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Camera Choices For Photography

If you are just starting out in your photography business, you may already have made a substantial investment in camera, lenses and accessories, so the decision will be easier, unless you are interested in changing over to a new system. In that case, you need to consider which kinds of equipment will be best suited to the style of photography you will be doing.

The most versatile is the Between the Lens shutter, as this system allows flash synchronization at ALL shutter speeds. Consider when you are taking photos outside in the gardens, or after the ceremony in front of the church. To ensure good photographs, virtually every shot you take should be with the flash as a fill light. This will help to eliminate shadows, overcome bright backgrounds (where the subject is normally underexposed, and therefore the brides face cannot be seen clearly), and ensures good tonal range throughout the image. Most digital and 35mm SLR cameras today are all Focal Plane shutters, some travelling vertically, most travelling horizontally. However, many of the more expensive models now have a higher flash synchronization speed up to 250th of a second. Olympus is unique in that its OM4 will sync at ALL shutter speeds, providing their specially developed flash is used.

Note, that you need to expose for the available light and balance the exposure with flash. In other words, if the background light indicates an exposure of 1⁄250 th at ƒ8, you wold set the flash to expose the subject at about ƒ4-ƒ5.6 It is usually better to have the flash illumination at about one or two ƒ stops less than the available light, for the most pleasing results. This prevents the flash from putting too much light on the subject, making it look unnatural, or from burning out any detail in the brides face or dress.

An interesting effect can be to deliberately underexpose the background. Lets say for the same lighting as above, you set the camera to ƒ11 or ƒ16, underexposing the background by one or two ƒ stops, and set the flash to provide enough light to correctly expose the subject. Take some chances and experiment because the main purpose is to be able to make sales.

Try these variations to see the different effects. Assume a background exposure of ƒ8, shutter speed remains constant at the metered value i.e. ƒ8 @ 1⁄60 for example.

So in effect what we are doing is under or over exposing the background by varying the aperture, and compensating the amount of light reaching the subject, by varying the amount of light from the flash.

The advantages of the 'between the lens' shutter, makes wedding photography quite straight forward. You meter for the available light, and set the flash to expose the subject about one or two stops less. If you are outside and moving around, and don't have time to set the camera on a tripod, you can use the higher shutter speeds, and larger apertures. The larger the aperture opening, is in fact, a smaller number, because it is the inverse of the fraction. If you have ever been confused by this, just remember that all values are given as a fraction, however, there is not enough room to print this on the camera or lens. So, an aperture of ƒ2.8, a small number, but a large aperture, is really ƒ1⁄2.8 . Conversely, a shutter speed of '500' is really '1⁄500'. By convention, the '1/' gets left off.

At the church, reception or hall, where there is little or no available light, you can also use the higher shutter speeds to eliminate any camera shake, while maintaining the correct aperture for the flash. The background, of course, will be underexposed (black), but in these situations, it is usually not of any concern. With a typical cameras however, you will be limited to 1⁄60 th of a second. This means you will need to take extra care when hand holding the camera to minimize camera shake.

The second situation to consider, is when using medium speed ISOs in the 200-400 range in bright daylight. You may be forced into exposures of 1⁄250 to 1⁄500 at ƒ8-ƒ16. If we take the high side as an example, 1⁄500 at ƒ16, and our flash sync is only 1⁄60, we need to adjust the exposure by three stops, (500th-125th-60th), to maintain flash sync. So we need three stops of exposure compensation from f16 to f32. This is not possible on most cameras today. Further, we need more light from our flash.

Learn Digital Photography..digital Camera Flash Units

Flash units can come in many sizes and shapes for digital photography. Those cameras on the lower end of the scale come with low energy built in flash units. However, some gear such as the high end digital SLR cameras can accommodate external flash units advanced in their abilities to provide excellent lighting in complicated situations. Know the basic facts about the difference between built in and external flash units.

Flash units came a long way since their early days. Back then flash units were using powder that was lit by electrical current and literally "blew up" to produce the light energy. Using these flash units was a risky business. It was also difficult as the flash units were not automatically synchronized to the camera's shutter. The photographer had to make sure that the flash goes off at the exact right time synchronized with the shooting of the photo.

Today flash units have eliminated this challenge. An electronic flash tube ensures flash timing is synchronized to the camera. The photographer now gets to concentrate on other aspects of the photo. New digital cameras can even determine on their own if the flash is even needed, set its intensity and other parameters and fire the flash at the precise time the shutter is opened. All of this is automatically done in the background. Should the user want to make their own adjustments, digital cameras also allow the user to manually control the flash, set its intensity and more.

Flash units are divided into two categories: Internal built-in flash units or external flash units. Internal flash units are built into the camera. Almost all digital cameras include such a unit and allow the user some control over it through the camera's menus and buttons. External flash units are attached to the camera's body through a dedicated slide-in slot or by using an electrical cable. Not all digital cameras support external flash units. Usually the lower end pocket cameras do not allow external flash units while all high end digital SLR cameras do allow such external flash units. External flash units can vary a lot. They can have different light energy levels that they can emit and different mechanical characteristics. Some external flash units also include smart sensors to measure ambient light, distance and other optical parameters in order to optimize the flash effect.

Flash units can be used in both automatic and manual mode in most digital cameras. When in automatic mode, the camera measures ambient light and fires the flash when there is a lack of enough light. There can be times the camera will make the incorrect choice in using the flash and will either fire or not fire the flash when the contrary was needed. Setting the flash intensity is important also. Should the flash unit fire too much light energy on objects that are too close to the camera the digital photo will be washed out. Of course if the flash unit fires a small amount of light energy on an object that is farther away from the digital camera the digital photo will be a too dark.

Flash units do have boundaries. They do not light any view and any object at any distance from the camera. You should know the limitations of your flash unit. As an example, experiment to see what the highest amount of light energy it can produce and at what distance an object can effectively be lit from. Use a tripod with a longer exposure and turn off the flash itself if the object is out of the effective flash range. There can be cases where it is still useful to use the flash even if there is enough ambient light available. In this situation, you can manually fire the camera's flash. This technique is known as fill-in flash and is typically used to fill-in shadowed or darkened areas on objects in the digital photograph.

Digital Photography: Getting Started With Your Manual Settings

Digital photography has given almost anyone with a camera the potential to become a creative photographer. These days even compact cameras offer features that once were only found on 'serious' SLR cameras.

The trouble is, most people who have grown up with point-and-shoot cameras have very little idea what these features are all about. After buying a good digital camera with the best intentions, they soon give up and switch to automatic.

Are the settings on your camera really so hard to understand? Of course not, but it can seem that way at the start, especially if they are not explained to you in simple terms you can understand.

The two settings you need to understand here are Aperture and Shutter Speed. Aperture is the size of the hole that lets the light in for your photo. The larger the hole, the brighter the exposure. The shutter speed is the length of time given to each exposure. Slower shutter speeds allow more light, resulting in a brighter exposure. By finding the right balance of these two settings, you and/or your camera control whether your photo is overexposed, underexposed, or just right.

With your camera set to Manual mode, you control both settings. If this seems daunting, you can start with the semi-automatic functions, Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority.

How do the semi-automatic functions work? They allow you to choose one setting (either aperture or shutter speed), while the camera chooses the other. That way you can be a little bit creative, but with the safety net of knowing your camera will make sure your exposure is correct. It is a good halfway point between automatic and manual.

Let's start with Aperture Priority. This function allows you to set the aperture on your camera; the camera chooses the shutter speed for you.

The aperture controls depth of field (the area in front and behind the main subject that will be in focus). When you set a wide aperture, you reduce the depth of field; when you choose a smaller aperture, you will have a greater depth of field.

Obviously when you change the aperture, you change the level of light in your exposure. The camera will compensate by adjusting the shutter speed. So when you operate your camera in Aperture Priority mode, you have control over the depth of field, but your camera still makes sure your exposure is correct.

The catch here is, you still need to keep track of what your shutter speed is doing. If it falls to a very slow speed, you need to use a tripod to eliminate camera vibrations.

How about Shutter Priority? Here you set the shutter speed, and the camera balances the exposure by setting the aperture. This is a great system if you are working with moving subjects. Sometimes you may want to freeze a moving subject with a fast shutter speed, or create a motion effect with a slower shutter speed. Meanwhile the camera compensates for the changes in shutter speed by adjusting the aperture.

Shutter priority may be a better option for some beginners. It is much easier to stay aware of when to use your tripod. Also, when your camera manages the aperture, it controls the depth of field, which is not usually as critical as the shutter speed. You may not always get exactly what you want, but you won't get any catastrophic failures.

These two semi-automatic functions appear to offer you the best of both worlds. You get to be a bit creative, and try out your photography skills, while your camera's high-tech hardware makes sure you don't overexpose or underexpose the photo. So far, it sounds perfect.

So why should you learn to operate your camera in Manual mode? The answer is simple.

Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority both work on the assumption that your camera's reading of the exposure is always correct. Unfortunately, that is not always true. In fact, sometimes you have to be smarter than your camera.

Imagine you are photographing a flower in the sun, but the background is in the shade. This simple situation can be all it takes to confuse your camera. It may expose for the background, brightening the exposure and totally overexposing the flower.

In this situation, semi-automatic settings will not solve the problem. You could reduce the brightness of the exposure by (for example) reducing the size of the aperture. The camera would simply adjust the shutter speed to compensate, maintaining what it believes to be the correct exposure.

What you need to do is switch the camera to Manual. Then you can adjust both settings and create an image that is slightly darker, bringing your flowers into perfect exposure.

This is not just a hypothetical exercise. Situations arise all the time that require you to out-think your camera. If you understand how to operate your manual settings, you can take control, and you won't be left blaming your camera for 'the one that got away.'

Picture Framing Supplies Offer Excellent Savings

For those who are avid artists, part of the fun of creating artwork is to show it off to friends, family and even a wider public. You may want to try your hand at framing your own artwork, whether photographs or paintings. It is not hard, especially when you take advantage of picture framing supplies like ready made photo frames, pre cut mat board or custom mat board along with mount board, as well as glazing.

Matting is a fun choice that you will need to make when you get ready to frame your work of art. You will first need to consider the type of art that you are framing. Generally, photographs are framed using wide white pre cut mat board or custom mat board. Other types of pictures can use more matting color if desired, which is readily available in both pre cut and custom mat board. You will also need to measure the frame in order to select suitable matting. If you have a 12 x 18 picture frame, for example, you will need a mat board sized to fit that size frame. The 12 x 18 picture frame size is popular with the digital photography crowd, and it is a standard size for which you can find mats easily.

Ready made photo frames come in different styles of moulding. You can select from simple yet elegant thin black metal, or you can go for wood stained in various finishes. The choice is yours, to best suit the feel of your piece of art.

The mount board is used in framing as a backing to the piece of art. It is important to use archival quality products including mount board if you want your artwork to last far into the future. They are designed to capture harmful pollution from the air immediately surrounding the art, before it can damage the surface. They are also acid free, which prevents a host of deterioration issues that can come up if you are using paper products in your artwork.

Glazing comes in glass or acrylic. Acrylic varieties include those that protect the surface of your art quality photographs from harmful ultraviolet light damage, which can easily occur if the photograph is hung next to a window. Acrylic is also light weight, much lighter than glass, but it is not a resistant to scratches as glass, so you will need to decide which is more important for your particular framing purposes.

With such a wide variety of picture framing supplies available in both ready made and custom styles, you will be able to find a wonderful frame no matter what your budget that will look great.

Getting Good Deals With Minneapolis Wedding Photographers

Materializing your dream wedding will no longer be an issue if you decide to have it in Minnesota. Whatever your thoughts of a dream wedding, it is all possible in this impressive and awesome Land of 10,000 Lakes.

The Land of 10,000 Lakes is in the north central United States. It spans the boreal pine forests of Lake Superior's western shores in the northeast down to the tall grass prairie and farm fields of the Great Plains in the southwest. The culture of the place is quintessential Midwest like every small town -- modest and friendly. The winters are as cold as you'd expect, but for the rest of the year, the weather is typically mild and comfortable.

Minnesota is a perfect place for an intimate event like your dream wedding. There is the majesty of mountains and then there are forest-fringed lake tops - some twelve thousand of them. There is also an abundance of waterfalls, soaring bluffs lining the Mississippi River and Lake Superior, and large patches of tall grass prairie. What's more, there are plenty of historic small towns with luxurious bed-and-breakfasts or you can go up North and find a remote lakeside cabin with a fieldstone fireplace and bearskin rug. Indeed, you'll have sublime scenery around you in Minnesota as well.

You can never go wrong in Minnesota so whatever you want to do in your dream wedding, take out all worries by driving it down to Minnesota.

So you got Minnesota already crossed out. Next thing that you should also take great consideration is the photography in your dream wedding because it is as important as the wedding location itself. Those photos will become priceless treasures with your lifetime partner.

You will need to take some time to do research when you are going to choose your dream wedding photographer in Minnesota. It is really important for you to have all the happy moments captured in your dream wedding so you really have to be sure that you have good hands in the photographer. It lies in the hands of the photographer to have a lovely wedding moments captured rightly and well. This is why the job of the photographer is of utmost important for this end. It can't be stressed enough that this a dream wedding of you and your partner in a dream destination in Minnesota.

If you are searching for a wedding photographer, you should first really have to look at an expert. The photographer should have experiences in taking wedding photos and specifically big events like destination wedding. It's a big plus if the photographer is from Minnesota or is knowledgeable enough about it. You should verify the portfolio of the photographer in order to have more information about his previous projects. You have to bear in mind that no matter how attractive the offer by the photographer is, you should not hire him for the sake of just getting discount and bonus offers. The quality of your photos should be what's on the priority list. Now, that's not saying that you should try to look for bargains and discounts after you found the perfect photographer.

The photographer's style is also an important thing yo need to consider. You should try to learn the style of the photographer. Again you will need to take a look at his portfolio. You should make sure that you love the style of the photographer. The option here is really personal and you can have your own decision merely by your taste and preference.

So what are you waiting for? Make that reservation now for a dream wedding in Minnesota and the perfect photographer for your biggest day!




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