Master Your Photo Camera

Landscapes and outdoors - Andrew Brown Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:42:00 +0000

Some stunning views.

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Kodak says camera sensor may eliminate flash

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:42:00 +0000

By Franklin Paul NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eastman Kodak Co. (EK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it has developed digital camera technology that nearly eliminates the need for flash photography, part of the company's effort to make money...

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Boris Krylov's Nature and Macro Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:41:00 +0000

Interesting photography!

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Do you Love Photography? This community will help you love it more!

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:41:00 +0000

A new, and more useful approach to sharing photography. Discover new exciting shooting locations, and share yours with others.

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PHOTOGRAPHY - How It Works - Zoom Lenses

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:41:00 +0000

Good basic lesson on how camera zoom lenses operate.

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Wedding Photography Advice, how to find your wedding photographer

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:02:00 +0000

What are the things that are important when looking for a photographer for your wedding. This article covers the questions that you need to ask before you book a photographer for your wedding. If it's a high profile celebrity wedding or a small gathering of friends and family, the photographs are the things that you will have to remember the day.

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Kodak: Reinventing digital cameras?

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:02:00 +0000

Kodak's new image sensor technology may be poised to change the world of digital photography, too bad it's a couple years away from production.

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Photography Tips and Tutorials [Videos]

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:02:00 +0000

A video collection of very good photography lessons and tutorials. Watch on the web or on your mobile phone. Video channel by HooQs.

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Online photography classes: Pros and Cons

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:01:00 +0000

Online education is a very controversial issue. There are strong supporters of this rapidly developing trend, but there are people who still refuse to acknowledge these new methods of education.

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Ultimate Guide To Getting Started in DSLR Photogpraphy - Getting Equipped

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:00:00 +0000

The ultimate guide continues with a list of recommendations of all the equipment you'll need to get started in DSLR photography on a budget. Great recommendations on cameras, lenses and everything else you need. If you are interested in digital SLR photography, you gotta read this one.

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Photography Enhancement 1

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:00:00 +0000

I am going to show you how to create a professional quality photograph, from your every day picture.

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Sony DSLR sensors monopoly fell

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:59:00 +0000

Pentax will use sensors from the other manufacturer for thir new cameras

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Flash Tips for Point And Shoot Camera Owners

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:59:00 +0000

Most photography enthusiasts are getting into D-SLR cameras, in other words really expensive ones. But the rest of us still dealing with point and shoot cameras, those great single piece of equipments that gives us the opportunity of taking great photos to keep our memories for as long as humanly possible. While point and shoot seems [...]

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How to edit digital images in order to impress a girl

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:59:00 +0000

Here's a quick instructable on how to impress a girl, with a simple digital camera hack (if you can call it that)...

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Free Digital Stock Art Photographs To Download Or To Be Framed

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:58:00 +0000

The title says it all...check this site out...it is worth the time.

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Portrait retouch challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:58:00 +0000

DigitalDilemmas.blogspot.com has passed a challenge from the DPReview Photography site onto it's readers, asking the posters to try their hand at retouching a simple portrait. The original image by DPReview member Mr. Eamon Hickey has been given new life! Follow the link to the DPReview site and give it a try.

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What to get after buying a digital SLR

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:57:00 +0000

A nice brief commentary on useful add-ons to a digital SLR. The comment about the 50 mm prime lens is spot-on.

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Get your photos turned into canvas art

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:56:00 +0000

Canvas On Demand transforms your pictures, digital photo enlargements, traditional photo enlargements, family portraits, senior portraits and pet portraits into beautiful giclee style canvas prints. A photo on canvas makes for a unique gift for any occasion.

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Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) Secure Digital Cards ( SD )

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:49:00 +0000

Secure Digital cards are solid-state devices designed with flash technology, a non-volatile storage solution that does not lose its information when power is removed from the card.

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PhotoShop Upgrades - Unprecedented New Features

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:44:00 +0000

They are even expanding into the 3D market among many other new enhancements

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Purchasing A Digital Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 12:22:00 +0000

The term "Digital Photography" can be used to cover both still and video photography, when purchasing either of these technologies the same criteria can be used to make sure that you acquire the correct piece of equipment for your needs.

There are many things to consider when buying either a digital camera. The first thing to do is to figure out what your budget is. Camera prices range from a few pounds for low-end models to thousands for the high-end models for professional use. Decide how much money you would like to spend and what the usage of the camera will be. Try to answer questions such as: Are you going to take family photos, shoot landscape photos, travel a lot with the camera, use a lot of flash photography, Speed of aperture for the faster action shot is also important with the stills camera. The same applies for camcorders, are you looking for camcorder to work in bright sunny conditions or darker cloudy conditions such as using on a skiing trip

Once you have decided on the budget and the usage look for potential cameras. If you have decided to look for your camera on the web you may want to make use of a more specific search engine phrase such as" Sony digital camera" or "digital photo printing services", in doing this your results are going to be highly targeted to your particular digital camera needs.

If you create a table you can list the cost and features of each of the different types of camera or camcorder, this will help you to narrow down your search for the correct camera to fit your needs.

The features you should be looking to add to your list should be the following:

New cameras are packed with an ever increasing number of mega pixels. Is more mega pixels better? A quick answer would be yes - but a better answer would be "it really depends". More mega pixels are important if you are going to print photos (especially enlargements) or if you are going to zoom in and crop fine details out of big photos. If you plan to watch your photos on your computer screen and maybe just print a few 4X6 prints every now and then than 2 mega pixels is more than enough (yes… just 2). Most screen resolutions are about 1024X768 so even when viewing the photo in full screen mode you can only view 1024X768 which is less than 1 mega pixels. A 2 mega pixels, 4X6 photo print will have a DPI higher than 300 which is more than enough for a high quality print.
If you plan to print photo enlargements then a rule of thumb is to be able to print at least 300DPI resolution. The following is a table for different print sizes and the mega pixels needed for such print quality:

page 4X6 2MP
page 5X7 3MP
page 8X10 7MP
page 11X14 14MP
page 16X20 28MP
page 20X30 54MP

Unless you budget is infinite when you buy a camera with more mega pixels you make a compromise between mega pixels and other features. For example is it better to spend money on more mega pixels or on better lenses? Or maybe on an external flash? It all depends on how you will use your camera. Evaluate your usage and decide what is more important to you.

In some situations it is very useful to have a good zoom capability. For example when you take a portrait photo you want to make sure the object's face fills the photo frame while when you take a group photo you want to make sure everybody is in the photo frame.

Some manufacturers state the camera's zoom figure without specifying if it is optical or digital. Optical zoom works by physically moving the camera's lenses and changing the focal length. By changing the focal length you can make objects appear bigger and fit the full photo frame. Digital zoom works by applying built-in software in the camera to define a portion of the photo which you are interested in. Once chosen the software crops the rest of the photo and enlarges the area you chose to fit the complete photo frame. The downside of this digital process is that the enlarged photo quality is lower than the original photo's. The conclusion is that optical zoom is superior to digital zoom so when you compare different camera's zoom always compare their optical zoom capabilities. You can totally ignore the digital zoom figures.

With ever growing storage capacities digital cameras today can hold hundreds and sometimes thousands of photos on a single media. You can always have a few more in your pocket and changing is very fast. The result is that a digital camera has practically infinite capacity. You can shoot as many photos as you want and at the end of the day just dump them on your computer disk. There is no time lost changing film and there are no photo opportunities lost due to lack of film or reserving film for later.

Advances such as the internet can make us neglect the many different digital photography resources that are currently freely available to us such as the town book shop or town library which can often be an obvious place to obtain guidance about digital camera products, you should certainly make use of these kinds of havens of great digital camera data as suitable digital camera product information may very often be hard to find.

By: peterrscott

Seven Common Mistakes When Taking Digital Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:30:00 +0000

You have probably taken photos before just to find out later that they did not come out as expected. Although digital cameras are getting smarter there are still a lot of decisions that the photographer has to make. There are also many mistakes that the photographer can make. Here are seven common ones.

Many mistakes can ruin a photo. Here is a list of seven common ones. The first step to avoid these is to understand what they are and why they ruin a photo. The second step is to be aware of them when shooting your photos.

Out of focus: An out of focus photo looks blurry and has low contrast. Usually such a photo is useless and can not be corrected. Most digital cameras can automatically set the focus for you and in most cases they choose the right focus for the scene. Some scenes however are harder to focus on and can fool the camera’s auto focus mechanism. If you are using an SLR camera you can make sure that the objects are in focus by looking through the viewfinder. Most cameras sound a short beep when the focus is locked and also display a green rectangle around the area that they focused on. Always make sure that this area is where the objects that you care about are. For example if there are two objects in the scene in different distances from the camera make sure that the camera focused on the object you want.

Blurry photos: Blurry photos are most likely the result of camera shakes. Learn how to hold your camera to minimize shaking: it should be held firmly with two hands and it should “touch” your face. If you are shooting photos using slow shutter speeds you should use a sturdy tripod to prevent shaking. If you can not guarantee that the camera will be stable – for example if you are shooting while you’re moving – set the camera to shutter priority and choose a fast shutter speed (assuming of course that the light conditions allow such setting) – for example setting the shutter speed to anything faster than 1/250 of a second will most likely guarantee a non blurry photo even if the camera shakes a bit.

Underexposed: Photos that are underexposed look dark and lack details. The reason for underexposed photos is setting the exposure too low. Although the camera can measure ambient light and make the exposure decisions for you it can be confused by more complicated scenes. For example if there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting. The result will be a photo that captures the bright area but darkens all the others. Usually you can assume that scenes that have extreme lighting gaps between different areas confuse the camera – for example if a quarter of the photo is very bright and the rest is very dark the camera is likely to set the wrong exposure. In such cases you can manually correct the exposure.

Overexposed: Photos that are overexposed have blown out areas and sometimes are completely saturated and white. The reasons for overexposed photos are similar to underexposed ones. The camera makes an exposure decision that is incorrect due to complicated scene conditions. In such scenes you can manually correct the exposure.

Shaded objects: A good example of shaded objects is when taking a portrait photo in daylight. The camera measures enough ambient light to set a low exposure value. Although there is enough ambient light shades can appear on the object depending on the angle of the light source relative to the object. For example if the object’s face is lit from the side the object’s nose can create shades. Or maybe if the object is wearing a hat and is lit from above the hat can create shades on the object’s face. The camera can not automatically correct such shades. By understanding what causes shades you can easily eliminate them by turning on the fill-in flash. Firing the fill-in flash (make sure that the object is within flash range) will remove the shades from the object.

Red eye: This is a very common phenomenon. When taking photos of people or animals using a flash in a dark environment the eyes have some red glow in them. There are a few things that you can do to prevent red-eyes: some cameras support a “red eye reduction” mode. In that mode the camera fires the flash a few times before taking the photo. Although this can help reducing red-eye it can also result in photos of people with their eyes closed (as they are blinded by the pre-flash their reflex is to close their eyes). Other ways to prevent red-eye is to use bounce flash (you can do that with special equipment or for example by pointing the flash to a white wall) and using more ambient light if possible (for example by turning on all the lights in the room). Some cameras include built-in image processing software that automatically removes red-eye from the photos or alternatively you can use many software packages on your home computer to accomplish the same.

Dark Silhouettes: When taking photos with a bright light source behind the object (for example when the sun is behind the object) the result will be a silhouette of the object. One example is taking a photo of someone on the beach against a sunset. The result will be a dark silhouette of the person with a good photo of the sunset background. This problem can be solved using a fill-in flash. The fill-in flash lights the object making sure that it is captured with all its details. Simply remember to use a fill-in flash when taking pictures of objects with a bright light source behind them. One limitation is that the objects must be within the flash range – otherwise the flash is useless and they will appear as silhouettes in the photo.

By: ziv haparnas

5 Ways To Earn Money With Digital Cameras & Photo Printers

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:47:00 +0000

When it comes to the internet and the advancements of modern technology, the revenue generating options are truly unlimited. One way that many people are finding great success as entrepreneurs is through the use of their digital cameras and photo printers. Whether you use your digital knowledge to enter photo contests using images taken with your digital camera or choose to start an online auction business, the use of a both camera and photo printer are essential.

With entrepreneurship in mind, the following five tips may help to get you started on the road to success using nothing more than your digital camera and photo printer.

Start an eBay business and use your digital camera to take pictures for inclusion in your auctions. If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much money will it be worth for your auction? After all, would you buy something without seeing it?
Become an amateur photographer using your digital camera and print out the images using a realistic photo printer, which can use either black or color ink.
Create personalized calendars by taking a photo with your digital camera, incorporating it into a calendar creation program and print them out using a photo printer. These are extremely popular at craft shows and flea markets.
Take photos using your digital camera and incorporate them into a program that manipulates photos. You can even take two photos and merge them together. For instance, take a photo of two sunflowers and another of your two best friends. Download the images from your digital camera onto the computer and manipulate them so that the faces of your two best friends are inside of the sunflowers. Print this photo using your photo printer and use it as an example of your new digital imagery business. These, too, are extremely popular at craft shows.
Using nothing more than a digital camera and quality photo printer, you can work in the publishing industry. Several years ago, a national magazine cover featuring a well-known celebrity was created with nothing more than a personal photo printer. The magazine office was unable to make an e-mailed image work, so they enlisted the help of a writer who enlarged the photo and printed it out using a color photo printer. The print was then mailed to the magazine’s office, who then used the image as their full-color cover picture.

When purchasing any type of electronics, including digital cameras and photo printers, always pay close attention to the warranty and make sure that you are buying a quality name in technology. Depending on your intended use, you may want to select a digital camera with a high pixel count and a photo printer capable of producing high DPI (dots per inch) images. Both will allow for better quality and more realistic photo creations.

By Dennis Conner

Macro Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 07:55:00 +0000

Exploring the world of miniature objects with a macro lens is a special and exciting area of photography, and once you start, you will quickly become addicted. The world of macro photography holds many delights and is an area that cannot be appreciated with the human eye.

Macro photography is the name given to close-up photography, and is best explained as images that are taken at reproduction ratios of life-size and above. Ratios of between 1:7 and 1:1 fall into the macro photography category.

Understanding Ratios: This is a term used to express the magnification of a macro lens or other macro equipment that relates the real life-size object to the reproduction size on a slide or negative. If you shoot an object that is 3cm in length and it measures 1.5cm on a 35mm slide or negative - the ratio is 1:2. When both are equal length the ratio is 1:1

Choosing the right lens is the most important factor with macro photography. While a telephoto lens may be acceptable with some types of close-up photography, the macro lens is invaluable to get really close and really accurate focusing.

There is an endless range of subjects that fall under the range of macro photography. The most common subject for macro photography is the natural world - all types of flowers, plants, and insects. For the more creative photographer, macro photography is used in abstract imagery.

With many forms of macro photography, especially with insects, a lens with a long focal lens - minimum 200 mm is required for some nature subjects. You need to keep a working distance from the subject to get a successful image - you don’t want to frighten your subject away.

When shooting close-ups you are limited with depth-of-field - to get an attractive image you must focus on the most important part of the subject. This will be achieved easier if you place your camera on a tripod or monopod.

By using your tripod you will reduce the risk of camera shake. Subject movement is also an important factor to consider. Macro photography magnifies the subject, leaving more room for blur. A strobe unit can be used to freeze movement - even on the brightest of days you should consider using your strobe unit. Try bouncing light from your strobe unit off a reflector. This will give your image a softer illumination.

Many amateur photographers stay away from macro photography because they feel that their technical ability is too inept - your personal ability should not turn you away from this exciting part of photography - macro photography is like all types of photography - practice makes perfect.

By TJ Tierney

Portrait Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Сергей Романюк) — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 08:01:00 +0000

Almost anyone that can point a camera and take a picture can take a portrait picture. There are a few things to learn about when it comes to this type of photography that will help you understand the basics of what makes a good portrait. In reality, you do not need a studio or some special equipment and technical resources to take an outstanding portrait photograph.

A portrait is taken to define the likeness of a person or people and even more so, it is a picture of someone’s face. However, in general the word has a deeper meaning when it is shown in a photo. Portrait photography is understood to be of good quality and not only does it capture a person’s physical look on film, but will also show a characteristic in the manner that is pleasant to the eye, attractive and a unique mannerism of the subject. A very well done portrait will at least contain one element that reveals what the subject’s personality and attitude or any other traits or features that is natural to the person.

One of the benefits of doing portrait photography is the conversation that will take place. It takes an understanding and skill of human nature to be able to take a good portrait. It will require engaging in a conversation with the subject you are working with, find a suitable topic that will spark and interest and a reaction. Common ground is a great way to start when building a rapport with the person, the more you know about the person you photograph, the easier it will be to take a great quality shot. It is important for the subject to be at ease with you so their natural characteristics will show through and appear natural on film.

By Albreht Moy