Learn Digital Photography – Using Colour For Fantastic Photos

Colour is more important to our worlds than we think and is often taken for granted. Although monochrome photos are great, there is more to colour photography than we think. A few techniques learnt will add a dramatic dimension to your images.

As with all photography you must always think before you shoot an image. Take the time to ponder the scene and work out what works in the composition. Look at what colours are available and where they are, how much colour to include and how to use it. By applying a few simple techniques you images will be admired and result in great satisfaction for you.

1. Using a single colour

This is a great technique for a bold photograph. By isolating a colour or at the very least making it the dominating colour you create images that are bold and dramatic. Key to this is finding objects or scenes that have just one colour yet make an effective composition. Get in closer to the subjects isolating from their surroundings and making the colour the focal point.

2. Watch the light

When shooting in colour just a subtle light change can result in a very different image. A sudden change in cloud cover will enrich the colours and make them appear more saturated. When shooting in the morning or evening they will look warmer and when the sun is higher they will look cooler. Shooting in bright shade will also make them look richer. So always be aware of the light quality and get to know which times in the day give you the best results.

3. Colour saturation

This is how rich or deep the colours appear to be. Well saturated colours appear bright and make really colourful images, which is what you want to achieve on most occasions. To do this in camera is quite simple but you need to be careful not to overdo it. By using your aperture compensation usually denoted by the Ev setting on you camera, you can very slightly underexpose the photo by a third to half a stop. This will increase your saturation. Too much though will make the final image dark and muddy. With digital photography you can also adjust the saturation using the slider in Photoshop.

4. Contrasting colours

By getting to know your colour wheel and where the various colours are situated you will see that colours opposite each other are contrasting. When you create a colourful photo, look for colours that are next to each other in the scene that contrast. Be careful that one doesn’t dominate the other so shoot in strong light. You want the colours to capture the attention like a bright red subject on a bright green background.

5. Complimentary colours

These colours make each other look good. They lie alongside each other on the colour wheel and in a way harmonize. This type of image is very easy on the eye as you will see in a green scene with a strong yellow subject. Try finding different shades of the same colour which is basically the dominant colour mixing with the colour next to it.

6. Colours that clash

These should never be used together, or so the rules say. But, we all like to break the rules so try it out and see if it works. On some occasions they will and a stunning image may result. Experimenting will always bring surprises so don’t be afraid to try.

The world of colour is a top source of fantastic images and if you use it as you learn digital photography you will create great images. Don’t be afraid to try new ideas. Break out of the traditional mould and find out what works for you.

Do you want to learn more about photography in a digital world? I’ve just completed a brand new e-course delivered by e-mail. Download it here for free by clicking here: http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/ To learn how you can take your photography from ordinary to outstanding click here – http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/21steps.htm

Wayne Turner has been teaching photography for 25 years and has written three books on photography.

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Digital Photography

“It will be decades before Digital Photography reaches the quality needed to replace film.” Oh yeah? Only a few years after that prediction was made, digital photographic technology had reached a quality, resolution and affordability sufficient to make film all but extinct.

The convenience, the cost, the ease of use coupled with huge technical advances in converting photons into pixels have combined to make digital photography popular among top pros, advanced amateurs and novices alike. As early as 2006, 82% of a group of photographers surveyed said they had tuned to digital photography.

Digital photographic equipment is just as sophisticated and expensive as film equipment ever was. The results are obviously of a high enough standard to be used in any professional application. And the technology continues to advance at great speed.

There are many advantages to digital photography. The ease of transferring photos to a computer and then post-processing them in programs such as Photoshop; the fact that you can take a photo and see the results on an LCD screen immediately; the fact that you can, from one photo to the next, vary the ISO from 50 to 3200; the fact that you can take 1,000 digital photos on a reusable card and not have to pay for the processing; the fact that you can take stills and video with the same camera without needing any other equipment; all these things and many more combine to make digital photography so popular.

In a period of about 10 years, the entire photography world has done a major shift from all film photography, with digital being a sort of distant hope of being able to get results, to a photography world dominated almost exclusively by digital photography.

Some dyed-in-the-wool film photographers claim that there is a difference in quality still, favoring film over digital photography. And it may be true. Film photography is an analog process so the gradations in tone could perhaps be smoother than those created by the digital photography process. But obviously the differences are not sufficient to outweigh the many advantages of digital photography in the eyes of most of the photographers shooting today.

In the end, of course, it is an individual and personal choice whether to use film or digital photography or both. If you are a long term film photography aficionado, you might consider renting or borrowing some good digital equipment and trying the medium out for yourself. Likewise, if you never knew film but started straight in with a digital camera, you might get hold of a good film camera and shoot a couple of rolls of 35mm or medium format transparency film and see what you think.

You might end up liking both media for different reasons. They do produce different results and both have their applications. But one thing is for sure, digital photography is going to continue to increase in popularity and advance in technology and who knows what the limit is.

Please visit us at http://www.smokinphoto.com for other Photography related articles.

Three Top Digital Photography Tips

In this article, we have collected some beginning digital photography tips and tricks from three of our most expert online instructors. These tips on lighting contrast, flash output, and camera settings will point you in the right direction and help you make your own masterpiece photographs.

1. AVOID CONTRASTY SITUATIONS

Extremes in contrast are a problem for both film and digital photography, but it is especially a problem when shooting digital. When the highlights and shadows are too extreme, the detail in both areas are in jeopardy of being lost. Even you try to “average” the exposure, a compromise between the light and dark areas, the shadows tend to go black and the highlights are washed out.

With digital photography, even a subtle difference in contrast can mean the complete loss in detail in the highlights. A light area on the bridge of the nose, for example, that would show detail in a negative can easily be blown out on a chip.

Therefore, try your best to avoid contrasty situations. Patchy lighting is a classic example of what to avoid, but I’ve seen portraits done on overcast days (it was a bright overcast) that show a loss of detail in skin tone because the contrast was just a little too much for digital cameras to handle.

2. REDUCING YOUR FLASH OUTPUT

If you have problems with the flash on your compact digital camera being too strong, here’s a solution. First, if you can program your flash to output less (by setting it to -1, or -2, etc.) do that. But if you find that it’s still putting out too much light, hold your index finger partly over the flash head when it makes the picture.

It would seem illogical, but flash output is so powerful that this actually does the trick. Not only has this been very successful in knocking down the light output for me, it has also warmed up the light of the flash. The light of the flash going through your finger will be softer, more subdued, and much warmer.

3. REMEMBER YOUR CAMERA SETTINGS

It’s easy to change white balance, ISO, etc., in your camera settings, all within the same photography session. But it’s not always so easy to remember to change those settings back – especially while in the heat of the excitement! We take care of this problem with a piece of colored gaffer tape, which we move into an area that can be seen easily as a reminder that we have made a change to the original settings.

This is critically important when using exposure compensation. After returning your setting(s) back to normal, then we place the tape in a spot where it does not get much attention. This tape can be reused in this manner many times and will still adhere well and does not leave any residue.

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Learn Digital Photography: Fast Track Your Photography

Learning digital photography in our instant society is only possible by applying the basic principles of good photography. Digital is another tool and there is no real fast way of doing this. BUT… If you are prepared to follow these six quick photography principles you’re on the road to learning digital photography fast. And I really mean fast. So here goes.

1. Choose your subject carefully.

This is the centrepiece of your photo. Make sure you identify a suitable subject and focus on this. Not negotiable. If subject is not clearly identifiable your photo will be below average.

2. Place you subject intelligently.

Divide your image into thirds vertically and horizontally. Imagine 2 lines across and 2 lines down. Where these lines intersect place your subject on one of these points. If you have an horizon in the image, line it up with one of the 2 horizontal lines.

3. Get closer to your subject.

Most times the subject is what you want to remember about the scene you are recording. So get as much of it in your photo. This is especially so with family photos. Have smaller groups of people shot closer to the camera.

4. Exclude clutter from around your subject.

Make sure that there are no trees or telephone poles sticking out the top of you subject’s head. Unless you particularly want to remember the garbage can, bicycle, microwave or signboard, leave them out of the scene. Look for anything that you don’t want to see in 20 years when viewing the photos and exclude it.

5. Look at your subject from a different angle.

Shoot from up higher (above the subject) or lower (looking up at the subject). Find a different angle so that the image is unique a gives you a different more interesting aspect.

6. Change your viewpoint.

Most people stand in front of the subject and just shoot away. Move around looking through your viewfinder and find a different position that gives a more interesting shot. Experimenting is the key.

BONUS TIP

Finally here’s a bonus tip. Choose a subject you want to photograph and shoot it in 50 different ways. Shoot from high, low, the left, the right, directly above. Get in really close, turn you camera at an angle, hold the camera above your head. Change your viewpoint, walk away from the subject, lie on your back or lie on your stomach. It may sound a lot but when you try it you’ll see it’s possible. When you’ve finished, browse through all the images and you will be amazed at your ability. You will have found a new and different angle that will amaze your friends and family. Don’t worry about feeling stupid if you want to get that great shot. Follow these 6 basic photographic principles and your photos will improve dramatically and very fast. Within hours you friends will be complimenting you on your great images.

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Learn Digital Photography – the Basics of Digital Photography

When you want to maximize your digital camera, you need to have some basics of digital photography. Some might think that they need to join photography classes to get the best of their hobby but little do they know, you just need some background information and you will be able to improve the quality of your picture.

So, let’s start.

The first thing to learning digital photography is to have the right camera. When you are starting on photography, you will be wasting your money when you dive straight into the professional DSLR camera. It is true that DSLR cam capture better picture but as a novice photographer, you might have problem appreciating its potential.

When you are unsure of your skill level, you should stick to a compact digital camera and practice your skills before you get something more complicated.

Then, let’s talk about the basic format of digital photography.

You need to understand that the digital images you captured is actually made up of million of pixels. Most people thought that the more pixel you have the better picture quality will be. That is not entirely true. You will enjoy better picture quality with high pixel when you have a larger image sensor.

This is because the more pixels you have in a small image sensor, the more they are compressed together. When you take a picture at high ISO, the pixels are going to introduce digital noise to the near by pixel. However, when you have a larger image sensor, these pixels will be more loosely pack. Hence the intensity of noise in your picture at high ISO will be less.

Still, it is not the end of the world when you have noise in your picture. Another beauty of digital photography is that you can always edit your picture with software. Although it does involve work but when you think about saving the once in a life time picture, all the extra work is worth it.

You might think that software is only for professionals. But as the technology improves, software developers have made the software so user friendly that you can learn it over a short tutorial.

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The Future of Digital Photography

Just a few years ago digital photography was a new technology but today it has gone through many innovative changes. Although most of us think of digital photography in terms of the camera we carry around, it expands into more areas including that of medical and criminal science. What used to be almost impossible even twenty years ago is possible with digital photography technology. Look at the composite drawings of suspects that police used to do—digital photography now allows this to be done on a computer with digital technology. Medical facilities use it for X-rays and other types of visual testing procedures.

 When we look to the past and how far digital photography has come in the first eight years of the 21st century, we can only imagine what it might hold for us in the future. In many areas the use of digital photography has replaced methods that were far less precise and accurate, especially in the medical field. There is a definite need for this field to be expanded and constantly renovated because of the way our lives in general run. We are a very fast-paced society and with that fast pace comes for the need for more modern and innovative technology. Not only do professional photographers need to stay on top of these innovations but also anyone in any field that includes any type of digital photography.

 Unlike the film we used to use to take pictures, digital photography has many more areas in which to improve. Film cameras had reached their limit when digital photography came onto the market but we have only tapped into a small portion of its capabilities at the present time. How vast that knowledge and ability will become is unknown at the present time and will only be known as time lapses and the world sees the changes it can create. What is certain is that digital photography is an area that is still new enough for us to make many improvements over even the next decade.

 We have seen major changes in digital photography over the past decade, and we will see many more over the next one. The cameras have gone from being expensive and complicated to learn to small intricate pieces that will fit easily in a pocket at a fraction of the original cost. The future of digital photography will be one of more innovations and improvements.

How to Get Tack Sharp Photographs – A Digital Photography Tip

Did you ever ask yourself how professional photographers get their photographs so sharp and  have you wondered how you can do it yourself? Their images are so crisp, so sharp! If they can do it you must be able to do it to, right? So how can you do it?
A couple of years ago when I just started out with photography I was wondering how to do this. Everybody can take a more or less sharp picture, but to take a extremely sharp photograph takes some knowledge. This extreme level is known as “tack” sharp. If you take a tack sharp photo then you’ve taken an image with the absolute best sharpness. How do you do this?
A couple factors determine if your photographs are going to be “tack” or not:

Digital photography tip #1: the use of tripods

Some people don’t really like tripods. They can be quite cumbersome. Tripods can be annoying because they are heavy and if you are taking pictures outside they can hold you back quite a bit.
What they can do, however, is get you to that “tack” level sharpness. With this level of sharpness there can be absolutely no movement or it will result in a fuzzy image

Digital photography tip #2: The use of timers

Use a timer as much as possible. This will further eliminate any movement that might be caused when you take a picture. Although this will greatly improve the quality of your images, it will slow you down even more.

Digital photography tip #3: Lenses

If you have a good lens then your image will be sharper in most cases. The downside is that good lenses cost a lot of money and if you don’t have a lot of cash to spend this point won’t help you as much. The Digital single-lens reflex cameras of today usually come with a standard lens (probably an 18mm to 55mm). While these are great to start with they aren’t the best when it comes to quality, as it has a lot of moving parts in it and good zoom lenses cost a lot. Don’t let this discourage you though. If your names isn’t Rockefeller and you don’t swim in pools of cash there are other ways to get that absolute clarity.

Digital photography tip #4: Aperture

Two stops down from wide open is when your lens is at it’s sharpest. Take the 18mm – 55mm lens for example. When you put the aperture at about f/8 then your photograph is going to be sharper then with an aperture of f/3,5.

Digital photography tip # 5: Shutter speed

Shorter shutter speeds reduce the chance of getting any motion blur. If there’s one thing that messes up tack sharp images, it’s motion blur. So what are good speeds? Flowers don’t move a lot, so a shutter speed of 1/250 might be able to do the trick. A car or an athlete on the other hand is going to need a shutter speed of 1/2000 or more. The rule of thumb is: The faster your subject is moving the faster your shutter speed needs to be.

Now you have the knowledge to create super sharp images. The next thing you need to do is going out and try these techniques. The main thing that you need to keep in mind is to reduce motion blur.
If you want to learn more check out my blog

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Learn Digital Photography – Using Your Digital Camera the First Time

Consumers have gone digital ever since the technology improved and became cheaper. Nowadays, digital cameras are build to be affordable and user friendly. Gone are the days when we buy specific ISO films for specific occasion.

Still, you need to learn about digital photography before you start using your camera.

1. Understand the features

Do you know how wide your camera lens is? Do you know the smaller the lens size (mm) the more you can fit into your picture? How much is the optical zoom of your camera? Do you know optical zoom is more important than digital zoom when you are taking a picture?

Besides, cameras nowadays don’t just take photos. Cameras like compact digital cameras are capable of taking video too. Can you benefit from this feature?

Digital camera is just a tool to the vast world of photography. If you really want to learn digital photography, you need to realize the potential of your camera.

2. Read the manual

Unless you are really into photography, a lot of consumers didn’t read the manual. If you are one of them, probably you have even misplaced the manual now.

But the fact is, your untouched manual is a very good guide for your digital photography hobby. It often surprises the consumers because their camera can do a lot more than they think.

3. Learn the basics

The basic of using a digital camera is to look at the subject from the LCD screen or eyepiece, focus on the subject manually or automatically, snap the picture and view it on TV or PC.

You will only know how to make your pictures unique after you master the basics.

4. Experiment

One of the best ways to understand the potential of your digital camera is to experiment with it.

Capture the subject with different mode and compare which of them is better. Sometimes capturing a picture under dim light with flash off is better than setting the flash on.

Since your pictures are stored digitally, you don’t need to worry about spending money on film. The maximum wastage can only be battery power which is also rechargeable.

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Learn Digital Photography Online With The Right Way

Learn digital photography online? Are you looking to learn digital photography online? A computer with internet connection can access to begin learning a photography course online. Many photography schools are offering the course for a fee, but they are usually expensive and curriculum is crammed with theory and history of photography that doesn’t get you to the point.

This article will show you a place where you can learn digital photography online with real professional, not amateur.

Visit Digital Photography Online Lesson for more information.

A qualified photography school should provide precise and useful materials that students can implement after studied. A short lesson should sufficiently learn everything in photography, while your skills may require years to master. The elements of digital photography are the basic function and setting of a camera, composition, lighting, image editing with photoshop and the special effect of picture shooting. A good lecture should provide simple techniques and skill that anyone can understand and implement easily.

A few photography schools usually offer above mentioned lessons while many are crammed with unnecessary learning materials to extend the course for a higher fee. A digital photography course that offer online is beneficial to the learner in way of less expensive, precise content and short period of learning. The online lesson allows you to study at home at your own pace. There are assignments and quizzes required for completion in order to advance to the next step.

The digital photography online course is designed for home-study which can help to save a lot of time on traveling and unnecessary expenses. The course are created by real photographers who have years of experienced in the field and won many awards in photography. You can visit this website for more information.

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How to make money by learning digital photography

Learn Digital Photography Online

Everybody loves to earn money, this is one universal fact. If you ever got a chance to earn some extra money without doing too much effort and without giving full time to it then you would never let that chance slide by. Digital photography might be that chance, digital photography is fairly easy to do with some tips in mind as everyone has a digital camera nowadays and has taken some photographs at some point of time. Try to follow the suggestions given below in order to make some extra bucks with your camera in your spare time:

Start by taking Pet photos:

Taking photos of animals no matter if they are house pets or not is very difficult because they mostly don’t  understand what you want them to do and wont be obeying them and they wont be sitting around for you to snap the picture. This problem comes in handy for you as most pet owners wont want to waste there time and effort on taking there pets photos, so you can ask them to do it for them and also get paid for doing so. You can then also take ask them if they want those pictures printed and make some money that way by printing it yourself on a photo printer(which you would require anyway if you want to do digital photography seriously)

Tips for Taking better pictures with your digital camera

Try to cover occasions that come once in a lifetime:

There are several occasions which come once in a lifetime and most people don’t want to ruin them by taking pictures of them by themselves as they fear they might ruin it, example of such occasions can be birthdays, graduations and weddings. Occasions like these offer lots of opportunities for capturing a precious moment in someone’s life and also get paid for it. Try doing some of these occasions for free for some of your friends in the start just to spread the word around that you are a good digital photographer and when you are a bit famous try asking for money for covering an event.

Try your luck with Postcards:

Everyone goes for vacations or holidays at some part of there life and when they do they defiantly want to share those special moment with there friends and relatives, people send postcards of such vacations to there friends just to show how much they enjoyed the vacations and to tell them they wished they were there with them. Try to design post cards of such occasions by taking the photographs of there vacation or holiday and doing some post processing on them which can be easily don’t with image editing software’s like Photoshop etc this will definitely bring you good money and is also fairly easy to do

Baby Photography is a hot market

One of the greatest feeling in the world is becoming a parent and parent will definitely want these great moments to be captured in a good manner so try to advertise your services for taking newborn baby picture and tell people can you will be available on a call when they want there moments to be captured. Try to capture this market as this will alone bring you a lot of money, maintain the same approach as previous, try to do some work for free and when you are established ask for money

Novelty Items can bring some extra cash

Many people nowadays want there pictures or logos on T-shirts, USB drives, coffee mugs, mouse pads etc for advertising purposes or just to show off to other people, if you have the resources to defiantly get into that market

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