Monday, December 15, 2008

Starting a Photography Business - Are You Ready to Start Your Own and Make $250 a Day?


By Amy Yang

To start your own photography business can be a very lucrative venture. It is very possible to make $250 a day. Some devoted photographers are known for making as much as $7,000 a month and sometimes even more! Can you imagine all the things you could do with that and the freedom that affords you?

Do you have a digital camera? Can you take photos of things in focus? If so, then you are in a great position to start your own photography business.

There is a world of opportunity for you here with so many different avenues you go into. You can choose to work strictly from home with your own little studio setup, or you can take your photography on the road and take travel pictures. It is your photography business, your freedom to choose!

Is there a market for your pictures? Most definitely! You can most certainly make money with your camera by just uploading the pictures you take to the internet. There are numerous sites that will pay you to upload your pictures to them. Of course, the more sites you sign up with, the more money you can make all with the same picture!

This is just one avenue you can take. There really is a lot of choices you can take. There is something for every kind of photographer. Insurance companies need photographers, couples need pictures, pet owners need pictures, families need pictures, businesses need pictures. The list is long!

And no, you do not need a fancy expensive studio and photography equipment to get started. All you need is a digital camera, a DSLR is the most desirable, and some basic computer skills, and an internet connection, and you are good to go!

Have you heard of the Camera Dollars System? If you are really serious about making money with your camera, then this system is definitely worth a look.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Digital Photography - 7 Things Every Beginner Should Know!

By Tony Mandarich

Now that you have completed your digital photography classes at the community college, you're pretty pumped up and ready to make your mark on the industry. But there's a fine line between taking good photographs and being a great photographer; so first thing's first - building a solid foundation with long-lasting results!

1.Research before you buy: We live in a society where we have many choices - almost too many! Taking amazing photos begins with the right camera so be diligent while shopping! Here are the key considerations you need to think through before making your investment; assess your needs - find a camera the best fits what you want to photograph; set a budget - and stick to it; find a camera with extended battery life - you don't want your camera to die at an inopportune moment; consider the number of Megapixels - this is very important when photographing diverse scenery and most important, buy a system that will grow with you, like Canon or Nikon.

2.Know your equipment: Once you have made your purchase, make sure you know your camera. Read the user manual and learn all the features. Like all enthusiastic picture-takers, you want to start "playing" right away, but your point and shoot may be more temperamental and powerful than you think. Taking the time to read the manual will help decipher all those pesky little symbols, bells and whistles! As you experiment, try shooting your subjects with multiple settings to learn what effects work best for each shot.

3.Accessorize: Yes, this applies to more than just your wardrobe! Here are a few camera accessories to consider before you go out on your photo-journey: Buy a tripod; if you want sharper images and a more steady shot, this is a minimal investment with a maximum return - any professional will tell you the difference a tripod makes. Have a variety of lenses: multiple lenses will give you the ability to take the picture that you want, with the effect that you want. Power is important so make sure you have plenty of it! An extra battery and a charger is a must when taking your photo show on the road. Make sure you have plenty of memory on hand. Memory cards are essential as every camera has a different capacity for storing pictures. And the number of pics you can take at one individual photo shoot will depend not only on the storage capacity of the memory cards you buy, but also your camera's Megapixel count and the size of each image file. And last but not least, buy a protective bag or carrying case - and keep in mind our unpredictable weather!! Look into a padded, waterproof bag to protect your investment.

4.Versatility: Now you are ready to take some pictures, so be creative! Your interest may be in good ole' Mother Nature and butterflies fascinate you, but try to photograph something different every day. Continuously thinking outside of your own box and using your imagination will be the key to your success as a photographer.

5.To Zoom or Not to Zoom: Don't be afraid to get up close and personal to your subject. One of the most common mistakes is that photos are taken from too far away and that there is just too much environment or activity in one frame. This just takes away from the message you are trying to convey. Remember...less is more!

6.Be Patient: Take time to plan your shots. As you get in position for your photo, keep an eye out for people passing by, power lines, flying pests and other objects behind your subject that can ruin your photo. If the effects are not avoidable, reposition yourself or your subject. Waiting until the 1980 dented Chevy Malibu in the background has passed will make a major difference in your photo and will only cost you a moment or two!! Also, use your creative eye to avoid objects in the background that visually merge with the subject because they have the same color. Find focus on the subject and allow the subject to be free-standing.

7.Take your camera everywhere you go: "Kodak Moments" often happen when you least expect them. It's a good idea always have your camera with you - just a small camera bag and a tripod - and you won't miss some of those unexpected opportunities and once-in-a-lifetime shots. If you are caught without your camera, be sure to have a journal handy and take notes on scenes you'd like to return to with your camera.

With these tips, you'll be able to master the art of digital photography faster and easier, and you'll be a natural in no time! So, be creative, inventive, have fun - and just go shoot something!

Beginners click here for more great Digital Photography Tips

Tony Mandarich - EzineArticles Expert Author

Digital Photography - 7 Things Every Beginner Should Know!

By Tony Mandarich

Now that you have completed your digital photography classes at the community college, you're pretty pumped up and ready to make your mark on the industry. But there's a fine line between taking good photographs and being a great photographer; so first thing's first - building a solid foundation with long-lasting results!

1.Research before you buy: We live in a society where we have many choices - almost too many! Taking amazing photos begins with the right camera so be diligent while shopping! Here are the key considerations you need to think through before making your investment; assess your needs - find a camera the best fits what you want to photograph; set a budget - and stick to it; find a camera with extended battery life - you don't want your camera to die at an inopportune moment; consider the number of Megapixels - this is very important when photographing diverse scenery and most important, buy a system that will grow with you, like Canon or Nikon.

2.Know your equipment: Once you have made your purchase, make sure you know your camera. Read the user manual and learn all the features. Like all enthusiastic picture-takers, you want to start "playing" right away, but your point and shoot may be more temperamental and powerful than you think. Taking the time to read the manual will help decipher all those pesky little symbols, bells and whistles! As you experiment, try shooting your subjects with multiple settings to learn what effects work best for each shot.

3.Accessorize: Yes, this applies to more than just your wardrobe! Here are a few camera accessories to consider before you go out on your photo-journey: Buy a tripod; if you want sharper images and a more steady shot, this is a minimal investment with a maximum return - any professional will tell you the difference a tripod makes. Have a variety of lenses: multiple lenses will give you the ability to take the picture that you want, with the effect that you want. Power is important so make sure you have plenty of it! An extra battery and a charger is a must when taking your photo show on the road. Make sure you have plenty of memory on hand. Memory cards are essential as every camera has a different capacity for storing pictures. And the number of pics you can take at one individual photo shoot will depend not only on the storage capacity of the memory cards you buy, but also your camera's Megapixel count and the size of each image file. And last but not least, buy a protective bag or carrying case - and keep in mind our unpredictable weather!! Look into a padded, waterproof bag to protect your investment.

4.Versatility: Now you are ready to take some pictures, so be creative! Your interest may be in good ole' Mother Nature and butterflies fascinate you, but try to photograph something different every day. Continuously thinking outside of your own box and using your imagination will be the key to your success as a photographer.

5.To Zoom or Not to Zoom: Don't be afraid to get up close and personal to your subject. One of the most common mistakes is that photos are taken from too far away and that there is just too much environment or activity in one frame. This just takes away from the message you are trying to convey. Remember...less is more!

6.Be Patient: Take time to plan your shots. As you get in position for your photo, keep an eye out for people passing by, power lines, flying pests and other objects behind your subject that can ruin your photo. If the effects are not avoidable, reposition yourself or your subject. Waiting until the 1980 dented Chevy Malibu in the background has passed will make a major difference in your photo and will only cost you a moment or two!! Also, use your creative eye to avoid objects in the background that visually merge with the subject because they have the same color. Find focus on the subject and allow the subject to be free-standing.

7.Take your camera everywhere you go: "Kodak Moments" often happen when you least expect them. It's a good idea always have your camera with you - just a small camera bag and a tripod - and you won't miss some of those unexpected opportunities and once-in-a-lifetime shots. If you are caught without your camera, be sure to have a journal handy and take notes on scenes you'd like to return to with your camera.

With these tips, you'll be able to master the art of digital photography faster and easier, and you'll be a natural in no time! So, be creative, inventive, have fun - and just go shoot something!

Beginners click here for more great Digital Photography Tips

Tony Mandarich - EzineArticles Expert Author

Great Free Photo Editing Programs

By Robert Grazian

Digital photography is a wonderful thing, but soon one ends up with hundreds of pictures which would be great except they need just a little correction or tweaking. Maybe there are problems with red eye, or the contrast or brightness was not quite right. Few people want to spend fifty to three hundred dollars on a photo editing program to deal with these problems. Luckily, there are plenty of quality free photo editing programs out there to choose from.

FxFoto

FxFoto's standard edition is one of many photo editing programs that does most things that the casual photographer would like to correct in their pictures. Included in the standard edition for FxFoto are tools like lighting and image adjustment, red eye correction, blemish correction, smoothing, cropping, photo frames, and text enhancement. Of course, it goes without saying this application will save and rename standard image files. FxFoto has one of the higher user ratings from unaffiliated websites such as downloads.com hosted by CNET. The deluxe version of this software does much more including slide shows, scrapbook layouts, and collages to name a few.

Photozig Albums Express

Another great pick in editing programs would be Photozig Albums Express. This application is a great solution for managing digital photos and slide shows on your computer. This program makes it easy to transfer pictures from your computer to your camera and organize them in any way you see fit. Tools such as red eye correction and their own "quick fix" allow you to automatically adjust brightness and contrast intensity to the optimum level. The Photozig application also saves the original so it is easy to go back to your original photo if you don't like the correction. It's easy to use interface makes this program wonderful for all levels of users from advance to beginner. This program works with both the Windows XP and Vista operating system.

Pixresizer 2.0.3

Pixresizer is an easy to use photo file resize application. Have you ever tried to send your pictures to friends and relatives only to find that they have a hard time viewing them because the resolution or size of the photo is just too big? This nifty little program will have you quickly resizing one or ten selected photos for easier use within email applications and on the web. The smaller sized pictures are saved to a separate file so that the original photo is unchanged. It also converts photos between various different formats. As far as free photo editing programs go, this one should be included with every digital camera sold.

These are just a few choices of the numerous free photo programs and tools out there for the general public to use. Whether you desire to create digital photo albums, online scrapbooks, or slide shows, there is certain to be a quality product out there for your use. Just be sure when you are downloading an application that you are doing it from a reputable website so you can be sure you won't get any unwanted viruses.

Robert Grazian is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about great free photo editing programs visit My Digital Photography Classes for current articles and discussions.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Safe Options For Photo Storage

By Susan Slobac

Most people do not have space to display every photo they have taken, so photo storage options are pretty important. Some storage solutions, such as albums and scrapbooks, are time consuming and not particularly convenient, though. Photography storage boxes, on the other hand, take no time to use and can accommodate virtually any sized photos.

Varieties of photo storage boxes

There is more than one type of box available for photo storage. In fact, there are several kinds of boxes from which to choose. The available varieties are intended for specific types of photos or to provide a specific type of storage. Knowing which type of photo storage boxes are the best is a matter what you need out of your storage.

Common varieties of photography storage boxes include:

• Archival storage boxes - These boxes are particularly durable in construction, and as a means of photo storage, they are ideal for long-term safekeeping. Some boxes include design features, such as metal edges, that increase durability. In addition to providing a protective physical barrier, archival storage boxes often also provide beneficial environmental conditions too. The securely fitting lids and lining materials act as buffers against the introduction of pollutants, light and other potentially damaging factors.
• Acid free storage boxes - Materials used in construction of acid free photo storage boxes are specifically selected for the image friendly environment they create. These boxes are particularly desirable for photo storage in that they contain no chemicals that could contribute to deterioration of precious photos over time.

Sizing of photo storage options

A particularly convenient feature of these boxes is the variety of sizes in which they are offered. Whether you need storage for smaller images, such as 3x5 photos, mid-sized images, such as 13x19 photos or something even larger, there are boxes to accommodate any size photograph.

When choosing a box size, consider whether the pictures you wish to store will include additional features, a matboard or foamcore mount board, for instance. Either of these will increase the dimensions of your photo. A 13x19 photo that is mounted and includes 2 inch wide matting will need wider storage space than that same photo on its own. Be sure to consider the additional width of the matting and foamcore mount board to ensure the box can actually accommodate your photos. Storage works best under roomy conditions, so don't try to force a photo into a space that is less than ideal.

Susan Slobac is an avid photographer. Susan believes a picture frame is more than just fashion; it's a safeguard for something you love.

Audio Photo Sharing - Make Your Photos Come Alive!

By MJ Johnston

Audio photo sharing is the up and coming new way to share your photos with the ones that you love. If you want more information about all of the benefits of photo sharing, then read this article. You will be surprised at how you can use this kind of photo sharing. There are so many ways to benefit from doing it that will last for years to come. It adds that extra spice to sharing your photos that you cannot get anywhere else, and it is not a long boring family video that makes the relatives yawn and fall asleep.

With audio photo sharing, you have the opportunity to preserve all the memories that are important. You can record your baby crying along with a picture of your baby in tears. You can record all of your children's voices and laughter, and have it there forever. You can send your loved ones to the site to view these photos, and they can hear the voices of your children laughing and playing. You are even able to capture the sounds of your pets for the future. You can have a photo of your dog, with him barking in the background.

Using audio photo sharing is a great way to capture cherished memories and make them stand motionless in time. Imagine having the picture of a loved one that has passed on, with him narrating the action that took place in the picture. You can express yourself more fully, and the photos will take on more life and beauty with sound attached to them. You are capturing more than a visual effect. You are capturing a visual and audio effect that will make all the difference in the world to your photos.

When you examine the many possibilities that are offered by using audio photo sharing, you can see why it is important to go that extra step with your photos, and to take some time to do it. So many people allow their photos to sit and gather dust on the shelf, and it is the same for online pictures, or ones that you have on your hard disk. Take the time to organize them well, and they will be a part of you for the rest of your life. Share them with your loved ones and watch their reaction. You can really

express yourself, and capture perfect thoughts and memories. Your friends and relatives will be more than grateful, and you can be much more connected. It will not take long to do, and it is something you will have for many years to come.

MJ Johnston writes for a variety of websites, including Hoorray, a photo sharing site that offers the quickest and easiest free online photo sharing.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

How to Preserve Your Photos

By MJ Johnston

In the past, image preservation was not an easy task and in many cases, it was nearly impossible to ensure that your photos stayed safe and did not start to show signs of wear, or signs of damage from the elements. Now, however, thanks to new technology, anyone can easily make their own photo album to create a place to store and protect images, as well as share them with friends and family. If you are ready to start preserving your photos, there are a few things you'll need to know.

The first step is to see if any of the photos are damaged in any way. If they need a lot of restoration work done, you may want to consider hiring a professional service for this job. While it is easy enough to fix small problems on photos, if you have discolored pictures or photos that are ripped, having them restored to their former glory should be handled by a professional.

Now, once you have your restored photos ready, you can start adding them to your photo album. It's a good idea to treat the restored copies with care during this process. You'll need to have a scanner handy for this process. A flatbed scanner is ideal since it will allow you to place the photos exactly how you want them to appear. If you have large images, a flatbed will work perfectly. Running your photos through a sheet fed scanner is not recommend, since they can easily become jammed and ruined.

At this point in time, you'll be able to make any necessary alterations to your photos before you proceed to the next step of actually adding them to your photo album. Take your time and make sure that they are perfect so that you'll be able to preserve them in their best form. This can be time consuming if you have numerous photos to go through, but when you consider that you will be saving memories at the same time, the work should be a lot easier.

Arranging your photos in your photo album is a lot of fun and you have the freedom to decide how you would like them displayed. Play around with a few configurations to see which one is best. You can arrange them by special events, or you can make a photo story and even use a montage. Many people find it fun to mix up their photos so that you can see how someone looked years ago, versus how they turned out.

Preserving your photos with a photo album is a necessity, given that photographs are all too fragile. If you want an easy way to save those memories and create a legacy for your family and friends, using a free online photo album gives you this opportunity. Take advantage of that and start preserving your collection of priceless memories today.

MJ Johnston writes for a variety of websites, including Hoorray, a photo sharing site that offers the quickest and easiest free online photo storage.

5 Tips For Preparing Your Photo Album

By MJ Johnston

If you want to make the most out of your photo album and create a collection that is fun to share with your family and friends, there are a few steps that you need to take before you get started. By properly preparing your photos ahead of time, you'll find that putting your photo album together is much easier and the finished result will be much better. Here is a checklist to help you prepare all of your photos.

Step One: Get all of your photographs together. If you are planning on building an album for a special occasion, or you just need to transfer all of your photos to an album, it is a good idea to get them all organized and in one location. This makes it a lot easier and you'll be less likely to miss an important photo.

Step Two: Examine your photos. Before you start adding your pictures to your album, it is a good idea to look at each one carefully. You can separate them by condition. For example, if there are a few that need red eye correction, you can place these in one pile. If some of your pictures have crease marks or rips, these can go in another. Keep going until you have sorted through all of your photos and examined each one.

Step Three: Scan in your photos. This is a great way to preserve your collection and get your photos ready for your new album. You'll need to have a scanner, which you can buy at most technology stores, as well as cables to connect it to your computer. Once you have everything hooked up, you can start scanning in your photos. If you are trying to save time, you can put several in the scanner dock at once and then use an image program to separate them later on.

Step Four: Edit your photos. You'll be going back to the photos that you examined earlier and fixing any errors that you found. In order to edit your photos, you will need to have a graphic editor installed on your computer. Many scanners now come with this software, or you can easily find some online that you can download and use immediately. Make your corrections and save the file. You can now print out the fixed photographs on special photo paper or upload them to your album.

Step Five: Putting your photo album together. Once you have completed these easy steps, you'll be ready to start creating your album. It's a good idea to take your time and try out some of the features included in the application so that you can get the most out of your photographs.

By following these steps, you'll be able to create a photo album that you can share with your family and friends.

MJ Johnston writes for a variety of websites, including Hoorray, a photo sharing site that offers the quickest and easiest way to create a free online photo album.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Image Stabilizers - A Great Lens to Add to Your Photography Equipment Collection

By Mikel Freije

Image stabilizers are schemes to compensate for the motion of images due to air turbulence or telescope vibration. The most popular scheme is to use the so-called tip-tilt mirror. Image stabilizers have been around for a while in the home video recorder market, but have only recently has this technology become available to the stills photographer. As with a number of the previous breakthroughs this innovation was introduced by Canon. Image stabilizers work to give you sharper pictures by counteracting camera shake. Image stabilized lenses and cameras use two tiny gyros that precess with camera movement and send a signal via a servomotor to move lens elements, a prism, or the sensor plane in the opposite direction of your camera's movement.

Lens length does not alter during zooming and the front lens element does not rotate during zooming or focusing. The lens employs an almost perfectly circular barrel aperture, helping create attractive, even background blur. Lenses or cameras with image stabilization help, but they're often quite expensive. Surprisingly it's a bolt, washer, and some string.

Shoot Only IS mode is only activated when the shutter button is pressed. When set to Continuous, some blurring may occur depending on the subjects. Shooting in low light situations of course. With latest Image Stabilizer lens, you can handhold up to four stops to get usable picture. Shoot enough and you might get lucky and get a sharp one, even at really long speeds.

Secondly, an optical system increases power drain by roughly 30 percent when used constantly, reducing battery life. Finally, any type of stabilizer can lead to some unsharp images because it's deactivated after a few seconds of nonuse to conserve battery power. Second, high ISO images appeared "soft" because fine details were obscured by digital noise or by excessive (automatic) noise reduction processing.

Canon was able to reduce the overall size and weight of the binoculars by incorporating a new, Tilt Mechanism Image Stabilizer system. Unlike other Canon Image Stabilizer binoculars which use a vari-angle prism composed of two glass elements and a flexible bellows, the 8x25 IS model works by "tilting" a single lens element in the left and right lens barrels to counteract shake. Canon FS 100 Provides spotlight, portrait, nightmode, fire work, sports, snow, beach and sunset shooting modes for better quality. Canon and Panasonic use optical image stabilizer technology in selected cameras of their product ranges. The technology comes with specialized sensors inside the camera that detect a shake or wobble in the lens.

For more information on Image Stabilizers visit our site: All You Need to Know About Canon Image Stabilizers.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Secret of Digitizing Your Old Photos

By Alex Don

Do you have a large collection of old photographs taken by traditional cameras? It is then really necessary for you to digitally process all these old photographs and import onto your computer. Otherwise all of the old memories collection would be lost in no time.

It is observed that all the photographs imported from a photo scanner come with a very big size image file. The file is a TIFF file supporting very high quality image resolution and color depth. You may find that your photographs are imported with varying sizes as they might have on actual print. Now it is necessary to resize all those photographs to similar sizes for easy storage and maintenance. I generally prefer to use a free online picture resizer to resize my photo collection. These picture resizing tools make it very easy to resize multiple pictures at once.

An online picture resizer is a free web based service on a website, generally offered with some functionality limitations (picture size limit, file size limit etc.). These tools help you to resize pictures online from wherever you are. It is essentially used by people moving around the world or travelers. You don't need to have a photo editor on your computer or laptop to resize your pictures.

Before you resize the photographs, you can adjust the brightness, contrast and other properties for each imported old photograph so that they look consistent when viewed as an album or a slideshow. Don't make pictures too bright or adjust contrast too much otherwise you will lose original picture quality when you resize pictures with an online image resizer.

You should choose the right storage medium for all the imported photographs. I will prefer to store all the photographs on a DVD. This way it becomes portable and durable for longer time. Using portable hard disk is another good way for long term data storage. Hard disks generally require maintenance and protection so choose this option carefully.

Another best way of storing photographs for long term is to use an online storage service provided by websites such as xdrive.com and idrive.com. This service offers more than 2 GB online disk space to store your pictures collection. This kin d of service is useful for periodic backup and long term archival of important data and photographs. Again, please make sure that you have properly resized all of your old picture collection with an online picture resizer tool before uploading it online otherwise it would eat up lot of disk space.

Keeping your old photographs online with a storage services really helps you when you want to share all those good memories with your family members, friends and colleagues located all over the world. You don't need attach that bulky bunch of old photographs to your e-mail and send it to everybody. You can just send the links of those photographs in your e-mail and send it.

All in all, it is necessary to adjust picture properties of your old photographs and resize them with a free online image resizer which is also available on reshade.com before moving them to a permanent digital storage medium.

Alex Don writes about image resizing for the company Reshade . Reshade specializes in image processing offering a freely available online image resizer Additionally it offers a commercial photo enlargement software.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Digital Photography Tips - The 3 Most Critical Items For Quality Digital Photos

By Steven Wagenheim

I remember the first digital camera that I got many years ago. It was a Mustek and it was a piece of garbage. Of course back then, there wasn't a lot better out. We've come a very long way since the early days of digital photos. Every once in a while, one of my friends, since they all know I'm a photography buff, will ask me what the most important things are about taking quality digital photos. It's a hard question to answer because, quite honestly, there are a number of things that go into taking quality digital photos. However, I've chosen my top three deal breakers, as I call them, and will discuss them in this article.

Believe it or not, unless you've got a real high end camera, the most important thing to taking quality digital photos is lighting. Have you ever taken photos with a fair to poor digital camera and yet had such great lighting that the photos came out great? I have. As a matter of fact, when I had my Mustek, I found that setting up some killer lighting made that camera sing. But take the lighting away and you ended up with the most grainy and color washed out photos you can imagine. Lighting made all the difference. That's why I put that on the top of the list, even above the camera itself. So if you're on a limited budget and can't afford a great camera, make sure you have enough light.

Next to lighting is of course the camera itself. Naturally, the better the camera, the better the quality of the photos. The problem is, how do you know what a great camera is? You can't just go by megapixels because each manufacturer has a different method by which they're represented. So a camera with 8 megapixels may actually not be as good in quality as a camera by another manufacturer with 6 megapixels. So do yourself a favor, read as many unbiased reviews of each camera you're thinking of buying. How can you tell an unbiased review? It's one where there's no affiliate link to the camera itself.

Finally, there is the skill of the photographer. Sadly, this is not something you can buy in a box. It's funny the things that I take for granted now, having taken photographs for so long. Things like centering your subject. I've seen some of my friends take photos where the subject is all the way to the left of the photo. It's almost criminal. Skill is something I picked up over time, however, it is something you can learn.

Below you'll find a review of a great book that will have you taking digital photos of great quality in no time. I wish this book had come out when I first started. It would have saved me a lot of time and effort.

Anyway, these are the three most critical items for quality digital photos.

At least two of them you can actually buy...Wait, make that three.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to turn your digital photos into pure gold? Please check out the review of a great resource at my blog at http://digitalphotographytipsonline.blogspot.com/ where you'll find the answers to all your questions about digital photography that will turn you into a master of the lens in no time.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Photo Repair

By: photorestorationman

Do not try to remove your photographs from the album as this could cause them to be un-repairable. You could tear, rip or bend them trying to un-stick them from the pages. If they are stained by the glue, particularly from the self cling kind of album they may also have a pattern on them. The adhesive from the clear page that lays over the top of the photos, to hold them in place sometimes appears in diagonal lines. A line of glue then a space and this repeats, it is this repeat pattern of glue that ends up stuck to your photographs, staining them and causing damage to the emulsion. It not something that can be easily removed and best not attempted at all. It is best to get a photo repair and have them professionally restored.

Fortunately you do not even have to part with your photos in order to have them repaired. When it comes to photo repairs you can scan in an image from a print, slide or negative and your scanning software probably does it all for you, its simple you just hit the go button and the job is done. However it is best to check to the settings within the software to see how the software is saving your image? or if it gives you any options to alter the way the file is saved or scanned? Saving without compression or little compression is the best way to preserve detail in your image. A JPEG file is a “lossy” format, or a format where data is discarded in order to save space when saving. The higher the compression the more data is thrown away and the less detail there will be in your image.

There is no excuse these days, when hard disks are so very cheap to save your image with any other setting other than the best. It might be worth examining the software the came with your scanner and check that you do have the option to change the way it saves and what format it saves your images in. Phrases to look for in the manual or software settings are, “best photo setting” or the “lowest compression”, “lossless format” or “large file size”. You get the idea but do look for the top setting.

If you use a low setting you will get blocks where the JPEG algorithm splits up the photo into small portions in order to save it, the more data that is thrown away the more blocks there are visible. When this happens across a detailed section of the image the detail is lost, blocks meet and slurring of colours and details occur. This is called JPEG artefacts. It is these artefacts we do not want when our software takes over and saves our images for us.

In order for a restoration or photo repair to be carried out to a high standard then a highly compressed file must be avoided! Once you have a decent scan and a good quality file email to a photo restoration company for a quality photo repair.

Article Directory: http://www.articlecube.com


Digital Photography Secrets For Creating Tack Sharp Shots

By: Pat Lyne

There are lots of ingredients to making a spectacular photograph, but the most important is for the picture to be in sharp focus. Even the slightest blur takes away from the picture, no matter how good the subject, lighting and color.

Photographers have somewhat varying opinions on what constitutes a tack sharp picture, but generally, a tack sharp photograph has good, clean lines. The picture has clear definition, instead of a soft blending of lines, or even downright blurry.

There are several things you can do to increase your chances of getting that coveted tack sharp picture.

Hand-Held Digital Photography Tips

If you’re hand-holding your camera, brace your arms against your sides to help steady the camera. If your camera has anti-shake technology such as Vibration Reduction (VR) or Image Stabilization (IS) lens that can be switched on and off, this is the time to have it turned on.

You can also lean against a wall or tree or whatever sturdy object that’s handy, and help keep yourself and your camera steady. Alternatively, lean or lay your camera or lens on some readily available sturdy object to help steady the camera.

Steadying your camera by hooking the strap under your elbow and wrapping the rest around your forearm will also help stabilize the camera and hold it steady in your hand.

Getting those tack sharp photos while hand-holding your camera can be difficult, so to increase your chances of getting that perfect shot, use the burst or continuous shooting mode on your camera to take several shots at once. That increases your chances that at least one of the pictures will be in
sharp focus.

Tripods For Better Focus

There’s no getting around the fact that it’s easier to get a tack sharp photo using a tripod. You just can’t hold the camera as steady as a tripod will. And like most things in life, with a tripod you get what you pay for. A cheap tripod will help, but won’t hold your camera rock steady like a more expensive tripod will. The moral of the story is to buy the best tripod you can reasonably afford.

The more expensive tripods don’t come with the head attached. You have to buy it separately, but that means you get to choose what suits you best. To get a sharp photo, buy a quality ballhead that won’t let your camera slowly slide to one side.

If you’re somewhere that carrying a tripod just won’t work, beanbags make a nice cushion for cameras in these settings. They cushion your camera, helping to steady it and increase your ability to situate the camera to focus on the subject you want.

To improve your chances of a tack sharp photo even more, use a cable release instead of pressing the shutter. It may not seem like much, but the movement from pressing the shutter will make the camera move enough to prevent getting those tack sharp photos.

If you don’t have a cable release, the self timer will also work. It allows you to press the shutter, while giving the camera time to stabilize before it actually takes the picture.

More Advanced Digital Photography Secrets For Sharp Shots

If you have a digital SLR camera, there are even more ways to make sure your camera stays steady while taking pictures.

The first is to use mirror lock-up. This locks your camera’s mirror in the up position so when you take a picture the mirror doesn’t move until after the picture is taken, limiting the movement inside the camera. This means to take a picture, you will have to press the shutter release button twice on
your remote or cable release (you’re not going to all this trouble and pressing the shutter release on the camera are you?). The first press lifts the mirror and the second press actually takes the picture.

The second method is to turn off the Vibration Reduction or Image Stabilization. That may sound counter productive, but when you’ve stabilized your camera with a tripod and other methods, the vibration reduction keeps looking for shakes/movements. If there isn’t any movement, the vibration
reduction actually causes some shaking while looking. A good rule of thumb is to keep these turned off when shooting with a tripod, and only turn them on when you’re hand-holding the camera.

One last way to increase the sharpness of your pictures is to have good glass. The lens you use makes a big difference. A quality lens with good glass is more expensive of course, but it’s another instance of getting what you pay for. Think of it as an investment in great photos.

Use as many methods as you can to steady your camera, and you’ll have a much better chance of getting those lovely tack sharp photographs.

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Monday, September 1, 2008

Creative Business Ideas With Your Camera

By Jonathan Popoola

In today's challenging money-driven world, several business ventures are cropping up like mushrooms. For young enterprising individuals, who would choose to work on their own time, exploring businesses which require a relatively small start up capital and manpower is a very popular option. One such business is home based photo printing and desktop publishing shop.

The requirements for starting up a photo printing and desktop publishing shop can be very minimal. One can begin with the very basic equipment such as a personal computer, a photo printer, scanner, a digital camera, photo papers and ink.

Personal computers for this type of business should at least have a memory and program specifications necessary to run photo editing and lay-outing programs such as photo shop, in design, gimp or Corel. In choosing a printer, find one that is cost efficient.

Printers which may be expensive turn out to be cheaper in the long run when ink costs and printing efficiency is figured in the computation. Choose printers that can give you quality prints on photo and special papers and stickers. Eventually you can expand your business into printing photos on coffee mugs, shirts, pins, bags and tablets!

Some printers also now come with photo copiers and scanners. Determine if this would suit your business needs. Consider that several customers may not have their photos, especially their old baby shots in digital form and may need to be scanned.

Of course, a digital camera, a high pixel capacity compact camera or more preferably a digital SLR would be necessary. Some customers may not have their photos with them or may want to have their photos taken by you. Compared to just being given a photo, be it a digital soft file or an actual hard photo, having you take the photo yourself would allow you to have more leverage in terms of creative space and image control. This way you can control lighting and contrast, angles and focus, right from the very beginning. Of course, such photos are best taken with a digital SLR camera rather than a compact camera. But if your initial start up capital won't cover the costs, then a compact camera will do. This may be a bit limiting but you will eventually be able to make necessary photo adjustments on your computer.

Have lots of fun and interesting backgrounds ready in your computer. They may want to have themselves photographed in front of the Eiffel Tower or the Niagara Falls, or even in the Grand Canyon. Have cartoon backgrounds handy for kids who would like to see themselves beside Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny.

More importantly when starting up this business, have lots of fun and is creative. Your business will boom sooner than you think.

For more information on which digital slr to buy or for help in choosing which is the best digital slr camera for your needs. Visit my site for information on compact and slr digital cameras. Including reviews and user reviews

Friday, August 29, 2008

Resizing Pictures Taken With Your Digital Camera - Why?

By Alex Don

If you simply store pictures obtained from a digital camera as a thumbnail, without using an online image resizer, and send them to friends, family members, or colleagues, the recipient may not be able to download and see your pictures at the other end. This is because these thumbnails take too much time to download. Even if the other person is able to download the picture, he or she may not be able to rotate these images and the quality of the images could be poor. Before sending images, they should be resized and sent in a compressed form. A free online image resizer can be used for online image resizing, in orderto sendthe photos. After saving the resized online image orphotos on a desktop or laptop, they can be sent to others via email.

The picture obtained from a camera is much larger than any computer monitor. Therefore, it is beneficial to use a preferred online image resizer. A camera produces pictures of 100kb to 250kb if the camera setting is kept at its lowest level. For sending images through email or displaying images on the web, the preferred image size is between 20kb to 40kb. It is therefore important to resize images online in such a way that the resized online image obtained through the resizer is proportional to the computer screen.

Photos obtained from a digital camera are excellent, especially if the camera is at least 5 MP. These photos can be manipulated in Corel Draw, to improve the color and also make the picture brighter. Other photo editors can also be used for cosmetic changes, and photos can look better by improving the skin effect. One finished with any cosmetic changes, an offline or online image resizing tool can be used for resizing the picture.

There are many free online picture resizer applications available for a wide variety of needs. The picture, once finished with all cosmetic editing, can be uploaded to any of these free domains to get the desired result. There are also many offline tools available. IfranView is a favorite tool, which can easily resize and crop images. Photoshop can also be used for resizing images, with many macros developed for resizing pictures and photos, requiring the user to only enter basic inputs.

In conclusion, it is necessary to use an offline or online image resizer to resize pictures obtained from a digital camera. It is necessary to resize images online and resize pictures online or offline so that another person can download and view these files on their monitors easily. The images obtained from digital cameras are very large in filesize, and so these need to be reduced in size significantly in order to be sent through email or posted to blogs. An online picture resizer is therefore one of the best options to convert these images into the desired output, and once the desired output is acquired, it can be saved to a desktop or laptop to be sent by email or posted to a blog.

Alex is a writer on image resizing technology for Reshade. The company specializes in image processing offering a free online image resizer and a photo enlargement application. What's special here is the ability to enlarge images without losing quality as is usually expected when upscaling. Their site, reshade.com also offers a free image gallery where you can browse and download high resolution images resized with the online image resizer maintaining quality.

Best SLR Cameras in the Market

By Jonathan Popoola

An SLR camera is an investment. If used with care and if regular maintenance is done, they can actually last for a long, long time. This is why if you are buying your very first digital SLR camera, it may be a good idea to research and ask more seasoned photographers on which of the SLR's out there will give a definite bang (or for this case click) for your pound.

For those with no professional photographers to turn to, then here are the two top SLR cameras out there. Grabe'em while their hot and clicking!

1. Nikon D40X
This is like version 2 of the initial 6 megapixel D40, only it was jazzed up to a 10.2 megapixel CCD sensor. The payoff of course is that the D40X requires you to for a few more bucks that could buy you lenses and other accessories but that is the pay-off for higher megapixels. D40X has the same 420 pixel sensor 3D color Matrix Metering II system of the D80 and the same processor as D200.

If you will buy the D40X, you actually have four options.
a. SLR digital camera only
b. SLR digital camera plus 18 mm to 55 mm lens
c. SLR digital camera plus two lenses 18 mm to 55 mm and 55 mm to 200 mm
d. SLR digital camera with 18 mm to 135 mm lens

This SLR does not have an "auto focus" feature so if you do want to have that feature, then the lenses will help you a great deal.

Compare to other SLR digital cameras, this model is a little on the small side but cost of making a more lightweight SLR, there is only one status display that is for the menu and for the image playback. This may be okay for novice users but most professional and amateur photographers would rather have a secondary status display.
This is also a very fine item for impatient people as the start up only takes less than half a second to do.

2. Pentax K10D
If your wallet will not allow for a pricey digital SLR camera, then you will be happy to know that the Pentax K10D is very budget friendly. The price may not be the lowest among all the SLR digital cameras out there but it has the greatest array of features given its price. It has professional looking buttons and witches, 10 megapixel CCD that has an integrated lens shift, it has state of the art shake reduction technology, its body is weather and water resistant, 11 point selectable autofocus and it has a complete set of exposure modes. Noise is reduced even at ISO 800 and it can go up to ISO 1600.

However, this camera is best fit for those that are already a bit knowledgeable in using SLR digital cameras because the absence of auto set up that can help a novice or a beginner to switch from the run off the mill regular digicam to the "toys for the big boys" digital SLR.

For more information on which digital slr to buy or for help in chossing which is the best digital slr camera for your needs. Visit my site for information on compact and slr digital cameras. Including reviews and user reviews

Monday, August 18, 2008

Better Wildlife Photos - Five Common Mistakes to Avoid

By Andrew Goodall

Wildlife photography is both rewarding and frustrating, even for experienced photographers. While a great photo is something to treasure, the challenges of wildlife photography can leave beginners feeling a little lost.

"It was wonderful to be there, but this photo doesn't really do it justice." Does this sound familiar? Too often we have a great experience in nature, and even though we have our camera at the ready, we fail to get the shot. This is not because the camera lets us down; it is because in our rush to get a photo - any photo - we fall victim to any one of a number of mistakes that can ruin a good wildlife photography opportunity.

Here are five common mistakes in wildlife photography, and some simple tips to overcome them.

Mistake #1. Fail To Get Close Enough To The Subject. This is probably the most obvious mistake you can make. You may see a bird in a tree, but your photo turns out to be all tree and no bird. In wildlife photography, the 'less is more' approach is often best. Ask yourself what is important for your photo, and eliminate everything else. In most cases you are best to get as close as possible to the subject, and/or zoom in with your largest lens. This eliminates the distraction of the background so that the viewer's attention is entirely on the subject itself.

Mistake #4. Distracting Depth of Field. This is closely related to mistake #1. When you set your camera to automatic, you allow it to set your aperture and shutter speed settings for you. To get the best results, you need to make these decisions for yoursef. If you take your photos on a small aperture setting, you increase the depth of field around the subject, allowing the background to become more of a distraction. You are better to set the widest aperture setting you can. This narrows the depth of field, concentrating the focus on the animal. As an added bonus, it will also allow a faster shutter speed, which helps to freeze a moving subject.

Mistake #3. Get Too Close To The Subject. When the opportunity arises to get a good close-up, some people go a little too far. A good wildlife photo wants a little space around the subject, otherwise your composition can look cramped, with the animal squashed into a space where it doesn't quite fit.

In these situtions, try zooming back just a little, to allow a little 'headroom' around the animal. There should be at least a small amount of space above the head, and on each side. If the animal is facing to one side, adjust your composition so that there is a little more space in front of the subject than behind it. That way the animal will be looking into the picture, not at the edge of the frame.

Mistake #4. Poor Lighting. We all love to get out and about on sunny days, but these are not necessarily the best conditions for a good photo. Bright sunshine produces shadow where you many not want them; in particular across the face of the subject. In the middle of the day when the light shines from above, you can find that most of the face and all of the underside of the subject is lost in dark shadow.

The solution? If it is a sunny day, take your photos early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when the sun is at a lower angle. You will also find lower contrast and warmer colour in the light, adding character to the whole photo.

In many cases it is best to take your photos on a cloudy day, when the light is even and the contrast is low. This light can work best for some subjects by completely eliminating glare and heavy shadow.

Mistake #5. Bad Timing. Animals move, they blink, they turn their heads, they flap their wings...sometimes it seems they are on a mission to foil your best attempts at a good photo.

In every wildlife encounter, there are a thousand opportunities to take a bad photo, and maybe one or two opportunities to take a good photo. A nature photographer learns to be ready for that perfect moment.

This is a matter of patience and perserverence. You need to spend as much time as possible with your subject, and take a lot of photos. Expect most of them to be rubbish, but take delight in the good ones because they are hard to come by. In particular, watch the animal's movements and behaviour. The trick is to try to catch a moment that expresses something unique to set your photo apart from millions of others. You won't get that perfect shot every time, but when you do it is a moment to treasure.

Check out Andrew Goodall's popular wildlife and landscape photography at http://www.naturesimage.com.au - and learn from his experience with the top selling ebook "Photography in Plain English." Don't forget to sign up to the online newsletter for tips and updates...it's free!

Friday, August 15, 2008

The SPOT Method Or How to Use Live Animal Friends With Doll Photography

By Rachael Z. Ikins

Taking realistic, believable doll photos that fool the viewer's eye, is difficult enough. Let's add real animal life to the picture.

Often times whatever we do around our work space especially if it is at home, pets may be inclined to curiosity and to want to "help". If this involves a pot-bellied pig knocking over a nicely framed set-up of dolls and teddy bears at tea just when you click the shutter, it can be very frustrating. However, as the Wiccan faith counsels us about animals who show up at circle-casting time, let us allow our friends to be a part of things for fun for all. Dogs, especially, enjoy doing things with their human friends as a pack. I go everywhere in my daily life in the center of my own pack of 5.

I have a few simple tips or SP. O. T:

SPontaneity, Opportunity, and Training.

Should an excellent combination of animal and doll arise, be spontaneous and ready to take advantage with your camera. For example,e if the family cockatoo flaps down to perch on a doll's head, use that! Be opportunistic. Take advantage of our pets' natural routine. Learn to be on the look-out for good compositions. For example, one of my cats really enjoyed sleeping in a certain chair. One day I set a doll in that chair. Next time I came through the room the cat was sleeping curled up beside his "baby", his head in the baby's lap. I grabbed my camera.

Train a pet to work with you. Nothing like a soft word and a food treat to persuade a canine or porcine companion to hold still with a doll in the picture. Aquarium fish have been known to cooperate with a bit of food sprinkled on the surface and a doll's face looking through the glass behind. A good natured pony will stand quietly with a doll rider on his or her back for a peppermint reward. A big enough doll can offer a flake of hay to horse or sheep. Small pets like hamsters, gerbils, and lizards fit into doll pockets that contain food treats.

Set your camera on a tripod and be patient. Digital photography makes the whole thing much easier. You can see an immediately if your idea was a success. Animals of all kinds move fast. So, should you. Don't be afraid to try often. The more your live subject is around dolls and the camera, the calmer he or she will be. The less hard you will have to work. Try wildlife as well. A doll sniffing a flower in a garden can hold a real caterpillar in her hand. A handful of birdseed can attract a chickadee to a doll's hand. Butterflies light on hair.

Discover the story within your photo composition. You'll be all set to tell it!

Rachael Ikins is an award-winning photographer of dolls at play; creating images that that mimic life and entice the viewer to take a closer look. Every so often, she uses real humans and strives to capture the nuances of our humanity. Additionally, she writes children's books and illustrates them with her photos to enchant her readers. To be touched and amused by her life-like photos, visit her at http://www.rachaelikins.com

Cheap Wholesale Digital Cameras

By Ian Pennington

Whatever occasion there is, you always desire to have every single moment captured. That's being possible when you have a camera on hand. With the increasing growth of demand in cameras, cellular phones and computer, the makers and distributors of cheap wholesale digital cameras are putting for the most sophisticated yet low-priced models the photo and video takers can take advantage of.

The market is offering a wider array of cheap wholesale digital cameras: point and shoot cameras, binocular cameras, waterproof and shockproof cameras, digital cameras, optical zoom cameras and mega pixel DSLR-style cameras. Mostly are tagged at lower price online than how it is pegged in malls and photography studios. There are cameras that can be utilized as PC cameras and interestingly, they can capture at 960 x 240 pixels.

The cheap wholesale digital cameras online include super widescreen 5M pixels digital camera with three-inch LTPS screen, professional 6 megapixel digital cam, video-and-voice recording capable digital cam, quality beginner's digital cam, etc. Some are even offering those models that features any or a combination of the following: 7m Pixel zoom, 5 M Pixel CMOS sensor, AVI formatted, MP3 player integrated with 3.6 inch screens, built-in 32 MB flash, CCD imaging sensor, maximum still image resolution, Swivel lens, 180-degree rotating lens, among other sophisticated attributes.

The world credits the digital revolution for having the entry of cheap wholesale digital cameras. Some offers online are as amazing as buying at half the cost but still maintain profitable margins. The days are long gone for you to pay photos that you might just ignore in the long run.

If you're in search for cheap wholesale digital cameras, you can pick one in any of the online-accessible wholesalers and distributors. You have to make sure, however, that you don't suffer performance for the low price you get to enjoy. A deal is good as great when it is of high quality but not pricey. First, you have to classify which particular models you like, and then you can spot the differences on their features and prices. After which, you can zero your options to three and finally pick only best you think it is.

The beauty of digital outputs is lovable, lasting and viewable anytime without having to print them. You have the option to print as many though, if you only want. But bottom line is that digital cameras allow everyone to shoot and preview quickly, store them on the PC and back them up with a CD or DVD filing. Cheap wholesale digital cameras vary in price and quality, so you must be smart in picking one that gives value more than you expected. With only a budget ranging from 30 to 200 dollars, you can surely spot what is meant for you.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.
To learn more about digital cameras, please visit Affordable Photography for current articles and discussions.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Do You Make Money When You Share Your Photos?

By James Duarte

Digital photography has changed the way people take and share photos: As digital cameras have become increasingly popular so to has online photo sharing.

Photo uploading is an easy way to save space on your computer hard drive and share your photos worldwide (you can share a single photo or complete albums with other in minutes). Besides, it's a very good alternative to have a backup of your material.

Many photo sharing sites (also called as file hosting sites) have different interesting features and are free to use (for you and your visitors). What you have to know when uploading to free sites is that you are leaving money at the table. Yes, each time that you upload and share your photos, others are making money.

Getting Paid For Your Photos

Did you know that you can earn some money by selling your best pictures online?.
As you read, you can get paid taking photos and you don't have to be a professional: you can get paid for sharing images or photos with your friends, turning your camera into a cash machine.

There are different ways to make money with your camera (with some of them you can get paid up to $50 per photo) and you don't need to be an expert or have a great camera. All you need to know is some tips and tricks that will let you make more money with this, in less time.

From now on, you can create your digital photo albums online, share your photos and get paid.

You can learn more about How to Make Money With Photos at my Squidoo Lens.

Photowalk - How to Avoid the 5 Biggest Mistakes

Paulo Jordao Platinum Quality Author

You might know that Photowalk is the act of walking with a camera for the main purpose of taking pictures of things that you may find interesting, and that people all over the world are organizing Photowalks with the main goal of getting PHOTOGRAPHERS (professionals, amateurs, enthusiasts, with big or small cameras) together to share their experiences.

Now, let's talk about how to avoid the 5 biggest mistakes when you are going to a Photowalk.

1- Good Information
Once you find a Photowalk that is going to happen in your area, the first thing you need to do is to get in contact with the person that is organizing the Photowalk (leader) and get as much information as possible about the event. Check out some details like; the date, the time, the location and the duration of the event. Check also what is the minimum number of people required or maximum number of people allowed and if you have to sign in online or you have to get to the location a little earlier at the day of the event.

2- Planning Ahead
Now that you know that you are going to a Photowalk, it is time to plan ahead about what equipment to bring; camera, flash, bag, etc. You can also ask the Photowalk Leader for some good advice.

3- Checking the List Twice
At the day of the Photowalk, don't forget to go over your list checking all your equipment, including some extra batteries and etc.

4- Less is Better
Always remember that you are going to be walking for one or two hours. If you are a Professional Photographer and you are shooting an important event, it might be necessary you to bring your whole collection of cameras, lenses, filters, flashes, tripods, remotes and etc. But if you are going to a Photowalk and you just want to have some good time with other Photographers and other people that love photography as much as you do, I would recommend you to bring only the essential;
- 1 camera
- 1 or 2 lenses
- 1 Flash
- Few extra batteries (for camera and flash)
- Camera bag

5- Last Few Details
Because most of the Photowalks are done outside, and because we prefer to start it around 9:00 am or 5:00 pm, I always ask people from my group to bring some extra few items;
- Hat
- Sunscreen
- Water Bottle
- Snack
- etc

Going to a Photowalk will help you improving your photography skills, but remember that you are also there to make some extra friends and enjoy the experience. Try to share your experience and feelings with other members of your group. It is very common that after the Photowalk everybody gets together in a bar or restaurant around the area so they can relax, have a good time and share their experiences.

Don't forget to post your pictures on the "Group's Website" (Check the website address with your Group Leader), and Good Luck.

Come to visit this Top International Photographer's Webpage to check some Photography Samples and some Package Prices.

Or visit my BLOG at http://www.paulopics.com/blog to learn more about Photography and Photowalk.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Selling Photos Online - How to Be Successful


Mohamed Alshamsi

Selling photos online is becoming increasingly popular. Thousands of people are desperately trying to find ways to make money on the internet and selling photos online happens to be one of them. Many people have tried and failed and for many reasons, from not knowing to which site to sell to, to taking below average pictures that get rejected by the websites. If you happen to be one of these people, do not let that discourage you, for there are many people who have had great success selling photos online.

One of the main reasons people fail at selling photos online, is because people actually try to sell photos that were taken by phones with cameras. The quality of these pictures is just extremely weak compared to an average camera, or the far greater digital SLR camera. Another reason why people fail is because they are clueless; they do not know what kind of pictures sell well.

Most people who are successful at selling their photos usually takes photos of amazing landscapes, like when the sun is setting or the stars at night, and believe me, anyone even you can take these kind of photos with ease. There are many sites you can upload pictures to, but you should look for sites that have a high number of visitors and an acceptable sales rate, for example -istockphotos .com is a great site-

In the end selling photos online is actually way easier than it looks, you just need to have a decent camera, and know how to use it and you'll be making hundreds of dollars every month easily.

Secret guide on how to make THOUSANDS of dollars selling photos online every month on autopilot at http://www.getpaidtosellphotos.blogspot.com

The Online Free Answer to PhotoShop


Stan Pontiere Platinum Quality Author

I love photography. I sold my first photo to a newspaper way back in 1958. You would expect that I am kind of an old style photographer. Well, I am but I have also embraced the new age of the digital camera with a passion. I am a strong believer in the old axe that the picture should be created in the camera and not in the darkroom (oops-on the computer). When you take a photo, you should be aware of lighting, composition, depth of field, etc. As a result, I have always believed that you create the art in the camera and not in post-processing.

However, I have a full version of the famous professional PhotoShop. Sometimes, it is absolutely necessary to do some post processing and PhotoShop is the very best. It does however, have some drawbacks. First it has an extremely steep learning curve. You are not going to learn everything that is has to offer in a get started quick guide. You will spend weeks or even months learning all of the advanced techniques of this system. Even then, you are probably not using all that it has to offer.

Secondly, it ain't cheap baby. Unless you are a full-time professional photographer or a really rabid advanced amateur, it is simply not worth the expense. I am not sure what the latest version currently costs but, I remember that when I bought in, I spent about eight hundred dollars. You know, the worst part of it is that I almost never use it. It just sits on my computer hard-drive and collects digital.

At the time that I purchased PhotoShop, there were really no reasonable alternatives. I had a shoot that needed PhotoShop so I spent the big bucks. What a waste.

What really hurts, is that now there is a free photo-editing site on the web that does nearly everything that Photoshop does and you can use it for free and for most options, you don't even have to register. There are a few options that require you to register to use these options but, registration is completely free.

I am not saying that it totally replaces PhotoShop but, it does all the photo-editing that I ever need to do and as an added benefit, it has a really simple user interface that does not require a steep learning curve. You can literally upload your photo to the site, make all of the alterations that you want, download the final product and be done with it in just a few minutes.

As a professional or an advanced amateur, you may want or need the advanced options that PhotoShop offers but, for the rest of us go online and try Picnik. I think that you will be thrilled.

To start using Picnik, just fire up your computer and go to to their homepage at Picnik.com

I hope that you find this tip helpful. I know that it has certainly helped me. Now stop reading and get out there and create some photographic magic. Digital Photography is the art form of the 21st century.

Stan Pontiere has been an avid photographer since childhood. Having worked for the likes of the Associated Press and The New York Times and an instructor of photography at a college back east, I have enjoyed the transition from film to digital photography.

For more information on digital photography, please visit: http://digitalphoto.net46.net

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Edit Digital Photos - Learn How To Produce A Digital Masterpiece

David M Peters


After you've followed every possible instruction that you have found on the internet, and spent a fortune on the latest, state-of-the-art camera, you still find yourself dissatisfied with the results. You think that there could be plenty of ways your photograph could have looked a lot better, but don't know how to achieve it with your camera. What do you do? It is the answer to this very question that innumerable photographers, like you have looked for and found by simply editing their digital photographs. Today, this art has flourished to the point that there is barely a single photographer around the world who hasn't edited his photographs before using them. Although the effects seem to state quite the contrary, editing your photographs is a relatively simple task, once you've chosen the right software and explored all its possibilities.

Editing software programs have now been developed to accommodate the needs of users from almost every walk of life. Whether you are a novice who just wants a few slight retouches on his vacation snaps, or a seasoned professional who needs that cutting edge over his competition, there's almost nothing you can think of that editing software won't allow you to do. To start with, once you've selected the picture you want to work on, you can then upload it to your desktop, or laptop, wherever you're software's installed. At this point, don't forget to save a backup of your original, as you may want to revert back to the picture you first started with.

For photographs which feature people, a common problem is the red-eye effect. This may seem to completely ruin your photograph, but to your editing software, this is one of the most basic problems, which can be resolved in a jiffy. If your image is tilted at a peculiar angle, you can literally set things straight, by rotating, either the entire image, or even a part of it, for an even more whimsical effect. One of the key elements of a good photograph is to avoid cluttering your frame. This means that you need to watch out against having too many things in your photograph which actually draw attention away from the subject. Here, you can crop off the sides, which will also make the final photograph look a lot more professional. You can use this tool when your subject is right in the center of the image but is overshadowed by a number of not-so-important elements squeezed in around it.

Experimenting with color is one of the most flexible tools editing software contains. If you aren't too happy with the color of a particular part of your image, you can simply swap it for another. Or even better, tint the entire image with a particular color to change the very feel of the photograph. You can revive the antiquated look with a sepia tone, or even strip your image off all color! You can even add a 'feel' to your picture by accentuating certain elements with a tinge of heat or a swath of blue to recreate a bitter chill.

To augment the focus on the subject of your photograph, you can also blur out the images behind it. This will automatically make your subject stand out while the background is enveloped in a hazy mist. You can also sharpen the key points of your image to create an ever sharper contrast. However, this tool is not too much help if you want to sharpen an out-of-focus image no matter how advanced the software. The best results can be achieved by highlighting specific parts of the image, while leaving the rest untouched.

You can also slice your image into parts, which can then form individual images by themselves, or a part of a creative collage. Recent versions of editing software make use of a revolutionary concept called layering. Here, the software will divide your image into layers for you to work on, so that you can add effects to just one part of the photograph while leaving the others just as they are. For a more interesting alternative, you can also use different effects for different layers and create breathtaking images. The best part about this tool is that you can rework the same image with different combinations of effects and have the same photograph speak an array of languages.

While buying your editing software, you first need to take into account the extent to which you're going to use it. If it's just a leisurely pursuit you want to indulge in, it is a lot more advisable that you stick to the basic versions that you can either download for free online or purchase at pretty reasonable rates. Professional versions like Adobe Photoshop or Corel Painter will cost you a lot more, for features that you may never use. Many basic versions like Google Picasa or paint.net offer you all the basic options like image cropping, rotation and red-eye reduction. For the more determined enthusiast, to find the perfect software that's compatible with your set of requirements, it is advisable that you do your homework on the internet before you make your choice. Now that you know what it takes to edit your photographs to create one-of-a-kind effects, don't hold back the next time you have a picture to use. Make the most of your imagination and have the software translate your thoughts into deeds. The combination, once achieved, will be nothing short of magic!

Want to find out more about Editing Digital Photographs? Don't trust anybody's advice until you have read This Free Report

Three Killer Digital Photography Tips

Al Sanez Platinum Quality Author

When taking photography, it can be hard to capture that perfect shot. Experts will tell you to practice, practice and practice some more. But what they really should do is give some solid advice as to what you should be practicing. This article will give you three digital photography tips that you can practice and start seeing results fast.

Tip Number One:

The first tip is pretty easy. Keep it simple. That's all.

What I mean by this is that you should try to keep your photo as simple as you can. Now, when you master simplicity then you can make more complex shots, however, try to keep it simple right now. To keep it simple here are some guidelines

-Get closer to the subject you're photographing. This will make the subject more pronounced and stand out more. It will also make for less clutter as the subject will take up more of the frame

-Get Down Low and Shoot up. This will make the shot simpler since you won't have all that clutter behind the subject and only the sky.

-Get Higher and shoot down. This will make it so the background is the ground and not the cluttered background that would usually be there

-Use a shallow depth of field.

Tip Number Two:

The second tip is a little more detailed. Basically, keep everything that isn't of importance and minimize or remove it. For example, if you photograph a subject that is green and there are bright red objects of unimportance around this subject. Those red objects are of no importance and are distracting the viewer from the true subject. Get rid of those red objects, unsaturated them in an editing program, do something so that the picture isn't so complex and confusing.

Tip Number Three:

Have a solid concept you want and stick with it throughout. Have you ever written a paper and been criticized that it goes everywhere? The same can happen when taking pictures. You want your picture to be focused on primarily one theme. For example, the theme could be peace. You could have a picture of a couple at a beach enjoying a drink. Now, if there's a homeless man in the background that's going to be distracting from the main theme of peace.

Al Sanez has a Free Photo course that teaches beginners digital photography tips. He also has another free program on how to Sell Pictures Online

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Make Money With Photography

With the advent of digital cameras which are now simpler to use and much cheaper, people are getting into the Photography hobby or just enjoy taking photographs. Would it be a very good idea to make money out of those photos that lie around on your computer's hard drives?

Basically, anyone with a camera can do it. Anyone can sell their photos online with just the right tools and the right services. There are a lot of agencies that buy photos on the Internet and a lot of resources to get you started in this business.

You can do this right at home, anytime you see it perfect. This is a good business for stay at home moms. All you need is a camera, your computer and the internet to get started. You can take pictures of anything and everything that you see.

Aside from selling them online through agencies you may also set up your own photo store front or a photo blog to display your works. Make sure to include your contact details so that those who wish to buy your photos would be able to contact you.

I have been researching the photo sites and I discovered that most of the pictures that sell are pictures of people doing something, like an activity showing their daily lives or what they do for a living. These are photos that show human relationships and emotions. So start taking photos of this too and you'll see the interest in your photographs rise.

Ellaine Murillo

I have been reading a couple of eBooks lately and found this one to be very interesting Easy Photography Business - Digital Camera - Make Money! You can earn $200+ by just taking photos of boats, cars, trucks, real estate etc. in your local area. You just need your computer, your internet connection and your camera to make money with photography.

You don't need to be an expert in this field but if you wish to further enhance your skills in taking photos then you may want to check out this eBook that I also have recently read. Learn Digital Photography Now is an eBook written for the novice with simple and easy to understand terms. Try it out and be amazed at the results. Even if you are just out to please your friends and loved ones with your interesting photos or you are serious in making money out of this, Learn Digital Photography Now is right eBook for you.

With these tips I'm sure you're on your way to taking your photos to the next level and making money with your photography.

How To Use A Camera -Digital Photography Tips

Al Sanez

Are you struggling to know how to use a camera? Are you confusing and frustrated with all the buttons on your camera? This article will attempt to demystify that camera of yours.

Probably the easiest thing you can do to learn how to operate your camera is to open up the camera manual that your camera came with. After you open it you really want to read it a few times and have a highlighter with you to underline important things you want to know.

Every camera is different and has different menus and settings .However, all cameras have a few common things.

Shutter Speed

All cameras have a shutter speed. Most automatic cameras even let you adjust this a good amount. Which is great since the shutter really lets you capture motion or action shots better. The shutter controls how long the light is let in to your camera. A long shutter would be 1/30 and a short one would be 1/500. Longer speeds make motion blurred like cars on the freeway at night turning into streaks of lights. A fast speed makes motion freeze. If you take a picture of a person jumping off a building with a fast shutter speed they will freeze in mid air in your photo. No blurriness will be evident.

Aperture Setting

The aperture in your camera controls the amount of light that is let in by adjusting the iris. The iris is just like our eyes. It enlarges in dark areas to let more light in and contracts when really bright. When you're in a sunny place a good aperture to use is something like f16. When you're in the shade a good aperture is something like f/5.6.

Al Sanez has a Free Photo course that teaches beginners digital photography tips. He also has another free program on how to Sell Pictures Online

Digital Camera Tips For Choosing the Best Camera

Fabian Toulouse

Digital cameras have been around a long time now, but there are still some diehard 35mm fans out there who have resisted the switch. While 35mm is still perfectly acceptable, it is hard to argue with some of the advantages of digital. Digital cameras allow you to immediately review the pictures you capture, and with the software programs available on most computers, the possibilities for correction and digital manipulation of photographs is practically limitless. There is a lot of confounding information, however, about which digitals are best.

When thinking about a digital camera, you have to be up front with yourself about how you will be using the camera. If you are a professional or a keen photographer, you definitely want to go with Digital Single Lens Reflexes (DSLR). If you currently own a 35mm SLR you will be able to make the switch quite smoothly, and you will probably even be able to use your current lenses with a digital camera body.

The advantages of DSLR include lens interchangeability, high speed facility to photograph sports and other fast action, and a viewfinder that is through the lens. If, however, none of these things matter very much to you, and you just want a simple camera to carry around in your pocket on vacation or at family get-togethers, then what is normally called a "point-and-shoot" will probably satisfy your needs. Be warned. though, that a point and shoot camera with an electronic viewfinder is your best bet. Those with optical viewfinders are frustrating at times in that it is hard to tell exactly what you are photographing, and if you are in bright light the glare will make it hard to see the viewfinder at all!

No matter which kind you choose, going digital is smart. You can take all the pictures you want, dumping any rejects to make room for more, and you can see that same instant what kind of shots you are getting!

Of course, you also have some digital fans who are ready to invest in a newer or more sophisticated digital, but are having a hard time choosing the perfect model for their needs. When it comes to obtaining a new camera, then, it seems most everybody could use a few digital camera tips.

F. Toulouse

http://www.nyip.com/

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

10 Quick Beginning Digital SLR Camera Photography Tips

Lonnie Kunkel
Here are some guidelines for better pictures using a digital SLR camera:

Simplicity - Remove any clutter from the scene you are shooting. Zoom in to capture the part you want to emphasize.

Rule of thirds - You will find this rule mentioned a lot and it's a great way to capture a moving object. Just imagine a tic-tac-toe frame and capture the subject from one of the two sides.

Shapes and lines - Move five to ten feet away to the side to capture a straight line at an angle.

Vantage point - Shoot a picture at a lower vantage point. Increasing the height away from the object can reduce its significance.

Balance - However, unbalanced or asymmetrical objects are often more visually stimulating than balanced objects.

Framing - Use the frames of windows to capture an outdoor scene. Use doors and walls of a building to capture a walking person.

Indoor photographs - Natural lighting can produce excellent candid shots instead of the flash, but be sure to use a tripod.

Camera adjustments - The aperture allows light to enter. You must learn how to adjust this properly and appropriately so that images will not appear as either very bright or very dim.

Lowering the shutter speed allows the image to be more exposed to light. You must learn the proper length of exposure so that images will not appear as blurry.

ISO speeds - Digital cameras have ISO speeds ranging from 100 to 800. The higher the ISO, the higher the camera's sensitivity to light's exposure. Be sure to master using this element along with the camera's aperture and shutter speeds.

Lens/Filters - Just about all digital SLR cameras allow you attache different lenses.

Lenses can be categorized as follows:

a. A macro lens allows you to get closer to objects like insects and flowers

b. A wide angle lens is used for capturing landmarks, and large and wide sceneries

c. A telephoto lens allows longer zooms that let you get close to objects that are far away, like birds in trees.

Filters can be used to:

a. soften the effect of the image

b. provide blurring on the edges for portraits that have sensitive moods

c. add light flares for the image to be more dramatic

d. to reduce glare so that pictures appear more saturated, crisp, and vivid.

Once you have understood and mastered the important points on digital photography and capturing pictures, you will soon see that it is easy to capture great images with even the simplest of cameras.

Lonnie Kunkel is a photographer and a graphic/web designer

You can discover more beginning photography tips at his site http://www.fisheyezen.com