One of the techniques people most often ask me to teach them is making a photograph like the one on the right that is black and white with one other colour.
There are a few ways to achieve this effect but here are two ones I find easiest for Photoshop users.
… Continue reading Black and White with a Splash of Color Photosop Tutorial
If you get it right photographing your children can produce pictures you’ll want to treasure for years to come, whether it’s snaps of their tenth birthday displayed in a professional coffee table book or the embarrassing shot of Timmy wearing his underpants on his head that you choose to keep lovingly displayed where all your visitors can see it. But it can be a frustrating process, children are rarely still for any length of time and as they get older often get either camera-shy or obsessed with making that face that involves rolling their eyes back into their head and sticking out their tongue.
If you’ve got little ones you want to photograph here are a few tips to help you avoid those blurry, monster-face shots being the only thing in your memory book.
1. Make it fun. This is the golden rule of photographing little ones. If you want to have photographs of your children having fun, smiling, looking happy and adorable then you will need to let them have fun while you’re photographing them. Standing still for ages while you tell them how to pose is unlikely to appeal to them as fun.
To be honest I bought this lens because it was on sale for $100 in my local camera shop and the longest lens I had was 85mm. My main requirement in a zoom lens was that it let me capture some reasonable wildlife and landscape shots while I was on my travels through some of the National Parks of the American Midwest and Western Canada. I knew the likelihood of it getting broken before the end of the 6 weeks of travel was fairy high (as a combination of road-trip and backpacking it wasn’t exactly gentle travel) so there was no way I was going to spend several hundred (or even thousands) of dollars on one of the high-end lenses.
The Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM Telephoto Zoom Lens (as it is called on the box) usually retails for between $250 and $300 so I figured if I could pick one up for $100 it would be worth it even if it only lasted a couple of weeks. But I didn’t exactly have high expectations which might be why I’m so happy with this lens. First off it has proved to be a hardy little bugger,
Unlike most people my age summer is actually a busier time of year for me than the school year is. Often one of the first things to fall by the wayside when I get busy is my photography. Even though I love it it’s time consuming to get out and shoot photos and then do something more than just dump them in an unnamed folder on your hard drive. I don’t want to miss out on one of my favourite hobbies this summer so I’m planning to set myself a fun, non-work related, project to work on and hope it inspires me to keep snapping away through the warmer months. In an effort to get myself and anyone out there like me motivated this summer, here are a few photography project ideas:
1. 365 Days Project – we’ve all heard of this one. You take one photo each day and you have a pretty cool way to look back on a year of your life. You may also get some insight into the things that are important to you, and you’ll be photographing the ordinary, everyday aspects of your life not just the exceptional.
… Continue reading Five Photography Projects to Get You Motivated
Before you even take it out of the box the Nikon Coolpix S550 looks cool (mine looks especially cool being “cool blue” coloured). But while looking good is nice the important thing is how it performs. Nikon give very simple instructions for getting started with your camera, step one in the quick start guide is, no joke, “remove the camera from the box”! This might give you the impression that this camera is only for first time photographers and people who frequently try to use electronic devices without removing the packaging. Whilst the S550 would be a good camera for both of those consumer groups I’ve been testing it out as someone with a reasonable amount of digital photography experience and so far, to borrow a phrase from McDonalds, I’m lovin’ it.
Using the S550 on the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC.
It is fantastic to have a camera that fits in my pocket! Nikon markets the S550 as having the “smallest body among competing compact cameras” and it certainly is small for a camera with so many awesome features.
If you’ve been making photography a family affair and you’re a competitive bunch check out these competitions which all feature categories for adults and under 18s:
Travel Photographer of the Year – Always has exceptionally high standards of work entered, this one is open to amateurs and professionals and features a special category for under 17s. This year they’ve created the “first shot” category to give less experienced amateurs a chance to compete against each other while the more experienced compete in the other categories. The entry fee for adults are from £10 to £15 per category and the Young TPOTY category is free. There are some awesome travel and photography equipment prizes up for grabs.
Environmental Photographer of the Year – Features four categories for any age (both amateur and pro photographers) and one specifically for under 21s. This one is free to enter and has the aim of raising awareness of our environment. There are no physical prizes but winning work will be published on the website and displayed in a roving exhibition.
National Wildlife Photo Contest –
Perhaps this is one of the biggest reasons why people enjoy photography: to capture the beauty that they see. It’s no wonder that people of all ages are attracted to the camera, especially young and curious children. Wouldn’t you feel the same way when you look at the smiling faces of adults after getting that one perfect shot?
So why not try to introduce photography to your children which will open up a whole new world for them.
… Continue reading Tips to Introduce Photography to Your Children
I have long been an outdoor sports enthusiast. I love to hike, bike, kayak, and climb. My camera sometimes comes with me, but often not. There are two reasons I usually leave the camera at home, firstly it’s relatively heavy which, especially for hiking and climbing, is a big deal. And secondly I fear I will either fall and crush the camera, roll over in a kayak and submerge it in a river, drop it off a cliff face, or destroy it beyond repair in some other manner.
But I recently came across an article in the August 2007 issue of National Geographic Magazine showcasing an adventure photography gallery and it has inspired me to be brave and try combining my love of outdoor adventure with my love of photography more often. National Geographic describes adventure photography as “probably the only field of photography that is exclusively shot by participants.” Below are some tips to balance your participation with good photography:
I mentioned the Travel Photographer of the Year in a previous post because it had some very deserving winners this year (it you haven’t already go look!). Well, now another fantastic UK-based competition is open for entries. The Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year has thousands of pounds of cash up for grabs in fifteen different categories for adults and one category for under-17s. I made it through to the semi-finals last year and will definitely be trying again this year! To make it even easier you can enter digital images online or send prints by mail. The deadline is 31March 2008 for online submissions and 24March 2008 for entries by mail so get out there and find some wildlife!
I spent this past weekend in Chicago and, as you may know, it was FREEZING in Chicago this past weekend. But since a mere 6 months ago I was living in Alaska I know that extreme cold doesn’t mean I can’t take my camera out and I now have some lovely photos of very cold Chicago dwellers. For those of you that have never yet ventured out with your camera at 25 below but think you might be brave enough this winter here are a few tips:
Use A UV Filter
They are a hell of a lot cheaper to replace than a lens. Extreme cold makes glass more brittle, last winter I was out shooting at -30F, put my camera down, gently, and the UV filter simply shattered. But it cost ten bucks to replace so I didn’t have to be too worried!
Get A Good Camera Bag and Heat It!
A decent camera bag is a worthwhile investment anyway but especially if you do a lot of outdoor photography. In the cold it’ll offer some protection by itself and you can make it even better by padding around the camera with hand or foot warmers (they cost about $2 at sports stores).
