There are many different types of photography. You can take pictures of anything and there is someone out there somewhere who would like to see the pictures that you take. So, photography is a great field to get into.

What is landscape photography?

Landscape photography is a great field of photography, especially if you love nature and if you love to travel. You can travel the world taking pictures of beautiful scenes across many countries. Of course, this is landscape photography on a big scale. Not many people are lucky enough to start off traveling the world.

But you can find beautiful landscapes right where you live. That’s the great thing about nature, it’s everywhere, and landscapes are everywhere. And that same sunset behind the mountain that you’ve seen everyday since you were a kid may look pretty amazing to someone who has never been to the mountains. Seeing the sun rise up out of the oceanfront may be absolutely astonishing to someone who has never been to the beach. It’s all relative.

What you may see every day is someone else’s treasure. If you can open your eyes to the beauty and see it, then other people can see it in your photography. It can be simple and everyday or it can be vast and amazing. It’s all about the great pictures you take. You may see a night city skyline, a series of lightening bolts or an interesting cloud; it’s how you take the picture that makes it beautiful to someone else.

How to Learn Landscape Photography

If you are serious about landscape photography, you should take a course. You may have already had a course in photography but you will want to take one specifically for landscape photography so you can learn how to get the best pictures possible. You will want to learn what film to use and how to work with the sunlight or other natural light. You will also learn about achieving a sense of balance and scale, how to photograph running water and similar issues that a landscape photographer might face.

If you can’t find any appropriate classes in your area, you can find them on the internet. You can also find many groups and message boards designed for landscape photographers to meet, share photos and tips and ideas. You can get tips and advice for your questions if you join these groups. You can also view the work of others, some that may be much more experienced than you. You can learn from them and their photos.

How to Make Money with Landscape Photography

If you are considering landscape photography as a career (even part time), the first thing you are going to want to do is learn as much about it as possible; read books, take classes, visit websites. Then you are going to want to practice, and build a portfolio. Your portfolio should be updated often and only include your absolute best work. You may want to send some of your best photos to photo contests or magazines. These are good ways of breaking into the world of professional photography when you have no experience.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking for information about Photography?
Go to: http://www.asaphotography.com
'ASA Photography' is published by Colin Hartness -
An excellent resource for Photography!
Check out more Photography articles at: http://www.asaphotography.com/archive

To many people the idea of being paid to take photographs of exotic places is the ideal job. It may takes years of effort to be paid by magazines such as the National Geographic, but are there better ways to become a travel photographer. As most people have more leisure time, more holiday time, and more disposable income, the demand for travel photographs has increased dramatically. Not only are they in demand for travel brochures, but they also are used extensively in other advertising copy.

Images necessary for sale and publication require rather more skill than those applied to standard holiday snaps. "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Was a quote by the French novelist Marcel Proust, and it appears to be of particular use to the travel photographer.

Investigate the possibilities of becoming a contracted photographer at Lonely Planet Images. Lonely Planet Images is a digital library of travel photography. They have submission guidelines available for download at their website. They are a subsidiary of what used to known as the Lonely Planet Guide, and currently have 400 photographers on contract.

You can also increase your chances of breaking into the very lucrative travel market, by entering competitions such as the Travel photographer of the Year . There closing date for submissions is September 5th 2005.

A camera is merely a box, that captures light, and in a studio, it is very easy to manipulate light. The reality of location photography is that it is generally expensive; you have the expenses of air tickets, hotels and meals on top of normal expenses. At the end of the day you are at the mercy of “weather”, no one wants to see their ideal location subject to rain clouds.
When we talk of light in terms of travel photography we are talking about intensity, as most travel shots are taken outdoors, In general there is harsh direct sunlight and diffuse soft light. Harsh light is when the sun is directional, and it is great for capturing deep contrasts between light and shadows. With this type of shot, it is difficult to judge the exposure. If you direct your exposure towards the light, that will leave your shadows without any depth or definition. Conversely if you use the correct exposure for shadow, then the light areas will be without detail, giving a vaguely sinister result to the image.

Unfortunately your drawback here is film, the human eye is capable of registering contrast to a ratio of 800:1, slide film is capable of only 30:1, which is slightly improved, by going digital at a ratio of 40:1. Professional photographs have all passionate views on their favourite brand name of film in this situation, but they are all in accord that you need a slower speed films, as they record better contrast and grain. ISO/ASA rating of a hundred is about the fastest film to use. It is important that you use a good photovoltaic cell (either a separate light meter or one inbuilt into the camera. Once the light meter has registered the light, the camera is capable of indicating the aperture opening required, and the shutter speed. The speed of the film is also taken into this equation. You need to measure the darkest and the lightest areas.
Your immediate decision is whether to correctly expose the dark and emphasize the shadow and leave the light areas washed out or to correctly expose the light and leave the shadows without definition.

Using light correctly greatly enhances your colors, the diffused lighting just after and dawn and just before sunset is helpful here. The technical reasons for this are simple when the sun is nearest to the horizon; the light has a greater distance to travel through pollution, ozone, water vapour and dust. This means that wavelengths at the violet end of the spectrum are more scattered, than the colours at the red end. This allows the blues to absorb more colour than at the red end, so the sunlight appears more golden. To study the more technical aspects of lighting you may like to take an online course.

An inexpensive, but invaluable tool for the outdoor photographer is a polarizer, as they improve the ambient lighting. They will always emphasise the blue of the sky, whilst minimalizing glare. This will allow you to capture the colors you want to make a saleable photograph. More importantly it reduces the contrast in a photograph by creating a more even tone, it restricts the very much lighter and darker tones, in the image. Mike Johnston gives an excellent technical explanation of this in his excellent online course. He has also written an excellent tutorial on color theory, which explains the use of color to improve the quality of your outdoor images. Photographers who use digital imaging will also find this article tremendously helpful in enplaning how to improve the final image with regard to colour.

Research is a great tool for the travel photographer, and the Internet is a great help, but don’t forget to use local knowledge, ask local taxi drivers, as well as the tourist boards for inside information on a location. City photography is also included in the aspect of travel photography and here taxi drivers’ knowledge can be invaluable. You can also try and coincide a trip with local festivals. If you can oversee a vantage point you can use a zoom lens to great effect without the embarrassment of having to foist a camera into someone’s face. Also local festivals give opportunities to capture a part of the local culture.

About the Author

Publisher & author: Roy Barker. Roy is the author of the popular ebook, Income from Photography - a downloadable ebook guide on how to start up and market a Profitable Photography business. It can be viewed at http://www.profitable-photography.com. Other related and reviewed services & research sources can be found at http://www.profitable-photography.com/html/117/

With the hustle-and-bustle of the modern living, anything just turns out to be instant and digital. For instance, instant noodles, instant boyfriend, and many others, I just recall that a friend of mind told me that. Everything now is instant and digital or computerized.

The latest and better digital photo software must always be a competitive one, that is versatile, easy to be understood and of course easy to use. It is not always particular to be used in order to have a software package that works well with only selected varieties of cameras.

Take note that there is limited value that comes along the package not designed for the layperson, since huge percentage of users are laypeople. The cameras are mostly available in the market that comes along with a software package of their own.

For example in Sony and Kodak cameras the majority of its users can find the software that is suitable for its use. Generally, the software that is provided with the camera does not simply allow the user to dump the photos onto the hard drive for editing or printing. There is always a better system that allows you the ability to place your photo in categories for its easy access.

The family photos would not just be dumped in the same place with the other group of photos, with friends or of any other occasions. You can consider it valuable, though it does not take a little extra time to rename, rearrange and print out your photos.

Bear in mind that any program is designed to provide you the capacity to tell the computer what you want to do. However, the ideal product has enough range that you don’t have to sift through a variety of possible commands and wasting time while retaining the adaptability to allow you for creative and personalized use. There are some products that had missed the mark were those where too much emphasis was placed on fancy and crippled graphics and so on.

Consider the other point about digital photo software that often overlooked by many that the program is designed to interface with a creative skill. Photography or any kind of it can be pictured with a real eye for aesthetic value, have been captured in the digital realm. A program should always possess things like file sharing and transferring and the ability to edit and print photos in its most creative and personal ways.

Rest assured that this is something that should be fun and worthwhile. Live a life that is full of memories and joy to live-by. If you will download a photo or image, it will take sometime but well, it’s worth the time!


About the Author

For Comments and Questions about the Article you may Log - on to http://www.printingshoppers.com

The market opportunities for Portrait photography are now so enormous, that they include every dwelling where you live. Everyone wants his or her photograph taken for some reason, or the other. Not only can you target every building, but also it is a type of business where repeat business potential is also enormous. Parents now repeat the opportunities for formal portraits; add to that is that they have more than one child, the possibilities for repeat business is also enormous.

It is a business that you can start very easily from home; it means that you are not working in outdoor inclement weather conditions. The equipment you need is comparatively modest. A camera, good lenses, a tripod, two or three lights and several pieces of cloth that will make various backdrops. Not only is the equipment modest it is also light if you have to transfer it to an event outside your home.

The most important rule to remember is that it is a portrait, not necessarily of just the head, but the person, or group is the focal part of the picture, so it is important to take the photograph without any extraneous clutter. Because you will always be dealing with people you have to maintain control, not as a tyrant, but you have to guide your subjects. Therefore a certain degree of self-confidence is necessary. If you are taking a formal portrait of a group of children it is necessary for you as the photographer to ensure that none of the children are making faces.

When you have signed up a person for a photographic portrait take a few extra shots, and offer them as wallet or purse photographs at a smaller fee. You already have the start business capitalise on it, few people can resist the feeling that they have got “something for nothing”. This may seem a waste of time; they can be important additives for your portfolio.

Portrait photography has undergone many changes of style since the introduction of the formal portrait. The modern emphasis is to bring out each individual’s personality. Top glamour models are paid enormous fees to express a distinctive personality, but to bring that aspect forward in your subject is as much about people skills as camera techniques. It is imperative to be able to create a rapport with your subject to bring out the expressions that display their personality. Anyone over the age of two can pose for the camera, with a vacuous expression, but the secret of saleable portrait photography is capturing more than the pose. To be a really good portrait photographer you have to be able to connect with people, if you have not got these skills, then it is better that you concentrate on some other types of photography

If you want to flatter your subject, you'll probably want to minimize their nose. Stand about twelve feet from your subject, so that their nose isn't significantly closer to you than the rest of the face. However, at such a large distance from the camera, if you want to fill the frame with just your subject's face, then you need a high magnification lens. Typical "portrait" lenses are therefore between 90 and 135 millimeters long when you are using a 35mm camera.

Whilst a lot of portrait photography is completed inside a studio, the prospect of natural light can be very flattering. This can be achieved inside by positioning your subject in front of a window. Environmental portraiture presents different challenges. These portraits are best enlarges, otherwise the subjects face gets lost in the background. Slow film and the use of a tripod; help to keep your images sharp. There are a number of professional photographers who argue that a portrait is not shown to it’s best advantage when it is clinically sharp and they use a filter, but with modern digital cameras, you can make an adjustment in Photoshop at a later time. However if you are using a digital camera you will achieve the best results with a camera with a true single reflex lens.

Natural light or umbrella lighting can achieve soft lighting; both of these reduce shadows and show the face in a “better more attractive light”. However there is another type of portrait photography, which is high impact photography. This is a very dramatic type of portrait photography, which uses very strong light with a high contrast of tonal color. This technique is more effective indoors, as it is achieved by controlling light, and their is too much light to control out of doors. Position your subject at different angles to the light, from one side, or from underneath. This lengthens the shadows, rather than muting them, and gives a distinctly dramatic effect. You can achieve this in varying degrees, but if the light source is placed at 90 degrees to the face, it will throw the whole of the opposite side of the face in shadow. If you are using a digital camera you can also manipulate the contrast later to achieve a more dramatic effect.

You can also improve your photographs if you include some motion shots, as well as the traditional stills. Just make sure that you use the correct film speeds.

About the Author

Publisher & author: Roy Barker. Roy is the author of the popular ebook, Income from Photography - a downloadable ebook which is a guide on how to start up and market a Profitable Photography business. It can be viewed at http://www.profitable-photography.com. Other related and reviewed services & research sources can be found at http://www.profitable-photography.com/html/117/

Shield your lens from direct light
One of the biggest image degrading factors I have seen is lens flare. When direct light enters the front of your lens, it bounces around in the lens lowering contrast and destroying color saturation. You will mostly encounter lens flare when photographing a backlit subject. That is to say when the sun is in front of you and behind the object of the photograph. There are several things you can do to eliminate this problem. One of which is to always use a lens hood. There are times when a lens hood will not be enough. When this is the case, you can “flag” the light by blocking it with your hand, a cap or a flag you cut out of cardboard. Just make sure the “flag” is not in your image area.

Get the proper exposure
Proper exposure is key to getting good color. One way to ensure a correct exposure is meter off of a gray card. You can pick one of these up at just about any camera store. All camera meters are calibrated to give you a middle toned picture. Therefore you need to meter a middle toned object. That is what a gray card is.

Another solution would be to use an incident meter. This in my opinion is the most accurate way to do it. An Incident meter actually meters the light falling on your subject not the light reflected from your subject, so you get a more accurate reading of the light. Once you have determined the proper exposure you can help to ensure a good picture by bracketing your exposure. You do this by taking 3 shots, one at your determined exposure value, one slightly underexposed and one slightly overexposed. You can do this in 1/3 stop, 1/2 stop or full stop increments. The choice is up to you. Just use aperture priority, select your f-stop and vary your shutter speed. Some cameras have this function built in so read your camera’s manual.

Underexpose for positive film and digital, overexpose for negative film
You can increase your color saturation by slightly adjusting your exposure. Generally speaking, for negative film, color saturation will increase with slight overexposure. For digital and positive film a slight underexposure should increase your color saturation. Play around with it by bracketing as mentioned above.

Use higher saturation film or camera settings
If you are using film you can purchase films that are designed to yield higher color saturation. If you are using digital, most digital camera’s will let you select different degrees of saturation. Read your camera manual to learn how to do this.

Fill in shadows
A lot of the scenes you will photograph will have a contrast range that is outside the ability of your film or digital camera to record. That is to say the exposure range from the shadows to the highlights is too great to record all the detail. Either the highlights will “blow out” (be solid white) or the shadows will “block up” (be solid black) or both! The best way I have found to handle this situation is to get the proper exposure for the highlight areas and fill in the shadows with some form of supplementary light, such as an on camera flash or a reflector fill card. A reflector fill card can be white, silver or gold and you use it to reflect light into the shadow side of your subject. As for using your on camera flash, read your manual to see how to set up the flash for “fill flash” and give it a try. If your camera allows for it, make sure your flash exposure is set so it is a stop or two weaker then the main light of your scene. A lot of camera’s now have a way to change your flash exposure when it is set to fill flash.

About the Author

Ken is a long time photography enthusiast who has created a web based publication on photography techniques. See more tips and techniques at www.explore-photography.com

Using the "Sunny 16 Rule" with Black and White Infrared film can be a magical experience for photographers. From shooting it to processing it and finally to printing an image the beauty of this film is still astounding after over 100 years of existence.

Unlike regular black and white film, infrared allows the photographer to capture the infrared wavelength. Whether shooting flora, landscapes, street scenes or in the studio, the image always has something unexpected in it. The images produced by this film can be surreal, perplexing and beautiful. Minor White wrought, "Infrared film can produce hauntingly beautiful outdoor photographs, giving the world a moonlight appearance-the sky dark, the cloud fleecing and the green foliage unexpectedly luminous."

Since our eyes are unable to see the infrared spectrum, films such as Kodak High Speed or Konica Infrared allows the photographer to capture this hidden light. A deep red filter added to the lens should be used. The red filter blocks out most of the visible wavelengths. The near red wavelength exposed allows for a dark sky and brilliant white clouds.

Using the "Sunny 16 Rule with Kodak High Speed Infrared: In bright sunlight on a clear day, the proper exposure for an average front-lit scene is f/16 with a shutter speed equal to the ASA of the film you are using."

This rule applies to infrared when assigning 400 as the ASA. With the red filter on the lens a two (2) stop exposure compensation must be added. The ASA is now 100. Photograph all bright-lit scenes F/16 at 125th of a second. This is great average starting point and bracketing one to two stops will help in getting the best exposure.

Unlike other photographers who never knew exactly what they would get until it was processed, this one rule will help you to visualize your image before it has been recorded and processed on Infrared Film. With practice you will be able to visualize the image beforehand, make the correct exposure and delight in the special qualities of Infrared photography. Most photographers shoot infrared with the sun directly behind the camera and sometimes at 90 degrees. When shooting into the sun a neutral density filter (No. 8) is used along with the red filter. The "Sunny 16 Rule" still applies.

Normal processing of 13 minutes at 72 degrees in straight Kodak D76 developer will render the negatives printable. For other times and other developers please refer to the Kodak Darkroom hand guide.

Infrared photography shouldn't be seen as something difficult to do. It is a unique photography experience with spectacular qualities that makes it a fun way to photograph landscapes, people, buildings, etc. and get result.

by Alastair Worden
http://www.westcoastphoto1.com

A person’s wedding can be one of the most important times in their life. They will have memories that they want to treasure forever and then pass on to their children. Wedding photography helps them do this. Having pictures taken at the wedding and then at the reception can capture those precious memories in freeze-frame and help you keep them forever.

Pictures are important so you want to be sure you get good photos, high quality photos that you can enjoy forever.

Most people will have a wedding book designed out of the collection of the best wedding photos. Usually the photographer will do this for you. You will then have a beautiful scrapbook from your wedding to hold your memories.

Choosing a photographer is a very important step in your wedding pictures. You want someone experienced that will do an excellent job for you. It’s possible that you may be on a budget and price may be a factor as well.

How Do You Choose a Wedding Photographer?

There are several things you are going to want to look for with the most important being the quality of the work. It would be great if you could find a photographer that you had seen in action, perhaps at a family member or friend’s wedding. The hardest part of choosing a wedding photographer is that you sign a contract and agree to pay before you have ever seen the photos. That’s how it works in the world of wedding photography; you must make your decision based of faith in the photographer. So how do you make a decision like this?

Referrals

First, you are going to want to look at referrals. Ask your friends or family members who did their weddings and start compiling a list. You will also need to verify that these people are still photographing. Ask everyone you can about their wedding and their wedding pictures. Most people will even let you see their wedding photos and you can check out the photographer’s work.

Experience & Samples

Aside from samples from people you know, you can ask the photographer himself about samples. You can call the photographers on your list and do an interview over the phone or make an appointment to meet in person. This is your chance to ask the photographer any questions you may have such as their experience, what training they have and what different types of photography they have studied. If you are doing an in-person interview, the photographer can show you portfolios of samples of their work. If doing a phone interview, that ends well, you may want to go in person and see a portfolio.

Schedule and Appointment

When you have chose the photographer you think you want to use, you will have to schedule several appointments. The bride and groom, the bride’s parents and anyone else who may be taking part in paying for the wedding should be present at these meetings regarding the wedding photography.

At these meetings, you will discuss price, payment schedule and possible deposits. Next you will discuss the plan for taking the photos. Many people also get video and digital photographs now. Do you want these? Will your photographer be able to provide these? Will there be extra fees?

Many people have specific plans as to what they want pictures of (e.g. bride and father coming down the aisle, bride and groom, rings exchanging, the kiss, the bridesmaids, etc.) This is your chance to get all this written down so that the photographer is sure to get all the shots you want. Other people give their photographers a little more freedom to decide what pictures will be good to take.

Be sure to ask any questions you have about this important event. Your wedding photography is important to you so don’t hesitate to be clear about what you want.

Looking for information about Photography?
Go to: http://www.asaphotography.com
'ASA Photography' is published by Colin Hartness -
An excellent resource for Photography!

Nature is all around us, and its beauties are unlimited. In this fast-paced world of mocha-lattes and traffic jams at rush hour, too many of us take the beauty of nature for granted. Luckily, there are still people in the world who see this beauty and choose to share it with those of us that are too busy to normally take notice. Poets and photographers are great at this. They take what seems like the ordinary and present it to us in a way that shows us the elegance, the magnificence and the amazing that is on this rock we call Earth.

What is Nature Photography?

So what do we mean when we say nature photography? Well, it may seem obvious but let’s go ahead and explain. Nature is our natural environment. It is those things that exist in our world without human intervention; such as trees, grass, flowers, a forest, a river, and animals in their natural environment.

Nature photography is the photography of these things. There is a wide spectrum that is included in nature photography. Pictures of sunsets, sunrises and ocean waves lapping at the shore are all nature photography. So are the trees in the forest and beautiful flowers growing in an open field.

But nature photography can go even deeper than that, showing us parts of the world that we may not be able to see otherwise. If you live in the south, you may not see snow-capped mountains if it wasn’t for nature photography. You may not be able to see a deep canyon, a volcano, or a beautiful beach if it were not for photographs of these places.

The photographers that bring us pictures of these places give us an image of something we may never see. It’s truly an amazing gift to give.

Nature Photographers

But what if you are one of the people taking these pictures? What if you are the nature loving photographer that gives this fantastic gift to someone else? You are giving a gift to other people. But you are also doing something you love. Nature photography can only be achieved by someone who has a love for nature and sees its beauty and can capture it in a photograph so others can view it and have a touch of the same experience.

So how do you take great nature photography? The first step is to have an eye for these beautiful images. The second step is to have a camera. That’s really all it takes. But as you grow as a photographer, you will learn how to take the best pictures and capture the image in a way that others can view it as the amazing sight that you saw. You will learn about lighting and backgrounds and focus and you will take better pictures.

Nature photography is a rewarding experience for the photographer and also for the people who get to view the results. You have taken a piece of nature that may otherwise go unnoticed such as a rainbow, and you capture it permanently in an image that you can look at any time you choose. This is a pleasing and rewarding part of photography. In nature photography, you are able to take two things that you love and combine them in a beautiful and artistic way.

Looking for information about Photography?
Go to: http://www.asaphotography.com
'ASA Photography' is published by Colin Hartness -
An excellent resource for Photography!

Photography comes from the Greek words meaning “light writing” and first became known back in 1839 by Sir John Herschel. For many years prior to this, people had discovered ways of causing certain chemicals to change color when exposed to light but they did not discover ways of getting the images to remain permanent until later on.

Now photography is a big part of our culture, something that everyone recognizes. Most everyone has family photos lying around their house, many people take these photos on a regular basis, preserving precious memories for years to come. Even if you don’t have your own camera, you have seen photos in magazines, used on billboards and advertisements and more.

What is Photography?

Photography is defined as “The art or process of producing images by the action of light on surfaces sensitized by chemical processes.” (www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/ArtsEd/vglossar.htm)

The average person never has to deal with this technical definition because they take their photographs to a lab to be processed. They simply take pictures with their camera and then drop them off somewhere to be developed. They get their prints back on nice glossy paper that they can then keep to see the images at any time they wish.

There are also instant develop photographs, commonly known as the Polaroid, in which the paper itself contains the chemicals needed and when the paper sits for a few seconds exposed to light the photo will develop. Many people enjoy these because you could view your photo almost instantly but over the years, the quality has improved with other films and many people migrated to other types of cameras.

The common types of film are 35mm and 110. These film rolls come in different speeds that are meant for different lighting and situations and are loaded into your camera, used until the end of the roll and then sent for developing.

What Are the Different Types of Photography?

Photography is more than just a fabric of the average family’s memories, it has become an art form taking on many different types. Some types of photography are artistic photography, photojournalism, documentary photography, portrait photography, event photography, family photography, nature photography, advertising photography, underwater photography, satellite photography and more. Each of these types has many different directions in which they can go.

Photography is a common hobby or pastime for many people. It is a career for many other people. There are so many different venues of it. One of the most recent revelations in photography is the digital camera and digital photo. In an age of computers and computer technology, digital photos have become increasingly popular. People no longer have to deal with film and developing because digital photos can be downloaded onto a computer and viewed instantly.

Digital photos can be shared on the web and through email. They can also be saved on CDs. Many digital cameras come with LCD screens so the photos can be viewed from the camera itself. You see what the picture looks like instantly instead of waiting for developing. Digital cameras are advancing every day and new technology is released on each one. Lower quality ones can be picked up at a local retail store for about $15 now. These often do not contain flash and the quality is not as great. Other digital cameras can range anywhere from $20 to $1,000. The most high-tech camera for normal individual use is about $200. This may seem like a lot but when compared to the price of film and developing, you can save a lot by going this route. You can also send as many copies of your photos as you wish through email and the web so copies are unlimited. You can even print copies of your digital photographs from your computer.

Photography has come a long way since its early days but its popularity has not waned. It will likely be with us for thousands of years to come.

About The Author


Looking for information about Photography?

Go to: http://www.asaphotography.com


'ASA Photography' is published by Colin Hartness -

An excellent resource for Photography!

Check out more Photography articles at: http://www.asaphotography.com/archive

So, you have taken lots of pictures with your new digital camera, the memory card is full, and you are wondering how to store and archive your images.

1 Buy another memory card

The method of storing your images with least effort is to buy a new memory card and keep your images on the first card. Taking into account that memory cards are currently expensive, this seems a costly way of archiving the images. In the longer term, however, there may be some argument for this method as memory card prices fall, which they progressively have. However as time goes by the digital size of images (measured in megapixels) will increases partly offsetting this factor.

2 Transfer your images on to your computer

Most if not all digital cameras come with a cable for connecting the camera to a personal computer. The manufacturer has probably provided software with that cable so that you can install the software on to your computer, connect the cable and transfer images from your camera onto your PC. Don’t forget, if all else fails – read the instruction booklet! Once safely on your computer hard drive, you can erase the memory of the camera and start taking new photos all over again. However do check that the images have been successfully downloaded to your computer before you erase them!

3 Burn your images onto a CDRom

Many home computers are now equipped with a CDRom writer. This is probably the preferred way of archiving your images for years to come. One word of warning though. Do not buy cheap recordable CDs – CDRs. Cheap discs are less reliable and we have found some to be problematic. We have also found that rewritable disks – those that can be written once and then overwritten – do not work well in certain CD Drives. Best to use good quality write once CDRs and carefully label them, storing them in cases for protection. In due course CDs will be replaced by DVDs providing greater memory capacity as image files increase in size.

4 Store your images on a public web site

If you are connected to the internet you will be able to find sites on the world wide web which will store your images for posterity. Furthermore, they may let others view your images, or restrict access to them by a password. Some sites charge for this service. What the long term prognosis is for any of these sites is – well – who knows. But they might be useful in the short term.

5 Print your images at home for viewing

You might want to put your images in an album to keep for yourself and to show family and friends. Photo printers are available for home use – either from the manufacturer of your camera or from another. The convenience of being able to print your own images at home immediately will be offset by the cost of consumables, which can be high, and the slow print speed of many home printers. Further there has been discussion regarding the longevity of the prints made at home compared with conventional prints made on photographic paper.

6 Use a professional laboratory to make photographic prints.

A more practical way of printing your images is to take your camera memory card or a CDRom to you local film processor for prints. You will be able to collect your printed images either the same or the next day and they will be photographic prints with a very long life expectancy. The laboratory will be able to crop your images or enlarge the full image or a section of it to further enhance your photo.

7 Put your pictures on to a photo gift

For a lasting memento, why not put your pictures into a frame or even get your laboratory to put them on a gist such as a mug or mouse mat. Such object will have a long life and attract interest and attention. To see some of the possibilities when it comes to photo gifts feel free to visit http://www.view-link.com/photogifts.html

Christopher Thomas

Viewlink Ltd

About The Author

Christopher Thomas is both keen photographer and company director of Viewlink Ltd based in Amersham, Uk. The company focusses on digital photo developing for both amateur and commercial photographers. For more articles by Christopher Thomas please visit the company website at http://www.view-link.com

A CCD, or a Charge Coupled Device, is a microelectronic device used to capture digital images. CCDs can work with several other digital video devices such as scanners, digital cameras, camcorders, astronomical telescopes, robots, radar images and satellite photograph among many others.

The origin of the CCD can be found in 1969 although it has not become widely popular until much later. This technology has allowed the improvement in the quality and resolution of images as well as the transferring and importing from one device into another. There can be a line stated between the time before the CCD technology appeared and after its invention.

CCDs are devices that contain elements that are sensitive to light. These photosensitive elements allow devices to read images and store them according to the light information it receives. Every CCD has an integrated circuit through which it stores and accumulates the image information and which will allow us to then transfer it to another device.

When a CCD is exposed to an image, it will store electrical charges which will accumulate the image information. In other ways, visual information on each light and color image aspect is translated into different electrical charges which will equal those light and color information pieces and this way represent it.

This way, CCDs allow us to transfer an image which we observe into a screen, a printer or a scanner through the electrical charges which it stores and which represent the image. CCDs have a very important amount of sensitivity, providing this way high quality final products and good resolution despite bad illumination.

The way in which a CCD stores information regarding color is through the electrical charge intensity. Each level of charge intensity corresponds to a different color from the spectrum. This system is used in order to store the image information equally as it is used to decode the electrical charges back into colors and therefore creating the image again. CCDs are present in many of the devices which surround us since many of the every day devices related to images which people use involve their use.

About The Author


Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com. Visit his digital camera & camcorder guide and learn how to take better pictures and shoot better movies.

There are several things to consider at the time of choosing which camcorder to buy and which one best suits your needs. Many of these things or factors depend on each person's preferences and requirements, although some of them, due to their importance, should be considered by every buyer.

Some of the first things a camcorder buyer should pay attention to are the ones related to comfort. Although comfort in the camcorder use might seem not to have great importance, it could actually become a big headache. This way, it is important that the camcorder buyer feels comfortable handling the camcorder he chooses by being able to easily use and operate its controls, screen and any other main aspect.

One of the most important aspects of camcorders is the video quality they provide and the facility by which its users can handle the main features related to it. Among the features related to the video which the camcorder user would receive through the device, it is important to pay special attention to the lens quality and the zoom range since there are several different types.

Another important factor to check at the time of looking for the right camcorder is which audio functions it has. It is important that the camcorder audio is not only of good quality but also you should make sure you are able to easily adjust the audio level manually as well as switch it to auto adjust mode.

One very relevant aspect to consider before buying a camcorder is the after sales support it offers. Often overlooked, this aspect might b the difference between easily solving a problem or not. In case your camcorder got broken or if you just needed to ask for advice, you would wish to be able to count on a reliable and good quality after sales support and service. If you intend to travel with the camcorder, you should make sure that it offers world wide support, or, in case it brakes while you are traveling you could find yourself unable to use it when you need it the most.

About The Author


Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com. Visit his digital camera & camcorder guide and learn how to take better pictures and shoot better movies.

Since they appeared, DV or Digital Video Camcorders turned the home video shooting and creation into a much easier activity than it was before. Among their many advantages, DV camcorders made it possible for every camcorder user to be able to cut and edit their videos without much difficulty as well as to enjoy a much higher video quality than before.

DV camcorders allow their users to shoot and edit without having to recur to someone else's help or even needing an extra device for it. Most DV camcorders allow users to cut images and edit right after having shot the movie and by just using some of the camcorder controls.

The image and sound of the shots taken with DV camcorders are of an extremely higher quality than they were with the older camcorders. This way, DV camcorders not only facilitate their users' job but also provide them with the best quality final product they could have. Movies shot with DV camcorders can be also easily uploaded to PCs, allowing this way the use of many different edition software, sending the images to a friend, and any many other possibilities.

Although there are many different types of DV camcorders, all of them should share some features in common in order to be of good quality. First of all, it is important that a DV camcorder has easy to use controls; otherwise this could become a constant problem and an obstacle for its user.

DV camcorders usually come with a high quality screen through which their users can view what the camcorder would shoot as well as can play back what has already been shot. It is very important that this screen is of good quality as well as easy to be used while shooting a movie and handling the camcorder.

Nowadays, most DV camcorders store video on special memory cards, although some of them still use videotape in a special format known as mini DV. Many DV camcorders come with both these video store capabilities, allowing its users to chose the most convenient one for them.

About The Author


Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com. Visit his digital camera & camcorder guide and learn how to take better pictures and shoot better movies.

It was widely reported in the press (15 September 1997) that a British tourist, who stole a lump of stone from the base of the Great Pyramid five years earlier, returned it to the Cairo Museum with a letter saying that 'it had brought him bad luck ever since'. The Museum authorities were not surprised; several such items had been returned by people who felt cursed {When the Luxor Casino was built in Las Vegas it moved on its foundation so the elevators had a lot of re-engineering to be done, while I lived in Las Vegas. The death toll during its construction was nine. Do you think a religious and spiritual force knows when it is being improperly sullied?} after stealing them. A good reason for caution is the largely bogus story of an Egyptian coffin lid - or fragment of a coffin lid. It was told to Arthur Weigall, author of 'Tutankhamen' (1923) by its one-time owner, Mr. Douglas Murray who purchased the coffin some time in the 1860s: 'no sooner had he done so than he lost his arm, owing to the explosion of his gun. The ship in which the coffin was sent home was wrecked, and so was the cab in which it was driven from the docks; the house in which it was deposited was burnt down; and the photographer who made a picture of it shot himself. A lady who had some connection with it suffered great family losses, and was wrecked at sea shortly afterwards...The list of accidents and misfortunes charged to the spirit which is connected with this coffin is now of enormous length.

The presence of an Egyptian mummy on board is sometimes blamed for the loss of the 'Titanic'. It was said to have been shipped to New York on the supposedly unsinkable liner. Its coffin, no.22542 in the British Museum, is associated with the curse, and Museum authorities caution people who propose to photograph it." (2)

Negative self-fulfilling expectations are a difficult thing for people to deal with in conjunction with the sorcerers' art. This is the concept of the 'War Bottle' that turns your idiosyncrasies into more unbalanced certitudes that makes a strength become a fatal weakness. It is also the nature of energy that caused a large number of early North American Indians to forego the vanity of having their picture taken. Some of them listened to their wise men talk of the soul being frozen in the minds of those who would see the picture, and thus their spirit would not grow with them. There certainly is truth to the fact that our thoughts impact others. Our thoughts are energy and the thoughts of many people who thought negatively about the 'stupid savages' may have had just the impact the shamans and witch-doctors were certain would happen. The curse of humanity is that our soulful energy deceives our ego into thinking we are powerful. The ego doesn't understand. 'WE' is not 'me'!

CANDLE MAGIC:

Reversing candles are a great thing to protect yourself from the intent of people sending negative energy at you, but talismans and mandalas galore have been most reliable for the minor flare-ups. The cross is a mandala with four entry points for the assimilation of the four primary forces to become balanced at the 'center'. What you choose for faith in your goodness has much to do with your actual protection. In many ways a ritualistic process opens you through your own energy to the very things you project. This is true in the macrocosm of humanity as well as in the insipid little parcels of power-mongering flesh that think they deserve more than the numerous other life forms that have soul and ethics.

One person (or persons) sought to make me suffer and there were some disturbing physical responses. The individuals involved were gay and they had hit on me numerous times. My response was a joke or a simple 'not my style'. One of them was in charge of three covens of witches and fancied himself the meanest 'SOB' in the Las Vegas Valley. He had a lot of good knowledge about Biblical origins and history and I enjoyed talking with him. The more he tried to impress me the less he succeeded. I made it clear I did not fear him or anything.

The day my penis started to bleed was when I actually thought I might need more than my usual 'mirror and cross' visualization. I used a reversing candle and within a day the place where Lord Gandolph holed up when he was in Las Vegas was burned. His boyfriend (who had enjoyed my leather pants and boots) lost all of his belongings. This caused me to leave the teaching of the Wiccans after six months of 'Perfect Love, and Perfect Trust'! About a year later I discovered the high priestess had thought I was a 'Machiavellian Prince sent to overturn her Temple' and Lord Gandolf was one of her Temple Elders. There are many actual reasons why I know such things occur and I will relate them as it seems pertinent from time to time. The pursuit of 'siddhis' (powers) is a quest that robs one of their actual potential according to Alcyon who rejected his Messiahhood at the age of eight; later he became honoured even more for his truth. You may have seen or heard about this great man who recently left our physical place of reference - his name is Jiddhu Krishnamurti.

Author of Diverse Druids

Columnist for The ES Press Magazine

Guest 'expert' at World-Mysteries.com

GETTING STARTED

Initially, identify what you want to sell via your web site. Don’t make this decision too lightly. One of my friends put his bird photos on web site. I asked him why he selected birds. His reply was, “That’s some of my best stuff.” I asked him whether birds were his favorite photographic subjects and he frankly told me no. He prefers landscapes. Remember that you will sell what you show. Accordingly, it makes sense to select and show the type of photography you actually want to do.

After deciding what you really want to photograph, think about developing a niche. If you try to be all things to all buyers, you will quickly find out that you won’t have much luck. Pizza Hut is known for one thing: Pizza. So when you want a pizza, you may think of Pizza Hut before you think of your local Bob’s Big Boy drive-in. Specialization is a key component of marketing. I have been most successful in my career by focusing on small niches and owning them.

Part of niche marketing is looking at local subjects. If you post only iconic images from trips you made years ago, and cannot regularly offer similar images due to a lack of access, it may be difficult to build repeat business. Own your own zip code. Be the master of your own local universe, create that niche, and it can open doors.

Next, start thinking in terms of concepts. Most picture buyers are not really buying pictures, they are buying concepts. So as you look at your images, ask yourself what concepts your images illustrate. Here are some examples. A photograph of a mountain lion growling (even a baby mountain lion) taken from a low angle may illustrate “power.” A photograph of a female wolf laying her snout on a new wolf pup may illustrate “nurture.” These are the kinds of concepts for which stock photo buyers are looking. If you can communicate the concept in your photo’s caption, you will increase your odds of making a sale.

Lastly, consider registering your images with the Library of Congress before placing them on the internet. It is simple and affordable to register unpublished images as a group. If you have already placed your images on your web site, it’s not too late to register them now.

DEALING WITH BUYERS

The next step may be the hardest for people who do not have experience selling their photos. Dealing with photo buyers requires negotiation skills. The biggest mistake made by some new to such negotiations is becoming too adversarial. Don’t be one of those photographers who puts 22 copyright notices on their pictures, has 33 page delivery memos and who has 44 conditions of sale. There’s a difference between making a reasonable attempt to protect your work and going overboard and, in the process, you don’t want buyers to feel it will be difficult and time consuming to work with you.

Here’s a pro tip. Put one small copyright notice on your photo that includes your phone number or website. The copyright notice puts the buyer on notice that you want to protect your rights and the contact information lets the buyer know how to find you. That’s all you need.

When you send your images to the buyer, don’t use a delivery memo or terms sheet with Draconian conditions; the buyer will simply pass and move on. Some won’t even accept images sent with delivery memos due to the legal liability they create. Simply send a one-page letter that outlines the photo(s) you have enclosed, the usage you authorize, the payment you expect, and how, when and where payment should be made. If specific submission guidelines have been provided to you, be sure you agree to the terms and follow the guidelines when preparing your submission.

Always remember that negotiation with buyers should be friendly and non–threatening. These people have a job to do. I would have no trouble trusting almost every professional photo buyer I have met.

The buyers know the rules. Don’t assume they are out to beat you. Treat them with respect, be matter of fact with them about what you are offering, try to find out how your photo meets their needs, and then ask for fair compensation and terms.

It’s a pretty straightforward process. Also, realize that unless you are dealing with a large, national publication, chances are, your potential buyers won’t have deep pockets. Nor will they have the resources or patience required to satisfy stringent usage tracking requirements in your rights-managed contract. Be reasonable if you want the sale.

LICENSING

I don’t have space here to go into an in-depth discussion on licensing rights, but can provide an overview of the basic types of licensing agreements.

ROYALTY FREE licensing allows the buyer to pay a lump sum and have unlimited, non-exclusive use of the image. While the photo’s copyright remains with the photographer, the buyer can use the picture again and again without additional compensation for the photographer.

RIGHTS-MANAGED licensing controls how, when, where, and how often the photo is used. The photographer is compensated each time the photo is used. But many photo buyers find the paperwork and higher fees associated with rights-managed images too onerous and instead, opt for royalty free images. Regardless of how we as photographers feel about this trend, it is real. And if you ignore it, you do so at your own peril.

There is a blend of royalty free and rights-managed licensing that I refer to as ROYALTY MANAGED stock. Images are purchased on a flat rate basis with no restrictions on use other than time. It’s attractive to some buyers because there is no onerous tracking required to satisfy stringent usage restrictions. The buyer gets to use the photo any way they want, but has to provide additional compensation for use beyond the agreed upon time frames. I have been successfully using this method since 1996 and have some images that have been licensed repeatedly. On balance, I think I made more than I would have under traditional rights-managed approaches.

CONCLUSION

Remember that photo buyers are like everyone else. Some work in departments that have been downsized. Most have to do more work in less time for less money than they used to. Everything and anything that you can do to make their job easier may result in more sales for you. Buyers look for vendors who are professional, trustworthy, dependable and reasonable to deal with.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Bourne is the author of "88 Secrets to Selling & Publishing Your Photography" and "88 Secrets to Photoshop
for Photographers." Both are available from Olympic Mountain School Press, http://www.mountainschoolpress.com.
His work has also appeared in books, magazines, galleries, calendars, on greeting cards, web sites and on posters.

Scott is a professional photographer, author, teacher and pioneer in the digital imaging field. His career
started in the early 70s as a stringer covering motor sports for Associated Press in Indiana. Since then,
he has shot commercial, portrait, wedding, magazine and fine art assignments. His new passion is wildlife
photography.

Scott regularly lectures on a variety of photo and media-related subjects. He's appeared on national television
and radio programs and has written columns for several national magazines. He is the publisher of Photofocus.com,
an online magazine for serious photographers and also serves as the executive director of the Olympic Mountain
School of Photography in Gig Harbor, WA.

Did you know that in many cases digital photos are cropped by the time they reach paper? If you have never "cropped" your photos manually, you may not be aware that it is happening.

What is cropping?

Cropping is the process of trimming portions of the digital image so it fits in the shape of the paper. Let's say we have a 5" x 7" photo. The problem is, the frame we want to display is 4" x 6". One of our choices is to take scissors and carefully trim away the least important edges of the photo until it fits into the 4" x 6" frame. What we have accomplished is "cropping".

In the world of digital photography, cropping is performed with software. When the photo is comprised of bits of data, there is no need to crop for size alone—the software and printing process can stretch the image to fit. We do, however, have to crop digital images to fit the paper's shape.

A more detailed look

Let's look at an example. My Canon camera has a sensor size of 1536 x 2048 pixels. Dividing these numbers by the highest common denominator of 512, we get an image shape of 3 x 4.

How many print sizes do you think fit this shape? Not many. If we want 4" x 6" prints, the shape of the 3 x 4 digital image will not fit. It is possible to stretch the image into the 4 x 6 shape using software, but this will distort the image, which we don't want.

Our only option is to crop the 3 x 4 image into the 4 x 6 shape. If you are thinking, "I never had to crop my images and they always looked fine," then chances are the cropping was done for you automatically. Who would do such a thing behind your back?

Don't be alarmed, cropping was always done on our behalf, even with film photos. When we drop off our digital photos at a lab to have them developed, or insert them into our printer, the images are loaded into the computer system and are automatically cropped. How does the computer know which sections are OK to crop and which ones are not? It doesn't. When the decision is left to the machine, it will trim an equal amount from two edges.

Have you ever received a photo from the lab and something important near the edge was cut off, but when you saw it on the computer screen it was there? That is a result of automated cropping.

Do your own cropping for maximum control

Under most circumstances automatic cropping produces good results with our snapshots. In cases where we want to control precisely where the image is trimmed, we need to take the cropping under our own control.

Cropping can be accomplished in several places such as your photo editing or printing software, online developing services, or the kiosk machine available at many local labs. I find that the best place to crop your photos is on your own computer using the software you are most familiar with. If you have never used this feature of your photo editing software, I urge you to learn how to use it. The other two cropping methods are typically more time consuming. You may also be rushed during the delicate cropping procedure if a line forms behind you at a kiosk machine.

Charles Kerekes is an amateur photographer and maintains the Flying Sam Digital Photo Guide (FlyingSamPhoto.com) web site to help others find fun and unique digital photo finishing products and services.

I've been practising wildlife photography on safari for over twenty years now in places like the Kruger National Park, Chobe, Okavango Delta, and Hwange game reserves and these four tips have been indispensable in making sure that I get some decent wildlife photographs.

1. The Right Equipment

I believe that you can't beat the quality of film but that digital offers wildlife photography practitioners more options at a better cost so for the purposes of a safari trip a digital camera is your best bet.

It should have some of the following characteristics to qualify as a good safari camera.

There should be little or no lag between the time you depress the shutter release button and the photo is taken. Some of the compact digitals on the market today suffer from this affliction and it's not ideal when you come across fast moving wildlife subjects.

It should be ready to take photographs at a moments notice because that is sometimes all the time you have before an animal disappears into the undergrowth. No long power up cycle.

Due to the fact that most of your nocturnal wildlife sightings on safari will occur during early morning and dusk it needs to be able to function well in low light conditions as well as bright sunlight during the day for the diurnal animals.

Lenses should have a focal length of at least 70mm for adequate wildlife photography and an image stabiliser is not essential but a great help in eliminating blur.

Another piece of equipment that is essential however is a deadrest in the form of a beanbag or a window mounted tripod that you can rest the camera on to help stabilise the long lenses. Handholding a long lens will often lead to blurring and the dead rest will prevent this. A tripod or monopod is impractical because you will be taking photos from the safari vehicle for most of the time.

2. The Best Wildlife Photography Areas

You can have all the right equipment and the best wildlife photography talent in the world but it won't mean much if you can't find any wildlife to take pictures of.

Some areas in Africa are better in terms of safari photography than others. The top five for getting excellent overall wildlife picture opportunities are:

Kenya - Masai Mara


Tanzania - Serengeti

South Africa - Kruger National Park
Botswana - Moremi

Namibia - Etosha

3. Patience and Luck

Everything comes to him who waits is a very relevant saying for wildlife photography. Patience will help you get better photographs because you will be able to take pictures of animal behaviour that you would otherwise have missed.

The role of luck mustn't be underestimated either. There is no guarantee of what you will encounter in a game reserve and whatever you do get to see and photograph is a matter of a little bit of planning and a lot of good fortune.

4. Light and Composition

Because you are at the mercy of the elements in wildlife photography, you don't have too much control over the light. Flash is of no use when the animal is at a distance and you can't wait for better light conditions because the subject could move off at any moment so you need to make the best of what you have.

And due to the habits of nocturnal species you will find yourself taking lots of pictures in low light conditions at dawn and dusk which is why a fast lens and a dead rest is essential. Using bracketing (changing the exposure by one stop up and down) will also help get the optimal exposure in the available light.

What you do have some control over is the position of the safari vehicle which can be moved to change the aspect of light that is falling on the animal somewhat but even that is sometimes not possible because in most reserves you are not allowed to go off-road and moving might scare the subject away.

Composition is something you do have more control of however and you can apply the rule of thirds and framing using the available vegetation just as well as in any other form of photography.

Be especially careful using the autofocus on your camera because it will cheerfully focus on a twig or tuft of grass close to your animal subject and spoil your composition.

You will also need to make your compositional decisions quickly as wildlife often doesn't hang about long waiting for you to make your mind up so it pays to have a solid foundation in the basics.

Collection of African safari pictures depicting most of the animals you can see on safari like lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, crocodile, chimpanzee, baboon, gorilla, rhino and many more species.

The five best African lion safari destinations will give you some excellent opportunities to take photographs of the king of the jungle.

Quality digital cameras are becoming affordable for just about everyone these days. Kodak's entry into the low cost end of the market is their CX7300 3.2 mega pixel model. You just may be surprised at what a terrific value it is. Please read on.

As recently as two years ago, if you were shopping for a 3.0 mega pixel or greater camera, you would have paid approximately $249. for one. Today, prices have tumbled and it isn't uncommon to find cameras in this category going for $150 or less. Recents sale prices I have observed have brought this price down further with one retailer selling the Kodak CX7300 for just under $100.

As you may know a 3.0 meg camera is ideal if you are taking pictures to post online. Anything greater isn't necessary, so there is no need to expend the extra bucks for a 5.0, 6.0, or even 7.0 meg camera.

This particular Kodak model is no bare bones model either. Top features include:

3.2 million pixels

3x digital zoom

1.6" color display

Red eye reduction

Self timer

Color modes

Multiple scene modes

Movie mode

16 MB internal memory

Easy Share software

The CX7300 is easy to use and picture quality is very good. Kodak also markets this model camera as a C300, so shop around and see what your retailer is offering.

Matt Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics. You can view his site at http://www.thearticlewriter.com

One of the main reasons people buy digital cameras is so they can share their photos with others. Even if you are just going to print your photos for yourself, you will want them to look their best. Here are some tips on getting your images ready for sharing or printing.

1. ORGANIZE YOUR PHOTOS

Delete the ones you don't like or those that are near duplicates of others. No sense in clogging up your hard drive or CDs with junk. Use a good photo management software program like ACDSEE 7, Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0 or Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album 5 to view, organize and name your images. These programs also let you batch rename so you can give more descriptive file names to a group of photos at the same time. You can add key words and tags to make finding your photos easier. Be detailed in your photo descriptions, not just "John and Laurie." You'll probably have hundreds of photos of your kids and it will be harder to find the one you're looking for. Better to say "John and Laurie waterskiing on Lake Powell, May 2004."

2. BACK UP YOUR ORIGINALS

Mistakes can happen. It is a good idea to back up all your images to a CD before you start editing or changing them. That way you always have the original to go back to if you accidentally save over an image or made changes to a photo that you later decide you don't like. CDs hold lots of photos, making it cheap insurance.

3. ROTATE IMAGES

Trying to look at a sideways photo is annoying. Use your photo management or editing software to rotate photos as needed. And if you have any images that are a little crooked, you can fix that using your editing software. Most photo editors have an automatic "straighten" function, or you can manually rotate the image a few degrees to straighten the horizon line.

4. REMOVE RED-EYE

Even with your digital camera's auto red-eye reduction function, your subject's eyes may still have red-eye. Use your photo editing software to remove it. Zoom in on the eyes and it will be easier for you to correct the red-eye. I've tried a number of red-eye correction tools and find that the one that comes with ACDSEE 7's photo editor is among the best. It zeros in just on the red eye and doesn't darken the surrounding eye area like some other software does.

5. CROP YOUR PHOTOS

Crop out unnecessary or distracting backgrounds and focus in on your subject. Most photo editing programs will keep the aspect ratio, so when you draw a box around the area you want to focus on it will crop it as 4x6 or whatever you have specified. That way you won't end up with an odd size photo. Kodak EasyShare Gallery also has a very good cropping tool for maintaining the proper print size. It comes with its free photo editor.

6. ADJUST LIGHTING AND CONTRAST

Some of your photos may have come out washed out or too dark. You can automatically adjust the color, brightness and contrast of your photos. The better programs like Photoshop Album 2.0, Jasc and ACDSEE also have tools for making manual adjustments for fine-tuning. Be careful not to overdo it, though, or your picture could come out grainy.

7. PREPARE TO SHARE

There are a number of ways to share your images. Several programs, like Roxio Photo Suite 7, ACDSEE7, Photoshop Album and Paint Shop Photo Album allow you to create digital photo albums or slide shows, complete with music, transitions and captions. You can burn them to CD or resize and optimize for emailing directly from the program.

Online photo services such as PhotoWorks, Shutterfly, Snapfish and Kodak EasyShare Gallery also let you share your photos on line, for free. You simply upload your images to their server into your own photo albums and add captions if you wish. Then email your friends with a link to your albums. With most of the online services your photos stay on their servers as long as you have an account with them, for free. Signing up for an account is free, you only pay for photos you choose to purchase.

For hardcore photo sharers, there are also dedicated photo sharing applications such as PiXPO v1.5.0, which lets you share photos right off your hard drive. This is a peer to peer software application that allows you to connect directly with your friends and family to share and view pictures online with no uploads. Unlike traditional photo sharing services, you have unlimited storage and you don't have to upload your photos to a distant server or wait for friends to log onto some photo sharing site. The application is easy to install and use and it's inexpensive, around $30. PC Magazine rated it an Editor's Choice in their January 3, 2005 issue.

Valerie Goettsch publishes the digital photography website http://www.digitalphotos101.com featuring reviews of photo editing and album software and digital photo printing services.

Probably one of the most common problems you will be faced with in doing any type of digital photo restoration work will be to do with spot scratches on your old photos.

When we first look at those old black and white or early colour photos they often have small scratch marks and spots on them from being stored incorrectly.

These small spot scratches are easily perceived by your eye when you are looking at the photo, detracting from the overall subject matter.

Here is a very easy quick fix using Adobe Photoshop’s History Brush tool.

Our example "before" image on our web-site has numerous small spot scratches on the old sepia toned photograph.

The basic removal method described here can quickly and effortlessly bring those scratched photos back to (almost) their former glory using the History Brush Tool found in Photoshop.

This basic technique works extremely well for those types of images that have spot scratches in areas of the photo that do not contain a lot of detail.

As you can see in our example image on the web-site, the spots tend to be primarily on the background of the photo, making it ideal for this correction method.

Step – 1

Having opened up the image in Photoshop we will first apply the Dust and Scratches filter by selecting Filter->Noise->Dust & Scratches ...

Set the Threshold to between 1 and 4 (I generally start with 1) and then increase the Radius until you see the spot scratches disappear.

Our example image on the web-site finally made the largest spot scratch on the left hand side of the photo disappear at a Threshold of 3 and Radius of 10.

All well and good but our image is now totally blurred!! Not really what we wanted to see is it?

This is where the History Brush tool comes into play.

Step – 2

Open up the History Palette by selecting Window->History if you cannot see the window already open.

We are going to create a "Snapshot" of the current state of the image in question by clicking on what looks like a little image of a camera at the bottom of the History Palette window (see the red arrow on the web-site image).

After clicking you will notice that the History Palette now shows an extra image icon called "Snapshot 1".

This is a snapshot of the image that includes the effect of apply the Dust & Scratches Filter in Step 1.

Now click on the little square box to the left of Snapshot 1.

You will see a little "brush" icon appear which is now telling us that the "Snapshot 1" image will be used as our "source" when we paint with the History Brush.

Remember ... this snapshot image actually has none of the spot scratches on it because we made them disappear by applying the Dust & Scratches filter in Step 1.

Step – 3

Make the original (un-touched) history snapshot active by clicking on it (in the case of our example image this is "Restore-Before-Image.jpg").

Select the History Brush from the main toolbar (this has the same icon as the little "brush" icon that appeared in the History Palette window).

We are now ready to "paint away" those spot scratches!!

Step – 4

I'm going to zoom in on the largest scratch on the left hand side of the photo to show you how we use the History Brush.

We selected the History Brush in Step 3.

Select an appropriate brush size and soft edges.

We now need to decide how to apply the brush to the scratches in question.

You will notice that the scratches in our example image are "lighter" than the surrounding image.

Step – 5

We need to paint "darker" pixels and as such we set the History Brush Mode: to "Darken" (Top Menu Bar option when you have the History Brush as the active tool).

This has the effect of "telling the History Brush" to only replace pixels on the original image with pixels from our snapshot if the snapshot pixel is darker.

Start to paint over the scratches and see what happens.

The scratches start to miraculously disappear as you paint over them.

They are being replaced with the underlying snapshot image pixels you created in Step 1.

The benefit of using this techniques is that you have complete control over which parts of the original image you "paint over" so as not to blur important details of the image had you just applied a Dust & Scratches filter to the whole image.

Now what if your scratches are darker than the surrounding image, I hear you ask?

Easy!! ... just use a History Brush Mode: of "Lighten" instead of "Darken".

You can experiment with all of the History Brush options - Mode, Opacity and Flow until you get the desired result.

The resulting "After" image has had all of the spot scratches removed easily without compromising on the photographic detail of the image.

And there you have it!!
Less than five minutes of digital image manipulation to remove those unwanted spot scratches.

If you find the steps taking are a little hard to understand in this text based article, you can click on the link at the end of this article to see the same method explained on our website with the aid of example graphical images.

© Gary Wilkinson 2005 - All Rights Reserved

You can see this removal method complete with example images at Basic removal of Spot Scratches in Photos

Feel free to re-print this article provided that all hyperlinks and author biography are retained as-is.

Gary Wilkinson is a photographer, photographic restorer and the owner of a photographic retail business.

He is also the publisher of the http://www.restoring-photos-made-easy.com website, where other methods of correcting common photographic restoration problems are discussed.