TIPS, TRICKS & ARTICLES
Is Digital Photography Really the Future?
Mastering Railway Photography
Stock Photography
Zoom Photography
More tips and articles being added daily.....
Is Digital Photography Really the Future?
Mastering Railway Photography
Stock Photography
Zoom Photography
More tips and articles being added daily.....
Is Digital Photography Really the Future?
What is a digital camera? A digital camera is a device used to catch images without the use of film. Unlike the old camera, a digital camera does not need or have to rely on film. It has a built in CPU and can process the images and store them as well.
So since the images when caught are only readable through other computers this is what makes them compatible with other CPUs. This way or talking or communicating is called pixels and that is what catches your images. The lens focusing is sort of the same as the film cameras except there will never be a glare really because you can go and edit them. The only different between an old camera and a new digital camera is that the old uses film and the new uses a CPU to catch and store the images so you never have to pay for pictures again just the camera.
One more feature of the digital camera that the old camera does not have is the ability to change the light to an electric pulse or charge. These charges are only going to be found in digital cameras not any other type of camera. This is the way of the digital camera no other camera focuses or catches images like the digital camera ever will.
The sensor will catch all the photons when they are caught in the light and it will store them. The brighter the light the better the image is going to be. So if you are in a dark place and trying to take a picture if you have a bright flash it will capture whatever it is you are trying to get.
If you already have a digital camera then you know how it works but other digital cameras are coming out now that are greater in value and still can be used the same way but with a better sensor for catching the image. The camera and sensor still work the same way but use it to catch it better. They are just using the sensor to catch more solar photo sites to make the image appear clearer. This is the only reason why these cameras are getting more and more expensive if you could some how just put in your own sensor or make one you wouldn't have to upgrade you would already be there.
When you are looking for a good digital camera you need to stay focused on these key things. Before you say I want this one you need to check how clear the picture is and how for away or close it takes good pictures. The higher a resolution of a digital camera the better the picture is going to show up on the LCD. You are also going to want a digital camera with the best optical zoom. The optical zoom allows you to take long range shots and still come out looking clear as day.
WITH THANKS TO AUTHOR: Gregg Hall.
What is a digital camera? A digital camera is a device used to catch images without the use of film. Unlike the old camera, a digital camera does not need or have to rely on film. It has a built in CPU and can process the images and store them as well.
So since the images when caught are only readable through other computers this is what makes them compatible with other CPUs. This way or talking or communicating is called pixels and that is what catches your images. The lens focusing is sort of the same as the film cameras except there will never be a glare really because you can go and edit them. The only different between an old camera and a new digital camera is that the old uses film and the new uses a CPU to catch and store the images so you never have to pay for pictures again just the camera.
One more feature of the digital camera that the old camera does not have is the ability to change the light to an electric pulse or charge. These charges are only going to be found in digital cameras not any other type of camera. This is the way of the digital camera no other camera focuses or catches images like the digital camera ever will.
The sensor will catch all the photons when they are caught in the light and it will store them. The brighter the light the better the image is going to be. So if you are in a dark place and trying to take a picture if you have a bright flash it will capture whatever it is you are trying to get.
If you already have a digital camera then you know how it works but other digital cameras are coming out now that are greater in value and still can be used the same way but with a better sensor for catching the image. The camera and sensor still work the same way but use it to catch it better. They are just using the sensor to catch more solar photo sites to make the image appear clearer. This is the only reason why these cameras are getting more and more expensive if you could some how just put in your own sensor or make one you wouldn't have to upgrade you would already be there.
When you are looking for a good digital camera you need to stay focused on these key things. Before you say I want this one you need to check how clear the picture is and how for away or close it takes good pictures. The higher a resolution of a digital camera the better the picture is going to show up on the LCD. You are also going to want a digital camera with the best optical zoom. The optical zoom allows you to take long range shots and still come out looking clear as day.
WITH THANKS TO AUTHOR: Gregg Hall.
Mastering Railway Photography
To become a master in the art of railroad photography, you have to begin at the beginning. Let's get started. All Aboard !!!
First off, you have to like trains. That's easy stuff. Everybody at one time or another has ridden on a passenger train, or have been held up at a grade crossing with a freight train that will not budge an inch. Many ride the train every day as commuters. Others are frequent Amtrak travelers, and a select few remember the passenger train of yesteryear. Still others have ridden trains around the world.
The train population can be divided into two basic groups: those that like trains, and those that do not like them. In the group that like trains, there are those that are enthusiasts and the remainder that think trains are just OK.
There are close to a quarter of a million rail enthusiasts over the USA and Canada, and probably double that number all over the globe. A majority of these rail fans have schlepped out their trusty cameras to capture and preserve the excitement of train watching. The hobby has developed so well that webcams now record train activity at places like Rochelle, Illinois and the scenic west.
There is an art to taking good rail photographs. If you go to Webshots and search the topic "trains" you'll see both talent and trash on display. So. lets give you a brief summary of what you should do to become a good rail photographer.
Quality is the name of the game. It begins with your selection of a digital camera. The more expensive and versatile is the digital camera, the greater will be the quality of your work. You simply cannot cut it with a digital camera that has a resolution below 5.0 megapixels per square centimeter. 7.0 megapixels will squeak you into the rail photographers' club. Anything higher will get you the quality you seek. Top of the line digital cameras made by Canon or Nikon will put you in virtuoso class. They are not inexpensive by any means, but what quality product today is bought "on the cheap?".
Okay, let's "shoot" some trains. The first thing you want to consider is the train traffic that will be headed your way. Obviously, you don't want to set up your photo location at a single track location that sees less than five trains a day. You would be better off going fishing. On the other hand, if you have an employee timetable or know in advance when trains are due, you can set up in a scenic location, take your time in composing your shot, and wait for the train to happen along.
If you are like most folk, you'll want to be where train activity is heavy. The Amtrak Northeast corridor is the hottest stretch of rail activity anywhere in the country. Over 120 trains a day pass through there. There are no freights, only Metroliners, Acelas, and other named Washington - New York - Boston hotshots. There are virtually no grade crossings because of the very high speeds in which these trains operate. All of this line is fenced. Photographing any of these Amtrak trains is possible only from overpasses or at one of the few station stops While it's possible to have access to the boarding platforms at these station stops, I recommend you obtain permission from Amtrak security before embarking on a photo jaunt.
Railfans with cameras are not as welcome along the railroad lines of the country as they used to be. The rule of thumb here is that if you are in a railroad terminal facility, you MUST have some form of a permission slip in order to be there. You run the risk of getting arrested fined, and your camera confiscated for examination by Homeland Security. If you are on a public road or vacant land not on the railroad right of way, you are generally all right.
OK ..back to "shooting" trains. The most often used scene is the three-quarter wedge shot. Here is where you stand clear of the tracks, focus on the leading engine, and capture his train that goes back in the distance. What makes this interesting is that railroads frequently use locomotives belonging to other railroads in today's freights.
A variant of the three quarter wedge is photographing a train on a curve. Shooting a train on a concave curve gives you the engine and a good perspective of its train. Photographing a train on a convex curve will give you a dramatic view of the front of the engine and may possibly show the rest of the train as well.
Photographing trains from an overpass will produce some very dramatic views of the train as it passes underneath you. All you have to do is line yourself up with the proper sun angle and do your best to compose the shot. Remember again NEVER climb up on a railroad signal bridge to do any photography. You will not pass GO. You will not collect $200. You will probably spend the next 24 hours in jail waiting for the bail bondsman to appear.
There are a zillion different combinations of sun angle, dawn shots, sunset shots, and everything in between. However, since the advent of the digital camera, the most dramatic train photos occur at night. Only the very best of the digital cameras can play in this league, because the lens quality and maximum aperature will determine if you have a night scene or a black blob. These digital cameras cost well over $1000 and are definitely intended for none other than the serious or professional photographer.
Photographing trains is fun, and if you are good at it, it can be profitable. The tools of the trade have become very sophisticated. The rest is up to you.
WITH THANKS TO AUTHOR: Bob Carper.
To become a master in the art of railroad photography, you have to begin at the beginning. Let's get started. All Aboard !!!
First off, you have to like trains. That's easy stuff. Everybody at one time or another has ridden on a passenger train, or have been held up at a grade crossing with a freight train that will not budge an inch. Many ride the train every day as commuters. Others are frequent Amtrak travelers, and a select few remember the passenger train of yesteryear. Still others have ridden trains around the world.
The train population can be divided into two basic groups: those that like trains, and those that do not like them. In the group that like trains, there are those that are enthusiasts and the remainder that think trains are just OK.
There are close to a quarter of a million rail enthusiasts over the USA and Canada, and probably double that number all over the globe. A majority of these rail fans have schlepped out their trusty cameras to capture and preserve the excitement of train watching. The hobby has developed so well that webcams now record train activity at places like Rochelle, Illinois and the scenic west.
There is an art to taking good rail photographs. If you go to Webshots and search the topic "trains" you'll see both talent and trash on display. So. lets give you a brief summary of what you should do to become a good rail photographer.
Quality is the name of the game. It begins with your selection of a digital camera. The more expensive and versatile is the digital camera, the greater will be the quality of your work. You simply cannot cut it with a digital camera that has a resolution below 5.0 megapixels per square centimeter. 7.0 megapixels will squeak you into the rail photographers' club. Anything higher will get you the quality you seek. Top of the line digital cameras made by Canon or Nikon will put you in virtuoso class. They are not inexpensive by any means, but what quality product today is bought "on the cheap?".
Okay, let's "shoot" some trains. The first thing you want to consider is the train traffic that will be headed your way. Obviously, you don't want to set up your photo location at a single track location that sees less than five trains a day. You would be better off going fishing. On the other hand, if you have an employee timetable or know in advance when trains are due, you can set up in a scenic location, take your time in composing your shot, and wait for the train to happen along.
If you are like most folk, you'll want to be where train activity is heavy. The Amtrak Northeast corridor is the hottest stretch of rail activity anywhere in the country. Over 120 trains a day pass through there. There are no freights, only Metroliners, Acelas, and other named Washington - New York - Boston hotshots. There are virtually no grade crossings because of the very high speeds in which these trains operate. All of this line is fenced. Photographing any of these Amtrak trains is possible only from overpasses or at one of the few station stops While it's possible to have access to the boarding platforms at these station stops, I recommend you obtain permission from Amtrak security before embarking on a photo jaunt.
Railfans with cameras are not as welcome along the railroad lines of the country as they used to be. The rule of thumb here is that if you are in a railroad terminal facility, you MUST have some form of a permission slip in order to be there. You run the risk of getting arrested fined, and your camera confiscated for examination by Homeland Security. If you are on a public road or vacant land not on the railroad right of way, you are generally all right.
OK ..back to "shooting" trains. The most often used scene is the three-quarter wedge shot. Here is where you stand clear of the tracks, focus on the leading engine, and capture his train that goes back in the distance. What makes this interesting is that railroads frequently use locomotives belonging to other railroads in today's freights.
A variant of the three quarter wedge is photographing a train on a curve. Shooting a train on a concave curve gives you the engine and a good perspective of its train. Photographing a train on a convex curve will give you a dramatic view of the front of the engine and may possibly show the rest of the train as well.
Photographing trains from an overpass will produce some very dramatic views of the train as it passes underneath you. All you have to do is line yourself up with the proper sun angle and do your best to compose the shot. Remember again NEVER climb up on a railroad signal bridge to do any photography. You will not pass GO. You will not collect $200. You will probably spend the next 24 hours in jail waiting for the bail bondsman to appear.
There are a zillion different combinations of sun angle, dawn shots, sunset shots, and everything in between. However, since the advent of the digital camera, the most dramatic train photos occur at night. Only the very best of the digital cameras can play in this league, because the lens quality and maximum aperature will determine if you have a night scene or a black blob. These digital cameras cost well over $1000 and are definitely intended for none other than the serious or professional photographer.
Photographing trains is fun, and if you are good at it, it can be profitable. The tools of the trade have become very sophisticated. The rest is up to you.
WITH THANKS TO AUTHOR: Bob Carper.
Stock Photography
One way that photographers share their work with the world is through stock photography. The average person may wonder what exactly stock photography is. Stock photography is when photographs are shared with licensing attached.
Anyone can use it, but in order to do that, understanding of all the legal aspects is critical in order to avoid being sued.
Stock photography has been around for a long time. According to wikipedia.org, H. Armstrong Roberts started the first agency for this type of photography in 1920, and the company is still going strong today under the name RobertStock. For years, photography stock was composed of "outtakes ("seconds") from commercial magazine assignments."
But, in the eighties, it had become unique, and photographers began making photographs just for photo sharing. Today several online photography stock houses exist, but before being used, the legal terms and aspects must be completely understood in order to avoid being sued.
One type of stock photography is royalty-free. This does not mean that the photograph can be used for free. What royalty-free means is that in order to use a specific picture, a photo buyer pays a one time fee to use the picture many times for a multitude of purposes within certain guidelines. Usually a time limit does not exist as to when the image can be used.
However, a royalty-free image does have a limit on exactly how many times the photograph can be reproduced. All of these restrictions will depend exactly on the contract that is decided upon.
One thing to consider with stock photography regarding royalty-free is that exclusive rights are non-existent. If a publication wants to be unique from the others, than royalty-free images are not the way to go. The best bet for uniqueness is to have an photographer on staff.
Stock photography has another kind called rights-managed that is sometimes difficult to understand. Rights-managed photography stock is when an image is negotiated exclusively for a certain allotted time frame.
During this time frame, no one else will be able to use that particular image for any reason. How long that this will go on will depend on the contract negotiations that are made for the image.
Because of online photography sharing, it has become readily accessible for all to use. Some agencies allow for images to be used for free, and others are based on contracts for their photography gallery.
Photojournalism uses it regularly, but the in's and outs of the business must be fully understood to take advantage of all of the images that are flooding the market.
Whether or not to use rights-managed or royalty-free images will depend on what can be negotiated within a contract, and the legalities can get sticky.
Before using stock photography, make sure that research is done in order to avoid any lawsuits that will ultimately take away from any profit of the images used.
WITH THANKS TO AUTHOR: Mike Selvon.
One way that photographers share their work with the world is through stock photography. The average person may wonder what exactly stock photography is. Stock photography is when photographs are shared with licensing attached.
Anyone can use it, but in order to do that, understanding of all the legal aspects is critical in order to avoid being sued.
Stock photography has been around for a long time. According to wikipedia.org, H. Armstrong Roberts started the first agency for this type of photography in 1920, and the company is still going strong today under the name RobertStock. For years, photography stock was composed of "outtakes ("seconds") from commercial magazine assignments."
But, in the eighties, it had become unique, and photographers began making photographs just for photo sharing. Today several online photography stock houses exist, but before being used, the legal terms and aspects must be completely understood in order to avoid being sued.
One type of stock photography is royalty-free. This does not mean that the photograph can be used for free. What royalty-free means is that in order to use a specific picture, a photo buyer pays a one time fee to use the picture many times for a multitude of purposes within certain guidelines. Usually a time limit does not exist as to when the image can be used.
However, a royalty-free image does have a limit on exactly how many times the photograph can be reproduced. All of these restrictions will depend exactly on the contract that is decided upon.
One thing to consider with stock photography regarding royalty-free is that exclusive rights are non-existent. If a publication wants to be unique from the others, than royalty-free images are not the way to go. The best bet for uniqueness is to have an photographer on staff.
Stock photography has another kind called rights-managed that is sometimes difficult to understand. Rights-managed photography stock is when an image is negotiated exclusively for a certain allotted time frame.
During this time frame, no one else will be able to use that particular image for any reason. How long that this will go on will depend on the contract negotiations that are made for the image.
Because of online photography sharing, it has become readily accessible for all to use. Some agencies allow for images to be used for free, and others are based on contracts for their photography gallery.
Photojournalism uses it regularly, but the in's and outs of the business must be fully understood to take advantage of all of the images that are flooding the market.
Whether or not to use rights-managed or royalty-free images will depend on what can be negotiated within a contract, and the legalities can get sticky.
Before using stock photography, make sure that research is done in order to avoid any lawsuits that will ultimately take away from any profit of the images used.
WITH THANKS TO AUTHOR: Mike Selvon.
About the Zoom Photography Technique.
With the zoom photography technique, you can adjust your camera so
that it magnifies an object that is usually out of the range in which
you would be able to take a decent picture. For example, on many
digital cameras, the zoom photography technique is easily achieved by
turning a little lever at the top of the camera, and adjusting the
camera so that the zoom technology technique is as close as you need it
to be for a good picture.
The zoom photography technique is often used for various kinds of
nature photographs. For example, it would be dangerous for
photographers to get up close to wild animals just to take a picture of
them, so they need to employ the zoom photography technique for their
own safety.
Another example of how the zoom photography technique is used in
nature photography is in regard to plants. There are many flowers that
have a truly unique design. Earlier cameras were not able to capture
the intricacies of different flower designs, so flower designs were
usually sketch. However, thanks to zoom technology, you can see the
designs of a flower firsthand.
The zoom photography technique is also used for artistic
photography. For example, a rock might look just like a rock, but a
rock is comprised of many different mineral particles, and those
particles can often be rather colorful. Thanks to the zoom photography
technique, artistic pictures can be taken of rocks to show how amazing
they really look.
If you are interested in zoom photography techniques, be sure you
get a camera that has that capability. Be aware that if you zoom up too
close on an object, that object might appear blurry after the picture
has been taken. This can usually be corrected with photo imagine
software, which you can purchase at various stores or online. With
practice, you are sure to implement the zoom photography technique into
many of your pictures with excellent results.
WITH THANKS TO AUTHOR: Andrew Kelly.
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