Light is the single most important element when it comes to taking photographs. Whatever type of camera you use – film or digital – a wet or dry darkroom, you are involved in portraits, landscapes, under water, aerial or any of the myriad photographic areas, you cannot escape light and its use. If you desire to understand photography then you need to learn as much as you can about light.

The following article provides the terminology used in the study of illumination and how it relates back to your camera and associated equipment.

Intensity describes the amount of light. This determines the shutter speed and aperture needed to make a photograph. Intensity is measured by a light meter.

Direction to the way the light falls on the subject, relative to the camera. Changing the direction at which light meets the subject significantly changes perception of relationships between subjects.

Specular implies contrasty lighting because specular light is from a single source, often called a point source. Specular light makes very sharp-edge shadows. The sun, a single spot or flash without diffusion are examples of point sources.

Diffuse is the opposite of specular; it appears to come from many directions. Diffusion softens the edges of shadows and lowers contrast. Diffuse lighting in nature is created by atmospheric moisture, dust, haze, pollution that refracts and reflects until it seems to have an undefined direction. Studio lights are diffused with screens that vary the direction of the light rays.

Source is ambient or supplemental: these are often called natural or artificial illumination. These terms suggest the physical origin of the light. Artificial light is often momentary (flash) that exists only for the camera.

Artificial light is added to a scene to modify ambient light to create the desired quality of light. Artificial lighting may be steady state and predictable (hot lights [quartz/tungsten] candle, fire) or momentary and transient (electronic flash). The precise effects of momentary light on the subject can usually only be guessed, or by digital samples or a Polaroid proof can be made. Professional studio flash units have modeling lights which aid the photographer in anticipating overall results.

The sun is the principle continuous light source and may be modified by diffusion or refection and may be supplemented by artificial illumination.

Color refers to both the subjective and descriptive terms we use to describe light as cool, meaning toward blue, or warm, toward red. When color is described scientifically, the opposite is true, colder light is redder and hotter light is bluer. The scientific description of light is radiation from a black body at a certain temperature measured in degrees Kelvin. All photographic light sources are measured by their color temperature.

Visible illumination ranges from deep red to blue-violet (6,800^oK). The hotter a light source is, the bluer the light appears to the eye. Color temperature is important in B/W photography because films are not equally sensitive to all colors and our subjective responses to the color of light.

About the Author

Roo du Jardin is a photographer who runs an informational website about Online Photography Courses. Read some more tips, techniques and resources at Online Photography Courses blog.

For those that wish to take their photography to the next level, an off camera light meter will be required at some point. The in-camera light meters are fairly sophisticated these days, but you are still locked into the camera body with many limitations. Professional photographers – both studio and onsite – use specialist light meters that are more suitable for their work.

The following article deals with the terminology you will come across when researching light meters, measurement and conditions.

definition: a device that measures the light available and has a computer that calculates an exposure based on light intensity and film speed or ISO.

There are two styles of light meters:

1. Incident

An incident meter measures light falling on the subject before the camera. This meter is hand held and is separate from the camera.

2. Reflected

This meter measures light reflected from the subject. This meter may also be hand held and is often an integral part of the camera.

Many light meters on the market today offer both systems in a single light meter. You can also purchase professional specialist meters in one unit.

Interpreting Light (definitions)

1. Pre-visualization

Pre-visualisation is the act of observing a scene with the physical eye and seeing in the mind’s eye how a medium can render the subject.

This may be aligned to the photographer’s creativity.

2. Zone

A ‘Zone’ is a visual unit of measurement for luminance. It is arrived at by altering the standard exposure of a light meter by one stop more or one stop less.

3. Luminance Meters

Luminance meters are useful for pre-visualisation, they measure light reflected from surfaces and carry various scales by which exposures are indicated.

4. Value Scale

The term ‘value’ refers to the degree of lightness and darkness of a colour. In a photographic print the display of greys or values is known as the scale.

To aid pre-visualisation the continuous value scale is arbitrarily divided into nine steps.

5. Value Rendering

The term rendering is used rather than recording because photographs are generally gross approximations of the actual values found in the originals.

Rendering suggests that there may be a choice among possibilities of interpretations. Value rendering is planned and pre-visualised in tones.

6. Zone System

With pre-visualisation and value rendering, a system is developed to allow the photographer to:

1. Translate subject values into print values.

2. Resolve problems to provide the best photographic interpretation of a real object.

3. In viewing and processing, complete image plans before an exposure is made.

About the Author

Roo du Jardin is a photographer who runs an informational website about Online Photography Courses. Read some more tips, techniques and resources at Online Photography Courses blog.

The following lenses are the most common you will find on the market for amateur and professional use. You may want to add to your existing lens kit some time; following are lens definitions and major options to consider when researching.

Telephoto Lenses (200m, 500mm, 1000mm)

Telephoto lenses or long focus lenses produce larger images of distant subjects than shorter focal length lenses or normal lenses. They require extra extension to place them further from the film plane. The greater the extension or focal length of the lens the greater the magnification.

This extension presents no problem with a stand camera but does with portable or hand held cameras. The lenses are long and bulky, they are unbalanced and awkward to use in the hand and it is virtually impossible to eliminate hand shake and movement from shutter release.

The telephoto lens gives a very shallow depth-of-field and is often not corrected for subjects closer than 5 to 10 metres. It is therefore excellent for picking out distant, virtually perspective less detail, and de-emphasising surroundings. The telephoto has the ability to compress scenes.

Tele-converters, an extension tube containing optical components are made for use between lenses and body. They are cheaper than telephoto lenses but image quality is generally poor. The most common telephoto lens is around the 200mm size, and of course, the cheapest.

Wide Angle Lenses (18mm, 20mm, 28mm, 35mm)

A wide angle lens or short focal length lens produces smaller images and wider views than the longer focal length lenses or normal lenses.

Problems with wide angle lenses are perspective distortions and are gross at close lens to subject’s distances. Lines will converge and diverge and close subjects are size disproportionate.

In addition, because of the wide angle of view you are prone to aberrations in strong lighting conditions. Most wide angle lenses are supplied with lens hoods to help overcome acute light rays. Such aberrations include lens flare and corner fall off.

Wide angle lenses are useful when close camera to subject distance and maximum depth-of-field is required. The 28mm is generally what most people choose,and the wider you go the more expensive. The most expensive is the following lens, the fish eye.

Fish Eye Lenses (6mm 220^o, 14mm 180^o)

The fish eye lens sacrifices correction of linear distortion in favour of extreme angle of view. Depth-of-field is extensive and definition quite good. Some fish eyes have been produced for scientific purposes, such as total sky photography for meteorology. Mostly they are used to give spectacular distortions in commercial images.

High cost and limited applications mean that these lenses are usually hired and not purchased.

Macro Lenses

Macro is a general term applied to lenses for close-up photography – conditions where the image is larger than the subject. They are generally of short focus and corrected for close subject distance.

The use of macro lenses at their smallest aperture should be avoided. The very high effective f/ can lead to image deterioration due to refraction.

Bellows and extensions tubes are available to extend the range of the macro lens. Macro lenses are also an expensive lens, so chooses carefully.

Zoom Lenses (80-220mm, 35-120mm)

Zoom lenses combine the basic forms of several lenses in a single lens. For a lens to accomplish this calls for a complex optical system comprising many elements. Zoom lenses are generally acquired to replace a large range of lenses and are particularly useful for travel.

Zoom lenses are generally in the longer focal length which presents the problem associated with this focal range. Also because of the additional elements in the design of the lens, quality suffers.

This lens is the most popular these days and are usually offrered as part of the kit when you purchase a camera. As this is a common lens, it is quite cheap, however, like telephoto lenses, the longer the lens the more expensive.

Soft Focus Lenses (120mm portrait lens)

A soft focus lens represents a point of light as a circular patch of light with a core of greater intensity. It therefore differs from an out-of-focus image. The effect is a luminous halo or softness of outline.

Soft focus lenses are usually of high quality and have history of use in portraiture, fashion, glamour and more recently in boudoir photography.

Soft focus can also be achieved through soft focus filters. These lenses are very expensive and usually purchased by professional photographers who are doing a lot of glamour and fashion work with models.

Process Lenses

Process or copying lenses are specifically designed for copying work. It is essential for such lenses to have an undistorted field of view (flat), even illumination and a high degree of chromatic correction.

Process lenses are not required to cover a wide field and need not be of wide aperture. Maximum aperture is frequently f/8 and the field of view is normally a 1:1 ratio.

Mirror Lenses (500mm, 1000mm)

The mirror differs from all the above as it is a reflecting system and not optical. Mirror lenses are recognised by their characteristic drum shape and the opaque central area of the front element.

Mirror lenses are popular for long focal lengths for small cameras as they are considerably shorter than their optical counterparts. Mirror lenses are also cheaper than long optical lenses.

Problems are that these lenses suffer from aberrations and cannot focus to close subjects (1000mm min 30m) and lens speed is slow (f/10.5)

About the Author

Roo du Jardin is a photographer who runs an informational website about Online Photography Courses. Read some more tips, techniques and resources at Online Photography Courses blog.

All digital cameras have an automatic exposure setting, so it may seem that exposure is something that is best left up to the camera. It’s certainly true that in some situations your camera’s automatic exposure system will produce properly exposed shots, but there are also many situations where it will not.

Automatic exposure systems only tend to work well when a scene and the subject animal consist mainly of mid-tones. This is because automatic exposure averages out the exposure of the scene as a whole, achieving an overall exposure equivalent to if the scene was a uniform mid-tone grey. Since virtually no real world scenes consist of purely mid-tone grey, this can mean that your wildlife photos may end up incorrectly exposed if you rely purely on your camera’s default exposure settings.

Scenes that consist of mainly very pale colours will come out underexposed (such as a pale animal in the snow) and scenes with very dark colours will come out overexposed. Furthermore, pale animals against dark backgrounds may be overexposed and dark animals against pale backgrounds may be underexposed. Animals with pied markings such as puffins or magpies will usually have their white areas overexposed. Therefore it is often necessary in wildlife photography to adjust your camera’s default settings to correctly expose your shots.

Exposure Settings
Prosumer and DSLR cameras have three main light metering modes available:

• Multi-Segment or Matrix – this is a camera’s default automatic exposure mode. This divides the image into a number of segments and averages out the exposure for the scene as a whole. This mode can work well for frame filling close-ups of animals and for wider shots of scenes consisting of mainly mid-tones, but as explained in the previous section, this mode will often produce incorrectly exposed images when the scene has significant areas of extreme light or dark.
• Spot Metering – in this mode the camera bases its exposure value on a single point in the image (usually the centre of the image, but this point can be adjusted on most cameras). This is a useful mode for wildlife photography as it often can enable you to achieve the correct exposure for the subject animal. Spot metering should however be used with care as the light readings can vary significantly depending on where you point the camera – it is best to choose a point on your subject that has a mid-tone.
• Centre-Weighted – like multi-segment metering this takes an average of the scene as a whole, but in this mode more importance is given to the centre of the image in the averaging process, meaning that the camera tries to ensure the centre of the image is correctly exposed. This is another good setting for wildlife photography that unlike spot metering is less sensitive to variations in scene brightness. As centre-weighted metering still uses as form of averaging it can still however produce incorrect exposure if the centre of the image contains extremes of light or dark.

!inlineRSS:news_photographytips If you find your camera’s metering doesn’t produce good results for a given scene (e.g. when your subject animal is very light of dark) you can use the manual EV Compensation (Exposure Value Compensation) setting on your camera to adjust the exposure it will use. For example, without EV compensation a spot-metered or centre-weighted picture of a white swan is likely to come out underexposed (as the camera tries to achieve a mid-tone grey for the swan’s white plumage). By setting your camera to a positive EV Compensation (you may need to use a little trial and error to find the exact amount of compensation required) you’ll be able to get a picture where the swan’s plumage is exposed correctly.

Another trick you can use to get the correct exposure is to use the exposure bracketing function on your camera. In this mode the camera takes three shots at different exposure settings, one at the camera’s recommended exposure, one slightly underexposed and one slightly overexposed, increasing the likelihood that one will be correctly exposed. It should be noted that as bracketing takes multiple exposures it is not particularly suitable for shooting animals in action since the animal is likely to move between exposures making each bracketed shot different, and unless you are very lucky, the best exposed shot might not be the shot with the animal in the best position.

Checking For Correct Exposure
You may be tempted to try and check the exposure of a picture after you have taken it by viewing it on your camera’s screen. While this may give you rough idea, it is not very reliable as a screen’s brightness can vary and the ambient lighting conditions can affect how an image appears on the screen. A far more reliable way of assessing exposure is to look at your camera’s histogram. The histogram is a graph showing the distribution of tones from light to dark in an image. For most shots you want a bell shaped histogram with the majority of pixels towards the middle of the graph, although this does not necessarily hold true for pictures that have significant light or dark areas.

Another feature most cameras provide for checking exposure is an image playback mode where the massively overexposed parts of the image flash on screen. Massively overexposed means a region of an image is so overexposed that it has gone to pure white – this is referred to as clipped or burned out.

Overexposure to the point where significant portions of the image are clipped is something you should avoid at all costs in your digital photography. Once a portion of an image is clipped all information in that part of the image is lost – nothing can be done in tools like Photoshop to recover it. It should be noted here that it is fine to clip specular highlights, for example caused by the sun reflecting in the animal’s eyes, but clipping large areas of detail should always be avoided.

The problems associated with clipping mean that it is generally safer to slightly underexpose a digital image than it is to overexpose it, as this will retain more detail in the highlights. Underexposed images can be corrected easily in tools like Photoshop, but if an image is significantly underexposed the corrected image will have an undesirable grainy texture called ‘noise’. Slight overexposure can also be corrected in Photoshop but only when clipping hasn’t occurred.

About the Author

Ben Juby is a wildlife photography enthusiast and freelance web developer. More wildlife photography tips and wildlife photography articles are available at his website: http://www.digital-nature.info

First you should decide how you plan on using your photo printer and what kind of prints you intend to make. If you like to just make regular snapshots at 4 X 6 size and rarely make any enlargements, you may want to consider one of the small specialized snapshot printers that are on the market these days. They could be a very good choice if you like to keep things as simple as possible too and maybe feel intimidated by the more advanced printers. With these simple printers you just hook up your camera and print. It doesn’t get much easier than that. Just don’t expect this kind of printer to make anything other than snapshots. The output quality is also usually very good as well.

!inlineRSS:news_photoprinter If you buy a full size inkjet printer look for one that has the PictBridge feature that lets you hook up your digital camera directly to the printer or can accept your camera memory card, bypassing the computer altogether, and print out your photos direct from the camera itself. It’s a very convenient option that lots of people find useful at times.

And if you like to print directly from the camera itself, having a LCD screen to preview your shots before printing can be a very useful option too. The LCD screen can also help you navigate the printing options that your printer has more easily as well.

But perhaps the best advice to prospective photo printer buyers is to do your research on the total photo costs associated with each brand of printer before you buy it. The initial cost of most inkjet digital photo printers is not all that much these days since the printer companies prefer to make their money on the back end with paper and ink cartridge replacements instead. So check on how long an ink cartridge is expected to last for the printer you are interested in, and also how much it costs when you buy a replacement. Then factor these costs into your overall photo printer budget and make your choice from there. By the way, some printers are known for gulping down ink as they print while others conserve ink much better.

If you follow the suggestions given in this article on selecting and choosing a digital photo printer to buy, you should be able to narrow down your choices quickly and make the best and most cost effective purchase possible.

About the Author

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including digital photography. You can find the best photo printer and photo printer reviews by visiting our Digital Photography website.

How much do I have to pay?
First on most people’s minds is cost. Digital sounds expensive, but it’s not anymore. There are cameras with terrific features available for as little as $100—perfect starter cameras, or great for kids.

Of course, you can spend more than that—as much as several thousand for the most advanced digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras. However, unless you are a professional who needs interchangeable lenses and manual everything, you can get a great camera for between $150 and $400. It all depends on what you want to do with your camera and your photos.

What is a megapixel and how many do I need?
Digital photos are made up of pixels, which is computer-speak for “picture element.” Get a thousand of these little squares together and you have a megapixel—MP for short. Every digital camera you consider will have a number of megapixels associated with it, but higher isn’t necessarily better.

Megapixels affect the resolution of your digital photos—that is, the potential clarity of the photos. If you choose a camera with a high number, for instance, 10 MP, you’ll get rich, detailed photos, perfect for making large prints. Or you could crop your picture and enlarge a section into its own photo without losing clarity.

That sounds good, right? The downside is that the larger the photo resolution, the more space it will take on a memory card, so you won’t be able to take as many photos unless you carry extra storage.

TIP: If you don’t need to make large prints, but do want to print standard sizes like 4″ x 6″ or 5″ x 7″, or e-mail or post your photos online, a camera with 5-6 megapixels will work well for you.

How much control will I have over camera settings?
The short answer is, as much or as little as you want—often on the same camera. Many digital cameras let you choose the level of control, from fully automatic, where the camera makes all decisions, to the completely manual, where you run the show.

In between those options are helpful pre-set shooting modes. These make it easy to take clear, well exposed pictures under a variety of settings—in bright sun, at night, during a sporting event, at the theater. Another fun feature is the ability to change pictures to black and white or sepia, adding versatility. Beyond that, some cameras help you prevent red-eye and other common problems.

TIP: Compare shooting modes and design features when you shop. Look for common ones, like Landscape, Portrait, and Action. Then see if there are others—Night or Snow mode, for example.

!inlineRSS:news_digitalcamera If you want more control of your digital camera’s variables, you can have that too. In addition to the pre-sets, many cameras, especially in the middle and upper end of the price range, let you go manual, and set aperture, shutter speed and ISO yourself—or set one manually and have the camera choose the best settings for the other elements.

It’s fun to play with these different options and see how your pictures change. And one great thing about digital photos is that, if your experiment isn’t successful, you can delete the photo and take another.

What is the difference between optical and digital zoom?
Optical zoom is how far your camera’s lens can physically extend from the camera body (its focal length). It lets you get closer to your subject without actually moving, and without your photo becoming blocky or pixelated.

Digital zoom stretches your camera’s pixels to make a photo look bigger—similar to cropping a photo and enlarging it, but it happens right in the camera.

Digital cameras will often show you a combined optical and digital zoom. They get this by multiplying the two numbers together. For example, a camera with 3x optical zoom and 8x digital zoom will have a total zoom of 24x.

TIP: Pay most attention to the optical zoom, as it will result in clearer close up photos.

What about the camera size—is heavier better?
Digital cameras are built to endure plenty, so choose the style that suits your needs. A slim, small model is handy because it fits easily into a purse or pocket, making it a no-brainer to take along on family excursions or trips.

Slightly larger models offer some helpful features, too, like a bigger LCD screen for taking and viewing photos, and often more manual control.

Go a little bigger still, and your digital camera may also have a more powerful zoom lens, helpful for getting shots at the soccer match, or architectural details of the castle you saw on your trip to Italy.

What other equipment will I need?
Batteries: Some digital cameras use AA batteries that you replace more or less frequently depending on how many photos you take and the resolution of each picture. However, digital camera features like the LCD screen and auto-focus draw lots of power, meaning batteries get depleted quickly. Rechargeable batteries are an alternative option.

Rechargeable batteries use one of two different technologies: Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) or Lithium ion (Li-ion). NiMH batteries come in standard sizes and can be recharged multiple times before they need replacing. Many newer cameras are equipped with Li-ion battery packs. These have the advantage that they both hold more energy and be used and recharged more often than other batteries. Check your camera’s manual to determine which type is compatible.

Memory cards: Your digital camera stores images on memory cards, and there are many options for these. It’s a good idea to have several available—especially on vacation or at a special event like a wedding where you’ll be taking lots of photos. Get a larger card—think 1 GB or more—to make sure you’ll have lots of memory.

Dock: If your camera has rechargeable batteries, consider buying a docking station. It gives you a safe, secure way to charge your camera, and an easy way to connect it to your computer when you want to upload photos.

Carrying case: In addition to protecting your camera, a carrying case also lets you keep extra batteries and memory cards in one convenient place.

Now you’re ready to make the buy, and start using your digital camera to help capture and share cherished memories.

About the Author

Jean Fleming writes frequently about digital photography. Please visit our digital camera buying guide and find everything you need to make the right decision when buying a new digital camera.

Tip 1: The Rule of Thirds is a time-honored technique professional photographers use to improve composition. Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid over the image you want to take. Use the intersection of those lines to place your subject slightly off center, and bring interest up or down.

Tip 2: Take photos at various angles and distances to give you more options to choose from. Also experiment with vertical and horizontal camera orientation—you may discover that this simple shift yields interesting results.

Tip 3: Eliminate distracting background clutter by getting closer to your subject. Or try using your camera’s Portrait pre-set mode. This will keep objects close to you in focus, while blurring the background. You can achieve the same effect, known as a shallow depth of field, by manually adjusting your aperture setting to a low f-number, such as f2.8.

Problem: Poor lighting
Digital photography is all about catching that magic moment when the light is just right. But lighting also provides some challenges. These tips will help, whether you’re indoors or out.

Tip 1: Balance bright or dim light
Digital cameras get “confused” by unbalanced conditions, such as a very bright or dim light, causing the camera to under or over expose your photo.

In low light conditions, try using your camera’s night shooting mode, or lower the ISO to 50 or 100 to get rich detail in low light. Use a tripod, or steady yourself against a stable object to avoid moving the camera.

In bright light, try your camera’s Beach or Sunshine mode, or manually choose a fast shutter speed to control the amount of light that comes in.

Tip 2: Shooting indoors
Avoid using your flash. Instead, provide as much natural light as possible—open curtains, or even the door. Or use lamps to add light to the scene. Your flash mutes color and casts stark, deep shadows that are especially unflattering in portraits.

Don’t place your subject in front of a bright window or they will become a silhouette (although this can be a nice effect when done intentionally). Try placing them off to the side instead, or facing a natural light source.

Tip 3: Shooting outdoors
!inlineRSS:news_photographytips Try to have the sun behind you when you shoot. This will provide the most flattering light to your subject.

Shoot early or later in the day—dawn and dusk provide lovely light, whereas midday light can be harsh.

Take advantage of overcast days for photography. That’s when the light is even, and casts almost no shadows.

Problem: Red-eye
The appearance of glowing red eyes can ruin a portrait of even the cutest child or pet. The red color comes from light reflecting off of the retinas in our eyes. The following quick tips can help get the red out.

Tip 1: Try not to use a flash if possible—it is the number one cause of red-eye. Instead, turn on lights or open curtains to add additional light to your scene.

Tip 2: Ask your subject to look toward the camera but not directly at the lens or to look into a bright light first.

Tip 3: Stand farther away from your subject.

Tip 5: Take advantage of in-camera red-eye removal. Many digital cameras and photo printers now allow you to remove red-eye or prevent it altogether. Check your digital camera’s manual to see if it includes these features.

Problem: Blurry photos
While a photo with a dramatic blur can often be artistic, it can also render a subject incomprehensible. Here are some ways to add clarity to your digital photographs.

Tip 1: Reduce shutter lag. The time between pressing the trigger and the camera taking the picture is called shutter lag, and it can cause blurry pictures. Avoid it by pressing the trigger halfway down until you’re ready to shoot. When the right moment comes, press the rest of the way. This strategy is great when you’re taking pictures of people (especially kids) or animals. ?

Tip 2: Minimize camera shake. Even the slightest camera movement can cause unclear photos. Use a tripod or brace yourself against a stationary object to hold the camera still. Some digital cameras come with image stabilization, another way to get clear images of moving subjects.

Tip 3: Use your digital camera’s Action shooting mode for sports or other action shots. It automatically optimizes your shutter speed to help capture motion. Or manually increase your camera’s shutter speed to achieve the same effect.?

Problem: Low-quality prints
If you plan to print your photographs using a digital photo printer, keep resolution in mind. Resolution is measured in megapixels (MP), and matching the resolution to the print size will help you get clear digital photo prints.

Tip 1: If you plan to enlarge or crop photos before printing, it’s best to shoot at the highest resolution possible. But high-resolution pictures take up more memory.

Tip 2: If you plan to e-mail images or print smaller sizes, like 4″ x 6″ or 5″ x 7″ photos, you can stick to 4-5 MP with no problems.

Tip 3: Many digital cameras let you select the resolution level, so you can determine ahead of time whether you want to shoot a big file with lots of detail, or a quick snapshot you can post to a website or e-mail to friends and family.

About the Author

Jean Fleming writes frequently about digital photography. Please click here for more comprehensive information about digital photography tips, tricks, articles, and techniques.

A few years ago getting high quality prints at home was an expensive task that was only suitable for semi-professionals who could afford it and who had the know-how. Today low cost printers can generate amazing quality prints and sophisticated software can do most of the processing work behind the scenes. The result is that even amateur photographers can generate very high quality prints by pressing a single Print button.

There are a few simple tips to follow that can help in getting higher quality prints:

Edit your photos: make sure that you print exactly the photo that you want printed. Using simple photo editing tools (such as Photoshop or even Windows built-in Paint application) you can crop a photo to include just the area you are interested in or crop out parts which you do not want in the print. For example you took a photo of a group of friends but on the left corner of the photo there is a bystander that just happened to be there. You can crop the photo to include only your friends and thus effectively eliminate the unwanted object from the print.

When cropping photos always remember aspect-ratio – depending on the paper and the printer you’re using sometimes you’re limited to a certain photo size. For example if you print on a special 4X6 photo paper any source photo that is not in a 4X6 aspect ratio will have to be either stretched, cropped or parts of the print will be left blank. Make sure that you crop your photo to fit a specific aspect ratio if you’re printing on a specific aspect-ratio paper.

!inlineRSS:news_printingdigitalphotos More photo processing can be done in order to enhance your prints. It can include red-eye removal (many software packages will do it for you automatically) contrast enhancement and more. For example if a portion of the photo that is important to you is a bit dark – you can “stretch” the color palette in a way that this section will look more lit and detailed. This will usually be on the expense of “overexposing” other portions of the photo that you care less about.

Always remember photo resolution: Every photo is built out of pixels. The more pixels in a photo the higher the photo resolution is. We will not get into details here about the correlation between mega pixels and print quality but a general rule of thumb is that to get good print quality you need 300 pixels per inch or more. This means for example that the biggest paper size a 2 mega pixels photo can be printed on is 4X6 while an 8 mega pixels photo can be printed on an 8X10.

Pick the right printer and paper: there are many different printing each with its advantages and disadvantages. They range in quality and cost. To get the best print quality you should use photo paper in conjunction with a printer that supports such paper. Photo paper and photo printers are more expensive than document oriented A4 Inkjet printers. Choose the printer by evaluating how many prints you will make and how important quality is to you. If you print occasionally for fun an Inkjet printer with normal or photo paper is probably good enough for you. If you print a lot and quality is very important photo paper with a photo printer is the way to go. As a rule of thumb glossy photo paper provides the best quality for color photo prints while matte photo paper provides the best quality for black and white prints.

Printer ink and maintenance: printers need to be setup and maintained. It is extremely important to follow the instructions and to use compatible ink cartridges. High quality compatible ink can make the difference between low and high quality prints. It is usually recommended to buy ink from the same brand as the printer. Some calibration is usually needed when replacing ink and sometimes every few months of use. Follow the instructions for such procedures carefully as a calibrated printer results in much better quality prints than a printer that is not aligned and is poorly maintained.

In conclusion it is very easy to print your photos at home. Just buying a mid-range printer and hitting the “Print” button in your photo viewing software will probably result in good prints that are satisfactory for most consumers. Following some simple tips can enhance those prints to professional quality. As technology advances and prices go down experimenting at home with various photo processing tools, paper sizes, paper types and inks becomes affordable and is probably the best way to find what combination yields the best print quality for you.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. You can find more information about photo album printing and photography in general on http://www.printrates.com – a site dedicated to photo printing.

The SLR is not cheap at all. The price historically started at about $5,000 – which is very steep. So, only those who are either professionals or wannabes purchased an SLR for themselves. Nowadays however, in order to make the SLR available to a larger number of photographers, companies such as Canon and Nikon have come up with SLRs falling in the price range of around $1000 without extra lenses.

!inlineRSS:news_digitalcamera What is it that attracts people to an SLR ? One of the main reasons is that an SLR produces pictures which are of much higher quality than point-and-shoot cameras. The contrast and color are extremely good since the lenses used in an SLR are of very good quality. It is an old maxim in the photography world that much of the quality in your images comes from the glass you put in front of the camera. The better the glass the better the photo, it worked in the film days and it still works in the digital age. The camera is important but don’t skimp on the lens.

The photographer can change the lenses in an SLR, depending upon the shot that he/she plans to take. For example, a wide angle lens is used to take pictures of landscapes such as animals in the wild while telephoto lenses help to take extremely detailed pictures of small objects. Thus, one can pick and choose according to the environmental needs. Today some of the manufacturers have started building in image stabilization to their lenses. This really helps when taking long focal length images. While it uses additional power it can be extremely useful.

In addition to the above, the creative opportunity available to the photographer is much more in a SLR than a regular camera. This is because of the fact that a SLR has a lower contrast and image sharpening features. Hence, the photographer can do a lot of editing on his own to get the kind of effect that he desires. This can be viewed as a disadvantage as well by those who are not truly photo enthusiasts. So, for you guys, a point-and-shoot camera is the best option as not only is it cheaper but also adjusts things automatically.

Since a SLR is comparitvely more expensive than other digital cameras, it is very important that you get yourself a proper insurance for the camera. Especially if you plan to travel a lot with your SLR, insurance is extremely important. And also make sure that damage protection does form a part of the insurance deal as some insurance policies do not provide it. So, read the fine print before signing on the dotted line!

About the Author

Kevin Rockwell worked as a network TV cameraman for 20 years shooting news and sports. Now a devoted fan of digital photography and video he works to gather information, tips and news for digital camera users. Oh and he loves to shoot pictures of his kids playing sports. http://www.great-digital-cameras.com/gdcj.html

But it doesn’t have to be that hard. Armed with the following tips, you can get great photos of your fish in just about any situation.

1: Get a tripod.

Tripods are usually used for non-moving subjects. But they can be immensely helpful when photographing fish, even ones that are constantly moving. Low light levels lead to slow shutter speeds. So anything you can do to stabilize the camera will be of tremendous help. The best way to photograph moving fish with your camera on a tripod is to loosen the levers on the tripod so you can move the camera freely left, right, up and down but the camera will remain in position if left alone.

2: Get your fish acquainted with the camera.

!inlineRSS:news_photographytips Now that you have a tripod (since you faithfully followed the first tip), set it up in front of your aquarium with the camera mounted on the tripod. Now leave it. For as long as possible… several days would be ideal. The purpose of this exercise is to get the fish used to seeing the “thing” you’re constantly moving around, pointing it at them and making noises. When they’re comfortable with the sight of the camera, they’ll be more relaxed and less prone to dart around the tank or hide.

3: Use a digital camera.

Digital cameras allow us to “just take the picture” without worrying about whether we’re wasting the film and processing money on a shot that won’t be good. When you can focus on getting the best shot possible, no matter how many tries it takes, you’re on the right track to get the shot you want.

4: Turn off the lights in the room.

Ambient light causes reflections on the tank glass that may ruin a perfectly good fish photograph. Eliminate all sources of ambient light that you can, and be very aware of any reflections as you shoot. If there are some reflections you can’t get rid of, try putting your body between the light source and the glass to shield the tank from the light.

5: Clean the glass, cut the pumps.

Turning off the aquarium pumps before you shoot is an excellent way to clean up your shots of particles and bubbles in the water column. and if you happen to have a planted freshwater tank or reef aquarium, this will also prevent the plants or corals from swaying in your picture, turning into a blurry mess.

Cleaning the glass is probably the most overlooked step to aquarium photography, and quite possible is responsible for more ruined photos than any other issue. Remember, just because you don’t see it now, doesn’t mean you won’t see it in the picture. Amazing how that happens. So clean the glass well, every time, before you pick up the camera.

6: A Bonus!

Have fun. Aquarium photography can become an interesting and challenging hobby all its own. Have fun with it, experiment freely, and be sure to share your pictures online!

About the Author

Travis Staut has worked as a photographer for an online live coral retailer and has had several of his photographs published on the cover of Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Magazine. You can see his work and more articles at his aquarium photography http://www.reef-life.com site.

Next to your Camera, a camera bag could well be the most important piece of kit you purchase. You certainly want to protect the camera you just spent your hard earned money on, and it also needs to be a safe and sturdy carrying case. It’s very important that your bag allows you to access your equipment easily and helps you organize your photographic equipment into compartments where possible.

!inlineRSS:news_digitalcamera There are many different bags available, from Crumpler and Sony to Lowerpro and Domke, all in a variety of shapes, sizes, materials, and functions. Which bag is most suitable to you largely depends on the type and intensity of photography you undertake. For example a Landscape photographer will often find him or herself shooting in damp or wet environments, so a durable, waterproof bag is appropriate. However, a weekend photographer shooting family day outs would simply need a soft, padded bag, normally carried over one shoulder for ease.

A cam-bag should make carrying your camera easier, not more of a hassle. So make sure that you find a bag that fits your camera well and preferably has wide, padded straps for comfort. If you are just starting out, you may only need a simple basic camera bag that will just hold just your camera.

However, if you’re more experienced, or carry more kit than usual, such as lenses, filters etc, you will obviously need a larger bag capable of taking more weight. Ideally, you’re going to want one that can hold all of the accessories you use most. Normally a camera body, spare lens, cleaning cloth and memory card holder. Remember though, if your camera bag is going to be used to carry more than just a camera, you definitely want dividers in it. These make it easier to keep your accessories separate. Try to find a bag with an inner zip pocket which can be ideal for your car keys or money, when traveling on foot.

A very important factor often overlooked when choosing a camera bag is the ‘Zip’. Look for Bags with big tooth zips. These type are less likely to jam or stick if they get damp or dirty. Some of which are available with rain closures which protect the zipper from rain. There are also double closure Zips which open and fasten from both ends, great for shooting pictures on the move. Although the color isn’t crucial, it is worth thinking about subtle colors, these will undoubtedly draw less attention from potential thieves and also mid toned bags will not absorb heat as quickly as other colors in hot environments, which could cause possible problems with digital equipment.

About the Author

Gary Bunn (Editor)
http://www.Your-Digital-Photography.com

And, Let There Be Light…

Natural light sources like the sun and the moon are considered the best light sources. These lights often invade indoors and make natural shots come alive. Men have created artificial lights like the ordinary bulb, the tungsten halogen lamp or the bright photoflood.

There are various types of lighting, the photographer can employ. The most common is the Directional lighting provided by flash, tungsten or several sources and can be used from the front, back or side.

Front lighting is the most in vogue but it reveals every detail. The light is at the back of the photographer beaming at the face of the subject highlighting every detail. This often results in an unexciting and flat look of your subjects. Another technique is to mystify your subject by lighting up from side. The main illumination from side adds interest and vigor with presence of dark shadows.

In Back lighting the source light remains in the rear of the subject shining in the face of the camera. So, you must be very careful while using this mode otherwise the subject will appear like a silhouette. The main advantage here is, you will be able to capture the natural expressions of your subject in an outdoor shoot, as he will not squint facing bright light.

You can employ Cross lighting where strong directional light comes from both sides. But this method is only suitable for studios with bright flash or tungsten lights.

Lighting For Digital Photography

Digital cameras may offer a wide range of easy lighting modes but there are challenges for the artist in his path to perfection. You must adopt the trial and error method and acquire the knowledge of lighting.

!inlineRSS:news_photographytips Most digital cameras have preset digital photography lighting modes or ’scenes’ for different lighting situation. There is the indoor mode to click without flash, which is particularly useful in art galleries or museums, the night and portrait mode allows you to take pictures of your subject with a gleaming backdrop at night using a slower shutter speed.

The digital cameras provide an automatic setting for white balancing .You can determine the baseline white in your image against which, other colors will be rendered. Your camera may have a histogram to evaluate exposure in different digital photography conditions. Most cameras have various options like daylight, cloudy, tungsten and more.

What Is Auxillary Lighting?

If you want to create art using light and shadow, the Flash unit alone is not enough. Here, auxiliary lighting comes in. If you decide to shoot portraits or product shots in a studio then auxiliary lighting is not optional but necessary.

For great results use head and kicker lights. Flashlights do not generate heat like floods and spots, so are more suited for portraits. Make sure the flash suits your digital camera. If you want to shoot still shots or product shots, continuous tungsten light is the cheapest and best. A range of wattage bulbs and reflectors will help you control the intensity and direction of light too.

If you don’t have money you can rent lights. Top studios have various assortments of flash units, flood and spotlights.

How to use light

Light is made up of all colors. If seen through a prism it bursts into different colors. You are free to experiment with the rainbow. Artificial lights have their own characteristics. The photographer can utilize different light sources. You can alter white setting for a different effect. Most digital cameras have color setting modes to achieve accuracy of the colors.

Direction of light is important in digital photography. People look best in diffused sidelights and backlight produces a halo effect while overhead lighting produces sharp contrast of light and shadows. Strength of light is also an essential factor. You can have placid effect from diffused lighting and sharpness from strong light.

Indoor lighting gives you ample scope to shoot nice pictures. You can assemble light as per your choice and can even harness sunlight when it enters your house to soften your image.

Outdoor shots are more challenging. It leaves you at the mercy of Mother Nature. While landscape looks good in soft light, the wildlife is captivating with fine details in bright light. So photographers try to capture wildlife just before dusk or before dawn.

In digital cameras, you do not need to worry about ISO film speed. Most digital cameras have preset ISO setting. However, experimentation is the perfect way to curb imperfection. So inflame your imagination and hone your skill. You are ready to enter the luminous empire of photography.

About the Author

Connie Fillmore is a successful writer and publisher of photography related issues, for more informative articles go to http://www.digitalphotographyguy.com.

Enjoy!

Tip 1 – Use All Your Available Space

Don’t be afraid to use all the space in your photo. If you want to take a picture of something, it’s ok for it to take up the whole shot with no or very little background showing. Keep distractions out of your shot

Tip 2 – Study Forms

This is a vital aspect to photography. Understanding forms in your photos. Don’t see an object, she its shape and its form and find the best angle to photograph it from. Form is all around us and I highly suggest you read as many books on it as possible.

Tip 3 – Motion In Your Photos

Never have motion in your photos if you are photographing a still object. If there is something moving while you are trying to photograph a stationery object, your photo won’t turn out anywhere near as well. Also never put a horizon line in the center of your frame.

Tip 4 – Learn To Use Contrasts Between Colors.

!inlineRSS:news_photographytips Some of the best photos have shades of white, gray and black. You can take great shots with just one color on your subject, but the contrasts between colors in a shot is what makes you a great photographer.

Tip 5 – Get Closer To Your Subject

This is one of the biggest mistakes most photographers make, not getting close enough to their subject. Get up and personal and close the distance gap. You can always reshape and resize a good shot but you can’t continue to blowup a distant object.

Tip 6 – Shutter Lag

Shooting action shots with digital camera’s can be tricky due to shutter lags. What this means is, when you press the button to take the photo, it can take up to a second for the shutter to take a photo, by that time what you were photographing would have moved or changed somehow. This means you have to compensate for shutter lag by predicting what your subject is going to do and taking the photo just before it takes the action you want. More expensive digital cameras don’t have this problem.

Tip 7 – Pan

If you are taking an action shot and your shutter speed is slow, pan with the object. Follow through with the subject, from start to finish and one of those shots will be a winner. You have more chance of getting a good shot if you take more then one photo.

Tip 8 – Continuous Shots

To pan like I suggested above you will need a camera that does continuous shots and doesn’t need to stop and process after every shot.

Tip 9 – How To Take Fantastic Night Time Shots

Night time shots can be spectacular, almost magical…. if done right! If not they can look horrible. Really horrible. Without adequate lighting, even good camera’s can turn out crappy photos if the photographer doesn’t know what he or she is doing.

Tip 10 – Study Your Manual

If your digital camera has a special night time mode, read the manual and follow their instructions on how to use it properly.

About the Author

Michael Colucci is a technical writer for http://www.photography-tips.org – A site that offers the latest tips on photography.

Digital SLR photography uses a digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera that uses a movable mirror placed between the lens and the film to project the image on to a focusing screen.

Digital SLR photography churns out the most amazingly realistic photographs, in fact much better than the ones turned out by the conventional fixed lens cameras. But its prime appeal to photographers, both amateur and professional, is in the fact that he can work out a large amount of control over how his pictures end up as.

Digital SLR photography is all about customized photographs that are stunning to look at, to say the least. This is because the cameras come with extremely good lenses. This is why the discerning photographers are not miserly about getting a lens, frightfully expensive they may be.

However, digital SLR photography enthusiasts should never think that a swanky Nikon or a Canon is the passport to great photography. The apparatus notwithstanding, good photography depends a lot on the skills of the person brandishing the camera. The basics of digital SLR photography are not hard to pick up.

!inlineRSS:news_photographytips The first and foremost tip about digital SLR photography is to equip yourself with the nitty-gritty of lighting. If you are shooting outdoors during the day it is best to have the sun directly behind you. It is also essential that your subject also does not have to face the sun so that he has to squint. You should know that the best time to film landscapes, buildings and outdoor portraits is either dawn or the twilight hours.

If you want to impart the warmth of the rising or setting sun to your midday photo shoot, then a skylight or a warm filter is your key.

Tips to great digital SLR photography insist on maintaining control over the camera’s flash property. To be precise, don’t have your camera have the last word about where the flash should come on. Take the reins yourself and ensure that your photograph subjects are not lost in a maze of bright light.

Good photography, digital or analog, SLR or otherwise, is all about being able to use the filters right. You never know when that polarizer or the gradual filter or the skylight/UV filter might come to your rescue at times when the light situations are tricky.

The Macro Mode atop the camera just happens to be the most underrated and under-used feature. But unknown to many, this mode is great for taking enchanting close-ups of tiny objects.

Realistic and stunning digital photography is actually the norm with plethora of controls that come with modern day digital SLR cameras. And photography tips harp on tinkering with the controls to get a hang of the controls and the outcomes they produce.

Experimenting for instance, with really slow (30 seconds) extremely fast (1000th-8000th/second) shutter speeds can produce dramatic results. The ISO setting is another area for experimentation. In fact, high ISO values come in quite handy when you cannot use a flash in low light situations.

Get well up on your digital SLR photography tips and tricks and shoot at sight willingly.

About the Author

Connie Fillmore is a successful writer and publisher of photography related issues, for more informative articles go to http://www.digitalphotographyguy.com.

How do you begin to take good photos? Well, the first thing to remember is this: It’s the photographer that takes great photos, not the camera. Think about that for a minute. It’s true isn’t it? I’ve seen some people take great photos with a simple point-and-shoot camera, while some take lousy shots with the most expensive SLR.

Fret not! Read these tips on shooting digital photos and apply them the next time you have a chance. Before long, you’ll be shooting photos like a pro!

1. Know Your Camera

Does this sound familiar? You buy the latest digital camera out there, come home, rip off the box, then proceed to fiddle with the device. You briefly flick through the hundred page camera manual and then never look at it again. Not a good idea! If you buy a digital camera, you owe it to yourself to understand its ins and outs. Learn how to control exposure, how to use different camera modes and how to use the flash. The knowledge you gain about the camera will be invaluable when you’re out in the field taking those special photos.

2. Learn to Control the Flash

One of the most important things you need to know about digital photography is to control the flash. Personally, I hate to rely on the automatic flash that comes with the digital camera. Depending on the situation, you need to switch off or switch on the flash.

For example, when taking outdoor photos, it is sometimes good to turn on the flash to illuminate the subject, especially if he or she is in the shade. On the other hand, you can also choose to turn off the flash when taking indoor shots. Sometimes, using the flash indoors will result in unnatural skin color and harsh glare in your photos.

3. Play with the Macro Mode

Almost all digital camera these days have a macro mode. This setting is ideal for taking close up shots of objects like flowers or insects. On my Canon PowerShot S500, it’s represented by a flower symbol. What you do is to pick a subject, turn on macro mode, then get as close to it as your camera will allow. Make sure you allow the camera to focus properly before depressing the shutter button fully.

4. Hold the Camera Level

!inlineRSS:news_photographytips A basic rule of photography is to hold the camera level. Since most digital cameras come with a LCD, you can use it to properly frame your shots. Next time you’re taking a shot, try to look for the horizontal lines and use them as guides. A good example is to make use of the horizon when you’re taking a photo of a sunset.

5. Use The Tripod

I recommend this tip to all budding photographers – camera tripods are an essential tool in your photography arsenal. When will you need a tripod? Well, it’s useful if you’re taking shots under low-light conditions or trying to capture fast moving objects. I like to use a tripod when taking night shots city streets, for example. Always try to look for a tripod that’s convenient to carry around. For personal use, you don’t need a huge one – just a simple compact one that’s easy to pack.

6. Play with the ISO Setting

I find the ISO setting in digital cameras very useful. The ISO setting of a essentially camera controls it’s sensitivity to light. If you’re taking a photo of a still object, like a flower, then always use a low ISO setting. It allows for a longer shutter speed and produces a cleaner image. If you’re shooting a moving object, like a baby playing with a toy, then a higher ISO setting of say 400 would be better. Do take note, however, that a higher ISO setting gives a faster shutter speed and requires less light. This will produce noiser photos.

7. Have Enough Memory Capacity

Just like you must have enough rolls of film when using traditional cameras, make sure you always have enough memory capacity in your digital camera. It’s terrible to be on a holiday taking great photos and suddenly realizing you’ve no memory space left. Here are some general guidelines for digital camera storage.

• 2 megapixel cameras – get at least a 64MB card
• 3 megapixel camera – get at least a 128MB card
• 4 megapixel camera – get at least a 256MB card
• 5 megapixel camera and above – get at least a 512MB or 1GB card

Conclusion

Whew. A pretty long article. I hope I’ve managed to give you some good tips on shooting great digital photos. Always remember what I said – while the latest and greatest digital cameras have amazing features, you still need a skilled photographer to take nice pictures. Apply the above tips to your everyday shooting and learn to be a better photographer.

About the Author

Gary Hendricks runs a hobby site on digital photography. Visit his website at http://www.basic-digital-photography.com for tips and tricks on buying digital cameras, as well as shooting great photos. gary_hendricks@basic-digital-photography.com

About Personalized Photo Calendars:

Photo Calendars are 12-month, wall-hanging calendars that you can create using your own digital photos and captions. As you customize your own photo calendar, you can start the calendar on whatever month and year you wish. Most photo calendars are printed on white heavy-weight glossy card stock that you can write on, and they are spiral-bound in the middle.

Creating Personalized Photo Calendars:

!inlineRSS:news_printingdigitalphotos Most online digital photo printing services, such as Shutterfly (my favorite), Snapfish and Kodak EasyShare Gallery, offer custom photo calendars. The process of creating personalized photo calendars usually involves:

1. Picking a starting month and year for your calendar

2. Selecting a page design from a variety of templates

3. Choosing your photos from those you have uploaded to the photo service’s website and selecting which photo you want for a specific month

4. Writing brief photo captions to accompany each page of your photo calendar (usually optional)

5. Adding a cover photo for your personalized photo calendar

6. Placing your photo calendar order with the web site

Templates for Personalized Photo Calendars:

Most photo printing services like Shutterfly and Snapfish offer a selection of photo calendar templates to choose from. There are also several software programs that include free photo calendar templates. FotoFinish offers several photo calendar templates with its FotoFinish Suite software version, and you can download a variety of additional free photo calendar templates from its website. Adobe Photoshop Album and Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album 5 Deluxe also feature photo calendar templates.

Printing Photo Calendars:

If you design your custom photo calendar using an online photo service, to print it simply add your photo calendar to your online shopping account and check out. You’ll have your printed photo calendar in a few days. The average cost is about $20 per calendar. If you are using your own software to create your photo calendar, you can print your calendar pages using your own color printer and have your pages spiral bound into a calendar at a local copy store.

Customized Photo Calendars Make Great Gifts:

Custom photo calendars make terrific gifts, whether for birthdays, Mother’s Day, etc. Got an avid golfer in the family? What about custom golf photo calendars featuring photos of your golfer teeing off? Sometimes it is hard to come up with a good gift idea for elderly parents or grandparents. A photo calendar with pictures of your children makes a great gift that grandma and grandpa will enjoy anew each time they turn over a new month. Don’t have kids? What about 12 months of your favorite pet photos? The ideas are endless.

About the Author

Valerie Goettsch publishes the digital photography website http://www.digitalphotos101.com featuring reviews of photo editing and album software and digital photo printing services.

Whether you use a compact point and shoot or SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera, camera shake can ruin an otherwise perfect photo. There are many ways to minimise camera shake or eliminate it altogether. The most obvious way is to use a tripod, however that is not always readily available or practical at times. Another popular method of stabilizing the camera is to use a camera bean bag. One such camera bean bag is called Cam-Pod. Cam-Pod is different to the traditional camera bean bag because it has bi-folding pockets that can fold to hold the camera and lens snugly. It also contains plastic fillings, making it customs friendly.

Taking hand held shots –

When taking handheld photos. It can sometimes be a challenge to use a shutter speed fast enough to prevent camera shake or blur. This depends on the available light. A general rule of thumb is to use a shutter speed equivalent to the focal length of your lens. For example; if you are using a 50mm lens, the minimum shutter speed for hand held shots would be 1/50th sec or faster. On a 200mm lens, use 1/250th sec or faster. Shoot hand held with a speed slower than this and you are likely to get camera shake. If you are extremely still with your hands, you can probably get a way with speeds a little slower than these suggested speeds.

To take the shot, hold the camera with both hands and with your elbow beside your body. This will provide additional stabilization of the camera. Many cameras may have a shutter lag so after depressing the shutter, do not move the camera immediately or you may experience movement in your shot. When taking the shot, breath in, press the shutter and then exhale.

Using the camera bean bag support –

!inlineRSS:news_photographytips Find a firm surface to lean your camera on, eg a rock, bin, fence, wall, tree, etc. Make sure surface is solid and does not move easily. Place the camera bean bag on the surface and your camera on top or to the side if it is vertical. Wiggle the camera a little to allow camera to sit firmly on the camera bean bag. With an SLR/DSLR camera, just fold the camera bean bag to provide support for the lens. For point and shoot cameras, just rest the camera on the camera bean bag and hold it with your hand and finger on shutter button. Select the right shutter speed and take the photo. The camera bean bag can be folded, twisted and rolled to get the right angle for your camera. You can also place the camera bean bag against a wall and lean your camera against it for a natural light shot without flash. This will give you a more natural looking photo with even lighting rather than one with harsh shadows caused by the flash. When taking flash shots with dark background, use a slower shutter speed such as 1/8 sec or 1/2 sec. Ensure that when using the camera bean bag that your camera and the camera bean bag is stable and won’t slip off the surface and cause expensive damage to your gear. Eg when resting camera and the camera bean bag on a car side mirror, do not take your hand off the camera.

Selecting the correct shutter speed / aperture to take the photo –

To correctly capture and expose a scene, the camera will automatically choose the right combination of shutter speed and aperture. In most cases, this gives good results, however you may need to override the auto settings and over/under compensate the exposure to get the best results – This is most prevalent when subject is in front of a bright background. For SLR/DSLR cameras, set the shooting mode to S (shutter priority). On some cameras, it is the T setting (Time priority). Choose a shutter speed and aperture appropriate for the scene. For the sharpest pictures, many professional photographers use the mid-range aperture of f8 or f11. Ensure the camera is sitting firmly on the camera bean bag with no movement.

Focus on the subject. Press the shutter release. Ensure that there is no camera movement when pressing shutter. If so, the picture maybe blurred. Re-adjust the camera bean bag and the camera and try taking the photo again. Look at the camera’s LCD to see the focus and exposure of the photo. You may need to zoom into the displayed photo to see the details. If photo looks dark, increase the exposure by selecting a longer shutter speed. Shutter speeds are typically (from slowest to fastest) 8s, 6s, 4s, 3s, 2s,1.5s, 1s, 1/1.5, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, 1/10, 1/15, 1/20, 1/30, 1/45, 1/60, 1/90, 1/125, 1/180, 1/250, 1/350, 1/500, 1/750, 1/1000, 1/1500, 1/2000, 1/3000, 1/4000, 1/6000 and 1/8000. Shutter speeds are in seconds or fraction of a second. Eg a shutter of 1/60th means the shutter will open for one sixtieth of a second. If the captured picture looks too dark on the LCD display, use a slower shutter speed such as 1/45 or 1/20. Alternatively and if possible, open the aperture to let in more light. Aperture scales are (from widest opening to smallest) f1, f2.8, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, f22, f32. (Note: your lens may not have all these settings). Another way to shoot in low light is to increase the ISO setting. However this also introduces digital noise into your photos.

Using the self timer and remote control

Depending on the shutter speed you are using, you may still end up with camera shake in your final shot. Ie. As you press shutter, the camera may move a little. To minimise this, set your camera to self timer, press shutter and take your hand off camera. The shot will be taken in a few seconds without the camera being touched. For cameras with remote function, set it to remote control function, adjust camera and the camera bean bag and press remote control. Some cameras allow you to use a shutter release cable. Controlling your camera remotely is the best way of minimising camera movement as there is no camera contact during the shot, thus giving you sharp photos every time.

About the Author

Nelson Luc has been a freelance photographer for over a decade. During this time he has photographed people, places, nature and still life. Nelson developed Cam-Pod after not being able to find a camera bean bag that is small, portable and foldable. Cam-Pod camera support is customs friendly as it contains plastic fillings and not organic material. For more information, go to http://www.cam-pod.com

Basically, strictly considering the facts, there are three file formats used by digital cameras to create images of photographs taken by them. These are JPEG, TIFF and RAW. These are the names of the formats but like their strange names their identity remains in the dark if these are not conversed in a little detail. The most vastly and commonly used file format for digital cameras is the JPEG file format. It is time and again the lone available file format on primary and some intermediate standard digital cameras. Many sophisticated digital cameras allows the users to opt for between JPEG, TIFF and RAW. However professional photographers usually prefer to shoot RAW. Yet the discretion remains with the human preference only.

!inlineRSS:news_digitalcamera It is a fact that the acronym JPEG stands for “Joint Photographic Expert Group” after the group that developed this file type. To make things easier it must be clarified that JPEG is a compression technique that can considerably trim down the file size of a photograph and other unremitting tone images. Almost all digital cameras have a number of JPEG compression levels and quality settings to select from. The users can make use of them as per discretion and the photograph taken. Thus the jpeg images do not consume much space on a memory cards. Another specialty of this digital camera file format is that JPEGs store camera settings and scene information. All these advantages make this file format so popular and diversely accepted.

The next digital camera file format is the TIFF (Tagged Image File Format). This file format has the greater advantage that it does not lose any image file information during the compression process and moreover as a consequence it does take up a lot of space from a memory card in comparison to a JPEG image. Due to this detailed storage it also takes additional time to retrieve the information to the card. Basically the TIFF compression reduces images to about one-third their original size as per convention.

Coming to the next digital camera file format. It is defined as the RAW file! It is also sometimes referred to as an appropriate digital negative. Most advanced digital cameras allow or permit the ability to shoot RAW in professional standards. The interesting portion is that in a RAW image no alterations are made by the camera (such as sharpening or white balance). And this gives entire control to the photographer when he or she processes an image later. However this RAW file format is not used extensive due to the fact that most image editors cannot open it and computer-processing time is also more. However the fact still remains that a RAW image has a smaller file size than a TIFF.

With all these discussions regarding the different digital camera file formats, it is clear that the three most widely accepted file formats have their own advantages and disadvantages, yet they are unique in some way or the other that makes them special in their own manner. The knowledge about these digital camera file formats of storage not only yields greater understanding of the camera; it also opens the eyes towards the fantastic results of technological advancements in our daily lives.

About the Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com. Visit his digital camera guide and learn how to take better pictures with your digicam.

PRINTING YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOS AT HOME

Convenience and instant gratification are two popular reasons for printing your digital photos at home. Depending on your printer, you can print directly from your camera or from your memory card in most cases. Or if you want to touch up your photos first you can copy them to your computer, use your photo editing software (I like Photoshop Elements 3.0) to enhance your images, and then print right from your graphics program. You don’t have to make an extra stop to drop off your photo memory card at the photofinisher or drugstore and then return to pick up your prints, and you save the shipping fees the online photo services charge.

However, printing your photos on your home printer may be more expensive than you realized. The per-print price can approach $1 per picture when you factor in the cost of buying a photo printer, high quality photo paper and lots of color ink cartridges. If you print a lot of photos you’ll go through ink cartridges and paper rather quickly, which gets expensive, especially if you make mistakes and have to reprint. If you use inexpensive or off-brand paper, you will likely find that your photos may start to fade or discolor within a few months. According to industry experts, if you print at home, use the same brand name paper as your printer manufacturer (i.e. if you have a Canon printer, use Canon photo paper). Your prints will be better quality and last longer.

!inlineRSS:news_printingdigitalphotos USING AN ONLINE DIGITAL PHOTOFINISHER

Online digital photofinishers like Ofoto and the new PhotoWorks make the process of printing your photos very easy. You can edit your photos either using your own photo editing software or download free software from the online line printing service to crop, fix red-eye, and add special effects or borders to your images. Then simply select the images you want to print, click to upload to the photo site, and you will receive your order, printed on high quality photo paper, in your mailbox in approx. 2-5 days. In addition to prints you can order customized photo calendars, photo cards, photo books, mugs, and other photo items. With some online services, like Shutterfly, you can even try out and order frames for your photos.

The downside: you do pay a shipping charge, so you may want to wait and order a number of photos or photo products at one time to make it more economical. Print costs for 4×6 inch photos range from about 19 cents to 29 cents, depending on the company.

Wal-Mart.com’s prints are inexpensive and the bonus is you can upload your photos to their website and then pick them up at your local store and avoid shipping charges. Photo stores like RitzCamera.com or WolfCamera.com are also good options because you can either upload your photos to their website and pick them up at a local store in as little as an hour, or you can drop off your memory card at the store and pick up your prints later.

PRINT YOUR PHOTOS AT THE DRUGSTORE

Digital printing is now available at drugstore chains such as Walgreens and Longs. You can bring in your memory stick and use their photo kiosk to crop and edit your images and then print them. The cost is about the same as an online printing service, but you have to stand there at the kiosk and edit/upload your photos. Not something I really want to do, nor do I want to wait in line while someone else finishes their photo order. The good news is these drugstores also offer online photo services so you can upload your photos to their website and you can pick up your prints at their store usually the next day.

The other option is you can drop off your memory card or CD at the drugstore’s photo department and pick up your prints anywhere from an hour later to a day later, depending on the service selected, just like the “old days” of 35mm film. The print cost is about the same as full service online photo finishers (less the shipping fee). There are frequent sales, so the per-print cost can be relatively low if you hit a sale, but you don’t have the option of cropping or enhancing your images unless you edit your photos then burn them to a CD first.

My suggestion is to experiment with several methods and find the best one that works for you. Whatever you do, don’t just let all those digital photos pile up in your memory card or on your computer, get them printed so you can show them off. Of course you can also share them online with family and friends, but that’s another article.

About the Author

Valerie Goettsch publishes the digital photography website http://www.digitalphotos101.com featuring reviews of photo editing and album software and digital photo printing services.

Leaving aside the ever power thirsty LCD screens and flashes, the digital cameras themselves exhaust batteries much faster than film cameras, due to their state of the art electronic designs and intricate circuitry. Many digital cameras run from AA cells, around 4, and can even drain a set of alkaline cells in less than 1 hour of working! For example, the Kodak DC120 draws about 210mA during start or switch ON, but progresses to around 1.3A with the association of the LCD fully working and can go ahead to about 2.1A while picture taking and after it too.

!inlineRSS:news_digitalcamera With all these nightmares regarding the batteries of the digital cameras, it is worthwhile to analyze and reveal some of the available batteries for the digital cameras in an effort to explore area of power consumption in this fantastic device. Coming to first one of these, like its great name suggests, it is the Li-ion (Lithium Ion). It is one of the latest cell types available to digital camera users. This has many advantages to its credit. It is light in weight and currently available for many commercial uses and thus being so the Li-ion (Lithium Ion) battery type is becoming quite popular. This has an added advantage of being able to endow with more power than any of the other main cell types available. It is also free from the problems of memory effect, hat some battery types do have, and maintenance is least in this type of battery. These are but real goodies about this Li-ion (Lithium Ion) battery. Yet it has one major disadvantage, that is, the price is usually significantly higher than conventional batteries, due to its sophisticated design and technology.

Coming to the next one in the line, the NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride). This is a battery that is perhaps the most frequently under use for not only digital cameras, but also for other sophisticated devices like laptop computers! This has the advantage of being cheap in price due to the fact that it incurs cheap manufacturing costs, and thus a choice for many users! But this does have the problems of memory effect, and much more maintenance and care is required while handling this kind of battery.

Another such battery is the NiCAD (Nickel Cadmium) Battery. This is perhaps belonging to one of the older cell types generally available for older laptops and electronic devices. These batteries or cells have an aptitude for handling high power loads, and therefore is more frequently found in handy power tools and devices that require more amounts power to work efficiently and perfectly. Yet again, these batteries too have the problems of memory effect, and much more maintenance and care is required while handling this kind of battery.

Apart from the different batteries themselves, the selection should be based upon the charging techniques and the different charges available for all these digital camera batteries. Latest batteries come handy with charging free techniques too! So care needs to be taken in this area also, depending upon the requirements of the user.

With all the vivid conversation regarding the hearts of the digital cameras, their batteries, it is expected for every person going through the lines to have grabbed a significant amount of information in dealing with the intricacies of the purchase, and thereby also augment the ability of the person in using such a sophisticated device as a digital camera with a proper battery!

About the Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com. Visit his digital camera guide and learn how to take better pictures with your digicam.