Digital Zoom Versus Optical Zoom

Many point and shoot digital cameras offer both digital and optical zoom. These two often confuse the average camera buyer, until you know what you’re looking at.

Optical zoom works much like the zoom lens on a 35 mm film camera. It changes the length of your camera’s lens and draws the subject closer to you. The optical zoom keeps the quality of the picture. Digital zoom works differently. It simply takes the picture and crops it then enlarges the part that is left. It causes the quality of the photo to be reduced, sometimes greatly.

What this means in terms of output is you may have a larger view of an object with the digital zoom, but chances are your image will become unfocused. Details will become lost. It is actually best to turn off the digital zoom feature of your camera if possible. This will prevent you automatically zooming in too close as the digital zoom is often an extension of the optical.

There are a couple of things you can do if you want a closer view of a subject but want the quality of your picture to still be good. Try moving in closer when you take the picture. Often only a foot or two will do the trick. If this isn’t possible, you can set your camera to take a picture at its largest file size. This will result in a photo that can be cropped to include only your desired subject, yet allow for an image that is still clear.

Digital zoom has its place. It can be used if the only destiny of your photo is the internet. Photos online can be a much lower quality in the camera and still appear acceptable when sent through e-mail or posted on a web gallery. If your goal is printing, however, seek a camera that has a greater optical zoom and turn off the digital zoom. Your pictures will be better in the end, even if they are not as close up.

Black And White Digital Photography

There are several ways to achieve black and white digital photography. With black and white digital photography, you are bringing the end user back into a period of time when life seemed a lot simpler. Many digital cameras come equipped with a function to take these types of photos. If your digital camera does not support this function, you can still change your photographs into black and white with software programs.

You’ll want your black and white digital photography to look its best when you are finished. A technique that can help you get the best image out of your digital photograph is through image manipulation. You may find it better to convert your eight-bit colour images (which are usually jpegs) into 16-bit colours first. This is important because an 8-bit RGB can be the same as a 10-bit grayscale.

You can find information all over on the Internet to help you with your black and white digital photography. These resources can be found in everything from websites to magazines. Coloured pictures can look truly beautiful as a black and white display. You will usually have to convert your graphics, because although there are options with digital cameras, there are no true black and white digital cameras.

Correct the Colourcasts

An important part of black and white digital photography is correcting the colourcasts. These are caused by bad lighting, but you can use software such as PhotoShop Elements to make the relevant changes by using their editing applications. The Imaging Factory is also software that can help you to easily convert and fix lighting areas in your graphics to get the best look with your black and white digital photography. If you want to turn your graphics into black and white digital photography, you can step into a completely new dimension in photography. You can work through an endless array of projects right from your own computer.

10 Tips To Better Photography

Taking a good photo isn’t as hard as you may think. You don’t need the most expensive camera or years of experience, just 10 simple tips.

Enjoy!

Tip 1 - Use All Of Your Available Space

Don't be afraid to use all the space in your photo. If you want to take a picture of something, it's ok for it to take up the whole shot with very little or no background showing. Keep distractions out of your shot


Tip 2 - Study Forms

This is a vital aspect to photography. Understanding forms in your photos. Don't see an object, see its shape and its form and find the best angle to photograph it from. Don't just walk up and shoot...anybody could do that. Form is all around us and I highly suggest you read as many books on it as possible.


Tip 3 - Motion In Your Photos

Never have motion in your photos if you are photographing a still object. If there is something moving while you are trying to photograph a stationery object, your photo won't turn out anywhere near as well. Also never put a horizon line in the center of your frame (unless your planned photo is art...because you can always break the rules, for art).


Tip 4 - Learn To Use Contrasts Between Colours.

Some of the best photos have shades of white, gray and black. You can take great shots with just one colour on your subject, but the contrasts between colours in a shot is what makes you a great photographer.


Tip 5 - Get Closer To Your Subject

This is one of the biggest mistakes most photographers make, not getting close enough to their subject. Get up close and personal, and close the distance gap. You can always reshape and resize a good shot but you can't continue to blowup a distant object.


Tip 6 - Shutter Lag

Shooting action shots with digital camera's can be tricky due to shutter lag. What this means is, when you press the button to take the photo, it can take up to a second for the shutter to take a photo, by that time what you were photographing would have moved on or somehow changed. This means you have to compensate for shutter lag by predicting what your subject is going to do and taking the photo just before it takes the action you want. More expensive digital cameras don't have this problem.


Tip 7 - Pan

If you are taking an action shot and your shutter speed is slow, pan with the object. Follow through with the subject, from start to finish and one of those shots will be a winner. You have a better chance of getting a good shot if you take more than one photo.


Tip 8 - Continuous Shots

To pan as I suggested above you will need a camera that does continuous shots and doesn’t need to stop and process after every shot.


Tip 9 - How To Take Fantastic Night Time Shots

Night time shots can be spectacular, almost magical.... if done right! If not they can look horrible...really horrible. Without adequate lighting, even good camera's can turn out crappy photos if the photographer doesn't know what he or she is doing.


Tip 10 - Study Your Manual

If your digital camera has a special night time mode, read the manual and follow their instructions on how to use it properly.

Proud Photography - Become a Professional Photographer

If you are one of those people who could use justa bit more help...here's a great article and link....

Author: Jonathan Valentine

Article:
Proud Photography has helped individuals to become professional photographers through their various courses. This has become the major driving factors of many websites too in terms of providing ways and improving the talents of amateur into becoming professionals. But aside from learning photography, there are many things that have to be born in mind that will surely enable success. To become a professional photographer, you must:



Create your own style



Being unique is the keyword. You have to create your style that is uniquely you. Never copy the style of another photographer. A professional is someone that is able to communicate the style he has and such style is something that cannot be seen somewhere else. Be sure that you build your portfolio based on your own techniques. This is because people will gauge you by the way you take pictures. It has to be alive and whose shots are phenomenal. If you are able to master your style then, you are on your way to stardom.



Innovate



Learning new things everyday is important to become a professional photographer. Learning should not stop once you achieved success. It is a continuous process. You have to innovate your style and continue to develop your strengths so that many will like your products.



Quality vs. Quantity



Quality refers to the caliber of your pictures. An expert photographer would always find ways on how to produce quality pictures rather than produce in quantity but lacks quality. If you want to become a skilled photographer, you must master quality. Many people do not go for quantity. Rather, they are looking for quality pictures. They want beautiful pictures that they could be proud of. Hence, if you are after quantity, shift to producing quality pictures instead.

About the author:
I will show you how to find a legitimate Online Photography Course and avoid being scammed. Do not join any site until you have read this. Online Photography Course



Let me show you how to successfully become a Professional Photographer.

The Basics Of Exposure in Photography

The Basics of Exposure in Photography

Exposure - Getting Down to Basics

Here are some exposure basics everyone should be aware of as they set out with their new camera...

Beginning in Photography - Exposure Basics
By Mark Eden

So you've just bought a shiny new SLR camera huh? And a lens or two to go with it? That's great. Now all you have to do is learn how to use it. I'm assuming here you bought an SLR camera because you want to do a little bit more than take happy snaps at family events and holidays. So for those new to photography as anything more than that, this article aims to give you a little background on the basics of exposure to help you on your way.

Shutter speed

There are two elements to creating a "correct exposure". These are aperture, and shutter speed, which we will look at first. When you press the trigger button on your camera to take a picture, it opens a set of sliders, like opening a window. How long it stays open, depends on how you set the shutter speed. Shutter speeds can range from extremely fast (i.e. 1/8000 of a second), to very slow (30 seconds), or even infinity if your camera has a bulb setting. These are extreme shutter speeds and not often used, except by people who shoot fast moving subjects, or in very low light. For most of us, we tend to stick to somewhere in the middle. As a general rule, the faster the shutter speed, the sharper your photo will be. For most people, anything at 1/60 of a second or above is acceptable when hand holding a camera. Lower if you have a particularly steady hand. If you need to use slower shutter speeds, you will need to use a tripod or rest your camera on a steady surface. These slow speeds can be particularly useful for creating blurred effects. For example the flowing water in a waterfall.

Aperture

Ever wondered how photographers get their subjects to really stand out by blurring the background? The secret (which really is no secret) is adjusting the aperture. The aperture changes the depth of field in your photo. Depth of field is how much of the image is in focus. For example, if you have a depth of field of 4 meters, anything within that distance of the subject you are focusing on will also be in focus. There is as much variety with this control as there is with shutter speed. You can choose to set a narrow aperture (long depth of field) when you want the whole shot in focus, for instance a great, sweeping landscape, or a wider aperture for portraits.

Ok, so you've got your shutter speed sorted from your aperture. Now we just have to put them together. Any SLR camera will have an inbuilt light meter. This little gadget measures the amount of light you will need to create a correct exposure. It is usually in the form of a little bar with a too high (+) and a too low (-) sign at each end. It is simply a matter of balancing one against the other so that the meter is centered. Once you've done that you can press the button! That's all there is to it.

ISO

Another choice that will effect your exposure is the ISO you use. With film cameras, this means the speed of film that you use. If you use a 100 speed film, your ISO is 100. Digital cameras also have an adjustable ISO speed. It's just in the form of turning a dial instead of loading a different film. A general rule is to use the lowest ISO you can get away with. Higher ISO films or digital settings can result in noisy (grainy) pictures. They do, however, allow you more freedom in your exposures in that you can shoot with less available light. Experiment with your particular camera, see what you can get away with. Remember that the quality required will be different for everyone. If you only want to make small prints to put in an album, or just store the photos digitally on your computer, then you will not need the same quality as if you want to make large prints to hang on your wall.

So there is some food for thought for those starting out in photography and looking to do more than just point and shoot. Now it's time to go out there and shoot. Experiment with different settings. Try new things. The technical side of photography you can read about anywhere. The creative side, well, that's up to you.

Mark Eden is a freelance travel photographer and writer, and the founder and director of Expanse Photography, a photographic services company offering fine art, limited edition prints as well as stock and assignment photography and publishing services. Mark can be contacted through the Expanse Photography website http://www.expansephotography.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Eden
http://EzineArticles.com/?Beginning-in-Photography---Exposure-Basics&id=790563

5W's and the H - (what, when, who, where, why and how)

Here's a great article by Dan Fielding. It will cover the basics you need to know about photography...


Article by: Dan Feildman

Photography is both about knowing how to use a camera and also knowing how to make decisions. Today's media projects images that can be difficult to understand, and learning photography can help you to understand what you're being showed every day on television, on the internet, and in movies. Photography is a good way to occupy your time, especially if you are a teenager, as it is fun and harmless. Besides that, it's a great way to bring a community together for a project, such as photographing activities and gatherings.

When you buy a digital camera, you have to know how to take care of it to keep it in its best condition. In order to have the clearest photos possible, you must make sure to regularly clean your optic lens and keep from leaving fingerprints on it. If this happens, parts of your pictures will be blurry, and dirt can build up over time. Not all cleaning products are suitable for a camera lens, so make sure that you don't use tissue paper, any household cleaning solutions, and definitely not saliva. Instead, you should buy the proper products at a camera store, in order to keep your camera at its best.

Understanding how your camera focuses will help you get better pictures. Just about all digital cameras these days have autofocus with a two-step shutter release. In dark lighting, you will notice that when you press the button halfway down, a red light appears for a moment, but not in areas that are lighter. Then, when you press the button down fully, there is a flash. When you hold down the button halfway, that focuses the image, and when you depress it fully, the camera takes the focused image. If you want the subject of your photograph not to be in the center but still focused, first center them in the middle of the picture and focus the frame by pressing down halfway. Without removing your finger, reframe the picture with your subject in the right position, and take the picture. Your subject will still be focused.

One aspect of taking a pleasing photograph is depth of field. When you look at a picture, you will notice that all the area surrounding the focused subject is also focused. This area is called depth of field. In order to change the way the depth of field in a picture is seen, focused, and lit, you must change the width of your lens. The wider the lens is, the smaller the depth of field will be. To decrease the depth of field you can also move closer to your subject. To increase it, you can use a smaller lens or move further away from your subject.

A great technique that helps photographers create eye-catching pictures is the rule of thirds. This is a composition technique, create a pleasing balance between the different objects in a photograph. In order to use the rule, divide your screen into six different parts: three horizontal sections, and three vertical. The focal points, where the eye is attracted when it first looks at a picture, are where the lines intersect. Placing the subjects of your pictures at or near the focal points can help create a balanced and attractive picture.

Landscape photos are very popular and can be very nice-looking. The whole photograph will need to be in focus, unlike some pictures where only a certain part is in focus. In order to have the picture completely focused, you'll need to have a short focal length. This will create a larger depth of field, and everything will be focused. In order to creating a pleasing balance between land and sky, or water and sky, you can use the rule of thirds. Furthermore, if you want a sense of three dimensions, you can have a subject in the foreground.

A tripod is a good investment in photography, especially if you want to take panoramic pictures. You'll have to set your tripod in a place where you can swivel the camera smoothly from left to right, and not up and down. You will have to figure out where you want your pictures to overlap, so that you don't have huge gaps in your resulting picture. Once you figure that out, you can swivel your camera in one direction, clockwise or counterclockwise, to take the pictures you want. Once you're done, all you have to do is put them together with a simple graphics program or photo-editing software.

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