by Dan Feildman
During photography’s entire history, the amateur and the professional have represented distinct and often contrary approaches to photography, each battling for supremacy. Has the digital revolution tilted the field of battle irrevocably in the amateur’s favour? Or has it swept this traditional rivalry into the dustbin? Can anyone say? For the 19th-century practitioner, photography was fraught with personal and technical adversity. The darkroom environment was equally challenging: space was constrained, and in smaller field tents the photographer had to kneel or lie down to work. Ventilation was poor or non-existent, and lightproofing faulty. Digital photography is starting to become accessible to the average consumer. Camera prices are falling and image quality is improving. Compared to conventional 35-mm photography, there is no film or processing costs, and results are immediately viewable so a re-shoot can be made quickly if needed. Plus there are more and more applications where digital images are more convenient and cost effective.

If you use a flash in a dark environment, you often get a red eye effect. This is because the light of the flash is reflecting from the retina, which is covered with tiny blood vessels. The more open the pupils are, the redder eye effect you get in your photos. Red eye is more pronounced in people with light eye color. It is also more pronounced in people with blond or light-red hair and in children. Many cameras have a built-in red-eye reduction pre-flash that helps reduce the incidence of red eye. Red-eye reduction works by having the flash shine a light into the eyes of the subject prior to taking the picture. This causes the pupil to contract. However, you have to make sure the subject is looking at the camera. If not, this technique won’t work. Also be wary of using red-eye reduction feature when not necessary, because it may cause your subject to blink.

To take a successful landscape picture, you want the whole thing to be in focus. You’ll want the focal length to be as short as possible, to create a greater depth of field. You can use the rule of thirds to create a balance between land and sky. Also, having a subject, such as an object in the foreground, might give a better sense of dimensionality. When photographing water, you will want to use a slow shutter speed, giving the impression of water flowing, and when photographing the sea, add a polarizing filter and give the water a transparency effect. A tripod is a good investment in photography, especially if you want to take panoramic pictures. You’ll have to set your tripod in a place where you can swivel the camera smoothly from left to right, and not up and down. You will have to figure out where you want your pictures to overlap, so that you don’t have huge gaps in your resulting picture. Once you figure that out, you can swivel your camera in one direction, clockwise or counterclockwise, to take the pictures you want. Once you’re done, all you have to do is put them together with a simple graphics program or photo-editing software.

A few problems that everyone has with their printers can be quite frustrating, running out of ink or something annoying along those lines. Problem: Missing colors or incorrect colors are white and black images, which is often what a photographer does not want to see. I want my picture in color! Solution: Make sure that the settings for ink are correct. You want the ink settings in color format. Renew the inks if the ink is low. Use your cleaners to clean the heads. Check with your manual to learn more! Problem: Smearing and blurring print is one of the most frustrating appearances that come out of a printer. Solution: You want to make sure the type of media is correct. Next, you can verify that the paper is facing up and position correctly. Refer to your user’s manual for more details.

While many consider themselves amateurs when it comes to taking artistic photographs, with a little study and an independent experimentation, most anyone with persistence could quickly become an expert in photographing works of art. What is the market for such a skill? With the Internet and e-mail the market for photographing works of art is growing by leaps and bounds. Those artists that have made it to the level of giving exhibits around the nation need excellent pictorial representations of their art work to market to various galleries. The greater exposure they enjoy the more art they will sell. One company sends sales people from one farm to another with an aerial photograph of their home in hand. There are few homeowners that will turn down a readily available heirloom photograph of their land unless they already have one. One other important market is to take photographs of buildings for insurance companies or architects who have just created an award-winning design of a life-time.

Explore different camera angles: Small kids have some interesting facial features. They have cute button noses, big eyes and cherry lips. Experiment with different points of view. Don’t be afraid to turn everything on its head to find the perfect way to express the moment. Take tons of pictures: Children change so quickly. Both in the long term and the short. They are so dynamic and can offer you tons of amazing opportunities for great pictures and incredible headaches. With this said, you can use this to your advantage if you just take tons of pictures. If not, you can expect hours of frustration caused by just missing or rushing the perfect shot.

News photography is one of the most exciting fields of photography. It brings photos that are used to complete and bring life to news and current events. News photos should be captured perfectly to make the story catch every reader’s eyes. As a news photographer, you should have the skills and years of experience in producing quality material. It takes great amount of failure and errors to master the art of news photography. Many of those who have succeeded in this field admit that they have learned a lot from their errors. You must always be attentive for natural sounds. Interesting natural sounds can be essential the same way images and pictures are. Good sound normally complements with interesting images. You have to master white balancing. You have to be good at placing the right angles on the right surface. Lighting is very essential to the right balance in capturing the photograph.

About the Author

Learning Photography has become way better in the time it has been around. Having questions about photography? Look over a free report on water in motion

by Randi Muchanson
As a photographer you are not going to be successful unless you have subjects to shoot. After all, the subject is what will make or break your work. Luckily, it is not difficult to find photography subjects that you can work with. After all, almost everything around you can be a subject for your next photo. This includes everything from people to landscape to pets to inanimate objects. The photography subjects that you deal with are up to you.

Most photographers like to focus on one type of subject so that they can become an expert in that area. Early on you should determine what you like to shoot, and then stick to that subject for a while. The best way to determine what photography subject is best for you is to try out each one. After you shoot everything from people to pets you will have a better idea of what you want to focus on.

Now that you know what photography subjects interest you, head out and find scenes that suit your needs. If you are going to focus on landscape photography you should be able to find plenty of work by simply stepping out of your home. Does it get any easier than that? People who like to shoot subjects such as people and pets may find it a bit more difficult to find subjects. But if you keep your eyes open, it is safe to say that plenty of opportunities will become available.

Overall, finding photography subjects is a key to your success. But before you do this, make sure you know what you are looking for. Once you have an idea of what photography subject are best for you, you can then begin to scour the area for the perfect set up.

About the Author

Have you ever wanted to learn a new hobby, improve a skill, or be more informed, but don’t have the time? Well, that’s where Zibtips fits in. This site is dedicated to free and open learning. The topics include photography tips plus much more, and will be guided by your input.

by Dan Feildman
Wedding photography is also concerned with the portrait photography for a bride. Most brides will have an individual portrait of them in their bridal dress taken to be displayed at the wedding and later at the bride’s home. If an entire package is bought, from engagement photos to reception photos, a bridal portrait is included. For many families of the bride, this portrait alone is one that they have dreamed of ever since the woman was a little girl. To capture this vision is very important and needs to be handled with great care and concern. The wedding photography business is a hot and lucrative occupation to be in. If attention to detail is given, a photographer can become well known and make a very good income by capturing intimate moments of a new relationship just beginning. Even though a photographer is behind the lens, the action they see will be caught for lifetimes to enjoy.

How can I become a professional photographer? So many answers are available for this question. Photography school are everywhere, but if a person cannot attend photography classes on campus, becoming a professional photographer can be difficult. However, the New York Institute of Photography allows for anyone in the world to become a professional photographer via correspondence. But, by doing a little research at the library, on the internet, and possibly interviewing local photographers to find out how they got into the business, a person can easily become a professional photographer.

Depending on what is needed, the choice can seem overwhelming. One photography site that can help determine just what is right is Shortcourses. This site helps the consumer decide from the four major types of cameras as to which one fits their lifestyle. Digital photography is a great way to capture the images of an individual that will be seen for generations to come. By using digital photography instead of regular film, those memories will be perfect the first time. The choices of cameras are endless, and with the help of the internet, a person can make sure and choose the right camera that best fits their lifestyle and price range.

When you are selecting a digital camera for your use you might want to know more aobut items like the lens and the battery. A glass lens is preferable to a plastic lens. Do not skimp on the lens. It is best to choose an optical zoom lens over digital zoom. Many lower cost cameras do not have optical zoom lenses. Optical zoom is essential for better quality pictures. Optical zoom actually moves the lens to capture the image, while digital zoom captures fewer pixels and magnifies the captured image. Pictures taken with digital zoom are often blurry and look digitized. If you treasure your battery life, you can turn off LCD display on your digital camera. One of the most power-consumed parts in a camera is LCD display. In order to obtain clear display, LCD background illumination consumes power heavily (You can turn off the LCD display to save the power). For general Alkaline Battery or Ni-CD/Ni-MH battery, the power can last for around an hour (with LCD on) whereas for camera Lithium battery, it can last longer. In addition to LCD display, CCD (Charge Coupled Devices) also consumed lot of power. For those models that use LCD display as view finders, in order to drive CCD continuously, the power loading is heavy. Sometimes, the power of four dry batteries can only last for less than 30 minutes. Therefore, take a check of whether rechargeable batteries or charger are included in your camera package or whether other relevant charging information is mentioned

The size is also important. Most children will definitely prefer a digital camera that is small and compact in size. The weight and size should be such that they are able to easily put the camera in their pocket or hang it by a string. Large and bulky models, even if they have better features are not advisable for children. It is also necessary to remember that even though you might gift your child a digital camera to click photographs for school projects, they will be using it to take pictures of their friends. So, look for some ‘fun’ features in the digital camera. These can include colorful background images or sound effects, photographic effects that they can use to enhance the images taken by them. One more thing is ease of use. It is important that the camera has a simple system through which children can easily take pictures quickly. However, you really do not need to worry about this aspect a lot because today’s children have been born in the digital era. They are able to pick up things much faster than you or me, so as long as the camera is good in all other aspects, even if its ‘click ability’ is a little confusing, it does not really matter. They are fast learners these days!

Besides an improperly exposed photo, the other most common mistake beginning photographers (and sometimes the pros) make is not getting a photo that is in sharp focus. Choose the right shutter speed - Shutter speed means how long the shutter of your digital camera stays open. It’s expressed as a fraction of a second, such as 1/30th or 160th or 1/400th. The slower the shutter speed, the longer the shutter is open, and the more likely your are to get a blurred picture. If your digital camera is in automatic mode, make sure the shutter speed the camera is showing is at least 1/125th. It’s very hard to do get a sharp photo at a slower speed. For moving objects, you’ll need a setting of at least 1/400th to stop the motion. If the auto mode is not showing a fast enough shutter speed, switch the camera to the shutter priority setting and set the shutter speed manually.

For photographing fireworks in the sky or at any reasonable distance, switch it off! All flash will do is illuminate any smoke or dust in front of the camera and spoil the picture. But if you are photographing people close by with, for example, sparklers or torches, you can get some exciting effects by combining flash illumination and a slow shutter speed (above). The flash illuminates people and freezes the scene but the long (slow sync) shutter speed lets bright moving objects, like sparklers, leave long trails. Look for settings like slow-sync flash or use a slow manual shutter speed - say, between 1/4 and a whole second, with the flash on. And finally, Take as many shots as you can. Fireworks don’t demand highest resolution camera settings so you can use a lower resolution setting to get more shots out of your memory card.

About the Author

Digital Photography has improved greatly over the years. Have you been wanting some key info on getting great fireworks pictures start reading.

by Gary B
Motorsports is one of the fastest growing subjects in digital photography, the track, the cars, the adrenaline! Many of us just love the rush as we snap away at motorcars as they thunder round hairpin bends at breakneck speed! Here’s my best advice to help you become an instant motorsport expert..

1 - Look for hard and fast corners where the wheels lift from the floor. Use a fast shutter speed of 1/1000 sec to freeze the gravity defying action.

2 - Be aware of action. Grabbing a shot of a car spinning out or locking up will always make an action-packed shot.

3 - Shooting a lone car on the track can work as a more aesthetic and artistic shot to take away from the day as a memory.

4 - Shoot jaunty angles whenever you if you can as they’ll spice up a ’standard’ panning shot and give it a dynamic feel.

5 - Edit for impact when in the digital darkroom. Cropping tighter, boosting the contrast and upping the saturation will help take your shot up a level.

6 - Zoom right in and capture a few shots of the finer detail such as the colourful wheels whizzing round or drivers as they prepare for a race.

7 - Shoot the story of the day and point the camera off track - they could make a great race day picture story that will boost your portfolio.

8 - Avoid extremely cluttered and messy backgrounds as they’ll distract the eye. Move to a spot where there’s not so much advertising in the background or shoot from a little higher and use the grass or track as a neutral backdrop.

9 - Try to shoot the vehicles as they’re coming towards the camera or panning parallel with the lens for more impact.

10 - Try to capture the aggression of the cars as they lurch into the corners and the whole stance of the vehicle changes.

If you’re looking for Digital Camera reviews of the latest D-SLR model visit the Digital SLR Reviews Area today!

About the Author

Gary is the Editor of Your-Digital-Photography.com, the Complete Digital Photography Resource Site, with Digital Camera Reviews, Tips, Tricks and

by Gary B
Shooting Reflections can produce stunning results for photographers of all levels, however it’s not as easy as you might think to bag a mind blowing shot! Here’s our advice to get you started..

You don’t need a huge lake to make the most of reflections in your shots! Reflections are a popular theme and you don’t need a huge expanse of water for the best shots, a small lake will do. Plan to get out there early and shoot in the warm light before the temperature rises and the wind picks up, causing the water to ripple. If the wind does pick up you can concentrate on the colourful patterns made by the moving water.

Look around you and you’ll see that reflections are everywhere - buildings, mountains, trees and wildlife. Other reflective sources, such as metallic surfaces and glass facades, offer a multitude of opportunities to test your composition skills to the max. So get out there and get shooting!

Get creative! Look for the unusual in nature. Shooting reflections isn’t only about capturing perfect mirror reflections. For example, moving water can give great abstract images.

Watch the weather! Learning to Interpret the weather forecast will save you from wasting precious shooting time and mean you’re more likely to get the shot you want. High pressure, for example, is often a good indication of calmer weather.

Also try and remember to take a polarising filter. They’re quite cheap and easy to get hold of. It’ll stop any glare, which is particularly damaging in reflective shots.

Great Ideas: Wildlife - Many stunning bird species live near shallow easy to approach safely waters. Look for natural features or interesting looking creatures. Birds in particular lend themselves to great reflective shots on water.

Great Ideas: Seasonal Color - As the seasons change, keep an eye open for reflections of trees with amazing color contrasts. The browns of autumn often make stunning reflection images. Try featuring a second object to give a sense of scale of the image.

Great Ideas: Cityscapes - For very dramatic images, try and shoot buildings with colourful exteriors, or strong lighting near a lake, river or canal. Shooting cityscapes at night can produce mind blowing results, just be sure to be safe at all times, take a partner perhaps.

For more digital photo tutorials visit Digital Photo Tutorials Today!

About the Author

Gary is the Editor of Your-Digital-Photography.com, the Complete Digital Photography Resource Site, with Digital Camera Reviews, Tips, Tricks and Tutorials for the Digital Photography Enthusiast!

by Timothy Firth

Retouching can be considered the act of blending in those colors that make a seamless presentation. It is often used to correct for blemishes on a person’s skin, or the “red-eye” effect that can occur with flash photography. It is also a restorative process for photos or other source artwork that has some areas that have been compromised by handling or scratching, etc. The retoucher will use their judgment to restore the colors to segments of the picture that tend to reconstitute the image as it was before being damaged.

Two application programs that are useful in retouching will be discussed, MS Paint and JASC’s Paint Shop Pro.

Because the specific technique useful for a given project will call upon a series of complex and arcane steps, only an overview of the capabilities of these two applications will be discussed. The user is encouraged to become familiar with the basics of the program you intend to use - to experiment with some of the steps relevant to a chosen retouching technique - to call on the “Help” files to obtain guidance on how to use the features, etc.

The two applications have some tools that are similar, and the principles of operation have commonality. The “eyedropper” tool is used to sample color from the source artwork or from a color palette. There are a variety of application tools for applying this color to the areas you choose. You can create a custom palette of colors, or you can “measure” the color that has been sampled by using “custom colors.” The measure of a color is defined by its saturation, intensity, and hue. In regard to the colors that appear on your screen, they are defined by a “triad” of the colors red, green, and blue (RGB), with the intensity of each defined by an eight-bit number. The decimal value of this number ranges from zero for black, or absence of intensity to 255 for the maximum intensity of that basic RGB color. Note that a specific color includes an intensity value for each of the colors red, green, and blue.

Often, there will be an equivalent of the decimal value stated in some other way, perhaps as a two-character hexadecimal number or as a character symbol that is part of a defined character group that has a corresponding number between 0 and 255, as in an ASCII (American Society for Character Information Interchange) code. Regarding hexadecimal numbers in relation to decimal numbers, F in hexadecimal corresponds to 15 in decimal and FF corresponds to 255. Hexadecimal is a base-16 counting system, and decimal is a base-10 counting system. Hexadecimal has features that make it convenient to use with computer systems and with characterizing intensity levels of the RGB color triad.

Either application can be used to insert chosen colors into areas that need retouching. MS Paint allows you to place discrete colors within any pixel. It allows you to sample the color existing within a given pixel and apply that color over one or more pixels in patterns that are governed by the application tool. It also allows you to sample a rectangular patch of pixels, over which the colors may vary, and replicate that patch wherever you wish.

Paint Shop Pro has application tools that allow you to sample a color and apply it in a manner in which the density of the applied color is greatest at the point of application and diminishes as you get farther from the point of application. In other words, the application tool can be much like an airbrush, with the greatest density under the spray nozzle, and an overspray that can be adjusted by settings. Paint Shop Pro also has a layering feature that lets you determine the relative opacity of either layer - that is, you can make a custom layer with a pattern of applied colors that have a tendency to correct the source artwork, and determine later how much influence this layer should have in the evolution of the final image. In general, the custom layer overlays the source artwork in the temporary image seen by the program. You can manipulate the pattern of color and it’s density, as well as control the transparency of this layer so you can obtain the desired result. When satisfied with the result, save the temporary image to a permanent image file.

About the Author

Timothy Firth B.Sc. provides cheap e-books with master resale rights, premium e-books, audio books, software and home business opportunity suitable for everyone. For more information on Digital Photography, visit E-Book Library Online - http://www.ebooklibraryonline.co.uk

by Mark Jackson
Even a point a shot digital camera is not a guarantee that you will get good quality pictures. Forget about all those advertising spiels that tell you how your camera knows how to take professional pictures. Even if your camera is built with start of the art digital technology, you will still need to point it in the right direction before you can hope to get some professional looking pictures. In other words, you should know how to use your camera properly to get good results. To help you get some professional looking pictures, here are some tips for you.

Preparing to take pictures

Taking pictures require concentration so it would be a good idea for you to relax for about 15 to 30 minutes before you start taking pictures. Always remember that the slightest movement of your hands could ruin your photos so make sure that your body is relaxed so that you will be able to provide steady support to your camera.

If you intend to use some props and other materials for your pictures, gather all these things together before hand so that you will not end up feeling harassed later on. It will not do you any good if you go running about trying to find your props in the middle of a photo session. Always remember that photography is supposed to be a fun hobby, so do not stress yourself out.

Taking pictures

Before taking your pictures, make sure that you do away with all the clutter in the background. There is nothing uglier than having a cluttered background. Just imagine how ugly your picture will turn out if there is jumble of telephone wires, soft drink cans and other in the background. Sure, clutter can be a form of art if made the subject of your photographs but if they are used as background, forget it! Clutter has no place in your picture especially if you are taking photographs of people.

When taking your pictures, stay close to your subject. If you are taking a picture of a person, do not move more than four feet away from that person. Always remember that your subject is the person so focus on your subject and capture the expression on the face of your subject. Note that the facial expression of your subject will make your pictures more interesting. Consider taking pictures of that that person at different angle so that you will have plenty of choices later. The secret of getting professional looking pictures is to take as many pictures as you can and then select the best ones. Every self-respecting professional photographer knows that taking several pictures on a single subject is very important and that there are only about 1 to 2 photos in every 10 pictures that you take that is worth something.

About the Author

Mark Jackson is a freelance editor for HP Photosmart Online. Read more and find great deals and discounts on HP Photosmart Online products at

by Domen Lombergar
Just as music builds mood, colors can also help create mood. A lot has been written on what each color denotes, what emotions it evokes. Colors also have an impact on one’s health. Did you ever think that the colors in a photograph can actually make someone look at it over and over again or probably turn-off the viewer. In fact the colors in photographs can set the pace and mood of your surroundings and impact you deeply.

Let’s understand the core of a photo or a painting for that matter. Human subconsciousness readily sees things in symmetry. Therefore, a symmetrical figurine or view would register faster. Asymmetrical view (in this case a photograph) would also catch attention but with some portions drawing more attention than others.

Next comes the color and texture. Colors in your photograph can have an impact in two ways. One, through the contrast created by using colors of ‘cooler hues’ along with colors of ‘warmer hues’. Second, through the use of a color-type in dominance you could create vibrance, tranquility or royal elegance. Red, Orange and Yellow of the spectrum are warm colors. Blue, Purple and Green on the other hand are cool colors

If a photograph is created with a contrast, the warmer tones need to be occupying less space as these colors draw away attention. They have an effect of warmth & excitement, which when used in excess can also be agitating.

Red is the best choice for creating warmth & passion in your photo. Why on earth did you think that Valentine’s Day is all about red flowers, red balloons and a long flowing red dress? Red with a background in white adds drastic contrast but has an element of grace to it.

Orange is a mixture of yellow and red. It therefore, brings in enthusiasm and warmth. Nature’s best hues are when the sun goes down and colors the sky in a confused array of pink, orange and yellow.

Yellow reflects most of the light and thus draws lots of attention; too bright a shade will leave you irritated. Prolonged exposure can also have a tiring effect. It is best used in down-tones; as background for white articles/figures.

Green is the color of tranquility and vibrance. It’s nature’s color and often gets used in pro photography for food advertising. It seems perfect when paired up with yellow. They have opposite impacts on your mood. Though it may sound like a garish combination, when used in equal proportions it has lasting impact on your photographs.

Blue produces a sense of calmness, which edges more towards sadness. Someone once said-’I am felling blue’. Blue is also a very responsible color, very corporate and powerful, when paired with black.

Black has varied meanings in different cultures across the globe. Universally, it’s the color of choice for most formal occasions equally for men and women. It makes your silhouette look slimmer. It takes in all the color and should be used sparingly in photos. Most welcome to be used with warm colors or when the sentiment is serious..

Use white and pink to create a softer look. White creates a sense of space and is ideal to give a deeper look to your photograph. And if you got a flared pink dress, just sit on the green rug across a white background to get clicked….you will love that photograph on your wall for years to come.

Now that you are aware of what colors can do to the photographs! Now go enliven yourself with those snazzy snaps in the living room or retire in that lounge area with cool blues. Ah! and not to forget the right kind of shades too.

About the Author

If you’d like to learn more tips, tricks and techniques, come join us at http://www.photoexit.com … the web 2.0 photography portal.

Candles are a unique light source. Using candlelight to light a scene can result in breathtaking photos. Candlelight temperature is different than flash, daylight or regular bulb light. Using candlelight is hard and requires experience. This article will provide you some basic ideas to start experimenting with.
Candles can be used in a few ways: they can be a light source that lights an object in the photo but not appear in the photo themselves. They can be used as a light source and also participate as an object in the final photo or they can participate as the solo object in the photo (or in other words simply a candles photo).

Remember to eliminate other light sources: The goal of candlelight photos is to achieve an effect that is based on the unique characteristics that candlelight provides such as its warmth. In order to maximize this effect you should make sure that there are no other light sources that contaminate the scene. A simple test for that is to blow off all the candles and make sure that the scene is completely dark. It goes without saying that you should make sure that your digital camera’s flash is set to the off position. In some cases a small amount of additional light source can be used. After experimenting and gaining experience with candlelight photography you will get a sense of when allowing some other light to penetrate the scene makes sense and in which angles and intensities.
Candlelight is not as strong as other light sources. It is much weaker than your digital camera’s flash. For that reason candlelight photography will almost always result in low light slow shutter speed photography. Although it is recommended that you use a setup in which you maximize the aperture width and minimize the shutter speed it is likely that you will end up having to use slow shutter speeds. There are a few things you need to consider: Camera shakings – these can be eliminated by using a tripod or by placing the camera on a stable surface and using timer photography. Objects movements: if objects move during the period in which the shutter is open the photo will appear smudged. Make sure that the objects you are photographing do not move and that people do not blink. Another movement source is the movement of the light source itself. Candles tend to flicker – although it is hard to completely eliminate this phenomenon and some flicker is actually welcome in order to get a good candlelight effect – it is recommended that you prevent extreme flicker. This can be done for example by making sure that there is no wind blowing in the scene, that the candles are on stable surfaces and that they were lit for a while and burn consistently. Determining the right shutter speed is also hard. Since the candles light is bright on one and but on the other hand is concentrated in a small area and weak once farther from the candle most cameras ambient light measurements and automatic shutter speed settings will be wrong. Using the camera automatic setting is a good start. Try to take a few photos with slower and faster shutter speeds and explore the results.
The amount of light in the scene depends on the number of candles that are used. Since candles are not a strong light source you would usually need to use a few candles. Sometimes you would only like to have a small number of candles appear in the photo itself but you would still need to have more candlelight in the scene. In such cases you can use extra candles to light up the scene but keep those candles out of the composed photo. When you do that – make sure that the additional candles are placed in a way that make sense – for example – that they do not create shades that do not appear not normal in relation to the candles in the photo.
Lighting is an art. Using candlelight as a light source is an art by itself and requires experience. There are some basic rules for candle positioning. For example it is clear that the candles should be closer to the camera than the objects. Otherwise the result will be a silhouette of the objects. Different lighting angles create different shades and different effects. For example if you are photographing a person and the candles are placed in a low position relative to the person’s face – you will get a more scary effect. On the other hand – if the candles are placed at the same height as the person’s face you will get a warmer and softer effect. It is hard to provide candle positioning rules and such positioning greatly depends on the effect that you are looking for. More than one candle can be used with each at a different position to create more complicated effects and to eliminate unwanted shades. The best advice is to take many photos and experiment with different candle positions and angles.
Last but not least is white balancing. Digital cameras can be set to compensate for the specific light source that is used. Although most cameras can automatically detect and set their white balancing offset – it is better to manually set the white balance – most cameras include a candlelight source as an white balance option. It is also worth experimenting with setting the white balance to the wrong source on purpose. Set the white balance to different temperatures to achieve different effects, more reddish photos for example.
To conclude, candlelight photography is hard – it requires a lot of experience and understanding of lighting, shutter speeds and other photography issues. On the other hand such experience pays off with breathtaking photos and effects that sometimes appear more like artist paintings than photographs.

More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about Sony and digital printing Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. This article can be published as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues.

By: Tyler Ellison

The difference between professional and amateur video work is obvious to audiences but is not always so obvious behind the camera. With so many things to consider, it’s easy to overlook something while shooting that may be irreparable later. Your audience will know if the shoot was handled well or not by how they react to the images you present. Professionals have often
learned by hard experience the consequences of failing to plan against the following five mistakes:

1. Bad framing. Nobody likes to see an actor whose head is cut off by the top of the video frame, but even fewer people like to see an actor with his chin cut off at the bottom. It’s important to maintain good balance in the composition of the shot, but the somewhat experienced amateur tends to go to the other extreme by putting all the subjects smack in the center of the frame. That gets boring and the audience will see everything objectively. The professional follows the rule of thirds, keeping the subjects on the lines that divide the frame into thirds, keeping eyes on the top third and movement on the third opposite of the direction in which the subject is moving in order to keep open space in front. While this may seem simple, it is not as easy as it appears once the action begins. Practice following the rule of thirds and you will be able to keep your subjects interesting to watch.

2. Too much zooming. Most consumer grade camcorders have few effects built in but all of them have zooms so many amateurs tend to overuse it. If you pay attention to most of the stuff you see in films or television, the actual zooming is not commonly displayed. Home videos, however, are deeply infected with over zealous zooming and it weakens the production. Picture quality and audience interest remains when you track the camera in for a closer view instead of constantly zooming. The wide shot keeps the highest picture quality so try to use that whenever you can.

3. Backlighting. The amateur videographer is 99% ignorant of how light affects the appearance of the subject on the screen. So much amateur video is so fraught with black figures with dark faces by windows or in front of the sunlight. A word to the wise: keep the strongest light source in front of your actor or subject for the best video quality. Photographers have a flash so they can mix it up but video isn’t served by having backgrounds that are brighter than the subject. When forced to video a backlit subject, increase the exposure to totally blow out the background. Better to have a clear face and nothing in the background than a beautiful background with a dark subject.

4. Background noise. Camcorders com with omnidirectional microphones built in but many videographers continue to shoot as if the sound from the front is the only audio that the camera will pick up. What they fail to consider is the fact that the microphone is picking up the planes overhead, the trucks on the nearby highway, the children playing nearby, and the wind. Cut out all the background noise you can before you start rolling tape because once that audio is recorded, you may not be able to clean it up in post production.

5. No tripod. Please, just use it. Get one with quick release plates so it doesn’t slow you down much when you need to hold the camera but no human arm or shoulder will ever be able to compete with the steady, dependable, and strong shots that come from using a tripod. Videographers are cocky and think they can handle it with their hands. They obviously have never participated in the production of a major motion picture. The cinematographer never holds the camera himself, he’s not so incompetent as to think he can get consistent quality shots with his own arm.

Avoid these mistakes and your audiences will love you for it.

Tyler Ellison is affiliated with utah wedding videographers through Ellison Video Productions.