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How can I Use Digital Cameras to Save the Planet?

2007-04-20T16:24:00.000-05:00

By Mike Singh

The issue of hazardous waste receives less attention than other environmental threats, with over 80,000 chemicals now in existence - not counting the additional 1,500 new chemicals developed on a yearly basis, with many being introduced into the industry fields. There seems to be insufficient data demonstrating the effects of every chemical out there, but what data is available shows that human health and the environment is in trouble.

The good news is, of all the environmental threats, the hazardous waste issue has the most successful solutions available to it. Scientists state that hazardous waste could be reduced about 1/3 by using the available technology and methods already present, such as using the more recently developed digital cameras.

This is because as more and more people moved away from conventional cameras for easier photography with higher quality results, they were unwittingly reducing the use of chemicals that were earlier being used to process the film. These chemicals, especially the developer and fixer solutions, had become serious environment hazards.

The United States laws have required that the "spent chemicals" should be made inert before they were disposed off in landfills. But more often than not, most film processing centers released the chemicals into the drain because of high expenditure involved in treating them before discharge. This was especially true of the smaller and locally owned companies, along with individual photographers, not only in the US but across the world.

But they were not the only ones who broke the laws, as the cruise ships in the international waters did even more damage. Routinely, developed pictures that were shot by the ship's passengers had their the film-processing chemicals dumped 'en route into the open ocean, since no restrictive laws applied to international waters. This plays a major part why our oceans and green reefs are dying at a rate faster than the rain forests.

Due to the development of the digital camera, incidents such as the environmental issues on cruise ships are not occurring as often. The same can be said of ponds and rivers that used to be polluted with chemicals flowing out of film processing labs, incidentally which still flow out of such labs in the third world.

Very few people take prints of the photographs today with the digital camera and have them processed in a lab, as most transfer the images into computers electronically and then print them out or send them via email. Also, used cartridges are usually recycled or dumped into landfills, very rarely finding they're way into major water bodies.

Similarly, the scale of impact is very low when it comes to rechargeable batteries yet still there in regard to alkaline batteries. This is because most of the batteries are rechargeable and no consumer disposes them till they are full exhausted. This means that an alkaline battery may continue to be used for weeks depending on the amount of camera usage.

Also, being a solid waste it is more likely to end up in landfills than in water bodies, causing more damage to the grassland or dirt in the area. An alternative to alkaline batteries for environmental safety is the NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) battery or the Li-Ion (Lithium Ion) batteries as they are environmentally friendly. So, if you are a nature lover dump your conventional camera and get a digital camera, with safer batteries.

Mike Singh writes for the the www.digicamland.org site where you'll find more articles on digital cameras.

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Insensitive Photos

2007-04-20T16:20:00.001-05:00

By Rohn Engh

As an editorial stock photographer you are not coached or art-directed by someone else, as is the case in commercial photography. You make the decisions. As an editorial stock photographer your mission is to produce images of the world, as you see it. This is the same license given to any artist. If you are constrained as an artist, then you are influenced, and if you are influenced, your directions are coming from someone other than you. If this be the case, then the photograph is not really your artistry.

Society would prefer that artists produce material that is 'politically correct,' or to put it another way, to not produce material that is considered insensitive to local, regional, or national mores.

Within our own industry, critics of your editorial stock photography will often wave the banner of "ethics," claiming that you have overstepped certain boundaries in photographing wildlife, or natural objects. Or that you’re intruding into the private lives of individuals or government officials.

What does “ethics” have to do with art? Or don’t you consider yourself an artist? If you think of yourself as an engineer, or a technician, maybe ethics plays a role.

What society calls unethical today, can change tomorrow. Not unlike the fashion industry, or our own industry.

For example, a couple of decades ago, photographers were wringing their hands over the possibility that digital photography would disrupt the 'ethical purity' of a photograph by allowing the manipulation of the contents to create an altered image from the original. Today, the voices of protest have subsided and society accepts a digitized image.

This seems to be a cultural question. I don’t think that before digitizing, or before film for that matter, artists ever thought of “ethics” in their art. Before film and digits, there were sketches, oils, pastels, watercolors, engravings, lithographs -- and no one ever asked the artist if he or she were being 'ethical' by manipulating a scene to change it or improve it.

Photography, in my opinion, was never meant to be a mechanical art where the medium was in control, not the photographer. Editorial stock photography allows you to go beyond the mere 'taking' of a picture. It allows you to make a picture - and that's being an artist.

Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International, the stock photography online meeting place, and publisher of PhotoStockNotes. He is also the author of Sell & Resell Your Photos: Learn How to Sell Your Pictures Worldwide.

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Share Your Digital Photographs With These Two Types of Digital Photo Printing Services

2007-04-20T14:10:00.000-05:00

By Steve Nash

Aren't digital cameras great? It's not only easier than ever to take photos (of whatever interests you), it's now easy to get them printed too without worrying about the prints being blurred or too dark. With digital cameras, or camera mobile phones, you just get to print the best photos.

The thing is, though, how many of us actually print our digital photos? How many of us share our images with our family and friends, without making them squint at a tiny LCD screen?

Digital photos should not just stay on your digital camera, iPod, or camera mobile phone.

After all, you've had the adventure holiday of a lifetime; you've taken photos of the 'funny incident' at the weekend; you've snapped the children or grand-children (that keep growing every day) -- it's not enough to capture the moment, it's time to share your digital memories with everyone that matters to you.

Nor should your best digital photos simply be printed on cheap paper via a cheap personal printer.

There is a much better way to print your digital photographs, a more personal way to share. These include using digital photo printing services that let you create the following:

Digital Photobooks
Prints
Calendars
Cards
Canvas Prints
T-Shirts & Clothes
Christmas Cards

All of these items can include your digital photographs.

Let's look at two of the most popular ways of printing digital photographs, below.

Print Your Digital Photos Online

Use an online digital photo print service and have your snaps printed professionally on gloss or matt photo paper from as little as pennies per print. You can get your glossy prints delivered directly to family and friends, too (including those people you know who might not have a computer or access to the internet).

You can even frame your prints to give as presents or to keep for yourself.

Many services warn you if your digital image will be cropped because of the print size you've selected, or if your photo is of too small a resolution to print at a good quality.

There are many websites that offer a digital photo print service online, some offer a pre-pay method of payment based on credits, whilst others let you print your first twenty photos free and charge after that.

Note: when digital photos are processed on real photo paper the colours remain stable for many years, unlike cheaper inkjet or laser prints which may fade quite quickly.

Create a Digital Photo Book

Digital photobooks are essentially a photo album; the only difference being that the photographs are printed directly on to the pages of the book. This means that your digital photo album looks very professional indeed.

Even better, you can have your digital photos printed to any size within the book, to vary the layout. And you can add personal captions to each photo.

To create a photobook, you either download software onto your computer and design the photobook there, or you use an online service to do exactly the same. Some services are better than others, for sure, but most let you create professional looking photo albums.

So you would either download the software, or upload your photos to the website, depending on what type of service you were using. Then you simply follow the straight-forward instructions. Once you're happy just place your order, and your photobook will arrive several days later.

You can, of course, simply print your digital photos onto paper or frame them, but creating a photobook is just so much better. In fact, seeing a photo book for the first time, with your very own photos in them, is definitely a "wow!" moment.

Whether you just take digital snaps, or consider yourself to be a serious amateur (or professional) digital photographer, it's more fun if you share your photos, with the people that matter to you, as professionally as possible.

Nowadays, there are many ways to print and share your digital photos to create long-lasting memories and simply no excuses to just store your photos electronically. So share your photos with the world, or at least with everyone in the world who's important to you!

Steve M Nash is owner of Photos4.co.uk, an impartial guide to UK digital photo print services. Visit the site for recommended services, whether you want to print digital photographs, create photobooks or calendars, or make personalized gifts like mousepads.

Fotodirt: "How To" Dirt for Photoheads!

Pet Photography

2007-04-20T13:59:00.001-05:00

By TJ Tierney

An area of photography that is becoming extremely popular, pet photography makes for a particularly tough challenge to any newcomer to photography, but if mastered successfully will be very rewarding for you and your customers.

Most families own some form of a pet and the techniques that you will use will be different with each pet you come across. Unlike humans, pets are not going to pose for you, you can’t give them instructions and they won’t sit in a studio posing in front of the camera. So how do you get successful pet photography portraits?

Pets are tricky subjects for any photographer to deal with - a pet photographer requires everlasting patience and must be capable of reacting quickly when the pet does something interesting. Try to think of unusual ways to photograph your pet. With a large pet, shoot in close and use a wide angle lens to emphasise the animal’s large size.

Try working at eye level to the pet, this may mean that you’ll have to get on the ground, and if you do, be careful of the background. Avoid distraction that will take from the pet portrait.

If you are shooting pet birds, take them out of the cage. Make sure that you close all the windows and doors before the shoot. Remove the perch from the cage and place near a window. This is the normal sitting place for the bird and the natural light from the window will give your image some extra mood. Use a macro lens to get in real close and fill the frame on your camera.

Dogs are the easiest pet to photograph. Always keep the owner of the pet on hand. Dogs will take commands from the owner and make your job a lot easier.

Bait may be used in controlling some pets. A small ball can be handy if you are photographing kittens. Placing food in a garden will also help in getting a pet to stay still. Young pets won’t stay still for two long so you must react quickly. Garden pets can also be easy to photograph. Rabbits will laze around the garden nibbling on grass and may make for an interesting image.

Shoot the pet in the hands of the owner or in the hands of children. This will create extra sales.

Pet photography can be a very profitable market if done correctly. Images of pets are used all over the world in magazines and other photography publications. After taking a photograph of a pet ask the owner if they will sign a release form that allows you to sell the pet image. Make sure that you carry these release forms at all times. While this may not be needed - it may save you hassle in the future when selling the pet photograph.

TJ Tierney is an award winning Irish Landscape photographer. For more tips you can visit his photography site. To view his images, visit his online gallery of pictures of Ireland or see his travel site.

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Starting a Photography Business Will be Easier With These 30 Free Tips (part 2 of 3)

2007-04-20T13:50:00.000-05:00

By Roy Barker

Is storage and treatment of photographs crucial in building photography business?

12. Never adopt laxity while handling or archiving photographs. You will regret it later. Storage and access efficiency will either improve or frustrate your working environment. Often older photos become more valuable with time.

How can be photographs be preserved easily apart from the conventional method?

13. Today’s cameras are highly versatile and will allow downloads and transfers from highly surprising devices including your mobile but pictures can also be stored on a CD’s, USB’s and DVD’s too.

Choosing a Camera

14. Stick to w ell known brand. The level of mega pixel offered and quality of the zooming facility must be looked into carefully. I have my favorites but there are many equally as good as mine.

15. Most of the cameras are compatible with computers and printers and moreover, because we now use memory sticks, we are truly free to operate unencumbered.

What kind of a website does a person need to have?

16. Your collection of photographs must be properly classified under different categories. Visual appearance of your website will do wonders for your business so take consider setting up one with semi automation where the maintenance and hard work is done for you like photostockplus.

17. Remember to constantly upgrade and maintain your website so that each time people come across your website, they will find fine something new and interesting.

Copyright of your photographs

18. Copyright is the right protects the person who owns or who took the photographs. A wise exercise if you are looking to use some stock houses for commercial purposes.

Why is a business card helpful?

19. In every business, visiting cards are helpful. It is extremely useful in for people to contact you after your first meeting. It must contain all your contact details. If you’re a photographer, a clever impressive graphic or a picture of yourself with your equipment is best. Your contact number or email must be easy to read. I have seen cards that have large names and pictures and the phone numbers are so small they are difficult to read. Ridiculous! Make your phone number the largest thing on the card – that’s what most people will use it for.

Which things must be kept in mind while you plan to build a wedding photography business?

20. Wedding Photography is almost another art unto itself. There are many things to remember for a truly successful wedding shoot. I have prepared another article to deal with this in more detail and it’s all about --Wedding Photography. --

Roy Barker is the publisher of Income from Photography which is dedicated to coaching you on how to start your own photography business, placing a very strong emphasis on your profitability issues and guidelines.

Fotodirt: "How To" Dirt for Photoheads!

Starting a Photography Business Will be Easier With These 30 Free Tips (part 1 of 3)

2007-03-13T19:04:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Roy Barker

When you’re a keen photographer and you have the desire to spend your working life doing something you enjoy such as photography, it would be a shame if you didn’t pursue it further wouldn’t it? You really don’t have to join an institution or pay thousands of dollars to get started either. You simply need the passion to learn and persist. Most great photographers who rely on their trade to survive don’t even know they have these traits because they love what they do and they simply can’t stop.

It’s true that there is wealth to be made in photography and I’m not going to down play that or make a pitch to the opposite because in every case, it’s been up to the individual. Meaning - it depends on what mode of photography they choose, how much time they put into the business, do they have a commercial bent, are they more artistic than usual etc. All these points come into play when success in a photography business or studio is questioned.

I don’t want to create any false hopes by that last paragraph because success will require some hard work, tolerance and patience. These next thirty tips should help you along the way. There is more detail available on this subject matter at the link at the bottom of this page.

Where can I obtain information on building a photography business?

1. Always do some extensive research before starting out a career with your own photography business so that you understand the pros and cons involved. Some ideas include subscribing to a good magazine related to the photographic industry such as Professional Photographer, Camera Arts and Photo District News. Besides that, the internet is the biggest source of information and can provide you with a plethora of career opportunities or even more information on starting a photography business.

At which level do you want to start your photography business?

2. This is the trickiest question that a person interested in starting a business encounters. It is very important to decide what kind of photography business you want so that the relevant requirements and (sometimes) finance can be muscled up.

When is the best time to start a fully-fledged photography business?

3. After deciding on what you need and any extra necessary equipment that is needed to set up the basic infrastructure, you will need to consider carefully your main tool – the camera, be it digital or film. You must also consider carefully a reliable, high-quality PC and good relevant software to manipulate your photographs with special effects. If the business is being undertaken on a massive scale then maybe a developing lab needs to be planned and established.

What kind of venues will yield real income to your business?

4. A newly established business in photography requires an assured location or a beat (working locally), as in journalism. For instance, wedding photography, sports related photography or developmental photography. Once established, business can also be diversified into many more fields.

Building a photography portfolio.

5. It is always important to compile a good portfolio as far as photography is concerned. A portfolio must contain a collection of pertinent photographic work that you believe to be impressive. Make sure that photographs are unusual in character and are from diverse fields. Your portfolio must be able to impress the client in the very first meeting.

6. Don’t keep all the photographs that you have in your possession. Only keep your best work in the folder so that you don’t embarrass yourself or find yourself having to explain photographs that aren’t relevant.

7. Showcase spontaneous photos that you believe are of good quality. You’d be surprised how many people respond favorably to peoples expressions when they are good shots.

Basic apparatus required

8. A canvas background of at minimum 7-9 foot and the background colors should be either navy or white as minimum requirements to start with; a well-branded studio lights system such as that of Norman & Speedtron; certified picture manipulation software such as Photoshop, Corel Paint Shop, etc.

Is there a need for establishing a makeup studio as part of your photo studio?

9. Makeup and photography often go hand in hand. Wherever makeup is involved it is often referred to as trick photography because makeup is capable of completely transforming an individual’s personality, and sometimes relevance to a product in the case of advertising photography.

What kind of photo-editing software available in the market?

10. Photo-editing software through which special effects and complete changes to a photo are possible and can also often save the need for a re shoot.

11. Some of the photo-editing software that are popular includes Photoshop CS; Photoshop Light room, iPhoto, i View Multimedia, MediaPro, ACDSee, Corel and Picasa.

NEXT: Part 2

Roy Barker is the publisher of Income from Photography which is dedicated to coaching you on how to start your own photography business, placing a very strong emphasis on your profitability issues and guidelines.

Fotodirt: "How To" Dirt for Photoheads!

10 Tips for Better Photography

2007-03-13T18:46:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Mike Singh

Once the purchase of a digital camera is made, the beginning steps have begun as a professional photographer. Correctly handling the camera is a great tool to begin learning. The images it sends out are pretty close to perfect, but it takes a little while to get to that point. Understanding how it runs, what steps need to be learned, how to shoot indoor and outdoor pictures, or just limiting ourselves to a point-and-click style of photography are all part of knowing what to do. To not understand any of this is doing great injustice to the camera, which is made for better use. To avoid not learning, or simply not knowing, how to take a picture - we need to follow ten top shooting tips.

1. Too many novice or amateur photographers rely entirely on photo-editing tools to digitally enhance the photograph. Do not depend on this - in the back of the mind will always be the thought, "if it does not turn out, I can always fix it with software". The pleasure of photography should begin with the way the picture is shot, along with its emotional connection, not the result of the digital manipulation with a half-done picture. There is nothing the matter with the photo-editing tools, only what we do with them to make our photos look good.

2. Underexposure lacks color quality, so it really should be avoided. What happens is the sensors fail to read the colors that form the image. However, if given a choice, several photographers choose underexposing above overexposure. This is because even if underexposed, the details of the photograph are still recorded. In addition, it can still go into an editing program over overexposed photographs.

3. Digital cameras use millions of assorted pixels to produce the final image, with each sensor designed to capture a certain tonal range. When we do not allow full light to fall on the sensor, we are doing a great injustice to the image. Most of the pixels are unable to capture the tonal range in their full sweep and brightness, which ends up lowering the picture quality. The choice of sensor size is equivalent to choosing between assortments of formats - 35mm, medium and large format cameras. There are many different sensor size options regarding depth of field, image noise, diffraction, cost and size/weight.

4. When focusing on a subject, there are three factors which affect the depth of field: focal length of the lens; distance from the camera to the subject; and the size of the aperture or setting of the f-stop. You must focus on the subject, and not on people or objects around the subject. The subject at a greater distance will have greater depth of field than one that is close-up. This will reduce the noise level in your photographs. Also, less worry needs to be given to being out of focus, bringing in clarity and sharpness to the image.

5. When a picture is overexposed, too much detail is too high in tonal range. Just as under exposure makes a picture dark and toneless, over exposure makes colors too rich giving the picture an artificial hue - causing highlight to lose their detail. Over exposures also blanks out light and dark effects, along with the tones that give an image a natural look causing everything to look gray with less saturation.

6. Exposure warning lights have a purpose - with the word "warning." We must learn to look and respect under exposure warning lights just like a red flashing light at an intersection. These are especially good for beginners who can change the exposure until the blinking areas disappear. Later, the user can start using their own insights in deciding the exposure levels.

7. The camera can take a great picture, but we as the photographer prepare before then. The best photographs are those whose parameters are decided by the human mind. No amount of automation can change this fact. We, too, should gradually move away from automated functions and start making our own combinations when it comes to exposure, color, noise etc. Only then will we find gradual, but unmistaken, improvement in the quality of photographs taken.

8. Thinking of the composition should be the focus before clicking the button. Composition is the art of focusing on the subject using frames, movement, lights etc. We can learn composition techniques either from a senior photographer or from a book. Then we should start practicing them with new techniques. We will find an automatic improvement in the quality of our photographs.

9. To constantly improve one's photography skills, take as many different pictures as you can - all the time. Take enough pictures that you can tell how they will turn through experience, fixing them in advance.

10. The last one tip is to think ahead, think what you want to shoot, think how it is to be shot, think about its exposure, color, noise - all about visualization. We must learn to critically examine each image that we shoot as if it were our last. Try and find out the weaknesses of the photograph. Shoot again to remove the weaknesses - until we are completely satisfied.

Check out http://www.digicamland.org/ for more articles on digital camera lens and digital camara.

Fotodirt: "How To" Dirt for Photoheads!

Still-Life Photography

2007-03-12T18:18:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By T.J. Tierney

Is still-life photography one of the least exciting areas of photography? This is up to each individual and each individual’s own personal interest, but still-life photography demands a great deal of care and imagination. The rewards for a good still-life photographer can be enormous.

A large percentage of the advertisement market uses still life photography images. A large portion of still-life images fall under the fine art photography class and could make a great extra source of income for an established photographer.

There are many ways to approach still-life photography - the best and most used by professional photographers is to spend days in a studio, arranging and rearranging the set up until they get it perfect. This is what it takes to create perfect still-life portraits. With practice and a great deal of patience you will find your own unique way.

Most objects can form part of a still-life portrait. Objects from around the house or in the garden will make excellent still-life subjects.

Still-life photography is a simple discipline of photography for beginners. The equipment you need is very basic and you can start off photographing a bowl of fruit or a flower. Most professional still-life photographers use a medium or large format camera, but you can get great still-life pictures using your 35mm camera.

A small studio can be assembled in a corner of a garage or bedroom, or on a fine calm day can be constructed outdoors. Some of the best still-life arrangements are quite simple to set up. The main rule to follow is to keep it simple. Placing too many objects in front of the camera will cluster the setting.

If you are interested in still-life photography try the following.

Set up your studio beside a window. First pick a simple background - a plain drape or lace makes a perfect background. Using a vase or bowl as the main subject can make for an attractive still-life image. Take some shots using the natural light from the window.

Take more pictures using low light - this can be morning or evening - place a reflector at the other side of the vase to soften the image and get rid of any harsh shadows.

Now compare the two sets of images. The difference between both images will be immense but tests like this will lead to creating a better eye and mastering the true art of still-life photography. The effort seems extreme but still-life photography requires a great deal of patience and practice. Trial and error will play an important part in developing a new skill.

TJ Tierney is an award winning Irish Landscape photographer. For more tips you can visit his photography site. To view his images visit his on-line gallery of pictures of Ireland or see his travel site.

Fotodirt: "How To" Dirt for Photoheads!

How to Take Photos that People Will Go Wild Over

2007-03-12T18:12:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Martin Hurley

One of the great things about life is that there are many incredible, amazing things all going on at the same time. From the littlest to the largest, there's immense pleasure to be had just observing, watching, or participating. That's why learning how to take photos the right way is a wise move.

Not only does this passion of life motivate many people to learn how to take photos, but many creative inclined individuals often find themselves eventually selling photos online. Whatever you choose to do, you'll have a unique way of doing it. And the wonderful thing is that there's a real enriching satisfaction to creating digital photography that you can discover over time.

Most everyone can learn how to take photos competently. Many people also end up spending thousands of dollars on photo courses, or high end digital equipment that doesn't get to be fully utilized. It lives on the shelf more often than not. Pictures don't take themselves. Great photography comes from the photographer who learns their craft well.

But for those who are more serious about how to take photos that impress, or just want to become a better photographer... or just wish to further their body of knowledge and expertise, let me introduce you to Digital Photography Secrets. This insightful digital photo book is everything the professionals know, but don’t want you to know about using your digital camera to take stunning photos.

What I like about Digital Photography Secrets is that it's kind of like having a professional photographer next to you as you shoot. You'll understand how important it is to not only know how to take photos, but to do it well. If your camera is a serious investment for you, then why not strive to be the best in your field, and use your talents to their fullest potential?

It's also great to be able to know how to take photos that other people can appreciate. This feeling is often hard to describe. If you look at digital photography you could see the medium allows lots of flexibility and holds great potential. And if you could read and understand a digital photo book that could really improve your photography, would this make good business sense?

Still, all things being equal, not everyone manages to create great pictures. Actually it's more difficult than it looks. Photographers often shoot high numbers of digital pictures to get one good picture. That's the beauty of digital photography. The question you need to ask yourself is... how badly do you want to improve your ability to take good photos?

Digital Photography Secrets covers a good, concise, practical range of information, written in simple terms without the complex jargon of some professional camera books. (By the way there is a photo jargon demystifier included as a bonus with this digital photo book.) It includes such things as how to look after your digital camera, how to take photos the smart way and 21+ outstanding foundation secrets for taking better photography.

What the author of Digital Photography Secrets has done is distill down the important aspects and secrets of good professional photography. As such this digital photo book doesn't get too technical, or philosophical. It's grounded in down to earth practicality, with how to take photos secrets that you can learn and adapt for your own photography business.

This appealing digital photo book speaks it as it is, without any fluff. So often with photography you need to know how to take photos that will look right, especially capturing important moments, documenting events or shooting stock photos. A good example would be wedding photography when it helps to get it correct first time... that is, if you want to continue working in that field. :-)

Digital Photography Secrets covers the basics of digital photography too, which would be helpful as either a refresher course or basic how to take photos learning tool (if you're a digital photo newbie.) There's also some 'special insights' on using the right printer, removing noise from your digital photos, (great to know about this) preservation of photos, buying a photo cartridge kit, and more.

My favorite happens to be part of the bonus section, and is about using Flickr. What we're talking about is a very popular, online photo sharing site, and the author of this digital photo book has created some videos that will show you how best to use Flickr, upload and share your photos with others. After all, if you're going to learn how to take photos, why not do it well, and reach as many people as you possible can...

Martin Hurley is head honcho at hurleypix.com and an unconventional modern day artist, photographer and thinker. He helps people uncover their inner talents and passions... and make money from taking photos! Why not start selling your photos online? Visit now to get a free ebook, an amazing Thailand cloud photo, and sign up to my free ezine. Learn more about the How To Take Photos guide here.

Fotodirt: "How To" Dirt for Photoheads!

Basic Understanding of Your Digital Camera Flash

2007-03-12T18:07:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Ziv Haparnas

Many of us do not think twice about the usage of our digital camera’s flash assuming that the camera will use the flash automatically as needed. Flash however can and should be manually set in many scenarios resulting in high quality digital photos.

The most common usage of flash photography is when there is not enough ambient light for example when taking an indoor digital photo in a dark room. There are many other ways in which you can use your digital camera’s flash to get high quality digital photos. One such usage is fill-in flash.

Before setting your flash to manual mode and making more efficient usage of it you should know a bit more of the technology and history behind flash photography. Flash photography has been around for more than a century. During the early days of photography flash was implemented as a powder that was literally lit by either fire or electrical current. At that time flash photography was a risky business. Digital cameras today use a safe implementation by utilizing electronic flash tubes that are automatically synchronized with the camera’s shutter.

You have two options for using flash with your digital camera. The first option is using the digital camera internal flash. Practically all digital cameras have build-in flash units. Most cameras also allow the usage of an external flash unit. Such flash units can be either mechanically attached to the digital camera or they can be connected to the camera via a cable and mechanically positioned on a tripod or any other mechanism. They are synchronized and controlled by the digital camera. External flash units vary in price and features. They can have different maximum light energy that they can emit and different mechanical capabilities (tilting, skewing).

In automatic flash mode the camera sensors evaluate the amount of ambient light in the scene. The digital camera fires the flash if the amount of ambient light is not high enough. There are limitations to the cameras automatic sensors resulting in either firing the flash when it was not needed or vice versa.

In some scenarios the usage of flash can result in poor digital photos. For example when the object is too close to the digital camera the flash light will be too strong and will wash out the object. Another example is in scenarios where the flash creates unwanted shadows in the digital photo. Yet another example is exaggeration of details such as when shooting a digital photo of an older person the skin wrinkles and imperfections details can be overly detailed.

Digital camera’s flash units have a certain effective range. This is a limitation of how much light energy the flash unit can emit. Internal flash units usually have shorter range than external flash units. If the object in the photo is outside of the flash range – the flash will not be effective and the object will be dark. On the other hand if the object is too close to the flash unit or the flash unit emits too much energy the object will be washed out. If your object is outside of your flash unit effective range you should turn off the flash and use slow shutter photography preferably with a tripod or another stabilizing mechanism. If your flash units allows the setting of the light energy that will be fired (usually by setting the distance to the object) – make sure that it is set right to prevent washed out objects.

In some scenarios there will be enough ambient light to take a digital photo but without the usage of the flash the digital photo quality will be very poor. In such scenario if the camera is left on automatic flash mode it will not fire the flash. For example daytime photography with an object that is shadowed. If the object is wearing a hat it can create shades on the object’s face or when the object is lit from the side the object’s nose can create shades too. Putting the flash in manual fill-in mode will force the flash to fire. The flash will lit those shadowed areas and prevent the shades in the final digital photo. The object of course must be in effective flash range. Another example is an object that is lit from behind such as when taking a digital photo of an object against a sunset. Without a fill-in flash the photo will likely be just a dark silhouette of the object.

These were some basic concepts behind flash usage. There are many other advanced options for your digital camera flash. For example bounce flash can result in great digital photos – in that mode instead of pointing the flash directly at the object it is pointed to some reflecting surface like a wall or a special reflector. The result is more natural light and color rich digital photos.

Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information about photo album printing and photography in general on http://www.printrates.com/ - a site dedicated to photo printing.

Fotodirt: "How To" Dirt for Photoheads!

How to Become a Photographer with Little – or No – Competition

2007-03-12T18:04:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Rohn Engh

Before the turn of the century, photographers, like most other professionals, worked with a vertical market. That is, they put their ads in a trade magazine or the Yellow Pages, and based on their talent, marketing know-how, and luck, they conducted their business.

This made for extreme competition. Longtime pros were able to cling to their top position because they built a following based on their competence and expertise. Newcomers to photography found it difficult to surmount this unless they brought superb talent or an exceptional fresh approach to the marketplace.

Eventually the field of photography fragmented into targeted areas. The photographer who could photograph most anything for a client, the “generalist,” was no longer the top dog in the industry. Like in most other professions, photographers evolved to specializing; the trend was to develop an expertise in specific subject areas, such as aerial, sports, fashion, documentary, etc., and to go after a “niche.” With the arrival of the Internet, all of this has changed, especially in the field of stock photography. The changeover comes to light especially when you look at the market from the buyer’s approach.

In our field of stock photography, a buyer turns to an image or images to get a point across, whether it’s for an advertisement, brochure, or textbook. Since our thrust here at PhotoSource International is from an editorial standpoint, I’ll address editorial stock photography.

The arrival of search engines has brought sophisticated software that has been able to break down the former restrictions in the field and open it to any photographer with quality images.

At the same time, the publishing industry has become more and more specialized. Type any topic plus the word ‘publishing’ in a Google search, and you’ll find that a magazine, book publisher, website or other entity, exists for the sole purpose of supplying that interest area with information.

Here’s where every stock photographer can emerge from the “Yellow Pages” race and become an important resource to specific segments of the vast market for stock photography that has now emerged –thanks to the Internet.

A publisher in Albuquerque no longer consults the Yellow Pages, the local library, or a bevy of good ol’ boy favorites when producing an article on a certain way of harvesting desert cacti. She consults the Internet.

Why? Because that “just right” picture exists. The “Law of Probability” says that a local photographer might not have the picture. Surprise, surprise. She finds it on the Internet, through a search engine search. The photographer is not even a New Mexico resident, but a visiting tourist from Japan who has cacti as his specialization. Thanks to hi-res delivery of pictures, the publisher is able to meet her immediate deadline.

I hope it’s evident to you that as an independent stock photographer, you are part of the largest stock photo resource in the world. No, it’s not Getty, Corbis, or Jupiter – it’s the Internet. You are no longer competing against those major agencies – thanks to your silent partner -- the search engine.

Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International, the stock photography online meeting place, and publisher of PhotoStockNotes. He is also the author of Sell & Resell Your Photos: Learn How to Sell Your Pictures Worldwide.

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All the Secrets Revealed Behind Pet Photography

2007-03-12T18:00:00.001-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Dane J. Stanton

So what is pet photography and what does it mean? Well pet photography first started when people decided that it would be a good idea to take a photo of their dog or cat. After that this hobby then boomed into a huge business and now people pay a lot of money to have someone take photos of their pets. This article will discuss everything there is to know about pet photography as well as giving you some valuable information so that you can go out there and take photos of your pets by yourself, instead of having to pay someone to do it for you.

The first thing you need to know is that pet photography is unlike any other form of photography in that the one having their photo taken is usually not all that willing to do so. So the first thing you have to learn is to how to keep the pet you are taking a photo of nice and still so you can get the best results.

You probably would've guessed already the best method you can use to control an animal so that you can take the best photos. That's right, treats! Make sure you have plenty of treats on hand so that when your cat or dog starts fidgeting, you can gets his or hers attention just by tempting them with a treat. This is in fact the best method and it will ensure that you have complete control over the pet having its photo taken.

The next thing you have to think after you have found a way to keep your pet still is to work out the type of setting you want in this picture. Now depending on the type of animal having its photo taken, the setting will vary a lot, therefore you have to make a good decision on what setting would best suit your current subject. Now for example if the subject is a cute puppy, you are going to want to create a setting that would increase the level of 'cuteness' in the photo. Therefore taking a photo in a serene environment, perhaps having the puppy jump around in a flower field would be a good idea, however this one gets used a lot.

Same if you have an animal that is known as having a fierce personality, you are going to want to create an environment that plays to this quality, so perhaps a setting with a fiery background would best suit this type of animal. How often have you seen a photo of a tiger with a background of flames and marveled at how impressive it looked. Just by using these simple tips, you will be able to create great looking photos and be well on your way to creating a successful pet photography career.

If you want to learn more about photography including free information, reviews and much more, or you want to join our free weekly newsletter then please visit - photography courses (Recommended) or for more free articles all about photography visit Photography Blog

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Landscape Photography for Sale: What's Your Dream?

2007-03-09T20:18:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Martin Hurley

Why sell your photos? In fact, why create a bunch of fascinating (and no doubt compelling) landscape photographs and offer these images to people you've never met? This is one question I asked myself many time in my earlier photo exploratory years.

We could perhaps look at this as an exchange of goods and services. I mean, you've used your time and materials to create photos of quality and if people want these photos for their own reasons, then it's ok to exchange money for them. It's ok and good to get paid for the time and effort you've put into creating something of beauty... something that someone else finds important... So relish, appreciate and treasure that transaction, when it happens for you.

Of course one of the more difficult things to do is actually market your landscape photography effectively. And yet while often it feels so right to create landscape photography (for simple reasons such as the beauty impresses us, the feeling we get from capturing a scene of marvel, the wonder of life and nature, and mostly you don't need to bother with a model release or lighting setups either), it can still be a struggle to sell these types of images.

But the great thing is that, there are photographers who are successful and who have managed to perfect the art of marketing their landscape photography the right way. They've done it many a time, they still do it, and I'm sure they've automated the process of doing it (sales of their landscape photo pics) so that it just happens constantly and automatically for them.

They just focus their time on shooting new landscapes, travel to exotic and unusual wilderness locations, and perhaps marketing themselves or expanding their photo business... In fact if you're creatively inclined, nothing could be better than being able to shoot urban or landscape (name your style) photography, anywhere you choose and anytime you want.

There's a real joy in achieving this -- it surely must be one of the meanings of success in life. Actually the drive to reach this 'freedom to do anything we want in life, anytime, not limited by financial means' is surely one factor that pushes us to keep going, persevere, against all odds and obstacles as they come at us. And just think, the more difficult everything seems to be, sometimes can indicate how fantastic the taste of success and achievement will be... when it comes for you... down the track. :-)

In many ways, it's unfulfilling, for want of a better word, to be creatively inclined and live with ideas that don't get fully realized, or not to further expand the creative ideas that you may have in your head. Creative types should express themselves in the way that feels best. For me, it's photography. It's such a simple, easy and most often instant way to capture a moment or feeling that's important, or a significant landscape or scene of delight.

Perhaps we very well under estimate the value and importance of photography, and we might even take for granted the incredible invention that photography is. Yet in this day and age we could hardly live without it.

So, if we can see that our life has significance and what we choose to do in life is important... it makes sense then to capture this unique perspective of ours in images, to share with others. Recording and documenting our own life choices and lifestyle is refreshing and fascinating. So bring on the artists and lets encourage photography as much as possible...

And hey, when you get to the stage where you are super successful at marketing and promoting your landscape photography (or any photography for that matter), which is truly an admirable trait, let me know because I'd love to learn and document how you did it. :-)

Martin Hurley is head honcho at http://hurleypix.com/ and an unconventional modern day artist, photographer and thinker. He helps people uncover their inner talents and passions... and make money from taking photos! Why not start selling your photos online? Visit now to get a free ebook, an amazing Thailand cloud photo, and sign up to my free ezine.

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Choosing Your Photo Printer

2007-03-09T16:03:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Carl Walker

Digital photography has truly made making photos simple and easy. Photo printers now are evolving in a similar way to give you great looking photo prints at affordable cost. To print a photo, the computer or PC is the interface. But recent photo printers have completely done away with going through PC for digital photo printing. Now you can send images directly from the camera to a printer.

These types of photo printers have built in slots where you can plug flash –memory cards directly. In another model, you connect the camera to the printer just like you connect it to your computer using a simple device. There are many types of photo printers let us see some of the important models.

Before looking at the various types and models of photo printers let us see how you go about selecting the right printer for your requirement. First thing to consider is the price – you can buy a reasonably good photo printer for under $100. However professional quality printers may cost over $400. Price is not the only consideration you also must keep in mind the costs of consumables like paper costs, ink and toner costs. These recurring costs may in the long run not economical if it overshoots the price of the printer itself!

Specialized photo printers take up more power and memory almost like your PC. As processing images needs good memory to speed up the printing tasks. So you have to look for adequate power and memory capacity. Many people still consider printer resolution as the main criteria in deciding which photo printer to buy. This is not always true, because a dye-sub printer at 300 dpi can give excellent results when compared to a resolution of 1400 dpi on an ink-jet printer.

In recent times there are many cheap color photo printers for you to choose from. It is not necessary that only the most expensive printer will give you the best results. Let us consider some entry level printer and then move towards high end printers. Liquid ink-jet printers represent today’s low cost entry level printer for personal and low volume color printing. These printers do a good job when it comes to printing photo realistic images on wide variety of papers. Color laser printers are also a good option as a photo printer. But their quality has still not matched the results from the cheap ink-jet printers. If you are very quality conscious and want high end image quality then look no further than dye-sublimation printers or simple dye-subs. These printers produce professional photo realistic images. Photo printers in a way have become part and parcel of everyday life, enabling even amateur photographers and the hobbyist to dabble in color printing and even editing quality photos. Get the photo printer that is least expensive and offers good quality and enjoy your photo memories!

For more information about photo printers, help and advice on cheap photo printing and much more, check out Photo-Printers-HQ.com

Fotodirt: "How To" Dirt for Photoheads!

Not Much Has Changed

2007-03-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Rohn Engh

Now that we have Google et al on our side, it’s very easy for a photobuyer to flex their researching muscles and come up with a picture that just a decade ago would have been nearly impossible to find -- let alone license -- in an appropriate amount of time.

If you review publications from the last century, you’ll notice photobuyers leaned toward making-do with easy-to-locate pictures (generic) that they slapped in the layout, and then moved on to the next project. Today’s sophisticated reader expects more. The search engines today, based on search of text descriptions of images, provide avenues for rearchers to find more specific pictures; “best” pictures instead of second best.

The result: happy researchers and happy photobuyers.

Check out www.photosource.com/bank and you’ll see how photographers are getting aboard this new ‘text-centric’ way of providing images to stock buyers.

As for the question of whether you can work with the same markets now with digital images, the answer is yes. With the new technology, “editorial stock photography” needs haven’t changed. What has changed for the editorial stock photographer, is the delivery of pictures (speedy!), the absence of worries about losing a transparency, and a new work flow.

The Digital Age has flattened the stock photo world to a stage that an individual editorial stock photographer now has more leverage than ever.

Most editorial buyers are now looking for highly specific pictures. Such images make their productions, periodicals, magazine articles, textbooks, more unique, and more appealing to their readers. If a photo researcher can find an image that is not generic (i.e. everyone is using it) but rather, specifically matches the writing content of their production, they are successful at their job. Any photographer these days who has a deep selection of images in a specific category, is a very important resource to a target group of photobuyers out there whose “publishing themes” focus on that category. These buyers’ monthly budgets for photography can range from $20,000 per month to $90,000 per month.

No, not much has changed. You’ll continue to find a home in today’s editorial stock photography field if you continue to photograph subject areas that please you and match the subject focus of specific publishing houses and magazines.

Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International, the stock photography online meeting place, and publisher of PhotoStockNotes. He is also the author of Sell & Resell Your Photos: Learn How to Sell Your Pictures Worldwide.

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Professionals Take Many Digital Photos to Get that Perfect One

2007-03-08T19:09:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you.

By Ziv Haparnas

Professional photographers take a large number of photos. They know that by doing so they will most likely find that perfect one they were aiming for. Digital cameras make such a technique available to all of us.

It should be pretty intuitive that the more photos you take the more likely you are to take that perfect one – the perfect angle, lighting and composition. During the film camera era it was an expensive proposition that was used by professionals only. Digital cameras however make it affordable and reachable to all of us.

Forget the slogan “save on film”. Photos taken with film cameras are expensive. Each photo consumes a frame in a roll of film. Film rolls capacity is relatively low usually 24 or 36 photos. Every photo also needs to be developed and printed. For these reasons when using film cameras we got used to saving film. You only take a photo when the moment is right and you are pretty sure that the results will be good. There is not much room for mistakes and experiments. On the other hand photos taken with digital cameras cost literally nothing. They are stored on erasable memory and thus can always be discarded at no cost. Moreover the photos can be viewed on digital screens and archived on digital media. When taking photos the digital camera uses digital memory to store the photos. Memory prices get lower and lower and capacity higher – it is very common today for digital cameras to have enough storage space for hundreds or even thousands of photos.

You should forget the habit of saving film when using digital cameras. It is still a good idea to follow good photography rules for composition and lighting but you should be free to take as many photos as you like, experiment with different settings and scenes and don’t think twice before taking a photo. It is better to take one extra photo and delete it later on rather than regret not taking it. You will be surprised of the great quality of some of the photos that you thought would not be that good and that if using a film camera you would have never taken. And you will be surprised finding new angles and compositions that otherwise you would have never tried.

Digital cameras allow you to experiment with new angles and to take photos that were very hard to take with film cameras. For example taking overhead photos in an event or taking a photo from a floor angle were hard or even impossible for amateur photographers with limited resources. It is almost impossible to look through the viewfinder in such scenarios and check the composition. Moreover many times you do not have much time to take the photo before the opportunity is gone. With digital cameras you can easily take such photos. Just aim the camera and press the shutter. Move the camera a bit to the left or to the right, up and down and take more photos in different angles and zooms. Later on you can go over and choose a few photos that are good. Most of the photos will be bad – wrong angle, bad composition, objects not in the frame. These photos can be simply deleted at no additional cost. There was no harm in taking them and there was great value in finding the one good photo among all those bad ones.

In conclusion digital cameras are not just a digital replacement of old film cameras. They provide new features and new capabilities that can change the way you take photos. One of those is the ability to take a large number of photos. Take advantage of the high photo capacity and the practically free price tag of taking photos. You should always follow good composition and photography rules but also remember to experiment with new settings and angles. Take many photos and then choose the ones that you like the best.

Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information about photo album printing and photography in general on http://www.printrates.com/ - a site dedicated to photo printing.

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Sharing Photos Online: What Should I Know About Sharing Pictures Over the Web?

2007-03-08T19:03:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you.

By Mike Singh

A disadvantage of sending digital picture files online or through the email is the large sizes, especially if several are sent. To avoid this, it is best to resize them first.

Three things are necessary for this: the digital pictures that are being sent; a computer with Internet access; and a picture editing, and an email program.

To reduce the resolution, first open the picture in the editing program such as PhotoResizer, an easy to use software that you can download for free, from ShowYourPhotos.com.

The next step is to open the Image Size or Resize box - usually located in the toolbar menu. If the pictures are to be printed, set the resolution at 225 dpi or ppi. If the pictures are going to be viewed on screen, set it at 72 ppi or dpi. Also, remember to constrain the proportions, as the picture will appear to be lop-sided otherwise.

Something to remember is that the higher the resolution, the better quality the picture will be on the other end. And by reducing the size of the picture, the time will be lessened to send it, so a good size is 3x5 or 4x6 in the Image Size. Click Ok, then Save As - giving the picture a new file name, saving it under JPEG. This saves the original photo for future use. Once you open the email program, attach the photo, so remember where you saved it.

If you have several photos that you want to share, you can use a web-based photo album and control access to it with a password. If you want someone to see an album, e-mail a link to them that allows them to access it. There is no need for attachments and no slow uploads or downloads.

For more control over your photos, you can maintain your photo albums at your own website. Hosting can cost as little as $50 a year. Some of the paid Web hosting services you can consider are Webshots, Pbase and Photosig. Another one is Kodakgallery.com where they walk a person through putting together an online album.

You can also use an online printing service like Club Photo, which will keep your online photo album for $25 a year. It will also take orders for prints from people you allow to access your albums for a fee. Prints can also be ordered on cards, calendars, mugs, etc. There is not a thing that cannot be done with digital photographs online for birthdays, holidays, or special events.

Mike Singh writes for www.digicamland.org.

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What is Macro Photography?

2007-03-08T18:57:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you.

By Kathy Burns-Millyard

Many hobby photographers and photography enthusiasts who are just starting to learn how to take great pictures often wonder how more professional photographers can get such great, extreme closeup photos of things like flower petals, bees, and other insects. It's really quite easy once you learn about the technique, but it does take some trial and error, and your results will vary a bit depending on the kind of camera you're using.

Extreme closeup photography is referred to as macro photography. Anytime you see a super close photo of a fly for instance, or a flower petal, the photographer probably used macro photography techniques to get that gorgeous close up photo.

Not too long ago, you had to have expensive special camera equipment to do macro photography, but with the plethora of digital camera technology enhancements in recent years, now almost anyone can do this type of photography.

With that said, you will need to have a camera that offers this feature. Since digital cameras are so popular these days, we'll focus on those for the purpose of this article.

A general point and shoot digital camera may have macro photography functionality built into it. High end digital SLR cameras which allow you to change lenses will also have the capability... sort of. You actually have to buy macro capable lenses for use on your digital SLR camera, because macro photography is actually a function of the lens and not the camera.

Because point and shoot cameras are meant to be less expensive and easier to operate though, the macro functionality is built into the camera in those cases. So if you want to do macro photography and you plan to start with an inexpensive point and shoot camera, you'll need to make sure it offers the feature before you buy it. Sometimes the product specifications will tell you the camera has macro mode, but you can often tell by simply looking at the camera too.

There is usually a selection dial on the top of small point and shoot cameras. This dial has little image icons that stand for various things. Look for one that looks like a small tulip flower. That is the selection setting for macro photography mode, so if the camera has that as an option, that means it's available on that model.

Kathy Burns-Millyard publishes the Hobby Hour site. Check out its hobby photography area for more tips, advice and techniques. Stop by her SasEz! site to see some of her recent stock and portrait photography.

Fotodirt – "How To" Dirt for Photoheads!

What Makes a Marketable Photo?

2007-03-06T19:13:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you.

By Rohn Engh

In other words, which photos sell and which don’t?

From our experience, there are certain indicators that point to “good sellers,” and to those that won't fare too well.

A major element concerns subject matter and its relation to “supply and demand.” You might have a wonderful picture of a hot air balloon, but if the photobuyer has 10,000 such pictures to choose from, the law of probability for a sale is not on your side. The same goes for a photo of a sea gull, a covered bridge, a fireworks display, or a little child happily eating birthday cake. Supply and Demand.

Next, let's consider the technical aspect of your photo. A first place winner in an art photography contest does not automatically qualify as a “good seller.” For example, that wonderful photo of a child eating a piece of cake, complete with all the joy in the world easy to read in the child’s eyes, might not be a good seller if the lighting is poor, or there’s camera shake, or the resolution is poor.

A photo of two workers putting down asphalt on a stretch of road, with passing busy traffic on a hot summer day, might not win a contest aesthetically, but it could be a good seller in a category such as "industry."

The best guide to what type of photo sells is right in front of you on your coffee table in magazines, photo books, and trade publications, your children’s textbooks. Usually you’ll find the following elements present in highly marketable images:

Illustrative quality. Images that tell a story, evoke emotion, a mood, and are simple in design (not cluttered and confusing). Very often the photo can lend itself to illustrating a variety of subjects and concepts, thus extending its marketable prospects.

People. A vast majority of editorial stock photographs feature people in the photos. People involved in their everyday life. Aim to use “real people” in your photos, rather than commercial models. Editorial buyers prefer images with “regular” people in genuine situations. Reminder: When a photo is used for editorial purposes (information or entertainment) a signed release from the people in the picture is usually not required by your photobuyers.

Symbol. Any icon or familiar object utilized somewhere in the photo will help orient the viewer as to what’s going on in the image. It helps to make the viewer a collaborator in the effect of the photo. The object doesn’t have to be a clear-cut symbol, such as a smoke stack or a stop sign. It can be more subtle, such as a ribbon or a shoelace, but the easier and faster the viewer can recognize it, the better.

Consider the logo of successful corporations – they are often simple, and clearly convey a message for the company.

Keywords

If you are putting your photos on line to market them, keywords descriptive of each photo are important elements in enhancing the marketability of your images. Single keywords of obscure or arcane subject matter can work, but for the most part, photobuyers will find you easier if you use multiple specific keywords to describe each image.

Photobuyers use search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and others to help locate the source of photos quickly. You can be the photographer they locate, if you “caption” all of your photos with effective and specific keywords (keyphrases).

Think about it -- how do you search for an item on the Internet? Reverse the process and imagine what keywords and phrases that you think a photobuyer would probably use to tap in to find one of your specific-content photos. Put these keywords in your photo-description listings, and do the same for all your photos. Time spent on this is well-spent; include relevant mood and situation descriptors as well as physical descriptions.

Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International, the stock photography online meeting place, and publisher of PhotoStockNotes. He is also the author of Sell & Resell Your Photos: Learn How to Sell Your Pictures Worldwide.

Fotodirt: "How To" Dirt for Photoheads!

HDRI: High Dynamic Range Imaging

2007-03-06T19:08:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you.

By Andrea Ghilardelli

One of the most common problems photographers face is taking pictures with both a very bright and a very dark part in the image. In these cases, we usually end up sacrificing the brightest or the darkest part, leading to disappointing results. There is a technique, however, which can work out this problem, and it is called High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI).

Think of all the situations where you as a photographer face a little dilemma. Your shot has both a very bright and a very dark portion in it. An example of this might be when your subject is backlit: the subject is dark and the backdrop bright. You cannot accommodate a correct exposure of both the subject and the background. Another example might be a landscape picture with a very bright sky. Again, you cannot render properly the fine details in the white clouds and simultaneously the shadowy details of the landscape.

A beginner might underestimate the problems posed by situations like these, because human eye adapts itself automatically (by changing the pupils diameter) to any lighting condition. So, when we look at something dark, our pupils dilate, allowing us to see it clearly; whilst when looking at something bright our pupils shrink, letting less light thorough, permitting an optimal vision, as well. This is not the case when taking a picture. The equivalent of pupils in our camera is the diaphragm. For a given photograph, we must choose a certain fixed diaphragm (aperture) setting. Therefore, when photographing in situations like these, we must choose one of the following:

- Sacrifice the brightest parts by exposing correctly only the darkest ones. This way, we loose all the details in the brightest parts, which will be completely overexposed, but retain the details in the dark parts.

- The opposite of the above, with obvious advantages and disadvantages.

- Compromise, trying to average the exposition, but this will yield a loss of details both in the brightest and in the darkest parts, even though at a lesser degree.

From a technical point of view, this problem arises because the image sensor -be it an electronic CCD or a standard film- has a finite brightness resolution. For instance, a CCD has typically a maximum of 12 bits per RGB channel. If the differences in brightness within a specific scene need more than 12 bits, the sensor cannot accommodate the entire range in brightness. This leads to the technique we want to describe: the High Dynamic Range Imaging.

The dynamic range is defined as the brightness ratio between the brightest and the darkest point in an image. For a given photograph, our sensor gives us -let's say- a maximum of 12 bits dynamic range. What about taking more than one picture of the same subject with different settings and then combining such pictures together? In one picture, we set the correct exposure for the shadows and, in another one, we set the correct exposure for the highlights. Therefore, all the details in our scene are clearly visible in at least one of the photos, regardless of their brightness. We can combine these pictures together so that all the details are visible in a unique image.

It may sound simple, but a huge problem arises: how do we combine them? We cannot simply erase in the single pictures the over- or under-exposed parts and then overlay the two images one over the other. The result would be unrealistic and unnatural. Anyone could say there is something wrong in an image obtained in such a naive manner. The only case where this can be done is where the outline between the highlights and the lowlights is clear-cut and they lie at different distances. An example might be a close shadowy subject and a distant brilliant backdrop. The effect will be equivalent to using a fill-in flash technique.

A simple solution would be to extend the number of bits per RGB channel as much as necessary. In standard jpeg images, for instance, each RGB channel has just 8 bits. But there is nothing to prevent us from setting up another standard using, for instance, 256 bits per channel. Actually, there are different standards letting 16 bits per channel, and they are rather common. There are other standards, too, letting more than that. This is done in scientific fields such as astronomy, where quantitative precise measurements must be done.

Therefore, the conceptual and practical solution to the high dynamic range imaging could be just like that: increase the bits per channel as necessary. However, another massive problem arises: how can we watch these images? The problem here is the limitation posed by both monitors and printers, as well. Video terminals and printers have no more than -let's say- 10 bits per channel. They can't show us more than that. If we look at the same image coded at 8 or 16 bits on our video terminal, we won't probably spot any difference, but it is our terminal's fault. The same holds true if we print those images.

This is the real problem today. How can we see with a 10 bit device a picture coded with 16 bits or even more? The discipline tackling this problem is named tone mapping and many research centers around the world are working hard on it. Scaling down the number of bits per channel used in an image to the number of bits per channel allowed by our monitors or printers is a very challenging theoretical topic. The cutting edge of the research takes into account even the human vision perception, far from being linear. A few software algorithms are already present and many others are continually proposed by research centers all over the world. In the next future, we should expect breaking technologies and sophisticated advances in this field of expertise.

Andrea Ghilardelli runs an online photo retouching service. To get your pictures beautifully retouched and for articles about photography, please visit his site: http://www.ilghila.com/.

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The Beauty of Black and White Photography

2007-03-06T18:53:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you.

By Morgan Hamilton

One of the many features found on modern digital cameras is the ability to allow the owner to try black and white photography. Through the years, this type of photography has gradually become less popular. Nowadays, people prefer color pictures because they are colorful and more affordable.

The latest camera models have settings for black and white photography and some photo editing software enables photographers to change color photographs into black and white. Any of these methods can be used to achieve the classic black and white look that can impress any viewer.

Black and white photography has been somewhat forgotten, but a few people have found that it is great for portraits and close-up photos. The black and white look often contains an element of mystery that color photographs cannot capture.

Black and white photos are also perfect for portraits and candid shots of young children. Black and white photography can add an intimate feel to a photo that color photos cannot achieve.

Many wild life photographers have discovered that black and white photography is also effective for nature photos. A black and white picture of a single flower can be breathtaking.

If you want to create a unique picture, you can add color to a part of a black and white photo using your photo editing software. For instance, you can add color to the irises of someone’s eyes on a black and white portrait or add color to the petals of a black and white picture of a flower.

If you want of make your black and white photos to be more striking, you can frame them in groups in your wall. Find moments when your children are at play, take five or six pictures of them a few seconds apart.

Then take these photos and convert them into black and white. Then purchase a set of matching frames and hung them in your wall in a cluster. Believe me; you will be delighted with the results.

Digital cameras have made it easier to make black and white photography a hobby. With the help of a digital camera, this type of photography becomes economical. If you are apprehensive about black and white photography, you can try to experiment.

Find a few colored pictures and turn them into black and white using a photo editing software. Take time to study the photos and see how the products make you feel.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning Black and White Photography. Visit our site for more helpful information about Black and White Photography and other similar topics.

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5 Things to Look for in a Professional Photo Lab

2007-03-06T18:47:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you.

By Kristine Knight

Today’s professional photo labs offer a wide range of products and services, and you can access them instantly without leaving home. From digital photo printing to customized merchandise featuring your images, labs offer a variety of products and services; best of all, you can compare prices and submit images right from your computer.

Here are five things to look for when choosing a professional photo printing service:

Digital Photo Printing. The mainstay service of the digital photo lab is making prints of all sizes on a variety of materials from your digital files, negatives or slides. Some labs use silver-halide photographic paper, while others make pigment inkjet or other digital prints. With today’s digital photo printing technology, all prints should be long-lasting.

Mounting and framing prints. Most photo labs can mount and frame prints in a variety of styles, and some offer classy gallery wraps, with the image printed on art canvas and wrapped around a thick frame.

Other image displays. Digital photo labs can print your images on lots of media besides photo paper: mugs, mouse pads, statuettes, trading cards, buttons, magazine covers, holiday/greeting cards, postcards, playing cards, business cards, calendars, notebooks, t-shirts and clocks are just some of the possibilities.

Your own books. One gorgeous way to present your images is in bound hardcover books. A number of photo labs offer this service, allowing you to create your book (all photos, or photos plus text) using their templates. You can then order one or more copies, at surprisingly affordable prices.

More services. Other services offered by many photo labs include scanning negatives and slides into digital form, displaying your images via online galleries and albums, and online storage of digital images.

As you visit the websites of online labs, compare their services based on what you need from your photographs.

Kristine Knight is a professional nature photographer who specializes in Southwestern landscapes. As an Arizona native, she’s been honing her art since childhood and in her free time teaches photography workshops.

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Sensor Size and Depth of Field in Film and Digital Cameras

2007-03-06T18:39:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Fotodirt.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you.

By Ziv Haparnas

Depth of field is defined as the range in which the photo is in focus. Achieving a specific depth of field is a useful photography technique used for example to achieve a blurry background effect. Film and digital cameras have different optical attributes as a result of using different sensor sizes. For that reason depth of field is also different in film and digital cameras.

Before you can understand the difference between film and digital cameras when it comes to depth of field, it is important to understand what depth of field is and how it can be set by the photographer. Depth of field (also known as DOF for short) is defined as the range in which the photo is in focus. For example: an infinite depth of field means that the photo will be in focus from a certain distance from the camera and up to infinity. Another example: when taking a blurry photo the goal is to set the depth of field just around the object, which results in the object being in focus while the background behind it is not.

The depth of field is influenced by the optical parameters of the camera and the specific scene. The main parameters that influence the depth of field are:

The distance of the object from the camera influences the possible depth of field settings. For example shooting an object that is very close to the camera will result in a smaller depth of field. On the other an extreme case when the object is in practical infinite distance from the camera will result in the camera focused on infinity and the depth of field being infinite too.

The aperture: The depth of field increases as the f number increases. The wider the aperture (f number decreases) the smaller the depth of field and vice versa: the narrower the aperture (f number increases) the greater the depth of field.

The focal length of the lens: The depth of field grows as the focal length gets shorter. For example if you use normal lenses at somewhere around 50mm your depth of field will be much greater than if you use zoom lenses at 200mm. With a very long focal length the depth of field can be extremely small.

One of the main differences between film and digital cameras is the sensor used to capture the photo. Film cameras use a film sensitive to light that is placed behind the lens. When a photo is taken the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the film. The result is a photo “printed” on the film. Digital cameras on the other hand use a fixed electronic sensor (also known as CCD) that is situated behind the lens. The sensor is built from tiny light sensitive sensors each representing a pixel. When the shutter opens light hits the sensor and each pixel gets its “value”. Put together all the pixels comprise one digital photo.

A normal single frame of film size was standardized at 35mm. Digital cameras on the other hand use smaller sensors. One of the reasons why digital sensors are smaller is cost – manufacturing a large electronic sensor is costly (for reasons such as yield and other specific process limitations). The depth of field changes with the sensor size, the smaller the sensor the higher the depth of field. In fact low end pocket cameras use small sensors that together with their other optical limitations result in depth of field that is practically infinite. Because photographers used to measure everything based on 35mm film – many digital cameras still quote “35mm equivalent” measurement. There are a few high end SLR digital cameras that use 35mm sensors thus providing the same optical characteristics as the old film cameras. These are still expensive and considered high end professional cameras.

Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information about photo album printing and photography in general on http://www.printrates.com/ - a site dedicated to photo printing.

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