May 21, 2008

PhotographyBB Online Magazine

Today’s Web site is for all you photographers out there. If you love taking pictures or have a passion for photography, you’re going to love this!

Here you can download the latest edition of PhotographyBB! And best of all, it’s free and so easy to do. Just choose the version you want to download (.PDF or zip). The zip option downloaded a little faster for me, but either way, you’re getting a .PDF file, so just choose whichever one works the best for you. (If you don’t have a .PDF reader, you can download one here).

Once you have it downloaded, open the file and you'll see the magazine right before your eyes! It's a fabulous magazine as well. Not only do you get to read about new cameras and the experiences of other photographers, but you also get tips and tricks about how to make your photography better. You also get great tips on how to use Photoshop to your advantage!

I downloaded April's edition to do my research for this article and the magazine just blew me away! It was 53 pages of really well put together photography information. I learned about composition and how to get the most out of my digital workflow. There was also a photographer spotlight and the tips and tricks I mentioned earlier. I liked it so much, I went back and downloaded the other available editions as well. I hope you enjoy it too!

http://www.photographybb.com/magazine/

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Motion Blur Photography

When you see a picture that showcases a motion blur in action photography, you may think only professionals can achieve something like that. But you can too! All it takes is some astute shutter speed, aperture value setting and a lot of trial and error. However, there are some simple ways to make your pictures look like a pro’s. Let's check them out, shall we?!

Stretch Your Shutter Speed

First things first: speed determines motion blur. The faster your viagra pill shutter speed, the less blur you'll get and vice versa. Therefore, it’s best to go for an extended shutter speed. In fact, you could even capture motion blur of a snail if you have a really long shutter speed. Of course, you need to set the shutter speed depending on how fast your subject is moving. If it's moving slow, your shutter speed shouldn’t be too high and the reverse is true if your subject is moving quickly.

Lighting

Letting more light inside your camera using a longer shutter speed has its demerits. You could end up with an over-exposed picture. Therefore, it’s important to let just enough light in to get a decent picture. The amount of blur you want in your photograph depends on two factors: the speed of your subject and the amount of light falling on your subject. The best way to judge that is to try out different shutter speeds, compare the results and stick to what works the best. Since you have a digital camera, you are able to do that kind of trial and error.

Movement

To capture movement, you can do one of two things: either the subject should move or your camera should move. If the subject is moving, you have to keep your camera rock steady. You can do that by keeping it on a stable platform, using a self-timer or placing it on a tripod.

Shutter Priority

Professionals would much rather use a full manual mode to set the shutter speed and aperture value, but if you're not that high tech, you can work with the Shutter Priority mode on your camera. With that, you only have to choose the shutter speed and the camera will automatically set the aperture value to go with that setting. Not only will you get the blur you're looking for, but also a balanced shot.

Shutting Out Excess Light

Since longer shutter speeds mean more light creeping into your camera, you have to resort to one of the following ways to sort out the problem of over-exposure. For starters, you could do it while it’s darker. However, if you're intent on doing it during the day, you need to go for a smaller aperture value. To do that, switch over to the full manual mode and lower the aperture value in proportion to the increase in the shutter speed. It’s a simple calculation. When you bring down the shutter speed, the aperture value also decreases.

Another way to limit the amount of light is to lower the ISO setting. ISO has a direct correlation to the image sensitivity of your camera. A higher number will make it more sensitive to light and a lower number will make the camera sensor less sensitive. Choose a low number and you’ll be able to choose longer shutter speeds.

One more way you can cut down on light is to use a neutral filter. If you don’t have one, you could use sunglasses as well. They do exactly the same thing, which is cut down on the intensity of light falling on the camera lens.

And Finally…

You should also employ the Slow Sync Flash feature. Not only will it facilitate longer shutter speeds with the use of a flash, but it will freeze certain elements in the shot, while keeping the others blurry. Another method like that is panning. If you move the camera along with a moving subject, the subject will remain in focus, but the background will be a blur. Cool, huh?!

I hope you have fun with this one!

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May 8, 2008

Wedding Photography

Wedding photos can be a challenge to take, because of the flurry of activities that go on and the wide variety of lighting conditions that may occur, but with the guide below, you will learn several tips and tricks that will give you the best wedding pictures of all time. Let's check it out!

Preparation

One of the most critical elements in being a successful wedding photographer is preparation. You absolutely need to prepare ahead of time (at least two months prior). It's a good idea to get to know the bride and groom so that you can understand their needs and wants. Some good questions to ask are:

  • How many photographers will there be?

  • What type of photos would they like?

  • How many guests will be at the wedding? Are they mostly family members or friends?

  • What locations will be used? A church, reception hall, etc.

Asking pertinent questions like these will help you understand the requirements for the wedding photos, which will also help you take better shots!

Locations, Events and Times

Once you know what the wedding locations, events and times are, you should go check them out. For a church wedding, it's best to go inside the church to check out the lighting, decor and environment. Perhaps you can find a few places to stand during the ceremony, so you're not running around in a panic on the day viagra online australia of the wedding. It’s also important to check out the reception area, just so you know how everything will be set up.

Organize Your Gear

This is a critical step. Here’s a list of the equipment you should bring to the wedding shoot:

Digital camera: This one is obvious. It’s good to have a backup analog camera as well, just in case.

Camera lenses and filters: Take along any special lenses or filters you may want to use.

Tripod: This one is important for indoor shots under low light.

Memory cards: Bring at least two 1 GB memory cards. That may seem like a lot, but you won’t believe how many shots you’ll take during a wedding.

Portable drive: This is important in case you run out of space on your memory cards.

Assistant: Try to bring along an assistant. It could be a friend or a helper at the wedding. They can help you arrange the group shots, etc., which will take a lot of stress off of you.

On the Wedding Day

Here’s a typical sequence of events to help guide you when the actual wedding day arrives.

At the House

If you’re taking shots of the bride getting ready, it's best to be early. In fact, you should be one of the first to arrive so that you can set up your positions, tripods or whatever you may need.

At the Church

Once you’re at the church, find out where the preacher will be standing and position yourself accordingly. Some critical shots include the entrance to the church, the aisle and where the couple will stand.

Note: Don't get too excited about your shots so early on. You have a long day of taking photos and you need to ration your memory card space to ensure you get pictures of everything throughout the day.

If there's a reception, make sure you get there before the rest of the guests so that you can find your perfect position. Receptions are a good time to capture candid shots, so have some fun with it!

Formal Group Shots

If there are any formal group shots to be taken, try to start with the big groups and then slowly remove family members so that you can get various combinations of the friends and family.

Cleaning Up

So, what do you do after a wedding shoot? Well, plenty! You need to do some basic image editing, such as removing red eye, cropping and rotating. You also need to burn the photos onto CDs and DVDs, usually in a slideshow format. You should try to get the final copies to the happy couple as soon as possible.

Have fun!

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May 1, 2008

Uncover Windows XP’s built-in image resizing utility

Date: January 8th, 2008

Author: Greg Shultz

If you’ve ever had to resize a group of digital picture files, you’ve likely launched your image editing program and then resized each image individually — this is an extremely time-consuming task. Windows XP has a built-in image resizing utility buried inside the Send Pictures Via E-Mail dialog box that can quickly and easily resize a large group of digital picture files at once. Follow these steps:

  1. Press [Windows]E to launch Windows Explorer.
  2. Make sure the Tasks pane is visible. (The Folders button acts like viagra for sale a toggle switch. If the Tree pane is showing, clicking the Folders button will display the Tasks pane. Click the Folders button if the Tree pane is showing.)
  3. Open the folder containing the group of digital pictures you want to resize. Select the group.
  4. Under the File And Folder Task list, select the E-Mail The Selected Items command.
  5. When you see the Send Pictures Via E-Mail dialog box, click the Show More Options link to expand the dialog box.
  6. Select a radio button next to one of the available sizes and click OK. A new mail message window containing the resized digital pictures as attachments will appear.
  7. Pull down the File menu, select the Save Attachments command, and save all the attachments to a different folder.
  8. Close the mail message window and click No in the Save Changes dialog box.

Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.

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April 29, 2008

Low Light Photography

There is no photography without light! If your subject isn’t illuminated properly, things could become difficult. But, if you have a SLR or DSLR camera, you can make low light conditions work for you in more ways than one. Below are a few ways you can make the most out of low light and night conditions. Let's check them out!

Get the Right Equipment

First of all, it's best to wear an all white T-shirt. That gives you white balance, especially when you're taking pictures in closed spaces or taking portraits. viagra fast delivery Your flash will hit your shirt and illuminate the subject in front of you. It will not only give you even lighting, but it will also save you the bother of creating your own white balance. Of course, you need a camera with at least two extra pairs of batteries and don’t forget your tripod! In addition, it's best to go for a remote shutter release or a self-timer, because when you're using long shutter speeds, you could shake the camera and end up with blurred images.

White Balance

Low light photography can be quite exciting! On the other hand, your images could end up looking a bit surreal. By that, I mean the artificial look that comes in varying colors like tungsten, halogen and fluorescent. The best way to give your pictures a realistic setting is to keep tweaking your white balance. Trial and error is the only way to minimize the damage caused by those artificial color casts.

Aperture is Everything

The larger the aperture, the faster your shutter speed will be. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the sensor becomes to light and vice versa. And that brings us right to the essence of low light photography: longer exposure times. To increase your exposure times (longer shutter speeds), you will need to decrease the aperture. The smaller the aperture, the longer the exposure times become and the more depth of field your images will have.

Test Shots

Start by setting the ISO to 100 and the aperture to about f22 or smaller. Depending on the light conditions, shoot three images at about five seconds, 10 seconds and 20 seconds. That usually gives you a good starting point to work from. Often times, you’re looking at shooting closer to 20 seconds or even longer, depending on the lighting. In very low light conditions, use the bulb setting on your camera. It allows you to keep the shutter open longer than the camera allows with its pre-set settings (usually about 30 seconds). While in the bulb mode, if you connect a shutter release cable, you can keep the shutter open even longer. If you're using a remote control, press once to open the shutter and once more to close it. Just remember that the longer the exposure time is, the more digital noise you’re likely to get, especially in the darker areas of your picture. Try shooting at sunset when there's still a small amount of light. Capture water moving back and forth over rocks with an exposure of about 10 seconds for some interesting results. Experiment with different white balance settings for even more interesting shots!

What to Shoot

You can shoot just about anything! From buildings to lights, signs, bridges, vehicles, houses, pubs, shops, people, street lighting, fireworks, bonfires, amusement parks and pool reflections, the possibilities are endless!

How to Calculate Exposures

Use your exposures as an indicative way of doing low light photography. Also, you need to remember to tweak the settings, depending on the circumstances and the subject. Assuming a shutter speed of f16 and an ISO of 100, that is how you could set your exposures. For example, town/city (20 seconds), signs/lights (2 seconds), streets (20 seconds), churches (30 seconds), fairgrounds (10 to 15 seconds), candlelight (60 seconds), fireworks (1 to 60 seconds) and so on.

Exposure Bracketing

This works beautifully in low light photography. Try over exposing and under exposing a photo. When you do that, you will get the precise shot in between the two extremes to get the photo you're looking for. For example, bright lights warrant you to underexpose. If you take an image of a scene at a four second exposure, take the same scene with eight seconds and two seconds. That way, you will likely get the exposure you're looking for!

Practice Makes Perfect

Low light photography is all about creativity and how you make the most of the available light. It could even be capturing trails of light that follow moving vehicles, people, signs, etc. The best thing to do is a lot of trial and error. That way, you could end up taking more than just one interesting picture of a landmark, person or thing. There's nothing like practice, patience and perseverance to get the best results!

Now, get out there, turn off the lights and start shooting!

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