Digital camera resolution options

Finding the best digital camera resolution to buy can be tricky if you aren’t sure of just how many pixels you need for you photos or not want to pay too much for an expensive camera that you really don't need.  A digital cameras ability usually depends on how detailed the resolution of the photo is that it takes, and it is measure by the pixel numbers that is accessible in its sensor, in spite of their other features. Even though the resolution of a camera might be 1600×1200 pixels , it would be represented and sold just by the sum of pixels it can take. Therefore they are grouped as 2 megapixels, 4 megapixels or 5 megapixels camera, and this would indicate that the resolution amount is the way the cameras value is measured. It can be seen if you look at some cameras in the supermarket shelves which one has a 4000 pixel per 1 dollar and another one 6600 pixels per a dollar which makes its obviously be the better deal to buy. In short, the resolution of a camera that you plan to purchase would depend much on your plans of how to use it with the pictures you will take using it. If you are planning to make a sharp 8×10 inch or larger images , then you would need a camera with the ability of taking at least 3.3-6 megapixel photos. It could happen that you plan to crop a section out of the center of the picture to print it out as a 5×7 inch image, to do this you would need a camera with a higher resolution. In another case if you plan to view your images on your pc screen or use it for some application or newsletter, print them out in a size larger then 3-6 inches.

For this case a camera with 2-4 megapixels might be able to do the job for you, instead for paying for more pixels you could use your money to buy one with a better lens or one with more digital film available. Maybe you plan to take photos of the products you plan to sell on ebay, or for lots of images on your own web site, for this a camera with just 1.3 megapixels would be the best choice. Small size digital cameras for this range can be found in many stores for a cheap price and are easily able to fit in our pocket for those special moments when you need a camera ready with you.So while you are thinking of how much resolution you need, don't forget that digital cameras are downward and able to be used together. The camera with the higher resolution can also make photos with a lower resolution so a 5 megapixels camera could also take a lets say 2 megapixel photo, which could even save you some space in the memory film or hard disk, whenever there is no need for a higher resolution.

Dodging and burning in photography tips tutorial

The dodging and burning in Photography is a printing technique used in the darkroom for giving some areas of an image more or less exposure. Those burning areas of the image give it more exposure as a result it darkens the area, and the dodging does the opposite it gives less exposure so the area lightens up. Our goal with this technique is to recover lost information that is caused sometimes due to high contrast exposures.
It is very simple to do this technique using Photoshop and is helpful to restore our images. If you ever had a print where the highlights have been blown out, or maybe a landscape where some details have been lost in the shadows. Than this technique could come as a lifesaver in moments like this and can be done in tonic correction of certain areas of images.

The followings are a step by step tutorial of this technique in Photoshop:

Step#1 Adding an adjustment layer level: Open the image in Photoshop and use the Adjustment Layer button on the layers palette, and add a Levels Adjustment Layer to it.

Step#2 Making Tonal Adjustments: Because our main concern with the dark area underneath our object we will use a mid-tone stunted slider for the middle of the histogram by making our tonal adjustments, Sliding the scrubby slider to the left side will make the area lighter . Observe how all of your image becomes more lighter. Don’t worry, later on we’ll be using a layer mask to correct it. For the time being, pay attention to the areas that you are try to dodge. When you are satisfied with the tonal degree that area, push the OK button.

Step#3 Adding a Layer mask: If you add an Adjustment Layer it will also add a Layer Mask to that layer on its own. You will see how there are 2 small windows in your Adjustment layer. The right side window is the Layer Mask. First make sure to have the right window selected, than click the paint bucket tool and choose the color black from it. Position the cursor over your image and click the inside of it. When you add the color black it helps to hiding the adjustment layer. Now we’ll choose the color white to expose the Adjustment Layer anywhere we need a lighter shade.

Step#4 Revealing the Adjustment Layer: Choose a brush with a proper size for the area and make the opacity go low to about 15%. Pick the color white and start cautiously to paint on the area where you want it to lighten, keep painting until you reach the preferred dodging level. If you think the amount of dodging is more than you want, just double click the Adjustment Layer option and keep moving the scrubby slider more to the right to make it darker. If it still isn’t enough for you enough, than move the scrubby slider more to the left.

The similar technique can be done to Burn. Use the same instructions, just this time make the adjustments to the opposite direction. Now add a new Adjustment Layer and rather than moving the slider to the left again, move it to the right side to make the image darker. Adding the Layer Mask and use white, painting the parts that you are trying to make look darker.

Rain rain go away……

Well, fall has come and with it brought us rain and cold weather which makes it harder to take photos outdoors specially if you have expensive equipment and don’t want it to get wet. So what would be a suited camera to take with you out for taking some shoots in that bad weather. Although i don’t own one myself i have heard that the Pentax Optio W60 is a camera you can vouch for when it comes to the cold and the rain and moisture. The Pentax Optio W60 camera is as almost as good as water proof,cold proof and shock resistant, plus it can endure sub zero temperatures. For a long time Pentax has been leading the market of producing weather resistant point & shoot cameras also this addition entirely exceeds the previous ones. The predecessor for the W60 camera was the Pentax Optio w30. 

Even though the W30 has been a neat weather proof model that acquired great pictures, it caused a bothersome lag time whenever the auto focus was correcting itself. Although, this issue hasn’t been entirely solved there’s a marked improvement to the W60 camera. The speed in the shutter has been improved from 1/1500 to 1/2000. Same as the earlier model before, this camera is able to be completely sunken in water however the limitation of 10 ft before is now increased to a depth of 13 ft. This camera is awesome if you like to take pictures under water, in rain and extreme temperatures or perhaps just to take pictures of family & friends. An improvement has also been done to the its zoom capacity of 3 x to 5 x, that surely is a huge difference for the cameras capability to take close up pictures. The W30 model already was able to take great shots of landscapes however currently with the wider angle of 28mm zooming lens it has pushed tits potential to a whole new level. The Optio W60 camera can still capture a great image except something tto be remembered is that the features which allow a camera to take great underwater pictures might not be so useful of taking dry shot pictures. W60 has raised the resolution to 10 megapixels that is more sufficient if somebody wants to enlarge the pictures. But, with the extended resolution in addition to the wider lens possibilities there’s alittle of barrel distortion with it and the corners could come out a little soft too. This aren’t things that are deliberately apparent and alltogether appearance the W60 produces is still crisp and clear. The image quality is probably about average to most. By and large, when looking at the the features offered with this camera still make it an outstanding buy. Furthermore, I was somehow worried about the battery life because of the increase to the zoom function along with advancements to its automatic features, still, Pentaxalso did improvements to the battery as well. It still comes with the same Li-Ion battery except now it increased the battery life expectancy before it needs a recharge. This is a significant feature to take into account whenever you’re taking your camera on a trip but have nowhere to plug it in. It’s merely one of themany things that the people at Pentax thought about when making this camera for the adventurous & bold consumer. Fine points like the anti-reflective coating on the LCD could make a clear difference to the user if they’re outside and exposed to the essentials. Either if you’re some surfer snapping photos while on your board, or taking pictures in winter of your kid(s) building a snowman this model camera is a good in allweather choice.

How to do close up photography

Close up or also called micro photography could be one of the most fun form of taking digital photos.  Any advanced digital camera has the right features that you would need to take awesome close-up pictures that would  surely impress the people around you.  It can be a beautiful portrait of a person or a charming scenic one, or perhaps you are a fan of insects and like to take large images of those bug creatures that look like aliens from another world through the micro photographs.

Macro photography and digital cameras are really a true match in heaven in so many ways…. the digital cameras are have made it really easier to take close up pictures from objects considering the following advantages, Close -focusing lenses: Digital cameras are great for zooming up close , without the photographer having to get to technical, macro photos can be taken with a camera by moving its lens farther and farther away from the film or sensor. Usually film cameras need to move the lens out to get a good micro effect from it . Like a 50 mm lens on a 35 mm single camera reflex lens has to be moved 4 inches away from the film in order to get a life size 1:1 image.   So in comparing an 8 mm lens which could be equal to the 50 mm lens of a SLR camera only has to be moved by 5/8 inches to give the same magnification, so undoubtedly it is much easier to focus in on an object with a digital camera than a regular one.  In the micro photography world , you would see the capability of close focusing being described in terms of magnification  and not how far it is from the object. Bt being a beginner macro  photographer maybe you would be more interested in how close you can get :3 inches or 6 inches or whatever other distance.

Nonetheless, know that the final size of your image  given for any distance is different and depends on how you set the zoom of your cameras lens.  The location that you choose for shooting your macro photos can be as important as the object.  You might like to take your pictures in a close and small environment such as your home kitchen  by using your tabletop as a platform for your objects or you might  choose to go outdoors to take shot close up shots of mother nature.  Sometimes we have the option where we want to take our photos and sometimes we don’t, like if we wanna take some sea  life pictures we have to do it at the beach or a frog at a pawn where it is the natural habitat  or maybe as somebody’ s pet in a glass jar. Those are some of the disadvantages and visa versa of location vs  shooting in a studio.

Digital Photography Usage in Everyday Life and at Work

Not too long ago digital pictures were something used mostly by professional photographers or gadget lovers, i remember my art teacher in my graphics school giving me this bilk bulky camera in the mid 90′s to go work with for our project, since then there have been a lot of new changes and improvements, nowadays we get to take digital pictures with a snap of a finger with our cell phones and email them around or put them online and share them in places such as flickr, Facebook etc…… While many of us look upon digital images as something more for entertainment , it has made the work easier for many places in the job industry such as the medical field and legal science.

What used to be nearly unworkable even 2 decades in the past times is possible now through digital photography technology. Have a look at the complex suspects drawing at the police stations , now it can be performed easier and faster on a computer with digital technology. At a Medical facility they’re used for X-rays along with other kind of visual testing processes.

Once we take a look back at the past and the ways that have been available for digital images in the first 8 years of the 21st century, we’ll simply think of what it could potentially sustain for us in the time to come. In numerous areas the use of digital photography has altered techniques which used to be less accurate and defined, in particular in the medical area. There’s a certain necessity in favor of this matter to be extended as well as constantly revivified for the reason of the approach we have to our living . We’re a rather fast paced group plus with that prompt tempo there will also be the demand for more convenient technology. Professional photographers aren't the only ones who require  to persist on highly with this innovations however in addition anyone in any area that and requires the usage of digital photography.

In counterpoint to the movies we are accustomed to taking pictures, digital pictures got several additional areas by which to be improved. Traditional Film cameras reached their limit once digital photography came in the market but we have only reached right into a little part of its capabilities at the current times. How big that information and capability will Improve into is unspecified at the present time and would only be acknowledged as the time will lapse as well as the people see the modifications it creates. What is certain is that digital photography is an field that’s nevertheless still enough new for us to give a lot of improvements to it over in the future.

In behalf of many people on the greatest benefits of digital photography is that it gets rid of the need for photo processing. Just about all of the worthiness of digital photography is its cost of capital, that defines the cost used for the tools required to copy and store the pictures, also when purchased it doesn’t need any further expenses. In conclusion, digital photography is the future, in that respect no getting around it, and the earlier you begin to take pictures digitally, the better geared up you will be to adjust with new technologies as they comes out. Anyhow, digital photography is merely just another tool of modernization showing the progress of photography in an ever modernizing world.

Introducing digital photography

The digital photography tips and tricks techniques that are mentioned here is written for mostly for people who have a good grasp of using a computer and how to operate their  camera.   So why get into digital photography? there are many advantages of switching to digital .  Amongst them, the most important one is how we have more control over the finishing outcome of our pictures. With the traditional way of handling photographs, once you have clicked the button there wouldn’t be much that you can do, you depend on the film negatives and the quality of the service that processes your photos.  We needed to wait for days to get our photos back just to find out that many of them ended up useless, before being able to do save them. In my blog I will try to guide you throughout the methods that  I think that are they best of learning to use the advantages of taking digital photographs.  Each digital camera has a memory card where your pictures are saved, you could use the memory card inside your camera or with a transfer-cable to view them on your computer. You got to do that because some print service places ask you to upload your photos to their web site through your account with them. It is better to set up an account there in advance to cautiously go throughout the instructions of how you should upload your pictures.  This will make the procedure of sending your photos to their service more quickly .  Most  home computers today have a photo and graphics viewing program pre installed that lets you to look at the photos by just double clicking the file and open it for viewing. You might choose to change your photos a little to improve the final results, do be able to do that you need a software for photo editing.   Some of those basic softwares,that are most free of charge and can be downloaded on the internet, have an option that allows you to alter and change to your photos, some of those include such as cropping,changing the size and rotating before saving your picture with the new properties. Some more complex applications give you more options to alter the looks of your image. You can change the colors or add special effects to it.

After experiencing this problem or other inconveniences from developing our photos, comes the time where we think we should switch to taking digital photos and production.  It might feel a little challenging for some of us , specially the ones who aren’t very tech savy, yet using digital photographs and altering our photos the way we want is more simple than many imagine it to be for any person who has ever used a computer.

One of the first and most helpful tools with digital cameras is that you look through a small screen that would show you how your photo would look in your camera before you take it.  This gives us the advantage to take another picture again if we are not to pleased about how the first one turned out. It more easier to take better pictures this way, perhaps you do not have enough time to do this every time after you take a new picture, but don’t worry because you can go through all of the photos that you have taken later on your memory card to look at which ones you like to keep or get rid of.

When you are finished to choose the selection of the photos that you want to keep, you transfer those photos from your camera to your computer

By the time you have your photos on you computer, you are able to go through  them all to see which ones you like and are want to have printed out.  After finding the software that you think gives you the best outcome of what you want to do with your images then all that is left is to you is save your pictures in the format of you choose to such as jpeg,tiff,png…. and upload it to the digital photos printing website through the page where you login in to your account .  All together this is very simple task to do and should not take more than a couple minutes, it depends on how many images you plan to print out .  And when the uploading is done, you can advance on to the next ordering step of the image printing web site and have your pictures sent back straight to your home pc. With this you got the pictures you want and never even had to leave your home to go to a photo processing studio like in the old times.

Photography Tips for Beginners

Photography Tips for Beginners

If you want to really improve your technique’s and make a career of it in the lucrative photography business then the first thing which you should accomplish is to understand the basics of photography.

This also applies if you have a passion for photography and just want to get the very best from your camera.

Below are some basic photography tips that will help you immensely:

1. Have the proper equipment – You must have a compact digital camera in your possession which would prove to be your most valuable tool when you are out capturing pictures.

This is essential in order to get good quality photos.

You will need diffusers and reflectors with you at all times.

You should ensure that you have tripods and monopods as well.

Tripods would help in reducing the chances of your pictures blurring due to shaking hands or any other distractions – if you can, get a carbon-made tripod.

2. Knowing how to use your camera – Once you take possession of your camera, go through the manual in order to understand exactly what every button, switch, control and item on the menu does to the photographs!

Even if you cannot master everything, make sure that you know how to turn on the cameras flash when necessary, are able to switch between various environment settings and you can zoom in and out.

3. Taking pictures - Start taking your pictures by switching the camera’s mode to automatic setting at first, and once you get more familiar with the camera’s features and settings, you can alter it in accordance to your preferences and needs.

4. Resolution – Set your camera to its highest resolution in order to get better quality pictures that would prove to be more suitable to alter digitally when processing them.

5. If your camera does not have enough memory, you need to obtain a bigger external memory card as pictures with higher resolutions normally tend to be bigger in terms of image size.

6. Red eye – Avoid red-eye distraction if possible. You can accomplish this by switching on the red-eye reduction feature which most digital cameras come with nowadays.

7. Editing programs - Editing the pictures is another process which takes time and experience in order to produce a quality and professional picture.

There are many programs out there which you can use to edit the pictures.

How you edit your pictures is really up to how you want the style to be. It can be a style which is specifically suited for a particular customer.

It can be a style which is completely unique or one which you have seen other accomplished fashion photographers use.

This is where you can explore your creativity to determine how you want your post processed photos to look like.

Fashion photography is always in constant change mode.

Different tastes and styles come and go with every year that passes.

As a fashion photographer you need to stay familiar with the up to date trends.

You should be familiar with the various designers and to know the different magazines which cover the fashion industry.

Once you fully understand all the above basic tips, you will be able to take high-quality fashion photographs, Good luck!

Understanding close-up photography

Understanding close-up  photography

Close up or also called micro photography is an awesome way of taking digital photos.  Just about any advanced digital camera has the right features that you would need to take close-up pictures that would  surely impress the people around you. It can be a beautiful portrait of a person or a charming scenic one, or perhaps you are a fan of insects and like to take large images of those bug creatures that look like aliens from another world through the micro photographs.

Macro photography and digital cameras are really a true match in heaven in so many way and digital cameras today have made it really easier to take close up pictures from objects. Let's look at some of advantages of many of today's digital cameras. Close -focusing lenses: Digital cameras are great for zooming up close without the photographer having to get a dedicated macro lens. Did you know that the technology behind macro photos involves moving its camera lens farther and farther away from the film or sensor? That being said a 50 mm lens on a 35 mm single camera reflex lens has to be moved at a distance of about 4 inches away from the film in order to get a life size 1:1 image.   So in comparing an 8 mm lens which could be equal to the 50 mm lens of a SLR camera only has to be moved by 5/8 inches to give the same magnification, so undoubtedly it is much easier to focus in on an object with a digital camera than a regular one.  In the micro photography world , you would see the capability of close focusing being described in terms of magnification  and not how far it is from the object. By being a beginner macro  photographer maybe you would be more interested in how close you can get :3 inches or 6 inches etc.  Nonetheless, know that the final size of your image  given for any distance is different and depends on how you set the zoom of your cameras lens.

The location that you choose for shooting your macro photos can be as important as the object. One many advantages of macro photography besides offering a new perspective on a subject is, you get to choose your location. You can always take your pictures in a close and small environment such as your home kitchen by using your tabletop as a platform for your objects as well as go outdoors to take shot close up shots of mother nature

The best digital camera for travel reviewing

The best digital camera for travel reviewing

To choose the best digital camera for travel,we usually think of model electronics that are able to endure severe weather conditions. In fact though, we can just obtain  a  camera  that is off road and waterproof.

As an example once when I was on of my trips to the countryside, I found little amounts of dirt and sand inside my Nikon Coolpix 2100 cameras view- finder, even though  it was just the second time I had taken it with me there, and as much as I like the nikon Coolpix 2100 , I decided that it is not suitable for this type of conditions .

So my problem here was to find a digital camera which doesn’t fear bad weather condition and some rough , and I didn’t want an expensive model just one that would be  not more than 300 dollars.  The Pentax Optio 33WR, Casio G. Bros GV-20,  Sony DSC-U60 and Olympus mju-400   were some of the cameras that came to my mind that were  near this  price range.

Our first 2 cameras fail through because they don't have optical zoom and the shooting quality of their 2-megapixel matrix was not of a a high quality.  The Olympus mju-400  model passed  the approval due to its 4-mega pixels matrix,yet the basic characteristic  features of Pentax are better. Its exposure are in the range of 4-1/2000 seconds versus the Olympus range of 1/2-1/1000 seconds. Its screen is 1.6 inches compared to the 1.5 inches of Olympus, with a bit of better parameters of focus distance. It is possible to use 2  AA type batteries with the Pentax and make it more easy and convenient for shooting,  as for Olympus you have to use the network to charge it up. The format of the Pentax  Sd memory card is more wides pre aded too then the xd-picture card of the Olympus, and fits very easy to a pocket PC.

Nevertheless, the Pentax won in the end during the time when both of the cameras were examined. One outstanding aspect of the Pentax 33 WR camera  is  its lens, when  we use optical zoom does, it does  not leave its protected case and does not leave the dimensions too. The Pentax camera is like  a cube that is separated into 3 parts and on each  of its sides there are rubber protectors. The camera battery and the crossing point section covers are  protected constantly by the rubber sealants. When  the camera is protected by its seventh class of  the standard JIS, it could stay than without any consequences up to 30 minutes on a small depth.. Undoubtedly, we aren’t going to test it, but we feel already that  the Pentax has all the right functions needed.

A person can come up with a lot of things in times, for example while on an expedition in the forest,it started to rain incessantly,and while other travelers cameras were put in covers to protect them from the rain , I  kept staying in the dirty and took pictures without a hassle  . I even dropped my camera several times in the dirt tracks on the  muddy road but I just picked it up and continued to take pictures after  rinsing  it with  water from the bottle and  wiping the camera with a napkin, this shows how useful that the cameras seventh class of standard JIS  really is.

An  important fact  of this camera is the time it uses to prepare for shooting, or better said the time that passes from the moment we switch the camera on  to  the moment when we are ready  to take a photo.  At one time  I  watched how a  Land Rover was driving into a   deep mud pool, immediately  I pushed  the On&Off button  and the camera was ready to  shoot right away   and the photo was taken successfully. The Pentax 33 WR   manufacturer say the cameras   readiness to shoot is about  time 1.5 seconds, but to me it appeared  that for  this time it tends to be zero.

The  management of this camera is pretty simple too is , but it requires some time to adapt to the features. Like the  Navigating pad or  the button of the menu and the 2 buttons to switch modes.  The buttons are positioned so that it makes it  hard  to press them if you are wearing gloves.  I  still remember how easy it was to  handle the Nikon Coolpix management  and even wear winter gloves  while using it .

However there is also the option to choose the program mode (P) and just  shoot, shoot and shoot some more or  zoom in&out,  few times to switch-off flash. This mode is great for people such as Journalists when they just want to shoot to get a successful photo, and got  no time to install  parameters of  their shootings. For me personally,  around 90 % of the pictures that  I take, I use the program mode and wouldn’t be surprised if the other owners of this camera would understand me about this issue.

Apparently around 80 % of the photos become successful and it’s important to just choose  the photo that has a good content.  People who are Fans of photographing insects & flowers would be satisfied  with the opportunity of the macro shooting mode: the minimum distance of the camera to the object is equal to one centimeter,  but as for myself I like to  take pictures of big objects.

Additional framing can be done at home with Photoshop. Indeed, my pictures are not comparable to the ones that were taken  with a reflex camera and a better lens, but the Pentax 33 WR camera can fit easily in the  pocket of my jacket  and doesn’t need  a special case with it. Oh, and I forgot to mention about the cool  ‘comment the picture’ function, that lets you record your voice or any sound to add to the picture that you have taken.

There is also the possibility to use this camera as a high grade digital Dictaphone, I was able to record almost 8 hours of sound on a 256mb card. You can make movies too with a 320×240  – 160×240 resolution with sound ‘about 15 frames per second’. The size of the movie in  the format MOV is as well limited only by the size of the memory card used.
So lets look at the shooting  and installations modes. It seems that I  used fewer than half of the installations that are possible.  This is from the time when the pictures for my friend already filled the entire disk.

The Pentax 33 WR can shoot in 4 resolutions (1024×768,2048×1536, 640×480 and 1600×1200) plus 3 quality degrees (raised,well,the best,).  Its white balance could be set to different positions (auto, shadow/overcast, daylight, manual installation, luminescent illumination and artificial illumination.
You could also decrease or increase the exposure time  to add some special effects, or choosing the preference to switch off the digital zoom (4x) which  with the optical zoom gives the maximum zoom x11.2. There are nine subject programs to choose from with this camera (landscape, night portrait night shooting, portrait snow and beach, sunset, flowers, fireworks and regular everyday shooting.
It is even possible to do panoramic shooting, but the camera on its own does not have the option to for joining images  together .  But  this mode is helpful  to take an amount of photos that then could be put  together on a computer. The sensibility of the camera is set either manually or automatically ‘it is equivalent ISO50- ISO100- ISO200- ISO 400), to measure the TTL-exposure you  use those following modes (evaluative, center weighed average or spot.  The zone of focus is likewise either wide or spot.

There’s also the mode of uninterrupted shooting so that you would be able to capture a successful moment.  The manufacturer doesn’t state  the timing between 2 photo shoots, but as it appears it is seems to be approximately just about 2 photos per second.  There is the possibility to use the continuous shooting mode while taking pictures until  your memory card is full.  During the photo shooting while  you use a mode of serial shooting, a series of four pictures is done and those will be kept as uniform files.

Using Interval shooting would allow you to create a set quantity of photos with an equal interval time between them with an , and the photo shooting can start at a predetermined moment. Different from the 2 previous modes here it’s possible for us  to use the flash. For some reasons   reason this function can be linked with the opportunity of espionage.
The camera can be disguised and set while  the time is determined. The important  thing is that the cameras alarm clock must not go off or  otherwise the camera would be found  and you will be busted, but enough with the spy talks i am hope nobody would ever be caught in this situation anyways.

Whoever that chooses to buy this camera would be the active adventurous type of person who likes to take photos in the great outdoors and not be afraid to get dirty sometimes. Recently when I went mountain climbing I took it with me and at the attitude of 4100 meters above sea level things aren’t that easy, and the Pentax appears to be  well adapted for the cold , because ts face did not get frost-bitten at all (unlike my face)  and to my surprise while I was reading its manual guide I found out that it says the temperature range to use it is from 0-40 but I believe at that time it went even lower then zero degrees and I just hope it wont have any future affect on my cameras performance.

The Pentax has a great design to work with any kind of support and  is as well designed to work with a support, and through the 4 seconds exposure its  lens with the aperture ratio of  f/2.8-f/3.9 will take the needed amount of the information with a  darker enough conditions of shooting. Surely, I hoped that I could get a greater time of exposure, but for taking pictures at night in the city or  winter woods forest  in the headlights during an off roads car  ride this exposure, certainly, would be sufficient enough. The cameras support  is also great for shooting by using  the automatic release, which  allows you to shoot in just  10 seconds after you press the button.

The only  recommendation that I would give to someone who plans to  to  own a Pentax 33 WR is careful treatment while   transporting it, I know it might sound  inconsistent, but the cameras objects are not  protected by anything. There is no protection cover for it and there isn’t also any chance for using a neutral optical filter.  To carry the camera around in a rag cover can be enough.  As a matter of fact , this camera’s resistance is pretty high and strong against any deformations, it has strong  . Plastic details that are adjusted  so well that if you squeeze the camera with your hands  there wont be any  scrape at all.

It is also better to get a charger with the camera accumulators  because even  with the most expensive alkaline batteries, you won’t  be able to probably take more than 50 pictures.

Tips for Buying a Digital Camera

Tips for Buying a Digital Camera

My tips for buying a digital camera is simply about knowing what you want to do with it and which features you need. Have you ever wondered how the pro photographers take fantastic pictures? Is it because master photographers own the best cameras that are usually high-priced and too complex to use for the average person or hobby photographer? Well considering that today's technology have a variety of digital cameras to choose from that can take take high quality photos and can be purchased for an affordable price I think not. First of all, think what you’ll be using the camera for, and which features you think are necessary for the photos you plan on taking. Someone who would use their digital camera for taking  holiday pictures might be comfortable with a simple point and shoot camera that is full automatic and takes care of the background work, such as where to focus, what aperture setting to use and white balance. However for a photographer who likes having more control over his/her shot would generally prefer a more advance camera with more options in its features. Therefore when buying a new camera you might want to ask yourself the following questions:

What will I use the camera for mostly?

How much can i spend?

Which features would I need?

How many (megapixels)is good enough?

Which special brand should I consider, and why is that model better than the other? (Don’t forget to compare everything)

When you've made your decision and purchased your new digital camera it's important that you learn how to maintain it in good condition. Clean your lens on a regular basis and especially before shooting. A dirty lens can result in a blurred and unusable image. Always use a recommended lends cleaning solution and  a cloth (microfiber cloths work best). Using unsuitable materials could severely damage the front element of your lens and render it useless. Understanding how the focus mechanism on your camera works can help you taking better pictures. Almost every digital camera has an auto focus option which works when you press the shutter button halfway down and hold it. Use this feature to lock the focus on your subject and then recompose the shot before you press the shutter fully and take the picture. Using this tip this will allow you to let your main target remain in focus.

Another excellent technique for taking great pictures is to follow the rule of thirds (it's actually more like a guideline) that helps create a satisfying balance between the our main subject and the supporting elements picture. To apply this rule, first separate your screen into 6 sections. This can be done by simply dividing your frame into 3 horizontal and 3 vertical lined equally spaced. Most cameras will have have this feature in live view and can be activated by selecting the grid view. Basically the aim is to place your main subject of the picture close to one of these focal lines. This would  give your picture a finer balance and generally make it more pleasing to look at.
 

Digital Photography Tips and Tricks

The digital photography tips and tricks techniques that are mentioned here is written for mostly for people who have a good grasp of using a computer and how to operate their  camera.   So lets compare traditional vs digital photography, there are many advantages of switching to digital photographs.  Amongst them the most important one is how we have more control over the finishing outcome of our pictures. With the traditional way of handling photographs, once you have clicked the button there wouldn’t be much that you can do, you depend on the film negatives and the quality of the service that processes your photos.  We needed to wait for days to get our photos back just to find out that many of them ended up useless. before is able to do it. In my blog guide I will try to guide you throughout the methods I think that are they best of learning to use the advantages of taking digital photographs. You could use the memory card inside your camera or with a transfer-cable. You got to do that because some print service places ask you to upload your photos to their web site through your account with them. It is better to set up an account there in advance to cautiously go throughout the instructions of how you should upload your pictures.  This will make the procedure of sending your photos to their service more quickly . today have a photo and graphics viewing program pre installed that lets you to view them by just double clicking the file and open it for viewing. You might choose to change your photos a little to improve the final results, do be able to do that you need a software for photo editing.   Some of those basic softwares,that are most free of charge and can be downloaded on the internet, have an option that allows you to alter and change to your photos, some of those include such as cropping,changing the size and rotating before saving your picture with the new properties. Some more complex applications give you more options to alter the looks of your image. You can change the colors or add special effects to it.

After experiencing this problem or other inconveniences from developing our photos, comes the time where we think we should switch to taking digital photos and production.  It might feel a little challenging for some of us , specially the ones who aren’t very tech savvy, yet using digital-photographs and altering our photos the way we want is more simple than we imagine it to be, any person who has ever used a computer.

One of the first and most helpful tools with digital cameras is that you look through a small screen that would show you how your photo would look in your camera before you take it.  This gives us the advantage to take another picture again if we are not to pleased about how the first photo turned out.. It more easy to take better pictures this way.  Perhaps you do not have enough time to do this every time after you take a new picture, but don’t worry because you can go through all of the photos that you have taken later on your memory card to look at which ones you like to keep or get rid of.

When you are finished to choose the selection of the photos that you want to keep, you transfer those photos from your camera to your computer

By the time you have your photos on you computer, you are able to go through all to see which ones you like and are want to have printed out.   After finding the software that you think gives you the best outcome of what you want to do with your images then all that is left is to you is save your pictures in the format of you choose to such as jpeg,tiff,png…. and upload it to the digital photos printing website through the page where you login in to your account .  All together this is very simple task to do and should not take more than a couple minutes, it depends on how many images you plan to print out . And when the uploading is done, you can advance on to the next ordering step of the image printing web site and have your pictures sent back straight to your home pc. With this you got the pictures you want and never even had to leave your home to go to a photo processing studio.

Digital Camera Modes

Since I began this blog I wanted to list a guide to all of the different modes on your camera. Different camera brands have different mode choices but  here are a few that are common. I’ll add to this at a later date.

Automatic Modes

Automatic Mode

Auto mode tells your camera to use it’s best judgement to select shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, focus and flash to take the best shot that it can. With some cameras auto mode lets you override flash or change it to red eye reduction.

Portrait Mode

When you switch to portrait mode your camera will automatically select a large aperture (small number) which helps to keep your background out of focus (ie: it sets a narrow depth of field – so that  your subject is the only thing in focus and the center of attention). Portrait mode works best when you’re photographing a single subject so get in close enough to your subject (either by zooming in or walking closer) so that your photographing the head and shoulders of them). Also if you’re shooting into the sun you might want to trigger your flash to add a little light onto their face.

Macro Mode

Macro mode lets you shoot close up. It’s great for shooting flowers, insects or other small objects. Different digital cameras will have macro modes with different capabilities including different focusing distances (usually between 2-10cm for point and shoot cameras). When you use macro mode you’ll notice that focusing is more difficult as at short distances the depth of field is very narrow (just millimeters at times). Keep your camera and the object you’re photographing parallel if possible or you’ll find a lot of it will be out of focus. You’ll probably also find that you won’t want to use your camera’s built in flash when photographing close up objects. Lastly – a tripod is invaluable in macro shots as the depth of field is so small that even moving towards or away from your subject slightly can make your subject out of focus.

Landscape Mode

This mode is almost the exact opposite of portrait mode in that it sets the camera up with a small aperture (large number) to make sure as much of the scene you’re photographing will be in focus as possible. It’s great for capturing shots of wide scenes. Your camera may choose a slower shutter speed in this mode so you might want to consider a tripod or other method to keep your camera still.

Sports Mode / Action Mode

Photographing moving objects is what sports mode/ action mode is designed for. It’s good for photographing any moving objects including people playing sports, pets, cars, wildlife etc. Sports mode attempts to freeze the action by increasing the shutter speed. When photographing fast moving subjects you can also increase your chances of capturing them with panning of your camera along with the subject and/or by attempting to pre focus your camera on a spot where the subject will be when you want to photograph it (this takes practice).

Night Mode

Night mode (a technique also called ‘slow shutter sync’) is for shooting in low light situations and sets your camera to use a longer shutter speed to help capture details of the background but it also fires off a flash to illuminate the foreground (and subject). If you use this mode for a ‘serious’ or well balanced shot you should use a tripod or your background will be blurred – however it’s also fun to take shots with this handheld to purposely blur your backgrounds – especially when there is a situation with lights behind your subject as it can give a fun and experimental look (great for moving traffic and parties).

Happy snapping!!

Cures for the blurs

Cures for the blurs

Have you ever taken a photo with your digital camera only to upload it to your computer screen and find out that it’s blurry?

The problem is that most people have no idea how to hold their cameras. When the go to shoot a photo, they push the button down halfway to focus and then when they push it down all the way to shoot, they move the camera slightly.

So how do you do it the right way? Make yourself a tripod. Yeah, I know you have two legs and technically you can’t be a tripod right? Wrong.  “Cradle” your camera in two hands on each side and then pull your elbows in together so that your wrists are facing. By doing this, your palms should go together at the wrists and give you a stable base. Now take a deep breath, exhale and shoot.

This works great for action shots.

You can use it for larger cameras with lens barrels and even video cameras, as well. With a larger camera, cradle it around the lens in one hand and use the other hand for shooting while still bringing your elbows in closely. With video cameras, most people shoot one handed and wonder why their images are all over the place. Use the cradle hold again with the elbows brought together and find yourself taking more professional looking videos.

A little composition I made just for you…

The rules of photography are easy…there are none. But if you take a closer look at most photography you’ll begin to see some pretty simple patterns. I was well into my hobby when someone who had viewed my photos said “nice use of the rule of thirds”. I was confused and not wanting to sound stupid, I said “thanks!” like I had planned it to happen that way all along. I then did what I always seem to do. I got online and went to Google and looked it up. Maybe that’s even how you ended up here now, reading this.

So today I thought I’d share a few rules of photo composition with you. If this inspires you to go out and try a few of these ideas, then my work here is done. After all, the only real rule of photography is always have your camera with you.

We’ll start with the rule of thirds…

Rule of Thirds
It’s simple. Just imagine that your image is divided into 9 equal boxes, two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines like this:

The rule of thirds says that you should position your subject or the most important elements in your scene along these lines or at the points where they intersect. It will create more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would. See how the owl is centered over the second vertical line and almost intersecting where that line and the top horizontal line meet? It’s actually more of a personal preference I think but I do think that it’s much better than just centering your subject, don’t you think?

If you’re lucky you may have a digital camera that will even superimpose a rule of thirds grid over the LCD screen, making it easy to use. Yes, that’s what that little grid is for.

Balancing Elements
This is simply balancing the visual weight of your subject.

Leading Lines
When we look at a photo our eye is naturally drawn along lines. If you think about the way you place the lines in your composition, you can pull your audience into the photo, towards the subject matter.
In the example below, see how the line of the bridge draws your eye into the centre of the photo and across to the land beyond.

I’m ready for my close-up
Filling the frame with as much of a subject as possible can be quite interesting. Any distracting background is eliminated plus your photo can become quite abstract and beautiful.

Background
How many times have you taken that great shot and discovered later that the background is so distracting or that your subject blends in with the background so much that your photo ends up losing the visual impact that you had hoped?  The human eye is excellent at distinguishing between different elements in a scene, whereas a camera tends to flatten the foreground and background, and this can often ruin an otherwise great photo. Thankfully you can avoid this by planning more carefully. Look around for a plain or unobtrusive background and compose your shot so it doesn’t take away from your subject.

Framing
This is using other objects in the photograph to frame the main subject. You can look for natural frames…it should draw attention to the subject of your image.

Horizon lines
Don’t let them fall dead center of the photo…just refer back to the rule of thirds. And it’s not a good idea to have the horizon line cut through the head of anyone in the photo.

Portraits
When taking photos of people, try to keep the eye level above the center line of the photo. And while we’re speaking about eye levels…if you’re taking photos of children, get down on their level so you’re not shooting down on them. Unless this is the perspective you’re aiming for…

…like I said earlier, it’s really a matter of preference. If you have a vision of what you want your photo to be, then go for it. Remember there are really no rules here. As a good friend of mine Brandon Corrie always says, "Photography is all about just having fun."

What is Aperture?

What is Aperture?

What is Aperture?

Webster’s dictionary tells us this:

ap·er·ture

 noun
\ˈap-ə(r)-ˌchu̇r, -chər, -ˌtyu̇r, -ˌtu̇r\

Definition of APERTURE

1: an opening or open space 

2 a : the opening in a photographic lens that admits the light

b : the diameter of the stop in an optical system that determines the diameter of the bundle of rays traversing the instrument
c : the diameter of the objective lens or mirror of a telescope

Like the definition above, Aperture refers to the size of the opening in your camera lens that determines the amount of light falling onto the film of your camera or, in a digital camera, the amount of light falling onto the image sensor. The diameter or size of that opening  is controlled by a diaphragm which is similar to the pupils of our eyes.  Aperture size is measured in f-numbers or f-stops. (These are the little numbers on on the lens barrel – f22 (f/22), f16 (f/16), f/11, f/8.0, f/5.6 and so on)  Moving from one f/stop to another doubles or halves the amount of light reaching your film/sensor.

What really confuses people is that the larger the f/stop number, the smaller the diameter of the opening. So an f/stop of f/22 will give you a smaller opening, therefore a smaller amount of light than an f/stop of f/1.8. So the smaller the f/stop number, the LARGER the opening.

What does this all mean to those of  you who have no idea how aperture applies to you? I know you’ve seen those photos where the foreground or the subject is completely in focus and the background is blurry or fuzzy. That’s called Depth of Field and it’s achieved by adjusting your aperture settings.

Depth of  Field is just the amount of  your photo that will be in focus. A large depth of field (or DOF) means that most of your photo will be in focus no matter how close or far away you are. You achieve this effect with your larger number f/stop settings like f22.

A shallow DOF (or small) means that only part of your image will be in focus while the rest will be fuzzy, like the photo I described earlier. You achieve this by using the smaller number f/stop setting such f1.8.

The best way to figure out what your camera settings will do is to just go out and experiment for yourself with your own camera. Take a series of photos with different  settings and see for yourself.