight changes to the pixels between areas of different colors, making those borders "stand out" and, in effect, making the picture look sharper.
The three controls for the Unsharp Mask program control how much of an effect it has on the picture. Amount will differ with each picture. A Radius bigger than .8 starts to affect pixels away from the actual edge, so it's a good idea to keep this number low. And you'll probably want to keep Threshold as low as possible, too, because anything over zero affects the "grain" of the image.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Understanding the Histogram
Imagine, for a moment, if we could do a statistical analysis on a digital photo.
We would want some way to count how many dots of each color there are in a given picture. And, once we had that count, we would want to chart it somehow, so we could see at a glance how those dots compare against each other. This chart could show us whether our picture was washed out or too dark before we even printed it.
This chart is called a Histogram. Many digital cameras will generate it for either the picture you've taken or the one you're about to take. And, most photo editing programs will create one, too.
When we view the historgram of a picture, we're looking at the extent of color information contained in a photo. A dark photo will have the bulk of the data on the far left side of the chart, while a "daylight" photo will be somewhere in the middle. The chart could show a single hump, or a series of spikes; it could be very tight, only a fraction of the histogram, or it could spread from edge to edge.
There's no sugh thing as a "perfect histogram" because every photo and every histogram is unique. But learning how to read the lines on a histogram can give us an insight into whether or not we have the image we want.
There's really only one sort of histogram that points out a bad picture, and that's one where the data is up against the edge. The far left edge is pure black, and the far right edge is pure white. If there's a large amount of absolute black or white in the picture, then some detail has probably been lost--because it's very rare to have pure, absolute black or white.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
We would want some way to count how many dots of each color there are in a given picture. And, once we had that count, we would want to chart it somehow, so we could see at a glance how those dots compare against each other. This chart could show us whether our picture was washed out or too dark before we even printed it.
This chart is called a Histogram. Many digital cameras will generate it for either the picture you've taken or the one you're about to take. And, most photo editing programs will create one, too.
When we view the historgram of a picture, we're looking at the extent of color information contained in a photo. A dark photo will have the bulk of the data on the far left side of the chart, while a "daylight" photo will be somewhere in the middle. The chart could show a single hump, or a series of spikes; it could be very tight, only a fraction of the histogram, or it could spread from edge to edge.
There's no sugh thing as a "perfect histogram" because every photo and every histogram is unique. But learning how to read the lines on a histogram can give us an insight into whether or not we have the image we want.
There's really only one sort of histogram that points out a bad picture, and that's one where the data is up against the edge. The far left edge is pure black, and the far right edge is pure white. If there's a large amount of absolute black or white in the picture, then some detail has probably been lost--because it's very rare to have pure, absolute black or white.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Tips For Photographing Your Cat
Every cat is proud of his or her friendly feline. Cats make perfect subjects in which to photograph. You can catch your cat and a variety of interesting and fun poses when you know how to take pictures of your cat. If you are interested in photographing your cat, here are some tips to help you get the best shots.
Catch your Cat Napping
Nothing looks quite as relaxing as a cat taking a nap. Cats do sleep a lot, so if you take a picture of your cat napping, you have plenty of opportunity. The best time to take a picture of your cat is to catch it when it is asleep. You can take close-ups of your cat either as it sleeps, or gently wake your cat up for a relaxed look. For a nice shot of your cat, try gently rubbing your cat's belly right when you want to snap a picture. This will encourage your cat to roll over on its back.
Natural Sunlight
When you think of a sleeping cat, where do most cats enjoy sleeping? You can usually find a cat napping in the sun. If you have a window that gets full or filtered sunlight during the day, then try to open the curtains or blinds to encourage cap napping. As soon as you see your cat sit in the sun, try to take a few pictures. When the sunlight is good, try a few shots without using your flash. This will give your picture a nice natural glowing effect. In addition, natural light often works best anyway because if you use a bright flash, your cat will usually close his or her eyes or the eyes could end up looking red.
Forget Posing and Planning
Cats are much for posing. You cannot really ask that a cat stay and sit. When you take pictures of your cat, you should always have your camera on hand for candid shots. Look at your cat during the day and determine your cat's schedule and favorite places. Work around your cat and you will get better pictures. Try to be spontaneous, and above all stay patient. It may take several tries to get a couple of great shots, but posing your cat rarely works.
I have tried to get my three cats to pose and let me take a picture, but even though they sleep together, play together, they cannot stand or in this sit next to each without someone starting something. If I had three people to help and set back out of the picture, it might work. As you can see, cat's needs to do what cats do and take your pictures that way.
Get Help
Another good tip for taking pictures of your cat is to get help. You can get great pictures of playful cats and kittens by having someone help you wiggle a string, the throw a ball or call the cat's name. It is very difficult to try to play with your cat and take pictures at the same time. Your pictures will turn out much better if you get someone to help you. In addition, if you are trying to get a picture of your cat looking directly at your camera, have someone stand above you can call the cat's name, or make a noise that will prompt the cat to look directly above your head.
If you are a patient and willing, you can get some excellent shots of your cat. Cats are so fun to take pictures of because you never know what they will do. Keep your camera handy and ready to go as soon as your cat springs into action. Cat's normal activity seems to make us smile and laugh, their antics always may wonderful pictures. Pictures of kittens playing from birth on also make for some great pictures. If you have the camera, you will never miss the perfect picture.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Catch your Cat Napping
Nothing looks quite as relaxing as a cat taking a nap. Cats do sleep a lot, so if you take a picture of your cat napping, you have plenty of opportunity. The best time to take a picture of your cat is to catch it when it is asleep. You can take close-ups of your cat either as it sleeps, or gently wake your cat up for a relaxed look. For a nice shot of your cat, try gently rubbing your cat's belly right when you want to snap a picture. This will encourage your cat to roll over on its back.
Natural Sunlight
When you think of a sleeping cat, where do most cats enjoy sleeping? You can usually find a cat napping in the sun. If you have a window that gets full or filtered sunlight during the day, then try to open the curtains or blinds to encourage cap napping. As soon as you see your cat sit in the sun, try to take a few pictures. When the sunlight is good, try a few shots without using your flash. This will give your picture a nice natural glowing effect. In addition, natural light often works best anyway because if you use a bright flash, your cat will usually close his or her eyes or the eyes could end up looking red.
Forget Posing and Planning
Cats are much for posing. You cannot really ask that a cat stay and sit. When you take pictures of your cat, you should always have your camera on hand for candid shots. Look at your cat during the day and determine your cat's schedule and favorite places. Work around your cat and you will get better pictures. Try to be spontaneous, and above all stay patient. It may take several tries to get a couple of great shots, but posing your cat rarely works.
I have tried to get my three cats to pose and let me take a picture, but even though they sleep together, play together, they cannot stand or in this sit next to each without someone starting something. If I had three people to help and set back out of the picture, it might work. As you can see, cat's needs to do what cats do and take your pictures that way.
Get Help
Another good tip for taking pictures of your cat is to get help. You can get great pictures of playful cats and kittens by having someone help you wiggle a string, the throw a ball or call the cat's name. It is very difficult to try to play with your cat and take pictures at the same time. Your pictures will turn out much better if you get someone to help you. In addition, if you are trying to get a picture of your cat looking directly at your camera, have someone stand above you can call the cat's name, or make a noise that will prompt the cat to look directly above your head.
If you are a patient and willing, you can get some excellent shots of your cat. Cats are so fun to take pictures of because you never know what they will do. Keep your camera handy and ready to go as soon as your cat springs into action. Cat's normal activity seems to make us smile and laugh, their antics always may wonderful pictures. Pictures of kittens playing from birth on also make for some great pictures. If you have the camera, you will never miss the perfect picture.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
The World Of Underwater Photography
Underwater photography can be very fun and interesting. It is not everyday that people get to go under water and take pictures of the wildlife that exists there. There are many different types of wildlife underwater including the living and moving ones such as fish and sharks, and the non-moving ones such as coral. Underwater photography has become a huge sport because of the different kinds of things that one finds to photograph underwater.
Many digital cameras today are underwater cameras. More and more pictures are popping up all over the internet from underwater sources. This is because of the availability of taking cameras underwater and taking pictures of everything there.
The only problem with these photos is that the people think that they can take a camera, go underwater and start taking pictures. The key is knowing how and where to take pictures. Many underwater photos come out horrible and it is impossible to see anything because the picture quality was poor. The sunlight works differently underwater and many times photos are just a white blur because taken directly into a sunray.
Pictures underwater can turn out beautiful if you take it the right way. There is a lot of different gear that goes along with underwater photography. Many different forms of cameras, camera holders, and lights need to be purchased to make some perfect underwater pictures.
Taking pictures in the ocean is probably the first step to taking great pictures underwater. Many times, lakes and ponds can be much too murky with mud and dirt and makes it unable to see anything. In the ocean, some parts are so clear you can see up to five feet down, so the underwater picture comes out perfectly because there is no pollution to disturb the image.
Some different designed cameras work better underwater than others when diving. These pictures come out amazing, because they are usually several hundred feet underwater where not a lot of pictures come from in the first place. Some of the photos come out with strange things that one has never seen before.
Other then the life forms that live in water, it is also fun to take pictures of people underwater. Underwater expressions can be quite funny if the right moment is captured. Many people take pictures of their children and each other under water while they are vacation. In Florida, many people take pictures of themselves with the manatees while they are swimming by. Taking real life underwater pictures is a great keepsake for the entire family and great to share with family and friends as well as area photographers who have never had the chance to experience such good fortune.
Water is unpredictable and that is what makes underwater photography so great. The underwater effect that makes everything unpredictable makes pictures that were not expected. This makes the pictures all the better because it is extremely hard to set up a pose for an underwater photograph. Underwater photography will continue to change as the cameras in today's world continue to become more advanced. Photos can already be taken underwater while the person is still on a boat, making it much safer than before. We will continue to see more and more of these underwater adventures with amazing pictures coming from deep below the ocean surface in the coming years and see extraordinary photos from strange creatures that no one has ever identified
Underwater photography will continue to become a thing that everybody wants to do more especially when you go on vacations and out of town to the ocean. It is a fun sport that anybody can participate in without much experience but a fun sport if the people know what they are doing with their equipment. When you decide to show your photography skills to everyone, they will see what they are missing and might decide to take up the hobby of underwater photography themselves.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Many digital cameras today are underwater cameras. More and more pictures are popping up all over the internet from underwater sources. This is because of the availability of taking cameras underwater and taking pictures of everything there.
The only problem with these photos is that the people think that they can take a camera, go underwater and start taking pictures. The key is knowing how and where to take pictures. Many underwater photos come out horrible and it is impossible to see anything because the picture quality was poor. The sunlight works differently underwater and many times photos are just a white blur because taken directly into a sunray.
Pictures underwater can turn out beautiful if you take it the right way. There is a lot of different gear that goes along with underwater photography. Many different forms of cameras, camera holders, and lights need to be purchased to make some perfect underwater pictures.
Taking pictures in the ocean is probably the first step to taking great pictures underwater. Many times, lakes and ponds can be much too murky with mud and dirt and makes it unable to see anything. In the ocean, some parts are so clear you can see up to five feet down, so the underwater picture comes out perfectly because there is no pollution to disturb the image.
Some different designed cameras work better underwater than others when diving. These pictures come out amazing, because they are usually several hundred feet underwater where not a lot of pictures come from in the first place. Some of the photos come out with strange things that one has never seen before.
Other then the life forms that live in water, it is also fun to take pictures of people underwater. Underwater expressions can be quite funny if the right moment is captured. Many people take pictures of their children and each other under water while they are vacation. In Florida, many people take pictures of themselves with the manatees while they are swimming by. Taking real life underwater pictures is a great keepsake for the entire family and great to share with family and friends as well as area photographers who have never had the chance to experience such good fortune.
Water is unpredictable and that is what makes underwater photography so great. The underwater effect that makes everything unpredictable makes pictures that were not expected. This makes the pictures all the better because it is extremely hard to set up a pose for an underwater photograph. Underwater photography will continue to change as the cameras in today's world continue to become more advanced. Photos can already be taken underwater while the person is still on a boat, making it much safer than before. We will continue to see more and more of these underwater adventures with amazing pictures coming from deep below the ocean surface in the coming years and see extraordinary photos from strange creatures that no one has ever identified
Underwater photography will continue to become a thing that everybody wants to do more especially when you go on vacations and out of town to the ocean. It is a fun sport that anybody can participate in without much experience but a fun sport if the people know what they are doing with their equipment. When you decide to show your photography skills to everyone, they will see what they are missing and might decide to take up the hobby of underwater photography themselves.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
The Use Of Lenses In Photography
Just having a camera is not going to get you the best pictures. Most of us who take photos are amateurs in the art world, but with the right equipment our photography can be elevated to a new height. Lenses are important especially when you settle on a medium you will train in. Most photographers choose one area of photography to specialize in. There are many types of lenses, the standard 35- 80mm, telephoto, and panoramic lenses.
Most cameras have a 35- 80 mm lens, even the point and shoot type. Often when you purchase a camera casing they will sell you the standard lens with it. All lenses are interchangeable. You do have to stick with the same brand of lenses as your camera and make sure the diameter is the same. The diameter of most lenses is the same as long as you keep to the same brand. The 35- 80 mm lens tells you the extent of reach. While you can take photographs several miles away with a standard lens you will not have the distinction of features in the print that you need. The standard lens is great for close up shots, such as flowers, spider webs, people, and pets. To gain more defined picture miles away you need a larger lens.
There are many telephoto lenses in photography. One is the 75- 300 mm lens. While this is not as massive as other telephoto lenses you may see a professional walking around with it is a great step up for mountain and wildlife photography when your quarry is some distance away. When you begin to move from the 35mm into something larger it is best to have a stabilizer with the lens. A stabilizer will help you hold the camera steady for clear shots even if your hand moves a little bit. When you move into the world of the telephoto lens you can by accessories to help with angles and light.
Photography in the world of panorama is another way to take spectacular landscape photos. The panoramic lens allows you to widen the photograph, especially with a digital camera. If there is a mountain range or glacier that you wish to get the whole picture without pasting them together in Photoshop the panoramic lens is the best way to go. I'm sure you have seen landscapes with a panoramic view and wished you could have that option. Even with film cameras you could have a panoramic lens to widen the photograph.
All three lenses are just the icebergs on the use of lenses in photography. Whether you are an amateur photographer or a budding professional you will want to maximize your photo taking skills. The next equipment you may want to purchase to help you with the larger lenses would be a tripod to stabilize the camera even more. Tripods are pretty simple and lightweight pieces of equipment and work great for portrait photography. All mediums in photography require moderate to top of the line camera equipment to produce a photograph with quality. Photography also relies on the photographer's skill and eye. Lenses are just a small part of the photography world when you start to study the art. If you have any questions on lenses the best places to find answers are your local photography shop.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Most cameras have a 35- 80 mm lens, even the point and shoot type. Often when you purchase a camera casing they will sell you the standard lens with it. All lenses are interchangeable. You do have to stick with the same brand of lenses as your camera and make sure the diameter is the same. The diameter of most lenses is the same as long as you keep to the same brand. The 35- 80 mm lens tells you the extent of reach. While you can take photographs several miles away with a standard lens you will not have the distinction of features in the print that you need. The standard lens is great for close up shots, such as flowers, spider webs, people, and pets. To gain more defined picture miles away you need a larger lens.
There are many telephoto lenses in photography. One is the 75- 300 mm lens. While this is not as massive as other telephoto lenses you may see a professional walking around with it is a great step up for mountain and wildlife photography when your quarry is some distance away. When you begin to move from the 35mm into something larger it is best to have a stabilizer with the lens. A stabilizer will help you hold the camera steady for clear shots even if your hand moves a little bit. When you move into the world of the telephoto lens you can by accessories to help with angles and light.
Photography in the world of panorama is another way to take spectacular landscape photos. The panoramic lens allows you to widen the photograph, especially with a digital camera. If there is a mountain range or glacier that you wish to get the whole picture without pasting them together in Photoshop the panoramic lens is the best way to go. I'm sure you have seen landscapes with a panoramic view and wished you could have that option. Even with film cameras you could have a panoramic lens to widen the photograph.
All three lenses are just the icebergs on the use of lenses in photography. Whether you are an amateur photographer or a budding professional you will want to maximize your photo taking skills. The next equipment you may want to purchase to help you with the larger lenses would be a tripod to stabilize the camera even more. Tripods are pretty simple and lightweight pieces of equipment and work great for portrait photography. All mediums in photography require moderate to top of the line camera equipment to produce a photograph with quality. Photography also relies on the photographer's skill and eye. Lenses are just a small part of the photography world when you start to study the art. If you have any questions on lenses the best places to find answers are your local photography shop.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
The Use Of Filters In Photography
Filters have two different meanings depending on how long you have had photography as a hobby. Most of us today think as filters as an option with Photoshop. This is not the case. Before the invention of computers and things like Photoshop we had small glass discs to create the filtered affect. There are many options with filters you can blur a picture, sharpen the picture, and even block out the UV rays. Filters are often used to correct a problem or make a picture look a little different.
Lets talk about filters that blur a photograph. When you are taking a picture of a waterfall at the bottom where the water rises in a cloud you can add a filter to create the cloud in the picture. Cameras don't always see what the eye sees. In some cases it can have a high resolution to depict the actual water drops rather than the cloud, so adding a filter to your lens can help create the effect your eye sees.
Other filters such as the UV protector guard against the harsh rays. Along with the UV filter you should have a polarizer. The polarizer is used in photography when you are taking a shot into direct sunlight or other light. It will help balance out the photograph so that you don't get the washed out look. Other filters can give you the washed out effect if you feel your photography would speak more. The filters in Photoshop are not as wide as the filters you can actually buy for your camera, but they can have some of the same effects that you are after.
Have you ever wanted to create a star effect when taking pictures of light filtering through the trees? You can create a star effect with any photograph by using a star effect filter. This filter allows light to pass through a series of thin lines etched into the filter letting the light streak outward in a star shape.
Some filters actually help you create a depth of field or focal point. The fog/ mist filter is one of these. The fog/ mist filter allows for a glow or flare of light in the photograph. Photography is filled with much skill and equipment. Having filters to help create the perfect professional photograph will enhance your fun with your hobby. Lets look at a few more filters.
There are color correcting lenses. If the sky is too blue for the photograph you can choose a filter that will tamp down the blue to a less bright state. If you are into underwater photography you might have filters that allow for the underwater colors. The color spectrum does not have a great range under water. A lot of things will look red even though they are not. It is easy to bring about the original color of underwater life when you use special filters for color correction.
The use of filters in photography not only allows you to have special effects in a photograph to create something new and different, but it can help enhance the shot by adding color or dampening the natural effects of light. Photography has many types of equipment that require skill and knowledge making it a wonderful hobby or profession. If you need a hobby, photography allows you to be creative.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Lets talk about filters that blur a photograph. When you are taking a picture of a waterfall at the bottom where the water rises in a cloud you can add a filter to create the cloud in the picture. Cameras don't always see what the eye sees. In some cases it can have a high resolution to depict the actual water drops rather than the cloud, so adding a filter to your lens can help create the effect your eye sees.
Other filters such as the UV protector guard against the harsh rays. Along with the UV filter you should have a polarizer. The polarizer is used in photography when you are taking a shot into direct sunlight or other light. It will help balance out the photograph so that you don't get the washed out look. Other filters can give you the washed out effect if you feel your photography would speak more. The filters in Photoshop are not as wide as the filters you can actually buy for your camera, but they can have some of the same effects that you are after.
Have you ever wanted to create a star effect when taking pictures of light filtering through the trees? You can create a star effect with any photograph by using a star effect filter. This filter allows light to pass through a series of thin lines etched into the filter letting the light streak outward in a star shape.
Some filters actually help you create a depth of field or focal point. The fog/ mist filter is one of these. The fog/ mist filter allows for a glow or flare of light in the photograph. Photography is filled with much skill and equipment. Having filters to help create the perfect professional photograph will enhance your fun with your hobby. Lets look at a few more filters.
There are color correcting lenses. If the sky is too blue for the photograph you can choose a filter that will tamp down the blue to a less bright state. If you are into underwater photography you might have filters that allow for the underwater colors. The color spectrum does not have a great range under water. A lot of things will look red even though they are not. It is easy to bring about the original color of underwater life when you use special filters for color correction.
The use of filters in photography not only allows you to have special effects in a photograph to create something new and different, but it can help enhance the shot by adding color or dampening the natural effects of light. Photography has many types of equipment that require skill and knowledge making it a wonderful hobby or profession. If you need a hobby, photography allows you to be creative.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
The Underwater World Captured With Photography
Underwater photography is growing every year, those who go diving wish to bring the diving world visible to those who do not dive. We have always been fascinated with the oceans and bays of the world as an unknown world. Bringing vacation pictures home to your friends or selling them as professionals has been a time honored tradition and now we can bring the underwater world home through the use of digital photography.
There are many types of underwater cameras. You have the highly expensive professional cameras and the one time slightly effective versions. Knowing which camera will work for you is very important. Part of finding the right camera may lie with in the housing you wish to purchase. Underwater photography requires you to protect your camera from the harmful affects of water so you will have to purchase housing with seals to eliminate the water. The housing you find may fit the camera you have. In fact, most companies will sell the housing for the cameras you have. If you find you, need a better camera for the underwater world you will need to look at packages. These packages will include the housing.
Let us look at the 35mm cameras. Most of these cameras are just point and shoot. If they were meant for underwater chances are they have at least a mild filter to correct for the lack of color underwater. These cameras will not filter out the particles you find floating along in the water on a poor visible day. Usually they are limited to less than 100 feet. I would not use this type for anything below 80 feet. You would not want to loose pictures because the housing failed under pressure. While this is not common, it is a concern for most photographers.
The more professional cameras are larger with a huge lens to let light in as well as have filters to help bring clarity to any photograph. Typically, these cameras require you to have a deep-set hobby in underwater photography, as the expense is high. Digital cameras are the best way to take underwater photographs because you can make sure you have the desired affects before leaving the seen. Of course, most underwater life will not hang around for a second shot, but coral reefs and the animals that inhabit them may remain.
Most underwater cameras will also have a flash. It is best to take an underwater photography course before delving to far in your hobby. Sometimes the flash will help you with the photographs, but other times it will wash the subject out and ruin the print. You can also use underwater cameras when you are snorkeling. Some flashes are built in to the camera while others are external. The external flashes can be a stick with a little light bulb on top.
When storing your underwater camera and flash you usually want to store them without the batteries as the batteries can die quickly. This is mostly for the cameras that use double AA batteries. Underwater photography is a great world to take home with you especially if you are on a dive vacation. Underwater photography requires a few more skills than regular photography due to the lighting conditions, but once you understand them you will be bring home great pictures every time.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
There are many types of underwater cameras. You have the highly expensive professional cameras and the one time slightly effective versions. Knowing which camera will work for you is very important. Part of finding the right camera may lie with in the housing you wish to purchase. Underwater photography requires you to protect your camera from the harmful affects of water so you will have to purchase housing with seals to eliminate the water. The housing you find may fit the camera you have. In fact, most companies will sell the housing for the cameras you have. If you find you, need a better camera for the underwater world you will need to look at packages. These packages will include the housing.
Let us look at the 35mm cameras. Most of these cameras are just point and shoot. If they were meant for underwater chances are they have at least a mild filter to correct for the lack of color underwater. These cameras will not filter out the particles you find floating along in the water on a poor visible day. Usually they are limited to less than 100 feet. I would not use this type for anything below 80 feet. You would not want to loose pictures because the housing failed under pressure. While this is not common, it is a concern for most photographers.
The more professional cameras are larger with a huge lens to let light in as well as have filters to help bring clarity to any photograph. Typically, these cameras require you to have a deep-set hobby in underwater photography, as the expense is high. Digital cameras are the best way to take underwater photographs because you can make sure you have the desired affects before leaving the seen. Of course, most underwater life will not hang around for a second shot, but coral reefs and the animals that inhabit them may remain.
Most underwater cameras will also have a flash. It is best to take an underwater photography course before delving to far in your hobby. Sometimes the flash will help you with the photographs, but other times it will wash the subject out and ruin the print. You can also use underwater cameras when you are snorkeling. Some flashes are built in to the camera while others are external. The external flashes can be a stick with a little light bulb on top.
When storing your underwater camera and flash you usually want to store them without the batteries as the batteries can die quickly. This is mostly for the cameras that use double AA batteries. Underwater photography is a great world to take home with you especially if you are on a dive vacation. Underwater photography requires a few more skills than regular photography due to the lighting conditions, but once you understand them you will be bring home great pictures every time.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Techniques For Underwater Photography
Underwater photography brings the underwater world to the surface. Some wonder wheat swimming in the ocean is like, but the don't wish to learn how to dive. Underwater photographers have taken it upon themselves to bring the underwater world to those who don't wish to dive or never had the chance. While all photography is an art the underwater world needs special skills to bring the highest quality alive.
Unlike wildlife photography the underwater world needs to be viewed up close. That is to say the marine life needs to be photographed closely. This is because of the water. The water refracts images often distorting them so the closer you are to your subject the less water you have between you an the subject. Underwater photography requires a great deal of patience. You subject may swim quickly by like the shark, whale or dolphin, or they may hide with in the coral popping out only when danger is not felt. Water holds particles, most usually living organisms called plankton because these particles often float by while you are trying to take a picture you can loose contrast and sharpness of the image.
Marine life uses the premise of hiding more than speed or survival of the fittest. This means you will often find your subject camouflaged rather than out in the open. You have to seek your subject with determination, without startling the subject. The underwater world demands respect. You don't want to touch the living organisms and therefore you must learn to move with the current while trying to attain the perfect shot. A lot of marine life will die if you touch it, especially coral so having a hobby of underwater photography requires you to follow the rules, a code of ethics.
Underwater flash or more typically called a strobe can help you gain the light you need to take a perfect photo. It is essential to have a flash with an underwater camera. It will help you bring other colors rather than red and orange into the picture. The strobe only needs to be medium sized, any larger and it can hinder your photo taking experience.
Composition is also very important. You will follow the same rule you did in regular photography; however, you still need to have an upward angle on the subject. This goes back to the camouflage technique of most marine species. They tend to melt into their hideouts or in some cases; their bodies are designed to hide in the water when swimming like sharks. When you are trying to get a clear shot when the subject blends into the background can be difficult and creates a challenge.
When dealing with underwater photography as a hobby you will need to hone your photography skills on land first. Once you take great pictures on land you can move into the harder version of the underwater world, where some rules you've used no longer apply and attaining the best picture takes patience as well as skill. Underwater photography brings the marine life to the surface alleviating some of the unknown. If you find you are just starting to have an interest in underwater photography you will want to seek a professional underwater photography class to teach you some of the important techniques as well as practice.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Unlike wildlife photography the underwater world needs to be viewed up close. That is to say the marine life needs to be photographed closely. This is because of the water. The water refracts images often distorting them so the closer you are to your subject the less water you have between you an the subject. Underwater photography requires a great deal of patience. You subject may swim quickly by like the shark, whale or dolphin, or they may hide with in the coral popping out only when danger is not felt. Water holds particles, most usually living organisms called plankton because these particles often float by while you are trying to take a picture you can loose contrast and sharpness of the image.
Marine life uses the premise of hiding more than speed or survival of the fittest. This means you will often find your subject camouflaged rather than out in the open. You have to seek your subject with determination, without startling the subject. The underwater world demands respect. You don't want to touch the living organisms and therefore you must learn to move with the current while trying to attain the perfect shot. A lot of marine life will die if you touch it, especially coral so having a hobby of underwater photography requires you to follow the rules, a code of ethics.
Underwater flash or more typically called a strobe can help you gain the light you need to take a perfect photo. It is essential to have a flash with an underwater camera. It will help you bring other colors rather than red and orange into the picture. The strobe only needs to be medium sized, any larger and it can hinder your photo taking experience.
Composition is also very important. You will follow the same rule you did in regular photography; however, you still need to have an upward angle on the subject. This goes back to the camouflage technique of most marine species. They tend to melt into their hideouts or in some cases; their bodies are designed to hide in the water when swimming like sharks. When you are trying to get a clear shot when the subject blends into the background can be difficult and creates a challenge.
When dealing with underwater photography as a hobby you will need to hone your photography skills on land first. Once you take great pictures on land you can move into the harder version of the underwater world, where some rules you've used no longer apply and attaining the best picture takes patience as well as skill. Underwater photography brings the marine life to the surface alleviating some of the unknown. If you find you are just starting to have an interest in underwater photography you will want to seek a professional underwater photography class to teach you some of the important techniques as well as practice.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Taking Great Shots Of Your Baby
Your baby is very cute, and nothing makes a parent prouder than sharing pictures of their new child. Everybody loves looking at pictures of babies, too. If you have a little one in the house, get your camera ready and start sharing those cute baby pictures today. The more pictures you have the more fun you will have showing your precious pictures. Here are some great ideas to help you take better shots of your baby.
Stay Ready
You can never know when your baby will do something entertaining or do something for the first time. For that reason, you always need to have your camera nearby and ready to go. That means making sure you have plenty of film if you use a film camera and making sure your have enough room on your memory stick or card if you use digital. You will also want to make sure that you have enough battery life in your camera at all times. Many parents use more than one camera, too. You can even put a disposable camera in the car or diaper bag for times that are just too cute to pass up.
Get Candid Shots
Some of the sweetest pictures of babies are candid shots. You can take memorable pictures of your baby taking a bottle, sleeping and smiling. Candid shots look much more relaxed and natural than posed shots and you will only feel frustrated trying to be posed shots anyway. Babies are notorious for not cooperating for posed pictures. Do not waste your time and take candid shots instead. Do not forget all to take pictures of every part of your baby, such as those fat little fingers or those tiny toes. Those are always sweet reminders of this young age. If you have a good zoom lens, you can often take great candid shots of your baby from a distance. These are great because your baby will never even know you are there.
Take Pictures in Black and White
You cannot get very many adorable pictures of your baby taken in black and white or in sepia tones. You can guarantee that grandma and grandpa will be gushing over those, too. Most digital cameras come with black and white and sepia settings, so take advantage. In addition, when you take black and white, you do not have to worry about what your baby is wearing, because everything looks good. The more natural the pictures the more fun you will have looking at them in the future. Kids caught doing what they do best is always a showstopper. They offer hours of enjoyment and catching all the excitement counts.
Take Many Shots
You should take many shots of your baby doing the same thing. You may take twenty-five of your babies crawling of the first time, but may only get two or three that are worth using. The more pictures you take, the more you have to choose from the better. It is always best to take more than not enough. A professional as well as armatures know, that not all pictures turn out, especially if you use a high-speed camera. Just keep taking pictures to ensure you capture the moment.
Do Something with Those Pictures
The last tip is to make sure you actually do something with your pictures after you take them. So many people leave undeveloped rolls of film sitting around for months or never print their digital pictures. Babies grow and change too fast. You should make it a point to print and share your pictures every week. In addition, if you use digital pictures, you should always make sure you back up your pictures onto a disk on a regular basis. You certainly do not want to lose these irreplaceable photos. This has happen too many successful photographers and does cause quite a commotion when you lose all your precious moments that you never again will see.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Stay Ready
You can never know when your baby will do something entertaining or do something for the first time. For that reason, you always need to have your camera nearby and ready to go. That means making sure you have plenty of film if you use a film camera and making sure your have enough room on your memory stick or card if you use digital. You will also want to make sure that you have enough battery life in your camera at all times. Many parents use more than one camera, too. You can even put a disposable camera in the car or diaper bag for times that are just too cute to pass up.
Get Candid Shots
Some of the sweetest pictures of babies are candid shots. You can take memorable pictures of your baby taking a bottle, sleeping and smiling. Candid shots look much more relaxed and natural than posed shots and you will only feel frustrated trying to be posed shots anyway. Babies are notorious for not cooperating for posed pictures. Do not waste your time and take candid shots instead. Do not forget all to take pictures of every part of your baby, such as those fat little fingers or those tiny toes. Those are always sweet reminders of this young age. If you have a good zoom lens, you can often take great candid shots of your baby from a distance. These are great because your baby will never even know you are there.
Take Pictures in Black and White
You cannot get very many adorable pictures of your baby taken in black and white or in sepia tones. You can guarantee that grandma and grandpa will be gushing over those, too. Most digital cameras come with black and white and sepia settings, so take advantage. In addition, when you take black and white, you do not have to worry about what your baby is wearing, because everything looks good. The more natural the pictures the more fun you will have looking at them in the future. Kids caught doing what they do best is always a showstopper. They offer hours of enjoyment and catching all the excitement counts.
Take Many Shots
You should take many shots of your baby doing the same thing. You may take twenty-five of your babies crawling of the first time, but may only get two or three that are worth using. The more pictures you take, the more you have to choose from the better. It is always best to take more than not enough. A professional as well as armatures know, that not all pictures turn out, especially if you use a high-speed camera. Just keep taking pictures to ensure you capture the moment.
Do Something with Those Pictures
The last tip is to make sure you actually do something with your pictures after you take them. So many people leave undeveloped rolls of film sitting around for months or never print their digital pictures. Babies grow and change too fast. You should make it a point to print and share your pictures every week. In addition, if you use digital pictures, you should always make sure you back up your pictures onto a disk on a regular basis. You certainly do not want to lose these irreplaceable photos. This has happen too many successful photographers and does cause quite a commotion when you lose all your precious moments that you never again will see.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Still Life Photography Techniques
There are many mediums to choose from in photography. Often a person will begin with still life photography and work their way towards portraits, wildlife, or landscapes depending upon their interests. Still life photography teaches a person to use light and shadows to find the emotion of the object. Here I will discuss many different aspects of still life pictures.
Still life expresses the photographers self while using in animate objects such as pottery, flowers, candles, leaves, and fruit. The first step in still life photography is the lighting. You will want the object to have light from a single direction, so that you can cast shadows as well as light on the object. This will give it a depth of field, and dimension. You will need to choose whether you want a soft or harsh light. The more harsh the light the more shadow you will have. Often in still life reflectors are used to tone the light down. The best type of lighting for still life photography is side- lighting because you will attain more contrast between the object.
With still life photography, you have color control. You can choose the colors of the objects you use. When choosing the colors say with leaves and fruits you will want a contrast in colors, but retain a natural look. Harmony is the best word to use when attaining color control. The color will attract the viewer's eye, so if it is displeasing to you the chances are your viewers will find it just as displeasing.
With still life, you can choose an abstract motif. You may choose to put two objects together that do not make sense, but create a moving picture. You might have an interesting cut on fruit, such as a melon to reveal the inside core. The angle of the cut and the meaning of the picture will require thought from the viewer. Some viewers see different from what another viewer might see. This happens in the art world daily. What one thinks represents art another finds unappealing. Never let these influence your dreams and stop you from becoming even better in your work as a photographer.
You can also have control of variations. You can use the same subject repeatedly with different backgrounds, arrangements, and other objects. The key is to avoid clutter while creating contrast. The rule of thirds of composition is a great way to utilize still life objects. You can create a pattern based on the rule of thirds. Setting up the arrangements and trying several shots will lead you to finding the harmony between the objects.
You may think still life photography lacks the depth of other mediums; however, it can be used as a stepping-stone to greater photography. Still life can include an arranged garden to please the eye or a natural look. You can use natural light to offset the shadows and find the contrast. Still life inside or outside creating the arrangements is just one way to find pictures you will wish to display or give to friends. Remember lighting, color, and variations on arrangements will provide you will tons of subjects.
Applications for still life photography can include taking photographs for magazines. Often magazines have still life photos to show flower arrangements or decorating ideas for the home. With the many choices in photography, still life takes a special eye for arranging objects and understanding lighting techniques. With all of photography being art you need to pick the subjects that will speak most to you and make them speak to others. These types of pictures go well when deciding to sell your photos or display them for the public. All pictures whether you think it or not may be just what someone wants to display and may offer to buy it. This helps you start a real goldmine of a business if you feel confident with your work.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Still life expresses the photographers self while using in animate objects such as pottery, flowers, candles, leaves, and fruit. The first step in still life photography is the lighting. You will want the object to have light from a single direction, so that you can cast shadows as well as light on the object. This will give it a depth of field, and dimension. You will need to choose whether you want a soft or harsh light. The more harsh the light the more shadow you will have. Often in still life reflectors are used to tone the light down. The best type of lighting for still life photography is side- lighting because you will attain more contrast between the object.
With still life photography, you have color control. You can choose the colors of the objects you use. When choosing the colors say with leaves and fruits you will want a contrast in colors, but retain a natural look. Harmony is the best word to use when attaining color control. The color will attract the viewer's eye, so if it is displeasing to you the chances are your viewers will find it just as displeasing.
With still life, you can choose an abstract motif. You may choose to put two objects together that do not make sense, but create a moving picture. You might have an interesting cut on fruit, such as a melon to reveal the inside core. The angle of the cut and the meaning of the picture will require thought from the viewer. Some viewers see different from what another viewer might see. This happens in the art world daily. What one thinks represents art another finds unappealing. Never let these influence your dreams and stop you from becoming even better in your work as a photographer.
You can also have control of variations. You can use the same subject repeatedly with different backgrounds, arrangements, and other objects. The key is to avoid clutter while creating contrast. The rule of thirds of composition is a great way to utilize still life objects. You can create a pattern based on the rule of thirds. Setting up the arrangements and trying several shots will lead you to finding the harmony between the objects.
You may think still life photography lacks the depth of other mediums; however, it can be used as a stepping-stone to greater photography. Still life can include an arranged garden to please the eye or a natural look. You can use natural light to offset the shadows and find the contrast. Still life inside or outside creating the arrangements is just one way to find pictures you will wish to display or give to friends. Remember lighting, color, and variations on arrangements will provide you will tons of subjects.
Applications for still life photography can include taking photographs for magazines. Often magazines have still life photos to show flower arrangements or decorating ideas for the home. With the many choices in photography, still life takes a special eye for arranging objects and understanding lighting techniques. With all of photography being art you need to pick the subjects that will speak most to you and make them speak to others. These types of pictures go well when deciding to sell your photos or display them for the public. All pictures whether you think it or not may be just what someone wants to display and may offer to buy it. This helps you start a real goldmine of a business if you feel confident with your work.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
What is Sharpening?
Digital photo editing beginners often misunderstand what the Sharpening tool can do for a photo.
The first thing to remember about Sharpening is this. It doesn't matter how good your photo editing program is, you cannot fix what wasn't already there. No amount of sharpening is going to fix a bad, fuzzy picture.
If you can't fix a bad picture, then what's the point of sharpening at all? The answer to that question lies in how a digital camera or scanner actually takes a picture.
The human eye can see an almost infinite number of shades. Unfortunately, a digital camera can't. It has to reduce the incredible variety of shades it sees into a collection of dots of solid color. You can't have a pixel that's navy blue on one side and sky blue on the other. The camera has to analyze where two colors touch, and then it has to "guess" at what color the dot in between them is really supposed to be. Most of the time, it's going to be some average shade between the two colors. This fools the human eye--because we see that averaging as fuzziness. Raw digital photos often look just a little bit out of focus.
Sharpening the picture is meant to correct for the guesswork that the camera had to do. The photo-editing program analyzes the borders between colors, and makes them stand out again. Nearly every picture that comes out of a digital camera would benefit with a little bit of sharpening.
You have to be careful not to over-sharpen, however. If you zoom in very close, you can see where the sharpening program puts a lighter bit of color between the two shades, to make the border stand out. If you sharpen too much, these light lines will become obvious and distracting "halos" in your picture.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
The first thing to remember about Sharpening is this. It doesn't matter how good your photo editing program is, you cannot fix what wasn't already there. No amount of sharpening is going to fix a bad, fuzzy picture.
If you can't fix a bad picture, then what's the point of sharpening at all? The answer to that question lies in how a digital camera or scanner actually takes a picture.
The human eye can see an almost infinite number of shades. Unfortunately, a digital camera can't. It has to reduce the incredible variety of shades it sees into a collection of dots of solid color. You can't have a pixel that's navy blue on one side and sky blue on the other. The camera has to analyze where two colors touch, and then it has to "guess" at what color the dot in between them is really supposed to be. Most of the time, it's going to be some average shade between the two colors. This fools the human eye--because we see that averaging as fuzziness. Raw digital photos often look just a little bit out of focus.
Sharpening the picture is meant to correct for the guesswork that the camera had to do. The photo-editing program analyzes the borders between colors, and makes them stand out again. Nearly every picture that comes out of a digital camera would benefit with a little bit of sharpening.
You have to be careful not to over-sharpen, however. If you zoom in very close, you can see where the sharpening program puts a lighter bit of color between the two shades, to make the border stand out. If you sharpen too much, these light lines will become obvious and distracting "halos" in your picture.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Red Eye Removal
One of the most common problems in photography is the demonic transformation of the Red Eye effect. It comes from using a flash in a dimly lit area. Since the subject's pupils are wide open, there's nothing to prevent the light from the flash travelling all the way to the far back of the eye. It bounces off the retina, picking up the signature reddish tint along the way, and returns to the camera. Presto, instant demonic possession. Dogs, cats, parakeets--even spiders--are all targets of this strange demon that seems to only haunt portraits.
Some cameras have an added red-eye reduction mode, though their solution seems a bit strange. When this camera mode is turned on, there are not one but two flashes for each picture. The first one is a pre-flash, half a second before the real one. The point of the pre-flash is to trigger the pupils to shrink, reducing the chance for red-eye. Unfortunately, it doesn't eliminate red-eye, it just tries to lessen it. And worse, if the subjects don't know about the pre-flash, there's a chance they'll blink or turn away between flashes because they'll think the picture has now been taken.
Once red-eye gets past the camera lens, your only real option is to try to correct it with your photo editing program. Without a program or filter specifically designed to correct red-eye, you'll have to fix it by hand, by zooming in until the red-eye effect almost fills the screen, and then painting it away, pixel by pixel. If you're lucky enough to have a red-eye correction button, then fixing red-eye is often as easy as clicking on the outside of the pupil and hitting the Go button. The program will insert a circle that's mostly black into the area covered with demonic red eyes.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Some cameras have an added red-eye reduction mode, though their solution seems a bit strange. When this camera mode is turned on, there are not one but two flashes for each picture. The first one is a pre-flash, half a second before the real one. The point of the pre-flash is to trigger the pupils to shrink, reducing the chance for red-eye. Unfortunately, it doesn't eliminate red-eye, it just tries to lessen it. And worse, if the subjects don't know about the pre-flash, there's a chance they'll blink or turn away between flashes because they'll think the picture has now been taken.
Once red-eye gets past the camera lens, your only real option is to try to correct it with your photo editing program. Without a program or filter specifically designed to correct red-eye, you'll have to fix it by hand, by zooming in until the red-eye effect almost fills the screen, and then painting it away, pixel by pixel. If you're lucky enough to have a red-eye correction button, then fixing red-eye is often as easy as clicking on the outside of the pupil and hitting the Go button. The program will insert a circle that's mostly black into the area covered with demonic red eyes.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Your Choice of Digital Photography Printing
Printing your shots into paper is the next important thing in digital photography. And the best photo shot will not be given justice if you have not used the proper printing equipments for it. To be able to do justice to the photos that you took digitally, a good printer will really make the prints come to life.
The existence of various types of digital camera paved the way for different types of printers to be developed. Manufacturers know that printing photos is way different from printing plain prints. That is why they are always coming up with printing abilities that would suit digital photo prints well.
Nowadays, there are a lot of ways to have digital photography printed. Each printing methods and techniques have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is best to know what these things so that you will know what to have and what to avoid when having your photos printed.
Here are some digital photography printing choices:
1. Photo store.
The old style of bringing your film to a photo store for developing is still practiced today. The only difference is that films are not anymore used. You just need to bring with you your digital camera and the photo shop will print your photos for you.
An advantage in using photo stores is that they are complete with highly advanced machines you might not have at home. In addition, they know a lot of tips and tricks to make your photos appear its best. Plus, the photo store has the capability to edit your photos if you feel that it does not suit your taste. You only have to give the specific instructions and they will do the rest.
The disadvantage with using photo stores is the waiting period. Even if it does not take as long as it does with films, you still need to wait sometime before your photos are printed. Another disadvantage is that the printing machine they are using may not be the type that you want your photos printed on. So it is better to be very clear about the printing equipment that you want them to use so that this problem will be prevented.
2. Home printer.
This is fast becoming one of the most popular methods of printing digital photos. More and more people are getting their own printers installed at home so that they can print their photos anytime they feel like it.
This way, you can edit your own photos and compile them in your own private collection before you start printing them out. You only have to make sure that you have the proper printer for your digital photos if you want them to turn out the way you expect them to be.
With home printers, you do not have to wait in line for your photos to be printed. All that is needed is for your camera to be plugged in directly to your computer. From there, you can print the photos in no time.
The only drawback in home printers is that you have no other choice of printing process to use. The printed copies will depend on the kind of printing that you use.
With digital photography printing, you definitely have a choice. Just choose the one that you think will give you the perfect photo with minimal hassles and headaches.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
The existence of various types of digital camera paved the way for different types of printers to be developed. Manufacturers know that printing photos is way different from printing plain prints. That is why they are always coming up with printing abilities that would suit digital photo prints well.
Nowadays, there are a lot of ways to have digital photography printed. Each printing methods and techniques have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is best to know what these things so that you will know what to have and what to avoid when having your photos printed.
Here are some digital photography printing choices:
1. Photo store.
The old style of bringing your film to a photo store for developing is still practiced today. The only difference is that films are not anymore used. You just need to bring with you your digital camera and the photo shop will print your photos for you.
An advantage in using photo stores is that they are complete with highly advanced machines you might not have at home. In addition, they know a lot of tips and tricks to make your photos appear its best. Plus, the photo store has the capability to edit your photos if you feel that it does not suit your taste. You only have to give the specific instructions and they will do the rest.
The disadvantage with using photo stores is the waiting period. Even if it does not take as long as it does with films, you still need to wait sometime before your photos are printed. Another disadvantage is that the printing machine they are using may not be the type that you want your photos printed on. So it is better to be very clear about the printing equipment that you want them to use so that this problem will be prevented.
2. Home printer.
This is fast becoming one of the most popular methods of printing digital photos. More and more people are getting their own printers installed at home so that they can print their photos anytime they feel like it.
This way, you can edit your own photos and compile them in your own private collection before you start printing them out. You only have to make sure that you have the proper printer for your digital photos if you want them to turn out the way you expect them to be.
With home printers, you do not have to wait in line for your photos to be printed. All that is needed is for your camera to be plugged in directly to your computer. From there, you can print the photos in no time.
The only drawback in home printers is that you have no other choice of printing process to use. The printed copies will depend on the kind of printing that you use.
With digital photography printing, you definitely have a choice. Just choose the one that you think will give you the perfect photo with minimal hassles and headaches.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Portrait Photography
Do you just snap pictures of friends without a thought to how it my turn out? Portrait photography takes you a step up from people photography. It gives you elements to notice such as the angle you take the photograph, the lighting you will use, and the expression of emotion on a persons face. While you may be an amateur photographer deciding to take Christmas photos without the expense you will need to have some basic knowledge of techniques used by the professionals.
First when taking a photograph of a person you need to study their face. The face is important to the angle you will shoot from. Though it is a cliché, it is true some people have a better side. This could be in relation to scarring or acne breakouts or even simpler. For instance my left eye is larger than my right by just a bit, and looking head on into the camera will cause a horrible portrait, however if the photographer comes from the right side and angles up a little the light and shadows will help even out the features while keeping the distinctions that make me who I am.
Portrait photography is about capturing the essence of the subject, the personality. The little nuances of a face add character to the portrait. You will want to loosen up your subjects. If you are becoming a professional portrait photographer you will want to learn about your subject as you are taking pictures or perhaps meet them before the session. If they are just your family then you should know what would get their personality captured on film.
Lighting is the next important step to portrait photography. A lot of photographers prefer natural light to artificial. Your subject will in part decide this for you. Remember you will use the light you have. Natural light will often require setting the aperture to compensate for the cameras lack of definition. In other words you need to create the contrast with the light and shadows for the effect you want. Often artificial light is harsh and not directed properly unless in a studio. Again you will need to use the manual settings on your camera to create the perfect portrait.
The background is also important when discussing light. In a studio a photographer will pick a background that will not wash your features out or your clothing. They want to have a distinction or contrast between you and the background. This is also important of home portrait photography. You will want a background that gives color to your subject rather than taking it away. Finding a nice spot with a tree to sit on and mountains in the background can be a great portrait, but you will want to make sure the background is not too busy to distract from the subject. Make the subject seem apart of the picture rather than outside of it.
The type of camera and film you use will also determine the quality of the photography. Once you combine techniques such as lighting, angles, and understanding your subject you will be able to create a near to professional if not professional portrait for your friends and family no matter the occasion. Just snapping a picture is possible, but it would be great to have a better portrait?
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
First when taking a photograph of a person you need to study their face. The face is important to the angle you will shoot from. Though it is a cliché, it is true some people have a better side. This could be in relation to scarring or acne breakouts or even simpler. For instance my left eye is larger than my right by just a bit, and looking head on into the camera will cause a horrible portrait, however if the photographer comes from the right side and angles up a little the light and shadows will help even out the features while keeping the distinctions that make me who I am.
Portrait photography is about capturing the essence of the subject, the personality. The little nuances of a face add character to the portrait. You will want to loosen up your subjects. If you are becoming a professional portrait photographer you will want to learn about your subject as you are taking pictures or perhaps meet them before the session. If they are just your family then you should know what would get their personality captured on film.
Lighting is the next important step to portrait photography. A lot of photographers prefer natural light to artificial. Your subject will in part decide this for you. Remember you will use the light you have. Natural light will often require setting the aperture to compensate for the cameras lack of definition. In other words you need to create the contrast with the light and shadows for the effect you want. Often artificial light is harsh and not directed properly unless in a studio. Again you will need to use the manual settings on your camera to create the perfect portrait.
The background is also important when discussing light. In a studio a photographer will pick a background that will not wash your features out or your clothing. They want to have a distinction or contrast between you and the background. This is also important of home portrait photography. You will want a background that gives color to your subject rather than taking it away. Finding a nice spot with a tree to sit on and mountains in the background can be a great portrait, but you will want to make sure the background is not too busy to distract from the subject. Make the subject seem apart of the picture rather than outside of it.
The type of camera and film you use will also determine the quality of the photography. Once you combine techniques such as lighting, angles, and understanding your subject you will be able to create a near to professional if not professional portrait for your friends and family no matter the occasion. Just snapping a picture is possible, but it would be great to have a better portrait?
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Planning A Wedding And Still Looking For The Perfect Photographer
Wedding photography is perhaps the most important field because these are the special moments in life we want to capture. Portraits are important and often play a major roll in wedding photography, but there are more to the wedding and finding the perfect photographer. Below are several tips to finding the right photographer for you.
Equipment is one of the most important aspects. There are new photographers who will start out not being able to afford a lot of camera equipment, lights, tripods and so on. This doesn't make them a bad photographer, but it can mean they will miss important wedding moments when they are reloading the film on one camera. In today's world a wedding photographer should have at least one digital camera at the professional grade and two film cameras. A successful photographer will have enough cameras to put appropriate lenses on and be able to switch memory cards in the digital camera with ease. They should also have a video camera run by another person to capture the entire wedding.
Experience will determine the cost of the photographer. Most photographers who have been on the circuit longer will charge between $3000 and $10,000 for wedding photographs. It all depends on the type of package you will want and how many assistants they will need to cover the entire affair. Other photographers typically charge between $300- $3000 depending upon the package and their experience. A well-known wedding photographer is going to cost more, just for the name. These packages often denote their experience as well as the equipment they can use. A digital camera does not cost film, but purchasing one can be expensive so most new photographers may charge a little more to replace the cost of the equipment.
Price of a wedding photographer should only be a moderate issue. The top important aspect of a professional wedding photographer lies in their photography skills. They will instantly walk into the places your wedding and reception will take place and have ideas of the placement of equipment and lighting. They will also be able to show you a portfolio of past weddings. Wedding photography is about the moments that pass between your family and yourselves. The moment where you are looking at your betrothed with love written on your face when you think no one else is looking will make the best photographs. A wedding photographer needs to see these moments and capture them as well as obtain the portraits.
Wedding photography is often seen around the home with the portraits. The portraits of the bride holding her flowers, the wedding party posing, and the groom and bride together. The traditional wedding photography will include the hands with the shinning wedding bands placed on a pillow or wrapped around the bride's waist. The arrangement of the wedding couple is as important as the photograph. The wedding photographer should be able to pose you while capturing the light and background.
Photography is an intricate profession and when you have an important day such as a wedding you will want the best. You may have ideas of the photographs you want and the wedding photograph will be glad to help bring those ideas to fruition. Photography is about lighting, catching those unguarded moments, and creating memories that will last forever.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Equipment is one of the most important aspects. There are new photographers who will start out not being able to afford a lot of camera equipment, lights, tripods and so on. This doesn't make them a bad photographer, but it can mean they will miss important wedding moments when they are reloading the film on one camera. In today's world a wedding photographer should have at least one digital camera at the professional grade and two film cameras. A successful photographer will have enough cameras to put appropriate lenses on and be able to switch memory cards in the digital camera with ease. They should also have a video camera run by another person to capture the entire wedding.
Experience will determine the cost of the photographer. Most photographers who have been on the circuit longer will charge between $3000 and $10,000 for wedding photographs. It all depends on the type of package you will want and how many assistants they will need to cover the entire affair. Other photographers typically charge between $300- $3000 depending upon the package and their experience. A well-known wedding photographer is going to cost more, just for the name. These packages often denote their experience as well as the equipment they can use. A digital camera does not cost film, but purchasing one can be expensive so most new photographers may charge a little more to replace the cost of the equipment.
Price of a wedding photographer should only be a moderate issue. The top important aspect of a professional wedding photographer lies in their photography skills. They will instantly walk into the places your wedding and reception will take place and have ideas of the placement of equipment and lighting. They will also be able to show you a portfolio of past weddings. Wedding photography is about the moments that pass between your family and yourselves. The moment where you are looking at your betrothed with love written on your face when you think no one else is looking will make the best photographs. A wedding photographer needs to see these moments and capture them as well as obtain the portraits.
Wedding photography is often seen around the home with the portraits. The portraits of the bride holding her flowers, the wedding party posing, and the groom and bride together. The traditional wedding photography will include the hands with the shinning wedding bands placed on a pillow or wrapped around the bride's waist. The arrangement of the wedding couple is as important as the photograph. The wedding photographer should be able to pose you while capturing the light and background.
Photography is an intricate profession and when you have an important day such as a wedding you will want the best. You may have ideas of the photographs you want and the wedding photograph will be glad to help bring those ideas to fruition. Photography is about lighting, catching those unguarded moments, and creating memories that will last forever.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
What is Photochopping?
Photochopping involves using a photo editing program to edit a picture. It's regarded by many as a visual parody, though some people feel it isn't much better than copyright infringement. Photochopping is photo fakery, but the goal is humor, and not outright fraud.
In general, the goal of photochopping is to produce a visual joke of some sort. This could involve changing a product cover (like changing the Coca Cola label from "Coke" to "Croak" or inventing Jalapeno flavored baby food jars), adding elements to a picture (like people who weren't there or items that change the meaning of the picture), or even distorting a familiar image so that it's recognizable but different.
Since the idea is to change an existing photo, most photochopping projects don't involve creating anything from scratch. The main focus is on merging existing images or making changes to recognizable ones.
Photochopping isn't the original name, of course. Originally, it was called "Photoshopping," but the people who enjoy it have changed the name to avoid receiving angry letters and emails from Adobe. Of course, it's still pretty easy to find websites that still use the original name.
Several famous (or infamous) images sent around as email jokes originally started out as photochopped images. One, showing a historical supercomputer complete with steering wheel, and another, showing a shark apparently attacking a helicopter, were both good enough to fool quite a few people.
Some websites sponsor photochopping contests. The site sponsor will post an original picture, as well as any rules or restrictions. The entrants are then given a set amount of time to return their submissions, and the prize goes to the best image that stays within the rules. Some sites even take the concept further, with "Tennis" matches, where people take turns making further a series of changes to the picture.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
In general, the goal of photochopping is to produce a visual joke of some sort. This could involve changing a product cover (like changing the Coca Cola label from "Coke" to "Croak" or inventing Jalapeno flavored baby food jars), adding elements to a picture (like people who weren't there or items that change the meaning of the picture), or even distorting a familiar image so that it's recognizable but different.
Since the idea is to change an existing photo, most photochopping projects don't involve creating anything from scratch. The main focus is on merging existing images or making changes to recognizable ones.
Photochopping isn't the original name, of course. Originally, it was called "Photoshopping," but the people who enjoy it have changed the name to avoid receiving angry letters and emails from Adobe. Of course, it's still pretty easy to find websites that still use the original name.
Several famous (or infamous) images sent around as email jokes originally started out as photochopped images. One, showing a historical supercomputer complete with steering wheel, and another, showing a shark apparently attacking a helicopter, were both good enough to fool quite a few people.
Some websites sponsor photochopping contests. The site sponsor will post an original picture, as well as any rules or restrictions. The entrants are then given a set amount of time to return their submissions, and the prize goes to the best image that stays within the rules. Some sites even take the concept further, with "Tennis" matches, where people take turns making further a series of changes to the picture.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Photo Editing the News
With the advent of digital photography, news has become closer and more immediate. A combat photographer embedded with troops in Iraq can shoot a hundred pictures while out with the soldiers, and have them on his editor's server minutes after he gets back, thanks to the magic of the Internet.
However, with digital photography comes digital photo editing, and the possibility of a photo that doesn't reflect the truth.
One technique for faking news photos is cloning. This could be used in humourous ways, like putting Oprah Winfrey's head on Ann Margaret's body, as done by TV Guide in 1989. Several magazines have used this trick to make a point, and they generally document it in the credits (as in, image by one person, and head shot by another).
Cloning is also used to create photo montages--which can give the impression of things that didn't really happen. New York Newsday merged images of Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan into one shot that appeared to show them skating together. Again, the magazine admitted to it, by calling it a "composite image."
Montages can be deceptive, though. Los Angeles Times veteran photographer Brian Walski used montage techniques to combine two different photos, making it look like a soldier in Iraq was threatening civilians. Walski was fired for "improving" on his picture.
Even a simple adjustment in brightness can change the meaning of a photo. Both Time and Newsweek put OJ Simpson's mug shot on their covers, but Time darkened the picture. This made Simpson appear much more threatening on the cover of Time than Newsweek, since Newsweek didn't adjust the image. Similarly, USA Today published a poorly edited picture of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. The eyes of the picture had been sharpened or brightened far past the proper level, and the result gave her a feindish glare.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
However, with digital photography comes digital photo editing, and the possibility of a photo that doesn't reflect the truth.
One technique for faking news photos is cloning. This could be used in humourous ways, like putting Oprah Winfrey's head on Ann Margaret's body, as done by TV Guide in 1989. Several magazines have used this trick to make a point, and they generally document it in the credits (as in, image by one person, and head shot by another).
Cloning is also used to create photo montages--which can give the impression of things that didn't really happen. New York Newsday merged images of Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan into one shot that appeared to show them skating together. Again, the magazine admitted to it, by calling it a "composite image."
Montages can be deceptive, though. Los Angeles Times veteran photographer Brian Walski used montage techniques to combine two different photos, making it look like a soldier in Iraq was threatening civilians. Walski was fired for "improving" on his picture.
Even a simple adjustment in brightness can change the meaning of a photo. Both Time and Newsweek put OJ Simpson's mug shot on their covers, but Time darkened the picture. This made Simpson appear much more threatening on the cover of Time than Newsweek, since Newsweek didn't adjust the image. Similarly, USA Today published a poorly edited picture of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. The eyes of the picture had been sharpened or brightened far past the proper level, and the result gave her a feindish glare.
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Photo Editing Terms 6 - T to Z
Thumb Drive
A Thumb Drive is one name for a USB Flash Chip. Other nicknames are Jump Drive and USB Keychain. The Thumb Drive comes in various sizes, like 256mb, and plugs into a computer's USB port. It's like having a pocket hard drive.
Thumbnail
A Thumbnail is a small version of a larger picture. Many browsing and editing programs use thumbnails to index a picture collection. Some programs will even generate Contact Sheets, which are basically page after page of thumbnails showing the entire collection or directory.
Uploading
Uploading is the opposite of downloading. Uploading involves sending a file from your computer to another system, either through a cable or over the Internet.
USB
USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. It's an industry standard for connecting things to computers. Most digital cameras and chip readers use a USB cable to connect to the computer. USB 2.0 is a newer and faster standard, but not every computer can handle the 2.0 speeds yet.
White Balance
White Balance is a camera setting used to compensate for changes in the color of light. Some artificial lights "tint" the color they project, so the camera's white balance setting is used to balance this back to a more normal color cast. If the camera's white balance was incorrect, then the photo editor has to account for this by changing the color scale. The program will use an area that was supposed to be white as the starting point, and will remap every other color in the picture accordingly.
Wizard
A Wizard in computer terms is a program that walks you through a process step by step. For example, a scanning wizard might ask a series of questions on color vs. black and white, automatic scratch removal, and image resolution, before it actually triggers the scanner.
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A Thumb Drive is one name for a USB Flash Chip. Other nicknames are Jump Drive and USB Keychain. The Thumb Drive comes in various sizes, like 256mb, and plugs into a computer's USB port. It's like having a pocket hard drive.
Thumbnail
A Thumbnail is a small version of a larger picture. Many browsing and editing programs use thumbnails to index a picture collection. Some programs will even generate Contact Sheets, which are basically page after page of thumbnails showing the entire collection or directory.
Uploading
Uploading is the opposite of downloading. Uploading involves sending a file from your computer to another system, either through a cable or over the Internet.
USB
USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. It's an industry standard for connecting things to computers. Most digital cameras and chip readers use a USB cable to connect to the computer. USB 2.0 is a newer and faster standard, but not every computer can handle the 2.0 speeds yet.
White Balance
White Balance is a camera setting used to compensate for changes in the color of light. Some artificial lights "tint" the color they project, so the camera's white balance setting is used to balance this back to a more normal color cast. If the camera's white balance was incorrect, then the photo editor has to account for this by changing the color scale. The program will use an area that was supposed to be white as the starting point, and will remap every other color in the picture accordingly.
Wizard
A Wizard in computer terms is a program that walks you through a process step by step. For example, a scanning wizard might ask a series of questions on color vs. black and white, automatic scratch removal, and image resolution, before it actually triggers the scanner.
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Photo Editing Terms 5 - R to S
Red Eye
Red Eye is the reflection of the camera flash off of the back of the subject's eyes. It happens most often with a bright flash in dim light. Many photo editing applications have red eye removal features.
Resize
Resize is one of the basic photo editing tools. It's used to change the size or resolution of an image.
RGB
RGB is the standard color format for digital images. It stands for Red, Green, Blue. Each of the three colors is given an amount between 0 and 255, and the blend of the three produces all of the other colors. Three zeroes produce white, and three 255s produce black.
Rotate
Rotation is one of the basic photo editing tools, and is commonly used to fix portraits that have been downloaded from the camera as landscape.
Saturation
Saturation is a measure of the richness of the colors in a photo. When a picture is desaturated, all of the color information has been removed, and what's left is a grayscale or black and white picture.
Shadows
The shadows are the darkest part of an image, just as highlights are the brightest.
Sharing
Sharing photos generally involves uploading them to a website (like Flickr) so that other people can view them or even order prints and photo gifts.
Sharpness
Sharpness is a description of the focus and clarity of a picture. It concerns how clearly the details appear to be.
Shutter Speed
Shutter Speed is the amount of time the shutter remains open when a photo is taken. Shutter Speed and Aperture together determine just how much light hits the film or camera sensor. The shutter speed is also a fraction, just like the aperture. A shutter speed of 500 is actually 1/500, or "one five hundredth of a second."
Smart Media (tm)
One of the several versions of digital camera media.
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Red Eye is the reflection of the camera flash off of the back of the subject's eyes. It happens most often with a bright flash in dim light. Many photo editing applications have red eye removal features.
Resize
Resize is one of the basic photo editing tools. It's used to change the size or resolution of an image.
RGB
RGB is the standard color format for digital images. It stands for Red, Green, Blue. Each of the three colors is given an amount between 0 and 255, and the blend of the three produces all of the other colors. Three zeroes produce white, and three 255s produce black.
Rotate
Rotation is one of the basic photo editing tools, and is commonly used to fix portraits that have been downloaded from the camera as landscape.
Saturation
Saturation is a measure of the richness of the colors in a photo. When a picture is desaturated, all of the color information has been removed, and what's left is a grayscale or black and white picture.
Shadows
The shadows are the darkest part of an image, just as highlights are the brightest.
Sharing
Sharing photos generally involves uploading them to a website (like Flickr) so that other people can view them or even order prints and photo gifts.
Sharpness
Sharpness is a description of the focus and clarity of a picture. It concerns how clearly the details appear to be.
Shutter Speed
Shutter Speed is the amount of time the shutter remains open when a photo is taken. Shutter Speed and Aperture together determine just how much light hits the film or camera sensor. The shutter speed is also a fraction, just like the aperture. A shutter speed of 500 is actually 1/500, or "one five hundredth of a second."
Smart Media (tm)
One of the several versions of digital camera media.
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Photo Editing Terms 4 - M to R
Megabyte
A megabyte is generally about a million bytes, or a thousand kilobytes. Technically, a megabyte is 1024 kilobytes.
Megapixel
A megapixel is one million pixels, or dots. Megapixels are the de facto standard for measuring the power of a digital camera. Generally speaking, a four megapixel image can be printed at about 5x7 or perhaps even 8x10 without making the pixels so large it ruins the picture.
Memory Stick (R)
One brand of digital camera media. It looks like a small stick of chewing gum.
Online Photo Printing
Online Printers are Internet companies that allow their members to upload pictures for printing. Once the prints are done, the company then mails them to the customer.
Panning
Panning the camera involves following a moving subject while snapping the picture. Done properly, the subject will be sharp and the background behind it will be blurry. This technique can be duplicated by using a radial blur on the background in a photo editing application.
Photochopping
Also Photoshopping. Digitally altering a familiar photograph into a visual joke of some kind, usually by merging two pictures (like a shark and a rescue helicopter).
Pixel
Pixel is short for Picture Element, and it's basically a dot. All digital pictures are made up of these dots, and counting them is a measure of the image (pixels per inch, or PPI), print (dots per inch, or DPI), and camera power (millions of pixels or megapixels).
Portrait
The word Portrait actually has two meanings. The first and original is the photography term for a picture of a person. The second meaning is a description of the alignment of a picture. Pictures that are oriented vertically--with the long sides upright--are known as Portrait images, whether they depict a person or not.
RAW
RAW is the internal format of a digital camera. Many cameras "pre-process" images. They will do JPG compression, white balancing, and a number of other adjustments. The RAW image is the starting point for all of these. Digital photographers prefer to start from the RAW file so that they can make their own changes to these items.
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A megabyte is generally about a million bytes, or a thousand kilobytes. Technically, a megabyte is 1024 kilobytes.
Megapixel
A megapixel is one million pixels, or dots. Megapixels are the de facto standard for measuring the power of a digital camera. Generally speaking, a four megapixel image can be printed at about 5x7 or perhaps even 8x10 without making the pixels so large it ruins the picture.
Memory Stick (R)
One brand of digital camera media. It looks like a small stick of chewing gum.
Online Photo Printing
Online Printers are Internet companies that allow their members to upload pictures for printing. Once the prints are done, the company then mails them to the customer.
Panning
Panning the camera involves following a moving subject while snapping the picture. Done properly, the subject will be sharp and the background behind it will be blurry. This technique can be duplicated by using a radial blur on the background in a photo editing application.
Photochopping
Also Photoshopping. Digitally altering a familiar photograph into a visual joke of some kind, usually by merging two pictures (like a shark and a rescue helicopter).
Pixel
Pixel is short for Picture Element, and it's basically a dot. All digital pictures are made up of these dots, and counting them is a measure of the image (pixels per inch, or PPI), print (dots per inch, or DPI), and camera power (millions of pixels or megapixels).
Portrait
The word Portrait actually has two meanings. The first and original is the photography term for a picture of a person. The second meaning is a description of the alignment of a picture. Pictures that are oriented vertically--with the long sides upright--are known as Portrait images, whether they depict a person or not.
RAW
RAW is the internal format of a digital camera. Many cameras "pre-process" images. They will do JPG compression, white balancing, and a number of other adjustments. The RAW image is the starting point for all of these. Digital photographers prefer to start from the RAW file so that they can make their own changes to these items.
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Photo Editing Terms 3 - I to M
Image Resolution
The Resolution is the number of pixels, or dots, in a picture.
Inkjet Printer
An Inkjet printer sprays tiny jets of ink onto paper.
ISO
The sensitivity of film is measured by ISO, and the larger the number, the more senstive the film. ISO 100 needs a lot of light, like outdoors on a sunny day. ISO 1600 doesn't need much light. However, higher ISO means more grain in the film. Digital images borrowed the ISO scale to measure the sensitivity of a camera sensor. Just like the grain that's added to film at higher ISO settings, more "noise" is added to digital images at higher ISO. In general, as ISO goes up, quality goes down.
JPG or JPEG
The Joint Photographic Experts Group developed a method for making digital images smaller while sacrificing only a little bit of quality in the process. This is called JPG compression, and is the most common picture format on the Internet.
Landscape
The word landscape, like portrait, actually has two meanings. The first and original is the photography term for a picture of wide open spaces, like a mountain or sunset. The second meaning is a description of the alignment of a picture. Pictures that are oriented horizontally--with the narrow sides upright--are known as Landscape images, whether they depict a mountain or not.
Layers
Think of Layers as sheets of tracing paper or transparency film laid over top of your image. Graphic designers use layers to separate out elements of their project, so that they can work on individual pieces without damaging others. Adjustment Layers are a special kind of layer that shows the results of whatever filter or function is attached to that layer.
Media
Media is a technical term for storage. Compact disks, memory chips, even floppy disks, are all storage media. Removeable media is a chip or disk that can be moved from one computer to another without losing data.
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The Resolution is the number of pixels, or dots, in a picture.
Inkjet Printer
An Inkjet printer sprays tiny jets of ink onto paper.
ISO
The sensitivity of film is measured by ISO, and the larger the number, the more senstive the film. ISO 100 needs a lot of light, like outdoors on a sunny day. ISO 1600 doesn't need much light. However, higher ISO means more grain in the film. Digital images borrowed the ISO scale to measure the sensitivity of a camera sensor. Just like the grain that's added to film at higher ISO settings, more "noise" is added to digital images at higher ISO. In general, as ISO goes up, quality goes down.
JPG or JPEG
The Joint Photographic Experts Group developed a method for making digital images smaller while sacrificing only a little bit of quality in the process. This is called JPG compression, and is the most common picture format on the Internet.
Landscape
The word landscape, like portrait, actually has two meanings. The first and original is the photography term for a picture of wide open spaces, like a mountain or sunset. The second meaning is a description of the alignment of a picture. Pictures that are oriented horizontally--with the narrow sides upright--are known as Landscape images, whether they depict a mountain or not.
Layers
Think of Layers as sheets of tracing paper or transparency film laid over top of your image. Graphic designers use layers to separate out elements of their project, so that they can work on individual pieces without damaging others. Adjustment Layers are a special kind of layer that shows the results of whatever filter or function is attached to that layer.
Media
Media is a technical term for storage. Compact disks, memory chips, even floppy disks, are all storage media. Removeable media is a chip or disk that can be moved from one computer to another without losing data.
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Photo Editing Terms 2 - D to I
Dodging
Dodging is making a section of a photo lighter. When this is done in the darkroom, it's usually by blocking some of the light from reaching that part of the picture. In a photo editing program, it's a paintbrush like tool that lightens instead of painting.
Download
Downloading is the opposite of uploading. Downloading means to pull data from another location. Normally it means to get data from the Internet, but in digital photography, it also means to get the pictures from the camera. Sometimes used interchangeably with Importing.
DPI
Most photo printers and monitors measure their resolution in Dots Per Inch, or DPI. The higher the number, the higher the resolution.
EXIF
EXIF stands for Exchangeable Image Format. Most digital images have two parts. The first is the image itself, which is usually stored as a JPG image. The second is the EXIF data. EXIF data most often includes all of the photographer's information, like the date and time the picture was taken and the shutter speed and aperture set at the time.
Flip
Flipping an image is the same as reflecting it in a mirror. Flipping is one of the basic image editing tools.
Grayscale
Technically speaking, a spectrum of gray shades from black to white. A grayscale picture is the digital equivalent of a black and white photo.
Highlights
The Highlights are the whitest part of a picture. Normally, they are a very small percentage of the picture, because it's very easy to lose details in highlights.
Histogram
A Histogram is a chart that graphs all of the tones in a photo. Most programs will generate histograms, and most digital cameras can create them also.
Image File Format
The format of an image file determines the size of the file, the overall image quality, and several other things. Common image file formats are JPG, GIF, TIFF, and PNG.
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Dodging is making a section of a photo lighter. When this is done in the darkroom, it's usually by blocking some of the light from reaching that part of the picture. In a photo editing program, it's a paintbrush like tool that lightens instead of painting.
Download
Downloading is the opposite of uploading. Downloading means to pull data from another location. Normally it means to get data from the Internet, but in digital photography, it also means to get the pictures from the camera. Sometimes used interchangeably with Importing.
DPI
Most photo printers and monitors measure their resolution in Dots Per Inch, or DPI. The higher the number, the higher the resolution.
EXIF
EXIF stands for Exchangeable Image Format. Most digital images have two parts. The first is the image itself, which is usually stored as a JPG image. The second is the EXIF data. EXIF data most often includes all of the photographer's information, like the date and time the picture was taken and the shutter speed and aperture set at the time.
Flip
Flipping an image is the same as reflecting it in a mirror. Flipping is one of the basic image editing tools.
Grayscale
Technically speaking, a spectrum of gray shades from black to white. A grayscale picture is the digital equivalent of a black and white photo.
Highlights
The Highlights are the whitest part of a picture. Normally, they are a very small percentage of the picture, because it's very easy to lose details in highlights.
Histogram
A Histogram is a chart that graphs all of the tones in a photo. Most programs will generate histograms, and most digital cameras can create them also.
Image File Format
The format of an image file determines the size of the file, the overall image quality, and several other things. Common image file formats are JPG, GIF, TIFF, and PNG.
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Photo Editing Terms 1 - A to D
Aperture
The Aperture is the size of the opening in the camera lens at the moment a photo is taken. Aperture is measured in fractions, so the larger the number, the smaller the aperture opening. Shutter speed and aperture are the two primary controls for limiting the amount of light that hits the film or sensor.
Application
An Application is just another word for computer program.
Browser
A Browser is an application that allows the photographer to sort and rename the pictures in his or her collection.
Burning
Burning means darkening part of a photograph. In the darkroom, it's done by blocking some of the light that would normally reach the rest of the photo. In digital photo editing, it's usually a paintbrush-like tool built into the application.
CD
Compact Disks are the typical means of storing digital photographs. They hold about 700 megabytes of information, and can be CD-R for writeable CDs and CD-RW for re-writeable CDs.
Cloning
Cloning is an image editing term for copying one part of the image into another part of the same image or a different image entirely. It's used for painting out unwanted items, like electric lines.
CMYK
CMYK is an acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. These are the four colors used in the standard printing process. It's also a color mode in photo editing programs.
Compact Flash
Compact Flash is one form of digital camera media. It was the original standard, and is still one of the most common formats.
Cropping
Cropping involves chopping out part of a picture. You might crop to focus attention on the real subject, or to remove extra stuff that intruded on the picture.
DVD
When it comes to storing digital pictures, a DVD is basically a monster-sized CD. It will hold over four and a half gigabytes of data.
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The Aperture is the size of the opening in the camera lens at the moment a photo is taken. Aperture is measured in fractions, so the larger the number, the smaller the aperture opening. Shutter speed and aperture are the two primary controls for limiting the amount of light that hits the film or sensor.
Application
An Application is just another word for computer program.
Browser
A Browser is an application that allows the photographer to sort and rename the pictures in his or her collection.
Burning
Burning means darkening part of a photograph. In the darkroom, it's done by blocking some of the light that would normally reach the rest of the photo. In digital photo editing, it's usually a paintbrush-like tool built into the application.
CD
Compact Disks are the typical means of storing digital photographs. They hold about 700 megabytes of information, and can be CD-R for writeable CDs and CD-RW for re-writeable CDs.
Cloning
Cloning is an image editing term for copying one part of the image into another part of the same image or a different image entirely. It's used for painting out unwanted items, like electric lines.
CMYK
CMYK is an acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. These are the four colors used in the standard printing process. It's also a color mode in photo editing programs.
Compact Flash
Compact Flash is one form of digital camera media. It was the original standard, and is still one of the most common formats.
Cropping
Cropping involves chopping out part of a picture. You might crop to focus attention on the real subject, or to remove extra stuff that intruded on the picture.
DVD
When it comes to storing digital pictures, a DVD is basically a monster-sized CD. It will hold over four and a half gigabytes of data.
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Photo Editing Overview
Photographs capture a moment in time.
Photos are generally regarded as "factual," as opposed to a drawing or painting, which would be the artist's interpretation. Photos tend to be trusted more, because they accurately depict what was in front of the camera at the moment the picture was taken.
At least, photographs are supposed to be accurate. How easy is it to edit a photo so that it shows something different than what really happened?
The concept of photo editing is almost as old as photography itself. The first photographic images were recorded in the 1820s, and one of the first widely known edited photos was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Sometime in the 1860s, someone took a standing portrait of Southern Congressman John Calhoun, pasted in Lincoln's face from the portrait for the five dollar bill, and created a historic photo of Lincoln on the spot.
Even an action as simple and innocent as cropping the picture can be controversial. Imagine a scene of the wreckage left by a tornado. If the photographer cropped out all of the damage, and focused instead on a single building that somehow survived, it would appear that the tornado hadn't damaged very much at all.
In today's world of digital photography, some photo editing is necessary on nearly every picture. Digital cameras have to "guess" at the proper color, contrast, and shading of the pictures they take, and proper use of photo editing tools can correct or even enhance the camera's guesswork.
At the same time, digital photographers must keep in mind that photography--especially journalistic photography--is meant to be a record of a moment in time, and not an artistic recreation of what the photographer wants his audience to see. While editing photographs has become quicker and easier, the temptation to alter the photographs has risen as well.
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Photos are generally regarded as "factual," as opposed to a drawing or painting, which would be the artist's interpretation. Photos tend to be trusted more, because they accurately depict what was in front of the camera at the moment the picture was taken.
At least, photographs are supposed to be accurate. How easy is it to edit a photo so that it shows something different than what really happened?
The concept of photo editing is almost as old as photography itself. The first photographic images were recorded in the 1820s, and one of the first widely known edited photos was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Sometime in the 1860s, someone took a standing portrait of Southern Congressman John Calhoun, pasted in Lincoln's face from the portrait for the five dollar bill, and created a historic photo of Lincoln on the spot.
Even an action as simple and innocent as cropping the picture can be controversial. Imagine a scene of the wreckage left by a tornado. If the photographer cropped out all of the damage, and focused instead on a single building that somehow survived, it would appear that the tornado hadn't damaged very much at all.
In today's world of digital photography, some photo editing is necessary on nearly every picture. Digital cameras have to "guess" at the proper color, contrast, and shading of the pictures they take, and proper use of photo editing tools can correct or even enhance the camera's guesswork.
At the same time, digital photographers must keep in mind that photography--especially journalistic photography--is meant to be a record of a moment in time, and not an artistic recreation of what the photographer wants his audience to see. While editing photographs has become quicker and easier, the temptation to alter the photographs has risen as well.
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Online Photo Editors
Let's say you're on vacation. You've just taken a fantastic picture with your brand-new SupraUltraMax 18 megapixel camera, and you want to ship it home to all your friends and family. You find an internet cafe in the middle of a foreign country, pull the chip from your camera, and get ready to email it home--and that's when you discover that your terrific new camera stores terrifically large images. There's no way you can email a twenty-seven megabyte image back home. What's worse, this Internet Cafe computer doesn't have any image-editing programs on it, so you can't find any way to crop or compress the image, either. Are you stuck waiting until you get home to share your images?
Not necessarily.
With the rise of broadband, several websites have popped up on the 'net offering the ability to upload and edit pictures right there on the website.
Phixr is regarded as one of the better online editors. They have a wide variety of tools available, like Red Eye removal, Sepia conversion, OCR recognition, and Borders. They also have third-party agreements with such websites as Costco, Flickr, and Livejournal, allowing you to edit your photo online and immediately upload it to the other site. However, Phixr is not a storage site--they remove all pictures about three hours after editing is done.
PXN8 (think license plate, it's pronounced Pixenate) has a feature called Bookmarklet that speeds up image loading. An image can be uploaded and opened in PXN8 with two mouse clicks. It has a wide variety of features and abilities, and is a favorite of reviewers because of the speed and ease of workflow.
Pixoh has one of the best interfaces of all the onlie photo editors, and one of the largest filesize limits (it will allow you to edit images up to ten megabytes in size). Unfortunately, so far it only offers a few basic features, like rotate and resize.
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Not necessarily.
With the rise of broadband, several websites have popped up on the 'net offering the ability to upload and edit pictures right there on the website.
Phixr is regarded as one of the better online editors. They have a wide variety of tools available, like Red Eye removal, Sepia conversion, OCR recognition, and Borders. They also have third-party agreements with such websites as Costco, Flickr, and Livejournal, allowing you to edit your photo online and immediately upload it to the other site. However, Phixr is not a storage site--they remove all pictures about three hours after editing is done.
PXN8 (think license plate, it's pronounced Pixenate) has a feature called Bookmarklet that speeds up image loading. An image can be uploaded and opened in PXN8 with two mouse clicks. It has a wide variety of features and abilities, and is a favorite of reviewers because of the speed and ease of workflow.
Pixoh has one of the best interfaces of all the onlie photo editors, and one of the largest filesize limits (it will allow you to edit images up to ten megabytes in size). Unfortunately, so far it only offers a few basic features, like rotate and resize.
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Getting the Right Angles on Digital Nude Photography
It is inevitable to think of photography as a Visual art. Many believe that the only thing that can really limit an individual from taking an image and having the desired effects are one's imagination and perception.
However, some of the captured images or portraits may not be acceptable to 'all-knowing' critics and judges. The essence of photography is to meet your own personal criteria of value. The same sentiment goes with nudity.
Nudity is a form on art that is existent even during the time of the Greeks. Sculptures and paintings that were erected to depict various gods and goddesses can serve as concrete evidences. Not everyone else is as talented as these sculptors and painters but they, too, want to preserve the beauty in the lines and arch of nude bodies. They want to capture these fine details of the bodies using cameras.
How is nude photography done?
Nude photography can be done showing either half or the entirety of a body. In addition, this can be done in various locations and poses. The creativity of the photographer usually make people classify images to be either pornographic or not. Actually, there are no solid rules in classifying an image as pornographic or 'safe' because an image is perceived by different viewers who have their own set of standards and ethical considerations.
A picture perfect nude photograph generally depends on three things: the camera, the model, and the location.
1. The Camera
Nowadays, people are hooked with using digital cameras particularly digital SLR or Single Lens Reflex cameras because of a number of advantages of using digital cameras:
o pictures can be previewed immediately on the built-in LCD screen
o costs of installing films are replaced with memory sticks or cards that are primarily reusable and can store thousands of pictures
o the stored photographs can easily be shared by copying off the images and/or sharing the memory stick or card
o images can easily be transformed into black and white and/or sepia and can also be cropped after the picture has been taken
Novice photographers are advised to use traditional digital cameras or even digital SLRs because both of these models allow users to adjust the settings to get the right contrast and color. More importantly, these models enable users to shoot at different angles and try out the 'trial and error' technique without worrying how the images will look when they are developed.
2. The Model
This person should be someone who is comfortable and open to the idea of being nude in front of the camera. Some photographers capture portraits of their models with clothes on before baring it all the way.
3. The Location
This aspect of nude photography is not at all hard to find as compared to the first two. Actually, photo shoots can occur anywhere such as in a park or at a beach or any other place where natural light is available to bring out the natural skin tone of the model
No one can take away the tingling effect of the sensuality upon seeing nude photographs captured artistically. In fact, nowadays, many make a lot of money out of mixing the art of photography with the erotic elements of nudity. Penthouse and Playboy alike hire a number of creative photographers to continue to live up to their customers' attention, appreciation, and expectations.
Before you let your model bare it all, why don't you ensure that you can really bare your creativity and talents with your cameras first?
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
However, some of the captured images or portraits may not be acceptable to 'all-knowing' critics and judges. The essence of photography is to meet your own personal criteria of value. The same sentiment goes with nudity.
Nudity is a form on art that is existent even during the time of the Greeks. Sculptures and paintings that were erected to depict various gods and goddesses can serve as concrete evidences. Not everyone else is as talented as these sculptors and painters but they, too, want to preserve the beauty in the lines and arch of nude bodies. They want to capture these fine details of the bodies using cameras.
How is nude photography done?
Nude photography can be done showing either half or the entirety of a body. In addition, this can be done in various locations and poses. The creativity of the photographer usually make people classify images to be either pornographic or not. Actually, there are no solid rules in classifying an image as pornographic or 'safe' because an image is perceived by different viewers who have their own set of standards and ethical considerations.
A picture perfect nude photograph generally depends on three things: the camera, the model, and the location.
1. The Camera
Nowadays, people are hooked with using digital cameras particularly digital SLR or Single Lens Reflex cameras because of a number of advantages of using digital cameras:
o pictures can be previewed immediately on the built-in LCD screen
o costs of installing films are replaced with memory sticks or cards that are primarily reusable and can store thousands of pictures
o the stored photographs can easily be shared by copying off the images and/or sharing the memory stick or card
o images can easily be transformed into black and white and/or sepia and can also be cropped after the picture has been taken
Novice photographers are advised to use traditional digital cameras or even digital SLRs because both of these models allow users to adjust the settings to get the right contrast and color. More importantly, these models enable users to shoot at different angles and try out the 'trial and error' technique without worrying how the images will look when they are developed.
2. The Model
This person should be someone who is comfortable and open to the idea of being nude in front of the camera. Some photographers capture portraits of their models with clothes on before baring it all the way.
3. The Location
This aspect of nude photography is not at all hard to find as compared to the first two. Actually, photo shoots can occur anywhere such as in a park or at a beach or any other place where natural light is available to bring out the natural skin tone of the model
No one can take away the tingling effect of the sensuality upon seeing nude photographs captured artistically. In fact, nowadays, many make a lot of money out of mixing the art of photography with the erotic elements of nudity. Penthouse and Playboy alike hire a number of creative photographers to continue to live up to their customers' attention, appreciation, and expectations.
Before you let your model bare it all, why don't you ensure that you can really bare your creativity and talents with your cameras first?
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Digital Camera Memory Cards
Does it really make a difference what size memory card you use? To your camera, no; to you, however, it could mean the difference between getting the picture you want or running out of space on your memory card.
When choosing the most logical size, take into account how many pictures you usually take at a time. Your needs if you are a world traveler will be different from those of a person who only uses a camera for holiday get-togethers. You also need to decide how big the files are of the pictures you take. Smaller files such as pictures for online will take less space and enable you to fit more on a card. Larger files for printing will need more room.
If you have a 2 mega-pixel camera, 128MB is usually enough. For a 3 or 4-megapixel
camera, a 128MB or 256MB memory card is usually plenty. For a 5-megapixel camera, start with a 256MB memory card.
Here's a rough guideline of how many pictures a flash memory card can hold:
*A 128MB flash memory card can store about 21-41 large, uncompressed images or up to 100 small, compressed images. This is good enough for most photographic needs.
*A 256MB card will store about twice that, 42-82 large pictures and nearly 200 smaller ones. Important events like weddings and once in a lifetime events might warrant this size just to make sure you don't miss that one special moment.
A 1GB card has room for nearly 4 times as much as a 256MB card, If you are planning a long vacation with a lot of picture taking, this might be best with the capacity to hold 168-328 large images and a total of close to 800 smaller images.
Whatever you decide, remember you can always use several smaller cards and just change them when they are full. It only takes a few seconds to switch memory cards, so don't panic if you don't have a large memory card.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
When choosing the most logical size, take into account how many pictures you usually take at a time. Your needs if you are a world traveler will be different from those of a person who only uses a camera for holiday get-togethers. You also need to decide how big the files are of the pictures you take. Smaller files such as pictures for online will take less space and enable you to fit more on a card. Larger files for printing will need more room.
If you have a 2 mega-pixel camera, 128MB is usually enough. For a 3 or 4-megapixel
camera, a 128MB or 256MB memory card is usually plenty. For a 5-megapixel camera, start with a 256MB memory card.
Here's a rough guideline of how many pictures a flash memory card can hold:
*A 128MB flash memory card can store about 21-41 large, uncompressed images or up to 100 small, compressed images. This is good enough for most photographic needs.
*A 256MB card will store about twice that, 42-82 large pictures and nearly 200 smaller ones. Important events like weddings and once in a lifetime events might warrant this size just to make sure you don't miss that one special moment.
A 1GB card has room for nearly 4 times as much as a 256MB card, If you are planning a long vacation with a lot of picture taking, this might be best with the capacity to hold 168-328 large images and a total of close to 800 smaller images.
Whatever you decide, remember you can always use several smaller cards and just change them when they are full. It only takes a few seconds to switch memory cards, so don't panic if you don't have a large memory card.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
What is Megapixels?
In the world of marketing digital cameras, megapixels seem to be the beginning and end of a camera's power. Like a computer's RAM and hard drive, "the more, the better," and all of the other features of a camera fall by the roadside. But there's more to a photo than the megapixels.
The quality of the lens, for a prime example, is a much more important feature than the pixels. A poorly built lens will take all the power out of the camera, because a fuzzy picture is still fuzzy, even at ten megapixels.
Once they're out of the camera, megapixels are a reasonably good guide to how large a print you can get out of them. Since pixels are actually "dots," if you enlarge the picture enough, the illusion will be broken--and the individual dots will become obvious. The more pixels, the larger you can expand the picture before the dots become visible.
As a general rule of thumb, four megapixels is perfect for 5x7 prints, but generally not much larger. There are exceptions, but they depend mostly on the subject of the picture, and not the megapixels of the camera. While a three megapixel image will look great on the computer screen, printed at 3x5, or maybe even printed at 5x7, the dots will be really obvious if the picture is blown up onto a highway billboard. Five megapixels will make for a great 8x10 print.
When it comes to enlarging pictures, photo editing programs do not have a very good track record. Shrinking a picture works very well, but enlarging is a lot more difficult--because you can't just make the dots bigger. The program has to Interpolate--that is, it has to guess at what color the new pixels have to be. There are programs specifically designed for enlarging digital images, but it's still a fairly new technique.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
The quality of the lens, for a prime example, is a much more important feature than the pixels. A poorly built lens will take all the power out of the camera, because a fuzzy picture is still fuzzy, even at ten megapixels.
Once they're out of the camera, megapixels are a reasonably good guide to how large a print you can get out of them. Since pixels are actually "dots," if you enlarge the picture enough, the illusion will be broken--and the individual dots will become obvious. The more pixels, the larger you can expand the picture before the dots become visible.
As a general rule of thumb, four megapixels is perfect for 5x7 prints, but generally not much larger. There are exceptions, but they depend mostly on the subject of the picture, and not the megapixels of the camera. While a three megapixel image will look great on the computer screen, printed at 3x5, or maybe even printed at 5x7, the dots will be really obvious if the picture is blown up onto a highway billboard. Five megapixels will make for a great 8x10 print.
When it comes to enlarging pictures, photo editing programs do not have a very good track record. Shrinking a picture works very well, but enlarging is a lot more difficult--because you can't just make the dots bigger. The program has to Interpolate--that is, it has to guess at what color the new pixels have to be. There are programs specifically designed for enlarging digital images, but it's still a fairly new technique.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Five Ways to Make Money Using Your Digital Camera
Have you ever wanted to find a way to bring extra money into your household--yet don't have a lot of time to spend on a full-time endeavor? The solution is as close as the digital camera sitting there in a drawer. The following suggestions are only a few of the many ways you can make money in your spare time with your camera.
* Pet photos - Most owners won't struggle to take a photograph with their pet all by themselves. You can be the one who makes it easy on them. Not only can you charge for the service and your time, but you can offer the photograph in it's digital form or as a print that you can mail to them later - either created by your own photo printer or by a photo processing service.
*Graduations - preschool, high school, or college graduations offer dozens, if not hundreds of opportunities to capture a significant moment in someone's life. If the family members of the graduate aren't located in as good a location or don't have as good a camera as yourself - you'll have even greater opportunity at getting the shots they couldn't.
*Holiday Family Postcards - offer your services to families that want their picture taken and put on a postcard that they can send to their extended family and friends.
*Photo Novelty Items - take photographs of people that want the pictures of themselves of their loved ones imprinted on coffee mugs, mouse pads, key chains, tee-shirts, and other items.
*Newborn photo service - parents of newborns are some of the busiest people in the world. Advertise your services on an on-call basis so that you can take informal snapshots for the growing family either before they leave the hospital, or after they get home. This way both parents and the child can be in more of the pictures all together, and the parents have one less thing to try and figure out
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
* Pet photos - Most owners won't struggle to take a photograph with their pet all by themselves. You can be the one who makes it easy on them. Not only can you charge for the service and your time, but you can offer the photograph in it's digital form or as a print that you can mail to them later - either created by your own photo printer or by a photo processing service.
*Graduations - preschool, high school, or college graduations offer dozens, if not hundreds of opportunities to capture a significant moment in someone's life. If the family members of the graduate aren't located in as good a location or don't have as good a camera as yourself - you'll have even greater opportunity at getting the shots they couldn't.
*Holiday Family Postcards - offer your services to families that want their picture taken and put on a postcard that they can send to their extended family and friends.
*Photo Novelty Items - take photographs of people that want the pictures of themselves of their loved ones imprinted on coffee mugs, mouse pads, key chains, tee-shirts, and other items.
*Newborn photo service - parents of newborns are some of the busiest people in the world. Advertise your services on an on-call basis so that you can take informal snapshots for the growing family either before they leave the hospital, or after they get home. This way both parents and the child can be in more of the pictures all together, and the parents have one less thing to try and figure out
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Lighting Tips For Photography
Photography requires a few skills to make your prints look professional. One part of making a print professional is lighting. Lighting in photography takes a little planning and understanding of a few techniques. You best subject or object might not turn out that way if the proper light does not help to laminate the area. Below are a few tips on using light for photography.
First you must decide if you will use artificial or sunlight. If you are using sunlight you will rely on the Kelvin scale to determine the temperature of light and therefore the color of light. The color of light is important to maintaining the colors you see around you. For instance the warmer the light the redder the light will be, thus you may need to pick the time you will go out and shoot photographs. Outdoor lighting offers so many different times to take pictures depending on your need.
Next a photographer needs to understand the sun's color scale. Pictures tend to lead the viewer towards certain feelings; often softer colors evoke more emotion. So understanding the suns impact on the colors will help you find the correct time of day. The sun evokes blue hues in the morning hours, while closer to noon you will find more neutral colors. The neutral colors can take away some of the definition you want in your print. Knowing how you want to shot the picture will also help you determine when you wish to take the shot.
When using natural light you will need to work with the angle and direction of the sunlight. If the sunlight is broad and diffused you will have softer shadows while the more narrow the light is focused the more shadow you can create. Often at noon when the sun is in mid arc you lose definition of the subject. The subject could look grainy. This is why shadow is used; the shadows can give you more quality to the print if used correctly. This adds to the beauty of your pictures.
You can also modify sunlight through certain techniques. Modifying sunlight when taking portraits outdoors requires the use of a background. You may wish for a breath taking landscape that will provide more composition to the photo. You may need to block the sun if it interferes with you or your subject's sight. You might also bring in a white surface to fill the shadows. Landscape photography requires less work than usually natural light for portraits. In fact using natural sunlight for landscape photography without modifications can yield you a better photograph.
Landscape photography uses nature to provide the light and shadows. This is why you need to understand the light scale and temperature. Time is the most important aspect of using sunlight. To understand natural lighting you need to understand the affects the sun will have at certain times of the day. For instance if you are in a thickly vegetative forest the sunlight will have difficulty streaming in unless it is over head. You will have natural shadows in the forest and remember you can move around your subject to find the best angle with the sun.
Photography is an art that requires techniques and practice. Lighting is a major part of photography, especially when you are using natural light. Sunlight can bring plenty of shadows or take them away depending on the time of day. Knowing the best time to take a photograph depends on the sun's angle. Photography is an interesting hobby and profession when practiced properly will give you plenty of prints for your home and others.
Whether you are a professional or a novice photographer, you want to produce some exquisite pictures with the proper lighting. With this in mind, choose your lighting according to your needs and the needs of your subject or object. Your pictures will be delightful with brightness when you use the best lighting situation.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
First you must decide if you will use artificial or sunlight. If you are using sunlight you will rely on the Kelvin scale to determine the temperature of light and therefore the color of light. The color of light is important to maintaining the colors you see around you. For instance the warmer the light the redder the light will be, thus you may need to pick the time you will go out and shoot photographs. Outdoor lighting offers so many different times to take pictures depending on your need.
Next a photographer needs to understand the sun's color scale. Pictures tend to lead the viewer towards certain feelings; often softer colors evoke more emotion. So understanding the suns impact on the colors will help you find the correct time of day. The sun evokes blue hues in the morning hours, while closer to noon you will find more neutral colors. The neutral colors can take away some of the definition you want in your print. Knowing how you want to shot the picture will also help you determine when you wish to take the shot.
When using natural light you will need to work with the angle and direction of the sunlight. If the sunlight is broad and diffused you will have softer shadows while the more narrow the light is focused the more shadow you can create. Often at noon when the sun is in mid arc you lose definition of the subject. The subject could look grainy. This is why shadow is used; the shadows can give you more quality to the print if used correctly. This adds to the beauty of your pictures.
You can also modify sunlight through certain techniques. Modifying sunlight when taking portraits outdoors requires the use of a background. You may wish for a breath taking landscape that will provide more composition to the photo. You may need to block the sun if it interferes with you or your subject's sight. You might also bring in a white surface to fill the shadows. Landscape photography requires less work than usually natural light for portraits. In fact using natural sunlight for landscape photography without modifications can yield you a better photograph.
Landscape photography uses nature to provide the light and shadows. This is why you need to understand the light scale and temperature. Time is the most important aspect of using sunlight. To understand natural lighting you need to understand the affects the sun will have at certain times of the day. For instance if you are in a thickly vegetative forest the sunlight will have difficulty streaming in unless it is over head. You will have natural shadows in the forest and remember you can move around your subject to find the best angle with the sun.
Photography is an art that requires techniques and practice. Lighting is a major part of photography, especially when you are using natural light. Sunlight can bring plenty of shadows or take them away depending on the time of day. Knowing the best time to take a photograph depends on the sun's angle. Photography is an interesting hobby and profession when practiced properly will give you plenty of prints for your home and others.
Whether you are a professional or a novice photographer, you want to produce some exquisite pictures with the proper lighting. With this in mind, choose your lighting according to your needs and the needs of your subject or object. Your pictures will be delightful with brightness when you use the best lighting situation.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Lighting Tips For Photography Artificial Light.
Photography is art. Individuals will spend hours in museums and galleries analyzing a person's photographs for the meaning. Like painting photographs have a message, sometimes it will evoke sadness, happiness, a carefree attitude, and thought. There are many techniques a budding photographer will learn to evoke the emotions they desire. One such technique is using artificial lighting. Artificial lighting is not always as fun and easy as sunlight, but you can use it to create some wonderful photographs once you know how.
Indoor lighting is often fluorescent and tungsten bulbs. Tungsten bulbs are used by professional photographers, as 'hot lights' because of the high temperature they produce. In photography it is important to understand the temperature scale in relation to the colors they will produce. A hot light will produce more red and reduce the blue. Firelight and candle light though not artificial can be used in doors to create shadows and depth.
When using indoor lights, specifically artificial light you will need to understand exposure. When you have less light it will take longer to expose the film to capture a photograph. Part of exposure is the angle. Lets talk about taking pictures in a museum. For instance I was in a museum with minerals behind glass and a woman made the statement if she took the picture nothing would come from it. This is not true. First in a darker room where you have direct light on the object you will not want to use the flash. The flash will bounce the light back at the picture. The next step is to get as close to the glass as possible. The third consideration is the angle. Taking the picture head on of the object will bounce the light and shadows about. You will need to angle the camera to the side or up from the ground to attain the photograph. If you do not have glass in the way the angle will still be important, especially when taking portraits. Shooting any subject head on is likely to create shadows and take away from the print. The best angle for shooting portraits is often up into the face.
When shooting faces or other objects you usually want a three dimensional contrast. You will need to search for the planes and contours of the subject, especially in portrait photography. The planes and contours will help you determine the angle you will shoot the subject from. The shadows will often provide the three dimensional contrast if you find the correct planes and angle to shoot from. This helps with pictures that you want to stand-alone.
Artificial lighting needs to be moveable. Just turning on your home lights will not give you the desired affect. Instead it can wash out the subject, place the light at the wrong angle, or create too much shadow in one area. You need to have lights set up on tripods to change the angle to suit your needs. Rooms are small which is one reason over head lights can either be too powerful or not direct enough. Following lighting tips will increase your photography skills. Most amateur photographers find taking a class on lighting and having a few books on the subject will help them learn proper lighting techniques. The reason for classes is to provide feedback. You may be happy with the shot, but suggestions can help you make the shot perfect in the future.
Artificial lighting has advantages over outdoor or natural lighting, but sometimes the picture turns out better with natural light. It might be a matter of preference or the desire of a client or subject for that matter. You never have artificial lighting outside for the most part; you usually rely on your camera flash to help with the picture quality. When you choose your lighting, look for the best lighting situation to enhance your subject and make your picture as natural as possible.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
Indoor lighting is often fluorescent and tungsten bulbs. Tungsten bulbs are used by professional photographers, as 'hot lights' because of the high temperature they produce. In photography it is important to understand the temperature scale in relation to the colors they will produce. A hot light will produce more red and reduce the blue. Firelight and candle light though not artificial can be used in doors to create shadows and depth.
When using indoor lights, specifically artificial light you will need to understand exposure. When you have less light it will take longer to expose the film to capture a photograph. Part of exposure is the angle. Lets talk about taking pictures in a museum. For instance I was in a museum with minerals behind glass and a woman made the statement if she took the picture nothing would come from it. This is not true. First in a darker room where you have direct light on the object you will not want to use the flash. The flash will bounce the light back at the picture. The next step is to get as close to the glass as possible. The third consideration is the angle. Taking the picture head on of the object will bounce the light and shadows about. You will need to angle the camera to the side or up from the ground to attain the photograph. If you do not have glass in the way the angle will still be important, especially when taking portraits. Shooting any subject head on is likely to create shadows and take away from the print. The best angle for shooting portraits is often up into the face.
When shooting faces or other objects you usually want a three dimensional contrast. You will need to search for the planes and contours of the subject, especially in portrait photography. The planes and contours will help you determine the angle you will shoot the subject from. The shadows will often provide the three dimensional contrast if you find the correct planes and angle to shoot from. This helps with pictures that you want to stand-alone.
Artificial lighting needs to be moveable. Just turning on your home lights will not give you the desired affect. Instead it can wash out the subject, place the light at the wrong angle, or create too much shadow in one area. You need to have lights set up on tripods to change the angle to suit your needs. Rooms are small which is one reason over head lights can either be too powerful or not direct enough. Following lighting tips will increase your photography skills. Most amateur photographers find taking a class on lighting and having a few books on the subject will help them learn proper lighting techniques. The reason for classes is to provide feedback. You may be happy with the shot, but suggestions can help you make the shot perfect in the future.
Artificial lighting has advantages over outdoor or natural lighting, but sometimes the picture turns out better with natural light. It might be a matter of preference or the desire of a client or subject for that matter. You never have artificial lighting outside for the most part; you usually rely on your camera flash to help with the picture quality. When you choose your lighting, look for the best lighting situation to enhance your subject and make your picture as natural as possible.
Learn How To Quickly And Easily Start Taking Awesome Photos With Your Digital Camera, Even If You Are A Complete Newbie
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