Photographing homes and buildings takes a special craft, but it’s something that can be easily acquired. Here are a few simple ways you can make your architectural photos stand out from the crowd!

1.) The structure should tell a story without any artificial lighting, etc. Try to photograph it just the way it is. If the house is a little on the dark side, don’t use too much light to show how bright it is. Similarly, if it’s too bright, don’t shut out the windows and portray something it's not.

2.) Wait for the right time of day. Avoid rainy or cloudy days when there isn’t enough natural light to boost your picture. Sun rays coming from the windows and doors are something you cannot do without in inclement weather. Much of the home’s character is lost without the sun.

3.) Shoot, shoot and shoot some more! Don’t worry about the number of pictures you take. Try to play around with different exposures, shutter speeds and angles. The more you shoot, the more cialis buying chances you'll have for better quality photos.

4.) Use 12-24mm ultra wide angle lenses for maximum effect. Using wide apertures and long shutter speeds will provide warmth and give your shots some character. Add a touch of flash (1/64th) to combat color shift and to add highlights to the scene. Try to keep your ISO at 400 or 640, because anything faster will be too grainy and anything slower will shift the colors a little too much.

5.) Stand back. Hold the camera to your eye and back up until you have the widest shot you can get. You can then set up your tripod and compose your shot.

6.) Always shoot below eye-level to give the building an imposing persona and an overwhelming presence.

7.) Always keep your sensor clean!

8.) When you do your light measurements, metering the dark part of the scene and exposing it will overexpose the remainder of the scene, but not underexpose it.

9.) Be passionate. Only then will you gain enough experience to define your style of architectural photography.

10.) With RAW images, you can nicely pull back detail from an overexposed image within a stop or two, but in an underexposed image, you cannot increase the exposure without introducing noise. It's better to overexpose with digital than underexpose.

11.) Lastly, while some photographers advocate the expensive Expo Disc for maintaining white balance, there’s a cheaper alternative: a white coffee filter. It does the same thing, but it doesn’t cost nearly as much. Just place it over the lens and take your pictures. Your camera needs to be set on manual and you can then adjust your white balance settings. Have fun and good luck!

Q:
Do you know of any alternative programs I can use instead of iTunes? I'm just ready for something a little bit different. Thanks for your help!

A:
That's a great question and it's one I tend to get on a pretty regular basis. I know a lot of you use iTunes, but maybe you're like the person who asked today's question and you're just ready for something new. There's nothing wrong with that! In this day and age, digital music is becoming a necessity and there's no shame in wanting it to be just right for yourself. I know you're not the only one who feels that way. I even get frustrated with iTunes every now and then. It just happens!

Now, before I go any further, I want to make sure everyone knows that if you use a Mac computer, you probably won't need to finish reading this tip. iTunes works perfectly with Macs, along with your iPod. The iTunes store is very easy to use with a Mac computer as well. On the other hand, things may be a little different for all you Windows users out there. I've heard a lot of stories from people who say iTunes is a little difficult to use on a Windows computer and it can bog down your memory quite a bit too. I mean, it makes sense. Since there isn't a Windows version of iTunes, you're just using a Mac application on a Windows PC and that doesn't always work out so well.

Along with the problems I mentioned above, there have also been some complaints about excessive resource usage, unnecessary programs running in the background and there are several compatibility issues with Windows Vista. If you try to use iTunes with Vista, your computer may end up crashing or at least freezing up. Plus, there's the whole DRM issue when it comes to "protected" music. If you download a protected song from the iTunes store on your Windows PC, you may run into some trouble when trying to transfer it to your iPod or MP3 player. Yuck!

With all of that said, it's no surprise that you want some alternative options to iTunes. Below is a list of music players that come with multi-platform compatibility and tools that will help you manage your digital music, as well as, keep it organized all at the same time. Let's check them out, shall we?!

1.) Foobar 2000 – This one is a digital music management program and it works with Windows 2000, XP and Vista. It is also compatible with several music platforms, including WAV, Ogg Valis, WavPack, AIFF, AU and many more. It also comes with full unicode and replay options, as well as, several other customizable features. You can check Foobar 2000 out for yourself right here.

2.) Songbird – This one is built off of the Firefox browser platform and it works with several media players, including the iPod. Songbird comes with many different add ons, with more added to the list everyday. It's an open source program, so it's very easy to work with. Check it out here.

3.) YamiPod – This particular player is a little different in that you don't have to install it on your computer. You can just copy it to your iPod's hard drive and use it from there. With YamiPod, you can manage your songs from any computer that runs Mac OS X, Windows or Linux. Just click on this link to check it out for yourself.

4.) Winamp – You may recognize the name on this one, because we here at WorldStart have talked about Winamp before. It has been around for quite a long time, but it is still one of the most popular music players out there today. It's a full featured music manager and it comes with complete iPod support. Also, if you have QuickTime installed on your computer along with Winamp, you are able to play protected songs. Cool, huh?! Take a look at it for yourself right here.

5.) Amarok – This one only works for Linux and Unix users, but it is a great iTunes alternative. It works with a wide variety of media players, including iPods, Zen players, Nomad players, USB players and more. It also comes with features like album covers, Wikipedia integration, awesome visual effects, lyrics support and so on. All of that just makes it ten times better. Check Amarok out today right here.

6.) Banshee – Banshee only works with Linux, so if you're a Linux user, I know you're just going to fall in love with it. It's a free download and it allows you to do just about anything with your music. You can import your music, organize it, play it back, share it and even rip it to a CD. So, if you want to manage your music with no limitations, Banshee is for you. Check it out here.

7.) Cog – Like iTunes, this is another music player that works perfectly with Macs. But, if you feel like you're being limited with iTunes, you cialis buy online may want to give Cog a look see. It takes care of all those problems and it allows you to actively manage your music. It is supported by several music platforms, including Ogg vorbis, MP3, FLAC, WavPack, Musepack and many more. It also comes with features like gapless playback, auto updating, Growl support, hot keys and seeking. It's definitely worth checking out, which you can do right here.

So, whether you're very unhappy with iTunes or you just want to try something different for awhile, the above seven players are worthy choices. There are so many alternatives to iTunes, you're bound to find one that fits perfectly with your operating system and your musical life. Give them a try today!

Have you ever had trouble opening a new link from your e-mail or even on a Web site? When you click on the link, just basically, nothing happens? Well, I'm here today to help you with that!

I've gotten several e-mails recently about this very problem, so I'm glad you asked. This seems to be a somewhat common problem, so I did a little research on it, in hopes of finding a quick fix for you all! Fortunately, I found a few things that could be causing this to happen.

To refresh, basically the problem is that whenever you're using your e-mail program or an instant messenger type program (or any other application) and a link is included, you click on it, but nothing happens. Your computer may freeze up for just a second, but when it's done, you're left right where you started from. Your browser will not open and you cannot, for the life of you, get a new window to come up from the link. How annoying is that?!

Like I said before, there are a few things you can try to resolve this problem. cialis buy on line Before we go any deeper, the first thing to check is your popup blocker. If you have a pop up stopper installed on your computer, it could be interfering with the links you are trying to open. If this happens to be the case, you can always hit the Ctrl button and click on the link again. Ctrl + a click allows the link to open. If that was your problem, you are very lucky.

Another simple cause could be that you don't have the correct browser set as the default for your computer. If you use Internet Explorer, you have to make sure it is set as your default browser. To check this, open IE and go to Tools, Internet Options. Click on the Programs tab and make sure the box clear down at the bottom that says "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser" is checked. This will allow IE to open any links you click on. If you use Firefox, go to Tools, Options and choose the General tab. Make sure the box that says "Firefox should check to see if it is the default browser when starting" is checked.

If those two things still don't fix the link problem, there are a couple more options you can try. We need to check and make sure your folder options are set to your specific browser. Go to Start, Control Panel and make sure it is in the classic view. Once there, click on the Folder Options icon and choose the File Types tab. Now, you're going to look for the item "(NONE) URL: HyperText Transfer Protocol." Highlight that and click on the Advanced button, then the Edit button. This will bring up some information on your browser. You're mainly going to be looking at the Application line. If you use Internet Explorer, make sure it says IExplore and so on (for whichever browser you use). If you've recently switched browsers, you may still have your old settings in there and that could be causing the problem with the links. You just have to make sure you have the right browser selected so the links will open in the correct way.

Okay, there's one more tip for you in case nothing has worked thus far. Go to Start, Run and type in "regsvr32 urlmon.dll" (without the quotes). Click OK when done and if a message pops up that says "DllRegisterServer in urlmom.dll succeeded," the problem should be fixed. If that still doesn't work, try typing in the following commands in the Run box:

– Shdocvw.dll
– Msjava.dll
– Actxprxy.dll
– Oleaut32.dll
– Mshtml.dll
– Browseui.dll
– Shell32.dll

One of these options should solve the link problem you are experiencing and you can enjoy link freedom once again!

Q:
I want to go through and remove some of the programs I know I have on my computer, but when I go to my Add/Remove Programs list, I can't find them. How can I get rid of them?

A:
That isn't uncommon. Some programs just like to be a little stubborn. Most Windows components can be uninstalled by going to the Add/Remove Windows Components section in the Control Panel. But, what about the ones you can't find? You know they're on your computer somewhere, but how can you get rid of them if you can't find them? Well, it's actually not too hard to bring these out of their hiding. Let's learn how!

Bring up the Windows Explorer (one way to do this is to right click on the Start button and select Explore).

Find your way to C:\Windows\Inf. (Double click on the My Computer icon on your desktop, double click on the C: drive and then go from there).

Make a copy of the "Sysoc.inf" file. (Click the file and hit Ctrl + C then Ctrl + V).

Next, right click "Sysoc.inf" and choose Open with, then Notepad.

Type Ctrl + H to bring up the Replace box.

Replace cialis buy cialis online ,hide, (comma hide comma) with ,, (comma comma).

Then hit the Replace All button.

Save the file.

Now, when you go to Start, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Add/Remove Windows Components, you will see stuff that wasn't there before. Some of the items will be in subfolders, like "Games," which is under "Accessories." Double click to open any folder. Just uncheck the items you want to remove. There you have it. No more hidden programs!

 HotKeyz

A utility that lets you easily create and maintain a categorized list of your hotkeys. You decide which cialis average age commands go with which hotkeys.
License: Free
OS: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP/Vista