Photography Blog

Chris Marshall asked:




Are you an amateur photographer? Do you enjoy taking digital photos? Do you have good quality digital photos to share with others? You can do that and also make some extra money from it. This article will show you how you can enjoy sharing your photography work and also get some cash at the same time.

This article is not about turning you into a professional photographer or about making your digital photos your main source of income. It will show you how you can share your digital photos with others and also make some extra cash at the same time. This money should be considered as extra income usually a good source of cash to invest back into your digital photography hobby maybe to buy a new camera, lenses, batteries or anything else that you need.

Photo stock websites: Photo stock websites are becoming more and more popular. Photo stock sites provide a market place for photographers to show off their work while others can view that work and buy it for a price usually set by the photographers. Some photo stock websites allow you to define the exact rights that you grant to the buyer so you can better protect your work. When users buy your digital photos you get a commission out of that money. There are many flavors of photo stock websites examples of two are: www.photostockplus.com and www.smugmug.com.

Your own photo gallery site: Putting a website together is relatively easy using some free commercial tools. For example you can easily set a photo album web site using tools from Yahoo. On your website you can allow users to browse and download full resolution digital photos for free or you can sell the high resolution versions of the digital photos. Implementing a shopping cart and collecting money is easily done using checkout tools from companies like PayPal, Yahoo and Google. Another option is to make money by placing advertisement on your site for example by using Google Adsense. Advertisement however will only generate noticeable revenues if you can attract a high number of visitors to your site. If your digital photos are unique and interesting you might be able to do just that. Another option is to create a dedicated Blog website or to add a Blog to your digital photos website. You can easily do that with tools such as Blogger and Typepad. In the Blog you can present your digital photos and also write some interesting descriptions of how you took them, what is unique about them and anything else that might trigger the visitors’ interest. Tell your friends and family about your site and post information about it in forums and chat boards.

Work for hire: This is a more conservative and traditional option. You can offer your photography services by posting ads in local classifieds website or newspaper. If you have your own site you can also offer your services through that site or add a link to the site on your ads to allow potential customers to view your work. Make sure that you are candid and up front with your potential customers about what you do, your work and your experience. They should understand that you are an amateur photographer and view your work to decide if you are a good fit for their needs. To get a sense of how much to charge contact other local photographers and get quotes for their services. If you have never done photography for hire before it is a good advice to start with jobs that are not very important to the clients and that can be done again if the results are not satisfactory. For example shooting digital photos of a wedding is probably not a good idea to start with. Taking digital photos of someone’s car is a better option.

Coffee shops and galleries: It became trendy for coffee shops to hang local photographers or artists work on their walls. This is a win-win offering for them they get free decoration for the shop and also allow customer to buy work that they like. The coffee shop gets a commission of each sale. Although this option requires more work and upfront financial investment it can be a lot of fun and a good way to connect with the local community. Walk around and find a few coffee shops or galleries that you would like to have your work at. Print and frame a few of your best photos and go back to those shops. Show your work and convince them to showcase it. It is best to start with just a few prints to minimize the risk.

These were just a few options to make some cash from your digital photos. There are other options and with some creativity you can find your own original ones. One thing to remember though is to make sure that you have the rights to sell your photos and that you are legally covered when showcasing them, selling them or working for hire taking photos for others. For example copyright laws change from state to state and country to country and you should make sure you have the rights for your digital photos.

minnaburrington asked:




The tripods are the equipments which are used to take a good picture when you require capturing the slow-motion pictures. Tripods for cameras are very necessary if you wish to take steady and haziness free photos or videos. There are usually 3 legs of these tripods which are made up of aluminum with a rubber covering at the end of the legs. The head of this tripod is used to set the position of the camera or the camcorder.

You can find many ranges of the tripods for cameras from the cheapest one to the most expensive one. You can choose the range as per your requirement. The tripods made up of aluminum are the cheapest tripods. No matter how cheap or costly they are, but they should be sturdy enough to stand firmly when a camera is placed on it. The tripods for cameras are generally available with a head but sometimes, they may not be suitable for some type of cameras. It is possible that the head of the tripod can be spin on the side ways while adjusting the camera on it to take a landscape view. On the other hand, the higher range tripods for cameras are sturdier and can stand firmly. This type does not come with a head. The user can choose the head in accordance of his camera.

Some tripods for cameras are also available of carbon fiber which is light in weight and easy to take while travelling. They are expensive as compared to others.

Morten Svenningsen asked:




 

Before you apply any of these special effects, it can be useful to apply a masking on your photo to select which areas you want to change and which you want to keep unchanged. You can easily get a nice soft fade between the effect and no-effect areas. This is called masking and there’s many ways of doing it. The one method I almost always use now (it took years before I discovered it) is the ‘quick mask mode’. It is very easy to use and usually gives acceptable results.

Quick masking

In Adobe Photoshop find the button called ‘edit in quick mask mode’. It’s located near the bottom of the main tool bar and looks like a circle in a rectangle. There’s also a short-cut key: Q. Once in quick mask mode, you can select and deselect areas simply by painting them with white and black respectively, using the standard brush tool. Zoom to 100 or 200 % for best accuracy. You might want to use a soft-edged brush to avoid hard edges. Alternatively, when you’re done, exit the masking mode and go to ‘Select > Feather’ and set the feather radius to 5-10 pixels or so. A nice option is that you can set the opacity to anywhere between 0 and 100%, allowing you to apply the effect stronger or weaker in one part of the image that another.

Layer masking

Slightly more complicated, you can add a layer mask. This allows you to apply any effect gradually from any point in your photo. Follow these steps in Photoshop:

1. Select ’Windows > Layers’.

2. Right click on your layer and select ’Duplicate layer’.

3. Click on the little icon in the bottom of the layer box called ‘Add layer mask’.

4. Select the ‘Gradient tool’ on the main tool box.

5. Choose a gradient style from the top ‘Options’ bar (linear, radial etc.).

6. Now click on your image on the point you don’t want to change, then drag the mouse away to the point where you want the full effect to take place. The effect will be applied gradually more and more along this line you’ve now create.

7. Finally, go back onto your original background layer and apply any effect you want. This will apply the effect in a soft, gradual way. Use opacity to turn the effect down to less than full strength if you want.

Lens-like effects

Using the layer masking described above, you can apply ‘Gaussian blur’ which will make the selected areas appear soft-focused, a bit like if you had used a large-aperture lens. With ‘Curves’ you can make your corners darker than the center, replicating the lens effect called vignetting. Technically, vignetting is considered a lens dysfunction, but subjectively it can add an extra feeling to your photo, a kind of frame that will have a ‘sucking’ effect, bringing more attention into the centre of your photo. You can also just lower the contrast and/or colour-saturation around your main subject, helping to separate it from the background clutter. There’s many other options, be creative!

Soft glow effect

Great for creating a ‘romantic’ look for portraits. Here’s what you have to do:

1. Duplicate layer.

2. Apply ‘Gaussian blur’ to the new (top) layer. Make it blurry, but leave a little detail.

3. Play around with the blend modes and opacity till you get what you want:

‘Darken’ or ‘Multiply’ blends darkens image details while also softening features and adding a halo. Good for soft, expressive shadows.

‘Lighten’ or ‘Screen’ blends lightens the image instead. Nice for adding high key or highlight glows.

‘Soft Light’ and ‘Overlay’ adds contrast and saturation. Especially useful for landscapes and still life photos.

Black-and-white-ish

A cool metallic black-and-white’ish look, in my opinion very suitable for documentary work and subdued portraits, is easily obtained by setting the contrast high (curves) and colour saturation low. Do it with Photoshop’s ‘layers’ to be able to tweak your exact settings it in place.

Colour grading

You know how some movies have a ’special look’, golden brown, sick yellow-greenish, cool blue etc.? You can get the same effect in your photos if you want. The simple way is to go to ‘Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation’, click ‘Colourize’ and use the slide bars to select your preferred grading. If you are going for a well-defined colour, it’s better to use the ‘Edit > Fill’ function. Simply select the colour you want and set the ‘Blending mode’ to ‘Colour’. Either way, it’s good first to duplicate your layer before you start. This will allow you to preserve some of the original colours by turning the colour grading down. Use the ‘Opacity’ slider in the layer box to do this. If you want a duotone image, simply make 2 duplicate layers and give them different colour gradings. Mix them together, again with the ‘Opacity’ slider and the different ‘Layer blending mode’ options in the layer box.

One example: To give your image a warm golden-brown colour tone, first make two duplicate layers. Use ‘Edit > Fill’ to make the first one brown (#963A12) and the second one yellow (#EDC715). Set opacities to 30 and 60% respectively and select the ‘Multiply’ blending mode for the top (yellow) layer. Tweak it in place to get it exactly like you want. Also try adding a soft glow, as described above.

Micro contrast

This is a really neat trick to enhance your contrast and draw out texture details in your photos. You can even use it when your overall contrast is already maxed out, using all tonal ranges from pure black to pure white. The procedure is similar to the normal ‘Unsharpen Mask’, but with some special settings. Go to ‘Filter > Sharpen > Unsharpen Mask’ and set the ‘Amount’ to around 20-30%, the ‘Radius’ to 50-100 pixels and zero on the ‘Threshold’. You will get a subtle contrast enhancement that, for some pictures at least, works really well.

Using any of the above mentioned effects can improve your photos and make them really eye-catching. However, learning when to use them and when not to use them is just as important as learning how to use them. When to use special effects in your photos is a matter of personal taste and judgement. Use it, but don’t overdo it. Often, less is more.

Gian Brett asked:




Photography is an art. It is quite different from painting but its origin is painting. In the initial stage of human being there was only painting without colours but now in the digital age there is various aspect of painting and photography.

Origin of painting shows the activity and need of human being. Painting was the tale of real life. When human being feels something to show others then they paint on the wall or on others panel.

In the digital age there is no need to mix colours on the paper because there is technology which brings all the colours and scene in single button. Still we are making painting on clothes or papers but they have not much worth like photos.

Both have own importance according to the situations. Situational images and paintings show the some real things in photos. All the photos or images create a scene for a situation. So, every imaginary scene contains a real life’s situation.

During the photography and painting people should care some useful tips that are:

Imagine has broader aspect so, never imagine should bound in narrower sense.

For the natural beauty people should take images in the open and spontaneously.

In the photography spontaneous is better than conscious.

For the better photos better digital cameras are most important for better pictures resolution. If the camera has better resolution then the broader and open scene will have captured with a better scene.

For the natural photography either evening or morning is better.

In the world for the photography or painting most of the people are famous for their great job. There is much scope to explore our thought in the world by photography or painting. If we have broader sense and better thought then we can show our expression on either painting or image. All the images in the world have its own situation so; situational photography or paintings have real sense.

Dan Feildman asked:


The most exciting thing that you face when you go buying the digital camera is that there are so many choices. With so many different features, styles and prices of digital cameras available in the market, the comparisons can actually be mind-boggling.

If you are going to buy a digital camera for yourself, to compare different digital cameras is a must for you. It will make your buying simple as well as less time consuming. If you want to know a few basic guidelines for drawing fair comparisons between a plethora of options available in the market, read the article. It will definitely help you make the best deal for you.

There are many factors that make a particular camera better or worse for you. The pixels, optical, memory, camera size, digital zoom and cost of various digital cameras should be compared well before picking any camera. The important task is to put through a sieve all the hype and get the best digital camera suiting your needs.

But before you start comparing the features of different cameras, it is important for you to make certain basic decisions. They are related to identifying your basic needs and prerequisites for the camera. Decide on why you need a digital camera. The purpose should be well-defined. Ask yourself, is it for taking candid snapshots or for serious photography. If you are buying the camera for clicking pictures for an exhibition or a photo website, the criterion of purchase will definitely change. There are different sizes of models that include compact, miniature and big size cameras. Be clear about the size you need to buy.

Then you may start comparing the specific features of the digital camera. You can compare the quantity and quality of the pixel. The more the pixels in the camera, the clearer and quality pictures it would produce. The pixels are nothing but tiny squares of color and light. Thus to get the best camera, you should have the best pixel quality. The sensor of the camera can be called as its eye. Generally, the digital cameras with larger sensors have better quality diodes, which result in sharp and clear pictures.

You should also compare the digital camera on the grounds of its memory. All the digital photographs require the storage capacity of several megabytes. You should compare the capacity of built-in memory of the digital camera. You should certainly go for the one with more battery capacity. A general guidance principle is to have a battery with at least 256 to 512MB of memory. It is important to check the memory compatibility while comparing the digital cameras.

You can also compare the SLR digital camera with compact digital camera. There are many features that you may find in a compact digital camera but not in the SLR digital camera. It can also be vice versa.

The SLR cameras are big cameras, efficient in producing clear, sharp and quite colourful images. While the compact cameras are very small in size and can be slipped in to your jeans pocket quite comfortably. They may not compete well with the SLR digital cameras when you compare their features. But, their size is the feature, which is the major attraction for purchase to many users. When you would compare the working and results of both of these cameras, you can decide as to which one suits the best to your needs.

There are more features that should be compared before buying a digital camera. Optical zoom is much better than digital zoom. Compare the speed of the shutter, time taken to start up, the level of manual override and how instant is the auto focus of the camera.

Keep these things in your mind before the purchase. I am quite sure that you will make the best-for-you pick, prior comparing various digital options. Happy Shopping, for happy digital Clicking!

Randy Rushmore asked:




If you love exploring the ocean, then why not capture those precious moments with a scuba camera? As well as seeing the spectacular marine life firsthand, you can take some high quality photographs to show to friends and family.

The scuba camera comes in all shapes and sizes; there are many accessories for those who are professional underwater photographers or for those whom this is a serious hobby. It is even possible to buy a scuba camera that is integrated into a scuba mask.

There are numerous stockists available online and you will find an abundance of information about the different equipment at your fingertips. This makes it a bit easier in the decision making process about which camera is best to spend your money on. The average cost of these cameras is approximately $200 but you can find good quality ones for as little as $50. Top-of-the-range and digital cameras usually command as much as $500, sometimes more. Whatever the cost, the camera should be able to handle the task and produce some amazing photographs for your collection.

Many people who use scuba cameras usually also purchase an underwater digital camera housing case. This product is usually made from aluminum or moulded plastic. An underwater digital camera housing case is specifically designed to prevent the scuba camera from the effects of salt water and protect against accidental breakage. It is not necessary to buy an underwater digital camera housing case but it give a lot of people peace of mind that there camera is protected, no matter what happens.

In order to choose the best camera for your needs, you need to gather some information. It is imperative that you identify how often you will be using the camera and what depths you will expect it to dive to. It is important that the equipment you buy will be able to withstand the pressures of being at certain levels under the water. Other things to take into account are the upmost limit of your budget and whether you are looking for a certain make or model of equipment.

If you are new to using a scuba camera, you may wish to read some comments on reviews about certain cameras that are available. You can find this information on many diving and photography websites. These reviews will help you to establish exactly what kind of camera you need to purchase.

If you decide to order a scuba camera on the internet it is generally a simple and straightforward task. Some retailers can offer bigger savings by purchasing equipment off the internet. You may also qualify for free delivery and the equipment is usually on your doorstep within a matter of days.

Scuba diving is a fun and energetic activity and allows you to take in the wonder of a world experienced by so few of us. Using a scuba camera could encourage your friends and family into taking up scuba diving themselves so that they can enjoy this magical world too.