Photography

Here are some places to look for free photography tutorials.

Enjoy

http://photo.net/

http://onlinedigitalphotographycourses.blogspot.com/

http://www.grygarness.com/index2.html

http://www.adorama.com/

When buying a digital camera, there are certain qualities that every camera should have in order to have the main features necessary for good photo taking.  In addition to the digital camera, the photographer should also take into consideration the size of the memory card so that more photographs can be taken at the site before uploading to a permanent hard disk storage at home. the photographer should also choose the right accessories that enable more unique photographs may be taken.

Features

One of the first features to look at in a digital camera is how many megapixels it can take so that after the uploading, output print quality is as fine as a traditional camera.  Usually the minimum requirement is about six megapixels, but more will be needed if the individual does any work with the photograph, such as cropping.

There are also memory cards in digital cameras for storing the photographs.  These should always be removable so that more than one can be used on a trip without losing any of the photographs by having to delete them to make room for more.  With improvement in technology, there are memory cards with disk space larger than the cards that come with the cameras, so it is alright that the card does not hold many photographs as long as it is removable from the digital camera.

In addition, a digital camera should have some automatic features on it such as an auto exposure and auto focus.  These features help even inexperienced photographers get the most out of every photograph.  In addition, the zoom feature should not just be a digital zoom, but should also allow for optical zoom so that the individual can control it as well.

Another essential feature for a digital camera is an automatic flash so that the best quality photographs can be taken at all time of day and night.  There should also be a high quality LCD monitor where the individual can view the photograph about to be taken and make sure that it is the shot that they want. He can also review the photograph on the spot and delete or save the photographs that he wants. Some LCD monitors on the digital camera are not as high quality and are difficult to see in bright light, making it hard to get a quality photograph in that situation.

Natural light is the best type of photography lighting.  The light from the sun or the moon can illuminate the object of the photograph in such a way as to make them appear smoother and softer.  Direct sunlight is some of the brightest photography lighting available and creates perfect shadows for the backgrounds of the photographs.  Natural light is also used as photography lighting indoors, by taking the photographs near windows and other brightly lit areas.

There are many other types of photography lighting that can be used by someone that is interested in taking excellent photographs.  Many photographers choose to use directional lighting, which can be placed anywhere around the subject to illuminate them in a specific way by using artificial lights such as flashes or tungsten halogen lamps.  Using a combination of lights to create shadows or focus on a particular area of the image, the person can obtain creative images by changing the direction of the photography lighting.

Most photographers learn the techniques of photography lighting by trial and error.  Different combinations result in different types of illumination and shadows, so it is important for the photographer to find a lighting technique that they like.  This method is the least expensive way of learning photography lighting.  Some cameras have different lighting functions that can be used for different situations so that the photographer does not have to worry about setting the lighting each time.  This helps create the perfect lighting for different photographs without using additional flashes or lighting equipment.

The direction that the photography lighting is facing is just as important and should be modified to place the subject in the best light possible.  When taking portrait photographs, lighting should be at the back of the subject to soften the facial features and hide any minor imperfections in the skin.  Portraits are also often taken with soft light. Bouncing whatever light you use off a backdrop or ceiling will soften it before the light reaches your subject. Do experiment with both types of lighting.

For landscape photography, the easiest light to use is natural light but direct light into the camera can create a washed out or over exposed photograph. Deep shadows can create a sense of danger in cliffs and rocky areas. A chasm filled with the black of shadow produces an image of danger and mystery. Even a portrait can be done with harsh light. By controlling the amount of light that is allowed to illuminate the photograph, the photographer can make sure that the subject is portrayed in the best light possible creating an image that will capture attention and praise from those who view it.

One problem people face when starting out with digital photography is how to edit your photograph. Perhaps an image is slightly darker, or it has to be rotated or cropped. Digital photos usually require some form of manipulation before final output, unless, of course one takes a perfect picture. The first step is to find an image editor to edit photograph.One of the most common problems is the red-eye. Almost every graphics program has a red-eye removal, so that no matter what level your program is you’ll be able to remove the red-eye. However, in order to prevent it in the first place, it helps to know what causes it. Red-eye is caused by the flash reflecting to the back of the eyes all the way to the retina, and the red comes from the blood vessels in the eye. Therefore, if you flash a light in the eyes of your subject, this will cause the pupil to contract, and then there won’t be any red-eye.

If you have a rather plain picture, your editing program may have a way to enhance the color of a picture, or you can completely change the color of an object. You could be able to convert a color picture to black and white picture. Experiment with your program and find out what you can do to improve the coloring of your pictures.

To clean up a picture, you can try cropping. You could want to cut the image down to just the subject of your picture, essentially eliminating all the distracting surrounding objects or you could increase the size to make your subject not to look too solitary.

What’s the “right” size for a picture? Most monitors display at 72 dpi (dots per inch). So, if you want the picture to be 5 inches wide (probably about the biggest you would want for an e-mail message), the picture would be 360 pixels wide (5 inches x 72 dpi = 360 pixels). If you have ever zoomed in on an image, Pixels are those little squares that you see. The more pixels in an image, the better the resolution.

What are some beginning photography tips that would quickly improve your photography skills?
The first beginning photography tips and is to ensure that you have the correct composition you can use the rule of third. How it works is that it separates the scene in the viewfinder into 9 equal 3×3 parts and where the lines cross is where the objects should lie.
The second beginning photography tips is to remember that taking a picture is also story telling. Take a picture that has a theme in it. For instance if you are taking picture of a sunset to illustrate the romatic setting, you should attempt to catch the spirit of it.
A third beginning photography tips is of course to look at the lighting effect. Ensure that there is light evening spread on the object and use flash whenever necessary. Even for day shots, especially if the lights are overhead, you should use the flash to lighten the darker spots.
Fourth beginning photography tips is to ensure learn your basics again. Learn how to hold your camera steady and avoid camera shake. With your right hand, you should hold the camera in a way that allows you to press down on the button and not shake the camera and at the same time support the weight of the camera with the left hand.
Hope these beginning photography tips would prove useful to you that you can take better pictures in no time from getting your first camera.

Photoshop is arguably the best software to use for creating and edit digital photographs. If you’ve always wanted to learn more about Photoshop but don’t know where to start, you don’t have to pay for classes to fine-tune your skills. You can get all the tips and techniques you need from these free online resources. Here are a few sites you might want to start with:

www.photoshopcafe.com
Photoshopcafe.com is one of the many sites dedicated to Photoshop. You get
Tutorials
Textual tips,
Reviews of new tools,
Reviews of books
Delicated forum

www.good-tutorials.com
This site contain thousands of contributed tutorials that you can access.

www.sketchpad.net
For beginners, this site is a big help, especially if you have little or no prior knowledge about how Photoshop works. If you’re a moderately experienced Photoshop user, there are retouching tutorials you can learn in three different levels, enough to improve your skills. You can also challenge yourself with the online projects.

www.tutorialized.com
This site specializes in Photoshop and Flash tutorials. Everything you want to know about these two softwares you only need to click on the site to learn.

To us, digital cameras are one of the greatest inventions this century. We are no longer held hostage to the film and the high cost of taking pictures. However, with this new technology, the techniques for taking pictures are the same.

Lighting. When taking a picture, a general tips is to aim for even light over your image. This applies from the indoor to the outdoor shoot. If you can consistently get an even lighting on your image with no hard lighting, you should be able to take some pretty fantastic pictures. Sometimes, even if you are taking pictures outdoor, you would still require the use of a flash lighting. This is because the sun may be over head and causing uneven lighting on the image. Hence, flash lighting would light up the darker spots.

Learn how to have a steady shot. Learn how to hold the camera and at the same time press down and not shake too much. Normally you would hold the right side of the camera with the index fingers on the bottom. And the left hand would hold the left side and help support the weight of the camera. If you have problem with getting a steady shot, you should consider using a tripod.

Join online communities and share your pictures around. Let everyone take a look at your pictures and comment on it and that’s one of the fastest way to learn. You can also join social networking groups and may be link with the local photography enthusiast and go together for photo shooting. Also learn from others pictures, the techniques in taking the various pictures.

Learn you basic function of your digital camera. Take time to read through the manual and to get familiar with the various functions that your camera has. Any way you have paid for all the function.

Just recently, film photography is so popular that is very hard to imagine anything else taking over. But right now, major film manufacturers are getting out of the film based industry and into digital devices. What is it that digital photography has over film photography that there are so many people using it now?

The ability to take more photographs then film photographs

With film cameras, you can only take 30-40 pictures per film and you have to carry with you extra films to load your cameras. But with digital cameras, depending on your camera resolution, you can take hundreds of pictures per memory card. This is a significant advantage that digital photography has over film

Ability to preview the photograph after every shot.

Most digital cameras come with a view screen. Therefore, after every shot, you can take a quick peek at the screen at what is the result. This is useful to check whether the subject has blinked his or her eyes.

Ability to modify the pictures further through image enhancing softwares

There are a lot of softwares out in the market that allows you to touch up the pictures that you have taken. You can adjust the resolutions, crop the pictures or clean up the pictures. All these act to enhance the techniques of the photographer.

Digital pictures are easily shared

With digital pictures, the files can be easily shared with friends and colleagues. What you have to do is simply to upload your pictures to the website and your friends can view it. But with film photography, you would still need to scan the pictures into a digital format before it can be shared with your friends.

New accessories lower the hurdle to adopt digital photography

With the advance in digital photography, more manufacturers are coming in the game. There are printers that can connect directly to the digital cameras to print it out and more softwares to edit the pictures.