Photography Blog

There is more to advertising photography than meets the eye. With the digital era ushered today, the art of photography and thereby advertising photography is evolving, creating along layer after layer, and building a deep foundation of photography and its raison d’âtre.

The digital era has brought about a huge revolution in the world of photography. Not just the introduction of digital cameras, but the comfort, the expediency and the quality of work that it has engendered is commendable. And it is well appreciated, as we can see this in the widespread use of latest equipments, software etc.

The digitalised advertising photography is tangible in the highly advanced digital cameras used today. With brands such as Canon, Nikon, Sony etc. facilitating the use of such high-end cameras, we see a steady development in the picture quality and the user-friendly systems. These advanced cameras also help in reduction of wastage of resources immensely. For instance, if you click around 10 photographs, and out of them you don’t like 5 of them, then you can delete them. Here you avoid the wastage of film roll. The picture clicked goes into the memory card of the camera, from where you can delete the unwanted photographs and make space for more shots.

The advent of the digital cameras has also helped in better working on the photographs shot. The picture quality of a digital camera is superb, and they can be easily uploaded in a computer. Having done that, it is a very smooth process to work on them using designer software like Photoshop. When the picture quality is so good, there is little work left to be done on the pictures to enhance their look and feel for the advertisement. And, with the digital revolution in Advertising photography, we have more power and more impact packed into each shot.

If you are interested in 360 photography you should know you can have a 360 virtual tour of your own. Whether you want to sell your house and are considering posting the tour on line or you just want to have it for yourself, there are different ways of getting such a tour. They vary from buying it to doing it yourself from top to bottom, and it only depends on your possibility of getting involved in such a project.

Making a 360 virtual tour is not a difficult thing once you know it. But for people who are no experts it may seem hard as it is interesting. If you are looking to make such a tour you have a few options. You can hire someone to make it for you, you can try and do it yourself or you can go to a 360 photography class and become an expert in virtual tour photography.

The easiest way to make a 360 virtual tour if you don’t know a thing about professional photography is to hire someone to do it. There are a few companies out there that do this. You can search on line for such companies that will also give you a free tutorial and even access to down loading a free demo program. But if you still think it is to difficult contact them and you will have your virtual tour in a few days. Most of the customers are realtors who do not have time to create the tour themselves, so you can imagine the quality is quite good.

The next option would be the old DIY way. This works if you like learning about new computer applications even if you do not know much about 360 photography. Depending on how often you intend to use the application you can download it (either for free or for a sum of money) or you can buy one from a specialized store or directly from camera producers. Virtual tour photography has a simple principle: you take more pictures and then you use software to stitch them together. Depending on what you want and how good you get you can look for certain features that do not come with all applications.

If you decide to do this please have in mind that you can find very good applications for free, or you can pay very large sums of money for them. However, the final result only depends on you and on the quality of your photographs. If your 360 virtual tour is not as good as you expected do not blame it on the software, as it is only your fault. Remember that only practice makes perfect, and very rarely a novice gets best results from the first try. So don’t be discouraged if your tour is not perfect at first. Instead, try to enjoy the process of making it yourself and keep trying until you are satisfied with your results.

The third option would be to invest in a 360 photography class. However, you should do this only if you are seriously thinking of becoming a 360 virtual tour photographer, or if you have a lot of time and money to invest in your hobby. Yes, if you are a good student you will most likely learn how to make excellent virtual tours, but you have to think if it is worth investing your time and money. Such classes are recommended to people who want to specialize in this branch, but if you feel strongly about doing it then you should definitely do it. Who knows, you might even end up creating virtual tours for other people.

Weddings are one of the most deserving and difficult occasions to photograph. Lighting, distance from the subjects and lots of movement are all challenges with wedding photography. So, here are 8 wedding photography tips you can use to help make sure that your wedding pictures are just what you (and the bride and groom) want.

1. Bring Lots of Batteries – This is especially true for digital cameras since digital uses far more power than film cameras. And if like most guests with digital cameras you’re showing your pictures to others at the wedding and reception, that LCD will zap the power even more. So bring lots (and I mean lots) of extra batteries.

2. Bring Extra Memory Cards and Increase the Resolution – You never know which pictures will end up being the ones you want to frame or make prints of for the photo album, so be sure that your camera is set to medium or better yet, high resolution. Having extra memory cards will help make sure you don’t run out of space.

3. Look for the Unexpected Moments – In addition to all of the traditional moments you need to take like the bride and groom getting ready, exchange of vows, the first kiss, there will always be the unexpected “Kodak moments” that you want to capture. Along with all the traditional moments that you don’t want to miss: the bride (or groom) getting ready, the exchange of vows, the first kiss, the cake cutting ceremony and so on, there are bound to be many unexpected “Kodak moments.” Watch the children as they will provide many sweet and comical photo ops at a wedding! And don’t forget to honor the parents of both the bride and groom by taking their pictures. There will be much emotion on this joyous day to capture with your camera.

4. Increase the ISO – If you have a film camera, use a higher speed film, such as 400, but if you have a digital camera like most will, increase the camera’s ISO, that is its sensitivity to light. Try increasing just to 200 or 400. Use digital noise removing software if needed. The higher ISO can brighten otherwise underexposed pictures better than a compact’s built in flash.

5. Photo Edit Out the Red Eye – Most wedding pictures are taken from too far a distance for the camera’s red eye reduction to work, but photo editing software such as Photoshop and even the free, Picasa can take the red out.

6. Save the Flash for the Most Important Pictures – Since it can take a while for the flash to recharge- plan ahead. Unless a “can’t miss” spontaneous photo opportunity comes up, save the flash for moments you most want to have pictures of, like the bride and groom cutting the cake, kissing after their vows, their first dance, etc.

7. Make Use of Optical Zoom or Your Feet – For those far away photos, use the optical zoom (not digital zoom if you can). If your camera doesn’t have an optical zoom, it’s best to simply move closer to the subject.

8. Don’t Let Shutter Lag Ruin your Pictures - Although this isn’t a problem with film, if you’re taking photos with a digital camera be prepared to compensate for the shutter lag. Some cameras shoot much faster (or slower) than others, so if you haven’t done so yet, get acquainted with yours before the wedding. When taking action shots such as dancing at the reception, do the same as you would at a sports event. Try to guess what’s going to happen next and point the camera in that direction and press the shutter half way down. Be ready to take lots of photos anytime there are people moving, so that you end up with several good pictures. And on such an important event, it’s important to take several still shots as well.

Hopefully these 8 wedding photo tips will help you make the most out of your next wedding and give the bride and groom pictures they adore. Until then, keep practicing and have fun learning photography!

Our day and age has introduced the digital camera and this is what most people are now using instead of the cameras with film. Yet, there are still people who value film photography in some ways. Both types has positive things about them. This article will detail the differences of these two.

In digital photography you will be able to edit your photos using a software. You have the great freedom to touch up your pictures and edit to your heart’s content. In this day and time, there have been tons of photo editing software you can download for free or with payment.

Digital photography can actually give us pictures to look at after the shot is taken. It is only a matter of clicking a button then a portrait is printed. However, you must see to it that you are using a high quality ink and paper when you produce copies of digital photos.

Film photography as we know employs the developing process needed to produce pictures. There are stages in processing photos that involves photo chemicals in order for the pictures to appear. You will not experience pixilation problems in film cameras.

Film restoration is used in film photography so that you will be able to reprint the pictures at a future date. A film is actually a series of negatives which contains the images captured by the photographer. The film of a camera stores any captured images that must be ran in the process of photocopying. This points to another round of printing photos.

Those are the differences between film and digital photography. You will notice that you have uses for each type and advantages. It will come down to what the photographer prefers when it comes to taking pictures.

As a product photographer my preferred line of work is in the studio, taking shots of people and products. My aim is to always create images that need a minimal amount of post production. This not only saves me time but I feel it forces me to be a better photographer. If I take my time composing a shot with consideration to how it’s going to end up looking on my screen or in print then hopefully it will come out right with minimal post production work. It’s not easy to do this and far too often I hear people say ‘ah that will do, I can photoshop it out’. True, with the right skill set on photoshop there is very little that is not possible these days. But does that make you a better photographer, no it makes you a better illustrator or image retoucher or essentially a less creative photographer!

If you can get an image spot on with minimal editing why would you not choose that path? Unless you are more of a photo retoucher and enjoy editing image after image why do it? Well an answer to this question may lye in the economic climate of todays world. Businesses are having to become very clever in their marketing strategies and to keep on to of the game they need something fresh and new. Good photographers are no different; constantly on the look out for new ideas, new challenges and finding a niche or edge over the competition.

So you’re a product photographer and your client is looking for something different or fresh for their website, why not offer 360 Product Photography?

How to…

360 product photography is surprisingly easy to create, it is a little time consuming and you will most likely need to do some post production but it is worth it for the end result. As you see above you can create an almost seamless 360 image of any object and you really don’t need any expensive specialist equipment. The above image was created with a Canon 50d, Sigma 50mm f2.8 macro lens and basic lighting.

The trick….the only vital piece of equipment you need is a rotating cake stand / tray. They can be purchased for very little and enable you (once marked) to take a high number of images through 360 degrees. There are kits available that are fully automated that makes the process easy. By this I mean for $ $ $ you can purchase a kit comprising of an electronic rotating tray, all required hardware and software to do the job for you! All you have to do is set up your product on the tray point your SLR towards it, plug your SLR in to your PC and the software rotates the tray, takes the photos and even edits the photos for a pure white background! If you find yourself suddenly being requested for a high number of 360 images it may be worth investing.

If however you are just starting out in 360 product photography and rarely get requested for it then there is a slightly longer yet more cost effective solution.

Stage 1

1.         Buy a cheap white rotating cake tray.

2.         Buy some white card (your choice of satin or matt)

3.         Set up the card on the tray and either use card or a mini light box for your white background.

4.         Set your lighting.

5.         Take the required amount of images, remember the more images taken the more seamless the end result will be.

I took a series of 16 individual images, this enabled me to get the image above once they were all merged.

Stage 2

1.         It may be worth playing around with Stage 2 with a small number of images first to get used to the process. Open up Photoshop.

2.         Click on ‘Window’ – ‘Animation’.

3.         Open all the required images.

4.         Edit the images size, crop and white background to your requirements.

5.         Put them in order. Start with the first image in the series (the image you wish the animation to start with, for example the front of the product)

6.         You need to add all following images as a new layer to the first image.

7.         Unlock the first layer / image and make it invisible by clicking the little eye icon.

8.         To add a new image firstly click on new frame which is next to the bin icon on the bottom left.

9.         Drag and drop the second image in to the animation strip.

10.       Make the new layer visible by clicking the little eye icon.

11.       Click on image one in the animation strip and make that visible in the layer by clicking the little eye icon.

Once all images are in line highlight all frames and set the delay parameters, then set the first drop down to ‘forever’. This will ensure the image constantly rotates. Also set the time delay between 0 and 0.2.

See examples left 0 sec delay and right 0.2 sec delay.

Thank you for reading, please take a look at my gallery and other blogs and don’t hesitate to contact me.

www.mjlphotographics.smugmug.com

A lot of students are now taking up photography as their career. And why not? This is an extremely well paying job once you get a good break. Earlier, this particular profession was merely discarded as a hobby. If someone wished to pursue it as a full-time career, he was discouraged by family or friends because photography can’t very well be a “job” for someone. Those eras are gone and you can easily pursue a photography course in Kolkata to become a true professional in this field.

Since this choice of career is greatly in demand, photography institutes in Kolkata have mushroomed by the dozen. However, not all of them provide good exposure and job placements. Therefore before enrolling at any institute, keep these points in mind:

Check to see if the school is offering both general and specialized courses. You may choose to be a general photographer capturing a variety of subjects, but if you want to specialize in a particular area such as nature or wildlife, then you have to be trained properly for that purpose.
Basic knowledge of photo editing software is needed. There are new and updated softwares that are being released into the market so make sure that the course includes teaching the basics of photo editing as well.
There are many technical and scientific aspects to photography. If you thought that taking good pictures was all about aiming the camera and clicking, then you couldn’t be more wrong! This is a very serious profession and students need to be the master of all the aspects related to this subject.
This is a slightly expensive course so make sure that you go through the curriculum and evaluate if the course is actually worth the money that is being charged for it. Quite a few colleges charge an astronomical sum but in reality they are simply not worth that much. Analyze each part of the curriculum and then decide if you want to enroll or not.

If you take the above mentioned factors into account, it will be easier for you to choose the best college to join among the various photography institutes in Kolkata. Always remember that a good school is the first step to success because you need to have proper training in capturing images and it takes a lot of dedication and practice to perfect this art. All the best!

1) Focus your camera
In order to ensure your images are sharp, make sure you know how to focus your camera.  Digital cameras with auto focus are often difficult to focus precisely, especially when shooting small objects.  Make sure your read your owner’s manual and understand how your camera’s auto focus operates.  Most digital cameras are designed to easily focus on large objects but have difficulty on small objects.  It is often useful to put your camera in spot focus mode.  Spot focus will give you more control over what part of a scene the camera is actually focusing on.
2) Use a tripod
Even the slightest movement while taking a picture will cause motion blur.  The closer you get to an object the more obvious the motion blur becomes.  Using an inexpensive tripod will make a big difference in the sharpness of your images.  For really sharp images it makes sense to invest in a good, sturdy tripod.  If your camera has a remote shutter release then use it, if not then use the camera’s built-in timer to minimize camera shake.
3) Put your camera in aperture priority mode
To get the largest area of your subject in focus, it is good to set your camera in aperture priority mode and set the aperture to the highest number possible.  The closer you get to your subject, the more important this becomes.
4) Use soft lighting
Your camera’s built-in flash will rarely give good results for product photography.  For soft lighting either shoot outside on an overcase day or use a light tent like the EZcube, Cubelite, or use a soft box.
5) Use image editing software
Even inexpensive software like Photoshop Elements or ACDSee can make your product photography much easier.  It may seem like it’s faster to use an image exactly as it was shot.  But in reality, it is difficult to shoot an image precisely how you would like to appear in its final form.  Image editing software allows you to crop an image, adjust it’s exposure, sharpen the image and then resize it, often in less than 60 seconds. The biggest difference between an amateur’s product snapshot and a professional’s product image are sharpness and lighting.  Steps 1,2, and 3 will improve the sharpness of your images while Step 4 will improve your lighting.  A minute spent editing an image will improve it further.  Because these few steps seem so basic, it’s tempting to ignore them.  However, if you take time to follow them, you will see a huge improvement in the quality of your photos.

Photography in the 21st Century has changed significantly from what it was only ten years ago. In the past, an architectural photographer would have a significant but one-time investment in cameras and lenses. We would be faced with ongoing expenses for film, film processing and Polaroid test film that would apply to each photograph created. At the end of the chemical era, it was not surprising for these consumable expenses to exceed 0.00 per photograph and they would constitute 25% to 50% of the cost of photographing a project. If in a day’s shoot an architectural photographer would shoot five interior images and two exterior images, at the end of the day the bill to client would be in the range of 00.00.

The Polaroid test film we had was of low resolution, rotten color (which is why i always used B/W Polaroid) and of very limited size; my 4×5 camera used 4×5 Polaroid and we had to make all of our decisions regarding composition, lighting and styling using a 4×5 inch print and a magnifying glass. It was better than trying to look through the camera, and we worked hard at making the most of each Polaroid because we all knew they cost money and the expense could rapidly consume our financial budget without a well-disciplined approach to the use of them.

Film processing was another expense variable that relied upon the skill and technical mastery of the photographer to maintain control and not blow our budgets. Because we were working on location without the luxury of having a photo lab on hand to process the film before we broke down a set, I would normally shoot six sheets of film for each photograph at the cost of .00 per photograph. And if the client wanted another version of the image it would require another six sheets of film constituting an additional .00 added to the cost of the project. Then it could take as much as a week to process the film and deliver it to the client for preliminary review and consultation on color and cropping.

As an architectural photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area I am thankful for the advent of digital photography, because we no longer need to strain our eyes to see if the flowers in the back corner of a shot are positioned properly. Today we can review the shot at full resolution on a laptop computer at magnification equivalent to a 20×30 print or more. Now we can not only tell if the flowers are in the proper location and oriented effectively, we can determine if the blossoms are overlapping each other or if the babies breath should be thinned. We can see the texture of the fabric on the sofa and the brush strokes in the paintings and make judgments of color representation and cropping on site before we break down and move on to the next photograph.

These most prominent of the benefits of digital photography and the easiest to describe. The rapid turn around, the retouching and other capabilities the digital process gives are valuable beyond measure.  When digital photography became the standard, I and all of my clients all hoped the cost of a photo shoot would be reduced because we would no longer have the expense of Polaroid, and film processing. This hope soon faded.

The reality is that digital photographic and computer technology are advancing at remarkable rates, and to provide professional photographic services requires a significant and continual investment in upgrading hardware and software. There are significant expenses involved in simply archiving and cataloging the images we create for our clients because we need to have a triply redundant back-up system that includes off-site storage. And the expense of upgrading hardware and software is equaled or exceeded by the expense of continually learning the operation of new software and implementation of new procedures and industry standard practices to provide the services and products our clients need, not only today but in the foreseeable future as well.

The cost of consumable expenses (Polaroid test film, film and film processing) have been replaced by the cost of technology, and these costs must be billed to each photograph or project in order for the photographer to provide these services in an ongoing manner. The photographer who is not billing these costs to the project is a poor business manager and is operating with an unsustainable business model.

In the digital photography, the green screen software is a computer program which enables photograph enthusiasts to make creative and innovative images. It enables the users to bring the realms of imagination into reality through this technology. You can create Harry Potter fans by handing broom to the children dressed in black robes and photograph them in front of a green color background. Make your subject a giant, dwarf or invisible with the latest technology. You can create wonderful pictures for magazine and photo shoots with this kind of photography. It is also used for portrait photography, film making or for news anchoring.

How to use green screen software?

It is a computer program which can edit not only video but also your pictures. You only need a good quality green or blue color cloth as the background for the subject. These colors are specifically used as they are farthest from the human skin tone. There are no chances of these colors getting entangled with the skin tone of your subject. Proper lighting is also essential in this kind of photography. It eliminates shadows and glares on the face or clothes of the subject. You can shoot a few pictures which you want to use as the background image. Place a camera on the tripod in order to avoid any kind of movement of the camera. Use a high quality camera which gives a clear focus and picture. Photograph a subject from different angles and in different poses. Finalize the picture you want to use for keying and then replace its background with any image that you have decided to use. A good tool can mask the background image well. There are tools which can offer you to use visual effects in the picture. One can also use the sound effects to create emphatic and impressive images or videos.

These computer programs are useful for professional and amateur photographers. They are used for creating magazine covers, modeling, portrait photography and much more. Even the photo enthusiasts can create mind boggling images and videos using the state-of-art technology. Teachers can explain concepts in a better manner to the students and arouse their interest in any kind of subject.

You can remove the background or backdrop behind an object in a picture with a process called background removal. This process can remove the background in its entirety, or you can choose sections or parts that you desire from a backdrop to be removed.

Previously, before the arrival of digital photography and the current accompanying technology, background removal was performed in a more laborious process.

It was once done in a darkroom under all of the proper temperature and ambient conditions. The film was watched closely while submerged in a working solution. By overexposing the film to the solution, the background was blurred and has a decrease in resolution.

Today, background removal is possible using any digital photo editing software like Image Manipulation Program, GNU, or GIMP. GIMP is a special kind of graphics editing program able to support some types of object-based (or vector) graphics.

It is not necessary that the digital photo editing software used for background removal be able to support all types of object-oriented graphics. The advantage in using GIMP of course, is that it enables easy vector to raster conversion.

Other commonly used raster graphics editors and digital photo editors will also work just as well. Most digital photo editors have plug-ins which can alter the background in different ways. Plug-ins are computer programs with highly particular functions. Most sophisticated photo editing programs use special purpose plug-ins and will perform background editing and removal based on special criteria.

Objects without backgrounds gain a new sense of versatility and purpose. They can be placed in a new backdrop, even in a new situational context. An example would be to remove the dining room backdrop of a flower vase and replace the background with that of a hotel lobby. The object can also be moved around in any way and you can change its alignment with the new background.

An object can gain a new sense of purpose without changing itself at all. It retains all of its properties like shape and size but becomes moldable to individual usage.

One of the best digital photography tips I could give you right now would be to head straight over to Learn Digital Photography Now and download the FREE report that reveals insider Professional tips and tricks for taking the most awesome photos with your digital camera.

Just visit www.LearnDigitalPhotographyNow.com to get your FREE Digital Photography Report now!!! – Best Digital Photography Tips Guaranteed!!!