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A common photography problem: dark silhouettes in digital photos

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is digital photos that include dark silhouettes in them. Dark Silhouettes appear when you are taking digital photos in a scene with a bright light source behind the object. An example of such a scene is when the sun is behind the object. The result will be a digital photo that includes a dark silhouette of the object. One scene that is very likely to result in such a problem is when taking a photo of someone on the beach against a sunset. The result will be a dark silhouette of the person with a good photo of the sunset in the background. Dark silhouettes are a result of the camera setting the wrong exposure. Because of the bright background the camera sets a low exposure and the object that are not lit from their front are severely underexposed.

The dark silhouettes in the digital photo can be eliminated by simply using the camera’s fill-in flash. When taking a photo with the fill-in flash turned on the flash lights the object making sure that it is captured with all its details. Use a fill-in flash when taking pictures of objects with a bright light source behind them. One limitation of this solution is that the objects must be within the flash effective range – otherwise the flash is useless and they will still appear as silhouettes in the photo.

The best way to learn how to avoid dark silhouettes in digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking dark silhouettes digital photos. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the dark silhouettes problem is gone. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.

About the Author

Mr. Haparnas writes about science and technology. Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com – your home for Canon and digital cameras This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

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A common photography problem: out of focus digital photos

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is digital photos that are out of focus. An out of focus photo looks blurry and has low contrast. Usually such a photo is useless and there is no way to correct it using software on your home computer. Most digital cameras can automatically set the focus for you and in most cases they choose the right focus for the scene. Some scenes however are harder to focus on and can fool even the most sophisticated high-end digital camera’s auto focus mechanism. Moreover with most digital cameras excluding digital SLRs you can not really confirm the focus quality. The reason is that the viewfinder is not connected to the actual lenses and the preview LCD screen is too small to really allow correct focus appreciation.

If you are using an SLR camera you can make sure that the objects are in focus by looking through the viewfinder. Most cameras sound a short beep when the focus is locked and also display a green rectangle around the area that they focused on. The first step to ensure correct focus is to make sure that this area is where the objects that you care about are. For example if there are two objects in the scene in different distances from the camera make sure that the camera focused on the object you want.

Extreme scenes are be harder to focus on. For example scenes that include a few objects that are very close to the camera and a few that are far or scenes that simply include very close objects. Such scenarios take special care to focus on. If your camera allows manual focus – try to manually focus to make sure that you got the desired focus. In any case when you identify a potential focus problem take more digital photos than you would usually take while changing the focus settings, taking a few in manual mode and a few in automatic mode, changing the shooting angle and the distance from the objects if possible.

The best way to learn how to avoid out of focus digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking out of focus digital photos. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the out of focus problem is gone. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com – your home for Sony and digital printing This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

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A common photography problem: overexposed digital photos

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is digital photos that are overexposed. Overexposed digital photos have blown out areas and sometimes are completely saturated and white. Their color is not rich and the objects tend to look white and not “alive”. The reason for overexposed photos is setting the exposure too low. Although the camera can measure ambient light and make the exposure decisions for you it can be confused by scenes that are more complex. Many times such scenes do not really have one perfect exposure setting and the best exposure depends on the results and the objects in the scene that you care about the most.

For example if there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting. The result will be a photo that captures the bright area but darkens all the others. Usually you can assume that scenes that have extreme lighting gaps between different areas confuse the camera – for example if a quarter of the photo is very bright and the rest is very dark the camera is likely to set the wrong exposure. When you identify such cases you can manually set the exposure to the right value for the results you are looking for. Another options is to pan the camera a bit and point to a scene that does not have such light gaps (for example that does not have a very bright object in it) but that its objects are in the same focus distance as the scene you are planning to shoot. At that point you can press the shutter half way down (or use any other specific camera mechanism) in order to lock the camera focus and exposure settings. Once you have done that you can pan the camera back to the original scene and shoot the photo.

The best way to learn how to avoid overexposed digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking overexposed digital photos. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the overexposed digital photos problem is gone. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.A common photography problem: shaded objects in digital photos

About the Author

Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com – your home for digital photo printing Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology. This article can be published and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues.

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A common photography problem: red eyed objects in digital photos

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is digital photos that have objects with red eyes in them. Red eyed objects in digital photos is a very common phenomenon. It is usually common when taking digital photos of people or animals and using a flash in a dark environment. The eyes of objects in such digital photos have some red glow in them. The reason for the redness in their eyes is light that is reflected from the blood rich back of the eye. There are a few things that you can do to prevent red-eyes: some cameras support a “red eye reduction” mode. In that mode the camera fires the flash a few times before taking the photo. Although this can help reducing red-eye it can also result in photos of people with their eyes closed (as they are blinded by the pre-flash their reflex is to close their eyes). Other ways to prevent red-eye is to use bounce flash (you can do that with special equipment or for example by pointing the flash to a white wall) and using more ambient light if possible (for example by turning on all the lights in the room). Some cameras include built-in image processing software that automatically removes red-eye from the photos or alternatively you can use many software packages on your home computer to accomplish the same.

The best way to learn how to avoid red eyed objects in digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking digital photos with red eyed objects. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the red eyed objects are in the digital photos. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.

About the Author

More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com – a site about digital photo print service Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included.

Read more: A common photography problem: red eyed objects in digital photos

A common photography problem: Shaded objects in digital photos

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is shaded objects in digital photos. A good example of shaded objects in digital photos is when taking a portrait photo in daylight. The digital camera ambient light sensor measures enough light to set a relatively low exposure value. But even scenes with that have enough ambient light can result in shades that appear on the object depending on the angle of the light source relative to the object. For example if the object is a person with his face lit from the side the object’s nose can create shades. Another example is if the object is a person that is wearing a hat and is lit from a light source above – in such a scene the hat can create shades on the object’s face.

The camera can not automatically identify such problems and correct them. One way to easily eliminate the shades on the objects is by using the camera fill-in flash. Turn the fill-in flash on. When taking a photo the fill-in flash will fire and will light the shaded areas on the object. One limitation of this solution is that the objects must be within the fill-in flash effective range. Otherwise the flash light will fail to light the object and the shades will not be lit.

The best way to learn how to avoid Shaded objects in digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking digital photos with Shaded objects. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the Shaded objects problem is gone. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com – a site about digital prints This article can be published as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about science and technology.

Read more: A common photography problem: Shaded objects in digital photos

A common photography problem: underexposed digital photos

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is digital photos that are underexposed. Underexposed digital photos look dark and lack details. Their color is not rich and the objects tend to look grayish and not “alive”. The reason for underexposed photos is setting the exposure too low. Although the camera can measure ambient light and make the exposure decisions for you it can be confused by scenes that are more complex. Many times such scenes do not really have one perfect exposure setting and the best exposure depends on the results and the objects in the scene that you care about the most.

For example if there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting. The result will be a photo that captures the bright area but darkens all the others. Usually you can assume that scenes that have extreme lighting gaps between different areas confuse the camera – for example if a quarter of the photo is very bright and the rest is very dark the camera is likely to set the wrong exposure. When you identify such cases you can manually set the exposure to the right value for the results you are looking for. Another options is to pan the camera a bit and point to a scene that does not have such light gaps (for example that does not have a very bright object in it) but that its objects are in the same focus distance as the scene you are planning to shoot. At that point you can press the shutter half way down (or use any other specific camera mechanism) in order to lock the camera focus and exposure settings. Once you have done that you can pan the camera back to the original scene and shoot the photo.

The best way to learn how to avoid underexposed digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking underexposed digital photos. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the underexposed digital photos problem is gone. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.

About the Author

This article can be reprinted only if the resource box including the backlink is included. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com – your home for digital photo print service Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer.

Read more: A common photography problem: underexposed digital photos

A digital photo shooting session of airplanes in an air show

A few weeks ago I went with my friends to see an air show. The schedule was packed with acrobatics and many types of planes. The highlight of the show was the blue angles with their jets doing dangerous routines. I took my camera hoping to capture some good digital memories of that show.

I took my digital SLR camera to the air show. I put it in my special camera bag alongside an extra battery and lenses. I used an eight mega pixels DSLR with a 100-300mm zoon lenses.

I decided to shoot as many photos as I could knowing from my experience that in such cases the rule of big numbers works very well – shoot as many photos as you can and you might be able to find a few photos which are really unique. So when the airplanes started to fly around I pointed my camera at them and from that point on I watched most of the air show through my camera’s viewfinder.

I set my camera to automatic continuous focus. I had my finger holding the shutter button half way down most of the time while I am moving the camera to track those fast flying airplanes. I could hear the camera’s motors working hard moving the optical components in the lens back and forth to keep the focus right. I also set the camera to burst mode so whenever I decided the composition was worth shooting a photo it actually shot a fast sequence of four photos. The idea behind that was first to get more photos to choose from – with fast flying planes these four photos were really different from each other – and second to maybe be able to capture some motion in a sequence of photos.

As time passed my hands got tired from holding the camera and my stable grip was not as stable anymore. Unfortunately I did not bring a tripod – and probably I would have not used it even if I had it since it is hard to track airplanes flying above using one especially when you are with thousands of people walking around you. When I looked at the photos that evening I saw the results of my tired grip – the later digital photos were not as sharp and steady as the earlier ones.

When I saw the results of my work my reaction was to go and get those fancy lenses with an image stabilizer built-in them. There are two types of image stabilizer one that moves the sensor and one that actually uses gyroscopes in the lens to move a floating optical element that compensates for shakings. The latter is more expensive and provides better results. I saw some people walking around with the Canon image stabilizing zoom lens I am not sure how effective it was for them but it sure did look impressive.

There are also drawbacks to using image stabilizers and actually some of these drawbacks are very relevant to my air show photo shooting. Moving the camera erratically to track an acrobatic airplane can confuse the image stabilizer that can detect that movement as being unwanted shakings and try to compensate for it. If I had an image stabilizer I would have had to use different practices when shooting my photos like trying to pan the camera on one axis and at a more or less constant speed.

Overall I was able to choose some great photos of airplanes flying around doing acrobatics very close to each other, airplanes with some birds flying in what seems to be in the photo as very close proximity and other digital photos of airplanes in different situations. These will serve as good memories of that air show and as a lesson for getting better equipped in my next air show digital photo shooting.

About the Author

This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com – your home for digital photo printing Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology issues.

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Aircraft Loan And Aircraft Insurance – Ten Factors You Should Consider

The joy of flying your own bird and providing yourself with a better transportation option are often the primary objectives of private aircraft ownership. To reach this objective most of us must deal with aircraft financing…and all of us need aircraft insurance.

Here are ten factors you should take into consideration in order to help avoid unpleasant surprises and be more certain you’re getting what you want for an aircraft loan and insurance.

First, select a knowledgeable professional representative (aviation insurance broker and aircraft finance broker) who understands your aircraft finance and insurance needs and desires.

Aircraft Financing
Interest rate is always important – know whether it is fixed or adjustable and what the loan period (length) is. Lenders offer many combinations. Understand the terms of the loan before signing.

Typically adjustable rate loans are tied to a published index – check the history of the index to get a sense as to what the future may hold.

For those who anticipate only a short term need for financing, then the adjustable rate program often provides interest savings over the fixed rate option.

For those who plan to retain their financing for a long period of time, the fixed rate option provides stability and piece of mind.

Loan term and amortization schedule – the longer the amortization schedule the easier it will be to make the required monthly payments.

Pay attention to the aircraft loan term, which can be much shorter than the amortization schedule.

Fees and Loan Costs – understand the total cost to close a loan.

Points – lenders often offer the ability to “buy down” the interest rate on an aircraft loan – exchanging up front points to reduce the interest rate.

One point is equivalent to 1% of the loan amount. Depending upon how long the aircraft loan is outstanding determines the true interest paid when points are involved. The shorter the actual loan life the more of an impact the point has on the effective rate of the loan.

Prepayment – before signing understand the restriction regarding prepayment of a loan, either in full or in part.

Servicing – your aircraft loan payments may be to another company rather than the one who is taking your loan application. It is important to understand who will be servicing your loan after it closes.

Aircraft Insurance
Aircraft insurance coverage addresses three main areas of concern – liability, hull (physical damage), and medical.

Liability coverage is provided either in a comprehensive manner (“smooth coverage”) or with sub-limits (per passenger, per person, or family member limitations).

Hull coverage covers physical damage to the aircraft and is an “agreed/stated value” between the insurance company and the insured.

The medical portion is “no-fault” coverage offered as a supplement to standard medical insurance for medical expenses not typically covered otherwise.

Obtaining the best aircraft insurance coverage for the least cost can be achieved by maintaining currency, frequent flying in the insured aircraft or similar, participating in recurring training, advanced ratings (particularly instrument), an accident free history, complying with all regulations, etc.

Honesty is the best policy. It is important to provide accurate and complete information on the application requested by the insurance company – verification of all pertinent information will most likely occur before settling a claim.

About the Author

Dave Savoie is the Manager of US Aircraft Finance and Insurance – http://www.usaircraftfinance.com . His company is a culmination of his two careers – 35+ years as a career banker managing both personal and commercial lending nationwide and US Air Force pilot – now retired.

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Antique Chests

English Antique Chests are exquisitely made by artisan craftsmen that favor the open environment of a richly stocked library and comfortable study setting to place their works of art where they will be seen. As people socialize in their day-to-day business dealings, these sturdy crafted stands creatively offer female guests a conversation piece on which to pass the day. Sought by collectors who value true beauty, these chests are Era timepieces that have stood up to the test of time.

With the limited size available within many of the homes, these crafted storage areas were often used as home furnishing due to their large size and permanent location within the home. Antique chests were adapted to provide bedding areas for children in poorer homes, as well as articles for the family to dine on.

Rich land owners used these antique chests to hold ballroom gowns and assorted undergarments such as corsets and stockings, as well as storage devices for every change of clothes need for the various seasons.

These trusted antique chests were a crafted container, meant to hold precious household belongings, and were easily loaded onto ships for long journeys across the seas, or sit dockside for weeks awaiting passage.

These antique chests were crafted in fine, hard wood planking that craftsmen found to be very durable, and provided artisans an open canvas on which to apply ornate carvings with raised ridges and exquisite designs. This wood was later stained and then finely glazed with shiny surfaces that were easily polished to a bright glow.

These aged furniture pieces have faired well over time and represent a crafted rendering of antique chests that many collectors seek to adorn their homes with their beautiful style and usefulness, while cherishing the history that is imbedded in each exquisite piece.

About the Author

The Elisabeth James Antiques collection changes rapidly, As our furniture items are sold, new items are continually added to replenish our wonderfully exquisite furniture offerings. Visit often to find exquisite pieces, at marvelous pricing. This stately collection of antique chests can be explored in detail by visiting us online at http://www.elisabethjamesantiques.co.uk

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Are film cameras better than digital cameras?

Film cameras are becoming rare. Although digital cameras have come a long way since they were first introduced there are still photographers that prefer to use old film cameras. Some of them use film exclusively while others prefer film for specific scenarios.

There is no simple answer to the question which camera is better, film or digital. In some scenarios film is better than digital and in other scenarios digital is better than film. They both have advantages and disadvantages and the true answer to which is better is simply a list of differences. Here are a few:

The sensor: In film cameras a light sensitive film is situated behind the lens. To take a photo the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the film “printing” a photo on the film. After a photo is taken the film is rolled and a fresh film is placed behind the lens. In digital cameras an electronic sensor (known as CCD) is situated behind the lens. The CCD is comprised of many tiny light sensitive sensors one per pixel. To take a photo the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the sensor. Each pixel gets its value and together all the pixels comprise one photo. The photo is saved on a digital media and the CCD is electronically emptied.

The main difference between a CCD sensor and a film is the Depth of Field. Since digital sensors are smaller than 35mm film the depth of field is much bigger in fact in most compact digital cameras it is almost infinite.

Instant feedback: One of great features digital cameras is instant feedback. Digital cameras include a small LCD screen. After a photo is shot it can be viewed on that screen. If the photo is not good you can take another one. The ability to view the photos helps in making an educated decision on how to fix it or how to compose it better. It takes much of the guessing out of photography.

Photo capacity: Digital cameras today can hold hundreds and even thousands of digital photos on a single media. With extra storage media in your pocket digital cameras have virtually infinite capacity. On the other hand film cameras’ capacity is very limited. The standard is a roll of 36 photos which can hold only 36 photos. After such a roll is used changing to a new roll takes time and is not easy to do in scenarios such as darkness or a harsh environment. Rolls of film are not small and carrying rolls equivalent of thousands of photos is not practical.

Shooting angles: Digital cameras allow you to take photos without having your eye glued to the viewfinder. Combined with the virtually zero cost of taking photos and high capacity this means new opportunities for new shooting angles.

A photo cost: Photos taken with a digital camera really cost nothing. They are saved on erasable memory and thus can always be freely discarded. The photos that you decide to keep can be copied to digital media such as a computer’s hard disk. With low digital storage prices the cost of storing one photo is practically zero. Film does cost money. A roll of film costs money and can not be reused. Every time that the shutter button is pressed money is spent regardless if you later on decide to discard them.

Photo processing: Digital cameras photos are basically computer files and can be manipulated by computer software. Such software is known as photo processing software and allows you to correct photos and create special effects. Some photo processing abilities are built-in cameras. With film on the other hand it is very hard to make corrections. If corrections are absolutely needed the easiest way to do them is to scan the negative or the printed photo (i.e. converted to digital) and process it on a computer as if it was a digital camera photo.

Adapting to different conditions: Rolls of film are designed for specific scenarios There are indoor and outdoor films or films with different light sensitivity. When conditions change a film camera photographer will have to shoot with the wrong film, change the roll (and lose the remainder photos) or use another camera with a different roll in it. Shooting photos with the wrong roll of film can result in distorted colors (reddish photos for example), a grainy photo and more.

With digital cameras on the other hand the characteristics of the sensor can be electronically set. With a click of a button the camera can change to indoor or outdoor mode, low light, night photography and so on.

About the Author

This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information on digital photo printing and photography in general on printrates.com – a site dedicated to digital photo prints Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. Ziv Haparnas is a veteran technologist.

Read more: Are film cameras better than digital cameras?

Auto and manual focus modes in digital cameras

One of the important phases of shooting a good photo is focusing on the photo’s objects. Photos that are out of focus look bad and blurry. Sometimes shooting out of focus objects is done on purpose as an artistic effect but in most cases a sharp focused object is the photographer goal.

Most low-end pocket digital cameras do all the focus work for you. These are literally “point and shoot” cameras. Furthermore even if you wanted to manually focus using such cameras it would have been practically impossible since they do not include a real optical viewfinder. Using the LCD to check for focus is useless as the LCD is not good enough to truly let you know if an object is perfectly focused or not.

Digital SLR cameras on the other hand have an optical viewfinder that allows you to truly see the photo through the camera’s lens. With digital SLR cameras you can see how well the objects in the photo are focused and correct the focus as needed.

Digital cameras support at least three focus modes:

Like any other feature automatic and manual focus modes have their pros and cons. The first step to using them to your advantage is to understand how they work and what they were designed for. The next step is to experiment shoot photos using different focus modes and different types of objects and see how the camera behaves. Once you have done that you will be ready to instinctively use the best focus mode for each photo situation.

About the Author

Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com – a place about digital photo printing Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included.

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Avoiding pitfalls when taking high quality digital photos

With today’s sophisticated digital cameras it is relatively easy to take good digital photos. This is especially true if you are using s point and shoot digital pocket camera. However even with such a camera you can follow some tips that will result in better higher quality digital photos. These tips become much more important when using high end SLR cameras in manual mode.

There are many things that can go wrong when taking digital photos. Many of those things could be easily avoided if only the photographer was aware of them. Here is a list of things that can go wrong and some simple ways to avoid them.

Blurry digital photos:
Also known as out of focus digital photos the objects in such digital photos look blurry or smudged. Many people think that by using the automatic focus feature of the camera all digital photos will come out sharp and clear. This is not true. There are some scenes that are harder to focus on. Such scenarios can fail even the most advanced digital camera. Moreover with most digital cameras (excluding SLR) you do not really see how focused the camera is when taking the photo. Looking at the LCD shows you how the photo would be composed but not how focused and sharp it will come out. Even by reviewing the photos on the small LCD it is hard to see on those small screens if the digital photo is focused correctly or not. With digital SLR cameras this becomes easier as looking through the viewfinder provides an accurate focus feedback through the digital camera’s lenses. Digital cameras provide some sort of feedback – either audible or visual – when they are focused. They also display a green rectangle (or another shape or color) around the area of the photo that they focused on. It is important to make sure that this area is where the objects you want to focus on are especially when there are multiple objects in different distances from the camera.

Blurry photos can also result from shakings of the camera. Such shakings are mostly a problem in conditions where a long shutter time is used. When the shutter opens for a very short period small shakings would not be noticeable. If the shutter is opened for longer period usually longer than 1/250 of a second shakings become an issue. To avoid such shakings learn how to hold the camera steady using two hands and leaning on your face. If the shutter speed is very slow try to stabilize the camera preferably using a tripod but if you do not have one you can improvise using any stable surface such as a table or a wall.

Dark digital photos:
Digital photos that look dark are usually a result of underexposure. They are dull and lack details. In most cases the camera can automatically set the exposure to produce good quality digital photos. In some scenarios however the camera sets the wrong exposure. Learning to identify these scenarios can help you compensate for such camera errors. If there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting. It is a good assumption that scenes that have extreme lighting differences between different areas will confuse the digital camera. In such cases you can manually correct the exposure. If your camera supports bracketing a good option would be to take a few photos of the same scene in different exposure settings and later on to choose the best one.

Very bright photos:
Digital photos that look very bright are a result of overexposure. They usually have areas that are blown out or even completely saturated. The scenarios that cause overexposed digital photos are similar to the one mentioned above that cause underexposed photos. You can identify them in the same way and compensate the exposure setting or better use exposure bracketing if your camera supports it.

Unwanted shadows:
Sometimes unwanted shadows will appear in a digital photo. For example when taking a portrait digital photo there are unwanted shadings on the object’s face. The reason for such shadings is that the camera measures the ambient light and sets the exposure accordingly. However even with the right exposure setting shades can appear on the object depending on the angle of the light source relative to the object. In the mentioned portrait photo if the light source is from the side of the object’s face the object’s nose can create shades. In another scenario the object is wearing a hat and it is lit from above. The hat creates shades on the object’s face. The camera can not automatically correct such shades as it simply measures ambient light and can not figure out the light source position relative to the object. It is easy to fix this problem – when you identify a scenario that can be problematic – set the flash to a “fill in” mode (make sure that the object is within flash range) – the flash will fire regardless of the exposure and compensate for the shades.

The object in the digital photo is completely dark:
This is also known as a silhouette effect. It happens when taking a digital photo of a scene that has a very bright light source right behind the object. One good example of that is taking a photo of a person during sunset or sunrise. The result is a dark silhouette of the person with a good photo of the sunset or sunrise background. Similar to the shading problem this problem can be solved by setting the flash to “fill in” mode. The fill-in flash lights up the object (you need to make sure that the object is within effective flash range) and results in a quality digital photo.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com – a place about digital prints This article can be published as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

Read more: Avoiding pitfalls when taking high quality digital photos

Basic understanding of your digital camera flash

Many of us do not think twice about the usage of our digital camera’s flash assuming that the camera will use the flash automatically as needed. Flash however can and should be manually set in many scenarios resulting in high quality digital photos.

The most common usage of flash photography is when there is not enough ambient light for example when taking an indoor digital photo in a dark room. There are many other ways in which you can use your digital camera’s flash to get high quality digital photos. One such usage is fill-in flash.

Before setting your flash to manual mode and making more efficient usage of it you should know a bit more of the technology and history behind flash photography. Flash photography has been around for more than a century. During the early days of photography flash was implemented as a powder that was literally lit by either fire or electrical current. At that time flash photography was a risky business. Digital cameras today use a safe implementation by utilizing electronic flash tubes that are automatically synchronized with the camera’s shutter.

You have two options for using flash with your digital camera. The first option is using the digital camera internal flash. Practically all digital cameras have build-in flash units. Most cameras also allow the usage of an external flash unit. Such flash units can be either mechanically attached to the digital camera or they can be connected to the camera via a cable and mechanically positioned on a tripod or any other mechanism. They are synchronized and controlled by the digital camera. External flash units vary in price and features. They can have different maximum light energy that they can emit and different mechanical capabilities (tilting, skewing).

In automatic flash mode the camera sensors evaluate the amount of ambient light in the scene. The digital camera fires the flash if the amount of ambient light is not high enough. There are limitations to the cameras automatic sensors resulting in either firing the flash when it was not needed or vice versa.

In some scenarios the usage of flash can result in poor digital photos. For example when the object is too close to the digital camera the flash light will be too strong and will wash out the object. Another example is in scenarios where the flash creates unwanted shadows in the digital photo. Yet another example is exaggeration of details such as when shooting a digital photo of an older person the skin wrinkles and imperfections details can be overly detailed.

Digital camera’s flash units have a certain effective range. This is a limitation of how much light energy the flash unit can emit. Internal flash units usually have shorter range than external flash units. If the object in the photo is outside of the flash range – the flash will not be effective and the object will be dark. On the other hand if the object is too close to the flash unit or the flash unit emits too much energy the object will be washed out. If your object is outside of your flash unit effective range you should turn off the flash and use slow shutter photography preferably with a tripod or another stabilizing mechanism. If your flash units allows the setting of the light energy that will be fired (usually by setting the distance to the object) – make sure that it is set right to prevent washed out objects.

In some scenarios there will be enough ambient light to take a digital photo but without the usage of the flash the digital photo quality will be very poor. In such scenario if the camera is left on automatic flash mode it will not fire the flash. For example daytime photography with an object that is shadowed. If the object is wearing a hat it can create shades on the object’s face or when the object is lit from the side the object’s nose can create shades too. Putting the flash in manual fill-in mode will force the flash to fire. The flash will lit those shadowed areas and prevent the shades in the final digital photo. The object of course must be in effective flash range. Another example is an object that is lit from behind such as when taking a digital photo of an object against a sunset. Without a fill-in flash the photo will likely be just a dark silhouette of the object.

These were some basic concepts behind flash usage. There are many other advanced options for your digital camera flash. For example bounce flash can result in great digital photos – in that mode instead of pointing the flash directly at the object it is pointed to some reflecting surface like a wall or a special reflector. The result is more natural light and color rich digital photos.

About the Author

Mr. Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography. Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com – your home for digital photo printing This article can be published and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

Read more: Basic understanding of your digital camera flash

Binoculars and Birding for Autumn and Winter

With the coming of autumn in the Northern hemisphere, there is the usual migration of birds to warmer areas of the continent. There are a number of challenges that go along with birding in the autumn.

• Young birds are harder to identify as their plumage may not have reached maturity. They may not match up to the bird you are looking at in your standard birder’s guide.
• Birds may also be molting at this time of year.
• Another issue may be the changing color of the leaves and the grey skies of fall (depending on your location and the exact time you are bird watching of course). Hawks and other autumn-toned birds can be harder to spot.

Best binoculars
To spy birds best, you will ideally use a well-kept pair of 8x-12x binoculars to see birds from far away – across wetlands and ponds, for example. You will want to carry a tripod with you, so you can set up for long views (especially with lenses of 50mm or wider). A retractable tripod will make it easy for you to quickly move to get a better view.

Backyard Bird Watching with Your Binoculars
There are a number of things you can do to improve your bird watching experience for autumn.

• In preparation for the winter, you can build a winter roosting box. This will increase your experience with birds. These boxes have a door underneath or near the bottom and are more spacious than other bird houses. This allows birds to get inside and out of the cold winter wind. On sunny winter days, you will have more birds to keep you company, especially if you can keep them out of the cold other days.
• You will increase the variety of birds you see if you increase the variety of bird houses you own.
• Provide birds with water. If you are in the northern states or Canada, unfrozen water will be harder for them to find. If you can supply them with a consistent source of water, they will stay around.
• Suet: get to it! You can make your own or you can stock up. Suet is the easiest way to feed birds and it is very valuable to them in the cold winter months. Suet is really only fat; you can grab a pack of lard from the corner store.
• Leave some of the dead flowers in your garden. These are full of seeds. You won’t need to keep all of them for next year’s planting; leave them, and you just may be rewarded with a rare sighting.
• Keep your binoculars clean and keep your field guide at hand – preferably near your window onto your backyard. During the migration season you may see birds that are completely unfamiliar to you. Avid, vigilant birdwatchers find at least one or two surprises every season.

Bear in mind that seeds and berries are plentiful in autumn, so birds may not be attracted to your bird feeder. If you need to get out to where the birds are, water is the place to go. Know the local hotspots where rarely seen birds tend to congregate.

Use Google or other mapping resources to find all the secluded ponds in your area. This is where the wild and rare birds will be found, the ones that are not used to civilization. Check out all the coves and bays of any coastline near you. The key, as always is to be patient and to have your binoculars ready.

Winter Birding
Once winter comes and the leaves have all fallen from deciduous trees, you will be able to tell who has been nesting near you. Identifying nests is an underrated part of bird watching. This is a fascinating way to increase your knowledge the birds in your area.

About the Author

Bill MacArthur is an avid birdwatcher. When he isn’t searching for the ruby-throated hummingbird, he spends his time writing for thebinocularsite.com, and informative online resource for types of binoculars, telescope binoculars, and more!

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Can I make money out of my digital photos?

Many ask this question. The answer is that most likely you can – but the amount of money you can make varies a lot and it depends on the uniqueness of your photos, their quality and your selling abilities. Here are a few hints and concepts when it comes to making money from your photos.

First of all you need to set expectations as to how much money you can make. This article is for readers that are looking to make some extra cash from their photos not looking to turn their photos into their main stream of cash. Such extra cash can be used for example to cover the spending on their photography hobby or selling photos can just be a fun experience.

One thing you can try to do with your photos is to sell them online. There are many websites that let you sell photos. The basic idea behind most of them is simple: they let you upload your photos, showcase them and set their prices. The site users can browse through your photos and purchase the ones they like. Addition features allow users to write comments about your photos. This is a fun way to get feedback from viewers and to connect to new people with the same interests as yours. Some of these sites are free to use and only collect a commission from the proceeds. Other sites charge a setup fee or a membership fee. Examples of such sites are: www.photostockplus.com and www.smugmug.com

In addition some sites allow you to set two prices: one is for a non exclusive right to use the photo – this is the price someone pays to download the photo and use it – while others can download the same photo and use it too. An exclusive price is usually much higher and means that once a user buys the exclusive usage rights for the photo you can not sell it to anyone else (or use it yourself). Once a photo is sold under the ‘non exclusive” option – it can not be exclusively purchased.

You can also decide to build your own website to either sell your photo on it or make money from advertisement on the site. If your photos are unique and can attract viewers you can create a blog or a site with your photos alongside with some text describing them and the story behind taking them. Spread the word about your site to your friends and family and post information about it in forums and chat boards. Once you generate traffic add advertisements to your site. To create your site you can use tools such as www.blogger.com and www.typepad.com. To place advertisements you can use advertisement syndication networks like www.google.com/adsense and publisher.yahoo.com.

Another more conventional method is to sell your photos in coffee shops and galleries. It requires more legwork and a more significant upfront investment. Print and frame a few of your best photos. Go to local galleries and try to convince them to showcase your photos. It is best to start with just a few prints to minimize both your risk and the risk the gallery takes. Another option which can work better for amateur photographers is to visit coffee shops and restaurants and convince them to hang the photos on their walls. It is very common today for such places to hang “photographs for sale” on their walls. This is a win-win option for both the coffee shop or restaurant and you. They get high quality free photos and provide their customers with an extra service buying photos that they really like. You get free exposure while most often only paying a commission from the proceeds.

Copyright is one issue you should consider when selling or posting your photos online. Copyright laws vary from state to state and country to country. Make sure that you check beforehand that you do have the rights to sell or post your photos online.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a veteran technologist. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com – your home for digital prints This article can be reprinted only if the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography.

Read more: Can I make money out of my digital photos?

Chess Over the Years

Over the years, chess spread throughout the world and enjoyed massive waves of popularity. Undoubtedly, reality is reflected in the idea that chess originated either as an aid or substitute for warfare. This stemmed from the notion that chess was invented as a war game and so, that is the manner in which it should executed. In fact in order to be knighted, it helped if you played a good game of chess.

And finally, a mention should be made of pawns; those so adequately named pieces which are even denied the status of chess ‘men’. Pawns were sacrificial pieces.

While chess might have originated as a war game, it was seen as a game of nobility and education in Europe in the 1500s. It can be seen that from actions in Europe around the year 1500 that chess had become strongly ingrained in western society. Within European Aristocracy, the concept behind chess became a royal court rather than a battlefield. However, the game’s popularity was helped by its social cache: a chess set was often associated with wealth, knowledge, and power. As a result it became fashionable for aristocrats to have live-in chess masters. In fact during difficult times in Protestant Europe there were massive attacks on “ungodly pursuits,” but chess was often defended while other pastimes were denied.

As a result chess has long been considered the ultimate test of intellectual activity. Some feel that because of its difficulty and boorishness, chess diminished in its traditional appeal. However, most will agree that the chess community has traditionally been more enlightened than the larger society.

Mass production of chess sets helped introduce chess to the lower class. The low cost to produce the Staunton set allowed the masses to purchase sets and helped to again popularize the game of chess. But chess is more than just a game of skill. Chess stood a turn in education as teachers noted that students’ behavior improved upon learning chess. How far beyond chess such aptitude can be expanded is the next big question.

One that is still argued today. Playing chess by computer began in the early 1950s, nearly as soon as computers became available. The rules of play early intrigued computer scientists-MIT wrote the first chess program in 1957. Some programmers believe that work on computer chess led to important software techniques still in use today. The worldwide fascination for chess has been astonishing. It has been said that there is more literature devoted to chess than for all other games combined. Today, chess is played world wide with international appeal.

About the Author

Francesca Black works in marketing at the Puzzle Place http://www.puzzle-place.net and Chess Strategies http://www.chess-strategies.net leading puzzle and strategy portals.

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Compressed digital photo file formats – storing digital photos

Digital photos are stored as files on memory cards and computer hard disks. They can be stored in different file formats (each format has a unique file extension). Most of the formats are compressed to save space and each has its own pros and cons.

The need for standard file formats
Digital photos are saved as digital files on electronic media. These digital photo files are a collection of bytes. If each manufacturer and camera would have used a proprietary file format then you would have needed proprietary software that could read, print and display those formats. Using a standard format allows any camera to save photos while any other software can read, display and print them.

What is compression and why it is needed
A digital photo is a collection of pixels – each pixel is stored as a value that represents its color and intensity. Usually each pixel is represented by an RGB value (three numbers one byte each with values 0 to 255 representing the intensity of Red, Green and Blue that combined together create the pixel’s color). An RGB value occupies 3 bytes. So how big is a digital photo file? It depends on the number of pixels in the photo. For example if you shoot a photo using an 8 mega pixels digital camera the photo will have 8000000 pixels each one occupying 3 bytes. The total file size would be 8000000*3=24000000 or 24Mbytes. This is a very big file. Big files are harder to manipulate they take a long time to send by email, they occupy large storage space and they take longer to load.

In any digital photo there is data that is either redundant or that if removed the viewer would not be able to notice the difference. In addition representing pixels as RGB values is not efficient in terms of storage space. The process of compression takes advantage of these facts. When you compress a digital photo the compression software represents pixels in a more efficient way, removes redundant data and removes data that is “not important”. The result is a significantly smaller file. For example the above 24Mbytes file could easily be compressed to about 3Mbytes with hardly any noticeable quality degradation.

Before compressed digital photo files can be viewed or printed they need to be decompressed. Decompression is the reverse process of compression – a compressed file is converted to its original format – usually a simple RGB pixel file. Using standard compression file formats allows one software to compress a digital photo file and another software to decompress it and process it.

Lossy or Lossless compression?
There are two main types of compression software: lossy and lossless. Here are the differences:

Lossless compression: Lossless compression means that if you take a file compress it and then decompress it – the decompressed file would be the exact copy of the original file. With lossless compression no data is lost in the compression process – the compression software uses better representation of the data in the file but it does not remove any data from it.

Lossy compression: Lossy compression means that if you take a file, compress it and then decompress it – the decompressed file would be slightly different than the original one. The compression software not only represents the file’s data more efficiently but it also removes data that it considers minor or not important. Such data can be removed without hardly any noticeable degradation in the file quality. The differences between the original file and the decompressed file are minor and should be negligible to the user.

Lossless compression is usually applied to text and other data where all data is equally important. For example when compressing the text in this article and later on decompressing it you would want to get the exact original article without any words or sentences dropped by the compression software that decided they were not important.

Lossy compression is usually applied to digital photos and graphic files. Such files include data that the viewer would not be able to notice if removed. For example small changes to color in a photo might not be noticeable. The decompressed file is not exactly the same as the original one but when viewing both the original and decompressed photos side by side the viewer can not tell the difference. Lossy compression software can be set to different compression levels based on how much data is allowed to be lost. At some point losing too much data is noticeable and degrades the digital photo quality. Many digital cameras allow you to set the level of compression from low to high where high compression means smaller files but less quality and low compression means bigger files but no noticeable quality degradation.

Common digital photo file formats
You can know what a digital photo file format is by checking its extension. Usually the extension is three letters representing a specific format. Here is a list of the common extensions and formats:

BMP – Windows Bitmap: this is a basic raw format. The photo is stored as a pixel raster and is not compressed. While this format is very easy to use and is supported by practically all software it is not efficient as there is no compression applied.

GIF – Graphics Interchange Format: An old file format initiated by CompuServe. It uses a lossless LZW compression and is thus more efficient than BMP files. GIF files are very efficient for storing basic graphics (that include lines, circles and other graphical shapes) and also efficient for storing small digital photos but are rarely used to store large digital photos as there are more efficient formats for that purpose. GIF files can also include multiple “frames” and support basic animation.

PNG – Portable Network Graphics: This relatively new format was designed to be used in online applications such as web pages. It uses a lossless compression. The original goal of the PNG format was to replace GIF (due to some licensing complications associated with the GIF format). PNG is commonly used now by online web sites to represent small digital photos or graphics replacing the GIF format.

JPEG – Joint Photographic Experts Group: Also known as JPG this file format was designed by a special industry group and became an ISO standard. The design goal of the format was the efficient storage of digital photographic files. Although JPG files can support lossless compression they are almost always used in lossy compression mode. JPG files are very efficient in compressing digital photos. The JPG compression software can be set to different compression levels – with higher compression levels the photo files can get very small but they can also get distorted. JPG files are the most common ones used by digital cameras to store compressed digital photos on memory cards and computer hard disks as they result in small file sizes and hardly any noticeable photo quality degradation.

About the Author

Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com – a place about photo prints Ziv Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography. Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

Read more: Compressed digital photo file formats – storing digital photos

Taking advantage of digital photos zero cost

Digital cameras have changed the way in which we take digital photos. One such change is the zero cost of taking many photos. With digital cameras digital photos are stored on memory cards. They can be viewed and discarded at literally no cost. There are some ways in which you can take advantage of that zero cost photography.

With film cameras taking many photos was an expensive practice used solely by professional photographers. It is obvious that taking as many photos as possible improves the chances of finding that one perfect photo – the perfect angle, the perfect lighting and the perfect composition. After all if we could take an infinite number of photos covering all possible angles, lighting and settings we would eventually have taken the perfect photo. With digital cameras taking more photos is literally free and the practice of taking many photos and choosing the best one is now common with all photographers, amateur and professional alike.

The cost of taking photos was not the only problem of film cameras when it came to taking many photos. Film rolls are limited in capacity. The common rolls that are used in cameras hold 36 negatives. Taking many photos with film cameras meant not only high cost but also the need to carry many rolls of films and a risk that you will end up with no more rolls. On the other hand with digital cameras not only are additional photos literally free but the capacity of modern memory cards is so big that you can take hundreds or thousands of photos before you run out of space. In addition with digital cameras you can immediately view the photos taken on the digital camera’s LCD. No longer do you need to wait for the film to be developed in a lab. You can also delete unwanted photos from the memory card during the photo shooting session in order to create space for more photos.

So how can you take advantage of the ability to take many photos? The answer is simple – be creative, experiment and never decide not to take a additional photo just because it will occupy space on your memory card. For example with digital cameras you can easily experiment with shooting photos from unconventional angles such us overhead or floor angles. You can use the camera’s LCD screen to aim the camera or you can simple shoot photos blindly and later on choose the ones that are good.

In conclusion digital cameras are more than mere digital replacements for the old film based cameras. Digital cameras provide new features and the digital technology eliminates many of the film cameras’ barriers and limitations. The cost of taking many photos is an example of such a limitation. Experiment with taking photos, take advantage of the large capacity that modern memory cards provide and the zero cost of shooting digital photos. Experiment with new compositions, angles and lighting – even when you are not sure about them and even when you think that the result will be bad.

About the Author

This article can be published and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com – a place about Canon and photo prints

Read more: Taking advantage of digital photos zero cost

Taking digital photos for online and printed product catalogs

Whether you are planning to build an online product catalog or a printed version including rich digital photos will enhance it and will increase potential sales. When building a catalog photos are a powerful tool that you must use. Here are a few tips for taking digital photos that will bring justice to your products and will help increasing sales.

Product catalogs that do not include photos are boring. For example imagine that you are looking to buy a new digital photo printer. You just found a new online catalog or got a catalog via regular mail. The catalog has plenty of digital photo printers and also a lot of information about them such specifications, capabilities descriptions and more but it does not have any photos of the printer. You are most likely going to dump that catalog and search for the printer in another place.

This behavior is common to most consumers especially in this era of immediate gratification and impatience. Consumers do not want to spend time reading and figuring out what the product can do. They want to see a photo and get a short snippet of what the main features of the product are and what the price is.

Just taking photos and adding them to your catalog is not enough. Good photos can add a lot to a product image but at the same time bad photos can really damage that image. Here are some tips and concepts that can help taking good photos that in turn help selling products online:Variation:
Take more than one photo. Show the product from many angles: zoomed in and zoomed out and in different positions – for example if the product is a clamshell-phone you should show it both in the opened and closed positions.

Quality:
The photo quality must be as high as possible. Don’t confuse quality with file size or resolution – we refer here to photographic quality: Follow the rules of good photography, use a tripod when long exposure is needed make sure the photo is not overexposed or underexposed and that it is not blurry.

Background:
It is very important to shoot with the appropriate background. Usually you would stage a background that is in contrast with the product and that has no details or distracting objects that can catch the viewer’s attention. Make sure that the background is matte color and that it does not reflect light. For example when taking a photo of a black digital photo printer use a white or light gray background.

Show details:
Emphasize the product details. Every product has unique features or important details that you would like to draw the viewer’s attention to. The best way to do that is to take close-up photos of those details. You are not limited to physical details for example when selling an digital photo printer that has long battery life take a close-up photo of the digital photo printer’s LCD screen displaying how much battery is left. Such a photo conveys credibility and is much more powerful than the product battery life specifications text.

Support the product description:
Take photos that support the textual description of the product. For example if the text claims that the digital photo printer comes in three colors: black, silver and red show three photos of the printer in those colors.

Convey physical attributes:
If your product has unique physical attributes that you would like to emphasize take photos that convey them. For example if the product size is important use a known size object in order to help the viewer visualize the size – take a photo of the digital photo printer next to a quarter coin to show how small the printer is. It is much easier for viewers to visualize and understand measurements if they are put in reference with objects they know very well. This is much more powerful than specifying inches and ounces in a textual specification.

Keep file sizes small:
This is relevant for online catalog only. Keep the photo file size small. When viewing a photo on a computer screen low resolution photos are more than enough. In most cases a VGA (640X480) picture is all that is needed and such a photo file size can be 50Kbytes or less. It is important to keep this in mind and not be tempted to put high resolution big photos files. Such big files load slowly on the viewer’s computer and in most cases the viewer will get frustrated from the slow response and would just skip to the next site.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. Mr. Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com – your home for digital photo print service This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

Read more: Taking digital photos for online and printed product catalogs