Learn Digital Photography - 3 Steps to Learning Photography

The concept of learning to many of us as we grow older is linked to school or college. Learning as we get on with our lives is not something we do naturally. With photography you have to learn or get left behind. If you are going to improve the quality of your images you need to continually learn and maintain learning journey.

Coupled with the desire to learn is passion. You need lots of it be a photographer as with anything in life. There is always an opportunity to create the perfect image but getting you to the place where your feet are standing on the perfect vantage point is the difference. Passion brings you to that point at 5am and allows you to shoot the magnificent sunset or sit through the heat of the day to shoot the elusive endangered animal. 

It's this desire or passion that will motivate you to learn those tips and techniques that you would otherwise not be bothered with. So here are some keys to learning or improving your photography:

1. Feed your passion

How do you make something grow? By feeding it, a very simple but very neglected concept in photography. Let me simplify it even more. If you love birds then spend time where birds are, buy birding magazines, join a bird watching club that has a strong focus on photography. When you rub shoulders with passionate people and spend time focusing on your passion, it grows. I love photo galleries, especially wildlife and nature and after an hour looking through the images, I want to take my camera and shoot. So how does feeding your passion help you learn? It gets you out taking more photos and thereby practising more and meeting people who are motivating and more experienced. So the bottom line is that your learning curve shoots straight up.

2. Evaluate, compare and improve

You will never learn unless you look at your images and evaluate them against a set of criteria. The main teaching method in my latest book is evaluating your images. By doing this you can see just where the quality issues and technical problems lie and rectify them. You need to have a mentor, a book or course to understand what these criteria are. Then, compare yourself to others that are known to be much better than yourself. These people can be from clubs, authors or photographers with online galleries of note. See what they are doing and shoot similar images. Then work at improving. What pointers can you take out of your books and other materials and incorporate into your images? If you aren't improving then you aren't learning. It is essential to constantly and consistently look at yourself and your photography and ask the question, am I evaluating, comparing and improving.

3. Specialise

Oops! Isn't this going against the basic principles of learning photography or anything for that matter? What I mean is that as part of the learning process work at it using bite sized chunks, one step at a time. Confucius says that the journey of a thousand miles starts with just one step. Focus on one issue like learning how to place your subject correctly. When you've mastered that then move on to the next point and so on. All of these little specialisations put together will make the whole learning process easier and fit together quicker. You know the old adage, "jack of all trades, master of none"? Master your hobby by doing it in a lot of small steps.

Photography is a process despite what many might think. You have never really reached the top of your game and there is always something you can do to improve your shots. Dedication and discipline is much easier if you focus on the little things and gradually expand until you are handing the bigger things. Take one step at a time and work hard at each of the disciplines of photography. And, before you know it you'll be taking shots that will leave you dumbfounded at your own talents.

Remember that you are key to your own photography success. Work hard at applying yourself and the rewards will come little by little. Don't be disillusioned if it doesn't all happen at once, we all had to start somewhere. Happy shooting. 

Learn Digital Photography - 3 Steps to Learning Photography

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf

Learn Digital Photography - 3 Steps to Learning Photography

Learn Digital Photography - 3 Steps to Learning Photography
Learn Digital Photography - 3 Steps to Learning Photography

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf

Learn Digital Photography - Tips For Photographing Flowers

With the advent of digital cameras and the huge amount of features, close-up photography has become the domain for everyone. The simple macro feature on the current generation of digital compacts has opened up this world to virtually anyone with a camera. Of course the ideal situation is the use of SLRs but is not limited to them.

One of the first accessories I bought for my film SLR way back in the 1980s was a set of close-up filters that screwed on the end of my lens. This added a new dimension to my photography and I was able to get in really close to my intended subjects, flowers. Although, I did dabble a bit in shooting some of the slower insects and bugs. But flowers were still my focus. Here are some simple tips that will help you shoot better flower photos.

1. Weather conditions and lighting

It is totally useless if you plan to shoot flowers on a day when high wind speeds are predicted. Movement is critical especially when shooting close-ups and your image will be spoiled if you don't take this into consideration. Lighting is critical as you need to shoot under conditions that enhance colours and allow as much natural light as possible. Unless you're using a ring flash with a digital SLR you are too close to use the on camera flash system. Never shoot at midday as the lighting is harsh and lacking in contrast.

2. Select the right flower

Getting your lighting, exposure and composition perfect and then finding that there are blemishes on the flower's petals or leaves is a let down. Always inspect the chosen subject before setting up your equipment and make sure that it's almost perfect. If there are little imperfections, change the angle of view or shoot the opposite site of the flower. You can also remove offending petals and leaves if they do not leave gaps and make the image look imperfect.

3. Check the background

You are limited to how many angles you can shoot from if the flower is in a garden and not a studio. Make sure that the flower or flowers you choose have a background that is simple and uncluttered and enhances the overall quality of the flower image. If it doesn't, then consider using a piece of card that compliments the dominating colour of your chosen flower. Your focus must be on the flower and a viewer's eye should be attracted to the flower and not the background.

4. Use a tripod

A tripod is essential to flower photography as you need as much light as possible when using a narrow depth of field or focus and if you need a wide aperture the shutter speed is often slower. A slow shutter speed will always be a problem and this limits hand holding due to camera shake.

5. Composition

Flower shots always look their best when taken from the side. Shot from above they don't have same appeal as when taken from the side. Use the rule of thirds placing them in a slightly off centred position and never right in the middle of the image. Getting in closer will always add to the composition. If you are shooting macro you'll see details that really create an interest.

Creating your own indoor studio and shooting picked flowers is a simple process. Use natural light from a window and a simple coloured background and stunning images will result. Be prepared to experiment and practise your techniques.

As with any photography take you time to think before shooting but also to get the composition perfect. Don't be afraid to vary your angles and work at getting a good focal point. Overall, flower photography is exceptionally rewarding so work at it and create great images.

Learn Digital Photography - Tips For Photographing Flowers

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf

Learn Digital Photography - Tips For Photographing Flowers

Learn Digital Photography - Tips For Photographing Flowers
Learn Digital Photography - Tips For Photographing Flowers

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf

How to Write a Media Services Proposal (Photography, Audio, Video, Multimedia)

If you're in a media service business like photography or creating video production or sound recordings, then you are always looking for new clients. Most contracts in these businesses are of short duration, so you need to line up as many contracts and clients as you can. The best way to do that is to master the art of writing a business proposal.

You probably don't consider yourself a writer, but creating a proposal is not difficult once you understand the basic structure and ingredients that all winning proposals need. You already know the services and the quality you have to offer, and you probably have a good idea of what most clients want, so you have all the basic information you'll need. And after you have written one proposal, you'll find that you can use a lot of the same information in every proposal from now on.

Let's focus on structure, and you'll see how easy writing a proposal can be. All service proposals have a standard structure: introduction, client-focused section, services-focused section, and then finally, a section focused on you or your organization.

The introduction part is very simple. The first thing you need in a proposal package is a Cover Letter that explains who you are, why you're sending this proposal, and what you want the reader to do after considering your proposal. Naturally the Cover Letter should contain all your contact information, too, so the client can easily phone or email you with a response. A Cover Letter isn't always part of the proposal, but should introduce your proposal when appropriate.

At the top of the proposal itself is a Title Page, which is exactly what it sounds like--just clearly label your proposal. Examples might be "Photography Proposal for Birchfield Wedding" or "Recording Services for QRX Band" or "Proposed Audio Book Recording of The Only Witness."

If your proposal is only a few pages long, that's it for the introduction. If your proposal is complex, you might need a Table of Contents and a Client Summary page next--that's a short summary of the most important points you want to make in your proposal, and such a page is generally only needed when there are executives who must approve your proposal but may not have time to read the entire package.

It's important not to start off with a sales pitch that's all about you. Save that for the last part of the proposal. Successful proposals are customized to the potential client. They are more about satisfying the client than about bragging about the service provider.

So, after the introduction comes the client-centered section. In the client-centered section, you prove that you understand your potential clients and their needs and concerns. Put yourself in your potential clients' shoes. At a minimum, this section should have a Needs page that spells out what the clients have already asked for or are likely to ask for. For example, a photographer proposing a shoot for a sports magazine might list events that the client wants covered and an approximate number of shots per location or event, or a recording studio might list the number of recordings and the final formats that the client has asked for. In some cases, you might know more about what is needed than a new client, so be as specific as possible. This section might include a Requirements or Specifications page to spell out technical details, and topic pages like Budget or Limitations or Schedule that mention any concerns of the clients or restrictions on the project.

After you have described what the client wants or needs as well as any restrictions, it's time to explain how you propose to fulfill those needs. Describe your services in detail. The pages in this section will vary according to your particular business and the project. Be as specific as possible about what you will do, when, and how much it will cost. You'll probably want a Services page and a Cost Summary page, and maybe Options or Packages, Venue, Schedule, and Equipment or other topics that explain everything you have to offer. If you offer a Guarantee of satisfaction or a Warranty on a product you deliver, include that in this services-focused section, too.

In the final proposal section, it's your turn to brag about yourself. Explain why you are the best choice for the project. You might include pages like About Us, Clients Served, Projects, Awards, Certifications, Testimonials--in short, anything that shows that you are an expert in your field and can be trusted to deliver on your promises.

That's it--you're done creating a draft of your proposal. Now, be sure to proofread every page to make sure there are no grammatical or spelling mistakes, and make sure every page looks good, too. If possible, enlist a person who is not familiar with your proposal to do the final check; it's too easy to overlook mistakes and omissions in your own work. You want the proposal to represent you at your professional best. After every page is perfect, print it and mail or hand-deliver it, or package it in a PDF to attach to email, whichever method is most likely to impress your potential client.

Want to get a jump start and speed up the proposal writing process? Consider using a proposal kit of pre-designed documents, which are designed for writing all sorts of business documents. A good proposal kit will come with hundreds of templates to cover any topic you might want to include. Pre-designed kit templates will also contain instructions and examples to guide you, so you'll never feel clueless about what to put on a page. The best proposal kits will also provide many detailed sample proposals you can use as guides when writing your own proposal.

How to Write a Media Services Proposal (Photography, Audio, Video, Multimedia)

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf

How to Write a Media Services Proposal (Photography, Audio, Video, Multimedia)

How to Write a Media Services Proposal (Photography, Audio, Video, Multimedia)
How to Write a Media Services Proposal (Photography, Audio, Video, Multimedia)

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf

Photography Technique PDF

Video Clips. Duration : 0.50 Mins.

Photography Technique PDF

http://www.OnTargetPhotoTraining.com - Free Video Reveals #1 Secret To Shooting "Eye Popping", Stunning Photos! No Matter What Kind Of Camera You Use! http:/...

Photography Technique PDF

Photography Technique PDF

Photography Technique PDF

Photography Technique PDF

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http://www.OnTargetPhotoTraining.com - Free Video Reveals #1 Secret To Shooting "Eye Popping", Stunning Photos! No Matter What Kind Of Camera You Use! http:/...

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Edit Your Photos With Adobe Photoshop - Simple Ways to Make Them Look Professional

Do you love photography so much but you just can't seem to produce great looking photos? Do you want your amateur looking photos to look like it was taken by professional photographers? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you will need the Adobe Photoshop.

First of all, you need to remember that most professional photographers today use Adobe Photoshop to edit the digital photos they take. You need to remember that not every photo they take is perfect and some will have the common mistakes in photography, such as the red-eye phenomenon, finger over the lens syndrome and even the hand shake syndrome. Poor exposure is another enemy of photographers.

Whatever it is, professional photographers are able to fix these mistakes by just using Adobe Photoshop. In fact, some professional photographers even edit the photos they take of models with Adobe Photoshop. If you read magazines, and you noticed the near-perfect bodies of models and very smooth skin, then you have an idea on how professional photographers manipulate the photos they take with Adobe Photoshop. For example, if you take pictures of someone who has an ugly looking zit on their face, then you will be able to make their face look perfect by removing the zit or pimple with Adobe Photoshop. In fact, you can even use Adobe Photoshop to make someone fat look like a supermodel.

Here are some of the basic ways on how you can make the photos you take look more professional.

The first is by eliminating the red eye from the photos. You need to remember that even if you are using the latest SLR digital camera with red eye reduction, it will still happen. Adobe Photoshop has red eye tool that will identify and completely remove the appearance of the red eye from the photos you take. It will even remove the red eyes from your pet cat or dog.

Secondly, you will be able to create brighter and clearer photos with more vibrant colors. Adobe Photoshop is meant to be a tool to help clean up an image as well as improve its appearance. With the color enhancing tools and adjust brightness and contrast tools, you will be able to turn dark photos in to something that looks like it was taken in perfect lighting condition. Basically, the tool will allow you to manually adjust the image's color settings that will result in the sharpest and cleanest appearance of the image as possible.

Another great editing feature of Adobe Photoshop is that it will even allow you to remove unwanted objects in the photos you already took. For example, if a seemingly perfect photo was just ruined by a trash can on the background, you can easily remove the trash can and replace it with something else as if the trash can wasnâEUR(TM)t even there at all when you took the picture. You can even crop out people from the photos you take and even replace the background.

These are just some of the great things that you can do with Adobe Photoshop. As you can see, even an amateur photographer like you will be able to take professional looking pictures. With the help of Adobe Photoshop, you will be able to make your photos look as if it was taken by a professional photographer.

Get this free report and discover our totally unique step-by-step video training system, designed to make any newbie user completely competent with the basics of any Adobe Photoshop Software in record time.

Edit Your Photos With Adobe Photoshop - Simple Ways to Make Them Look Professional

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf

Edit Your Photos With Adobe Photoshop - Simple Ways to Make Them Look Professional

Edit Your Photos With Adobe Photoshop - Simple Ways to Make Them Look Professional
Edit Your Photos With Adobe Photoshop - Simple Ways to Make Them Look Professional

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf

Photography Tutorial - Check Out This Best Photography Tips e-Book

Tube. Duration : 4.38 Mins.

Photography Tutorial - Check Out This Best Photography Tips e-Book

http://photography-tips.co Click the link above to access all the TOP SECRET Photography Techniques to create MIND-BLOWING Artistic Images You will learn Lig...

Photography Tutorial - Check Out This Best Photography Tips e-Book

Photography Tutorial - Check Out This Best Photography Tips e-Book

Photography Tutorial - Check Out This Best Photography Tips e-Book

Photography Tutorial - Check Out This Best Photography Tips e-Book

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Learn Digital Photography - The Best Time to Shoot a Photograph

Have you ever been in the position where your shutter finger is just itching to take some photos? You look outside and the weather is overcast and the sun is nowhere to be found. Take heart you don't always need the sun. Here's why.

I was always lead to believe that if there was no sun, then there wasn't an opportunity for good photography. So during the winter months and overcast summer or spring days I had to find another hobby, or so I thought. That's not true and I'll show you why.

1. Shooting outdoors on overcast days

If you have never tried it then go out and do it. You will be surprised at the photos you take. Why? Because the clouds act as one big filter resulting in a soft and even light. The harsh shadow you sometimes see in your sunny day images is just not there. There is no glare in the subject's eyes and it can look as if the photo has been taken by a professional. Check that your white balance is set to cloudy if you aren't shooting on automatic. Although you get really good photos on a cloudy day, it is more suited for smaller scenes, close-ups and portraits. Landscapes don't do that well on cloudy days.

2. Sunny days

Bright sunny days are not always the best time to take good photos? Too much bright light can be a bad thing so you need to know what time of day is best. When it's sunny you'd probably find that around midday is not the best time to shoot any images. The lighting is directly from above and very harsh. Shadows fall below the eyes in a portrait and can result in an ugly image. Unless you are looking for a very specific lighting effects for buildings and similar subjects, don't shoot between 11h00 and 13h00. Early to mid-morning and late afternoon are the best times for shooting on sunny days. Lighting is from the side, the contrast is great and the atmosphere created by light that is more golden is amazing. Besides shooting sunsets and sunrise virtually any type of image will look great. A key here is to use bright shadow, like under high trees, for portraits and other people shots. It gives the same effect as a cloudy day.

3. Shooting indoors

There is no bad time when shooting indoors as you always have control of the light when using flash or strobes. But, flash is not the greatest light to shoot by even if you do have total control. Using available natural light will always give you a great image. So what's the best way? Find a place inside that has a large window which allows a good amount of light to enter the room. Place your subject in the area where most of this light falls. If you find that the opposite side of the subject is too dark, use a reflector which can be a large piece of card, a white board or a sheet draped just outside the view of the camera lens. Experiment to find the best subject placement. Sometimes the darker side of the image will make the overall image really stunning.

So, there is always a time to take an image and key to this is make the best possible use of available light. You may not be able to shoot the image you have in mind but you'll still be able to create an image that is stunning. You won't necessarily get it right the first time but be prepared to experiment and try different placements and angles and I can assure you that you will come up with something that great.

Learn Digital Photography - The Best Time to Shoot a Photograph

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf

Learn Digital Photography - The Best Time to Shoot a Photograph

Learn Digital Photography - The Best Time to Shoot a Photograph
Learn Digital Photography - The Best Time to Shoot a Photograph

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf


http://photography-tips.co Click the link above to access all the TOP SECRET Photography Techniques to create MIND-BLOWING Artistic Images You will learn Lig...

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How To Make Your Own Free, Professional-Looking Ebook Covers

Making a decent eBook cover is one of the hardest self-publishing obstacles to overcome.

When I published my first ebook, I didn't want a 3D eBook cover. All I wanted was a flat image with big writing on the top, like the copies of print book covers you see on Amazon and all the booksellers' sites. After Googling and downloading some free software (nothing more than 3D boxes most of them) and lots of experimentation, trial and error, I made my eBook cover image on Word. I featured one of my own photographs and used Word Art graphics to make the titles. It was completely free and my eBook has taken its place in the Amazon digital charts without disgracing itself. Since then I've made eBook covers in several ways, all of them completely free. Here's a step by step guide to making your own eBook covers:

1. VERY SIMPLE EBOOK COVER
Photograph or image with title and author name underneath.

Advantages: Clear, unfussy and does the job. Once you've sourced your eBook cover image this takes just minutes to make. Sample link given at bottom of this article.

a) First find your eBook cover image. If you have no suitable photographs you've taken (or can take) yourself, there are plenty of royalty-free photography sites. If you'd rather have artwork, find an image you like on one of the artists' central sales sites (eg saatchi-gallery) and ask the artist's permission to use their work in return for a credit on the inside page. They may well be delighted to get the extra (free) publicity for their work. You don't need a high quality resolution: low quality, low pixel-count images work better on the web. A cut and paste image from their website (once you've got written permission) will work fine.

b) Transfer the image from your photo files (or web source once you've obtained permission) to your desktop. Open a blank WORD document. Click INSERT > PICTURE and upload your eBook cover image.

c) Size it appropriately and type your title and author name underneath.

d) You now have a Word document cover. In order for it to be accepted by the computer as an IMAGE, take a screenshot of your eBook cover.

TO MAKE A THUMBNAIL EBOOK COVER FOR THE SALES SITES:

Press COMMAND + SHIFT + 4 all at the same time. Your cursor turns into a cross. Place that at top left corner of your eBook cover image and drag it to bottom right. Release the buttons. You'll now find an image file on your desktop. Make sure it's labelled.jpg (this is very important, without the dot and the jpg label the image won't load). To re-label click on the description box until it goes blank & type in a title eg budgie.jpg). Your eBook cover thumbnail is now ready to upload to sales sites.

2. EBOOK COVER WITH WORDS OVER IMAGES

If you'd rather imitate a print book cover and have your titles OVER the images it's a little more complicated. You'll have to spend time fiddling about until it looks exactly right, but you can do it. Warning: it's quite addictive, prepare to spend hours until you've got it exactly right.

The simplest way to do this is to use a great, free website tool called Picnik.

You could also make your cover on Word.

a) Get your image onto a WORD document page as before.

b) Click Word Art.

c) Once you've clicked Word Art and got the box up on your screen, click the 2nd window in on the 'Edit' box (Format Word Art). The window looks like a rectangle with 3 colors next to a square.

Then a new box will appear.

d) Click Layout and a series of window images will appear with a dog image and lines.

e) Select 'Wrapping Style, In front of Text', the dog on the far right.

f) Experiment with fonts but don't be tempted to mix them. Stick to one and leave font-mixing to the professionals.

Remember what you have is a 'document' not a 'picture'. To turn it into an image that is recognised as an image which can be downloaded onto websites, Amazon Digital etc, take a screenshot of your eBook cover (instructions above).

3. EBOOK COVERS USING WORD TABLES

If you don't want any images but an eBook cover that consists of text and graphic blocks of color, you can simply use the table option in Word. I used this method for my second eBook cover.

a) Put up a blank Word document.

b) Click Table > Insert > Table

c) Choose the number of columns, rows. I selected Number of Columns: 1 Number of Rows: 3. Sample link given at end of article.

d) Place cursor inside each of your three rows and hit ENTER key until the spacing is as you desire.

e) Use the COLOUR and FILL options from the basic Word Toolbar to make your design and type in your text.

IMPORTANT: Tables aren't "recognised" by the eBook downloading systems on Amazon, Smashwords etc. If you are placing this eBook cover on the first page of your eBook document, you must transfer it into an IMAGE by taking a screen-shot and re-inserting.

I hope this article has been of use. Good luck!

How To Make Your Own Free, Professional-Looking Ebook Covers

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf

How To Make Your Own Free, Professional-Looking Ebook Covers

How To Make Your Own Free, Professional-Looking Ebook Covers
How To Make Your Own Free, Professional-Looking Ebook Covers

Basic Photography Techniques Pdf