Digital Photography Classes

Author: David Douglas



Anyone who wants to learn how to be a photographer doesn't have to enroll for many years to get a degree. There are colleges who offer this as one of the subjects which the student may take as an elective. Can you still learn how to be a photographer being out of school for many years? The answer is yes. The only thing needed is your dedication to learn from the proper techniques and a camera to take some shots.

Some students don't have to go to campus anymore. There are some institutions that offer distance education. A good example is the New York Institute of Photography.

You will learn everything from exposure, lenses, the various techniques used to cover different events, journalism and much more. Being affiliated with the school, you will be entitled to free online magazine articles such as contests and digital imaging.

Classes are composed of 30 lectures on various topics. You will get a brief introduction through each and then can specialize on a particular field of interest. The nice thing about the program is that you don't have to quit your regular job. This can be done in your free time so there isn't any pressure in learning everything about photography.

Aside from theoretical lectures, there will be a lot of hands on experience. This will make it easy for you to apply what has been learned as seen in the photographs that have been taken using the camera.

The common notion of being a photographer is that you must have a dark room to develop the photos. You will be happy to know that this isn't the practice anymore. Some of the best names in the business don't do this anymore which gives more time to focus on getting the perfect shots.

Education is something you can never get enough of even as you get older. The curriculum is there. All the individual has to do is acquire knowledge from some of the best then apply it after finishing the course.

The rewards of becoming a photographer are endless. It is up to the you whether or not you have the potential to win the Pulitzer Prize or be one of many who do this as a profession.

Photography school can be a lot of fun. You should just submit the requirements then enroll in the course.

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Learn Digital Photography - Is an excellent guide to Digital Photography and finding which camera suits your needs. For more information visit: digital photography classes

Effective use of Flash Photography

Author: Ziv H.



Did you ever put your flash unit in manual mode? Did you ever manually turn on the flash when taking a day time outdoor photo? For many the answer to both questions is “no”. In this article we will cover the various types of flash units available, the different scenarios under which they can be used, the advantages of using flash to achieve better photos and the common mistakes people do when using flash photography.

Did you ever put your flash unit in manual mode? Did you ever manually turn on the flash when taking a day time outdoor photo? For many the answer to both questions is “no”. For most amateur photographers flash is just a solution for taking photos when there is not enough natural light. Although a legitimate use of flash photography there is much more ways to efficiently use flash. In this article we will cover the various types of flash units available, the different scenarios under which they can be used, the advantages of using flash to achieve better photos and the common mistakes people do when using flash photography.

As with any other technology knowing how it works behind the scenes and what your options are can help in better utilizing it for your advantage. Flash photography has been around for more than a hundred years. It started with a dangerous and manually controlled technology that used a powder that was lit by either fire or electrical current. These flash solutions were both dangerous and hard to use since the flash was not automatically synchronized to the camera’s shutter. Modern flash units use an electronic flash tube that is synchronized with the camera’s shutter. When turning the flash on the photographer does not need to worry about flash timing - the camera takes care of it automatically. There are two types of flash units: Internal and External.

The internal flash unit is built-in to your camera. It can be controlled through the camera’s menus. Some low end cameras only allow the use of their built-in units. Some low end cameras and all high end cameras also allow the attachment of an external flash unit. External flash units are either attached to the camera’s body through a dedicated slide-in slot or are connected to the camera using a cable. They vary in strength – how much light can they generate for how long - and in mechanical characteristics – can they be tilted or skewed or are they fixed in relation to the camera’s body.

Regardless of the connection type external flash units are electronically connected to the camera and are synchronized with the shutter. When setting your flash unit to automatic mode the camera fires the flash in scenarios where not enough light is available. Many times the camera will make a wrong judgment and will either fire or not fire the flash when the opposite was needed. Also in some scenarios the camera will not be able to tell that firing the flash will actually result in a better photo. One problem when using a flash is washed out photos. When the flash is too strong or the object is too close to the camera the result is a washed out photo there are not enough details and the object appears to be too white or too bright.

Another problem is a photo with too many details: in some scenarios the flash can create artificial shadows and lights which result in a photo that includes details that are exaggerated relative to their appearance in real life. For example when taking a photo of an older person skin wrinkles and imperfections can look much worse than they really are in real life. It is important to know the limitations of the flash unit. Any flash unit has a certain amount of light that it can generate. Usually this amount can be translated to an effective range for using the flash. When trying to take a photo with the object too far – more than the flash unit range – the object will appear dark. When trying to take a photo with the object too close to the camera the object will be washed out or too white.

It is important to know your flash range and make sure that your object is within that range. If you need to take a photo with your objects not within your flash unit range it is better to turn off the flash completely and use a tripod with long exposure. Using the flash in such scenarios can fool the camera into setting a high shutter speed which results in a photo darker than a photo taken without using the flash at all. In some scenarios the camera will not automatically fire the flash although using the flash would have resulted in a much better photo.

One such scenario is taking a photo during day time when the object is shadowed. For example if the object is wearing a hat the hat can block the light from the object’s face or when the object is lit from the side the object’s nose can block the light creating a shadow. In such scenarios the flash unit can be set to “fill in” mode. The flash will be fired to fill-in those shadowed areas but it will not be fired strong enough to wash out the photo.

Another scenario is when the sun is behind the object. One example is taking a photo on the beach against a sunset. If taken without a fill-in flash the result will most likely be a silhouette of the object. If taken with a fill-in flash and the object in range the result will be a clear photo of the object against a sunset. In conclusion your flash unit can be a great tool.

Although for many using the flash in automatic mode is enough for the more sophisticated photographer who wants to achieve higher quality photos understanding and experimenting with the flash unit can yield great results. Following some simple rules such as making sure objects are within the flash unit range and using fill-in flash when shadows can appear on the objects is easy and significantly improves your photos.

About Author
Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about digital printing http://www.printrates.com . This article can be published and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-ziv-h.-694.html

Improve your creative photography - part 1.

Author: Sahayak Plowman


I have always encouraged my students to be as creative as possible when photographing. If you would like to improve your photography then some of these creative tips may help you break out of your comfort zone.

• Most people compose their photos using the horizontal format of their camera. Spend one weekend photographing a variety of subjects using vertical format ONLY.

• When photographing people most photographers stand too far away. Practice on friends and move in closer. An easy way to start is to stand where you would normally then take two steps closer. You will be amazed at the difference.

• Are you one of those photographers who lean backwards when photographing. Now consciously lean forward you will immediately notice a more relaxed attitude.

• Instead of photographing from the normal standing position, now spend time photographing if you could see the world through cat's eyes. Get down and see how different the world looks from a lower angle.

• Now spend time photographing skylines ONLY. This will help you include clouds or open areas in your photos.

• Spend a weekend photographing everything as a reflection. Use panes of glass in windows, mirrors or even take a portable mirror with you to see how the world looks as a reflection.

• Spends time photographing without looking through the viewfinder. Take every shot from hip height. Besides being a lot of fun you will get some great angle shots.

• It makes a nice difference to see parts of the main subject matter visible. Choose you shot then move your camera until only a fraction of that object is visible in the viewfinder.

• Choose a subject that you least prefer to photograph. This can be fun with a group of friends, toss your least preferred subject into a hat along with your friend's least preferred. Then each draws out a subject. When finished compare all photos you can be inspired by the way others have photographed your subject.

• Spend time photographing in low light conditions, pre-sunrise or after sunset.

• Remember when you photograph any living subject whether it be animal or human get down to, or lower than their eye height.

• Always choose your background first, and then move if possible your subject into a position where the background compliments the subject.

• Always remember the basic compositional rules of leading lines, the one-third rule and horizons.

• With care photograph in the rain.

• Get to know intimately all your focal lengths, practice, practice and more practice.

• Photograph shadows, there can be some beautiful shots taken with shadows.

• Spend time photographing textures. These can be the textures of bark, stones, masonry, the smoothness of a baby's skin, the wrinkles of age, the moving textures of water - there are many.

• Use your tripod and get to know the different effects you get when choosing different shutter speeds whilst photographing moving water. Both slow and fast shutter speeds.

• Do the same thing by setting your camera and tripod next to a main road at night. Photograph the cars moving away from you and moving towards you, you will be pleased with the results.

• Photograph objects lit by moon light, or star light. Exposures will need to be several hours long. Try a variety of shots over a period of nights especially when you have a full moon.

• Look through photographic magazines and try to copy other photographer's techniques, this will only improve your creative photography - have fun!

About Author
Sahayak Plowman has travelled extensively through S.E. Asia and Australia as a freelance photographic journalist. He has had four feature articles published in the Australian natural history GEO Magazine and won first prize in an international B/W landscape competition. He taught photography for 6 years at University and has been studying meditation with Sri Chinmoy for the past fourteen years. He is also web master for Sri Chinmoy http://www.Books.com http://www.srichinmoybooks.com

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-sahayak-plowman-228.html

Improve Your Digital Photography Using Depth of Field (DOF)

Author: Jeff Galbraith


Depth of field (DOF) is probably a term you have heard used in photography often enough, but what does it really mean, and how can you use it to make your digital pictures better? This short article will show you how make DOF work for you.

The term depth of field refers to how much of your picture is in sharp focus. For example, in portrait shots you will notice that the background is often blurred and soft looking, while the subject is clear and sharp. Pictures like this have a shallow depth of field.

You have probably also noticed that in landscape shots everything in the picture is often sharp and clear, all the way from the dead tree in the foreground to the mountains off in the distance. Pictures like this have a deep depth of field.

There are two main things that affect depth of field:

1.) The aperture (or F stop) setting--this refers to how wide the shutter opens.

2.) The focal length of the lens--this refers to how much the lens “zooms in” your subject.

First we’ll take a look at the aperture settings. Most digital cameras have an aperture range of about F2.8 to F8, and this range usually compresses to about F4.5 to F8 when using full zoom. These aperture ranges vary somewhat from camera to camera, but we will use F2.8 to F8, with a full zoom range of F4.5 to F8, as our example.

At the lowest setting (F2.8), the object you focus on will be sharp, but objects in the background will appear softer and out of focus. At the highest setting (F8), everything from the foreground of your picture to the objects off in the distance will appear sharp and in focus.

Now the focal length--we’ll use a digital camera with a 4 times zoom (35mm to 140mm focal length) as our example. At the 35mm end of your zoom range (no zoom), pretty much everything in your pictures will appear in focus. However, at the 140mm end of your zoom range (full zoom), only the object you focus on will appear sharp.

So how does all this translate into making better pictures with your digital camera? Well, it’s like this.

Set your camera to “aperture priority”. Your camera’s manual will have simple directions on how to do this (it’s quite often just a matter of turning the dial on top). Once you have your camera on “aperture priority”, you will be able to select the aperture setting that you want, and the camera automatically chooses the correct shutter speed.

If you want to take a picture where only your subject is in focus (like a portrait for example), first, zoom in rather than get close, and second, choose an aperture setting with the lowest number possible, in this case F4.5.

If you want to take a picture where the whole scene is in focus (like a landscape for example), first, zoom in very little or not at all, and second, choose an aperture setting at or near the highest number possible, in this case F8.

So, don’t be shy, take your camera off of “auto” and try the “aperture priority” setting—you’ll be glad you did.

About Author
Jeff Galbraith is a photographer from Saint John, NB, on Canada's east coast. Jeff owns and operates a nature and scenery photography web site. Visit Jeff's site for more digital photography tips: http://www.jeffgalbraithphotography.ca

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com