Shooting the Moon – Learn the Secret on How to Take Perfect Pictures of the Moon

March 4th, 2010

Sorry for not posting for  while. I was busy doing something else. Now I’ve come back to give  you tips. :)

Photography in the moonlight follows the general rules for night shooting, but remember that the moon is a relatively strong light source, so if you want to include it in the image, it can easily become overexposed. When the graceful sunset is replaced by the more subtle and mysterious moon, then this is part of what makes moonlight so well suited for photography. The special light, the magical atmosphere, which cannot be reproduced by all kinds of studio setups.

Although we have a beautiful photograph of a full moon and dark cloudless sky, perhaps also with other elements such as large trees, beautiful buildings, or a daring bridge construction.

Almost everyone who pulls out the mobile phone or compact camera and snapping the moon will be disappointed when the results are available. Most often, the moon appears as a fuzzy circular light.

How is it that the moon that glows so clear and makes so much of himself in the night sky is so little photogenic?

The photographic challenges is that the moon is much brighter than the sky and the rest will be exposed if we do not set the camera correctly. Moreover, the moon is far away and make up a very small portion of the image surface using normal lenses. And it’s also in motion…

The first commandment is clear weather and clear view. To take good pictures of the moon, which is small, far away and moving, you need a telephoto lens and a tripod (or good support). Turn off the anti-vibration function if you use a tripod. To avoid overexposure, use a short shutter speed. For best control, select manual tuning. I recommend aperture f/11 and shutter speed 1/250 sec.

How to Turn Your Digital Camera Hobby Into a Money Making Business

November 2nd, 2009

Make Money With Your Digital Camera

Turning a hobby or pastime like digital photography into a money making deal can offer possibilities of generating extra income for the person with a creative and entrepreneurial mind. With the current technology and quality of digital cameras, paired with the wide reach of the internet, many photographers can offer their products and services online. Below are some ways to cash in on the digital photography wave.

Follow the People

You must know what people want. Make your presence felt in the places people are. There are many places you can go where people would want their photos to be taken, somewhere memorable. You can offer your service during parades, concerts, competitions, gatherings, parks, and just any tourist attractions people might be compelled to have their pictures taken. It would help if you had your own business card, present your services to the crowd and start taking those photos. Open a legitimate website where people can view their photos and they can just choose to buy what they prefer.

Create Novelty Items

If you have access to software that can create novelty items that allow you to superimpose people’s images to a background, make use of it. Advertise yourself and offer a variety of unique services to companies. Take note of the additional expenses you might accumulate, including time and travel expenses to each item. This could add to your profit margin. Read the rest of this entry »

How Take Great Photos With Your Point and Shoot Digital Camera

October 6th, 2009

In most instances to take professional quality pictures you need an expensive DSLR camera and photography equipment. That though doesn’t mean you cannot take excellent pictures using a point and click digital camera.

It is having the knowledge that is the key to taking good pictures for example if you give Tiger Woods a set of worn out clubs he would probably still be able to out drive most people. It is his skill and the practice that he has put in that makes him so good. It is the same with photography. A good place to start it perspective and composition. Read the rest of this entry »

Light and Color in Photography

September 24th, 2009

Light is one of a photographer’s most important considerations. In fact, any photograph captures the effect of light on objects, whether taken in natural light or the warm glow of incandescent light. A photographer who understands how the eye and lens perceive the color spectrum can make full use of light in photography.

The Color Spectrum
Both the natural light of the sun and artificial incandescent light appear white to the naked eye. However, if you shine light through a prism, it splits into a rainbow of colors. This effect shows how the “color” white contains every shade in the color spectrum.

When light hits an object, the object absorbs some of the color spectrum and reflects back the rest of the colors. The portion of the color that is not absorbed by the object but reflected back to eye is the color that the object appears to the human eye. For instance, a white wall reflects most of the color spectrum black. So our eyes (and the camera lens) see white. While a red rose reflects the red portion of the color spectrum and absorbs the rest, a black object absorbs the entire color spectrum. Read the rest of this entry »

Photographing Babies and Children at Birthday Events and Capturing the Candid Moments

August 25th, 2009

The precious opportunities can occur anywhere, like in the bath, tasting new foods for the first time, or during cuddles before bed. Even when out and about, the expression they have while feeding the ducks down at your local park. Keep on the lookout and keep your camera near by.

Other fantastic photo opportunities in your child’s life happen every year, like their birthday parties, Christmas, Easter etc.

These opportunities in the past have not been well represented with amazing photos; the photos are kept because they are your family not because they are terrific photos. Have you ever had anyone exclaim, that the birthday photo you have of your child is amazing? Potentially yes though in most peoples realities the answer is unfortunately no!

Yet they happen every year so it can be mastered.

What are some ideas that can help to shoot great birthday shots; these can be applied for any party or event.

Preparation for the party is important, if you have planned the party you will already know the room layout or where the majority of time is going to be spent. Look around before the party starts and mentally note down some angles that the lighting would be great for shooting photos from and that there are no ornaments or obstacles in your line of shot.

Know your obstacles, as mentioned above. Though in reality are you going to a have the time to take the photos as well as organising everything else for the party? Maybe have someone else as the photographer? Or someone else brings the cake in? Can you manoeuvre into the perfect place or is it easy access for you? These are all things to think about prior to the party starting.

Where is the main table set up? Is it rectangular or not? If it is rectangular then take the photos from facing the long end of the table, this way all the children will be in focus.

To use flash or not! Try some with the flash and some without, if organised ahead, try different ISO settings on your camera to see how high it can go before the shots become grainy looking. Read the rest of this entry »

Galleries of wild life

August 19th, 2009

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Cameras for Dads and Grads

August 18th, 2009

Cameras are great gifts for dads and grads, but deciding which one is the right one can be tricky. Here are some tips to help you make the best choice.

Film or Digital
This debate can get quite lengthy, and I use both film and digital. But I will make this easy for you: Unless you’re buying a camera for a professional photographer, go with digital. Digital is more convenient and there are no film costs. If your dad or grad falls in love with photography, he or she may eventually want a film camera as well. At that point, you can congratulate yourself for introducing someone into the wonderful world of photography. You can also be certain that from that point forward, your dad or grad will never be shy about letting you know exactly what he or she wants when it comes to photography equipment. Read the rest of this entry »

A Professional Photographer’s Life Story – My First Job

August 11th, 2009

So here I am, 9.00am Monday morning at Studiographic Park Row Bristol. I climb the stairs to the first floor reception area and I am greeted by my new boss Paul Smith. Paul has a good reputation as a portrait and wedding photographer and the display pictures on the wall are impressive. I am excited, what will be my first assignment? an outdoor shoot or maybe a studio shoot. I have not seen the studio yet and I can’t wait.

Paul shows me into another room, quite large and well lit, with windows at one end overlooking Park Street. There are work benches, a large print dryer, I had never seen one that big before, and a print washer. “This is where you will be working John, I will show you the darkrooms”. Well I suppose a ‘Trainee Photographer’ has got to start somewhere, But I am sure my first assignment will be soon. There were two darkrooms, one for printing, with two enlargers and a large rectangular sink for the processing dishes, and one for film processing that had three ‘deep tanks’, for developer, wash and fixer. They held about five gallons each and you could process up to twelve films at a time loaded onto spirals on racks. It suddenly became clear that this was ‘Commercial Photography’ a lot different to my one film at a time in my little Paterson tank.

I was shown a large cupboard where the Kodak Bromide Paper was kept, my eyes nearly popped out! I had always bought my paper in a pack of 25 sheets and I made do with one surface type and one contrast grade, normal grade 2. Here every box was 100 sheets in Glossy and Silk surface, double weight and single weight, three different sizes and contrast grades 1 to 4, soft, normal, hard and very hard. I had never seen so much photographic paper in one place.

Paul knew I had experience of printing, albeit as an amateur, so it was in at the deep end. “Start on these orders John and see how you get on”. I picked the top order from the tray, it was for wedding re-prints, the negatives were attached (120 6×6cm), black and white of course as color photography for weddings at this time was prohibitively expensive for most people. I glanced down the list, all neatly written out with the negative numbers, the quantity of prints from each negative and the sizes. I looked at the first negative on the list, there were usually 24 for each wedding, 2 rolls of 120 film. ‘12 8×6, 1 10×8 and 7 half plate’. Twenty prints, and this was just the first negative! The most I had ever printed from one negative was two. “Oh John, just use small pieces for test strips, I don,t want to see any paper wastage” Paul said as he left the room. Read the rest of this entry »

Blackbird, Fly Twin Lens Reflex Camera – Holga Successor?

August 10th, 2009

The Diana came about in the early 1960’s: a plastic camera with a square mask to create 4 x 4cm square images on 120 film. Because it was essentially as simple a camera as one could make — it was plastic, prone to light leaks, and inexpensive — it was considered a “toy” camera. Originating in Hong Kong and mostly given away at public entertainment events such as fairs and carnivals, these cameras have since ended up all over the world and continue to have a cult following. With their light leaks and a variable number of other imperfections, many photographers claim that no two Diana cameras are alike, in the same way that no two photographers have the same “eye.” The result is a poor quality, vignetted, low contrast, and often blurry image. Typically these were less than desirable qualities of a camera in the minds of most photographers, but the Diana changed that. It caused hobbyists and professional photographers alike to think a little less about every shot, to let happen what was going to happen, to let go of some of the control of how to image would turn out, and to “shoot from the hip”. Read the rest of this entry »

How to Take Beautiful Photographs With Your Camera Phone

August 7th, 2009

Almost everyone these days has a mobile phone. Mobile phones with inbuilt cameras have really taken off in recent years. Some camera phones have quite amazing cameras with high specifications. Why not use your phone to take beautiful photos? I don’t suggest that you replace your camera with a camera phone but, phones are incredible handy and perfect for when you have left your camera at home and see that perfect photo opportunity.

I’m going to prove to you that you can take beautiful photos with your mobile phone in 5 simple steps. Read the rest of this entry »