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Wednesday

Framing Your Firework's Shot

Fireworks displays can induce a lot of feelings in people as they are not only beautiful and amazing to observe but they also are many times used to commemorate momentous occasions.

The choice in where to aim your camera can be one of the hardest parts of firework photography. The challenge is that you will have to anticipate where the firework will explode and aim the camera in this area. Getting your framing right is still possible with the help of a few pointers.

Photo by Stuck in Customs Scope out the location early - Planning is important with fireworks and getting to the location early in order to get a good, unobstructed position is important. Think about what is in the foreground and background of your shots and make sure you won't have people's heads bobbing up into your shots (also consider what impact you'll have on others around you also).

Take note of where fireworks are being set up and what parts of the sky they are likely to be shot into - you might also want to try to ask some of those setting up the display for a little information on what they are planning. Also consider what focal lengths you might want to use and choose appropriate lenses at this time (rather than in the middle of the show).

Keep an eye on the horizons. Always consider if your camera is even or straight in its framing when lining up your firework shots. This will be especially critical when shooting with a wide focal length to include other background elements into your shot. When getting your camera on your tripod make sure it's level from the time you set up.

There are two main ways of framing shots in all types of photography, vertically (portrait) or horizontally (landscape), so do you shoot vertical of horizontal? You can choose either one. Both can work in fireworks photography but I find a vertical perspective is better, due to there being a lot of vertical motion in fireworks. Horizontal shots can work if your goal is more of a landscape shot with a wider focal length or if you want to include multiple bursts of fireworks in the one shot.

Framing is always important. When I photograph fireworks, I find I tend to look at the sky more than my viewfinder. This means I have to keep in mind what framing I have and to watch that part of the sky. This practice will help you to anticipate the right time for a shot because your eye can follow the light trail produced by the launching rockets before they explode to light up the sky and your firework photograph.
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Learn Digital Photography .. Photographing Cityscapes at Night

There are a couple of planning tips you will need to bear in mind before you take any night time photographs of cities: 

You first want to choose a good viewpoint; 

The second thing you will need is either a tripod or a solid base to place your camera on. Your viewpoint will depend a bit on what kind of shot you are after. I usually try to aim for somewhere that is above the ground (a set of steps, for example), but not always. There are many times that the best photos are taken at ground level. 

You need a tripod or solid base because your camera's shutter will be open for several seconds, and you need to make sure the camera doesn't move during those seconds. 

You will also need to make sure you secure your camera onto the tripod. If you can't find a solid surface to rest your camera on you can always try propping it up with something like a bag or jumper. 

Once your camera is in place, make sure your shutter speed is set to a good few seconds. Start with about 15 seconds. 

If you are unable to control the shutter speed, set it to "night" mode. 

You are ready to take your pictures once you have everything arranged (camera on a solid surface and self timer primed). 

The first thing you want to do is observe your scene. Does it contain everything that you wanted to be in it? If you are hoping to get streaking car headlights do you notice any traffic around? 

Once you are happy with things, press the shutter button. 

Your self timer will count down. Special Note! - If you are waiting for something to appear in your scene, you will need to remember that your shutter speed will have to count down first - time for this. 

When the shutter clicks, wait. And wait, and wait . . . until it closes again. Remember that this will be a few seconds. 

Then wait some more. Because of the long exposure digital cameras take longer than usual to process the photo, so your preview on your camera's LCD screen may take a while to show up. 

This is just my opinion, but here are a couple of things that I think make a good night photography shot: 

Neon lights Streaks of car headlights and tail lights Available light There is some advance planning that you need to do for these ideas. Whatever you choose for you subject you want to find an area where you can photograph safely. 

Again, you will want to find your solid spot, or put your camera onto a tripod, and then take a few shots. Since neon lights flash you will want to keep the shutter open for a while in order to catch all the flashes. 

For photographing streaks of car headlights and tail lights you will obviously want to find a spot that has a good bit of traffic, but again, be safe in your choice of locations. 

One thing to try is to use something in the background as well; usually streaks of light photographed on their own can be a bit boring! 

Then take your shot. 

One thing to remember is that the longer you keep your shutter open, the more streaks you will capture. Obviously the more traffic you have the more streaks you will have! 

Available light also has a part to play in creating a good night photography shot. 

You will find that there are times when a scene looks its best when you set it amongst inky-black skies. By playing around you will also find that there are times when a little light works best, so photos just prior to dark really sets in are worth a try too. 

The best bit of advice I can give you is to try both situations and see which captures the effect you are after best. 

You also will want to play around with your shutter speed since there are times you will find that a 10 second exposure gets the look you are after. Sometimes you may need up to a minute. 

If you practice you will soon get a feel for what you will need for any given situation. 
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Digital Photography Tips - How To Take Portrait Photography

Ever wonder why other photographers can take such good picture with people? Don't just envy others, you too can have fun with portrait photography if you practice the following tips. 

1. The right mode 

This is the simplest way to improve your portrait picture. Look into your camera setting, digital cameras nowadays are often equip with the 'portrait' mode. When this is selected, your camera will automatically adjust the setting and give you the right picture. 

2. Getting close 

Zoom in to your subject and try to blur the background to make your subject stand out. If you don't do that, your viewers will be distracted by the background and confuse with the message you want to convey with your picture. 

3. Spontaneous 

You don't need to be so serious with portrait photography. What you want is to capture the special moment. So, tilt your camera, zoom in, zoom out and you can even edit the picture. You can do anything as long as you capture the expression of the person in the moment. 

4. Lighting 

You need to be careful with the lightings when you are taking portrait photograph. If the light source is behind your subject, your subject will become darker. Unless you purposely want to do that, if not you should see before your snap the picture. 

If you are using flash, make sure you select the red eye off feature when you are photographing under dim light. You don't want your subject to look like a red eye monster in the picture. 

5. Positioning 

New photographers like to take portrait photography with the subject in the middle. There is nothing wrong with that but your picture might look better if you can get your subject to the side with lightly blurred background. If you can do this well, you will be able to show different perspective of your subject.

Author: Michael Wong

Digital Photography Tips - Removing The Background

Ever since the development of digital camera, photographers are able to adjust their pictures and that includes removing the background they dislike. As the technology matures, removing the background can be fast and easy. 

But why do photographers want to remove the background? 

Just to let you know, sometimes photographers are force to take their pictures. 

Let's picture this, after a long wait, you finally snapped the take off of the grey falcon. But when you look back at the picture, you found that you accidentally snapped your fingertip along with the falcon. 

Now, you will not get the same picture again. What are you going to do? Delete the once in a life time picture or remove the disturbing background? 

If you are like any photographer, you will choose the latter. 

Sometimes, the background looks just nice with your subject on the LCD screen. But when you see it as a picture, something is just not right. That is when you need to remove whatever is disturbing in the background to make your final picture looks better. 

After much talk about removing the background, how do you do that? 

The most popular way to do that is by using photo editing software. 

Before the development of the software, photographers need to remove the background in the dark room. They need to use a special solution and monitor the process. If they are not careful, they might spoil the picture. 

Today, there are a lot of photo editing software that can free you from this tedious job. Furthermore, they are so user friendly that even a non-professional can use it. Some software even allows you to plug in some codes for different purposes. After that, you will have more choices to alter the background. 

Some internet users are willing to pay for photographs for their tasks. Now, with the help of the software, you can keep the subject and replace the background with what your clients need. If they want a grey falcon taking off from a building, you can easily swap the ledge with a building with the photo editing software.

Author: Michael Wong

Better Photography - Move in Closer

Photoshop is now one of the major computer programmes around. The basis of it all, however, is the photographic image.

Very often the quality of the original image can get overlooked or can be considered unimportant. We hear sentences like: "Oh that'll do - we'll fix it later in Photoshop". Perhaps it can, but starting off with a better photograph in the first place can save a lot of trouble later.

Well begun is half done.

Everyone seems to have some sort of camera now, whether it's a high-end digital camera or a basic compact or the camera within a mobile phone.

Taking a good and attractive photograph can be easier than some people think. Good photographers instinctively follow certain guidelines and principles when taking their photographs. The good image just seems to make itself.

These guidelines can be identified and implemented by anyone and with a little practise the improved images will come along.
Here is one of a series of tips that can be used to make the process of taking photographs more successful.

Move in Closely, then Closer

When photographing any subject it can be useful and effective to move in closely to the subject, then move in more closely still.

The simple act of moving in very close to the subject can greatly increase the subject's impact and can serve to attract and concentrate one's attention in a way that a more general shot cannot.

Trying to photograph the whole of a large church, for example, might not be too successful – there might be a shortage of space, which prevents you from getting back far enough, the conditions might be dull and overcast, or perhaps the building as a whole has little architectural charm. Concentrating on one carving could be visually more effective.

Similarly, any historic town will be full of detailed features, carvings, signs, lanterns and so on, which enhance the feel of the period, showing workmanship and character which might not come across so effectively in a general photograph.

A detail can tell a better story than trying to include too much. One beautiful bloom isolated from a whole flower bed can have greater impact. A general picture of birds with lots of surrounding area can be rather boring whereas a real close-up might be more interesting, and it is quite feasible to take close-ups of animals, even with standard cameras, in parks or nature reserves where the wildlife is not too wild any more and is more accustomed to people. What they really want from you is food, so go armed with some of their favourite morsels.

Focusing on a subject close-up has an added bonus. The background will be thrown out of focus which increases the emphasis on the subject itself. You won't actually notice this while looking through the viewfinder of a compact, point-and-shoot camera. This is because the viewfinder is separate from the lens, but the effect will be seen in the print.

There is an unlimited supply of material for close-up photography:

the head of a friendly cow;
a much-repaired country gate;
a sheet of plastic caught on barbed wire;
barnacles on a rock;
frost and snow on branches with berries.

With a lifetime's familiarity with the home environment, most people don't notice the everyday objects of town and country, much less would they photograph them, but every place will have a wealth of objects which are unique to that particular area.

When visiting foreign countries, suddenly we notice the different letter boxes, doors, bicycles and styles of dress. These "routine" items serve well to sum up the character of a region and become good triggers to remind us of a visit. 

A few words about framing up the camera for such close-up shots. It can happen that the final picture cuts out a little part of the subject when you are sure you included it when taking the photograph. This is due to the frame inside the viewfinder not always being an accurate representation of the area the lens will be photographing. Although this is usually a problem only with some of the cheaper cameras, when first using a new camera, it can be useful to do a little testing on a close-up. Carefully frame up a subject, such as a spread out newspaper, take a photograph of it and compare what is covered by the finished print. This will be a good guide as to how accurate the viewing frame is.

Tips

* Move in closely, then even closer

More photography tips can be found here: Photography Tips
A reminder then that better photography makes later work in Photoshop easier.
Photoshop In A Day

Tuesday

Photo on canvas can create all magic you want!

When it comes to photography, everyone first considers about the quality and of course its durability. Photographs are always special, as they sign the impressive moments of happiness, joy and fun we had with our near and dears. When pictures are snapped, everyone generally expects it to be unique, fresh, and value added. We all want it to be real good and moreover expect it to have for several long years. Is it possible to get impressive and value added pictures? Why not! Photo on canvas can create all magic you want! 

It is not that everyone is going to place their photographs in a balanced condition with framed glass or any other! To balance all scenarios, photographers prefer printing photo onto canvas. Printing photo to canvas will give complete elegance and of course gives a classy touch to your photographs. This is the reason all photographers and other artistic people stick canvas prints. Photo on canvas print has achieved a grand reputation and it has been the fastest growing section in the field of digital image production. Printing photo onto canvas is absolutely cost-effective and they frequently pop up in all times and service offerings. With photo to canvas prints, you can momentarily upload your pictures online and moreover you can flick all the memorable moments and hang them on your house walls. 

When it comes to printing photo onto canvas, you would have noticed stretching and mounting the material in the wooden frame. This is actually the method handled to print the photo to canvas. They will be wrapped further to give an instant good look to the picture. As a result, you can foresee an excellent and impressive photo on canvas. Canvas prints has quite several impressive textures and the best of all is its, elegance! Printing photo onto canvas will be an excellent masterpiece and they create a motivating poster. 

Well, another impressive benefit of printing photo onto canvas is that, they give confidence to the photographer and also make them sure that they give 100% quality output. No matter either you are a novice or a proficient professional in photography, because printing photo to canvas is exactly simple and moreover they help you to enhance your quality. Without knowing the value and price, most of the people step back and scare a little to make use of canvas prints! All they consider is, printing photo onto canvas is an extreme big deal that charges huge dollars and money. 

Printing photo to canvas will be an exciting gift, as they can create the best impression and of course become a personalized endowment. Photographs taken from your digital cameras will look simply attractive and the end-result while printing the photo onto canvas will be inspiring. On the other hand, the photographs taken from your mobile phone will never assure 100% quality picture, while printing photo on canvas. Printing photo to canvas is really exciting, as you all will turn dumb-struck on seeing its quality and timbre. 

Conrad McKee have very sound knowledge of Photo on canvas and Photo onto canvas he is legend in his field for more details you can visit Photo to canvas.

Wedding Photography: Hiring the Right Photographer

You are all surrounded with flowers, colors, dresses, family and friends. No doubt, one of the most important days of your life is your wedding day. Now, how are you going to remember it? As the years pass, your memories will fade, but if you have vivid pictures to document the special day, you'll remember every detail. So, along with all the other decisions, you have to choose someone to handle your wedding photography. How hard can that be- point, click and shoot, right? Well, wedding photography is all about capturing the moment and the feeling, so you want someone who can do that. Remember, this is your big day and it may go by in a blur, you want something to look at when it's all over. Here are some tips on how to choose the best photographer for your wedding: 

1. Company or Freelancer- There are lot of wedding photography companies out there, but you want to be careful with them. It is perfectly fine, but if you go with a company, be clear about the photographer you want for the job. It is not uncommon for a different person to show up on your big day. Another route you can go is to hire a freelancer. Either way, as long as you do your homework on the actual person doing the job. 

2. Interview and Portfolio- Never hire a photographer without interviewing him and looking at his portfolio first. This may be the most important pictures of your life and you want them to look fabulous. During the interview, be clear about what you want. If he doesn't understand your vision, then he can't give it to you. 

3. Photo Style- Will he take the standard posed shots as well as candid shots? Often times the candid shots are the most fun to look at. Plus you get to see who all were there. People may have been there that you never knew. 

4. Color, Black and White or Both- Does he offer color and black and white photos? Does he charge extra for both? Do you want both? If you do, make sure you specify what should be b&w and what should be color. These are questions you need to ask ahead of time so you aren't surprised by the bill. 

5. Package Deals and other Media- What kind of package is offered and can you customize your order to fit your needs? A new way to share your wedding photography with friends and family is online. They can view and even order their own prints. Is this available? Ask if a CD of the prints are available as well. That way you have a back-up copy in case something happens to the originals. 

6. Fee Inclusions- Is there a flat fee for services? If there is, you want to know exactly what is included and what will cost you extra. Again, this information ahead of time will save you a lot of headache afterwards. 

As you make all of your other wedding day decisions, do not skimp on the wedding photography. Along with a DVD of the event, it is the only other documentation you will have that you can share for years to come. You must be happy with the pictures so you must hire the right photographer. Take the time to find one that fits your personality and can give you what you are looking for. As you thumb through the pages, you want to smile at the memory instead of cringe at the angle or the lighting. 

Fine Art Exposure in New Orleans, LA has a photography style that will give you images of your wedding as a memoir to keep. Visit http://www.fineartexposure.com to see how Fine Art specializes in creative wedding photography and documenting candid moments.