Digital Photos Are Not Forever!
by Drew Hendrix – Today’s digital world is fraught with danger when it comes to protecting precious photos. They easily can be ruined even when we think they’re safe and securely stored on magnetic or optical drives, CDs and DVDs or somewhere up in the Cloud. Digital disaster regularly befalls governmental agencies, educational institutions and companies big and small despite their best efforts to prevent it. It can also happen to you...
Shoot Masterpieces On Your Kitchen Table
by Arthur H. Bleich– When the weather outside turns frightful why not stay inside, where it’s nice and warm, and shoot some still lifes. What’s a still life? It’s simply a creative arrangement of objects which you design. You’ve probably seen classical still life paintings such as flower arrangements or bowls of fruit with fish or fowl in the scene. While these are more traditional still life subjects, yours should be...
Great Photo Ops Lurk In Unexpected Places
By Arthur H. Bleich– I rarely just wander around looking for good pictures. Instead, I almost always have a clearly defined goal in mind when I sling my Pentax over the shoulder and set out for a shooting session. For example, doing a series of images at the town’s train station in the early morning light, catching some action at a kid’s soccer game or shooting a summer band concert down by the river– thematic subjects like that....
Wider is Better
By Arthur H. Bleich– Most amateur photographers lust for longer focal length lenses that bring distant subjects nearer. But most professionals will tell you that if they had to choose between a telephoto or a short focal length lens, they’d take the wide-angle every time. First, it’s a very versatile lens, especially for shooting close-up action. It has great inherent depth of field; you can disengage your camera’s autofocus, set the...
How Well Do You Know Your Aspect Ratio?
By Shelly Katz– Recently, a puzzling question crossed my desk – yes, it was a Monday. Question: Do you have a chart of what is the most standard actual print sizes to fit on a certain paper size. EX: 17×22 paper size – renders a 18×12 print Thanks! My Reply: At first all I could say is that any size image up to the size of the paper would surely fit, and although I wasn’t quite sure what the writer was...
Beginner’s Corner – What in the world is White Balance?
by Charlie MacPherson– If you’re just starting out in photography – or perhaps just getting more serious about improving your images – you’ll come across a lot of confusing term. One of them is White Balance. Get it right and your images look just as you would expect. Get it wrong and you’ll wonder why the entire image has a bizarre color shift! So let’s dig in. Virtually all cameras from the most basic “point & shoot” to the...
Your Camera- A Tool, Not A Jewel
By Arthur H. Bleich– For those of you who are not professionals and take pictures for the love of it, technology is your most formidable opponent. Digital cameras have far too many features for you to become comfortable with, especially if you don’t (and I know you don’t) shoot a couple of hundred pictures a day. Film cameras, on the other hand, had relatively few features which made it very easy to take pictures instead of wasting...
Beginner’s Corner – Exposure Modes Part 2
By Charles MacPherson– Exposure Modes Part 2 Last month, we talked about the different exposure modes available on your camera, and after explaining the different modes, I said that I use only one mode over 90% of the time. And I challenged you to guess which it was. Sue Abrahamsen was the only one to get the right answer – ATTAGIRL, Sue! Sue correctly answered that I use Aperture priority almost all the time. She followed up...
Beginner’s Corner – Exposure Modes Part 1
By Charles MacPherson– Exposure Modes Part 1 Beginner’s Corner – Exposure Modes I’ve been asked to explain something about the different exposure modes. I’ll go more into depth on these next month. Here are the modes that most cameras have: Green Box or Full Auto. The camera controls all exposure and autofocus (AF) settings. You have zero control, but will usually get an acceptable image. P or Program. ...
Beginner’s Corner – Managing Your Shutter Speeds
By Charles MacPherson– Managing Your Shutter Speeds Managing your camera’s shutter speed is absolutely critical to making sharp images – or to create motion blur when you want to. This Beginner’s Corner article will give you a solid handle on how to eliminate or make motion blur. Think of the camera’s shutter as a window shade. It either prevents light from reaching the digital sensor (or film), or allows it. It’s right behind the...
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