Posted February 28th, 2009
by Publishing Editor
by Jake Sanders
Whats the best subject in Photography? Many have been searching for the right answer without realizing it lies within the individual senses, the things that motivate the seeing, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. It all depends on the interpretation of the photographer and what techniques he’ll be using to send a message to his audience that will categorize the works as the “best” subject in photography.
Ask yourself (or rather your eyes): What do you want to see? There’s a saying that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” therefore you alone can determine beauty. I know ideas starts to pop into your minds right now but let me share to you some of the best and simple subjects I have experimented (with astonishing results) that you might want to tackle one of these days:
1. Countryside
The subject of being free and greenery is universal. People find them attractive because the image gives them the illusion of sitting through that moment when the picture was captured and a split-second escape of their current place. The more natural your image looks the more it is inviting to the audience. Capture that lush green grasses and trees, how fluffy the nonchalant clouds under the blue wide sky, or even the nightingale sitting atop the cow. Also, try to stray away from the generic angle or position. Why not capture the shots while youre lying in the ground to make the view out of the ordinary?
2. Food
Now this one is for the photographer who wants an automatic head turn towards his work. In order for our system to work, fuel is needed and therefore food has an automatic magnetism for the five senses. Regardless of Race, Sex, or Age the subject of food for a photograph never misses. One thing you can do to standout is to put extra emphasis on the texture, color, and how real the food could get when presented in the pictures.
3. Children
Who can resist the innocent smile of a little baby girl? And a chubby little boy in his first school uniform and hat? Some might but most people turn soft by the image of a child. It takes them back, make them smile and imagine themselves in that care-free period of their lives. Even young animals like the puppy, kitten, or ducklings have the same charisma for the viewers. Remember to capture the shots without the subjects awareness because capturing their natural smile and behavior will make your photographs a stand-out in the sea of baby pictures.
4. Waterfalls, Streams, and the Beach
The image of the flowing water refreshes the eye which is why you see lots of PC screens emblazoned with wallpapers or screensavers of flowing water, the lake, beach, and even underwater scenes like the aquarium. If you want to excel in this subject then prepare to get wet; literally, because, sometimes the amazing shots are those captured from a closer view (make sure the camera you choose has water-repelling technologies and the likes).
Tags: arts, Discount Digital Cameras, entertainment, home, music, Photography, Photography Self Help, photography tips, poetry Posted in Photography
Posted January 29th, 2009
by George Jones
by Greg Silvers
It really isn’t difficult to learn the basics of photography. Although if you are used to using an old film camera there are some differences with the modern digital cameras you will want to know about.
Naturally once you have a firm grasp of these differences you can really start to take advantage of them. It really doesn’t matter who you are, with a little dedication you can learn this stuff.
Gaining a Collection of Images
With the digital format we are now hardly limited at all when it comes to the number of photos we can take. Never again will you have to pay for a whole load of prints that you didn’t even want.
This is all good, however you do need to get into the habit of going through your photos and editing or deleting your collection. This is because you do not want to have to go through loads and loads of useless images to find your good ones later.
Ways to best go about storing your digital photos
You can switch from a high-resolution image to a lower resolution to save on storage space. Your high-resolution photos will take up more storage space than the lower resolution one.
You will only need a high resolution for your photographs if you need a crisp image for a large printed photograph. If you are only going to use the pictures online or with a computer, you can use a lower resolution setting.
It is also possible with many cameras to change the compression rate/format that your camera saves its images in. Again this means you can save space for extra photos on your memory card.
If there is one thing modern Day cameras are normally short of its memory space, so you really should increase it as soon as possible. If you have any experience with the old film cameras I’m sure you know what it’s like to run out of space for photos just when you were poised to take your best ever photo.
The dreaded battery issue
Many people just don’t realize it, but the camera’s battery is very important. Naturally the last thing you need is the run out of battery just when you need your camera most.
If you are running low on battery power, avoiding overuse of your LCD digital display should help significantly to lengthen your cameras usage time. Not using Flash will also help a lot.
If your camera doesn’t use its own special power pack, make sure you are at least using good rechargeable batteries and that you have several charged replacement sets of batteries ready with you at all times.
All amateurs, no matter what their level of experience, can enjoy digital photography for beginners. You can be proud of your images, right from when you first get your digital camera.
You will learn that it is easy to go from digital photography for beginners to the next level of photography, as you get more comfortable with your digital camera.
Tags: art, Cameras, Digital Photography, education, entertainment, family, hobbies, leaning, lessons, lifestyle, outdoors, Photography, photos, recreation Posted in Photography
Posted December 16th, 2008
by Gugu Martini
by Gugu Martini
The big improvement in shutter speed and photo resolution, makes Digital Photography convenient and easy for both beginners and professional photographers alike, to take good pictures. For digital photography enthusiasts there has never been a better time for them to create work that looks professional as well as very creative. It has also had an impact on businesses, both in the real and virtual world of the internet.
One area where it has made a big improvement is in the area of digital fashion photography. Digital fashion photography has been able to move forward in a way that it wasn’t able to using traditional film.
It can improve on the mundane and make the good look perfect which is excellent for images that rely on perfection. The world of fashion is fast moving and short lived so digital fashion photography is an excellent medium to both capture and portray these images. Like fashion designers, digital fashion photographers also work in a prestigious field, filled with beauty and glamour.
There are few points to consider about digital fashion photography that will help if you are thinking about taking this step in your career. Any professional photographer will always have their camera with them at all times so they will never miss a shot; this is something you will need to stay focused on.
Good digital fashion photographers know what it is they want to achieve and find a way by experimentation, on how to achieve the desired result. Like any artist you must place the model or models in the way that will create the image that you’re looking to achieve. A digital photographer should also be aware that the results of his photos will show others the many steps and points to remember when you are taking a shot.
Knowing what you want and having the knowledge of how to obtain it are two different things and you cannot be a serious digital fashion photographer without learning this. Studio shots and sometimes outdoor shots require the use of a tripod, background Curtains and other backdrop materials can produce wonderful color emphasis and for bright light, a polarizing filter can be used.
Is the important aspect of digital fashion photography which can be easily achieved by have plain backgrounds of white or grey. It is unlikely that until you see the final result, you will not understand what the digital fashion photographer was trying to create. A final tip would be that whilst many people do not really study the background as their attention is rightly focused on the image, the two can easily be connected even if it is not at first apparent.
Tags: camera, entertainment, Photography Posted in Photography
Posted December 10th, 2008
by Tim Harris
by Tim Harris
The purchase of a new Canon Camera can at times be trying as there are many technical terms which are foreign to a layperson. For a person to be able to make an informed choice, they will need to learn some of the terms that are commonly used. Terms like Pixels, DPI, PPI and white balance all are used to describe some of the qualities of a camera. This guide will seek to explain to you what a pixel is all about and how this term is used for rating a camera quality.
Pixel is the short for the term PIicture-Element. All Canon Digital Camera takes pictures and format them as small squares. A digital image might look seamlessly like a normal photograph but if you magnify it to a close range, it actually comprises of a mosaic of millions of small and different colored squares stitched together. Each pixel is further defined by 3 numbers from the range of 0 to 255 from the red, green and blue color channels. For example, a pixel can be defined by 35 red channel, 70 green channel and 255 blue channel. By using this coding system, there are 16 million possible combinations of color coding. In computer terminology, pixel colors are referred by an 8 bit (bytes) number. Therefore a computer will recognize the color of a pixel by 3 eight bytes numbers, a number for each of the 3 color channel.
Beside from using pixel counts for the display of digital images, nowadays, Digital Camera manufacturers also uses pixel counts to grade the capabilities of their digital cameras. Canon has digital cameras which range from 5 to 10 million pixels. They are normally classified as megapixels cameras because one mega pixels is equivalent to one million pixels. When we say a camera can take 5 megapixels pictures, this mean the digital image which the camera takes have 5 million pixels in it. The numbers of pixel a digital camera has is not important when the image is used displayed on a monitor. However when you need to print these images, the pixels do matter as the higher the picture count, the sharper and crisper the prints will be.
When taking into account pixel counts, it is also important to differentiate between “Total Pixels” or “Effective Pixels”. Total Pixels takes in consideration every pixel in an image. However, normally in the final image, the edge pixels are not used at all. Thus Effective Pixels refers to the numbers of pixels used after the edge pixels of the image are discarded.
Depending on the size of the pictures that you wanted to print, a 5 megapixels Canon camera, makes very good quality 5″ X 7″ printouts and decent 8″ X 10″ printouts. But if you are going to make 8″ X 10″ printouts most of the time, then a 8 megapixels or 10 megapixels Canon camera will be more ideal choice to purchase.
Tags: arts, Cameras, canon, canon camera, digital camera, entertainment, Photography, shopping Posted in Photography
Posted December 9th, 2008
by Tim Harris
by Tim Harris
When Harold Edgerton invented the modern electronic flash in 1931, the world of photography was revolutionized. The principle behind the electronic flash is that when you charged up a capacitor or condenser and release the energy through a flash light bulb (A glass bulb containing inert gases), a split second burst of light will occur. This output of light occurs instantly when you send power to the flash light bulb. Therefore you can control this output of light through regulating the duration of electrical pulses to be sent to the flash light bulb. Before the advert of modern electronics, the duration of electrical pulses used to be controlled by a component called the thvristor. Today, modern electrical circuitry has taken over the function of this component.
On the whole there are two ways to control the amount of light which enter the camera. By adjusting the shutter speed you can determine how long the exposure time is. The other way is to adjust the aperture of the lens. By doing so you will how much light will get to enter the camera. However Flash photography is different from normal photography. This is because of the speed of a burst of the flash light. The time taken for a burst of light takes only micro seconds. This time frame is so short that the speed of a mechanical shutter is no longer a relevant factor in determining the amount of light entering a camera except when the camera is programmed under the FP mode.
The speed of the camera’s shutter is only important when the ambient light is a continuous source. But the duration of a flash pulse is too brief for the camera mechanical shutter to even react to the change of light. Therefore the way to control the quantity of a flash pulse entering the camera is by:
Changing the lens aperture size. The aperture is the physical diaphragm of the camera lens and this control the quantity of light which enters the lens.
Adjust the distance between the subject and flash unit. This method is an application of the laws of physics. The further an object is from a light source, the less illuminated the object is.
You can also regulate the amount of light from a flash unit to a subject by using a diffuser. Of course, you have to consider the trouble of lugging around all these items on location.
By regulating the duration of electrical energy to be sent to the flash unit. By control the energy pulse, you control the duration of the flash burst. This allows you to determine how much light will be emitted to enter the camera. Nowadays, this is the principal way to control the electronic flash output.
In conclusion, this is the main principle of flash metering. The precise measure of flash metering is difficult and it requires years of experience before anyone can accurately judge the right duration for the electrical pulse to be sent to the flash unit. Nowadays, we are fortunate as camera like the Canon EOS digital camera fulfill this function automatically with modern electronics.
Tags: arts, Cameras, canon, canon camera, digital camera, entertainment, Photography, shopping Posted in Cameras
Posted December 8th, 2008
by Daniel Edwards
by James Charcha
Yes, digital photography for beginners is possible. However there are some differences between taking a photograph with a digital camera and with a conventional camera.
Naturally once you have a firm grasp of these differences you can really start to take advantage of them. It really doesn’t matter who you are, with a little dedication you can learn this stuff.
Never be limited again
Probably one of the most powerful advantages of the digital format is the fact that you are practically no longer limited with the number of photos you can take. No more paying for prints that didn’t come out right or you just plain and simple didn’t really want!
It is a good idea though to make sure you keep your photo collection tidy by removing or editing those photos that just don’t quite cut it or are too much the same. This really is essential since otherwise you will probably never find your good photos.
Ways to best go about storing your digital photos
One great way to save on space is to save your images in a lower resolution format. Lower resolution images can take up considerably less space, although you will lose some quality so you may want to experiment a little bit.
You will only need a high resolution for your photographs if you need a crisp image for a large printed photograph. If you are only going to use the pictures online or with a computer, you can use a lower resolution setting.
You can also increase the compression the camera uses for your images. Your images will take up less room in the storage space when you compress the pictures.
You should increase your storage space because eventually, you will run out. This will instantly bring your level of fun down if you were planning to take pictures and you cannot because you just ran out of memory.
How to avoid running out of battery
Healthy batteries for your camera is simply essential. Just like with running out of space running out of battery power can be a real nightmare.
The first and most obvious thing to do is to only use the camera’s built-in LCD when you 100% need it. In many cases it is also possible to turn off things like auto focus as well, but this may result in being more of a hassle, still you’d have to try it.
Use rechargeable batteries and keep a couple charged batteries on hand, in case you notice your batteries going low before you can recharge them.
All amateurs, no matter what their level of experience, can enjoy digital photography for beginners. You can be proud of your images, right from when you first get your digital camera.
You may feel that you are very much a beginner in photography right now, but in the near future if you’re dedicated and determined you will find that with practice and trial and error you will be taking shots like the pros.
Tags: art, Cameras, Digital Photography, education, entertainment, family, hobbies, hobby, leaning, lessons, lifestyle, outdoors, Photography, photos, recreation, technology Posted in Photography
Posted December 6th, 2008
by Tim Harris
by Tim Harris
This guide will seek to provide you with an explanation of the various concepts and terms which are used which respect to Canon EOS flash photography.
Flash and Strobe
The main differences between a strobe and a flash are the use of terminology according to UK or US English. In the US, a strobe is a flash unit whereas in UK a strobe refers to anything emitting blinking lights. Another confusion in terms is the between “Speedlight” and “Speedlite”. Both are trade names of Nikon and Canon respectively used for their series of flash units.
Guide Number
The guide number is the maximum range of a flash unit when it gives out its flash pulse at its maximum setting. However, if you are using automatic flash metering, the number is not relevant. This number only becomes important when you are involved in manual flash settings.
EV (Exposure Value)
EV or Exposure value is the value used for deciding the sensitivity of the AF (Auto Focus) system or exposure metering which respect to film types or lenses. You need to combine the aperture and shutter speed together to get this value. For example, 1/125 and F2 is equal to EV9 which is also equivalent to F4 and 1/30.
Dedicated or Non dedicated flash units
Camera Manufacturers like Canon manufacture their own line of flash units to cater for their own range of cameras. The Canon line of flash units is known as the Speedlite series. These flash units are able to communicate with camera system thus allowing the photographers to enjoy more precision photography. They are called dedicated flash units. Non dedicated flash units are those flash units which are manufactured by third party manufacturers. They are usually generic and are not able to communicate with the camera system.
Shoe Mount
The rectangular slide-in socket which is usually located on top of the mirror or prism housing is known as the shoe mount. This mount is usually used for affixing the external flash unit to the camera. Sometimes it is called a Hot Shoe Mount as it has an electrical trigger to initiate the flash unit once the external flash is fixed to the camera. The Canon EOS Cameras have 4 additional contact points in the shoe mount which helps to transmit flash data from the trigger.
The Redeye Effect
When the light from a flash unit is reflected back into the camera off the walls of the retina, this will produce the Redeye effect which we always see in pictures taken in low ambient light conditions. This due to the fact that the low ambient light condition causes the pupils of the eyes to dilate bigger and the color red is because the retina walls are lined with red blood vessels.
Redeye Reduction
To overcome the problems of Redeye effects, you can increase the distance between the flash and the lens of the camera. Or you can also reflect the flash light off the walls instead of direct illumination on the subject. An alternative way is to get the subject to look at a bright light just before taking their picture. What this does is to cause the pupils of the eyes to dilate smaller resulting in less reflection from the retina.
Tags: arts, Cameras, canon, canon camera, digital camera, entertainment, Photography, shopping Posted in Cameras
