Low Light Photography Guides
Dave Johnson has recently posted an interesting article on taking better photo in low-light condition. He suggests shooting at the lowest possible ISO all the time.
“In ordinary conditions, stick with the camera’s lowest ISO level, since that’ll give you the least digital noise. But when you notice that the camera is recommending a really slow shutter speed (less than about 1/30 second for handheld shots with a point-and-shoot), crank up the ISO. Just remember to drop it back down to the lower value when you’re done, so you don’t accidentally capture a month’s worth of pictures at ISO 800.
Another thing to keep in mind: Most digital cameras don’t allow you to adjust the ISO, or any other setting for that matter, when you’re in Automatic Exposure mode. To tweak the ISO, you’ll want to be in Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, or a Scene mode.”
Seven Ways to Increase Portrait Sales
A good portrait photographer can do his or her best but still be plagued with no shows, minimum orders, and low profits. Here are seven tips to help you succeed.
A pre-session consultation is a good idea. It serves to answer any fears your clients may have about having their portrait taken. It also gives them an opportunity to get your opinion about what is best to wear. Tips on makeup and hair can be helpful. A brief description of their available wardrobe will give you an idea of what to suggest for the session. Of course, plaids and wild designs are to be avoided. Naturally, you must compliment them on their chosen outfit.
High Key Photography Guides
The artistic-seeming tones of white on white brings to mind the innocence of youth, the fabric of dreams and long, hot summer days. In photography, the effect can be easily achieved by choosing elements of a white or pastel color placed on a white or very light background.
White curtains blowing in the breeze, white birches tufted with cotton snow, or a feather storm of a pillow fight are qualifiers for a high key photo. The center of interest benefits from a darker tone, contrasting with the light tones of the surrounding environment and bringing the eye to the action. Subtle shades of white and gray enhance the colors or darker tones of the main subject.
Choosing the Ideal Lighting Setup for the Studio
Many a photographer starting out would like to know what lighting combination would work the best. A new studio has the advantage of starting with a new slate. Mimicking current studio setups may not always have the best arrangement because they sometimes have to make do with what was inherited or added to through the years.
The main light should be at least three feet wide and in a soft box configuration. The reason for this is that a soft box places the surface of the light close to the subject without getting in the way of the camera or photographer. Another reason is that the light is kinder to skin surfaces and tends to wrap around the features without losing the modeling.
Stay Away From Sensor Brush by Visible Dust
We’ve been receiving some e-mails lately complaining about the Sensor Brush, a CCD/CMOS cleaning product by Visible Dust. It’s reported that the brush is too large for the sensor and therefore the brush smeared the sensor with grease from the mirror box.
Here’s one of emails from our readers sent to us about a week ago:
Burned CDs Life Span
Burning digital photos to CDs is currently the most common thing to do for digital photographers to back up their photos. But according to Kurt Gerecke, a physicist and storage expert at IBM Deutschland, this method is not recommended as many of the cheap burnable CDs available have a life span of around 2 years.
He says, ” Optical discs commonly used for burning, such as CD-R and CD-RW, have a recording surface consisting of a layer of dye that can be modified by heat to store data. The degradation process can result in the data “shifting” on the surface and thus becoming unreadable to the laser beam”
Similar situations are also applied for hard disks. The problem not so much the disk itself as it is the disk bearing, which has a positioning function similar to a ball bearing. Hard Disk with 7200 rpm is recommended if you want your photos last longer.
Portrait Lighting Basics
Terry has written good basic tutorial on portrait lighting. The examples in her website were featured in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Portrait Photography by Kathleen Tracy
Here’s my favorite lighting:
Rembrandt Lighting: “Still further left around Kiki, until a triangular patch of light remains on the leading cheek, is reminiscent of many of Rembrandt’s portrait paintings. As in butterfly lighting, the light needs to be fairly high — like Rembrandt’s studio skylight.”
IR Photography with Nikon D70
Do you have Nikon D70(s) ?
Do you want to take those surreal photos with your camera and an Infra Red filter just like the image below ?
Then this IR Photography with Nikon D70 tutorial is a must read for you…
Online Photo Printing Comparison
With digital cameras that are more and more affordable, snapping a huge number of photos of your family and friends is now easier than ever. But, what about finding a pratical way to print your photos and then show them to your family and friends? Sometimes it can be really a hassle.
Below is the list of some of the best online printing services that are available on the net where you can upload your photos to online albums and to order prints of them to mailed to your home or to your friends.
Tips for Framing Your Photographs
Imagine being able to frame all your own photographs just as well as a professional.
You can save enough money to easily pay for all the necessary tools, and the convenience of being able to do it yourself frees you from having to get someone else do it. If you’re an amateur a mount cutter, a frame clamp and a hand-operated frame joining tool is all the equipment you need to make professional looking frames.These days the tools are easy and safe to operate, inexpensive, and give you a good result. Picture framing can be divided into four areas. Cutting the bevel mount, cutting and joining the frame, mounting the photograph, and fitting and finishing the job.
