Thursday, May 8, 2008

Digital Photography

The rule of thirds is a very useful tool for composing images in photography. And to top it off, it's free! Doesn't require any add on equipment to your camera, any shoe mounts, anything like that! This article will attempt to demystify the mysterious Rule of Thirds.

To follow this rule, simply take a photo and divide it up into three sections vertically and three sections horizontally. Now, as you can see from doing this there are three boxes on the top, three in the middle, and three at the bottom. The box in the middle of all of them is the center. This compositional rules basically advises you not to take pictures in that middle box.

What this does is makes you have to try and position the subject so that he/she or it is not dead center. This creates more visually interesting images.

When you take a photo of a person, the main focal point will be the eyes. Now, you can take a photo of a person dead center, however, follow the rule still! Put the eyes anywhere but the middle box. You can put the eyes in the top box instead. Their body will be dead center but their face will be in the upper area.

Now, when you follow this rule you also need to be careful to leave plenty of head room when shooting people. This room is space around the head and will make your photo not look claustrophobic. Also, if your person is looking towards the left, leave plenty of room at the left side of the photo and less on the right.

Photography Software Options

Digital photography has exploded the possibilities available for capturing, sharing and manipulating photos. The increased attention has peaked the interest of many amateur photographers and the market is responding accordingly. There are many software products available for download as well as purchase. These products offer various ways to edit and organize your photos as well as provide instruction. I offer the following review of products that I found to be of good quality.

Kodak Gallery is a free online site for editing and storing photos. They also offer a number of services including gift ideas, personalized products and online tutorials. Shutterfly and Winkflash are very similar to Kodak Gallery offering a number of products such as greeting cards, calendars, mouse pads, etc. that can be personalized using your enhanced digital photos! These sites offer printing services and allow you to create a slide show to be shared via email. You are able to set various controls such as whether or not the recipients can view, print and or order any photos. It is always recommended regardless of which site you use that photos be back up on a disc in case of any server problems.

Before we move on to reviews of software products that have a variety of features that cover the photo taking process from start to finish. I can not resist mentioning, Tourist Remover Software. In the same way that HDR photos can take all the best bits from multiple exposures of the same subject and combine them into a single photo, FutureLAB's cleverly named Tourist Remover Software can remove tourists your travel photos. Simply snap a few shots of a building, statue, etc., happy tourists and all. Their software will combine all of the un-touristed sections of each picture into a single tourist-free photo.

Many software products are being offered that have camera control and recovery tools. I suggest the following software as I find it to be reasonably priced and of good quality.

Digital Camera Photography Professional Edition by Tradetouch Inc.

Features include:

Camera Control Tool which shows the user how to set capture time, control a remote camera, reduce the camera's shudder etc.

Photo Management Tool allows you to classify your photos, record the time, and present them in an album or other format.

Advise and Teach Skills such as adjusting light, choosing shooting time, and managing instruments.

Photo Edit Tool will help you cut or add something fun to photos, change color, compile several photos into one etc.

Recover Tool allows you to recover deleted photos from your PC's disc or camera's RAM.

Drivers for your camera are included with this software.

No Installation or Hard Disk space used, Browser based interface is extremely fast.

Digital Photos by Atari

Digital Photos is interactive software for editing, printing, and organizing your digital photos. The popular series is available for your computer. This is user friendly software that can help you with your everyday computing digital photo needs. Features include:

Educational Features will help you take superior photos by showing you how to adjust the ISO, focus manually or use auto focus, balance your white and colors and catch a moving target.

Printing Tips such as advice on what printers and paper are best for photo printing.

Photo Enhancement Tools which include instruction on how to avoid over compression and how to use the best formats when saving photos for different uses.

Automatic Storage of your photos, simply plug your digital camera into your computer and the software automatically transfers, classifies, and saves your photos.

Creating Fun Keepsakes using your software's wizards, you can create your own digital photo albums and put your albums on Web sites. You also can add transitions and music and turn your pics into slide shows. Or you can print your photos and design your own gifts.

Specialty software is also available! For example;

Secrets to Kids' Photography by Select Soft Publishing

This software introduces professional secrets that can mean the difference between taking an ordinary snapshot and capturing an incredible photo. An instructional video guides you through a real shoot. The user learns about different kinds of poses, how to give instructions, composition, creating a work area, equipment and props, high-key lighting etc.

Secrets to Fashion Photography by ARC Media

Allows you to follow along with the instructional video as experienced top fashion photographer Desmond Williams guides you through a real fashion shoot covering a wide range of assignment types. Learn about working with models, creating poses, makeup, equipment, lighting effects, marketing etc.

Digital photography has exploded the possibilities available for capturing, sharing and manipulating photos. There are many computer software products available for download as well as purchase. These products offer various ways to edit and organize your photos as well as provide instruction. Photography software enables amateurs and professionals to get the most out of their camera and pictures!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Digital editing software

No matter what field of media you work in, digital editing software is key. When I first started out as a designer and musician, I thought that the art you created was largely independent of the media. A good artist could create good art, no matter what they were working with. A bad artist, even with the best digital audio editing software, would always produce junk. It has taken me years to realize how naïve I was at that point. The things that I believed simply were not the case. Software digital editing is the future. The way you process the image is more important than the way that you envision it.

I have been working with digital video editing software for years, but it only took me weeks to realize how important it was to the movie industry. Let's face it: movies have gone downhill but no one has noticed. The digital editing software is so good that they can splice things together, add in special effects, alter the dialogue, alter the characters, and generally rework things at the last minute to make them appear passable. The same movies that we make today would not work without digital editing software. Can you imagine seeing the Lord of the Rings without all of the CG? No one would bother. It would be a flop!

The same is the case with most of the music that we listen to nowadays. I have a friend who is heavily involved in the recording industry, so I know what I'm talking about. He says the digital editing software is more important than the actual artists that are picked by the studios. The artists are mostly picked for their looks and their style, not for their musical ability.

All the songs are written by Independent songwriter who contract with the studious anyway. A few vocal tracks are taken from the “recording artists”, and patched together with digital editing software. I would say a good half of the pop stars nowadays don't even know how to play music. At least a third of them could not sing the first time that they came into the studio. It doesn't matter. With the right digital editing software, anything is possible. Digital editing software can make Britney Spears a star, just as analog editing hardware once made the Beatles a supergroup. You can be bitter about it or you can accept it, but the facts don't change. You need the right gear to do the job.

Digital cameras Photos

Digital cameras are well known for their ability to capture photos on the go. With a screen that shows you exactly what photo you're going to get, you can rest assured your digital camera photos will be what you expected. However, like all modern devices, there are advantages and disadvantages to digital camera photos.

For one thing, lighting works differently with a digital camera than a regular one. Detail often isn't as clear. On the plus side, digital cameras usually come equipped with a brightness-contrast control and different types of flash. In addition, you can upload the pictures to your computer, and share them with anybody in email distance.

One of the biggest complaints of people taking digital camera photos is that the pictures looked much better on the screen display. This is because fine details, such as leaves, skin imperfections, and color intensity appear smaller than they really are. When the photo is uploaded and enlarged, the photographer finds certain details were neglected.

Another enemy of digital camera photos is blurriness. If your hand isn't perfectly steady when you snap the picture, the entire photo is ruined. This doesn't show up until the picture is enlarged.

With practice, both woes of digital camera photos can be avoided. At first, it's difficult for the amateur photographer to spot these imperfections. Trial and error is the only way to truly learn from your mistakes. The types of flaws that people see in their digital camera photos are unique to the photographer. One person may tend to put too much emphasis on a subject and completely neglect the background. Another photographer may move his hand right before clicking the button. After a few uploads, you'll better know your quirks of style.

Once you've got details and movement down, you might find that your lighting is less than satisfactory. This is because digital camera photos require much more light than conventional cameras. For example, a regular camera might be able to take a well defined photo of the moon, whereas a digital camera would only show a tiny speck on a black background. For human subjects, indoor photos never come out well, unless lots of light is directly on the person. Instead, try to get photos of family and friends in the great outdoors. Don't have them stand with their backs to the direction of the sun, because digital camera photos are notorious for grainy images, due to poor lighting.

Now you'll be able to enjoy your digital camera photos like a pro! Practice, practice, practice. The process may be frustrating at first, but don't lose hope. You'll eventually learn the mistakes you tend to make. Remember that a perfectly good picture can be ruined by the slightest motion of your hand, so keep steady. For an overall good appearance, and clear, defined subjects, always have plenty of lighting.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Learning About Digital And FIlm Photography

I have been an avid Photographer in the UK for many years and always used film, black and white and Colour, and never thought I would be at all interested in the new digital age! However a friend of mine who has recently purchased a middle of the range compact camera convinced me to try it!

I have spent many a long hour in the darkroom, mixing chemicals and spilling (and staining !) stuff all over me . After a couple of hours I would emerge with one or two decent prints, which on the whole were OK. Although I enjoyed doing this it was very time consuming.

To cut it short, I was amazed at the ease of using digital cameras, and soon realized that any mistakes (ie exposure etc) could be repeated to create roughly what I wanted.

You might ask is this the real thing, too easy?

Well, in one sense it is, but having used the camera and realized that you can buy reasonable SLR Cameras which gives you total control over exposure etc, I think that you can exercise control and learn many thing quickly (and less expensive).

The cost of processing and film can be off putting to many people, and the wait time involved. If you have messed up, the moment is often unrepeatable.

As well as that, more kids at school are now doing photography because of the need for only a computer and a simple camera with very little cost involved and darkroom space. Surely this is a good thing ?

I am learning all the time about the digital format, and their are many good books you can buy. You can learn a lot about digital from friends and the through the internet, its fun to do, and again no mess.

On my surfing travels there is one site I bothered to look at and was tempted to purchase, http://www.mylearnphotography.com Its an Australian product which offers the whole range of digital know how, complete, detailed and user friendly. Its a great way to learn quickly and at your own pace and not expensive. I think it has taught me most of what I know!

The purists will stay with the old film format, and I will still dabble in it, especially black and white, but I tempt people to give it a go and open their eyes.

Albums And Wall Prints Made By Digital Photography

"May you live in interesting times." is considered more of a curse than a proverb. Whatever, we are in it, "interesting times" that is. You gotta love this heady adrenalin rush of change and opportunity. It's like a freight train screaming down the track. The trick is not to get flatten by it. Actually the real trick is be like those old dirty 30's hobos, run along side it just fast enough to grab something and haul yourself in for the ride.

So where is the freight train going? What tracks are being laid? Can you position your company and vision for it?

In 2004 I was teaching in England and wandered into a major trade show. I was stunned to find only a few albums, mostly ignored. It was books that had taken over the stage. There were some with a wholesale tag of $15,000, before the photographer would add his prints and they were moving! Even the low-end books out flashed my personal creations back home. Now they are starting to emerge like a stampede at the professional level, but what's the pulse of our consumers?

Now I need to introduce you to Malcolm Mathieson. He is one of those guys that hovers just above all the turmoil of our vocation, noticing the formation of trends and directions. He has noticed books.

Malcolm talks about the ground swell of books like it's a tsunami of change coming to our industry. He believes we are about to "see changes so huge and with such ramifications for our businesses it will make moving from film to digital look like a walk in the park" He and others like him, are predicating a wholesale shift from pretty colored prints to the new fangled books, or files for people to make their own. They see this massive change creating graves for mini labs, traditional album companies, even camera stores who are profit based on prints.

Some of the others, with pretty deep pockets, driving this tsunami wave. HP's Snapfish, like almost every other online photo service, offers it. Years ago, Apple quietly added the innovation in their iphoto, "press here to turn your album collection in to a book" Files slipped over the Internet to return as a picture book. Adobe's Album, with the same offer, is now folded into a print option in Photoshop Elements.

Not long ago Scrapbooking was predicted to be a fading trend. Technology converted it into digital scrapbooking. When it began printing these digital books it became a player in the emerging ground swell of books. Craft and Hobby Assoc. pegs it exceeding $3 Billion bucks this year, its listed as the fastest growing leisure time activity. The number of scrapbookers has quadrupled in the past five years, to over 20million. Research studies predict it is on the verge of going mainstream...In my own studio I have experienced book sales leap 87% over last year alone. It's grown from a unique side offer 6 years ago into an exciting growth product today.

Keep in mind its not just albums that are changing, on my desk is a digital frame rotating inspiration images as I write this. Stores cannot keep these in stock at Christmas time. Photographs are increasingly being referred to as images or simply as files. It is rare that an image capture has not been tweaked or tinkered with by somebody before somebody delights in it.

If books are coming for the small print market, are the large wall size images safe? Interesting question. Do you recall Bill Gates, many years back equipping his house with built in framed TV screens that were fed fine art images? Every one thought that was eccentric. This is the same fellow now bringing us touch screen tabletop computers. I really mean tabletop; the tabletop is the monitor, touch sensitive. It's really cool.

Anyway, it caught the public attention (his large wall pictures) but was pretty out of reach and bulky. LCD and Plasma changed all that. You may have noticed the growth of those small digital frames I referred to on my desktop. In the stores they have gotten bigger, first 4x5, then 5x7 and now 8x10. Prices are more than halved.

Did you know there are several firms making them in 40-inch wide sizes? With wireless feeds? That can play jpg images and mpg movies, with sound. They are only 2 inches deep?

Did you know they can be currently had for the price of six or eight 10-inch LCD frames? Some firms have the digital frames connected wirelessly to an Internet account. You upload the images into the account and like magic both grandparents start seeing the new grandchild images.

Pause to ponder the implications. They could almost be considered picture books for the wall.

Ah, the freight train, or is that tsunami? Pick your allegory but start getting ready for it. It's going to transform us again.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Digital Camera Models At Best Prices

If you want to get a digital camera, but you don’t have enough money for the model you really want, you should consider looking used digital cameras. You can quite often find a great model for a great price, and it will work just as well as if you had bought one at full price. There are many places to get them, and you do have to take extra time to make sure the one you are looking at is indeed in good shape. You might even want to buy one with a known defect if you think it will be easy and cheap to get it fixed. You should be able to save even more money that way.

One of the first places to look for good used digital cameras might be on eBay. You will probably find hundreds from which to choose, but make sure you read the fine print. Sellers are not allowed to sell something that has a defect without stating as much, and they normally will list all problems with used digital cameras, if any in fact exist. If you are sold a camera on eBay that is not as promised, you should be able to get your money back as long as you have used a credit card or Paypal to pay for the purchase.

Don’t discount reconditioned items when looking for used digital cameras. I have a surround sound system in my house that we bought reconditioned. It has always worked very well, and we have had it for over ten years with no problems. One of the knobs is now not working well, but it has far outlasted its expected lifetime. You may also find that used digital cameras that have been reconditioned will have the same great qualities. These are always sold for less than the retail price, and are a great way to get a good item at an amazing discount.

If you do buy used digital cameras, remember that you may not have a warranty to cover any repairs. You will probably have to send them to the original company to get them repaired if you don’t have a qualified repair store in your area. Don’t worry, however, because you will probably get a good deal on repairs if you go to the manufacturer, and when you do, you know that they are best equipped to know exactly what is wrong and how to fix it.

Benefits Of Using A Digital Camera

I am a photo nut, and constantly want to take pictures of everything everywhere. Before the advent of digital cameras, I would go through rolls and rolls of film and spend so much money on processing pictures that would end up being off center or be taken of someone with their eyes closed or with an unattractive look on their face. Now that I have found a great digital camera, I have been able to take thousands of pictures without spending the money on processing photos that are less than desirable.

The wonderful thing about having a digital camera is that you can immediately see if a picture you have taken has turned out. If you take the picture and see on the screen that someone wasn’t looking at the camera, you can immediately take another photo to correct it. Without a digital camera, you would have to wait until the photos are processed, and then the moment is gone. In addition, you can pick and choose which photos you would like to have processed for your photo album, instead of spending money on pictures that will just be thrown away. So while a digital camera may be more expensive initially, you will save hundreds to thousands of dollars in film and film processing costs over the life of the camera.

There are some wonderful digital photo organization programs that will hold all of your digital photos on your computer, most of which are free. These programs allow you to download the pictures from your digital camera memory card unto your computer, where you can then sort through to pick which ones you would like to print and which you would like to delete completely. These programs also allow you to hold onto photos in an album format without having to print the photos out at all. Many programs will organize your digital photos by the date they were taken, so you automatically have the pictures sorted by date rather than having to sort through printed pictures you have thrown into a shoebox like in the past.

If you take pictures at any point of your life, a digital camera is a wonderful investment. There are so many things you can do with the photos, and you will save money over regular cameras. Once you learn how to use them, you will never use a camera that is not a digital camera again.