Digital Photo Max

Top Reasons to Opt to Digital Photography

Today, more people are getting hooked over Digital photography. Since the birth of digital photography, it has been easier and more convenient for people to capture the best photos they desire. Digital Photography indeed has become the wave of today and in the near future. But what if you’re still using the old mode of taking photos- the film photography? Well, think again.

For those few people who are still using film photography, here are some good reasons why you should opt for digital photography:

1. Generally, one of the most excellent features of choosing digital photography is that its convenience. Aside from the fact that digital cameras are easy to use since they are user friendly, these cameras are also portable and you can just safely place it in your pocket anywhere you go.

2. With digital camera, you can save your time and effort. Digital cameras provide instant feedback once you take photos. It has a review button to let you view all the photos so you’ll be able to choose the best one. At the same time, it has also a delete button for those photos you don’t like to keep. In short, you can keep on trying until you get the right photo. Now isn’t that great?

3. The next good thing about digital photography is its capacity to have your photos printed immediately. Actually, you can it is much easier if you have a digital printer. You can just simply connect your digital camera to the printer and press the button to print. On the contrary, film cameras takes time before you get your photos developed. You also have to go back to the photo shop to get your pictures.

4. Another great thing you can get from digital photography is the capacity to modify or edit your photos anytime. Since the images are in digital files, it is much easier now to edit them. You can simply open the images in any photo editing software supported by the file. With the photo editing software, you can alter or adjust the color of your photos. You can also crop the photo and design your own photo. All of these in one photo editing package. It’s more than what you can get from film cameras.

5. If you want to put up a small business, then digital photography would be of great help. Let your creativity works. Digital photos cannot just be simple photos. Now, you can turn them into T-shirts, mugs, invitations, greeting cards, calendars and a lot more. This is for the fact that digital photos can be printed anywhere and in anyway. Just make use of the right photo paper, and surely, you can make lots of money from it.

6. Lastly, digital photography has the ability to share the photos you have you’re your love ones and relatives. You can simply give a copy of the precious moments to someone everywhere. Just attach the softcopy of the photo to your email and send. That easy. But with film camera, you will spend money just on scanning the photos, to be able to send them online. Of course that’s an extra work for a digital photographer.

Apparently, digital photography has really paved way for making photography convenient and easier at the same time achieving high quality photos. It just shows that there’s no other time to opt to digital photography than now.

Digital Photography Made Easy

Today, digital photography is considered the most popular not only in the business industry but also for personal use. For all those who have shifted from film cameras, it is vital that you know the different terms related to it.

The first part of the digital photography tutorial will focus on the basic parts and terms you need to know before handling a digital camera. Below are the common terms used in digital photography:

1. Pixel- means the tiniest part of the digital photo. A photo image is composed of combined millions of pixel.
2. Resolution- the over all quantity of pixels in a photo. Increasing the resolution would make the image become sharper. Thus more pixels are needed to achieve a better photo image quality.
3. Mega pixel- a photo composed of three to four mega pixels will have a better quality that a photo with only one mega pixel.
4. Dots Per Inch (DPI) – this term is used to describe quality of the computer monitor and printer. Specifically, laser printers have more dpi resolution than monitors. Hence, higher the dpi resolution means better quality.
5. JPEG (joint photographic experts group) – it correspond to the format for saving images in the digital camera.
6. Memory Card- this is where the digital files are stored. Memory cards consist of different sizes and capacity. A memory card with higher storage capacity would be more convenient to purchase.
7. LCD (liquid crystal display) – almost all digital cameras have this specification. The purpose of LCD is for the photographer to be able to view the scene first before capturing the photo.

Now that you already understand the first part of the digital photography tutorial, the second part will discuss basically on correct handling of digital camera.

Proper handling of digital camera is the next important step in digital photography. This is because the success of a digital photographer depends on his output. And the key to achieve quality photos starts in the way you use and handle the digital camera.

Learning how a digital camera works, understanding the strategies in taking photos, and how to take indoor and outdoor pictures are all part of the things a beginner should learn.

Below is the second part of the digital photography tutorial. These are good ideas to help beginner master the secrets of taking photos.

1. Pay attention to the subject

One of the most fundamental digital photography tips. You should be able to compose carefully by working on the frame. Play with your camera, and explore the different shots. Avoid positioning your object at the center of the photo, as it may result to dead center image.

2. Capture Close Up Photos

Take great images by capturing them in extreme close up. Close up photos add a little creativity and excitement to the photos. In addition, this feature is only of the different ways to enhance you photo.

3. Use a tripod

Oftentimes digital cameras results to blurry photographs if your hands quiver a little. Getting a tripod will surely save your effort from taking low quality photos, and preserve otherwise great photos.

4. Be active

Try creative shots. Take photos from the top of a hill, or off the side of a yacht. Go outside and explore your environment. You’ll surely have fun taking those once in a lifetime photo shots.

5. Join a photography class

Your learning doesn’t only focus on the practical part. You must not only learn through your experience. Learning from an expert would also help to improve your skills as a photographer. Try to join a photography class in your community, or if there are online classes you can log on.

Becoming a professional digital photographer really takes time. You just have to be resourceful and keep on trying new techniques. Start by learning the digital photography tutorial because this will serve as a stepping stone for your future career growth.

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Basically a digital camera is a deice use to capture pictures without the use of films. Unlike the conventional camera, the digital camera does not rely on mechanical and chemical processes. It has a built in computer and records the images it captures in an electronic form. Having and operating one does not even require the use of electricity.

Since the images that a digital camera captures is in electronic form, it is a language recognized by computers. This language is called pixels, tiny colored dots represented by ones and zeros that make up the picture that you just took. Just like any conventional cameras, a digital camera is furnished with a series of lenses that focus the light and creates the image that you want to capture. The difference here is then; a conventional camera focuses its light on a film while a digital camera focuses the light into a semiconductor device that electronically records the light. Remember the built in computer, it comes in here and breaks this information to digital data resulting to all the features of the digital camera.

Another feature of the digital camera is that it has a sensor that converts light into electrical charges. A charge coupled device or CCD is an image sensor that is found in a digital camera. While other low-end digital camera use complementary metal oxide semiconductor or CMOS as an image device, it can still become better and more famous in the future but most engineers are do not believe that it can replace the CCD for higher-end digital cameras.

A collection of tiny diodes, the CCD gathers electrons when they are struck by photons or the light particles. Each diode or photosite is sensitive to light, meaning that the brighter the light, the number of the electrons gathering will be larger

The price of a digital camera nowadays have been depreciating, one of the main reasons of this is because of the introduction of CMOS image sensors, this is because CMOS sensors are less expensive and are easier to manufacture than CCD sensors. A CCD and CMOS sensor works the same way at first, by converting the light electrical charges into photosites. Simply putting it, is to think that a digital camera works in such a way as thinking that the millions of tiny solar cells, each of which forms a part of the whole image. Both CCD and CMOS do this task using different methods.

When shopping for the best digital camera, take note of these key features.

Image quality. Check the resolution of the camera. The higher the resolution, the more thou will be able to enlarge your picture without the grainy or the out-of-focus effect that we all want to avoid.

Lens. Choose a digital camera with better digital zoom. The digital zoom of the camera will enable you take the pixels from the image sensor and incorporate them to make an image.
Power. Always opt for rechargeable batteries, they can always come in handy, plus you don’t waste as much money on the disposable ones.

Options. So you can brag to your friends how good a photographer or artist you are. Or choose the one that gives options that best cater to your lifestyle, so you won’t ever whine how you never get the right pictures.

Memory. If you’re a photo freak, be sure that you have enough memory in your camera to take all the wacky, freaky, funny and just about any photo you can. Think 512MB if you’re a photo junkie and takes pictures of just about anything.

Computer Interface. Always make sure that it is compatible with your PC, laptop, palmtop or whatever your local picture printer software is, you don’t want to go running around the whole state or the country looking for a computer that’s compatible with your digital camera, wont you?!

Physical. If you are going to be bringing it everywhere, choose a handy and portable digital camera. This way, it won’t always feel as heavy and bulky as those cameras that you see professional photographers are always dragging on their neck. Don’t they ever get tired of that?!

These are just the basic things you have to look for in a digital camera when you buy one. A digital camera is so great that it is quickly replacing all conventional cameras in the market, with all its technology and portability, truly the digital camera is the future of cameras.

Moving from an average to a good photographer does need not be a quantum leap. To many beginners, photography starts out as a casual hobby, and at these moments it is easy to get into habits that are difficult to change later on. But there are seemingly obvious tips that can quickly push you along the road to better photography. So, within a short time, you can easily go from average, to good…and even on to great. Let’s look at three easy to apply ideas.

This first point sounds obvious, I realise, but always take your camera out with you! When I began to take photography seriously, I realised I had missed too many opportunities, simply by not having my camera to hand. One time, my wife and I were taking a stroll back from a shopping expedition through a local park. Quite by chance, she noticed a kingfisher hovering near the riverside, with its wings a blur of motion. “Pity you haven’t got your camera with you” she exclaimed helpfully! From that day forward I vowed never to get caught out again. These days, I may look like a camera geek – or even a tourist – but I don’t care.

Take lots of pictures. To some beginners, photography means getting every picture right, as in film photography days. Whilst this is a good discipline to try to adhere to, you should not fear experimentation also. So, get out there and go crazy. On a day out, at the zoo for example, don’t come back with 50 photos – take 500! Don’t expect every picture to be a masterpiece, however. When downloaded to your PC, patiently sift through the ones that are good, and delete (or file) the ones that are not up to scratch. These remaining photos are the ones you can show off.

Don’t skimp on print paper or ink quality. If you have gone to the trouble of taking numerous photographs, and diligently worked your way through them to select only the best images, it’s a shame to print them low quality. If you choose to print photos at home, make sure you use proper photographic paper. The same photo that looks lifeless, blurry or dark on copy paper can look dramatic, sharp and bright on glossy photographic paper. Similarly, steer clear of using cheap third party inks. Your printer’s manufactured inks will provide optimum quality.

Apply these obvious, but easy to forget, ideas and your photographs will quickly begin to improve – both in quality and in the range of photos you produce. Please refer to my previous Beginners Photography articles for details on using Automatic or Manual modes on your camera when taking your photos.

These black and white photography tips will help you to recognize good black and white photo subjects and to be able to photograph and edit these for the best effects.

Black and white photography is a great way to learn how to properly compose pictures which is why it’s often taught early on when first learning photography.

Even if you have a picture with a lot of vibrant colors, it is often the shapes, curves and lines in a photograph that make a picture stand out. So while the colors can be quite beautiful, black and white makes the photo more dynamic.

Despite its wonderful benefits, when the media transitioned to full color in the 70’s and 80’s, black and white photography became less common. It soon became increasingly more challenging to find places that sold and processed black and white film. Now with the popularity of digital cameras and photo editors, black and white photography is back in popularity!

How to Recognize Great Black and White Pictures

Although choosing the best subjects for black and white is very subjective, many professional photographers will agree that the following types of compositions beg for black and white:

* Photos that convey strong emotion. Often times, color can be a distraction whereas black and white makes the emotion or feeling seem more strong.

Pictures that don’t have a full breadth of colors; For instance, Ansel Adam’s Yosemite “Moon and Half Dome” is a great example.”

* Low contrast images such as photographs shot on dark overcast days.

* Any subject with the lines, contours, shadows and curves that you just know will look great in black and white. How can you tell? You can learn by studying lots of black and white pictures! Just look online for “Ansel Adams.” Or search for “famous black and photos.”

* Look at B&W photography books at the library. There are many different ways to learn how to take black and white photographs!

Create Black & White Photography with a Photo Editor

Once you see a subject and know it would like best in black and white, then you can always set your camera to B&W and take it. But once you get experience with using your photo editing software, you’ll find that you can create even better black and white images by shooting in color first and then desaturating it in the editor. Another added benefit to this method is that you’ll never accidentally take a day’s worth of pictures in black and white because you forgot to reset the camera!

Check Your Camera’s White Balance

While the easiest way to change a color to black and white is to desaturate it with your photo editor, this technique doesn’t let you control how the primary colors work together to produce a grayscale brightness. If your black and white photograph has good white balance, then using a photo editor to desaturate your picture may be all you need to do.

Make Sure to Use Your Photo Editing Software’s Color Swatches

By using a photo editor, you can also apply color swatches. Even though we don’t see the colors in black and white, there are tones, and these are created by colors. Color swatches work similar to how a color lens works on an SLR camera. For example, filters in the yellow to orange range are flattering to the skin while green creates nice tones for nature pictures.

And finally, don’t forget to show off your black and white photographs. Good black and white photos should be framed so you can fully appreciate their artistic message. You should select a picture frame with simple clean lines as these will best highlight your photograph. Hope you enjoyed these four black and white photography tips and have fun taking your next black and white photo!

In previous Beginners Photography articles I have looked at Automatic and Creative Auto Modes of your Digital SLR. Now, let’s consider Manual Mode. To many people new to digital photography, just the words “manual mode” are enough to turn their knees to jelly. Surely, one of the benefits of modern cameras is that much of the tough decision making is taken out of your hands, so that you can concentrate on picture composition? Whilst this is largely true, there will always be times when ultimate control should stay in the photographer’s hands – such as tricky lighting conditions.

The information here is based on a Canon 450D, but will be similar for a Nikon or equivalent model. Firstly, switch the Mode dial to M. The camera is now in full manual exposure mode. Scary huh? Not a bit of it! The main dial behind the shutter will now give you access to shutter speeds. Typically these range from Bulb setting (shutter stays open for as long as you press it) to 30 seconds to 1/4000 sec.

Let’s look at Aperture. Using an 18-55mm IS lens the range is anything from f3.5 (widest) to f/22 (smallest), varying with the amount of zoom being applied. Hold down the Av +/- button and rotate the main dial to change the aperture. You could refer to my previous beginners photography articles concerning Aperture if you need to know more about this subject.

Checking Exposure. The main point of using Manual Mode is that increased exposure, either through slower shutter speeds or larger aperture, results in brighter pictures. Conversely, less exposure makes for darker images. To check the exposure level, lightly press the shutter, and read the Exposure Level Indicator on the back of the camera. It will show as a linear reading from -2 to +2.

So, in what sort of situations will manual Mode help you out? If you are taking portraits, strong backlighting is sometimes used. You can adjust aperture and shutter speeds if the usual exposure compensation is not enough. In flash portrait situations, you can set longer or shorter manual exposures to brighten or darken the background – the flash will adjust itself accordingly to give correct exposure to the subjects. And in night cityscapes, auto exposures can leave your image in pitch darkness. Using apertures of f/8 or f/11 in Manual Mode should help – with an exposure of about 10 seconds (note: a tripod would help in this situation).

In Manual Mode, you have more influence on the resulting image – rather than relying on auto modes which can allow the camera to dictate and interpret a situation incorrectly. For beginners, photography should be about taking the chance to experiment, for it is here where you will ultimately learn what works and what doesn’t, in any given situation. After all, after reviewing your images, you can delete what you don’t like. When the images are safely on your PC, take time to review the shooting data of the files (images) that worked – so you know what settings to select next time you use Manual Mode.

Still life photography can be used for many different purposes and offers lots of opportunity for creativity. Whether you’re taking a beautiful bowl of fruit for an art piece or taking photos to sell on microstock sites, still life photography is a great skill to learn.

The subject for still life pictures are endless unless you have to take a specific product for a photo shoot. Fine art still lifes aren’t limited to just apples and grapes. Even something like artfully arranged spools of thread can be interesting and visually appealing. Microstock sites like Shutterstock and iStock that cater to commercial users have a high demand for all sorts of still life, often of very simple objects, like a cup of coffee or a key.

In one way, still life photography is a lot easier than other forms of photography like landscape, sports or pet photography. With still life photos, you can position objects just how you want them so you can have more control over the composition of your photo.

And sometimes, good quality still life pictures can be even more challenging to photograph. Because still lifes are taken up close, it’s easy to see imperfections on your subject that you would normally never see.

Regardless of the challenges with still life pictures, by using the following tips and basic photography skills you can still create nice quality still life photos.

Lighting for Still Life Photography

With most professional photographers, they use a light box or soft box to take their still life photos. However this isn’t absolutely necessary as you will see in a moment, but it can be a big help. However if you do want a soft box, you can buy one online or find instructions on how to make one. The purpose of these lighting tools is to provide even light on the subject.

You can also get a good quality of light by setting up your photo shoot outside. In fact, a high overcast (bright overcast) sky creates a soft box effect where you get good lighting without the harsh shadows.

Composing Still Life Pictures

Arrange your objects in a pleasing composition. Use a classical composition technique such as “Rule of Thirds” or “Leading Lines” or “Frame within a Frame” to create a good composition. Arrange the items artfully and use your imagination to get the exact placement that you want. For example, if you’re taking a picture of an apple try taking a bite out of it to give it some added interest.

Fill the Frame with Your Still Life Subject

Remember, the only thing that should be in your viewfinder or on your preview LCD screen is your composition. Remove any clutter and get up close with your camera. What if there’s a background you don’t want? The soft box or light box solves this issue, but if you are shooting outside, here’s something you can do: place a piece of white foam board or piece of material behind your subject, and voila – no more distracting background. Be sure to use Macro mode so that you get a sharp image.

Look for a Good Angle – and Shoot!

Instead of taking the picture from normal standing height, try holding the camera so that it’s at the same level as the subject. Then take some shots from varying angles.

Hopefully these tips have provided you some helpful information on taking still life photos that you can start putting to use immediately.