It seems for every year that goes by digital camera manufacturers are adding one more Megapixel (Mp) to their cameras. Could it be true that an existing 7 megapixel camera that?s on the market now had an equivalent model of 6 megapixels last year and 5 megapixels the year before that? Next year, will you see the same camera in an 8 megapixel version? Where will we be in another 10 years time?
But do we need the latest 8, 10 or even 12 megapixel camera? Well I have two answers for that question:
A successful photography studio must be able to offer its clients a variety of backgrounds. Although seamless paper backdrops are very effective and commonly used in commercial studios, I prefer to use muslin backdrops in my studio.
Muslin backdrops are significantly more expensive than seamless paper and require more storage space and care. However, they provide interesting textures and more realistic backgrounds for more sophisticated studio work. Muslin backdrops vary from very simple, single color backgrounds to complicated, hand-painted works of art. Likewise, they range in price from $30 to upwards of $400 per backdrop. Thus, if you decide to invest in muslin backdrops, you certainly need to know how to care for them properly.
You can always count on technology to come up with ways that will make completing common tasks easier and more efficient. This has been the case with phones going from corded, to cordless and then completely mobile. Music that has gone from vinyl discs, to compact disks and portable music players that are now digital don’t require tapes and fit in the palm of your hand. This technology has also expanded to cameras. The new digital cameras do a whole lot more than their ancestors did.
Snow! You either love it or hate it. But, for sure, it gives the chance for some great photographs. Wrap up warm and get those shots, but remember a simple rule.
Snow is cold and sloppy. It this wasn?t bad enough for the photographer, there is one other problem to face: snow can fool your camera when exposing.
Snow is white and a blanket of snow shows the camera exposure meter a blanket of white. Consequently, the camera will average all the white it sees and attempt to produce an image that is ?average? or ?mid grey?. This means that snow turns out not white, but some dirty, murky colour.
Every Mom and Pop with a camera takes more pictures of their kids than of anything else. Why?
The reason in that they love to look at their cute little faces and record for all time how great they are. The only trouble is that when that moment comes, the children won?t cooperate. It?s not that children don?t like having their picture taken, it?s just that no child can sit still for more than a few minutes.
How boring and uninteresting would life be without an animal to love? There have been studies done in the US about how having a pet reduces blood pressure, stress levels, increases all the other good hormones in our body. Let?s face it, pets rock!
So how on earth do we photograph them? I’m not talking about snapping Fido any old way. I mean a classy digital photo where Fido looks exactly the way YOU see him…cute, loveable and gorgeous.
The only way to take really great photos of pets is a few things. And take heed, because these things really work.
Those of us that own a DSLR or a top end compact camera will have noticed The letters, P, A, S, and M as will as an AUTO setting on the top of their camera. These represent programs that force the camera into doing what you want. The most popular is the AUTO- for Automatic Exposure. This setting chooses a medium high shutter speed for blur free pictures and also adjusts the aperture for a correct exposure. For most situations, this will do the job even though there are other combinations that will deliver a better picture.
The earliest snapshot cameras had very simple lenses. They were designed for taking photographs in bright conditions. Anything other than bright sunlight or very light overcast conditions would make acceptable images unobtainable without flash or some other form of artificial lighting.
This was all very well, but what if you wanted less light in the camera? What if it was too bright? Letting too much light in would overexpose the film. One solution would be to put a neutral density filter over the lens each time but this is cumbersome, inconvenient and unwieldy.
As a photographer there is no greater joy than being recognized for what you love doing. A large part of that recognition will come through the self promotional tactics you employ. One way to ensure you get recognition for what you do is to create a photography portfolio which is second to none.
?When I use a flashgun I get unsightly reflections form people?s skin. How can I avoid this??
Reflections from the skin of subjects can cause a good deal of bother and ruin the image for the photographer and model. Most times it is caused by harsh light falling on the subject and reflecting back to the camera. It can be made worse by certain skin tones and by types of make-up.
It is easy to reduce this reflection:
-use bounced flash ? bounce the flash off of the ceiling or use a diffuser card (if your flash is equipped with a swivel head)