Trick Photography Ideas and Special Effects on Tall Tale Postcards From the Past

Did you know that trick photography and special effects has been around way longer than us? The pioneers made a fortune from their skills at creating trick photos for the masses. This was way back before digital photography and photo editing software, so not everyone have the skills to do it. If you had digital camera and photo editing software back then, you'd be a very rich person!

Introducing the tall tales postcards

Among the earliest examples of trick photography ideas are the "tall tales" postcards that appeared during the American Golden Age of photographic postcards, produced between 1905 and 1915. Photography itself had been around for a full fifty years by the time the tall tales postcards arrived, but for many in the rural populations it was still a novelty. Picture postcards became very popular in the United States by the beginning of the 20th century as it became a quick and convenient way to communicate with people over long distances. In fact, for some it was the only way to communicate.

Food and agricultural abundance

Picture postcards from oversea or cross-border relatives offered a glimpse of the outside world for those unable to travel, so it was the next best thing for actual travel. Creative photographers manipulated and modified the photos, sometimes to exaggerated proportions, and it became known as tall-tale postcards. Initially a humorous novelty, people eventually realized that these postcards can be used to create a desired "image" or perception about a town or region.

Old trick photo ideas

Food were a recurring theme, so the tall tale postcards had super-sized potatoes, fruits, and animals hauled in by the local farmers. This is supposed to give people the idea that these rural communities had agricultural abundance, thus encouraging people to move and settle. The exaggeration was so extreme that it looks almost surreal as you look at the weathered black and white post cards depicting people catching ducks the size of cars. Unfortunately the reality was far from what the trick photo postcards portray. These days you can't go to a popular tourist destination without seeing flattering postcards for sale that you can mail home. In a way you're actually paying to advertise for them!

William H. Martin - a successful and rich trick photographer

It is around this time that one of pioneers of trick photography and special effects in postcards was William H. "Dad" Martin. He had a studio in Ottawa, Kansas and came upon the idea of using photo tricks to create exaggerated post cards for sale. His post cards were of quality that it was difficult to detect traces of manipulation or how it was joined together from various photos. The meticulous attention to detail and the creativity of his post cards became a huge success.

His post cards were so popular that he sold his studio to concentrate on the post cards. By May of 1909, the Martin Post Card Company reportedly churned out some ten thousand cards a day. A year later a newspaper reported the company was producing seven million post cards a year. In three short years his trick photo ideas made him a very rich person. So rich in fact that he sold off the business in 1912 and founded another company.

It is almost surreal to realize that trick photography and special effects existed more than a hundred years ago. If you ignore the black and white weathered look and early agricultural themes, these trick photos don't look out of place besides a collection of modern trick photos done using Photoshop software. Shows you just how far we've come!

Jim blogs about trick photography and special effects techniques that people use to create stunning photographs. You can sign up at his Trick Photography site to receive a free report on the top 10 trick photography ideas for travel photos.

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Share Pictures Instantly - Free Photo Sharing Websites

There are many free photo sharing websites one can come across. It takes time sometimes to review all the pictures available online that are kept public, but not in the case of photo sharing sites because these sites are user friendly and anyone can understand easily. Many sites will cost you if you want to share pictures, but there are many free photo sharing websites. It is very easy to access, you just need to drag and drop your pictures. You can also organize the pictures according to the priority, edit them online and then share pictures instantly.

You can upload each photo of size 20 MB max, which is very much difficult to find in any paid photo sharing website. Even when you download the size of the picture will vary only a bit, but does not have a large variation. Moreover it is very robust, pictures can be searched fast, tagging can be done perfectly and sharing pictures instantly can be done with a comparatively low bandwidth.

It is very simple to create your own account with your desired username and password. Once you have created log into it. You will see the welcome screen. You can create different albums to store different pictures accordingly. To upload the pictures you can browse the pictures you want and select the pictures and upload them. If there are multiple pictures, you can select the multiple upload option and upload all the pictures at once. You can also invite your friends to join this successful community to share pictures instantly. When you upload the pictures you just need to make sure that each picture does not exceed 20 MB, if that happens the process may stop informing you that the size has been exceeded and it be aborted. You need to start all over again.

For sharing pictures instantly with your friends, you need to invite them first. You can also share with them through an e-mail or by sending them the link. Privacy is highly maintained here, you can share only those pictures you want and protect the rest by either keeping them in privacy or locking them. Once you send your friend the invitation to view the picture, he will have to accept it to view them he can only view those pictures that you have given access to but not the rest. This is how these websites help to share pictures instantly with your loved ones whom you don't want to miss any of the fun you having.

It was founded as open source project and to host images for free. With the continuously increasing popularity achieved by blogs and online auctions, free image hosting services are currently in high demand among end users. If you are interested in sharing photos online and getting the best service whilst at it. For more details about free image sharing, visit us online.

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The Advantages Of Shooting In Raw

Why Should We Always Shoot In Raw?

There are many different ways to perfect your photography. First you can use a high-quality lens. Secondly you can invest a small number of hours editing your images in Photoshop or Lightroom. These ways will certainly make a big change to your photography. Is there anything else we know how to do to progress our images? Yes, there is.

Another approach to capture tack sharp and high-quality pictures is to photograph in raw. Working in raw is equivalent to generating a negative of the photo. The camera will photograph the image in a manner that is a whole lot sharper and more detailed than JPEG. Let me explain.

Raw is a kind of photo file. When you capture images in raw you achieve much more quality and sharpness. You acquire this contained within regions of light and shade, vibrancy and hue. This excellence and definition simply means that the digital camera is gathering more information. When you photograph in raw the camera is able to handle this information a lot faster and more effectively.

Let's take the case of a flower. In reality the flower is a rose-pink red colour (this is what our eyes observe). When you take pictures of the flower in JPEG you may lose some of the pink in the colour. The bloom may appear as a sturdy red colour instead. That is for the reason that JPEG basically cannot reproduce the mid tones of colour as fine as raw can.

JPEG might discover in-between hues and colours tricky to identify. It simply isn't seeking for the finer, subtle detail in your photo and this is why it does not distinguish it. However, when you change over to shooting in raw you will find that the camera picks up reddish pink tone of the flower. Simply put, the digital camera replicates so much more finer details when you capture in raw.

There is one downside though. They cannot be seen in any program. You need special software to see raw photos. Depending on the kind of camera model you have the software will be different. Canon has special software called Digital Photo Professional. This software allows you to see your raw shots. As a Canon user I am only able to use Canon raw software. If I capture a photo with a Nikon camera I am not able to use this software program. Nikon have raw platforms that are available to Nikon users.

Raw files are sharper, clearer and have better quality. They also last a lot more than JPEG. After a few years JPEG might have the propensity to lessen in detail. This is particularly true for small JPEG files. In raw this doesn't happen. It would take a lot more time than 10 years for raw file to reduce in quality. As a result raw files are reliable for archival quality.

Should you amend your raw pictures? Many people ask me if you should generate a JPEG file duplicate in order to persevere with the raw file untouched. My answer is that it depends on your personal preference. Many photographers do this different ways. I like to create a copy of the raw file for editing. That way I have the untouched original photo. If anything happens to the JPEG photo then I still retain the original as backup. The only reason that I will create a copy of the raw shot a JPEG is if I like to keep it on a website or upload it.

Raw files are fairly large. The JPEG photo might be about 3 Mb. Lots of the raw images that I capture in are about 30Mb. What is the advantage of this? This is massively useful because when the raw file is larger it means it has photographed terrific quality, definition and sharpness. The better a photograph, usually, the better quality it will be present.

Shifting your working mode over the raw is so easy. It is done using the menu in your digital camera. When you open the menu go to "image size" you will typically find it effortless to change over. This will mean that you can select to shoot in raw only. Then again you can concurrently shoot in raw AND JPEG. Be mindful that when these two shots are created at the same time you will eat through your memory cards. The camera just needs more space if it is to create two shots at once. The JPEG file might only be 3Mb but your raw file will be 20Mb. After a few hours of photographing the space on your memory card will begin to lessen. Always take two memory cards when you shoot to avoid running out of memory space.

Many professional photographers, like me, will only photograph in raw. This is because we want the quality. If we desire to produce a JPEG file for assessment purposes we can simply create a copy later on. In the meantime we know that we are producing superior quality. The pictures look sharper and clearer. We also know they will stand the test of time.

Raw is more interesting from a creative sense. Colours are very sharp, landscapes clearer, and your pictures are better exposed. The shade and highlights are not as prone to exposure problems as they would be in JPEG. Raw seems to balance out the lighting. In truth it is simply picking up more finer details in the scene. This is idyllic for photographing people and wedding ceremonies, night and dim light shots.

Wedding photos can be fairly complicated when you have many different regions of light. Some of these highlights can work in opposition to somebody's skin tone. Shooting in raw can help retain beauty in skin color tones. A person's skin and natural colouring will look warm and soft when you photograph in raw. This is why lots of wedding and portrait photographers photograph in raw alone.

I recommend shooting in raw all the time. Not only will it be better than a JPEG shot but you will love the quality. Your photos look sharper, clear and more crisp. You get a healthier variety of vibrancy and light. It will dramatically improve your photography. Happy shooting!

Amy Renfrey has been a professional photographer for 8 years. She has developed a training package of ebooks to show you how to take the most stunning photos every single time you press the shutter button, even if you know nothing about photography and have never used a digital camera before. To discover how to do photography better than ever, visit her website today. http://www.DigitalPhotographySuccess.com/focusezineSub1.htm

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To Get Better Landscape Photography, Your Camera Gear Should Include Neutral Density Filters!

Today's photo tip concerns the neutral density filter. To get better landscape photography, this is another piece of camera gear that should be in your bag at all times! It's another filter effect that can't be duplicated after the fact. It has to be in the camera.

I'm sure you've seen landscape photography of a waterfall.

You can shoot it so that every drop of water is in sharp relief... or you can shoot it so that it looks like a massive string of cotton candy! And everything in between!

By the way, did you know that Niagara Falls actually stopped flowing in 1848 for about 20 hours because there was ice that was blocking the Niagara River? Imagine a before and after shot of THAT!

Anyway, back to our tip...

We know that to get the sharp image, we need a fast shutter speed and to get the cotton candy blur we need a slow one.

Another good reason to put your camera on manual! You will never get award winning shots on automatic! They will look like everyone else's.

What if we want a really slow shutter speed, but it is a bright day? As you know, only a certain amount of light can be let in for a good exposure - if you let in too much, it will ruin the shot.

So we first start closing down the aperture. What if that isn't enough? What if we are at the smallest aperture setting - and we still have too much light.

Our next option would be to go with the slowest film or ISO setting we can. That is nice, it will give us nicely saturated, noise free shots... but there are limitations.

Since our problem is that too much light is entering the lens, the simple fix is to block some of that light.

Enter the "Neutral Density Filter".

The neutral density filter is a filter that is designed to block a certain amount of light. That's all! It doesn't alter the light in any way - it's neutral. The light entering the lens has all the same properties; there is just less of it.

Voilla! You are now able to shoot that silky, cotton candy waterfall - on a bright sunny day!

Neutral density filters come in various strengths. You can block one stop of light, three, five, and so on. Plus various densities can be "stacked" for even more light blockage. You could put a five stop and a three stop neutral density filter together for eight full stops! (That is a LOT of light!)

Neutral density filters have lots of uses, not just for waterfalls. In tomorrows photo tip article, I'll go into even more cool things you can do to improve your landscape photography with these indispensable camera gear accessories.

To learn more and enroll in a FREE "photo tips" course, go to: http://ontargetphototraining.com/

Bonus... You will also get YOUR free copy of " 7 Secrets To Stunning Photos! " AND you'll get a FREE daily photo tips newsletter! Check it out right now while you are thinking about it!

Dan Eitreim has been a professional photographer in Southern California for over 20 years - his data base exceeds 6000 past clients, and he says that learning photography is easy, if you know a few tried and true strategies.

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The Toronto Photography Scene

The Toronto photography scene is full of young and upcoming new Canadian photographers, and there are many ways to get involved in this exciting area of Toronto culture. One way is by visiting one of the many photography galleries in Toronto. There are more than 20 of them in the city, including the Christopher Cutts Gallery, Gallery 44, and the Monte Clark Gallery. Many of these double as Toronto photography studios or printing workshops, but also feature work by famous, as well as local photographers. Some even offer photography workshops and classes, such as the IX Gallery in Riverside, which holds such events monthly. Others boast special exhibits of specialty or vintage photography regularly. Analogue Gallery focuses on music photography of famous artists, such as Bob Dylan, Bjork, and the Beatles, while SPORT Gallery focuses on sports photography. Whatever your artistic tastes, Toronto has a photography gallery that you will enjoy.

Another way to get involved is by joining the Toronto Camera Club. It was founded over 100 years ago, in 1888, and on its website, claims to be the "oldest camera club in Canada." Although membership fees for a year are $100 (or $50 for students), membership gets you access to their Toronto photography library and darkroom, the ability to enter their competitions, and the chance to go on club outings. They hold weekly meetings with competitions, weekly lectures, monthly visits to local Toronto photography hotspots, and occasional overnight photography field trips. They also have workshops and training to help you learn new techniques and improve your photography. It's a great way to get to know other people that love photography and want to have fun too!

Finally, go out with your camera and take some pictures! There are lots of great Toronto photography photo opportunities, such as Union Station, Lake Ontario, the many gardens, and the older historic parts of Toronto. Niagara Falls is only an hour and a half drive from Toronto and is perhaps one of the most photographed locations in the world. If you shoot a photograph that you think is particularly good, submit it to one of the Toronto photography galleries that accepts submissions from emerging local artists. Bau-Xi Photo, a relatively new photo gallery, is encouraging new photographers to submit their work. 44 Wide specializes in helping new artists print and exhibit their photography, and even offers discounts to artists who use their printing services.

So don't be shy: Get out there and get involved in the Toronto photography scene! There are lots of great opportunities to admire, learn, and even display your own work.

Living Face Photography provides professional, artistic Toronto photography. Living Face founder and Toronto Photographer Bard Azima has photographed all kinds of events, situations, and people during the last 18 years. Since founding Living Face Photography in 2001, Bard has photographed everything from casual to corporate and is a sought-after Toronto wedding photographer, as well. To schedule a personal appointment with Bard, call 416-732-1904 or visit http://www.livingface.com/

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Tips to Photographing Flowers

You see them everywhere, flowers in full bloom. They are colorful and so easy to photograph. You can use them as art prints, backgrounds for images, Facebook Timeline Cover pages, or just for the joy of capturing the beauty of a flower. There are some "tricks" that can elevate your images beyond snapshot level, into images that really express a flower's magic.

If you add only a handful of these approaches to your photography, you will be amazed at the results.

Camera tricks:

Use a shallow depth of field (get your f-stop or aperture set to the lowest number you can.) This gives you a sea of color while making one flower pop out.Try a slow shutter speed, 1/30th, 15th or even 3 seconds, on a windy or breezy day. This creates a wonderfully pastel emotional image.Get close in, macro if you can. You will see unique detail rarely seen that will delight the viewer, especially if you print it very large.Bring along some tools - reflector cards to open up shadows, large cards to act as wind block. You can bring along a colored card or even a photo of a background to put behind the flower, have the background go out of focus for a believable transition.Set your file size to as large as you can for prints or cropping options.

Composition tricks:

Get down low, "eye" level with the flower; unique angles always make flower shots interesting.Look for lines and shapes, like diagonals, s shaped curves to give the image a flow. Use them as foreground elements to frame your main subject.Photograph them really early in the morning or just as the sun goes down for rich soft light on them.Spray water on them for that morning dew look.Always place your "key" flower into the rule of thirds grid for most impact. Work with depth of field to isolate or find one that is a different color than the rest. Find one that is somehow different from its surroundings.

Unique uses:

Use them as background elements to float smaller images on top off.Create a larger image and put real flowers in front of them.Use them on your timeline photo in Facebook.They can become texture overlays to your portrait photographs.Create your own greeting cards with them.Add inspirational copy to them then print or post them to mentally frame your day.

That old phrase, "stop and smell the roses" could also have you stopping to photo the flowers. They and their beauty don't last long but a photograph will enrich your life with their beauty forever.

Mark Laurie is a Master Photographer, international speaker, author and studio mentor. He teaches extensively in England and Canada. His Revealing Venus Nude & Glamour Photography Workshop is run in Italy. Mark has published 7 books. You can find information on his books, photography, and training at http://www.innerspiritphoto.com/. He is on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/innerspiritphoto

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Tricks to Photography Without the Need for All the Bells and Whistles

Taking photographs is fun! You can capture special family moments- your children's 'firsts' - first smile - 'click', first tastes of food 'click', first steps 'click, click, click'. Taking scenic photos are also fun to do, there are many tricks to photography you can use to get just the right scene captured.

But How?

When we were children our mothers told us to point the camera at what we wanted to capture, hold your breath to steady yourself and push the button - good advice that you can use as a grown up photographer! Now a days there are many cameras on the market complete with all the bells, whistles and lenses you could ever imagine. Unless you have a money tree, affording the fancy equipment is out of reach for many. Putting all the technology aside, how do you make a good shot into a great shot?

Well here are a few tips to get you in the right headspace:

Great photos are not captured by cameras, but by people using the cameraA shot needs to be thought about, considered carefully, you must constantly be on the lookout for opportunities, brilliance doesn't work on a scheduleWhat feeling do you want the person viewing the photographs to have when looking at them? If taking portrait shots, which part of the persons personality do you want to capture? Take time to decide this and your whole set of photographs can be styled on this themeTake a lot of photos of the same pose if you're subjects are moving, some cameras have a setting for shooting bursts of images - you can get some amazing facial expressions in a mixed bag of shots!!

Low Key Photography

One example of a really cool photography technique is called low key photography, this explained is simply dark tones to your photos - you have one light in a dark room. It's all about illumination and elimination! You will have seen classic images of an object illuminated by a single light with a pitch black back ground or a portrait of a human face, with half of the face in darkness, instead of the shadows in your photographs being your enemy, they become the focus of your scene and the trick is to manipulate the light and the position of the person/object you are photographing so that the shadows fall in exactly the spot you need, you can get some very effective shots by using this technique.

You could use two rooms - block all light to one room and use the door adjoining rooms to let in the required amount of light.Always keep the back drop black or dark grey and avoid the light hitting the camera or background.Another effective method is go use streetlights at night time as your light source

Have a go at low key photography using your children as subjects! They'll love being the 'star of the show', one common method is to draw a circle or symbol on the floor where you have already calculated is giving the correct amount of illumination - ask your child to look at it so as to keep them still and give them a focus point (the marking can be photo-shopped out later)

The effort spent setting up great shots is well worth it when you have an excellent album of shots to show your friends... they won't believe you when you say you didn't have a lot of fancy camera equipment to capture them, just some tried and true tips and tricks to photography.

If you really want to be successful in taking photos which are amazing and get all the essential tricks to photography. Go to this site immediately - tricksinphotographyinfo.com

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The Best Greeting Cards Are Those With The Personal Touch

Looking through the ranks of greeting cards on offer in most stationers and card shops, it can sometimes feel as though it's more or less impossible to find exactly what you're looking for. Spotting an image and sentiment which exactly matches both the personality of the recipient and the nature of the occasion which you wish to mark can often be incredibly tricky. After all, you want the person receiving the card to know just how much they mean to you, and making do with a card which is less than ideal won't really do this. One way of making sure the message you wish to convey gets across loud and clear, however, is to create personalized greeting cards, meaning that you have total control of every aspect of the cards appearance and the message which it gets across.

In the past, creating your own card would have required at least a modicum of artistic skill, as well as specialized materials and equipment, and for this reason most people would have felt it was a step beyond their capabilities. No matter how delighted a recipient may be upon discovering you've taken the time to fashion a card on their behalf, this pleasure would be tempered somewhat if the card in question appeared somewhat shoddy and amateur in nature. Digital technology, however, has made it possible for anyone to select an image from their own collection of photographs and use this as the basis for a card.

With every image you've captured on your digital camera, mobile phone or hand held tablet to choose from, finding one which is absolutely perfect should be simplicity itself. If you wish to celebrate an anniversary, for example, then you might wish to use a shot of the happy couple together, whereas something like a thank you card following a child's birthday will have a massive impact if it features an image of the child in question happily playing with their gifts. Once you've made your choice, you merely have to upload the selected image to the relevant website and then use the software provided to tweak and modify every feature, from the size and shape to the presence of any text. Once you've done this, the card will be printed to the highest professional standards and will come complete with an envelope, ready to send and make someone's day. A card such as this won't just delight on the day it's sent, but will continue to give pleasure for years afterwards. The same simple techniques can be used to take whole collections of special photographs out of the photo albums in which they now reside and have them, instead, displayed in all their glory in bespoke, luxurious photo books.

Whether you wish to create small items such as greeting cards to celebrate special days, or push the boat out with top of the range photo books to give as once in a lifetime gifts, the options opened up by digital photography are virtually boundless.

Preserve your golden memories of life by engraving those precious greeting cards and online photo books through Albelli

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Set the Mood of Your Audience by Using Background Video Loops

Background video loops are short movie clips that are used to spice up your videos. They are also known as video loops, motion loops, movie background, etc. As the name suggests, they seamlessly loop into the video giving it a natural look. These background clips come handy when using green screen photography for removing the green screen and replacing it with the clip that matches the theme of the video. These are an amazing way to add entertainment to your work so that it captivates your audience. When used judiciously, they can work wonders for you by saving your time and hassle of doing everything by yourself.

Why use Motion loops?

An increasing number of producers prefer Motion Video Backgrounds over the in-house clips. This is because making such a clip is time-consuming. You will need a designer or sometimes a team of designers to make them. Hiring them will be an additional investment. Moreover, you have to ask them to make a new clip every time you need one. The most challenging part of this entire process is ensuring high quality of the clip. If your designers are not really good at their work, the quality of loop produced by them may not satisfy your audience.

You can conveniently abolish these issues by buying royalty free motion background packs. Use them whenever you want and as many times as you want. If you buy them from credible sources, you don't have to bother about the quality. The most important benefit is that buying these packs will be much cheaper than hiring designers.

Film loops are frequently used in movies behind the video title. They are used in prayer videos where they are played behind the scripture along with lyrics to give it a movie look. Wedding videographers use Wedding Video Backgrounds to make an awesome video where the bride and the groom standing in front of a satin background. These days, even video loops are played during live shows in large screens that are present in the background when the candidates perform.

The demand of loop videos has grown so much that they are available in almost any theme you want, be it abstract, corporate, holidays, romance, nature, wedding and many more. These endless varieties make your work even easier.

Choosing a motion background

Although buying loops is a great way to save time and money on your video production, you must make sure you choose a clip that entirely compliments your video. It should integrate with the original film neatly so that it seems as if the loop was exclusively made for this movie.
While choosing the video background, keep your audience in mind. Make sure you choose something that matches their taste. Even if you choose a very attractive background, if it irritates your audience, your efforts will be wasted.
The background should be of high quality so that it enhances the look of your video. A low quality clip will not loop well and will also degrade the overall quality of your movie.

Use a high quality background for your movie and give it a magical effect.

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Wedding Photography Tips for Amateurs

Wedding Photography Tip For Amateurs #1 - Be Prepared

Knowing that this is an one time event, you must get it right. So make sure that you have everything that you might think you need. If possible, get someone to help. Even if it's just to make sure that all of the people who need to be photographed are nearby. This will save you lots of time and energy. Have an extra camera, that you can give to your assistant to capture some important shots that you may be to busy to see.

What else can an assistant do? Anything that will make your job go easier! How about making sure that the brides dress is laying correctly, or moving an object that may interfere with the background out of the shot. There are so many things that you may not think about when you accept the job. And the pressure will be on. So, a second set of hands, eyes and ears may prove to be invaluable.

Tips for Amateurs #2 - Keep Your Check List Nearby

Keep your check list nearby. Theses days it is easy to handle your check list. How about making a list on you smart phone or iPad? These kinds of technology are must haves, and you won't have to worry about misplacing a sheet of paper.

List 'must have' shots you need to take. It is also important to think outside the box, here. As an amateur wedding photographer, you want to be called for another wedding, and this kind of thinking will help to grow your client base.

Besides the usual shots of the couple dancing or showing their ring hands one on top of the other try these tips:

1. The groom carrying the bride, (as in over the thresh hole).

2. Give each of the brides maids a disposable cameras and get a shot of them posed to take a shot of the bride. Do the same with the groomsmen.

3. Show the emotion of the father and the bride, as she is adjusting his tie.

These are just a few examples that will make your images special and unique. Give it some thought, you will come up with more ideas.

Wedding Photography Tips For Amateurs #3 - Include a Special Photo Shoot In Your Package For The Couple

This special shoot will help you to stand out from the crowd of other amateur wedding photographers.

As far as weddings go, most people don't think about the weeks or days before the wedding. These are special also. Ask if the couple would be interested in some photojournalism type shots of the two of them before the marriage. These might be shots of the couple together doing things such as having an intimate dinner, or hanging out partying together. This will all depend on the couple and how they interact together.

Weddings are special and as the photographer you are responsible for capturing the memories of the day. Being prepared and going the extral mile, will help thing go smoothly and stay on track.

Mary E. Foster, MFA, is a professional photographic artist. She enjoys teaching as well as working with all aspects of photography, from developing film, and making black and white prints in her darkroom to shooting digital imagery and editing it on the computer. You can find many more helpful photography tips, resources and lots of inspiration by visiting her website at http://www.photography-tips-and-resources.com/. While you are there sign up to receive a new photography tip every week through your email.

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The Nikon D5100: An Excellent Choice for the Beginner to DSLR Photography

The Digital Revolution

The last decades our world has experienced a revolution: The Digital Revolution. Digital cameras and smart phones allow almost everybody to take nice photos. Photography is a child's play. The popularity of digital cameras created such a huge market that the uninitiated must be overwhelmed by all the choices.

Point-and Shoot vs. DSLR

Having taken photos with a smart phone or point-and-shoot camera people might suddenly discover a new hobby or even passion for photography. This can find its expression in an appetite for more, for a 'real camera' that is a reflex camera with interchangeable lenses, a DSLR or Digital Single Lens Reflex.

The Nikon D5100 - Your Access to more Creativity

Photographic gear on the shelves ranges from top-of-the-line professional tools like the Nikon D4 to entry-level consumer cameras.

This is where the Nikon D5100 comes into play. The D5100 sits between the smaller D3100 and the high-end D7000, but offering basically the same features and quality as the much more expensive D7000.

Key Features

16.2 Mega Pixel DX-format (1.5x FOV crop) CMOS sensorSide-articulated 3.0"LCD monitor (920,000 dots)Fast 11-point Autofocus System (with 3D tracking)Sensitivity range ISO 100-6400 (expanded up to 25,600)HD movies with Full Time Autofocus (1080p, 720 or WVGA)Continuous shooting at 4 fpsIn-camera effect modes for stills and videoIn-camera HDR (High Dynamic Range)Comes with Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G VR lensBuilt-in Speedlight Flash with Intelligent i-TTLLive View

Handling and Feel

Digital cameras come a long way. The Nikon D5100 offers today quality and features that were not long ago only found with professional cameras. First of all, this camera with its high-resolution 16 Megapixel DX CMOS sensor and EXPEED 2 Image Processing Engine delivers an outstanding image quality. With only 822 grams, including kit lens, this small and light camera handles very well. The newbie might be confused first by all these buttons and levers on the body, but will soon realize how intuitive the layout and functions are. This is how the D5100 benefits from Nikon's decades long experience of being at the very front of professional photo gear. Dedicated buttons make a fast and efficient way of shooting possible.

The centerpiece of the D5100 is its vari-angle 3 inch LCD monitor with 920,000 dots and 170 degrees wide viewing angle, allowing for versatile high quality viewing and playback.

Try a high angle for overhead shots, shoot from the hip for candid shots or a low vantage point for looking up into the sky and last not least have fun taking a controlled self-portrait. The virtually 100% frame coverage makes it easy to check the composition while using Live View or shooting HD movies.

The clear layout of the control panel shows the most relevant settings like File Format, White Balance, ISO, Autofocus, Metering, Bracketing etc. at a glance. With pressing just two buttons, Info and Multi Selector, changes can be made easily.

The top of the body gives access to an array of additional functions. The main dial includes all the various Modes, besides an All-Auto Mode there are the standards like P=Program, S=Shutter Priority, A=Aperture Priority and M=Manual Mode.

For those willing to explore more options, there are Scene Modes like Portrait, Landscape, Child, Sports etc. and even Special Effects like Night Vision, Color Sketch, Miniature Effect, Selective Color etc.

Tell your Story with a Movie

The Nikon D5100 is not only an excellent still camera, but allows also high-quality movie-making with its Full HD capabilities (1920x1080 @ 30, 25, 24 frames per second, NTSC or PAL), the most advanced in continuous autofocus tracks your moving subjects with great accuracy. Live View and D-Movie start button are conveniently located on the top and allow video sequences up to 20 minutes. In-camera editing and creative tools will improve your still and movies. There is even a special jack for an external stereo microphone to achieve professional sound quality.

Nikon Software

The Nikon D5100 comes with a simple, yet useful software ViewNX2, allowing some basic editing like Resizing, Cropping, RAW processing and Movie editing.

David Pintz has passion for photography. Check out his latest niche site, Nikon D5100 and additional recommendations for Nikon Lenses.

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Take Pictures Online

The amount of files stored on computers and mobile phones is growing more and more these days. One of the main reasons for this is that it's becoming much easier to take high quality pictures and make HD video's wherever you are these days because more and more people own a smartphone that can do these things.

Where do we store all of these digital media files? Most people store all of their digital media on their computer and/or their smartphones. But what if your computer or smartphone loses these files due to a crash or another mishap? Most of these digital media files are very precious because most of the photo's or video's you make display a special occasion or event such as the first steps of your child or another memorable event. All of the countless people that have experienced the loss of all of their precious digital media wish they had made a backup so they could recover all of those special moments in life.

Maybe it's worth considering a safe and easy way to backup your precious files. Until now, backing up your files could be done on cdr, dvdr or usb stick. But with the amount of data that comes with the high quality photo's and video's these days, it's time to look for another way to safely store your digital media files. The safest and easiest way to do this is by backing up your files online. So maybe it's time to take pictures online. This way of safely backing up all of your files is also known as cloud storage. It's a fast, safe and very easy way to backup all of your precious files and there's more than enough space available to store all your hd photo's and video's and you can even backup all of your music.

Another great benefit of this type of file storage is that you can also access all of your files with your smartphone. So if you want to free some memory on your smartphone, you can easily store some files online. On the other hand you can also download some files from your online storage to your smartphone. This can be very handy if you want to listen to a song that's not on your phone or if you want to show a picture to someone that came from your computer. With the growing amount of people who can go online with their smartphone, there is also a growing demand in online file storage.

Find out more about online storage

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Tips To Taking The Perfect Picture

Taking great pictures and seeing the end results can be so much fun. However, it involves just a tad more than just a love for taking pictures in order for you to take a lot of great pictures, especially if you are doing it as a career. In addition to having a love for it, you will also need to have knowledge and know how to get the best possible pictures when you are involved in photography.

In order to become a very good photographer and to get into the exciting field of photography, one of the things that you will need to do is to get to know your device well, especially if you are into digital photography. This is so due to the digital cameras of today are so much more advanced than the ones that were designed ten years ago. If you are an amateur photographer you may not be too versed at using a new digital camera, and as such, your user guide should be your best friend. It will tell you how to use the different settings and about all the other important aspects of your camera such as how to zoom, crop, cut, edit, etc. You just need to learn as much about your camera as you possibly can, in the same way that you would learn about any other tools you work with for any other job.

There is a manual mode on many digital cameras these days. As such, it is advisable that you do some experimentation on manual mode to better learn about your camera. In addition, many digital cameras have several preset features that will help you to capture great photographs in many conditions, in the morning, at dusk, indoors, outdoors, while the subjects are in motion, etc. After you have become accustomed to your camera, you should then use your manual mode, do that you can learn more about zooming, exposure time, picture resolution, focus, among many other exciting things about your camera.

You should also learn about using a tripod stand when you are into serious photography, but also if you are doing photography as a hobby. This can help you to get pictures that are more in focus as you will not have to be dealing with your shaky, sweaty hands holding the camera. It will also allow you to be in group pictures, instead of having to be the one taking the pictures and always being left out of fun, family pictures.

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William Klein Exhibits His 1950s Series "Rome" in Paris, France

The Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris has recently opened a new series of exhibitions, including William Klein's work from Rome in the late 1950s.

Having myself lived in Rome for six months and Italy for more than 4 years, it's always interesting for me to see photographs of Italy and the Italians. The cities, even when falling down, remain beautiful and the people always have a special charm.

Overall, I feel the exhibition is successful and interesting although I have a few issues, particularly with choices concerning style of presentation. That said, it's inevitable to compare this work on Rome with his preceding project on his native New York. And I must say that the Rome work, while interesting and with some very strong images, doesn't attain the same level of his work from New York. I'm not sure if this is a consequence of spending more time in New York, a better understanding of New York than Rome and Italian culture, perhaps his lack of a mastery of the Italian language or if it's simply a reflection of the different character of the two people and the two cities, but the Rome work, with exceptions, seems less powerful. Certainly it is much less edgy than the New York work. We don't have kids angrily pointing guns at the photographer or faceless adults pointing guns at kids but while the text presented with the exhibit (one of my biggest disappointments about the show) makes frequent references to the intense poverty in and around Rome after World War II we don't tend to sense the same kind of misery and hardship that the work from New York often shows.

In general, while there are some quite beautiful photographs in the exhibition, it sometimes did feel more like the view of a casual tourist who is enchanted with the Italians and the often beautiful Italian climate. While there are street shots of passersby--just as in the New York series--they don't always seem to have the same raw energy as the New York work.

Now, in terms of the actual installation of the exhibition, there were a couple points that I found a bit troubling. The main one was the handling of the text. Frequently photos were presented with large laminated sheets of rather voluminous text. It was never really clear what the exact relationship of this text to the photographs was. Mostly it seemed to present general commentary on Roman or Italian society. I found it to be much too wordy and I regretted that none of the photos had a simple label indicating the date and location of the photographs. Each gallery did have a plastified sheet that spoke of nearly all the photographs--and here one could find the location of the photos. However, this also was filled with lengthy texts which were primarily historical quotes from writers, historians, etc. commenting on something relating to the photo. While it was somewhat interesting to hear what Goethe or Dickins or some other literary figure had said one hundred or more years before Klein about the section of Rome shown in Klein's photograph, I generally found it irrelevant--only barely giving me a greater sense of understanding of Italian or Roman culture or history--and offering no insight into the work of Klein.

The other issue was the size of the reproductions. Many of these images where large poster size. They were good quality reproductions and some of the images held up well at this size but many of the images didn't live up to the scale. Clearly they're were some quick and minor snapshots that Klein took that the museum decided to present (already questionable in some cases) and at a size that their importance couldn't live up to. Clearly the museum was trying to present an exhibition that would seem to live up to Klein's reputation from his early photographic work. However, I don't think this work is always at the highest level and it may actually have come across more strongly if the photos had been presented at the much smaller size that they were undoubtedly printed in the late 50s and early 60s. In essence, I think the museum was trying to fill a big space and to suggest something like a blockbuster show and so they inflated the image sizes but the consequence is making the work actually look weaker and Klein more full of himself for wanting to present huge photos of some less than brilliant shots.

The exhibit is definitely worth visiting, there are many very strong and beautiful photos. In my opinion this is not the best work of Klein's career but it does give us a glimpse of Italy in the late 50s. It's not the powerful vision he had of New York but it's interesting although less resolved and less distilled. I'm not sure we really get to the heart of who the Romans are or what the reality of their world was in the late 50s. Maybe Klein didn't spend enough time in Rome, maybe his Italian language skills weren't strong enough to enable him to have the bantering interaction with his subjects one imagines he had in New York. In the end it's a "nice" show but not a great exhibition.

Michael McCarthy
Atelier Vagabond

Michael McCarthy writes photo- and arts-related reviews for the Atelier Vagabond blog while also offering short photo tours, workshops and classes in photography and art in the Paris, France region. http://www.ateliervagabond.com/. To see more of Michael's personal art work, visit his site: http://www.michael-mccarthy.com/

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Understanding Light for Photography

It seems like a simple concept, but surprisingly one of the most basic understandings that will immediately improve the way you take photographs is the understanding of light and the direction its coming from.

A common mistake many photographers make is to put their subjects in front of a light source. You often see this during a beautiful sunset with beautiful, saturated colors. The natural tendency is to want to take a picture with this beautiful light in the background. The problem is that since the light is coming from behind the subject, the subject is in a dark shadow. Compounding this is the amount of light your camera is capable of detecting. The human eye can observe and see a very wide range of light. We can see many details in shadows and highlights - and our eyes can rapidly adjust for lighting conditions. Cameras on the other hand (particularly digital cameras) have a very narrow range of light that is recorded. It's enough to make great photographs, but in the case of that great sunset - the subject in the shadows will be too dark to get any details from. The subject will be a black silhouette against a beautiful sky.

There are several solutions to getting a picture like this to work. The best thing to do is to turn on your camera's flash mode to "fill flash". This will pop the camera's flash at the end of the exposure just in time to light up the face of the person you're shooting a picture of. You'll still have the great sunset.

If you don't have a flash, you can try some more artistic options such as posing the silhouette in an interesting way. Or better yet, just turn your subject around and allow that beautifully colored sunset light their face and hair. They will look stunning. Other options to consider are playing with your composition to try and get both the sunset and the subjects face. This can be done by moving in closer and shooting your subject at a 45 degree angle with the sunset near the back at an opposite 45 degree angle.

There are many options you can try with just a simple point and shoot camera. However if you are using something a little more robust such as a DSLR there are additional options that you could explore with off camera flash units.

Ted Forbes is a photographer, writer, filmmaker and media producer from Dallas, TX. He has a photography podcast that he's maintained successfully since 2008 and also offers photography tips for people wanting to get better. He's been a guest speaker at several major international conferences and spends most of his time teaching and working on new projects.

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Why Do People Use Photoshop?

Photoshop is the most popular and widely used photo editing software. For most professional photographers, it is the most reliable tool for simple and complicated photo enhancement. Then again, a lot of beginners are overwhelmed by the number of functions the program has. Those who like the steep learning curve may jump into the wagon and learn basic to advance photo editing skills. But those who limit their photo enhancement to exposure correction and color enhancement may look at simpler photo editors.

The advantages of Photoshop are far too numerous to be discussed in a single article. The main purpose photographers edit pictures on Photoshop is to improve their appearance. The improvement is mainly for enhancement purposes. Advanced editing is for artistic purposes. Professional photographers can change the way their photos look by making fine adjustments on color and exposure. Photoshop can also salvage flawed photography (e.g. curing overblown highlights). There are two major goals. One is to make the photo more presentable. Another is to make the photo appeal aesthetically to the viewers.

People who are having photography as a hobby should invest in good photo editing software, like Photoshop. However, with Adobe Photoshop free download sites, many can avail of the advantages of professional photo enhancement. But, since Photoshop is overwhelming for beginners, online instructional materials are available. There are many experts who are generous enough to share what they know to the public. Sites like Adobe Connection offer free tips and advice to both carefree and serious photographers alike.

Although Photoshop is a bit complicated to use for the novice, it has several quick editing options. It provides quick options for those who just want to adjust the composition, brightness, contrast, color saturation, and noise reduction. Good photographers usually have good photos to begin with, that only slight photo enhancement is necessary to make a good picture look much better. Unlike simple photo editors, Photoshop offers fine tuning of these elements. In other words, you can make automatic adjustments as well as fine tuning, for more precise enhancements.

There are also functions on Photoshop that you cannot find on other photo editors. Advanced picture enhancement involves the removal of facial imperfections and blemishes, which is important in portrait photographs. Photoshop also has options for you to change the background of the subject, combine different photos or enhance the dynamic range in the photo.

However, Adobe Photoshop may not be appropriate for some types of people. Carefree snapshooters hardly edit their pictures before posting them online. These people do not even need any kind of editing software. Photoshop would just take up useless space on their PCs. The other types of people who do not need this picture editing software are those who mainly do basic editing. There are many people who do not fancy elaborate photo editing. Photojournalists and snapshooters usually limit photo editing only to exposure correction, color adjustments, noise reduction, and cropping. These can be done using basic editors.

As more people are joining the photography bandwagon, more are also using editing tools to further enhance their pictures. A significant amount of photos posted online have been edited on some software. As many people aspire to become better photographers, more of them are making use of editing software to take their work of art to the next level.

If you would like to know more about Adobe Connection please click here.

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Self Portrait Photography Tips That Will Inspire Your Creative Self!

Creative Visualization

When thinking about your intended self portrait, take a moment to think about how you want to be portrayed in your image. We all have more than one side to us. What kind of emotion do you want to convey? You may know how to say what you want to photograph in words, but putting it into visual images and communicating is a different story. Remember, that you are creating a visual story with your picture.

Be creative. Day dream for a while. Even meditate if necessary. In this state of mind, you may see images as a primary means of communication instead of words.

Reflect on your experiences. How do you see yourself? How do you think the world see's you? How do you wish the world could see you? Draw from your life experiences, good, bad or indifferent.

Visual Communication

Your self portrait photography should be a means of visual communication. You are, in a sense, creating a personal symbol. Remember your self portrait is all about you. Don't make the mistake of including other people in your image. When you do this it is no longer a self portrait. This should be all about you. In other words, when thinking of your creative image, if you are a mom, taking a picture with your child, or, of your child, for example, is not considered a self portrait image.

When creating a self portrait, think about expressing who you are at that moment. What is it that you want to say? There are many ways of telling the viewer of your self image something about yourself. Many people think that when they are creating a self portrait, that their face has to literally be in the picture. This is not always the case. Think about other ways that you can convey a message about yourself.

Inspiration For Creating Your Self Portrait Photography

Let's say, for an example, you think of yourself as a drama queen. Theatrically speaking, of course! You might want to put some sort of crown on the top of your head. Put on some very form fitting clothes, or maybe, a big, fluffy full length ball gown. You can sit in a chair, showing a profile view of your self, or stand. Near a wall place a bright light or two, such a flood light, direct the light onto the wall. Place your camera on a sturdy tripod. Set the self timer on your camera and pose yourself in a dramatic fashion so that your shadow shows up on the wall. Pose in a way that there is some portion of your body, along with the shadow on the wall, that will appear in the frame of the picture. For example, it could be a hand or your head, etc. Be creative. Stand still while the camera takes the shot of you and your shadow. This may take several shots before you get the one that gives the message of the drama queen that you are trying to portray.

Keep in mind when creating your self portrait photography that your face does not have to be in the picture, or it can be, it's up to you. But, a true image of yourself, should tell the viewer something about you, and show something of your personal self included in the picture frame, even if it is only your hands holding a book. What ever you do, have fun with it!

How have you been inspired by these tips to create your own self portrait photography?

Head over to http://www.photography-tips-and-resources.com/ where you can see my very own visual story in portrait style.

While you are there, post your own wonderful self portrait. Tell us the story behind your image, if you wish, or let us try to come up with what we think you are communicating. Either way, it's a great way to be creative, capture some great images of yourself and have some fun. The camera you use doesn't matter. You can use your iPhone or iPad, point and shoot camera or DSLR. See you there. Have fun with it!

Mary E. Foster, MFA, is a professional photographic artist. She enjoys teaching as well as working with all aspects of photography, from developing film, and making black and white prints in her darkroom to shooting digital imagery and editing it on the computer. You can find many more helpful photography tips, resources and lots of inspiration by visiting her website at http://www.photography-tips-and-resources.com/. While you are there sign up to receive a new photography tip every week through your email.

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Tips for Photographing Fireworks

Everyone loves a great fireworks show and it seems that lots of people take pictures while they are at the show. Here is a question for you. How many great pictures of fireworks have you seen taken by any of your friends or relatives?

I'll bet your answer is not many. Now, have you ever wondered why everyone doesn't have at least a couple of really good shots of fireworks? After all, the shows are free and the people that there seem to be snapping pictures like crazy.

I'll answer the question for you. It is because a little preparation and planning is needed to increase your chances of getting some really nice shots at a fireworks display.

The following are a few tips that might help when you are photographing fireworks.

Use a Tripod: This fireworks photography tip applies whether you are using a point and shoot Digital Compact Camera or a Digital SLR camera. The reason you will need a tripod is because it is best to photograph fireworks at slow shutter speeds.

Slower shutter speeds allow the camera to gather more light from the fireworks scene against the dark sky. When a camera is hand held and a slow shutter speed is used, the result will be a blurred picture.

If you don't have a tripod, try placing the camera on a steady surface when taking the pictures. Sometimes, even the roof of your car might help.

Arrive early, claim a good spot: If you have time before the show, this fireworks photography tip can be very useful. As you probably know, fireworks shows are usually pretty crowded and you don't want to have to reach over someone's head to take a shot.

Some people might like to be close to the fireworks, but from a photography standpoint, it is better to be a little distance away from the actual scene. It is better to be able to shoot towards the fireworks rather than shooting straight up at them.

Also, if you are not right upon the fireworks, you might be able to include a little more than the fireworks burst in your picture. A building, a monument, or a skyline along with the fireworks bursts might make the images a little more interesting.

It is up to you to decide if you want anything but fireworks in your pictures. However, no matter what you decide, make sure you have a clear line of vision before you begin to photograph the fireworks.

Horizontal or Vertical? It doesn't make a whole lot of difference if you hold the camera in the vertical or horizontal position when photographing the fireworks. However, since fireworks are shot upward in a vertical plane, it might not be a bad idea to shoot single bursts with the camera in the vertical position. On the other hand if there are several bursts going on at one time, the horizontal position will give you more room to frame the whole scene.

Exposure settings for photographing fireworks: If you are using a compact digital camera, you cannot manually change exposure settings. Try using the fireworks scene mode of your camera. The fireworks mode will automatically set a slow shutter speed to photograph fireworks. (once again that is why you need a tripod or a steady surface for the camera).

If you are a Digital SLR user, use your cameras' manual mode. It would be great if you use the bulb "B" shutter setting. The "B" setting allows you to keep the shutter as long as you like. That way can open the shutter just before the burst, and close it right after if you choose to do so.

If you don't use the "B" setting, experiment with shutter speeds from 2-8 seconds. Also, try using a remote shutter release to avoid camera shake from pressing the shutter button.

As for the camera lens aperture settings, use smaller aperture openings between F8 and F16 if possible. Although the sky is dark, the fireworks are bright and overexposure is possible when using large aperture and slow shutter speed.

Use low ISO settings like ISO 100 if possible: Higher ISO setting like ISO 800 or ISO 1600 might produce grainy looking images. (depending on what camera you use.) So try to use an ISO setting of ISO 200 or less.

Timing is everything: Fireworks bursts will appear quickly and disappear just as fast. Pre focus your digital compact camera on an area where the fireworks are being generated from. Hold that focus until you are ready to take your next shot. You will save time by not having to focus once the firework is in the air.

If you are using a Digital SLR camera use your manual focus feature prior to or during the first burst. You won't have to refocus if you stay in the same location and use the same focal length.

Listen for a thump like sound or a whistling sound in the air. Those sounds indicate that fireworks have just been shot into the air. For best results do not wait until you see the bright explosion. Press the shutter as soon as you know something has been fired into the air. That way your camera will get the full effect of the burst from the beginning.(that is if your camera is already pointed right at the area of the fireworks and set at a slow shutter speed).

Photographing fireworks might be a little tricky at first. However, with a little practice you should come out with some pleasing results.

I hope these tips on photographing fireworks will be useful to you.

For more useful information about taking pictures, visit http://easybasicphotography.com/ or for more about fireworks photography visit http://easybasicphotography.com/photographing-fireworks

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Using The Neutral Density Filter For Better Landscape Photography

Photo Tip - using the neutral density filter. Neutral density filters are used to block light coming into the lens so that we can have longer exposure times than the available light would allow without the filter. As a piece of landscape photography camera gear, it is indispensable.

I've written about neutral density filters in a previous article and this one will build on that!

Let's review... To explain how a neutral density filter works, I used an old standby, the waterfall - shot on a bright and sunny day.

By the way - Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's highest waterfall, at 979 meters. This waterfall is sixteen times the height of Niagara Falls.Imagine shooting that!

Actually, don't imagine it... set a goal and find a way to go do it!

With the available light, we may have a fast shutter speed that will freeze every droplet in place. If that is what we want, great!

What if we want that long and silky cotton candy effect we see so often?

To do that, we need a longer exposure time. That's where the neutral density filter comes in. It blocks light entering the lens and allows for the longer exposure times needed.

Neutral density filters come in various filtration densities and can be stacked to get to the exposure times we want.

This works on water flowing in a river too! Fast shutter speeds freeze the water - slow shutter speeds make it a long silky cotton candy string.

If you live near the ocean, try going to the beach and shooting the waves as they crash onto the shore. With enough neutral density filters, you can totally flatten them out and make it look like there were no waves at all! Toss in a dramatic sky and you have a contest winner for sure!

Today we will delve even further into the neutral density filter.

In previous articles I've written that the best time of day for landscape photography is at dawn and dusk. That will give us the most beautiful light on our subject.

But there is a problem. Because of the dramatic difference in light (on the ground vs. in the sky) at that time of day, half your photograph is improperly exposed!

If our subject is the dramatic cloud formations in the sky, that's great. We make them the star. We expose for all the light in the sky, but that makes the ground go dark. (The ground is under exposed.)

If our star is the ground, we expose for the minimal light on the ground, but that lets the sky get blown out. (The sky is over exposed.)

How can we shoot at the best times of day, still have a star in our photo - either the ground or the sky - but not have the rest of the photo be improperly exposed?

Enter the split neutral density filter!

This is a filter where half of it is clear and the other half is a neutral density filter. They come in various degrees of density and the dividing line can be sharp or a gradual fade.

This way we can hold back some of the light in the sky and not affect the light on the ground.

All you need to do is determine what the amount of difference there is in exposure value between the sky and the ground - then add enough neutral density light blockage to the sky to make them the same!

Since it is "neutral" it will not take away any of the colors or drama in your shot... it just cuts back on the light being admitted to the lens.

Adding neutral density filters to your landscape photography arsenal it vital. They are an essential piece of camera gear that you should never leave home without - if you want to put some of the "WOW" factor into your landscape photography. For more information, check the resource box!

To learn more and enroll in a FREE "photo tips" course, go to: http://ontargetphototraining.com/

Bonus... You will also get YOUR free copy of " 7 Secrets To Stunning Photos! " AND you'll get a FREE daily photo tips newsletter! Check it out right now while you are thinking about it!

Dan Eitreim has been a professional photographer in Southern California for over 20 years - his data base exceeds 6000 past clients, and he says that learning photography is easy, if you know a few tried and true strategies.

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Why Should You Invest in Building a Green Screen Studio?

If you dream of doing creative and innovative photography, green screen technology is the right solution for you. This is an easy and convenient way of adding excitement to your pictures or videos. This simple technology deals with removal of certain part of the image and replacing it with the desired picture. All you need to do is to take your subject's pictures in front of a green screen and later on replace the green screen with whatever image you desire. You can make your subject stand inside a burning house or on the moon; it's up to your imagination and your subject's requirement. Whatever may be the desired effect, it is conveniently feasible inside your studio, provided you have a properly set green workshop. Here are all the reasons why you must invest in a good green screen kit to set up a green screen studio.

Work at your own convenience

Since you will be shooting in your green studio, you and your subject will have all the flexibility to shoot anytime you both want. You are no more dependent on the availability of the location, natural light timings, etc. In this case, everything is controlled by you and you can use the resources as per your requirement. Since, you don't have to go out, the issue such as traveling, lodging, licenses, passport and visa for out of country location, etc. are eliminated. Your studio will be your world.

Increase your productivity

Since your outdoor activities are entirely reduced, you will save a lot of time that you usually spend traveling to the shooting location, staying there if required and waiting for favorable environmental conditions to shoot. If you are a passionate photographer looking to make big bucks, you can work overtime and increase your income. Shooting indoors will not be that tiresome as shooting outdoors.

Be independent of the natural elements

You don't have to bother about the bad weather spoiling your shoot or a delayed subject messed up your effort to shoot in natural light. Each and every element of your work is controlled by either you or your subject. All you need to bother about is to have a good quality green screen backdrops kits sold by many renowned online retail stores.

Create magical pictures without much effort

You don't have to struggle hard to capture that extra-ordinary shot. Conveniently shoot inside your miniature green world with all the leisure and edit the pictures to make your fans feel that you sweated a lot for it.

Save money but get the best

All your outdoor expenses will be reduced to zero; however, despite being inside a closed studio with few basic types of equipment, you will be able to do much better than what you have done earlier at your on-location shoot. Many professional photographers even feel that the quality of photos that they can make by green screen technology is unmatchable.

All the above benefits justify the investment that you need to do for revamping your traditional studio to a green screen lab.

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