Candid Photography and Good Manners

Candid Photography and Good Manners   This doesn't really apply of course if you're taking shots of inanimate objects. A tree is not likely to get offended if you shoot it at a moment when its branches look forlorn and sad - but a person might. For example, you're prowling the backstreets of some Third World city, or even your own, trying to capture a mood of desolation or estrangement - don't ask me why, but people like shooting this kind of thing - and you get an old woman in your viewfinder who has obviously seen better days. Nevertheless, there's a certain grace in her pose, and a nobility in her expression, so you shoot. Later you can zap the pix in Photoshop, give it a good color balance and your friends will admire it. You get that pleasure for your efforts - but what did your model get? Back when I was first taking photos I caught sight of a one legged man on a crutch hobbling towards me along a city street. It was a striking image, so being a god with a Nikon I brazenly stepped out and took it. The subject got very upset - and I immediately saw his point: who wants to be immortalized looking your worst? When I returned to the darkroom I threw the negative out and made a vow not to do that again. Should I have asked his permission first? That would not have solved the situation and he most certainly would have said no. The point was, why was I taking that shot in the first place? If I'd thought about it I would have taken a shot from the back and at least spared his feelings. Sometimes you take a candid snap and the value of the shot is that the person is unaware of your interest. These pictures can be great and the effect would be spoiled by going up and announcing your intention beforehand. However, what you can do is once you've got your shot, approach the subject, let them know you'd like to take a photo and do the best job you can of taking a flattering picture of the person. They may never see it, but here, as in many things - it's the thought that counts. Another variation, especially if you're in that same Third World country where the locals have probably been photographed every which way by thousands of tourists, is to carry some small denomination notes or coins in your pocket, and politely offer payment for the modeling work. This is usually appreciated and it's good for your conscience. Some other examples:  one time I did my own personal photo essay on a school. It wasn't practical to offer every student and teacher a print but I cut a CD of the best shots and presented it to the principal. Another time, I shot a dog class and made some small prints of the ten best shots and gave them to the trainer to pass out at the next class. All this comes under the heading of good manners, and good manners are always appreciated. Furthermore if you want or need to return and re-shoot, you'll find yourself welcomed not resisted. Try it.

Abstract Photography - Capturing Water Droplets and Splashes

Abstract Photography - Capturing Water Droplets and Splashes Water droplets are a fascinating photography subject but some people say that it has become a little cliched, but I for one totally disagree. Each image can be unique and there are countless variations that can be tried for some amazing effects. So, if your itching to do something different with your camera indoors when the weather is not agreeable outside, then read on for some tips on how to take these kind of shots. Capturing water droplets is not as hard as you may think. you don't need modified flashes or timing equipment and you certainly don't need to take several hundred shots to get a few acceptable ones. If you do a bit of pre-planning and setup carefully there is no reason why you can't get some stunning shots with that "wow!" factor. The Equipment you will need     * Tripod - This is really essentiaI and if you don't have one I suggest you go and buy one!     * Cable or remote release - This is pretty much essential too as it will be very difficult to control the droplets and have another hand on the camera shutter at the same time. Cable releases are so cheap and useful in all kinds of photography that I highly recommend getting one.     * External flash - Preferably off camera to control the direction of light.     * Reflector - To stop under exposure. A piece of white card is fine.     * Macro or telephoto lens - To allow you to fill the frame but stay a safe distance from water splashes You will also need a large plastic tub or container for the water and a small dropper or small plastic bottle with a fine nozzle. Setting up the Equipment     * External flash - Set this to manual mode and set the output to 1/32 or lower. The output setting doesn't affect the amount of light from the flash but rather the flash duration which allows you to freeze the motion.     * Reflector - Use a reflector or white card placed opposite the flash. I found that not doing this resulted in under exposed images.     * Camera - set this to manual mode and a shutter speed of roughly 180. this isn't too important as with these kind of shots the flash duration is now your effective shutter speed. For focusing, place the plastic ruler where the drops will fall into the container of water and focus on this. The aperture setting really depends on the type of lens you are using but basically you want the water drops and splashes to be in sharp focus with the background out of focus to blur out any potentially distracting objects. For larger macro lenses of 100mm (which I use) I set the aperture to f16. this gives me sharpness a couple of centimeters just in front to a couple of centimeters just behind the point of focus. Focus on the plastic ruler and use aperture preview to get an idea of the depth of field, if it's not to your liking adjust it and recheck. Taking the Shots Once everything is setup and ready to go, practice dropping some water drops where the plastic ruler was. Once your happy you can hit the right spot keep the cable release in one hand and the dropper in the other. Start dropping water drops into the container and fire off a few shots before the drop hits the water and after it hits the water. If you have a high speed shutter mode on your camera then enable this and fire the shutter repeatedly in bursts as the drops fall. Using this method you will be suprised at how many good shots you actually get. Variations Other things to try are food dyes to colour the water and water drops, dropping pieces of ice into the water and small pebbles. you could also have a picture in the background behind the container which will then be reflected in the drops as they fall! The list of what you can try is really endless! I highly recommend that you give this technique a go, it's great fun and with some imagination you will get some really stunning images.

Du Noyer Photography Competition 2009

Du Noyer Geological Photography Competition 2009 Entries are invited for the 11th Du Noyer Geological Photography Competition, which each year seems to go from strength to strength. George Victor Du Noyer, who served as a geologist with the Geological Survey of Ireland from 1847 to 1869, was a skilled field artist whose numerous sketches and pictures, with their combination of artistic skill and technical accuracy, were the “field photographs” of their day. This competition seeks to encourage the same blend of artistic and scientific skills through the medium of photography. Prizes will be awarded in two categories, Irish and Foreign, and a prize fund of €800 applies. All photographs - print or digital - entered must be supplemented with the following information: * Name * Address * Telephone number * Email of entrant/photographer * Short description of geological content * Place and Date when taken For prints please write on a label and stick it onto the back of the photographs or include a note with each entry. DO NOT WRITE ON THE BACK OF THE PHOTOGRAPH. Prints must be not less than 6 x 4 inches in size. For digital entries please include the required information in the e-mail and please send high resolution images if possible. Entrants may submit a maximum of 4 photographs, illustrating any aspect of field geology or scenic landscapes. The competition will be judged by a panel including representatives of the IGA, the GSI and external nominees and their decision will be final. Entries will be exhibited and prizes awarded at a GSI Cunningham Awards ceremony in early December. We are not in a position to return entry material. GSI reserves the right to reproduce entries in its publications and promotional activity with due acknowledgement. Entries should be posted in an envelope marked “Du Noyer Competition” to: Cartography Unit, Geological Survey of Ireland, Beggars Bush, Haddington Rd, Dublin 4 or e-mailed to info@planetearth.ie Evaluation Criteria · Creativity (25 marks) · Technical Skill of the Photographer (25 marks) · Geological Content of Photograph (50 marks) Closing date for entries: Friday 9th October 2009. Ceremony awards: Friday 4th December 2009, GSI, Dublin.

How to Manage Colors for Beautiful Prints

How to Manage Colors for Beautiful Prints Have you ever faced this problem? Let's say you took a bunch of great photos during your last vacation. You get home, upload the snaps to your PC, then print them using your trusty color printer, hoping to get the dazzling printouts you desire. And guess what? The prints aren't quite as breathtaking as you'd like. One big challenge with printing digital photos at home is color management. You need to understand that your computer monitor and print paper are completely different media. Hence, your print isn’t going to be an exact match of what you see on your screen. Here are some tips on color management to ensure that you get great quality photo prints. Monitor Calibration Here's another tip - it's important to calibrate the colors displayed by your computer monitor. Most good computer monitors come with some sort of color management software. If you're looking for some products, some that I'd recommend are ColorVision Spyder2 and Color Profile Mechanic . Understanding Color Space When choosing a color space for image editing, there are two major types. One is the Adobe RGB (1998) and the other is sRGB. My advice is to be consistent with the color space you choose. If you took the picture with sRGB in your digital camera, then follow through with sRGB when working with them in your image-processing program. Many professionals prefer the Adobe RGB format though, as it gives them a wider range of colors. Experiment and see which color space works for you. Printer Driver You need to ensure that your printer driver is up-to-date. Also, when printing your photo, choose your printer properties and ensure that the correct photo quality and paper size have been selected. Paper Quality One of the most critical requirements for a quality printout is the quality of paper you use. Make sure you specify to your printer what type of paper you’re using - it needs this information in order for it to properly apply ink.

A Simple Trick for Copying Textures between Photos

A Simple Trick for Copying Textures between Photos Hey, have you ever wondered if you can get really creative and manipulate reality using your digital photography skills? Well, I recently took a shot of a lighthouse and thought it might be interesting to paint some kind of special texture on it. The resulting photo was awesome, as you can see below. See how those flowers appear on the lighthouse wall? Curious how this was done? Well, read on and find out! The result of copying a texture from one photo to another Step 1: Selecting The Canvas Before we start, you may want to download the tutorial pictures. There are two of them, one is the original lighthouse photo and the other is a photo of some wild flowers. Now, once you have the photos, the first thing to do is to load up your trusty image editor. For this tutorial, I'll use Paint Shop Pro. Open the photo of the lighthouse and select the Freehand Selection tool, which we will use to ensure that any painting is only done on the wall of the lighthouse. Locate the Freehand Selection tool in the fifth cubby of the toolbar on the left side of the screen. Make sure you can see the Tool Options palette at the top of the screen; you can toggle it on by choosing View, Palettes, Tool Options. Then set the Freehand Selection tool to Smart Edge from the Selection Type drop-down menu. Selecting the canvas onto the which the texture will be painted Select the entire wall area with the tool. To do that, click on the edge of the hood, move the cursor a short distance, then click again. Follow this process until it's completely selected, then double-click to close the loop. Step 2: Add the Texture Now select the picture of wild flowers and switch to the Clone Brush. This useful tool resides in the eighth cubby from the top of the toolbar. In the Tool Options palette, set the size of the brush to about 45 pixels and make the Opacity pretty low, about 30 percent. The opacity should be set low so that we can still see the underlying texture of the wall in the resulting photo. Step 3: Start Painting Right, now you can start to paint the lighthouse photo. Right-click on the wild flowers to select your starting point. Now switch to the lighthouse photo and position the mouse at the point that you'd like the flowers to appear. When you're ready, just click and paint, covering the entire wall in one stroke. When you're done, click on the Freehand Selection Tool again and right-click in the picture to eliminate the selection outline. If you like the results, save the picture. Conclusion Ok, we're all done for this short tutorial. I hope you've learnt some tips on applying textures to photos. One way to get different results is to try varying the opacity of the painting. You can also use a larger or smaller photo for the texture to get different effects.

How to Choose a Tripod for Your Digital Camera

How to Choose a Tripod for Your Digital Camera Are you thinking of getting a digital camera tripod? Well, good for you! I feel that tripods really are a necessity if you’re serious about photography. Yes, they are big, bulky and quite painful to carry around - but they do wonders for the digital photos. They are particularly good for getting rid of that camera shake that creeps into your photos now and then. In particular, tripods are particularly good for nature shots, macro-photography, long exposure shots, slow shutter speeds or low light situations. That makes it a very versatile accessory which must be in any photographer's toolbox. This article will give you some tips for choosing a good tripod for your digital camera. Read on and find out more! Check the Stability Always make sure you check stability of the tripod when the legs are fully extended. Adjust the tripod to a proper height, then check if it wobbles after you apply some pressure to the top. If the tripod is made of sturdy material and is of good quality, it should remain firmly in place even with some pressure on it. Can It Sustain the Camera's Weight? Another thing to bear in mind when buying a tripod is the weight of your camera. Remember, if you have a professional digital SLR, the total weight of your camera, lenses and flash unit will make the whole setup pretty hefty. Make sure that tripod can carry the total load. In general, I'd avoid the plastic models. Yes, they’re lightweight and cheap, but you want to trust it with your camera. A heavy tripod, made of magnesium alloy, titanium or carbon fiber is much better. Though slightly more costly, they will last you a long time and are much suited for rough photographic situations. Check the Head Tripods come with a head to which your camera is attached. Some of the tripods come with one that’s removable, which will allow you to just buy whichever type you like. Some come with one that is not removable, and your stuck with it. So shop carefully. Heads tend to come in two categories - the pan and tilt heads and the ball and socket heads. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The pan and tilt heads move up and down, left to right. The ball and socket type allow you to position the camera in any direction, is nice for moving your camera around while on the tripod. Check the Height One more thing - remember to check for the height of the tripod. How does the tripod extend? What are its maximum, minimum and folded heights? And most importantly, do the heights fit you? This can really vary depending on the type of photographs you take. Brand Name Tripods There are many brands of tripods out there - many beginner digital photographers end up buying lower quality ones. Remember, a cheaper price doesn't always mean the tripod is of a better quality. I prefer to go for quality brand names like Sunpak, Slik or Vanguard. One of my favorite tripods for general usage is the I use is the Sunpak 6601UT tripod as shown below. The Sunpak 6601UT Tripod Conclusion Great! Hopefully you've now learnt a thing or two about choosing a proper tripod for your digital photography exploits. Trust me, a tripod is a really useful tool - something that you will need sooner or later if you're serious about photography.

Learn How to Capture Action Shots

Learn How to Capture Action Shots Do you find it a problem to shoot great action shots? Whether you are shooting pictures of a soccer match, or a fast moving car, you may find it a great challenge to produce nice pictures of these subjects. In fact, the first thing you’ll realize is that digital Cameras are bad for action shots. That is why first time users, new to digital photography often gripe about how lousy their action shots turn out. This article will give you some tips for shooting action shots with a digital camera. Apply these tips and I’m sure you have a better chance of getting a nice action shot. A photo of a fast moving car Shutter Lag One of the major reasons why digital camera cannot shoot nice action shots is due to shutter lag. On many digital cameras, when you press the shutter button, it may take an entire second before the photo is taken. A traditional, analogue 35mm camera can take the picture within 50 milliseconds. There is a world of difference between 1 second and 50 milliseconds. What this means is that you need to compensate for shutter lag when shooting action shots. Give extra time when framing your shot, so that when you depress the shutter button, the photo will get taken at precisely the right time. Another option, of course, if to get a higher end camera which offers less shutter lag. Take Control Shots Another factor influencing action photography is the shutter speed of your camera. If your camera allows a very fast shutter speed (say up to 1/8000 of a second), you can easily capture fast motion. If it only supports a slower shutter speed (say 1/640 of a second), then you won’t be able to capture such fast motion. One way to capture motion with a slow shutter speed is to use the panning technique. When you next shoot a fast action shot, try following through with the subject. Track the subject, shoot the picture, then continue moving the camera. If you practise long enough, you’ll be able to get a sharp subject with a blurred background – which is a nice effect. Camera Write Times The write time of the camera is also important when shooting action shots. Some cameras will chug away to store a picture in memory each time you press the shutter button. This, of course, is terrible for capturing action. One way around this is to ensure that your camera supports continuous shots. This way, the camera takes a fixed number of shots, before writing them all to memory at once. Conclusion We all know action photography is exciting and very interesting if the pictures are taken well. However, action shots pose a great challenge, especially to novice photographers. Do keep the above tips in mind the next time you take such shots, and I’m sure your results will be better.

How to Buy a Photo Printer

How to Buy a Photo Printer For a long time digital photography seemed to somewhat ignore probably the most prominent part of the activity – photographic prints. Things have changed a lot since those times, and digital photographers are now offered an overwhelming amount of different photo printers that are jam-packed full of useful, and sometimes not-so-useful features. But which photo printer is the best choice for you? This article takes a closer look at the different types of photo printers available and will help you to choose the most suitable photo printer to cater for your needs. Some of the photo printers available in the market Inkjet Printers for Photos Generally providing a combination of fast printing speed and photo-quality printing, inkjet photo printers range in price from as little as $40 (if you look hard enough) to around $400. Most of these printers offer good quality output for printing standard size photos, but pay attention to the detail because not all inkjet printers provide good quality output for larger photos. Although most inkjet printers produce a similar quality - the majority providing the maximum dpi (dots per inch) of 1,200 X 4,800 – spending more on an inkjet printer will most likely provide you with more features or a faster printing speed. Keep in mind that many photo printers use color ink cartridges to produce black and white, or grayscale images, which can lead to photos printed with a colored tint, so try to stick to inkjet printers that use black or gray inks if you want to print many black and white photos. Photo Printers for Professionals What separates professional photo printers from consumer models is that the professional variety can produce quality images at much larger sizes. Depending on your needs, printers accepting paper sizes from 24-inches all the way up to 60-inches wide are available, but because they are targeted towards professionals, many convenient features such as printing from your digital camera will not be available on professional printers. If you want to create large quality prints of your photos, maybe even posters, then a professional photo printer may be the choice for you, if you can afford it – professional printers range in price from around $500 to anywhere in the thousands. Photo-only Printers While many inkjet and professional printers can also double up as printers for reports and other documents, those dedicated to printing photos alone are often much more compact and offer faster printing speeds. Print size is often limited to 4x6-inches but the quality remains high, and larger models do exist if you are prepared to pay a higher price. Although the dpi tends to be low on these types of printers, the output quality is high due to the use of thermal-dye technology that utilizes primary printing colors in several hundreds of shades, meaning no need for dithering like inkjet printers do. Another great thing about these printers is that their reduced size makes them very portable - some can even be battery-powered! Standard Printers Maybe you don’t need a printer for the sole purpose of creating prints of your digital photos, and would like a little more freedom with what you are able to print. If this is the case then there are many printers available to you that can fulfill your needs – standard inkjet and laser printers, and consumer printing services – all of which can be excellent choices if you are not too concerned about exceptional quality or do not plan to print a lot of photos. Both standard inkjet and laser printers can provide good quality photo printing even if they are not exclusively designed for it, but make sure to choose your printer carefully because photo quality can vary wildly on standard printers. Printing Supplies One of the factors that people often overlook when choosing a printer is the type of paper and ink they will be using to print their photos and how the price of these supplies adds up in the long-term. It’s not just the price to take into consideration either - choosing the right paper and ink cartridges will also make sure that the photos you print are of the best possible quality. While ink cartridges made by a company other than the printer manufacturer may cost less, they will more than likely produce lower quality prints and can also cause photos to fade faster. Most printer manufacturers also create paper for their specific printers, and although it may not seem as important as ink, testing a sample of paper that isn’t made by the printer manufacturer is advisable before making a large purchase. Conclusion Many new photo printers come with useful features like being able to connect your digital camera directly to the printer, or allowing you to print from memory cards directly – both cutting out the time needed to print your photos. It’s also important to remember that most of the photo printers out there can produce excellent quality photos, and many have very attractive price tags to match. Also make sure that your printer will be able to create large or small enough prints, and once you have made a purchase make sure to test with different types of paper to find the best compromise between quality and price. I hope that this article has helped you to understand the difference between the types of photo printers available and the important factors to take into consideration when making a purchase. Share Your Pictures at SmugMug If you've tons of digital photos to share and but are not sure which photo sharing site to choose, then do take a look at SmugMug. I've been a happy user of their photo sharing service for two years now and I've been most impressed by it. The service allows you to upload, arrange and share your photos, as well as buy prints or burn picture CDs.

How Many Megapixels Do You Really Need in a Digital Camera?

How Many Megapixels Do You Really Need in a Digital Camera? If you're out buying a digital camera, then one of the key deciding factors is the number of megapixels supported. The number of megapixels determines the how good your photos turn out. If you have too few megapixels, then your pictures will turn out crappy. Investing in a camera with too many megapixels, on the other hand, is an unnecessary waste of money. Personally, I feel that if you have unlimited funds, then, by all means go for that high end 8 megapixel camera. Otherwise, you certainly don't want to waste money on extra megapixels you don't need. The 8.5 megapixel Canon EOS-20D A golden rule to bear mind: a camera with more megapixels isn't always better. If your camera supports more megapixels, then each photo you take will be larger. This means that you'll use up more space on your memory cards and computer's hard drive. The 4.2 megapixel Kodak EasyShare DX7440 If you have trouble deciding how many megapixels you need (I know I did when I bought my first digital camera), then the guide below will help. Essentially, you need to ascertain what size prints you want to get and what your budget is, before deciding on how many megapixels you want. So here we go: * 1 megapixel or less: Cameras in this range (e.g. web cameras or cell phone cameras) have very low image resolution. Don't expect to be able to print high-quality photos using these cameras. You can, however, email the photos or post them on your web site. The good thing about such cameras, of course, is their low price. * 1 to 2 megapixels: My first digital camera was a Canon PowerShot S110 which only had a 2 megapixel sensor. Cameras in this range are pretty decent though - you can expect to print out great 4x6 prints at this resolution. Of course, if you want larger, blown-up protraits of your birthday party or holiday in Italy, then I would certainly recommend getting more megapixels. Cameras in this range should sell for around $100 currently. * 3 to 4 megapixels: Most new point-and-shoot cameras these days tend to have at least 3 to 4 megapixel image resolution. Bring these images to the lab and they'll be able to develop great looking 4x6, 5x7 and even 6x9 printouts. Expect to pay slightly more though - we're looking at around $250 for a good model. * 5 megapixel and up: The more advanced cameras tend to have image resolutions of 5 to 8 megapixels. Newer point-and-shoot cameras have 5 megapixels, while the newer digital SLRs come with 8 megapixels. The quality of images shot by these cameras is simply stunning. Of course, their price tags are equally stunning . In this megapixel category, expect to pay around $300 for a 5 megapixel camera and up to $1800 for an 8 megapixel SLR. Conclusion Well, now you know roughly the number of megapixels you should be shooting for depending on your intended usage and budget for the camera. My general advice is, if you're just an amateur photographer, then don't buy cameras above 5 megapixels. When you are really serious about digital photography and want to go professional, then consider buying a super high megapixel camera. Learn to Take Beautiful Photos If you want to improve your digital photography skills, you may want to take a look at Digital Photography Success. This e-book package includes excellent step-by-step instructions on how to take pictures of beautiful landscapes, people, nature, fireworks, night scenes, etc. Learn how to shoot professional photos - just like those you see in glossy magazine covers.

5 Things You Need to Know About Shutter Speed

5 Things You Need to Know About Shutter Speed If you’re new to photography, you may be struggling with some of the terms used in the industry. Well, one of the most fundamental principles in photography is that of shutter speed. Learning to control the shutter speed is critical to taking good pictures. This article will highlight 5 important facts about shutter speed, which you must understand to take good photographs in a wide range of conditions. 1. What is shutter speed? Let’s begin with a basic definition of shutter speed. Now, the shutter in a digital camera is a thin sheet covering the CCD (think of the CCD as ‘film’). When this shutter opens, it exposes light from the exterior onto the CCD, hence allow a picture to be taken. The length of time that the shutter remains open is termed the shutter speed. A key concept here – the longer the shutter remains open (i.e. the lower the shutter speed), the greater the amount of light that is allowed into the camera. And vice versa, the faster the shutter closes (i.e. the higher the shutter speed), the smaller the amount of light that is allowed into the camera. 2. How is shutter speed expressed? If you look at modern digital cameras, shutter speeds are usually expressed as 1/8th of a second. The range of shutter speeds can be expressed as: 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, with each one being a fraction of a second. Each speed in this series is roughly half that of the one on the left. 3. Choosing the Correct Shutter Speed Here’s the important question. How do you select the correct shutter speed when taking photos? Well, if you have a point-and-shoot camera, then it may not matter too much. Simply set the camera to automatic mode and snap the picture. The camera’s in-built auto exposure settings will take care of the shutter speed settings for you. If, however, you like to play with manual settings and have a more advanced camera, then the choice of shutter speed clearly matters. What you need to remember is this – shutter speeds are very closely linked to movement. City street photo taken with a slow shutter speed Use a slow shutter speed (say 1/60 or lower) if you want to introduce some blur in the picture to display speed in the subject. Remember, however, that a slow shutter speed will mean you need to hold the camera totally still for a longer period of time. If you can’t do this, your image will usually turn out bad. To work around the problem, use a tripod or steady your arms somewhere before taking the shot. As a general rule, if the shutter speed is 1/30 or slower, I’ll definitely use my tripod to steady the camera. An passing car taken with a fast shutter speed Use a fast shutter speed (say 1/125 or higher) if you need to capture a fast moving subject. Good examples include a passing car or a bird in flight. Now, one problem with fast shutter speeds is that you can totally miss the shot because the shutter opens and closes so fast. To workaround this, you can try one of two things. First, avoid the camera LCD - look through the viewfinder with one eye and use the other eye to spot the subject crossing the camera’s field of view. Second, you can try uses a lens that increases the field of view, allowing you more time to take the picture. 4. Make Use of the Light Meter Another thing I find useful is to make use of the light meter in your camera. Most advanced digital cameras should have this feature. The light meter can tell you if there is too much or too little ambient light. If it’s too bright, then you can set a fast shutter speed like 1/250 - the shutter will quickly open and close so that too much light doesn't get in. If it’s too dark, then do the reverse – use a slow shutter speed to give the camera time to absorb light into the camera. 5. Direction of Movement OK, besides the speed of your subject, the direction of movement of your subject is also important. Look at the diagram below which I use to explain this concept. For a given shutter speed, if your subject is running perpendicular to the camera, then you need a faster shutter speed to capture the shot. If your subject is running at an angle towards the camera, then a slower shutter speed would suffice. An example is a photo of your pet dog. A dog running towards you would require a slower shutter speed then a dog running across you. Conclusion I hope you now understand shutter speed a little better. When I started out in digital photography, I was simply snapping pictures without understanding the concept of shutter speed. Bad mistake! Take the time to understand the fundamentals of shutter speed and you’ll be surprised how much your photography skills will improve.

A Guide to Touching Up Your Digital Photos

A Guide to Touching Up Your Digital Photos One problem I faced when starting out with digital photography was how to touch up my raw digital images. Perhaps an image was slightly dark, perhaps it had to be rotated or cropped. Maybe some dirty spots had to be cleaned out and erased. Digital photos usually require some form of manipulation before final output. So here's a short guide which I've compiled to help you touch up your photos. Step 1: Start Up Your Image Editor The first step, of course, is to fire up your favorite image editing program. For beginners, it's best to get a program like Ulead PhotoImpact. It's a great tool that allows you to achieve professional photo effects using simple, easy-to-follow steps. Ok - with your image editor ready, open the picture you want to edit within the program and save a backup copy. Step 2: Remove Red-Eye If you're taking photos of people, chances are you may have taken a photo with red-eye problems. This is easily removed with image editing software. In Paint Shop Pro, select the Red-Eye Removal tool in the menu and voila, the program does all the work for you. In Ulead PhotoImpact, there's an equivalent tool called Remove Red Eye in the Tool Panel. Step 3: Rotate and Crop If you've taken a photo in a wrong orientation, it's easily corrected with little loss in quality by using a rotate tool. You'll also want to do some cropping of your photo to remove cluttered surroundings that draw attention away from your subject. For example, I find cropping very useful if my subject is occupying only the middle portion of the photograph. Cut away the two sides of the picture and you have a much more professional look. Step 4: Play with Color Don't be afraid to experiment with colors. Image editing programs put a lot of power in your hands. You can make the leaves purple, change the entire photo to black and white, add a sepia effect - almost anything you want. A good photo editing program will have automatic color balance options to adjust color defects in your pictures. Step 5: Blurring Effects Blurring Effects at the side of the photo Sometimes I like to add a blurring effect to my photos. What you can do here is to select areas of the photo which are unimportant and blur them out. This will bring more attention to the main subject of your photo. For example, if I had a picture of a flower and I wanted to play down the details in the leaves in background, I might add a blurring effect to the background. Step 6: Sharpen Up Sharpening the image is the next step in the photo touch up process. Contrary to popular belief, you can't actually sharpen an out of focus image. What I typically do when sharpening an image is to selectively sharpen. That is, I select a part of the image, maybe a person's eyes and sharpen only that area. Leave unimportant areas unsharpened. Step 7: Resize Depending on your needs, you may want to resize your photo. If you're emailing a picture to a friend, you'll want to resize the picture down to a much smaller size. If you're printing the photo on a greeting card, you can scale down the image to the size of a 4x6 print. Step 8: Save Your Work Ok, you're pretty much done. Remember to save your work in the appropriate image format. Use the large TIFF image format if you want to retain all details for subsequent image editing. On the other hand, you can use the JPEG image format if you want to just send the picture via email or upload them to your website. Conclusion Alrighty then! Now you know the secret to touching up and preparing your raw digital photos for output. I'd say that not all the above steps are truly necessary in a given situation. Remember to use your discretion to see which is necessary. Don't be afraid to experiment and learn - practice makes perfect when it comes to touching up your photos.

Display Your Photos In A Digital Photo Frame

Display Your Photos In A Digital Photo Frame Have you ever wanted to display your photos in a digital photo frame? The truth is, digital photo frames are now much more affordable than they used to be. They are a perfect way to share photos with your friends and family. Some of these frames even display videos and play music. In this article, we will look at how we can properly display photos in a digital photo frame. How To Buy A Good Photo Frame There are a few things to take note of before buying a good digital photo frame. First up, you need to take note of the resolution and aspect ratio of the frame - these can differ drastically from model to model and have a huge impact of display quality. Also, you should if the frame supports wireless functionality, which would enable you to transfer photos from your PC to the frame wirelessly. Some digital photo frames also have audio and MP3 support to allow you to pipe in music while viewing your photos. Let's take a look at some digital photo frames now. 1. Kodak W820 The first model we want to look at is the Kodak W820. This photo frame is an 8-inch frame which displays photos very nicely. it supports MP3 music and also has ample 512 MB of internal memory for your photos. The unit can also display both photos and video. 2. Digital Spectrum MF-8115 The Digital Spectrum MF-8115 digital photo frame allows you to display photos at a 800 x 600 resolution. The frame itself is15 inch and comes with 256 MB of internal memory. The unit also allows display of both photos and video. 3. HP df820 The HP df820 is an excellent digital photo frame that plays music and displays video and photos. If you have a PictBridge enabled printer, you can also send off photos to be printed to the printer directly from the frame. The frame is an 8-inch unit and displays photos very nicely. 4. Sony S-Frame DPF-V900 The Sony S-Frame DPF-V900 is a Bluetooth enabled digital photo frame. The nice thing about the frame is that it can connect up to a TV using a HDMI cable. The 9-inch frame allows you to display photos at a decent 800x480 pixel resolution. 5. Westinghouse DPF-0802 The next unit we'll look at is the Westinghouse DPF-0802 digital photo frame. The frame provides a nice MosaicView feature that allows you to display many photos in one frame. There's also a nice photo shuffle feature to display random photos, as well as 128 MB of internal memory. Conclusion Digital photo frames are becoming cheaper and more popular. I hope this article has shown you how to buy a good photo frame and get a sense of the better models out there. A good place to find quality digital photo frames can be found here. So until next time, good luck and happy shopping!

Share Your Digital Photos Using the TV

Share Your Digital Photos Using the TV Have you ever wanted to display your treasured digital photo collection in the living room TV instead of your computer? It certainly makes sense to do this if you’re showing off your pictures to many friends or family members. You wouldn’t want your guests to crowd around that crummy computer screen would you? Well, there are many ways to display photos on TV. Let’s step through the various options in this article. Option 1: Use the Digital Camera The most obvious way to display digital photos on TV is to make use of your digital camera itself. Most, if not all digital cameras these days come with a video-out cable. Simply connect one end of the cable to the video-out of the camera and the other end to the video-in of the TV. Simple as that – play back the pictures on the camera and they will display beautifully on the TV. The drawback of this approach, of course, is that you can only show the photos available on the memory card within the camera. So if you only have a 32MB memory card installed, then you probably show very few pictures. Option 2: Use a Photo Viewing Device Another approach is to use a photo viewing device. One device I which has served me well is the SanDisk Digital Photo Viewer. This neat little device sits on top of your TV set and it accepts popular memory cards like CompactFlash, MultiMedia, Secure Digital, SmartMedia and MemoryStick as input. There is a video-out port to connect the device to the TV. In summary, this approach is similar to using a digital version of a 35mm slide projector, so to speak. The SanDisk Photo Viewer I’ve also noticed some DVD players coming out in the market which accept memory cards as input. One of these is the Sampo DVE-631CF. It’s a reasonably priced DVD player which also allows you to play back MP3s and JPEGs from both CD-R/RW and CompactFlash Type I cards. However, whichever of the above options you choose, you’re still limited by the amount of memory available on your memory card. Hence, if you have a small capacity memory card, you probably can’t show to many pictures at one go. Option 3: Use a DVD Burner The best approach of all, in my opinion, is to convert your digital photos to DVD format. The DVD you create can then be played back in any DVD player to display all your pictures as a slideshow. The chief advantage of this approach over the others is that you can store many, many photos on a 4GB DVD-R. It’s also pretty convenient to send a DVD of pictures (instead of a memory card) to your friends or family members who live faraway. All you need is a DVD burner and some special software. The best software I’ve found for doing this is Ulead CD & DVD PictureShow. With its easy-to-use wizards, this software allows you to convert all your digital photos to DVD in a few simple steps. What’s more, you can add special effects to your photo slideshow, including transitions, music and DVD menus. There’s a full set of tutorials at the Ulead website to guide you if you have doubts. Once you’ve converted them to DVD format, the software burns them into a DVD-R for you. Then simply pop the DVD into any DVD player and play back your picture slideshow. Conclusion This article has shown you three options for displaying photos on your TV set. Displaying photos on the TV certainly makes sense when you have many guests wanting to view your photos. Whichever option you choose is up to you, but I feel that the best approach, as mentioned above, is to convert your photos to DVD format. Good luck and happy sharing!

5 Tips for Conserving Camera Battery Power

5 Tips for Conserving Camera Battery Power Running out of battery power can be one of the most annoying aspects of digital photography. Too many times in the past have I experienced taking the time to set up a shot or needing to use my camera in the heat of the moment, only to find that the battery didn’t have enough power left to capture the moments that I wanted to photograph. You can imagine my frustration when I miss the photo opportunity because of the camera battery. Some camera batteries available in the market Now, instead of carrying spare batteries with me in case this happened, I decided to research into the area of conversing camera battery power. I share what I learnt with you in this article in the hope of helping you to avoid such annoying situations! Tip 1: Keep LCD Use to a Minimum The part of your digital camera that uses up the most power is without a doubt the LCD screen. Every time you open up this digital display you are presented with a view of what the camera sees in real-time, meaning that the display has to be refreshed multiple times every second to show you a fluent-moving picture. Keeping usage of the LCD screen to a minimum will definitely help a freshly charged battery last much longer! Tip 2: Manage Photos While Your Batteries Charge Another easy way to cut down on the amount of power drained from your batteries is to wait until you can plug your camera into an AC adapter before you start to manage your photos. This is an important tip to remember - you may enjoy cropping, deleting, and viewing your photos on the go, but it will leave you with much less power to take photos if you do so. Tip 3: Try Not to Use the Memory Card This tip goes hand in hand with the previous one, but also plays an important factor in keeping enough juice in your camera batteries to take those important photos! It uses up a lot of power every time that you access the memory card, so keep this in mind before reviewing every photo that you take while relying solely on battery power. Tip 4: Don’t Mix Different Types of Batteries Keeping the same types of batteries together can help to conserve power in digital cameras as well as most other battery-powered devices. This is mostly because the performance of older batteries will not be as good as newer ones, and they will drain much faster. Another important reason to remember this tip is that mixing different types of batteries can be dangerous – the batteries can become damaged and even leak, which in turn could end up damaging your digital camera. Tip 5: Let Batteries Run Out Letting batteries completely run out of power before recharging them can help them to last longer as well as increase their performance. Something that people tend to forget is that just because your batteries aren’t holding enough energy to run your camera it doesn’t mean that they are entirely empty of power. You can make sure that your batteries are as empty as possible before recharging them by leaving them in an old radio or a flashlight that is turned on until they run down. Conclusion Hopefully this article has offered you some new suggestions to help you conserve digital camera battery power. It may first seem annoying to not immediately review all of your photos as you take them, but after a while you will most likely find that you get more photos taken this way, and using this in combination with some of the other tips will help you become more efficient at using your digital camera!

How to Take Care of Your Digital Camera

How to Take Care of Your Digital Camera Are you having trouble taking care of your digital camera? A digital camera is a very delicate piece of equipment. The camera body, especially the lens, can be easily damaged through rough handling and scratches. I’ve owned a Canon S300 camera for a long time, and it still works fine. Why? Because I do put in effort to take care of it. Here are some tips for taking care of that precious camera of yours. Lens Care The lens of your digital camera is its eye or window to the outside world. It is easily the most important component in any camera. To take care of the lens, make sure that you never, ever touch directly with your fingers. Also make sure that you put on the lens cap when not shooting pictures. If you really need to clean the lens, use good lens cleaning equipment. Investing in such equipment is really important. Always use a good lens brush, lens blower and lens cloth to do the job. Temperature The other thing to look out for is the temperature under which the camera is stored. You should always keep the camera out of sun. One mistake that newbies always make is to store the digital camera in the extremely hot temperatures (e.g. the car boot). Don’t ever do that. It’s also important not to store the camera in extremely cold temperatures either. Storage When storing your digital camera, you need to keep it away from magnets of any form. Magnets will affect the circuitry of your digital camera and should not be placed near it. Another point to note is to use silica gel to combat condensation. Many electronic products come with silica gel capsules. Keep these and put them in your digital camera storage box. It will prevent condensation. The batteries of the camera should also be removed if you intend to store the camera away for a long time. The reason is that batteries can have corrosive leaks over time. Protect Delicate Components You also need to protect those delicate components. In particular, watch out for the memory card (whether it is a CompactFlash, SD or MMC card). Handle them with care because they are small and delicate. Camera panels are also very delicate. In my Canon PowerShot S500, the panel for the USB connect and the battery is a tad flimsy. I make sure I handle it with care whenever I open it. Conclusion You digital camera costs a lot of money and it pays to take care of it. Remember to apply the above tips to preserve your camera and it’ll last you a long, long time. Good luck!

A Beginner's Guide to Wedding Photography

A Beginner's Guide to Wedding Photography Have you ever been asked to take photos for a wedding? For some, wedding photography is a casual affair. Take a point-and-shoot camera, then snap away when the opportunity arises. For others, it’s a serious, full-fledged business. Wedding photos are a challenge to take, simply because of the flurry of activities that go on and the wide variety of lighting conditions that may occur. This article will serve as a guide for those starting out in wedding photography, and will delve into various tips and tricks. Preparation One of the most critical elements in being a successful wedding photographer is preparation. You absolutely need to prepare ahead (at least 2 months’ ahead) of time. Get to know the bride and the groom, understand their needs and wants. Some good questions to ask are: *How many photographers will there be? *What type of photos would they like? Mostly formal group portraits? Or mostly candid shots of the couple? *How many guests will there be at the wedding? Are they mostly family members or friends? *Which locations will be used at the wedding? A church? Will there be a reception or a dinner? Asking pertinent questions like these will help you understand the requirements for the wedding photos and thereby take better shots. Locations, Events and Times Once you’ve understood what the wedding locations, events and times are, find some time to go scout around those places. For a church wedding, I usually like to go inside the church to check out the lighting, décor and environment. I try to find the correct places to position myself so I don’t mess up during the wedding day. Do take note that some churches do not allow flash photography during the wedding ceremony. So you may need to get a fast lens. It’s also important to check out places like the reception area, or the podium where the speech will be made. If there will be a wedding dance, then check out the dance floor and the seating arrangement if possible. Organize Your Gear This is a critical step. I usually prepare 1 month ahead of the wedding date just to be sure I have time to get any equipment I’ve missed out. Here’s a list of critical equipment to bring for the wedding day shoot: *Digital camera: This one is obvious. It’s good to have a backup analog camera as well, just in case. *Camera Lenses and filters: Take along any special lenses or filters you want to use. *Tripod: Another critical piece of equipment, important for indoor shots under low light. *Memory cards: Bring at least two 1 GB cards. I’m not kidding – you won’t believe how many shots you’ll take during a wedding. *Portable drive: This is critical in case you run out of space on those memory cards. *Assistant: Try to bring along an assistant. It could be a friend or a help at the wedding. He or she can help you arrange the group before you take photos, taking a lot of stress off you. On the Wedding Day Ok, let’s assume the actual wedding day, has arrived. Here’s a typical sequence of events to help guide you on the wedding photography process. At the House If you’re taking shots of the bride getting ready, please be early. In fact, you should be one of the earliest to arrive so that you can set up your positions, tripods or whatever equipment you need to use. At the Church Once you’re at the church, find out where the priest will be standing. Position yourself in an appropriate position. Some critical locations where wedding photos must be taken include the entrance to church, the aisle and the place where the couple will stand. And here’s another tip – it’s important not to get too excited about your shots so early on the wedding day. Remember, you have a long day for taking photos. I once did a wedding where I snapped so many photos at the church entrance, I nearly ran out of memory card space by the time the couple exchanged vows! If there happens to be a church reception, make sure you’re out to the reception area faster than the rest of the guests, and perch yourself in the correct position. Receptions are a good time to capture candid and fun shots, so knock yourself out. Formal Group Shots If there are any formal group shots to be taken, be sure your assistant is there to help you. Try to start with the big groups, then slowly remove family members so that you can get the various combinations of family and friends required. Cleaning up What do you do after shooting the wedding photos? Well, plenty! You need to do some basic image editing, like removing red eye, cropping and rotating. You also need to burn the photos into CDs and DVDs, (usually in a slideshow format). If you’re in the wedding photography business, you should know that you cannot delay this step. Try to get the CD or DVD final package out to the happy couple as soon as you can. Conclusion Whew! That’s a lot of information about wedding photography. Do remember that while wedding photos are challenging to take, they can be very rewarding. Especially when you see the couple smiling and reminiscing about how wonderful their wedding day was. Try to keep the above tips in mind the next time you’re shooting wedding photos. Who knows, one day you may open your own wedding photography business too!

A Guide to Exposure Metering Modes

A Guide to Exposure Metering Modes   While you may understand how to utilize the simpler features on your digital camera such as the flash and zoom, or maybe even more complex features such as exposure modes, one feature that often remains a mystery to many casual photographers is the metering mode. The metering mode selected on a digital camera decides how the camera’s exposure sensor will react when a photo is taken. Different metering modes determine how much light is needed and how long the shutter remains open. Don’t worry if you’re confused - this article will help to explain the difference between the three metering modes available on digital cameras and how to choose between them to take better photos.   1. Center-Weighted Metering Mode The Center-Weighted metering mode is without a doubt the most imprecise of the three metering modes we will be looking at in this article. Being more suited towards casual photographers who want to take everyday snapshots, this metering mode takes more consideration into the amount of light located in the center of the scene so that objects centered in the photograph are properly exposed. Although you do not need to avoid this metering mode altogether, using the Center-Weighted metering mode may give you more impressive results with many of your photographs.   2. Matrix / Multi-segment Metering Mode While the Center-Weighted metering mode uses a simple and sometimes inaccurate method of measuring the light in you photographs, the Matrix or Multi-segment metering mode takes a more detailed approach. By splitting the scene into many segments and then measuring the exposure data based on the position of each segment, the Matrix / Multi-segment metering mode manages to deliver exceptional quality photos in various lighting conditions and levels of contrast. Although it is not perfect for every situation, this metering mode is an excellent choice for photography in most conditions. However, when you require better exposure for very high contrast scenes, think about taking a look at the next metering mode.   3. Spot Metering Mode Maybe you’ve tried taking a photo using the standard Center-Weighted or Matrix / Multi-segment metering modes and neither provide satisfying results. Don’t give up yet, because turning to the Spot metering mode may give you that extra helping hand that you need. This metering mode can provide excellent results for high-contrast scenes, and it achieves them by measuring light in the center of the scene alone – anywhere between 1 and 10 percent depending on your digital camera – and exposing the photo with the subject in mind. So the next time you are trying to take a high-contrast shot, think about trying out the Spot metering mode – so long as your subject is in the center of the scene then this metering mode should avoid over or underexposure in almost any situation.   Conclusion As you can see, the Matrix / Multi-segment metering mode is the best choice out of the three to use for most forms of photography. Choosing this mode over the standard Center-weighted metering mode will be sure to give you more impressive results, but when this mode doesn’t quite cut it, then the Spot metering mode is more than likely to offer better quality photographs in high-contrast lighting conditions. That's all then! Hopefully this article has helped you to better understand the different metering modes available to use on digital cameras, and which modes are better suited towards various kinds of scenes.

Learn About the EXIF Metadata in Your Digital Photos

Learn About the EXIF Metadata in Your Digital Photos In this article we present a simple guide to the EXIF metadata for your digital photos. Metadata refers to information that describes the your digital photos—information such as the exposure, shutter and other settings that you used when you took the picture. The topic can prove to be confusing to the uninitiated. So read on, find out more, and soon you'll be handling EXIF like the experts! The EXIF information from a digital photo   EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) metadata is pretty much the standard format in use for most digital photos. Metadata is not information that you can 'see' in the same way that you see pixels in your digital photo. Rather, you’ll need an EXIF viewer or an EXIF launcher to see it. You’ll benefit greatly from knowing how to interpret this data. 1. What is EXIF? EXIF, as stated, is the standard format for metadata in your digital photos, a standard invented and made popular Japan Electronics and Information Technologies Industries Association (JEITA). All digital cameras and major image processing programs nowadays work with EXIF. Your digital camera remembers the settings you used to take your picture, such as exposure and focal length, and then stores it into EXIF format and saves it to your memory stick with your image file. You can imagine the usefulness of this feature for a variety of situations where you tweak your photos in-camera. Imagine, for example, that you crop a picture you’ve taken using the camera’s crop feature. Your camera stores the information that defines the new cropped image in-camera, so when you print from the memory stick, it prints the cropped image and not the original unaltered image. Metadata make this possible. Likewise, image processing programs like Adobe Photoshop are designed to work with EXIF metadata as well to properly reflect any picture adjustments that were made in camera.   2. EXIF Viewers To interpret this EXIF data, you will need an EXIF viewer. There are many ways to go about this. Your image processing program should provide that functionality within the program. Most image processing programs will store the EXIF metadata as properties of the image. Access your photo’s properties, and you should see a tabbed interface, with one tab indicating metadata. Here you’ll see information such as the Focal Length, Resolution, White Balance and so forth. Check your image processing program’s help for information about where your program stores its metadata. You may be surprised to discover that EXIF metadata isn’t reported the same way between various cameras and image processing programs. One program may show that your White Balance is set to 'Auto', for example, while another program will show some number that you don’t think properly reflects the original settings. Or these programs will report varying figures depending on the camera you use. Field tests have shown this to be true, but we trust in your case you will stick with one camera and one program. That should eliminate the headaches.   3. Make Sense of EXIF Information If, however, you have more than one camera, you may want to take some steps to make some sense about different EXIF information reported by your program. The first thing you should understand is that your EXIF metadata is in read-only format. The creators of EXIF saw no reason for you to overwrite the information, so it’s stored in the header of your image file where you won’t be able to touch it. (Unless you want to hack into it, something we don’t recommend) Ok, so let’s suppose you have two cameras, and with both you took pictures with an Auto Focus setting. You open up your image editing program and examine the photo’s metadata for Camera #1. It reads, correctly, 'Auto'. You then plug in Camera #2, and it reads '1'. You know that both cameras were set to Auto, so you have to remind yourself that in Camera #2, 1 means Auto. We recommend that you create a cheat sheet to keep track of how numbers from one program translate into another program.   4. Image Editing Programs and EXIF You have only two other alternatives to create some consistency between different EXIF information for your two cameras. First, find an image editing program that actually lets you change the metadata. We don’t know of many major programs that will let you do this, but it’s worth a try. The second option is to use software that will extract EXIF information to text files. You might be able to do this, on a per shot basis, with your existing image editing application. There are some better applications to use if you want to extract EXIF information from a whole batch of images all at once. ImageMagick is one such program, although it’s probably not user-friendly since it’s a command line utility. Breeze System’s Downloader Pro is an easier-to-use Windows program that performs the same function. The extracted EXIF information in the text file is easier to read, and if you want to tweak it to achieve consistency in values between your two cameras, it’s certainly easy to do.   5. Advanced EXIF Analysis You can take additional steps to create consistent values from your EXIF information. For example, you may notice that equivalent focal lengths for digital cameras and film cameras are noted using different numbers. This may be a bit disorienting at times if you are trying to relate your digital camera settings with what you know from the film world. You can use your EXIF information to create a lookup, or a database of some sort, to perform the conversion—if you think it’s worth the effort. It’s up to you. Additionally, realize that if you get photos from a scanner as opposed to a digital camera, you will not have the same kind of EXIF information encoded in the final output. The only metadata stored will be about the scanner, perhaps a date and time stamp, but little else. A cataloguing program such as Extensis Portfolio 7 will allow you to alter the EXIF information stored in the images.   Conclusion We hope this brief guide to EXIF has opened your eyes to the world of metadata, and shown how useful this can be for you. Whether you use an independent EXIF viewer or EXIF launcher, this kind of information serves a number of important purposes. The digital camera stores all of your photo settings in the header portion of each image you take. Likewise, image editing programs then interpret this information so as to accurately reproduce the picture on your computer in its original dimensions. Finally, you can examine EXIF information and use it to better analyze and catalogue your pictures.

A Guide to the Various Camera Modes

A Guide to the Various Camera Modes If you've bought a camera that offers custom exposure settings and scene modes, you may be confused by all the options available. We're talking about the different camera modes you find on your new toy. While the standard Program, Aperture priority and Shutter priority modes are will be familiar to many, the latest digital camera models have many other scene modes which are bewildering to the uninitiated. Which is then the purpose of this article - to help you understand the most common scene modes available in the digital cameras today. The camera mode dial on a Nikon D70 camera Auto Mode This is the automatic mode found in all cameras. It is used by beginners and professionals who just want to take a quick snap without worrying about exposure settings. In the automatic mode, you will usually not be able to adjust ISO or white balance settings. Shutter Priority Mode The Shutter Priority Mode is best used when you're taking fast action photos and is usually found in entvhusiast or advanced digital cameras. Here, you select the shutter speed and the camera chooses the best aperture. Some examples would include sports or wildlife photography, where you’ll need a high shutter speed. Aperture Priority Mode The Aperture Priority mode is found in many enthusiast level cameras, such as the Kodak EasyShare DX7590, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 or the Canon PowerShot G6. Essentially, what happens here is that you select the aperture, thereby locking your depth of field. The camera then automatically sets the best shutter speed to match the conditions. When do you use the the Aperture Priority mode? Well, its very suitable when you're shooting a stationary subject when you want to control your depth of field and aren’t too concerned about shutter speed. Manual Mode In this camera mode, anything goes. You can set the shutter speed and aperture, with options to change white balance, ISO, flash and even focus on some cameras. Choose this mode if you know what you're doing and want maximum flexibility for experimenting with the photo. Landscape Mode As the name implies, the Landscape mode allows you to shoot pictures of landscapes like mountains, Your camera will select the smallest aperture possible under the conditions to maximize depth of field in the image. Note that the Landscape mode may not always work. Playing with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20, I found that the camera attempts to deliver sharpness from the foreground to the background - but it really depneds on the lighting conditions and the lens used. Portrait Mode If you want to shoot close-ups of people or faces, the Portrait Mode is the mode to choose. When you choose Portrait mode, the camera will select a wide aperture setting, minimizing your depth of field for a soft background effect, and also may adjust your zoom. In addition, the flash setting will try to switch to red-eye reduction. Macro Mode If you take pictures of flowers a lot (I do), this mode is invaluable. The Macro Mode allows you to focus on objects at amazingly small distances - sometimes just centimeters from the lens. Use the Macro mode when you need to capture the smallest little details on your subject. When activating this mode, I usually use a tripod for best results. Sports Mode If you want to capture fast action, then you'll need the fast shutter speed setting offered by the Sports Mode. When you switch to this mode, your camera will automatically choose the fastest shutter speed possible given the situation. Some cameras will also activate continuous shooting (instead of single frame), enable the evaluative metering mode (if any) and also disable the flash. Beach & Snow Mode If you shoot pictures on the beach or the snow, the bright and reflective surfaces will confuse the camera. The Beach & Snow Modes serve to compensate for the abundant ambient and reflected light by slightly overexposing based on the meter reading. Conclusion Hopefully, this article has taught you a thing or two about the various scene modes available in your digital camera. Learn how to use the correct scene mode in a given photo situation - and you'll start to achieve better exposures. Happy shooting!