Things To Know About Autofocus

The Auto Focus (AF) System in a camera found in the 1980′s is an important discovery in the world of photography and has had a major impact in bringing convenience to photographers. Without the Auto Focus, we would have to manually adjust the focus on the lens to really precisely focus on the objects we want to photograph (commonly referred to as manual focus). Now that the Auto Focus feature isn’t anything special anymore (except on cellphone cameras), do you really know the ins and outs of this most important feature? Check out the rest of this post to learn more about the Auto Focus.


Auto Focus vs. Manual Focus
AF, or Auto Focus is an automatic process of the camera that aims to find the correct focus. The opposite of which is the MF, or Manual Focus, where the photographer sets the focus manually. MF can be executed by rotating the focus ring on the lens (on DSLRs) or by pressing the designated button (on non-DSLRs). This manual process is generally used when AF fails to deliver results according to our objectives, or if AF isn’t possible due to technical problems.


AF by half-pressing the shutter button
Generally, all cameras will start looking for the focus when the shutter button is pressed half way. The camera will then beep when the focus is locked and the locked object is sharply focused. So avoid pressing the shutter button without first half-pressing, because this will force the camera to shoot without finding the correct focus.


About AF motors
The focus (or lack there of) of a resulting photograph is set by focal lens element that can move back and forth. If using the a AF mode, the camera will automatically rotate the AF lens by relying on the lens’ micro motor. That is why when the camera is focusing, you can hear (and feel) fine movements in the camera. On DSLRs, the AF motor is located inside the camera body, except entry level Nikon DSLRs like the D40 do not have an AF motor. As a substitute, this model needs lenses with AF motors.

Nikon D7000 AF coupling

I SHOOT RAW..! How Important Is That?

Are RAW Files Important in Digital Photography

Many modern cameras feature the RAW file format. This feature may be one of the pivotal reasons why you’ve bought that specific camera, or you may be one of those who never use this feature. For professionals, photographing using RAW is a must. But for beginners, is this feature really that important? The short answer is yes. Find out the “why?” in this post.


RAW file format is the original file produced by the camera’s sensor that hasn’t been digitally processed by the camera. In short, these RAW files are literally the raw files that are substantially larger in file size and are not yet ready for consumption, unlike its JPEG counterpart. Not all cameras have this RAW file feature. Generally, they only provide the JPEGs. Because RAW files are produced directly from the sensors, every camera with different sensor technologies has RAW files that are different. Unfortunately, these different RAW files aren’t compatible with each other and processing them needs supporting RAW processing software for that specific type of camera.


RAW files contain brightness information captured by each pixel (in 12 or 14 bits) and has passed through the color filter (RGB). These files are usually sized at 10s of MBs and uses different names according to their producers. Nikon DSLRs uses NEF and Canons use CR2 as their file names. Having RAW files are like having the negative films from the camera and the post-process done in the computer is like the post-processing done in a dark room.


RAW files are original files that haven’t gone through the internal camera process of:

Take Perfect Lightning Pictures

 

Photographing a lightning is a dangerous hobby. What most people do not understand, is that lightnings are unpredictable and they could strike down any time, anywhere. At the same time, taking a picture of a lightning storm can be very rewarding, especially if the lightning pattern is unique or the picture is taken at an extraordinary location.


1. Use a Steady Surface
While a tripod typically works best, in reality any steady surface will work. Some people use a beanbag or other malleable item, like a pillow.


2.Prepare Your Gear
If you want a very good picture of lightning, a DSLR with a tripod is almost a must. If you have a point and shoot, make sure that the camera can be configured for manual control of shutter speed and aperture. Some people are lucky to have a good image of a thunderbolt in hand, but I strongly advice to use a tripod instead. Depending on the amount of ambient light, you have to use a shutter speed between 30 to 30 seconds and shake any potential negative impact on image sharpness. Either lens would work, but wide angle and zoom lenses work best because you can put more while having the flexibility to change the focal length and target a specific area. A remote cable release or an infrared remote (depending on your camera) is strongly recommended if you want to avoid camera shake, even on a tripod. If the lightning is far away, having a flashlight with you might be useful, since you can “paint” your foreground subject to make the whole scene look more dramatic.


3.Slow Shutter Speeds

ISO Tips. How to use it

If like me you used to shoot with film you might remember 200, 400, 800 etc film speeds. A film with a higher number was known as a ‘fast’ film and many people thought it was for photographing fast moving objects. This is partially correct.

It actually means how fast the film itself reacts to light. A higher number meant you needed less light to record an image. If it was a dull day and you were photographing a motor race you’d need a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion, so you’d choose a high ISO film so you could have the shutter speeds you need in the light that was available. If on the other hand it was a very bright sunny day you could use the lower ISO film because you already had enough available light to get a fast enough shutter speed.

It’s exactly the same with your digital camera. High ISO means you don’t need so much light hitting the sensor to record an image, which means you can use smaller apertures or faster shutter speeds.

Question: Why bother with low ISOs at all?

As with all things photographic there are costs and payoffs. The cost of higher sensitivity comes at the price of grainier photos. The higher your ISO the more grain you’ll get. So for best image quality a low ISO is best, but if there’s not much available light you may have to increase the ISO so you can use the shutter speed and aperture combination you need to capture the image you want.



Let’s take a closer look at a couple of images.

As you can see it’s a bit grainy but it’s still a great image because of the light and her ‘rapt’ expression. But as you can see from the image below, you couldn’t enlarge or crop into it very much before that grain starts to become a quality issue.

10 Tips for Christmas Photography

Photo by David Clapp - www.davidclapp.co.uk

Be ready

If you're heading off to someone else's house for Christmas dinner make sure you put your gear in your camera bag and pack it or at least leave it somewhere it won't be forgotten the night before. Things get a bit hectic on Christmas day and with all the running around, organising kids and packing presents in the car it's easy to forget your camera!

Make sure your battery is charged and pack a spare. Don't forget extra memory cards too, just in case.

Lighting

If you have patio doors or large windows, make use of the natural light and shoot your Christmas portraits near them. However, if you're up early when it's still dark or are still shooting late into the evening there won't be enough light around for you to use quick shutter speeds. This is fine if you're shooting a subject that doesn't move but for people shots or close-ups (snow-covered plants / flowers) where you need to use a small aperture so you have greater depth of field, a slow shutter speed would give you a blurry shot as your subject can't hold still for long enough. As most cameras, such as the Samsung NX200, now handle noise well at higher ISO levels you can increase your ISO to give you the quicker shutter speeds you need. However, most of the time when you're shooting indoors you'll probably need to use flash. The problem with your camera's built-in flash is it can end up making your subject look like a deer caught in someone's headlights with a rather harsh shadow behind them. You can try and diffuse it or better still, use an external flash gun that you can adjust the position off. You can also bounce its light off a nearby wall or the ceiling rather than firing it directly at your subject.

White balance

Do take a couple of test shots, both when you're working indoors and out, as you may need to switch from auto white balance to one of the other pre sets available or to manual. You can always shoot in RAW and make your adjustments later during post production but it's always best to try and get it right in-camera while shooting. If it's snowed and you're outdoors make sure the snow doesn't end up looking more blue than white.

Artificial Snowfall In your Photos | Photoshop

First, you need to pick a photo that will look natural once you add the snow to the shot. This tutorial works best with a shot that has a small covering of snow on the ground. Once you have a shot chosen, open it up in Photoshop.

Photo by Daniel Bell.

Create a new layer

To create our snow we need to make a new layer so go to Layer>New Layer or click the new layer icon in the layers palette. Rename this layer to 'Snow'.

Make a selection

Select the Rectangular Marquee tool and draw out a shape that's a 1/4 to 1/2 the size of the main image, making sure you have your new layer selected. You should now have a shape that's outlined with 'running ants' over your shot.

Want to buy a Polarising Filter? Here's the guide

You may be aware that a polarising filter is one of the most useful additions to your camera kit, but there are a few things you need to decide before buying one.

Linear or Circular?
First thing you should know is that there are two varieties - linear and circular. Although they're both physically round, a linear variety can have an effect on the autofocus or metering accuracy of any camera that uses a semi-silvered mirror or prism to split the light entering the viewfinder. This is known as a beam splitter and is used by most modern SLRs to calculate exposure and focusing distance.

As a rule use a circular filter if you have an autofocus camera or a manual focus model with a spot meter such as the Canon T90 or any modern digital SLRs.

Screw-in or System filters?
Next thing to decide is whether to buy a round, screw mount filter or a system version that slots into a filter holder. Round ones are often easier to adjust and feel better built. They're also more compact to carry around. The disadvantage is larger sizes are more expensive and, if you have two lenses with different filter thread sizes, you may need to buy two filters, whereas a system type would just need another adaptor ring for the filter holder.

The filter holder type can also cause vignetting when used on some larger thread wide-angle lenses. Equally, a larger filter holder may prevent vignetting when used on a smaller thread wide-angle.
Features to look for

• If you have a camera without through-the-lens viewing look for a filter that has an index mark printed on it. This will help you align the filter correctly.
• Some filters have a small screw-in arm to help rotate the filter, which is useful if you intend using the filter when wearing gloves in cold weather.
• Filters with thick rims can cause slight vignetting when used on wide-angles. The latest Pro1 D versions from Hoya have slim rings.
• Check whether the filter is circular or linear. It will often say PL CIR if it's circular, while linear often just has polariser or PL marked on the rim.
• Polarising filters for square system holders are still round so they should rotate easily in the holder.

Who makes them?

Choose The Best DSLR Lens - 6 Topics

If you think that finding a good SLR camera is tough, try to find the best digital SLR lens to go with it. If you felt there were plenty of cameras to choose from, the number of available lenses is going to be overwhelming. Digital SLR lenses come in all manner of shapes and sizes, and vary massively in price.By simply changing a lens, the scope of a potential image changes, too. Understanding the difference between lenses will help you get the best shot. Some are built for the demanding needs of professionals and others are just right for the everyday snapshot photographer. Faced with all these alternatives, what’s a newcomer to the world of SLR photography to do?

Just follow the 6 steps that I outline below and you’ll find your way to the best digital SLR lens for your camera.

1. Find Your Focal Length
Before I get too far into my discussion of focal length, I’d like to provide you with a definition of the term. Focal length is measured in millimeters (mm) and it represents the distance from the optical center of a lens to the digital camera sensor when the subject of the photo is in focus. That’s the textbook definition, but it really doesn’t explain too much about why focal length is useful.


Here’s the plain-English translation:
* With a short focal length you have to be close to your subject for a close-up
* With a long focal length you can be far away and still get a close-up
* A zoom lens has a variable focal length
* A prime lens has a fixed focal length.
How do you decide which focal length lens you need? It all comes down to what you want to photograph.


2. Prime and Zoom Lenses
Step two on your path toward finding the best DSLR lens requires a decision between prime and zoom lenses. Since you’ve already made up your mind about what focal length you’d like, choosing between prime and zoom is further narrowing the field of digital SLR lens options. Each lens type has advantages. The decisions that you make about which kind to get will depend a lot on what sorts of pictures you want to take with the lens: clearly, a gigantic heavy zoom lens is not going to be your best option if you’d like to travel with your camera.

The Correct White Balance

I find the 'auto-white-balance' (AWB) of the Canon X0D, XX0D series cameras to be on the 'cool' side. Images are simply 'cooler' than what was 'before my eyes' when I took the picture. This is easily remedied by setting white balance to match your shooting conditions.

• If it's sunny out, set white balance to 'sunny'
• If it's cloudy out, set white balance to 'cloudy'
• If it's shady out, set white balance to 'shady'

It seems obvious, but most folks leave white balance set to 'auto white balance' (AWB).

If you want to 'warm-up' your images further, try the following:

• If it's sunny, set white balance to 'cloudy.'
• If it's cloudy, set white balance to 'shady.'

If you've been shootng outdoors using AWB, I think you'll be pleasantly pleased by this little tip.

If you shoot in RAW format, you can experiment with different white balance settings when you process the RAW file. You also have the ability to interactively adjust white balance based on color temperture -- this gives you even more fine-grain control over white balance.

I took the following photo (shot in RAW) and processed it using 3 different white balances (auto (AWB), cloudy and shady):

Auto White Balance (AWB) [the default] - too 'cool' for my taste.

5 Habits To Stay Away From

For as long as I’ve become a photographer, there’s a list of bad habits that’s as long. These bad habits of photographers could be easily avoided if you’re willing to start as early as possible to avoid further losses.


These bad habits in Photography usually include:


1. Not checking the completeness of the equipment.
True, usually photography equipment are stored in a singular bag. But it never hurts to recheck the contents for a shoot the next day. The item most often left behind is the memory card. Usually, the photographer transfers photos from the memory card to a computer and forgets to return it. This also happens when recharging camera batteries. So, it’s best to always double check before embarking on a photo shoot.


2. Not double-checking the camera settings.
Not double-checking the camera settings before a photo session can be fatal. Imagine, during a photo shoot, you forgot to double-check your camera settings, and it turns out that the camera was set at the lowest image quality setting, very high ISO, and unsuitable WB settings. Unbeknownst to you, these settings are used all throughout the photo shoot and you only notice it when photos are transferred to a computer. This will certainly be detrimental to the results.


3. Overly dependent on Photoshop.
I’m not anti Photosop. The existence of this incredible software has helped me throughout my career. But we must restrain ourselves and not let the advancement of software technology hinder us from always wanting to achieve a good photograph. The term “it can always be photoshopped later,” can be a dangerous mantra. This creates a lazy mindset and lessens our on-site photographing quality. A thorough photo shoot will certainly save time and effort when in the editing session. And let’s face it; you’ll be proud of yourself for creating a beautiful photograph and not just a beautifully edited photograph.

Master Your DSLR Camera

Your camera is basically just a box with a hole in it and a light sensor inside. If the right amount of light gets through the hole to strike the sensor, you get a properly exposed picture. If you get too much or too little light, you get garbage. You already know that in program mode you can control the sensitivity of the light sensor itself by changing the ISO value, but in manual mode you can also control the amount of light that gets inside in the first place. You do that with the shutter and the aperture.

Shutter

The shutter controls how long the hole in your camera stays open. Open it for a long time and a lot of light gets in. Open it for a short time and less light gets in. It's that simple!
Well, not really. Having a fast shutter means you can freeze fast action such as athletic performances, splashing water, and so on. The drawback? A lot less light gets inside the camera, and your picture could be too dark. Conversely, you might use a slow shutter speed to compensate for low light conditions—the longer the hole is open, the more light gets in, right? But there's a drawback here, too. With a slow shutter speed it's more likely that you or your subject is going to move while the shutter is open, causing motion blur in your photo.
In auto mode and program mode, the camera decides what shutter speed is needed. Sometimes the result is what you want, sometimes it isn't. The camera doesn't know that you want to freeze a fast-moving subject, for example. All it knows is whether the right amount of light is getting inside the camera for a proper exposure. With the camera in manual mode, however, you control the shutter speed to get the shot you really want.
To change the shutter speed in manual mode, just turn the command dial (1) and watch for the changing numbers in the LCD status screen (2).

Get To Know Your DSLR Presets

So you took the plunge and bought a DSLR.  Excellent!  A whole new world of creative photography has just opened up for you.  The picture quality, low noise levels and creative settings on that new fancy dial on top are yours to command with your new photographer DSLR powers!
Hmm…  Speaking of that new fancy dial on top, what do they all mean anyway?  Sure, the guy at the store told you to just keep it on the “auto” or “green” box setting but you own the DSLR now so let’s dig into the details so you can start to actually get some good photos from it!  To start things out, let’s go through them one at a time.
 
“Green Mode” – This mode (sometimes called Auto or just a green square) is just what is sounds like.  It turns your camera into a point-and-shoot camera.  Us this when you just want to take a basic picture just remember that it will be whatever the camera determines is the best settings.

How To Remove The Blogger Nav Bar

A lot of people who host their blogs on Blogger (www.blogspot.com) complain about the inability to remove the blogger navigation bar via their elements page. Indeed, if that's where you are looking, the only thing you'll be able to do from there is change the color to one of several pre-determined selections.
If you really want to remove the blogger navigation bar, you need to access your HTML template. Before I tell you how to do that, however, I'd like to first talk about why you may or may not want to remove the nav bar from your blogspot blog.

Main Reasons To Remove It.

• It looks more professional without it: Depending on what your purpose for blogging is, you may choose to remove the blogger navbar because having one makes a blog look more like a free-hosted blog and less like a professional site worth taking seriously.
• It gives you more space at the top of your page: This may not seem significant, but not having the navbar there does give you a bit more space for graphics. I have found this space to be quite useful when designing my own blogs.

Main Reasons To Keep It.

• It makes editing a little bit easier: You can login directly from the blog itself, and don't have to worry about logging into blogger. You can also edit capsules from the main page, without having to go into elements.
• You get a teeny bit of traffic from the "next blog" button: And I do mean teenie. I can't even recall the last time I saw traffic from it.

The Code

 

20 photography tips for DSLR users

This article lists 20 tips to get started with DSLR photography. It is particularly useful to those who are used to point-and-shoot digicams and now want to take the next step in their photography skills.

We used the DSLR cam as if it were a point-and-shoot snapshot cam in automatic mode, not knowing about the power of the various manual controls. The fact that some of our pics turned out nicely, says more about the camera than it says about our skills.

By experimenting a bit and reading a few books, I now know more about DSLR photography, and we hope to put this in practice. Most people know from experience that when it comes to services that could be anything from those provided by o2.co.uk to computer lessons or software or bits of equipment, that having some tips from a fellow user can come in handy. The DSLR is not hugely complicated to use but it does take some time to get used to. Hopefully with the following information you should be able to cut a few corners while you learn. I'm still a beginner though, so here's a beginner passing on beginner tips to those who are just beginning with DSLR photography :)

1. Landscape composition
If you're shooting landscapes, there is a very easy rule to follow: the rule of the thirds. The idea is simple: 1/3 or 2/3 of your image should make up either the sky or the foreground, depending on where you want to put the focus on. This gives the photo more depth and a more dramatic look. It's a simple tip but beginners often position the horizon at exactly 1/2 of the photo.
Below is a photograph with the horizon at roughly 1/2 of the photo. Quite dull, and without any depth:





The next one focuses on the foreground, with the foreground at 2/3 and the sky at 1/3. Notice how this increases the depth:

Canon 1100D (Rebel T3) DIY Digital Infrared Conversion Tutorial

Disclaimer: This tutorial is intended for experienced professionals and made available to you for informational purposes only. Tampering with your camera will void your manufacturer’s warranty. If you decide to perform the conversion you could damage your camera or be hurt or get killed from the high voltage present – you do so at your own risk, we are not responsible for camera damage or any harm you may suffer or any special or consequential damages.

Focus Warning:  Because of the complexity and requirement for specialized precision equipment, advanced training and experience, we do not provide any information regarding focus calibration whatsoever.
The mere act of removing the sensor from within the camera could potentially ruin the original factory calibration and render your camera completely incapable of achieving proper focus. If this happens we will be unable to help you and even the manufacturer may refuse to service your camera. This is very serious stuff folks.

Focus and dust are in fact the most difficult parts of the conversion process. We highly recommend you send your camera in for conversion instead of attempting to do this yourself.

---

tutorial provided by lifepixel.com




You will need these tools & supplies to follow the Canon T3 infrared conversion tutorial:
- Our custom glass infrared filter to replace the hotmirror
- Soldering iron and desoldering wick or desoldering gun
- Small philips type screwdriver
- Tweezers
- Canned air
- Lens cleaning solution & tissue
- Grounding strap /w current limit resistor
If you prefer not to risk damage to your camera, have us convert it to infrared for you. It would be best to perform the conversion in a well lit area that is as clean and dust free as possible. Wearing a grounding strap will minimize the chance of zapping your camera with static and most likely rendering it dead.

Canon DRebel T3 (1100D) Infrared DIY Conversion Tutorial Step 1

Remove the rubber eye cup.

Do faster than light neutrinos let you change the past?

There's been a lot of hubbub about the possibility of FTL neutrinos. But would breaking the light barrier really be such a big deal? Hell, yes, it would! In this week's "Ask a Physicist," we'll find out why.

Why the change? A few weeks back the OPERA experiment announced that they had apparently measured neutrinos traveling faster than light. There was an enormous amount of excitement, both here and elsewhere, but also a lot of skepticism. My position: I'm not buying it.
But are faster than light particles really such a big deal?
They sure are. FTL communication results in nothing less than being able to communicate to the past, and produces all of the complexity and paradoxes of good old fashioned time travel.
Jason Honan asks:

Even if the communication took place instantaneously, I don't see how one would use that to communicate with one's own past. Can you explain it in plain English?
Specifically, Alice and Bob want to chat, Bob sends a message and N seconds later, Alice sends a reply. Even if the transit time for the message were zero, N seconds have still elapsed for both individuals. How does a superluminal transit speed equate to negative elapsed time? Wouldn't, at best, a message have a zero delay?"

Why do some fires go supersonic?

Although plenty of people have looked into the physics of explosions, there have been some basic questions left unanswered. One of them is why some fires suddenly go supersonic. Now there's a new theory about DDT explosions.
DDT is the abbreviation for 'deflagration to detonation transition.' Deflagration is what happens when a material catches fire and the flames spread quickly. Already it's not an ideal situation, but things go very bad when the whole fire detonates. Suddenly the flames get a kick of speed that boosts them up to above the speed of sound. Sound travels at a speed that does not allow the pressure waves of air to pile-up. When flames go supersonic, they push a massive wall of air, a pressure wave, in front of them. This pressure wave can kill people and damage property that the flames never touch.
Plenty of people have seen this in movies or TV shows. The protagonists run clear of a burning house, and they turn to look back as part of the building suddenly explodes. The audience assumes that the flames hit a gas line or some chemicals or a kid's chemistry set. That's not necessarily true. The fire may not have hit anything at all, just been part of a DDT explosion. The fire just reached conditions under which it could spread faster than the speed of sound. This, worryingly, happens often in coal mines and nuclear power plants.

Uranus got knocked on its side. Do you know how?

Uranus is unique among all the planets of the soalr system because it essentially orbits on its side, with its axis tilted nearly perpendicular to the Sun. Now astronomers have finally solved the mystery of why Uranus looks so strange.
Uranus's spin axis lies 98 degrees off of its orbital plane with the Sun. No other planet is tilted more than 30 degrees off its axis, with the Earth rotating at 23 degrees, Jupiter at just 3 degrees, and Saturn and Neptune both at 29 degrees. Venus is technically even more tilted, because it rotates clockwise when all other planets rotate counterclockwise, meaning it's essentially been turned upside-down. But it's still more or less on the orbital plane, while Uranus is anything but.
Figuring out just how Uranus got like this has proven tricky. Astronomers once assumed that a giant planet several times Earth's size smashed into Uranus in the early solar system, flipping it into this new axis. The problem with that idea is that it would have left all Uranus's moons in the original orbital plane, but they're also tilted 98 degrees. A research team led by Alessandro Morbidelli ran a series of simulations to explain this mystery.

The Classic Rules of Photography

People often refer to “the classic rules of photography”: “This photo follows the classic rules…” or “he/she broke all the classic rules…” etc. But what are those “classic rules” anyway? I gave it some thought and came up with the following five rules, all longstanding and time-honoured, like you would expect when something is called classic. But nothing is set in cement and rules such as these have been violated with superb results over and over again. But they are also there for a reason, since they probably represent something that most people mostly find pleasing most of the times. Not everybody all the time. So what are they, these classic rules of photography:

This is rule number one and it has little to do with your camera and technical proficiency, as is the case with the other four rules. Read this rule again, breath it and live it. As simple as it sounds, it is the most important of all rules in photography.

The part about f/8 refers to a camera setting, or rather a lens aperture setting. It’s a technical detail and it’s not really important. But at the same time it’s what makes this rule so memorable.

It’s not a bad advice using f/8, it’s a pretty standard value and often safe to use if you want to be sure to get your subject in focus without giving it much thought.

But it’s true value is that it boils all the complicated art and tech issues down to that simple 1-letter-1-number statement, f/8 (simply read f eight), the hidden message being: Forget the technical aspects, concentrate on the subject. Simple and brilliant.

Increase Your Self Esteem & Confidence

Obtaining reduced self esteem and no self-confidence can be the most debilitating circumstance. Why – since it holds you again from seeking something new.

For several of us, lower self esteem has been “drummed” into us – either consciously or unconsciously. Altering your own self image is the hardest, however most fulfilling action you can carry. Stepping out of what is familiar and crossing new frontiers increases your capability to tackle new tasks.

Nevertheless if you think that you will not succeed at a certain venture – the likelihood of you attempting it is slim. Why would you attempt a thing that you will only conclusion up embarrassed about.

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR CONFIDENCE

Are there any new actions you can deal with that will increase your self-confidence nevertheless not leave you feeling embarrassed or like a failure. This is one thing that you do in private – just you and the photographer and the outcomes no one actually have to have see, unless you select to reveal (which I guarantee you will want to do.)

They are completely so a lot enjoyment.
You get to see oneself from a different perspective, which in turn improves your self esteem.
You get a lasting memory.

Four Simple Tips In Preparing Your Boudoir Photography Session

Do you have a plan on taking glamour photography? I’m sure you’ll booked your glamour session and sets for everything in the day. Now, if you are quite sure that you’ll prepare for everything, let me tell you some tips that can make your important day is unforgetable.

The reason in taking glamour photography, is that you should make this intimate photo session the best it can be. A glamour photographer can do much to suggest you some poses, but help yourself to read this simple addition tips in order for you to help the photographer and your photo session.

1. Time of your boudoir photography session.
Let’s put it simple, if it’s in the morning, be sure to have a breakfast. In the night, be sure to have a dinner. If it’s in the afternoon, you can be good enough to take a light meal. It will take a lot of energy to do romantic portraits, and be sure you can take your time to finish the photo session.

2. Sleep Well
Give yourself a good time to sleep. Make sure you relax in your boudoir photography session. You’re not relaxed, it’s almost impossible to have a successful glamour photo session.

3. Prepare your clothing

Family Photography Redefined

 

This is a modern world, and we are modern…families! No matter who the members of your family are, chances are you love capturing their smiles, laughs and happy times with our age’s newest and latest technology. Cameras and photography have come a long way since they were first invented, so don’t feel bad if you’re not quite caught up with all the techniques out there. While the “traditional” family portrait may cut it sometimes, we think your gorgeous family needs some modern shots to preserve precious moments. If you’ve been looking for fast, easy and fun techniques to help you catch all of your modern family’s great memories, we’ve got a treat for you today!

Sarah Sloboda is a lifestyle photographer from New York City who is committed to inspiring people by showing them how beautiful their lives really look—with great-looking photos! Award-winning, trained in filmmaking and documentary-style photography and with a passion that’s clearly evident, Sarah doesn’t keep all her talent to herself; in fact, she shares photography tips online to help families take the most beautiful photos of their own members on her crazy-useful blog.


We’ve gathered our top four favorite family photography tips:

Be Best At Portrait Photography

When you look at portrait photography, you will see that it is different from other branch of digital photography. You can see that your subjects are human beings who speak their own words, have personal feelings and want to look good in the pictures. Surely you won’t hear the mountain complain when you didn’t capture the best side of it. Right?

One of the important portrait photography tips is that you will want to look at the around your subject before you snap the picture. Sometimes it only takes a small thing to ruin the perfect picture. It can be an old scar, a folded skirt, or simply a pole in the background. Imagine your client complain about the slipped bra strap in the picture. You will have a lot of trouble explaining to your client why you didn’t notice that.

Wedding Photography Tips For Beginners

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.

– 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.

– 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.

Be Professional In Landscape Photography

I believe most photographers need and want landscape photography tips. Where to place the horizon is so crucial to landscape photography, yet looking at most images, photographers don’t apply basic rules.

So, how to compose a beautiful landscape that will make the viewers want to go there or at least admire your photograph?

Place your horizon line in either the lower or upper horizontal third of the frame. This rule accentuates either the sky or the land and gives a pleasing weight to either. Most photographers make the mistake of bisecting the horizon exactly in the middle, which is so boring to the eye that all of the energy of the scene is lost and the viewer loses interest and moves on.

Low light? – No problem!

Low-Light, Slow Shutter Speed, No Flash Photography!

This lighting challenge no longer needs to put fear into a photographer's heart. It's possible to get perfect photos with a digital SLR and a few simple techniques.

Sometimes a flash brings you sunlight and then there are times when using a flash just takes away the mood of the moment. At times light voids the image of emotion. Like an artist poised in front of a blank canvass, the photographer chooses light, color, texture and shape to portray theirPhoto Art to share with the world.

Artificial Intelligence In iPhone, code name SIRI. A new history in the making

Let me start off by saying this: Your phone is not suddenly going to gain sentience and become Skynet. However, your phone is about to become a whole lot smarter, thanks to Apple and its new artificial intelligence Assistant.
The hype surrounding Tuesday’s Apple iPhone event is at an all-time high. But most of the hype is focused on the hardware that Apple will announce. What will the iPhone 5 look like? Will there be an iPhone 4S? Will it have 4G capabilities or a bigger screen?
The real star of Tuesday’s show will not be the hardware, though. This event will focus on software, specifically one piece of software that Apple: the iPhone Assistant.
Assistant is the successor to Siri, the iPhone app that helped users with their daily tasks with natural language voice commands. Ask Siri to find a restaurant for you, and it could not only complete your requests, but it could also help you book a reservation. It could grab movie ratings, find you a taxi, perform Google searches and much more. Most of all, it learned from your actions and refined its recommendations accordingly.
The technology that powered Siri was born from SRI’s CALO project, the largest artificial intelligence project in U.S. history. It’s complex technology that linked machine learning to natural language. In other words, it’s technology that made artificial intelligence accessible and useful to the regular person.
Two months after its launch, Apple acquired Siri for more than $200 million.

iPhone Timeline

In a scant few hours now, we’ll dive into chapter five in one of the most compelling stories of our digital-dominated era: The Life And Times of the iPhone. So for those of you who haven’t been paying attention, and even those of you who have (hands up if you remember the ROKR iTunes phone), here’s a recap — courtesy of Thinglink, a startup that makes interactive photos and ads.

Browse Flickr Photos on iPad, iPhone & Desktop with Friends

Flickr has introduced Photo Session, a new feature that lets a group of people browse photos together from multiple devices — both mobile and desktop.

Up to 10 people can view and chat about photos in real time with Photo Session. As photos are uploaded to the set, the group can view and comment on them. When one user moves on to the next photo, everybody moves.

The interface focuses on the photo, which is displayed in fullscreen on your desktop. But it also includes a simple chat interface. Another feature lets users sketch on top of photos — useful for pointing out something or just creating doodles.

How to get blurred water effect

How To Remove Author Name from Blogspot Posts

If you are running multiple blogs and for some reason you don’t want to show your name in author field, Then this Blogger hack is for you. Though the topic looks very simple , but most don’t know how do this. So in this tutorial , I will explain how to remove the author name and link from default Blogger blogs. In addition to that I will also tell you the code which retrieves the author name in Blogger.

How to Remove Author Name from Blogger Templates

Just follow the simple steps to remove the author link from Default Blogger Blogs.

• Go to Blogger dashboard and navigate to Layout page
• Now there you can see a EDIT button under “Blog posts” page element. Click it !

Choose The Right DSLR Camera

DSLR Cameras are increasingly becoming a type of camera that is in the reach of the average photographer as prices fall and as manufacturers develop more user friendly models.
In doing so I’ll cover:
1. 9 Reasons to Upgrade to a DSLR Camera
2. 8 Factors to Consider when Choosing a DSLR
Firstly, a quick recap on some of the reasons why you might want to upgrade to a DSLR.

Reasons to Upgrade to a DSLR Camera

1. Image Quality – Due to the larger size of image sensors in DSLRs which allows for larger pixel sizes – DSLRs are generally able to be used at a faster ISO which will lead to faster shutter speeds and less grain (ie shoot at 1600 ISO on most DSLRs will have less noise than shooting at 1600 on a Point and Shoot). DSLRs also have built in noise-reduction when genearating JPG images which also helps cut down on noise.
2. Adaptability – DSLR’s ability to change lenses opens up a world of possibilities for photographers. While my point and shoot has a nice little 3x Optical Zoom (and many these days have longer ones) my DSLR can be fitted with many high quality lenses ranging from wide angle to super long focal lengths depending upon what I’m photographing (and of course my budget). Add to this a large range of other accessories (flashes, filters etc) and a DSLR can be adapted to many different situations. It should be noted that when it comes to lenses that the diversity in quality of lenses is great. Image quality is impacted greatly by the quality of the lens you use.
3. Speed – DSLR’s are generally pretty fast pieces of machinery when it comes to things like start up, focusing and shutter lag.
4. Optical Viewfinder - due to the reflex mirror DSLR’s are very much a what you see is what you get operation.
5. Large ISO range – this varies between cameras but generally DSLRs offer a wide array of ISO settings which lends itself to their flexibility in shooting in different conditions.
6. Manual Controls – while many point and shoots come with the ability to shoot in manual mode, a DSLR is designed in such a way that it is assumed that the photographer using it will want to control their own settings. While they do come with good auto modes the manual controls are generally built in in such a way that they are at the photographers finger tips as they are shooting.
7. Retaining Value – some argue that a DSLR will hold it’s value longer than a point and shoot. There is probably some truth in this. DSLR models do not get updated quite as often as point and shoot models (which can be updated twice a year at times). The other factor in favor of DSLRs is that the lenses you buy for them are compatible with other camera bodies if you do choose to upgrade later on (as long as you stay with your brand). This means your investment in lenses is not a waste over the years.
8. Depth of Field – one of the things I love about my DSLR is the versatility that it gives me in many areas, especially depth of field. I guess this is really an extension of it’s manual controls and ability to use a variety of lenses but a DSLR can give you depth of field that puts everything from forground to background in focus through to nice blurry backgrounds.
9. Quality Optics – I hesitate to add this point as there is a large degree of difference in quality between DSLR lenses but in general the lenses that you’ll find on a DSLR are superior to a point and shoot camera. DSLR lenses are larger (more glass can add to the quality) and many of them have many hours of time put into their manufacture (especially when you get into higher end lenses). I strongly advice DSLR buyers to buy the best quality lenses that they can afford. It it’s the difference between a high end lens on a medium range camera or a medium range lens on a high end camera I’d go for quality lenses every time as they add so much to photos.

How to Decide Which DSLR Camera is for You?

Color Splashing | Point Out The Subject

Color Splashing | Point Out The Subject

What is Color Splashing?
Color splashing is a basic picture editing method that is utilized to accentuate specific features of a photograph. By leaving specific areas of a photograph colored, and filling the rest of the picture with grayscale, you are able to highlight certain parts of a picture to create them stand out. Probabilities are, you have possibly noticed a colour splashed photograph prior to reading this article but you just don’t know what it is called. Though some modern DSLRs today have a digital filter that can separate a single color from the other (Like a Pentax K-m), I’d like to show you how it is done on Photoshop.

There are various ways you can achieve this. The easiest way on Photoshop would be by using the Adjustment Layer and using the Black and White. To summarize things, here are the steps: (we will get into details after listing the summary)

1. Open Image in Photoshop
2. Adjustment Layer > Black & White
3. Click the Black & White Layer Mask
4. Brush with Black Paint

Here are the detailed demonstration with illustrations for examples.
1. Opening the Image in Photoshop (I know this is a no brainer…but still you’ve got to do it )
For our example, I am going to use the image below.

Rule Of Thirds

Perhaps the most well know principle of photographic composition is the ‘Rule of Thirds‘.

How to use Polarizing Filters

DSLR Tips Workshop: Using polarizing filters to cut through haze and deepen blue skies
Landscape shots with distant subjects like canyon rims or mountain ranges can often look hazy even under the sunniest conditions. One of the most effective ways of cutting through this haze and capturing a vibrant photo with saturated colours and a deep blue sky is to use a polarizing filter. In this workshop we’ll show you everything you need to know.

Clean the DSLR Lens. How To?

Our techniques for minimising and eliminating dust essentially follows the manufacturer’s own advice. Clearly the most vulnerable time is when the lens is removed from the body, so beyond being careful about the environment in which you change lenses, try and also apply the following.
First switch the camera off to reduce the static charge on the sensor which could attract particles.
Secondly, hold the camera facing down to minimise particles in the air from entering – see photo right.
Third, use a body cap to prevent any dust from entering the camera, although ensure it’s clean and dust-free first.
And fourth, before you attach the new lens, ensure its rear surface is also free from dust.

Get Amazing Clicks In Low Lighting Conditions

DSLR Tips Workshop: How to take photos at night
Photos taken at night can produce spectacular results – in fact many cities present their best views after dark. Night photography can also be very forgiving in bad weather, so if rain’s prevented you from grabbing the shots you want of a city, it’s well worth trying again after sunset. Night photography can prove quite a challenge in Automatic modes, but it’s surprisingly easy with a few simple tricks and in this workshop we’ll explain how.
In the photo of Christmas lights above left, the camera’s automatic settings have selected an exposure that’s way too quick, and as a consequence the image is too dark. The trick to successful night photography is to get much more light into your camera for a decent-looking image, as seen in the image above right. In our video tutorial below, we’ll explain how to achieve this effect, and at the bottom of the page you’ll find a reminder of the steps you’ll need to take.

Improve The DSLR Battery Performance

The Canon T3/1100D is powered with Canon LP-E10 Lithium Ion battery pack , provide enough capacity so that the camera can take up to maximum 800 photos.
Canon T3 Battery Life ( based on CIPA standard )

• No Flash , temperature 73F : 800 shots
• 50% Flash, temperature 73F : 700 shots
• No Flash , temperature 32F: 750 shots
• 50% Flash , temperatur 32F : 650 shots

The number of possible shots can also decrease with any of the following operations:

• Pressing the shutter button halfway for a prolonged period ( autofocusing )
• Activating only the AF operation without taking a single photo
• Oftenly use the LCD monitor , better use the informations on viewfinder
• The lens is powered by the camera’s battery so the number of possible shots is depends on the lens used
• Using the lens IS technology ( Image Stabilizer )
• Using Live View

Get Your Remote Application For Canon DSLR's

Great news ! The DSLR Camera Remote app is now support for Canon EOS T3/1100D. Other cameras that also supported: Canon T3i and Nikon D5100. With this app, you can remote your camera from iPhone or iPad via remote server (available for free).

Description

Update: DSLR Camera Remote Server Classic is now available, restoring support for select legacy Canon cameras. Read more below.
DSLR Camera Remote is the next-generation cable release for your Canon or Nikon DSLR camera. Just connect your camera to a WiFi enabled computer and you can instantly adjust its settings, fire the shutter, review images, get a live viewfinder preview, even start, monitor and stop video recording using your Apple iOS device. DSLR Camera Remote is a must-have for remote shooting applications like high or low angles, self-portraits and studio photography. With its advanced bracketing and intervalometers, makes shooting for animation and HDR incredibly simple. All you need is your Canon EOS or Nikon DSLR and a WiFi enabled computer to start shooting now.
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Important Note
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