Alamy Contributor Source May/June 2006 edition has some really good tips from Alamy’s leading photographers on portraying the diversity of real life.. Here are some tips from Ersoy Emin;

“Keep your equipment simple. I usually just carry a SLR with a couple of fixed lenses – maybe a 50mm and 35mm lens. Also, in some cities security can be an issue. Carrying lots of gear can attract unwanted attention.

Try to respect people’s culture and religions. For example, some Jewish people don’t like being photographed on the Sabbath. Also, perhaps ask if it’s ok to shoot near a mosque, synagogue or temple. And be very careful photographing women in particular.”

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If you are taking lots of shots each day then I suggest you should come up with a system that would make your work faster and easier. If you’re still wondering how you should work with your photos, Stilllifewith.com has a quite interesting article on food photography workflow.

“I try to get the photos onto my computer the same day, hopefully within a few hours so I can remember what I was going for (and so I don’t accidentally forget and format the card as I am trying to get into a habit of it everytime I start shooting). I copy the photos onto my machine simply using Finder (I’m on Mac). Then I start up Adobe Bridge and do a quick browse of all the photos I’ve just taken. Before I touch any of them, I batch rename them based on their content.”

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Here are some basic things you have to look at when purchasing your digital camera. Purchasing a digital camera maybe be a costly expense but the need to choose one that fits your shooting style and needs will count a lot.

Things to consider:

1. Price: What price range are you willing to spend? Are you planning to get a point and shoot or do you want a Digital SLR? For long term purposes, I would recommend getting a DSLR because it will cost you less. I would suggest that you buy a camera you can grow into rather then getting a camera than you will grow out of.

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Zeroing in on Flash

Professional photographers rely on the flash on their camera to capture the action at a wedding or other social event. They are probably not aware of the effect of their flash on the faces of their subject. Here is an analysis of the effect of different distances between the flash head and the lens.

The proper position of the flash is directly over the lens. This will ensure that any shadows from the flash will occur behind the head and body and not to one side. Of course, when shooting square format like Hasselblad, the flash can be fixed in that one position. For shooting with a rectangular format like Bronica ETR or Canon DSLR, the flash must be mounted on a swinging bar so that the flash can be positioned over the lens in either a horizontal or vertical shot.

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One of the easiest ways to end up with a frame worthy photograph is to photograph flowers. Their symmetry and beauty makes every close up photograph a joy to behold. Flowers and photographers are everywhere and since almost every digital camera has a macro lens setting, this photographic subject is often overdone and seems to present no challenge to the aspiring photographer.

Au contraire, I say. There is no limit to the level of composition and treatment you can give your flower pictures. You can go for a color scheme to match your current décor, you can choose a famous artist and emulate his style. Your creations may contain two, three, five or many blooms (try to stay away from the one big bloom in the middle). Attractive compositions can contain two flowers, one large, one small forming a diagonal. Three blooms create a triangle with one acting as the main subject and the other two as their counterparts. Racemes offer a built in curve and specie tulips are in a class of their own.

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The New Point and Shoots

If you’ve been waiting for technology to catch up with your point and shoot film camera, it has arrived. Not inexpensive at $250 to $480, the following digital cameras feature some type of vibration reduction, 6 – 8 megapiixels of resolution and a large (2.5” diagonal) monitor (except Casio). Some have a viewfinder for easy viewing in bright sunlight and while all models have built in flash, their range is limited.

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Contrary to popular belief stunning photographs can be taken when shooting into the light. Whilst this may contradict advice given to beginners to always shoot with the light coming from behind the camera the art of backlighting is a technique that can produce wonderful images. However, many nature photographers are intimidated by the idea of pointing the camera towards the light and shy away from many worthwhile opportunities.

There is much to consider when using this technique if frustration and disappointment are to be avoided. However, once mastered there is little doubt that backlighting can be magical and will add both drama and visual impact to your photographs and diversity and interest to your portfolio. There are many subjects to try, my favourites are translucent flowers and foliage or rim lighting of animals and birds. Backlighting will enhance mist, rain and haze adding creativity and atmosphere to landscape images.

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1. Use both hands and hold the camera STILL.

There you are next to one of the Pyramids in Egypt—a perfect picture opportunity. You hand your camera to another tourist passing by hoping to get a fantastic shot. When you view the picture on your digital camera (after the person has gone) or you get your photos developed, all you see is a big blur! Now you are left with a completely useless picture that could have been something amazing.

Let us say that your photo turned out only slightly blurred and you try to enlarge your photo when you get home from your trip. When you go to pick up the blown up version it looks pretty bad. Even photos that are slightly blurred will never make quality enlarged prints!

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Since most of our lives are spent indoors, most of our family pictures are taken inside. Unfortunately, we have to rely on our built in flashes to get the picture. These pictures include family portraits, table shots, fun gatherings, local indoor events, parties, and social events, to say nothing of the thousands of baby pictures and pet portraits. The built in flash often has enough power to light a subject no further than 12 feet from the camera. The resulting flash picture is flatly lit and must be printed with higher contrast than normal. Pictures taken with subjects further away are dimly lit, low in contrast and have little inherent color. While you may increase the ISO sensitivity to the highest setting, this often results in an image with a large number of artifacts, looking less sharp and grainy.

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PPmag has a bonus article by Tom Peterson, Product Line Manager for Rimage Corporation, which will answer most digital photographers questions about using CDs and DVDs as archival media such as What causes data loss in CDs and DVDs? How do you avoid that? How do I find archival quality CDs/DVDs?

Here are some of his tips for how to properly store and handle a CD or DVD for maximum life:

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