Beldames’ Saloon

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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Since most of our lives are spent indoors, most of our family pictures are taken inside. Unfortunately, we have to rely on our built in flashes to get the picture. These pictures include family portraits, table shots, fun gatherings, local indoor events, parties, and social events, to say nothing of the thousands of baby pictures and pet portraits. The built in flash often has enough power to light a subject no further than 12 feet from the camera. The resulting flash picture is flatly lit and must be printed with higher contrast than normal. Pictures taken with subjects further away are dimly lit, low in contrast and have little inherent color. While you may increase the ISO sensitivity to the highest setting, this often results in an image with a large number of artifacts, looking less sharp and grainy.

All these family occasions would be improved with better lighting. An old fashioned PC corded flash will not help you since your digital camera probably doesn’t have a PC socket or hot shoe and even if it does, the red eye pre flash would trigger the accessory flash too soon to synchronize. What you need is an accessory flash that ignores your preflashes and synchronizes with your shutter without wires. The Vivitar DF200 is such a flash.

Other features of this flash are the ability to mount to any camera with a tripod socket, full capability to swivel to the rear and angle up to the ceiling. With plenty of power on hand for good bounce lighting, the swivel feature is important. Another good feature is the ability to operate at a distance. The unit can be placed on a side board aimed at a white wall for a side light or placed high aimed towards a white ceiling for a broad source of light. The advantages of this broad source are a three dimensional look to the picture, reduced glare, more intense color and a sharper, better exposed image. The built in flash acts as the light trigger as well as supplying a fill light for shadow control.

Experiment with different camera and accessory flash settings for the best exposure and balance. A large room can be fully lit using the highest power setting while a closer, smaller area may only need the power setting for good results. The only con with the Vivitar DF200 flash is that it is all plastic and put together inexpensively without screws. There are a few better built alternatives out there but they cost upward of $400. You just have to be careful not to drop the flash or knock it about too much. The excellent results are worth the extra care.

Retired portrait photographer. Any questions?

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The first photographic prints were typically based on high quality linen rag papers. The linen rag paper was coated with liquid containing gelatine, and once the gelatine had stabilized the picture could have a very long life time. To make the image even more stable, sepia or selenium were often used. When sepia was used, the image got a brownish tone. When selenium was used, the tone of the picture would instead be light and silvery. If you want to be able to store your photographs for a long time, you should only use fibre-base paper, such as the old linen rag sheets. Today, there is fibre-based paper available that has been processed in order to meet archival standards.

Ordinary paper is usually less reliable than high-quality linen rag paper when it comes to protecting an image from the wear and tear of time. Paper can easily become too dry when stored and eventually crack. On the other hand, high humidity can also cause the picture to vanish. One of the main problems when trying to save old photographs is that tiny amounts of photographic fixer medium have been left on the paper, which will eventually cause a change in the colours and even complete image loss. Similar problems can be caused by contaminants from the water that was used to wash away the fixer medium from the image when it was processed. Today, fixer is removed during 30 minutes or more and the water must be changed at least six times for every 30 minutes. Commercial companies will often add certain chemical to the soaking to make the process more rapid.

Regardless of paper quality, photographs should never ever be allowed to become wet. Unfortunately, accidents do happen. There are several ways of trying to rescue wet photographs and the result will naturally depend on a wide range of factors, including how wet the photographs got, how soon you discovered the damage and in which shape the photos were to begin with. Do not allow a pile of wet photos to dry out, since they will become stuck and impossible to separate without severely damaging the image. Never use force when separating photographs from each other. Instead, place your photos in a bucket with cool water. It is important that the water is clean and fresh. The emulsion might be released into the water. It is therefore important that you check the water regularly and change if it looks impure.

In really difficult cases, you only option might be to leave the photos in water for an entire day. Some of them might never recover from being soaked, but at least you have a better change of saving them with this method than by the pull-by-force method. You can also turn to professionals for help. If you have old vintage photos, a conservator is usually the best choice. Ideally try to find one that specializes in old photographs. With modern photos, you can instead contact a photo lab.

A good way to learn more about photography and how to take good pictures is to visit photo blogs and discuss photos with other amateurs. Dog photos or other blogs.

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What does one need to do to get the perfect close-up of a wild flower? Set up a tripod, clip on camera, then snap, snap it’s in the bag, camera, chip.. whatever? Maybe… but consider a few unexpected impediments first. Finding the perfect clump of subjects (mostly the easy part), stopping(screeching to a halt) suddenly (sometimes interesting along a busy highway)…parking and gathering up the necessary gear (easy) - then my least favourite part, lugging everything over hill and dale. Tripod, camera bag with several lenses which never seem to get any lighter and then fun, fun, fun…It seems, seemed a short distance across three fences to where the wild, gorgeous yellow number (nothing exotic - a simple daisy but a beauty!), nods in the gentle breeze..but…

Have you ever tried to climb over a fence with tripod in hand and weighty camera bag over shoulder? “Just pass them through the fence and follow”, you say! In theory perfect but as is often the case when I’m out ready to shoot I have tripod ready, camera clipped in, slung over right shoulder legs extended, spread ready to go (the fact that I look like a giraffe with ungainly neck protrusions goes unnoticed) and my camera bag is old, slightly smelly and large!. So, how do I climb through the first fence, let alone the second or third in pursuit of the perfect daisy without a lot of folding of legs pushing and shoving, and unclipping of my precious digital genius first? Simple answer - I don’t, I try to get through regardless. Result? The air rapidly turns blue around my head and expletives neither original nor inventive start erupting unbidden from my person. And then the final indignity as at least one part of my favourite jumper gets snagged by an ever vigilant barb! My alternative solutions: throw the gear over and hope for the best, find a gate (how many miles to the nearest?), or simply leave it all in the SUV…barring the digital genius and one’s favourite 1:1 lens of course!

My final decision? Leave tripod and bag in the SUV, take the necessary, and hope that the ravages of the previous night haven’t wrought havoc with traditionally rock steady hands. So then leaping like a gazelle over fences one, two and three, I stride toward the perfect clump of yellow. It’s late in the season, so all the white daisies are pretty much done - rich, golden yellow it is.

Selecting the perfect specimen is next. I needs to decide what I’m trying to say in the pic. Perfection with clarity - nature’s form, sublime in its attention to detail or organic soft colour merging into more colour with shadowy bits - a bit of both perhaps. The magic of digital, the freedom of digital - the ability to try everything because one can! I love it. It’s a revelation, a deepening of the creative urge to explore new realms without cost… or end sometimes.

Sure, one can always argue that it leads to lack of direction, lack of planning but one can also argue in return that it extends one’s vision, increases one’s output and ability to see the world from different perspectives. I relish the challenge!

Back to the world of yellow! Perfection… mmmm. Unable to settle on which of the perfect choices is THE perfect choice I decide to shoot anyway, putting pen to paper or rather index finger to shutter button in order to get the creative juices flowing. As always seems to happen, I relax into it and my mind opens up to the possibilities: depth of field, front edge of a petal in focus back edge out and vice versa but mostly my mind is consumed by warm yellow. Kneeling on the ground head down intensely focused - the butt in the air angle would not be an attractive sight for any passing observer but I don’t need to worry about such considerations as this mild obsession most often leads to splendid isolation.

A bit of advice - bracket everything (1 either side in stops or thirds if you have the choice), shoot at the highest resolution you can achieve with whichever model of digital genius you possess and take at least half a dozen shots per chosen angle. Give yourself the best chance of capturing the one you really wanted - the perfect image, beautiful enough to grace your wall, a wall anywhere. One feels such an idiot when one has to declare it didn’t quite happen because of trigger finger meanness! Digital genius is defined by trigger finger generosity or put another way - repetition is the basis of professionalism. Whatever it takes I say. Get the shot! The satisfaction is immense.

More advice - check the first few images carefully on the preview screen just to make sure everything is working as it should. Don’t end up taking twenty splendid black and white shots of a gorgeous yellow daisy - do the greyscale thing in Photoshop! Slow down, check the first few brackets. Check that the ISO is set to 100 not to 1600 from last night’s fun and that all the exposure compensation overrides are back to normal (or leave the settings at 1600 over by two if weird and whacky is what you’re after). Little things but in my twenty years as a photographer these little things become mortifyingly large things if ignored!

So perfection captured, 0 and 1’s secured in the land of Flash wizardry it’s back across the three fences leaping not quite so enthusiastically now, the gazelle’s knees are a little creaky from kneeling on the damp ground - back to the ever patient, ever reliable SUV. Gear stowed, key in the ignition, we’re off …A glow of anticipation washes over me!

But never forget the first things to do on your return? Download and backup! Forget at your peril. DOWNLOAD AND BACKUP just in case you didn’t get it the first time.

Copyright 2005 Patrick Heathcock

Sometime commercial photographer London, fulltime flower art photographer and web designer living in the southern semisphere, soaking up the sun. Visit www.aflowergallery.com to view the yellow daisy and more!

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Your lens is an essential element to good photographs. It’s not just your camera. People spend thousands of dollars on a good camera and neglect the lens.

Change that around! Make sure you buy a good camera lens when purchasing a camera. Buy a good camera as well, but don’t neglect a good camera lens.

Why? Your camera is just the ‘holder’ for the photograph. The lens is what your camera sees all your shots through. A good lens is essential to clear and sharp photos.

With most compact digital cameras, you can’t change the lens. So in that case, don’t just buy a good camera, ensure it also has a good lens.

Avoid a plastic digital camera lens because it doesn’t have the clarity of a glass lens.

What model of lens?

Stick with camera lenses from well known manufacturers like Nikon, Canon and Pentax. Ensure you purchase a lens that works with your camera too. A Nikon camera lens usually won’t work well with a Canon camera.

There are specialty lens manufacturers like Carl Zeiss, Leica and Leupold. If you’re a beginner, don’t worry about these lenses until you are more advanced as they come with very high prices and it’s hard to justify the price for the small increase in quality.

Types of Camera Lens

The most common lenses are : Wide Angle, Normal and Telephoto. The type of lens is determined by the Focal Length of the lens. See below. A Zoom Lens is simply a lens that can change Focal Length from a Wide Angle to a Telephoto (or somewhere inbetween).

There are a number of things to look for when purchasing a camera lens.

Lens Focal Length

The Focal Length of a lens determines the amount of magnification and angle of vuew the lens can see. The Focal Length is measured in mm. It’s the Focal Length that determines if the lens is a:

- Wide Angle; small magnification, wide angle of view. 20mm to 35mm

- Traditional, or Normal; 50mm

- Telephoto; high magnification, narrow angle of view; 105mm to 300mm.

- Zoom; A Zoom lens can change it’s focal length to zoom in. A Zoom lens might have a Focal Length of between 50mm and 150mm.

Some lenses are interchangeable between film cameras and digital cameras, but you need to be aware that the effective focal length CHANGES between film and digital. The focal lengths I describe above are for FILM cameras and need to be multiplied by 1.6 to get the effective focal length on a digital camera. So using a film 35mm lens on a digital camera has an effective focal length of 56mm.

What does this mean for you? It means that you won’t get as wide angle on a digital camera as you would on a film camera using the same lens. A 35mm lens which gives a medium wide angle on a film camera acts as a traditional lens on a digital camera

This is a complex subject, so I can’t go into too much detail here. If you need more help, the best person to speak to would be your local camera store’s resident expert.

Lens Speed

The ’speed’ of a digital camera lens also defines a lens. The speed is determined in f-stops and is similar to the f-stop aperture setting on your camera. Faster lenses are more expensive and usually heavier.

Focusing Distance

This is the minimum distance from the camera lens that a subject must be to be in focus. Don’t worry about getting a camera with a close focusing distance. Concentrate on a telephoto instead.

More Advanced Features

More expensive lenses have more advanced features.

- Vibration Reduction. A feature called ‘vibration reduction’ keeps images sharper when shooting in low light. They help to counter any vibration in the camera. Try to find a digital camera lens with this feature.

- USM USM stands for Ultrasonic Motor. This feature of Canon lenses gives you a high speed auto focus but the main benefit is the ‘motor’ is almost silent, so you don’t disturb people around you when your camera is focussing.

- Filter Thread. When purchasing a half-decent lens, it should have a filter thread. This is a thread that allows you to screw on a filter (such as a polariser) to help when photographing difficult situations. Even if you don’t need filters right now. it’s handy to purchase a lens with a thread so you can add a filter later.

You get what you pay for

Generally the more expensive the lens, the better it is. More expensive lenses usually have a higher number of glass elements in the lens, which also makes them heavier.

Final Notes

While it is important to choose good quality camera lens, for beginners it isn’t as important as good composition. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can only take a great picture with an expensive top-of-the-line lens. A badly composed picture won’t look great with a great camera lens.

I don’t mean to discount the importance of a good quality lens. A good rule is to only add to your lens collection only when you have a specific need for a particular digital camera lens.

Do your research and your homework first, and find the lens that suits both you and your camera.

David Peterson has a great love of photography and has created a series of free tips at http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/ to help digital photography users everywhere take better photos.

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Digital cameras are no longer a luxury these days, with high resolution mega pixels and sophisticated features coming within a very appealing price range. And thanks to many comprehensive digital camera reviews, it’s easy to pick the most sought after features and qualities and still stay within a budget.

Most people turn to digital photography because they like the ease of printing and sharing the photos on the web. Business owners choose the digital quality for their product catalogues or brochures, students employ digital cameras for their projects and with digital cameras in most recent cell phones, even a child can take a snap and publish it instantly on the web. And thanks to the newest lens and zooming qualities, you don’t have to be a seasoned pro to shoot close-to-professional images with modern digital cameras.

You can hardly find a digital camera today with resolution lower than 2 megapixels - two million color dots per picture. This is a decent quality for most uses, including printing the photos for the home or school use. The higher the megapixel rate, the bigger photos you can print without sacrificing the quality. However, if you are not a professional photographer or a graphic professional who deals with upscale images all the time, you don’t really need a digital camera that produces more than 8-megapixel camera - and these rarely become available for less than $1000. Plus, if you seek to print large detailed photos, make sure you have a high-quality printer that can reproduces all the tiny details that make a difference.

When you pick a digital camera, you should also pay attention to the zoom number. Digital cameras have two different kinds of zoom. Digital zoom enlarges all pixels digitally, while optical zoom enlarges the image with the lens magnification. Since you can always enlarge the image later, on the computer using the Photoshop or other image manipulation program, you would be better to concentrate on higher optical zoom rate. The average optical zoom for midlevel digital cameras is 2 to 4x.

There are a few other options to consider: whether a digital camera uses a rechargeable batteries (zoom and LCD screen consume a lot of energy); whether the digital camera has a standard flash memory (you may need to buy a few more flash memory cards in future), and if the menus are easy to understand. If you travel a lot, you may want a digital camera that is lightweight and compact.

Even if you decide to pick the least expensive digital camera to serve your basic photography needs, you will still enjoy all the benefits of digital photography: no film rolls to buy, no wasted photos to dispose of and best of all, no waiting time to get them printed. New models of digital cameras are constantly launched, and the older ones are becoming less expensive day by day. Know your priorities, check the most recent digital camera reviews, and there should be a digital camera to perfectly suit your needs.

Kathryn Whittaker writes articles on a number of different topics. For more information on Digital Cameras please visit www.digital-camera-guides.com/ and for additional Digital Camera articles please visit the following article page www.digital-camera-guides.com/digitalcameras-articles/.

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Well, there’s no accounting for silliness, I suppose, but sometimes the Art of Stating The Bleedin’ Obvious sheer takes my breath away…

Local harbour; dateline: today, of course. Shooting away with the camera, some guy comes over to me and says: “What are you taking pictures of?”. Well, for a moment I was sorely tempted to explain that if he followed the imaginary trajectory line of my camera lens, using his focal abilities (also known as “his eyes”) he would surely come to some sort of educated guess. Notwithstanding the fact that there was about 300 square miles of mudflats in front of us, with nothing else to be seen, a blind man could have come to a pretty good conclusion of what I was ‘taking pictures of’

But no. I resisted. I blustered something about ’shapes, patterns, colours’ and he seemed to understand, because he nodded wisely, before heading back to his car. Can’t believe I told him that, because it seemed a ridiculous statement, as mudflats have no colour, no shape, and no pattern. But there ya go…

But wait…there’s more…

As he got into his car, he said “I don’t suppose the Dutch ship will sail in this (foggy) weather, will it?”

I bit my lip and was trying my best not to say “They are wonderful things, ships; they carry radar and electronics that detect other craft, and they sail at NIGHT in complete DARKNESS, so why the Hell can’t they sail in fog?”

But no. Again I resisted; instead I simply pointed to the Dutch ship as it passed, just within sighting distance, and said: “There she goes now”

He smiled, turned to go, once again, then hesitated…

“Have you ever thought about getting a digital camera?” he asked, pointing at my Canon 20D. At this point, I slipped away, fearing I would deck him, if he asked another stupid question. Good thing the tide was out, or I’d have probably thrown myself off the pier. But hey, the Canon IS a digital camera, but we don’t want EVERY idiot to know that, do we? Wouldn’t be much fun if everyone asked intelligent questions now, would it? Have fun.

Eric Hartwell is an enthusiastic photographer. He owns and runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums http://www.theshutter.co.uk/forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com Anyone interested in getting involved contact him at shutter@theshutter.co.uk

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Every face can show a multitude of personality and individual
characteristics. It is up to the portrait photographer to bring out
the subjects best features with interesting conversation and good
lighting.

The photographer’s first task is to evaluate the facial features and
decide which ones to emphasize and which ones to minimize. Long
noses look best from a low angle for instance, and double chins
respond well to a high camera angle, but this article will be aimed
at the effects of lighting on the human face.

It is easier to guage the proper lighting by watching for key points.
A flattering main light produces a definite shadow that extends from
the crest of the nose to the cheek and includes all of the unphotogenic
area next to the nose. The height of the main light is determined by
the angle of the shelf under the eyebrow. Cavernous eyes are well
served by a low main light and protruding eyes can benefit from a
high main light. A second consideration is the appearance of a noticeable
catch light on the eye since a too high main light will not show a catch
light. The lower edge of the nose shadow should not touch or obscure
the upper lip line. A proper shadow is the key to a flattering ‘loop’ light.
This lighting shows most faces to good advantage, appearing both three
dimensional and youthful.

If a face seems round or heavy, side or split lighting is called for. While
a three to one lighting ratio is good for loop lighting, a softer two to one
ratio is best for split lighting. Bring the light source close to the face at a

ninety degree angle from the camera. The short side of the face will show
a shadow line that travels from the bridge of the nose down to the center
of the chin, dividing the face into a well lit half and a shadowed half. The
Fill light should be placed close to the lens and slightly above it in order
to produce a clearly defined chin line and to minimize unsightly wrinkles.
The key to watch for is the proper exposure in the highlights and enough
light in the shadow areas to give a good skin tone.

Hair and shoulder lighting is important and sets the mood of the picture.
All hair absorbs light disproportionately and must be adjusted in strength
according to the tone of the hair. Black hair may require three times the
amount of light that blonde or gray hair requires. Be careful not to allow
the hair light to spill over on the nose for obvious reasons. A broad source
is to be preferred over a spot source because the latter emphasizes the
reflective qualities of the hair rather than the true color and tone.

If an edge light is used for a character portrait, make sure that the light is
Well goboed and placed as close to being in the picture as possible without
showing. Some photographers place their fill lights well above the lens for
reasons of safety and convenience. But this placement produces undesireable
neck lines, eye pouches and glaring foreheads. The fill light or lights work
best at eye level or just below, filling in neck lines and almost eliminating
pouches under the eyes.

So called Rembrandt lighting shadows the eyes completely, highlighting the
upper cheeks with a triangular shape. Special care must be taken so as not to
darken the eyes too much. While some studio photographers work with wrap
around general lighting with a one to one and one half lighting ratio, no model-
ing is present to enhance the features. The only benefit is that the studio will
never get complaints of too dark shadows.

Background lights when set at the same power as the main light will produce
a background color and density the same as it appears to the naked eye. The
purpose of the background is to supply a pleasing distant contrast that does
not compete with the subject, but enhances and separates the subject from
the distance. A darkening of edges is a time-honored way of keeping the eye
on the center of interest.

Lighting and its many variations is the most important tool in helping the portrait
photographer reveal people at their best.

I am a retired portrait photographer of thirty years.

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To be a successful portrait photographer, it takes more than raw talent and new equipment. You have to analyze the competition, establish your market and offer a unique in-demand product. The competition is probably now all coming out of the dark ages and dabbling with digital technology. It must be remembered that advanced digital technology lets photographers offer a really unique photograph. These photographs are perfectly geared toward an intended market whilst allowing the photographer to maintain his control over his work.

Once the digital challenge has been accepted anything is possible for your growing portrait business. But once accepted you will have to stay on top of the curve to stay on top professionally and to do that you will need to analyze the changes in the industry.

There is no doubt that going digital changes the way that you do business. Digital technology will allow you to create images that you never dreamed of. Digital imaging makes in-house retouching possible therefore giving photographers more creative freedom than traditional film photography.

To move over to using digital technology will require an investment but going digital will allow for improving your images and your production process. In the long run the cost of not investing will be more substantial.

There are so many advantages for moving over to digital photography. One indisputable advantage is that the digital image offers instant gratification. Photographers can see their images straight away, which allow total control over their work at every stage. From capture to the final image.

With digital imaging photographers no longer capture the portrait session in twelve or twenty-four exposures and then send them to a processing lab. They can now perfect the images to the fullest extent of their imagination. They can control cropping, make color corrections, correct common problems like low light situations, bad angles, blemishes and any other perceived imperfections.

Once the decision has been made to take the plunge into the world of digital photography you need to educate yourself. You will find that there are many resources available to you. When you are first starting out you will find there are national organizations, publications and seminars, all of which can be invaluable.

The next thing to consider in this new venture is what equipment will be needed. It is always helpful when starting out to ask to see other digital photographers equipment. That way you can compare the results achieved with different equipment.

Three of the most important factors in selecting camera equipment are features, specifications and pricing. You will find that the most commonly bought cameras have common characteristics. They offer features that make capturing images easier, accept your existing lenses to minimize the initial investment and yield sharp, high quality images.

If the decision has been made to begin using digital technology then a plan must be put in place to make this transition as smoothly as possible. Time must be split between education and work. That way nothing will get ignored and your business will continue to run smoothly and without hitches.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Photography

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