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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