Beldames’ Saloon

Before doing any portrait photography there are some very important questions that any photographer should ask himself. What kind of light source it’s going to be used? From what angle the light will fall on the subject? What film, camera and lens are best to use?

If you manage to answer all this questions before taking the photo then you will probably make quite a good portrait photography. But i know that you don’t want a good portrait photography, you want a perfect one. So the best way to achieve this performance is to talk with the client trying to know him, his past, his desires. This way you can create distinctive portraits. If you want a real great portrait then you have to add a bit of the client’s personality in the photo. This works very well especially when you make female portrait photography. You shouldn’t look for a face that is over painted by a makeup artist. Try to surprise something that really represents the subject.

If you are wondering what to talk about with your clients then the answer is anything that will show you something distinctive for that person. Try to look for different face expressions and eye or mouth movement. When you see something beautiful keep it in mind and later capture it in your portraits. Belive me that studying the subject before making the portrait photography is the biggest secret in this art.

Meeting with the client, building rapport, knowing the client, and planning the session are essential elements. So don’t do the final session at the first meeting. After you are sure that you know everything you need to know to make a perfect portrait photography choose the best location and time of day and take the session.

I advice you to always use natural light if it’s possible. Choosing the background it’s also very important too. If the picture is to close then the background looses any meaning, if it’s to far then the background will overwhelm the subject. So try not to merge the subject with the background in an indistinguishable shape.

From my point of view making portrait photography is the greatest art. I belive this because it’s very different from making landscape photography or nature photography. When you make a photo you can make the subject to react to your wills and you really can control the picture.

So, in conclusion when it comes to portrait photography it all depends on how much you want the photo to be perfect and how dedicated you are to the art and the feeling of seeing that your client is really pleased.

For great information on Portrait Photography, Digital Photography and any other photography related subjects visit us at the best photography site.

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Camera digital technology: do you have to understand it to utilize it? Probably not, especially if you’re using a consumer digital camera - a point-and-shoot - and you just want to get that holiday trip recorded for posterity…

On the other hand, it is quite useful to have a good grip on camera digital technology to get the best out of that little technological marvel!

For starters, it makes sense to know that the number of pictures you can take on your camera depends on the file format you select, and on your camera’s storage capacity.

Camera digital technology generally works with two main formats, the JPG and the RAW file. The latter is for storing as much as possible original data per picture, to be adjusted later on a PC. The RAW format is of particular interest to professionals. RAW pictures often need nearly 10 times as much storage space as JPG files, so a casual photographer will generally choose to use JPG.

However, your camera might give you the option of selecting high quality JPG’s or standard quality JPG’s - the latter using less space, and mostly giving quite satisfactory results.

The camera will store the picture files on a card. A 256MB card can sometimes store more than 80 images of standard JPG size. If you’re willing to spend more, new camera digital technology allows you to buy cards with 10 times more storage capacity.

Another aspect of camera digital technology which is useful to know about, is the way the images are captured. In stead of the film of well, film cameras, digital cameras have a silicon sensor with light-sensitive photosites (pixels) which capture the light information.

These sensors are often less precise than film when it comes to rendering detail in shadows and highlights. Camera digital technology therefore dictates that you should be careful not to “blow” your highlights. If they are not captured in the first place, you can’t make any adjustments afterwards in your software processing.

To ensure you capture as much shadow and highlight detail as possible, and in a balanced way, camera digital technology offers you the use of a histogram. This handy tool is a little graph which indicates how the levels of brightness are distributed in an image. Many cameras show a histogram in real time, while you compose your image, giving you the opportunity to make exposure adjustments.

While digital camera lenses are essentially “old technology”, it is useful to know that you can get excellent quality pictures from fairly inexpensive consumer cameras. This has once again to do with the sensor used in camera digital technology.

As the sensor in these point-and-shoots have a much smaller surface area than the 35mm film of a film camera, the former can get a much sharper and detailed image than a film camera with the same lens, due to the smaller focal area.

Camera digital technology has the major advantage of offering you stacks of opportunity to experiment with taking first-rate pictures, because you don’t have to be concerned with the expenses relating to camera film.

So go out there and put the new camera digital technology to use!

Rika Susan of Article-Alert.com researches, writes, and publishes full-time on the Web. Copyright of this article: 2006 Rika Susan. This article may be reprinted if the resource box and hyperlinks are left intact.

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How many of you budding photographers own an expensive SLR camera or the latest digital
camera with tripod and haven’t a clue how to get started using them? Raise your hand. Hmmmm. What you need is a whole day out in the field taking beautiful pictures for your album, contests, your scanner and your walls. Here are some ideas for photo opportunities you can count on to produce a high percentage of winners.

The New York skyline or any famous city within travel distance are sure fire people pleasers when photographed in an unusual way. If you have access to a view of the city from a westerly point, try to arrive at the scenic point one hour before sunset. As long as the sun is out, the city buildings will be bathed in a warm light, while the clouds or sky will appear many shades bluer. This color contrast highlights the importance of the buildings and provides a visual interest not available at other time of the day. Place the horizon one third from the bottom of the picture for a ’sweeping sky’ look. If possible, scout around for a tree or other over hanging structures for framing and foreground interest. A secondary center of interest in the mid-ground helps the feeling of depth. After the sun series, an hour wait for near dark presents another ‘magic’ time for an interesting shot. A clear dark sky will photograph royal blue when a short time exposure is used. The warm incandescent lights of the city are further enhanced by the comparison. A slow to medium speed ISO setting requires a shutter speed of two to three minutes at F5.6 or F8.

A visit to a local antique store is a gold mine of beautiful pictures. A kind word to the owner and a promise of a picture or two usually insures their cooperation. Set your camera on a tripod in order to take advantage of the natural light in the room An edge-darkening filter in front of the lens greatly improves the pictures. You can make your own by cutting a four by four inch piece of 2x neutral density plastic filter material. Cut a one inch by three-quarter inch oval hole in the middle. When placed in front of the lens, a natural fad-out is produced on the edges of the picture. Look for interesting subjects to photograph like a sleeping doll, light coming through colored bottles, antique items on a dresser top, an old rocking chair with the old owner int, or an antique hobby horse. Try to stay away from straight lines and very dark objects. Window light is best, so you may find it necessary to relocate the item of interest nearer to a window. The owner surely knows many interesting stories about their antiques. Altogether a fun day!

Another fun spot laden with picture possibilities is the local arboretum or formal gardens. Depending on the time of year, spectacular photos can be made from the many unusual plant life. You can photograph tiny blooms from one inch away, discover patterns in strange leaves or capture the mood of a forest with a creative filter on your lens.

At certain times of the year, you can find a lake or local body of water blanketed by a transparent layer of fog. I know it’s hard to get up before dawn, but for this field trip it will be necessary. Bring along waders if you have them or rent a row boat or canoe. Unless building are particularly photogenic, don’t use them in your composition. A horizon line one third from the top will place more importance on the water and fog. A super saturated film or setting on your digital camera will enhance the color of the scene. Strong foreground interest and small apertures with long exposures are important features of the day. A small stone thrown into the still water simulates a hungry fish and a few handy large leaves floating past can help capture interest.

If there are no overhanging branches at the chosen location, a cut branch held over the lens a few feet away can substitute. The best photographs in the scenario will be fore the sun comes up. If you can, include the rising sun in you composition for a different look. For variety, shoot a few super close-ups of flowers, insects or leaves. Since the sun will give you a false exposure, a meter reading of the darkest portion of the scene can be set manually for a proper exposure. Work fast sine one hour is the most time you can expect to have Bring along a fishing pole and enjoy the rest of the day. Happy shooting.

I used to photograph only people. Now I photograph everything.

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I remember picking up my first digital camera - it felt small and unsubstantial against my sturdy film equivalent. All battery powered and no film to load - it wasn’t real photography.

Within an hour, however, I had been converted as I could immediately see the images I was producing. No more waiting for the mailman to arrive with my photos and no more trips to the store.

I was converted. This freedom led me to purchase more memory cards so that I could take and download many more images.

I was shooting at will and would often take 200 or more images in a session. This was Ok because I could discard what I didn’t want and try again. There was no film to pay for - the only cost was the batteries and they could simply be recharged.

I now realise that there was another cost. With all this constant snapping I was losing my skills as a photographer. Sure, I could see a scene, shoot it and make appropriate adjustments on the camera before shooting again. But I stopped thinking “before” I pressed the shutter release.

Digital had cost my skill. Or almost.

I gradually realised that I no longer viewed the scene before I put the camera to my eye. I didn’t see the components in their entirity and I didn’t compose as accurately as I should. I forgot to look for lamposts coming out of people’s heads and didn’t get the groups to all look at the camera at the same time. I relied on repeating a shot to get it perfect and when I downloaded my images I could have easily have discarded 90% or more of them.

This wasn’t what I wanted in photography and the digital medium, which was such a great advance in photography, had been taken and manhandled by me. I was becoming a bad photographer.

But now I have reformed. I still take shots that I am not proud of and I still discard a good proportion of my images. But I think more than I used to in order to harness the digital medium rather than ignore it.

Now I shoot less. And by doing so I put more thought into each image. I look for the right light, the right expression, the right patterns and the right timing. I look around the viwefinder to see what is there and try, where possible, to get an image that needs little or no manipulation after download.

I ask myself a series of questions: why am I taking this shot? what do I hope to achieve? what needs to be added or taken away to make the image better? where is the light coming from, where does it fall and what quality does it have? what adjustments do I need to make before taking the picture - how can I harness the power of my camera in order to get it right first time?

I have seen an improvement in my work. I am no expert and there are plenty of people with far greater skill than I. But now I enjoy the picture taking process even more than I used to. I can capture all the benefits that digital has to offer but with the constant thought that it was I who was the photographer and it was I that observed, composed and created the picture.

Now more of my images please me. That is all I ever wanted.

Eric Hartman is a keen photographer and owner of the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and weblog http://photographyonline.blogspot.com

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Would you like to sell photos online at your own gallery? Send people to your very own web address to purchase the photos you’ve taken of them. There’s more than one way to go about it. Here we take a look at the benefits of building a photo website, using services designed for professional photographers.

Not long ago it would have been a major project starting your own photography business. My how things have changed. Today, the new online photo services let you up load all of your photos to your own gallery and set your own prices. Shoot whatever you want and send your customers to your beautiful online gallery, to purchase the shots.

It’s the easy way to get your photos and video on line for family, friends and customers to view. They can click to order any size prints or a variety of gifts like coffee mugs, sweatshirts, holiday cards etc… and you make money on every sale you set your own prices. So now you just upload the pictures and Aunt Alice can order what she wants and stop bugging you for copies! Get carried away, upload UNLIMITED photos with a click, shoot a million pictures if you want, you can’t out grow that! Your precious family heirlooms, safely stored in full resolution. Download them anytime you want, because it’s a photo storage website too. Hey, backup is good right? Organizing photo albums could not be simpler with the easy to use tools these companies provide. As with everything each photo sharing website has its advantages, click on the link at the bottom of this ezinearticle to compare the different services.

One of the photo gallery website providers called Smugmug has teamed up with GoogleMaps to create SmugMaps, I would have named it smoogle maps, whatever you call it, it’s so cool! Install GoogleEarth, then click on the green GoogleEarth botton. Then while your logged into your smugmug account click on the map, the photos you select are tagged to that spot and displayed for the world to see, promoting your art gallery. You can also SmugMap by typing in the street address or gps coordinates.

Are you an artist waiting to be discovered? Get your work out there today. Whether your shooting the local cheerleader squad or an expedition to Alaska. Selling your photos is now very easy to do. You don’t really want to go thru the hassle of setting up a merchants account to charge peoples credit cards do you? Good because you don’t have to! You don’t really want to print, trim, pack, address, ship, and provide customer service on each order do you? Good because you don’t have to. (if you answered yes, we have an opening for a lab tech) of course I’m just kidding, we don’t have time for all that, were out shooting more pictures to sell!

That’s right, now you actually have the time to go out and take lots and lots of pictures. Go crazy you can take a million photos if you want. There’s no limit to number of photos that you can upload on some of the professional photo sharing web sites. Hey your goal oriented right? How long would it take you to shoot a million photos? Let’s see, this should be easier than figuring out the Tootsie Pop thing. If you shoot everyday for 10 years you’d have to shoot 274 pictures per day, because I don’t think you can take 2739 photos every day for a year!

Here are some suggestions on what to shoot:

1. TAKING PICTURES ON VACATION
a) Museums and Historical Landmarks
b) National Parks and Monuments
c) City Skylines and Architecture
d) Amusement Parks
e) Back Roads and Byways
f) Scenic Overlooks

2. SCHOOL SPORTING EVENTS- Especially regional and state tournaments or championships. They are a goldmine, parents love pictures of their superstars. If you take a photo of each kid and then a team group picture, many of the parents will buy a few. One for the house, one for grandma etc. When you add up all the kids from all the teams, you’re looking at hundred’s kids. The money starts adding up real quick.
a) Football Team Photo
b) Cheerleader Squad photo
c) Homecoming Activities
d) Regional & State Championships
e) Soccer, Wrestling, Swimming etc…
f) School Plays, Concerts and more
g) Little League Baseball
h) Soccer Teams
i) Basketball Teams

3. LOCAL EVENTS- Check the local paper and see what’s happening in your area
a) Hot Air Balloon Races and Air Shows
b) Car Shows & Motorcycle Rally’s
c) Parades & Fireworks
d) County And State Fairs
e) Craft Shows
f) Trade shows
g) Concerts
h) Tail Gate Parties

4. BOY SCOUTS AND GIRL SCOUTS- Many kids don’t play soccer or basketball, they enjoy scouting, and they buy lots of pictures of the kids during scouting activities. Just go around the event and shoot it up, try to get a nice posed photo of each scout, then a troop shot with the leaders. Make sure you get permission from the appropriate council.
a) Camp outs
b) Hikes
c) The Annual Jamboree
d) Pinewood derby
e) Fundraisers

5.PROPERTY- Real estate agents need quality photographs to promote their listed properties. Let your local agencies know your available on call and watch the cash start flowing in. Architects need photos of the properties they design for many reasons. Show me the money!
a) Real Estate Agencies
b) Commercial Properties
c) Architectural Photography
d) Builders and Contractors

6. RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES- This is my favorite, I live up in the mountains and we have a lot of these type of adventures available close by. Folks on vacation sure like photos of themselves while participating in activities. If you have activities like these in your area, talk with a local outfitter, they are usually very receptive to the idea of photo souvenirs, because it promotes their service long after the adventure is over.
a) Whitewater River Rafting
b) Horseback Riding Outfitters
c) Ski Resorts
d) Snowmobile Trails
e) Golf Tournaments

7. INSURANCE COMPANIES- Most insurance companies require documentation to reimburse policy holders for a loss. A photographic inventory of all items covered by the policy is recommended by insurance adjusters, this is a huge market.
a) Residential
b) Commercial

8. FAMILY PORTRAITS- Many families have a portrait done annually. I like to photograph the family during fun time, rather than a studio. I like to have a good time with them. I always get better smiles and more interesting images on location. This year suggest doing the photo at an activity that the whole family enjoys participating in together “A family that plays together, stays together”
a) At home
b) In the studio
c) On location
d) Holiday Cards in October

9. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES- If I told you how much money you could make in one day photographing graduates, clubs, dances or homecoming activities, you wouldn’t believe me. So I am going to let you find out for yourself. Then you email me and tell me and I will believe it! Photographing some of the school events like graduation and plays should be done at a dress rehearsal prior to the actual event. Always make prior arrangements with the school before you shoot.
a) Graduation
b) School Plays
c) Dances
d) Marching Band
e) Homecoming

10. STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY AGENCYS- there are many agencies that will purchase quality images to package and resell. Check stock photo agencies many of them accept freelance work.

Here’s how it goes. Take the photo, give the client a card with your photo gallery web site address on it. Up load the pictures to your gallery. They go to your website and pick out the ones they want and order prints or coffee mugs, whatever they want. Then the photos are printed and shipped by the company that hosts your gallery. Then the company sends you a check. How much you make on each image is up to you. The Photo gallery hosting company charges you say, $1.99 for an 8″x 10″ print. You set your retail prices at 24.99 for the print. You just made $23.00. The magic happens when you use the intrinsic artistic value, to increase the value of an otherwise inexpensive piece of paper. Most retailers wish they had a markup this good!

Once you get going, you will be lining up jobs at all sorts of events. Even taking photos while traveling and writing off your business expenses. If you really love photography you should consider your own gallery online.

When I got my gallery, I had so much fun thinking of creative titles for the galleries and getting all my pictures set up and organized. For instance, I have one gallery that is a tribute to trees. Everytime I see a beautiful tree, I capture a picture and display it in a gallery that I named Treebute.

For helpful information about, How to Become a Freelance Photographer, visit our unique Freelance Photographer Jobs website at: FreelancePhotographerJobs.com To look at our online gallery, Click on Main Photo Gallery in the side bar. To compare the features of photo hosting web sites Click on Ready To Go Photo Gallery in the side bar. There are a lot of free photography tips, tutorials and travel information there. For smart tips on camera equipment, read our Keep It Short and Sweet Equipment Reviews at KISSERreviews.com

I have been a professional photographer at several western ski resorts including Vail and Breckenridge. I started out at Grand Targhee Wyoming, where I landed my first professional photography job taking action photos of skiers on the slopes at Grand Targhee. I am currently a freelance photographer based out of Lake Tahoe, CA.

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There are way too many tape, disk and stick formats out there:

VHS - The old standard, too big, not digital, easily played anywhere without conversion.

VHS-C - A small cassette that fits in an adapter to play in a regular VCR. Most people who have these older units record at the slow EP or SLP speed which gives them borderline crummy results. Not my favorite, as you may guess, but these camcorders are cheap, cheap, cheap. In the right hands, I’ve seen dazzling results.

S-VHS and S-VHS-C - Called “super” VHS, this format puts more details on a VHS-like tape than regular VHS camcorders do, but unless you have a VCR that plays it back, the picture looks all torn and raggedy. A good non-digital format for pros but on its way out.

8mm, Hi8 and Digital8 - A popular family of camcorder tapes primarily engineered by Sony, the small cassette looks sort of like VHS-C but there is no adapter to play it in a VHS VCR. It started with 8mm, got improved by Hi8 (which used to be expensive), and went digital with Digital8. Hi8 camcorders are now on sale very cheaply– they are a good choice for the budget-minded. The D8 (Digital8) format ain’t bad — it costs less lower than some of the other digital formats, it’s a little larger (therefore more robust?), and D8 equipment is compatible with computer editing systems through it’s Firewire plugs just like pro gear.

MiniDV - A small tape format that at one time or another all the major manufacturers agreed upon (but some have broken ranks as you step up into pro gear or move to still smaller tape or non-tape formats). At the time this is written, I’d say this is the best all-purpose format around. It’s used in mid-range consumer cameras up to some fine pro-gear used by the broadcast industry, worldwide. You can generally record one hour or so on a tape at normal speed and can get 50% more time at slow speed, but watch out: tapes recorded at the slow LP speed may not play back anywhere but in the camcorder that made them — great 10 years from now when the camcorder has gone to camcorder heaven and you want to dig out those old shots only to discover they play like your VCR has a bad case of the hiccups.

DVCAM and DVCpro - Industrial step-ups of the MiniDV format and standard. Electronically these digital formats are the same as MiniDV, but the tapes are bigger and there are other differences that Sony and Panasonic love to argue about. We mix and match a lot of MiniDV and DVCAM at our (primarily Sony) shop, using DVCAM in our more expensive camcorders where we need to shoot for two or three hours without stop. Panasonic’s DVCpro is similar and has been bought into by a number of broadcasters, but it is less compatible when mixing and matching with MiniDV (in my opinion).

Then there are some emerging formats that I’ve seen for sale or read about, but haven’t bought into yet:

MicroDV - a very small tape in very small Sony camcorders

MiniDVD - a DVD disk in a cartridge used in some Hitachi camcorders.

MPEG video in still digital cameras - some still camera manufacturers feel that you want to also record video with their units. Usually you can collect snippets of less than a minute. The results are interesting to post on a web site, but that’s about it. This video is usually captured on whatever memory sticks or diskettes the camera uses — another whole subject beyond the range of this discussion.

DVD - A major playback format but not yet widely available in camcorders.

I didn’t go into all the older formats and broadcast formats that are still lurking around: 3/4″, BetaMax, BetaSP, and 1″ to name just a few. On top of that, if you are sort of an international soul, you’ve run into the fact that other parts of the world have different TV standards. Ours is called NTSC, much of Europe is PAL, France is SECAM and there are subsets of these. If you are a student of world history shortly after World War II, you can fan out these three major formats to the rest of the world by who was in charge of or aligned politically with whom. The tapes and disks are the same mechanically, but what’s recorded on them is different. It takes special equipment to translate from one format to another.

A big part of our business is dedicated to just transferring all these old and new formats to the more popular playback formats: VHS and DVD. The digital formats are here to stay and pretty-much obsolete the older formats. As this is written, high definition camcorder equipment is not yet available for consumers — this equipment will probably be very expensive when it first shows up. Get a good camcorder today while everyone is still healthy and around, and the kids haven’t grown too big, and don’t second guess yourself about what might or might not be coming down the road.

Video Kitchen can edit, duplicate or convert your video to and from almost any format. Our most popular services are transferring photos to DVD building stunning photo montages and copying VHS and camcorder tapes to DVD to preserve and share those special moments.

We also shoot, edit and do mass duplication of VHS, DVD and CD for businesses and organizations. You can come in and work in an edit suite with one of our editors producing a “broadcast-ready” program or edit together a family video on a self-service basis.

Our wide-ranging transfer services include converting old Super 8, 8mm and 16mm home movie film to video, converting video footage for PowerPoint presentations and encoding clips to be shown on the Internet, to name a few.

We have a location in Louisville Kentucky’s Highlands at 2323 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY 40205 and one in Jeffersontown in the East End at 1917 Blankenbaker Parkway, Louisville KY 40299. Please browse through our pages at http://www.videokitchen.com and feel free to call six days a week.

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When a woman becomes a mother, whether it be for the first time or not, life changes at that very moment in time. When a mother has a child there is pride that is associated with that child. The pride associated with having a healthy baby boy or girl is amazing, but it is hard to put into words. As much as a mother would love to spend every minute with their child there are many who are unable to. When life starts calling there are many parents who are required to place their infants into childcare. Leaving a child behind, even only for a little while, can be heartbreaking, but what if there was a way to reduce that heartbreak even just a little bit?

When a mother returns to work for the first time after having a child it is likely that she will take a number of photographs with her. Photographs are a great way for mothers to always keep their child in their thoughts, but there is a newer more modern way. A custom photo purse is one of the newest ways to bring photographs alive and they can literally be carried everywhere you go.

A custom photo purse is created by using a special purse that is able to have a photograph constructed on a portion of it. The purses used to create a custom photo purse often come in a wide variety of different styles and sizes. It is possible for color or black and white photos to be constructed on a purse. There are only a small number of limitations; therefore, creating a custom photo purse is great way to help brighten up any mother’s day.

If you are a new mother yourself or know a new mother you are encourage to consider purchasing them a custom photo purse. For a reasonable price it is possible to turn a baby photo or a family photo into a custom photo purse. There are a wide number of companies or individuals who specialize in making custom photo purses. This means that different individuals may have different purse styles or design options. While it may not always occur, it is often possible to select not only the style of the purse, but the interior and exterior border colors as well. This feature truly makes a photo purse a custom photo purse.

Going back to work after having a child is one of the hardest and most painful things for a mother to do. Almost always the child is being cared for and it is the mother that is suffering the most. With a custom photo purse you can help a friend or family member cope with their return to work.

Joel Preston is a writer for Photo Blanket Gifts where you can find
more information about custom photo purses and other personalized photo gifts.

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Underexposure can ruin your images. But what is it?
In basic terms it is when not enough light reaches the sensor. This results in a dark, dull and lifeless image.

Why does it happen?

To capture a good image the camera chooses a combination of shutter speed and aperture according to the calculations made within the meter. Shutter speed is how long the shutter is open (and therefore, letting in light) and aperture is the size of the hole in the lens.

At most times, the camera will produce fine results and select the correct settings for the camera. Occasionally, the camera will make the wrong calculations for the subject. This is because the camera only averages the total light coming in. When shooting on manual settings, the photographer sometimes sets the wrong settings.

In these situations, there is not enough light coming into the camera. This results in “underexposure”. The “shadows” or dark areas will be too dark and featureless. Detail and information is lost.

The solution is to take the photograph again and choose MORE exposure by using a bigger aperture or a slower shutter speed. You can do this manually or you can use “exposure compensation” (read your camera manual to find out how).

There are situations where underexposure is common. When there is strong backlighting behind your subject, your camera will see an expanse of brightness and will reduce the exposure accordingly to produce and “average” result. An example of this would be someone standing in front of a large window or a subject against the sky. The backlit areas cause the camera to underexpose the subject, resulting in a virtual silhouette. In these cases try to compensate using the camera.

Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com

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The Olympus digital camera is preferred by many photographers specifically for image quality, even though it may be lacking in some features found in other cameras in a similar price range.

Such is the case with the Olympus Digital Camera SP-500 Ultra Zoom.

Some who have tried this Olympus digital camera with its excellent 10X zoom lens have complained about the lack of an image stabilizer, but it seems all is forgiven when you take the broader picture (so to speak!) into account.

This Olympus digital camera is no mere point-and-shoot - even though the excellent price might lead you to believe that it is nothing special.

It is a true prosumer camera, with a range of powerful features to satisfy even serious photographers, as pointed out in a number of Olympus digital camera reviews.

Starting with the basics, the Olympus SP-500 UZ works with normal AA batteries, so you’re hardly ever likely to be completely out of battery options. The camera is reasonably conservative as far as power consumption goes, sparing you from having to carry a whole bag of backups with you on your next field trip.

This Olympus digital camera has a solid grip and feel, much more like an SLR than like it’s little consumer cousins, and as an aspiring or even expert photographer, you needn’t feel self-conscious in public…

The versatility of this camera is accentuated in Olympus digital camera reviews. The Olympus SP-500 offers you enough manual control to do a lot of experimenting, which is what digital cameras are about! On the other hand, if you’re still learning the ropes - or are just in a rush - it has at least 21 pre-set modes to help you out in a variety of situations.

In situations where the excellent autofocus system can’t be expected to cope fully, you have the option of using the software-controlled manual focus. This is easy to set by navigating on your LCD screen.

Many photographers prefer to be able to manipulate and process the images on their computers afterwards, instead of relying on the camera’s onboard processor. The Olympus Digital Camera SP-500 doesn’t let you down in that respect. You can shoot in either RAW or JPEG format, or in a combination of the two.

A host of other features will enhance your digital photography experience. The Olympus digital camera allows you to edit images inside the camera, including red-eye removal and cropping. A number of external lenses can be attached to the Olympus SP-500 UZ, to expand the telephoto and wide angle abilities of the camera.

The generous 2.5 inch LCD screen helps a lot when composing and reviewing your pictures. Another plus is that the Olympus SP-500 uses the newer 1GB xD cards that facilitates storing of many more of your creatively captured images.

Anyone who enjoys photography as a hobby, and can invest some time getting familiar with new features, will find that a camera worth its price is the SP-500 UZ Olympus Digital Camera!

For more information visit Best-Digital-Photography.com

Rika Susan of Article-Alert.com researches, writes, and publishes full-time on the Web. Copyright of this article: 2006 Rika Susan. This article may be reprinted if the resource box and hyperlinks are left intact.

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When a new addition to the family arrives, the cameras pop out like weeds

in the garden. Unfortunately, most of the pictures, while enjoyed, never quite capture the cuteness of the new baby. Here are some tips to help you do the little darling justice.

First, let me advise you never to use a wide angle lens for a baby picture. The foreshortening of a 28mm focal length lens will be sure to (1) make the baby’s nose appear larger, (2) reduce the size of their ears to looking smaller and out of shape, and (3) probably cause an overexposure of the image due to the closeness of the flash to the subject. One the other hand, a short telephoto lens (100mm) will reproduce our angel’s features to a normal proportion, all of his (or her) different parts presented in the proper ratio. Even a small distortion of proportion has a definite (and detrimental) effect on the features.

While I’m not excluding taking pictures at night with a flash, I am recommending that you wait for daytime for that wonderful light coming from your window. Turn off the flash or cover it with two layers of white handkerchief. A setting of 200 ISO should be sufficient for a good exposure. The bottom pane is the one with the most photogenic light, so if you can, close off the upper part. Try raising the mattress in the crib so that you can see the baby without looking down. Soft light from the sky or light reflected off clouds produces a three dimensional rounded effect especially flattering to a baby’s face. If the room is furnished in dark colors, place a reflecting surface near the baby to fill in the shadow. Use a tripod or other support and shoot away.

Try different angles: a high angle looking down, a position on the opposite side of the crib (turn it around), or even through the bars. Avoid using the macro setting on a zoom lens, since this setting most often incorporates a wide angle focal length. Find the closest distance possible on your short telephoto lens (85mm - 120mm) and stand at that distance. A two diopter close-up attachment lens could halve this distance for super close-ups.

For twins, try to have one sit and one stand. The diagonals produced in the composition introduce a dynamic note to the picture. Important is to have all eyes pointing in the same direction. A squeeze toy helps.

Don’t forget the comic possibilities of baby photography. A cold piece of lettuce often produces a variety of quizzical expressions. A slice of lemon brings a riot of surprised and sour looks. A messy finale to a noon time meal is best enjoyed at a distance. Tickling feathers, air blown through a straw or a spray of water from a hidden source can supply an endless source of comical expressions. Before long, you’ll have them captured forever in pictures and in your hearts!

I like to write uplifting and fast moving stories.

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