Posted by christine on May 14, 2010 in
Photography These days, purchasing a dedicated digital photo printer for developing your digital photos may be a more costly and necessary route than selecting a reputable digital printing service. There are many services online that will print your digital photos. If you need results faster, almost every modern drugstore or photomat offers digital printing. Usually this is as simple as placing your digital cameras memory card in a machine and selecting which photos you want and any other options. Your images then print right before your eyes.
Digital photo prints usually cost the same or even less than traditional prints, but the savings go even deeper. One of the biggest advantages digital photography has over traditional photography is that you can choose to only print the images you want. Imagine the money you would have saved over your lifetime if you could pick and choose your film based prints. No more dozens of blurry throw away images, now digital photography technology has made it easy for you to simply submit the images you actually want, not the ones you dont.
The real question is one of quality. Luckily, the technologies that are involved are advancing rapidly. Todays digital prints are made to last decades without fading or discoloring. The lifetime of a professionally printed pictures is now equivalent to the lifetimes of film based pictures. This is another major advantage that professional digital printing has over do it yourself photo printers, they last longer. The prints that you make yourself with most consumer photo printers do not share the long lifespan of prints that have been made professionally. This is mostly due to the use of commercial grade archival paper and ink in the printing process.
Preparing your photos for printing is really easy. First, you can make any desired corrections to image quality with your favorite photo editing software. Then, you simply save your images (usually as .jpeg) and upload them over the internet to the photo printers website. If you are printing them locally, you would simply take your memory card with you and either place it into the self service machine or hand it to the clerk.
If you ordered your photos from an online photo printer, you can usually expect your images to arrive at your home in 2 to 5 days, depending on the service you choose and other variables. You will likely be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the images you receive. If you are using a relatively modern digital camera (with high enough resolution), the resulting images will be the same quality or better than if they were developed from film. Digital based photos at higher resolutions store more “information” (pixels) in the image than can fit into the fine grains of film. This extra data makes for finer, better prints.
As you can see, there are many cost effective options for digital photo developing. So, save your money on a photo printer and get those images ready to upload. Its fun, its easy, and the pictures will last a lifetime.
Posted by christine on May 10, 2010 in
Photography Mobile telephones have progressed a long way from their humble beginnings as the analog ?bricks? of the 80’s as technology has offered increasingly more complex features and options. Once no more than just a phone, now the average new cellphone has more on-board processing power than the combined computing power used to land men on the moon. Miniaturization, modern programming, and constantly improving technology driven on by a hungry market means that the cellphones of today are not just a phone, or even an organizer, but instead, they are a centralized multimedia platform. They offer many of the same advanced features as a PDA, like Bluetooth, flash card compatibility, radio, and fully featured integrated digital cameras. Much like the cameras found on PDAs, the digital photography offered by multimedia phones is not brilliant, but rather better suited to casual photography of friends at opportune moments. The advantage of having an integrated cell-camera is that as a phone is something that people tend to always carry with them, they will always have a camera handy.
If high quality digital photography is what you’re after, then you’re better off buying a mobile phone and camera separately. While camera technology is getting there for things like PDAs and mobiles, the range of advanced options for a cell phone camera don’t even translate to the standard set of features for a basic digital camera. A comparison of some prominent models on the market today follows, giving consideration to the cost, feature set, and level of quality offered by each device.
The Palm Treo 650 Smartphone runs the Palm OS version 5.4 on a 312MHz Intel CPU. It has 23MB of user memory available, expandable with the addition of either an SD or MMC flash cards. The display is a 320×320 pixel 16-bit color TFT, and it features a 0.3MP digital camera, capable of taking photos or capturing video. Feature wise, it’s impressive, but doesn’t weigh up against similar products for the price. The camera in particular is under-powered for the amount of processing behind it. A Smartphone 650 will set you back about $550.
The Sony Ericsson W800i has 32MB of user memory, and comes free with a 512MB Memory Stick Pro flash card. Featuring a display resolution of 176×220 pixels, and a 2 MP digital camera, it is fairly light on the features, and would be best described as a basic high-end mobile phone. The 2MP digital camera goes some way towards justifying the cost, but it doesn’t compare to buying a digital camera separately. The W800i will set you back around $480.
The Nokia 7610 is a competitive entry on this list, featuring a fairly rich feature set by comparison to the other examples. However, it has only 8MB on-board memory, expandable via a MultiMediaCard flash card. It comes with a free 64MB MMC, with a 176×208 display in 16-bit color. The 1MP digital camera supports a very wide range of image formats, as well as two modes of video in low or medium resolution. It supports multiple video formats, has a 4x digital zoom. The Bluetooth enabled system itself has a web browser and email client. The main problems with this phone are the relatively short lived battery, and the small amount of on-board memory. But at just $310, the feature set gives this phone serious bang for the buck.
If we compare each of these to a normal digital camera, it is easy to see why they are not a good choice if you intend to focus on photography. $350 gets you a Canon SD500 7.1 MP digital camera. It features 3x optical zoom, along with 4x digital zoom, Television AV/out port, proper strobe flash with red-eye reduction, heavily customizable setup, optional automatic lighting conditions compensation, a tripod mount point, full motion video recorded at effective resolution of 0.3MP. It has an SD card slot, and a host of other features too numerous to name. This is not an elite, professional grade camera, however it outperforms every camera phone listed by at least 3:1. and at a lower cost too.
Cellphones have evolved to a point where they more closely resemble a laptop than anything else, combining a truly impressive range of multimedia technologies into one tiny device. Displays are improving rapidly, as is the level of functionality offered by modern mobile phones. As they become more numerous, these features will become increasingly useful as vast networks of people, all armed with such versatile devices will begin to take shape. As of now, however, they are fairly unfocused in their capabilities, offering a very wide range of features, but not delivering any one of them so well as to replace the technology from which the features first came from. While camera cellphones can have their uses, they still do not lend themselves well to high quality photography. For casual use with friends, or general purpose use, a camera phone can be a lot of fun, and while it combines a lot of devices into one convenient package, it doesn’t deliver the a high level of quality.
Posted by christine on May 6, 2010 in
Photography Of course, we would like to say, that this is PP Group ? a leading team in the photography branch, because this is our name! Because we are PP Group. But PP in the Digital Photography means something else.
Our research shows, that most of the people use this abbreviation – PP in digital photography conversations to say the word ?Photoshop? shortly. It comes out from the first and the last letters in the word – P. Normally the Photoshop software is in use from the Professional Photography, because it offers a lot of abilities for picture optimization and getting higher images quality.
Another use for PP with the photography stuff is when people are trying to say ?Post-Processing? shortly. In this case people are talking about the Post-Processing in Digital Photography or for short: ?PP in Digital Photography?.
You can see the PP abbreviation, when it says ?Photographic process?. It means the processing, developing photographs. As we understand there is even a book, called this way ? ?Photographic Processes?, which describes the PP ? color-negative / color-reversal processing, shooting and developing photographs. Color and B&W (Black and White) film and print processing, as well.
And talking about print processing we remembered that there is another PP meaning, which is used in digital photography conversations. That?s right! This is the Photo Printer?s stuff or the Photo Paper?s stuff. There are even some printers? models that are called ?(something) PP?. One of them is a Canon?s model. Or photo paper, called ?high gloss photo paper PP 101D? or something similar.
May be you will hate us, but we feel the need to share with you, that there is another PP abbreviation and it?s for Pocket Pouch. Believe us ? we think that this is not normal too, but it is a fact. The pocket pouches for your digital cameras can be offered in some sites or pamphlets like PP for digital cameras.
Believing or not, but you may see PP like ?pages? meaning in Photography as well. There are lots of lessons, courses, lectures and articles that are written on different places ? mostly in the internet and they are quotations from some photography books. When it is attended by numbers it is too possible PP to be a page number. Mostly it looks like this way: pp 136-278, and means, as you know ? pages 136 to 278.
Well, it is not so difficult to understand what is PP in the Digital Photography now, when you know the rest of the text. You can assess which meaning will be helpful for you and to understand the main text idea.
Posted by christine on May 2, 2010 in
Photography The term PPI is not used much. Many people confuse PPI with DPI or have never heard the term PPI. PPI is a measurement of the quality of a print and understanding this term and what the number means can help you determine the right sizes and resolutions for your next digital photo print.
PPI: stands for Pixels per Inch. PPI describes the number of pixels per inch in a photo. PPI is a function of the number of pixels the camera?s sensor supports (also known as megapixels) and the size of the photo. To calculate a photo?s PPI simply multiply the page length by its width in inches. The result is the number of square inches on the page. Now divide the number of pixels the sensor supports by the number of square inches. The result is the number of pixels per square inch. All that is left to do is to find the square root of this number. Following is a table that shows the PPI for various page sizes for a 5 megapixel camera.
page size 4X6 – 456 PPI
page size 5X7 – 377 PPI
page size 8X10 – 250 PPI
page size 11X14 – 180 PPI
page size 16X20 – 125 PPI
page size 20X30 – 91 PPI
Posted by christine on Apr 28, 2010 in
Photography Your Step-by-Step Guide to Buying Digital Stock Photos
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If you’ve been a photo buyer for your magazine or site any length of time, you probably realize how much the photography industry has changed.
Many professional photographers are now using high-quality, high-res digital cameras instead of film for their stock photos. Read below to find out the easiest way to locate and purchase digital stock photos for your magazine, brochure or Web site.
Where to Buy Stock Photos
One way to find stock photos quickly and easily is through a stock agency Web site. Stock agencies provide several benefits.
- They offer a large inventory of stock photos by many different photographers.
- You can choose from a variety of styles, colors, photo sizes and quality.
- With digital stock agencies and portals, you can normally buy right from the site without having to put in a request for certain images
- You conveniently have 1,000s of stock photographers in one location instead of having to sift through individual photographer’s stock photo submissions sent by parcel post. As you know, postal mail doesn’t come with a search box!
- With a stock agency or stock image portal, you can save time because they offer uniform buying guidelines, download methods and search capabilities no matter which photographer you choose.
?Individual Photographers
Another way to find digital stock photos on the Web is to contact a freelance stock photographer directly.
You might need to work with a photographer one-on-one if …
a) you need stock photos for a specific location or with a specific theme, and are unable to locate the photos you need, or
b) you’d like to assign certain projects to one photographer who specializes in that field. It is even possible to work with some stock photographers by setting up an “on spec” relationship.
This means that you give the stock photographer your photo needs and he/she shoots images with the understanding that you may only purchase one or two (or none) of the stock images.
I have worked with several textbook photo researchers this way and I’ve found that the images the photo buyer didn’t use many times sold at a later date to a different photo researcher.
Working “on spec” may be easier to set up than you may think, especially if you catch the stock photographer during a slow photo period.
“On spec” is many times a win-win for the stock photographer and the stock photo researcher.
This is just one example of how the Internet makes it possible to work with one or many photographers and transmit your photos quickly by email or by download from a photographer’s Web site.
Quality and Size of Digital Photos
Probably one of the most confusing aspects of buying digital stock photos is how to determine the size and quality of an image.
When you receive photo submissions by postal mail, you have the actual photo print or transparency in hand, making it easy to determine if the quality and size are adequate for your project. However, with digital photos it’s not always that easy.
Formats Used in Digital Stock Photography
JPG (or JPEG) format, which is one of the most popular formats for digital stock photos, enables the photographer to reduce an image’s size tremendously for emailing to photo buyers while retaining the size and quality needed for most magazines and publications up to even a two-page spread.
Most digital stock images are displayed as thumbnail images, and then high-resolution (high-res) images are emailed at the photo buyer’s request.
Warning: A major drawback of using JPG digital files for photos is, if the photo is re-saved over and over it will lose some digital information each time it is saved. So, it’s a very good idea to save a JPG image as a Tiff file as soon as you receive it. This way you can save it without sacrificing quality.
?Fortunately, most stock photo agencies require that images be of top quality before they’re accepted. This eliminates your worries about the quality of images in many cases, but always make sure the size of the stock image fits your needs before making a purchase.
Model / Property Release
If you plan to use your stock image for advertising purposes, or for some editorial use, you may need a model or property release. Check with your magazine or client and do some research to make sure which images will need a release.
Licensing Agreement for Digital Stock Photo Usage
Also, read the photographer’s licensing agreement carefully so you’ll know how, where and the length of time you can use the photo.
The general rules of usage still apply when buying stock photos on the Web. That’s another reason to work with a dependable stock agency site or directly with a professional stock photographer.
Use these tips to help locate great digital stock photos easily, and when you need them!
Posted by christine on Apr 23, 2010 in
Photography In recent years, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) have become increasingly available and more popular. There is now a wide range of products that come under this category, including devices that serve as little more than a glorified calendar and organizer, to top of the range tablets and ?Palm PC’s?. Miniaturization has taken leaps and bounds as developments have progressed, and PDAs continue to grow more powerful. For some people, a PDA is something of a hobby, and the features, gimmicks, and novelties, whether they use them or not, are the most important part of the fun. More often, however, they are put to use in business, across almost every modern industry, at nearly every level, to varying degrees. PDAs now feature massive amounts of storage space, whether on-board, or via flash cards which keep growing in size, wireless networking, web browsing facilities, telephone-PDA hybrids, and ever more advanced software. One other feature that has raised some attention is the integration of digital cameras into Palm PCs.
Digital camera PDAs are not really intended for photography enthusiasts. They are intended more for people who depend upon and always carry their PDA. Integrating a camera into these versatile systems has so far been a matter of convenience and entertainment. The digital cameras combined with modern PDAs do not have particularly advanced camera features, and tend to be relatively poor in quality compared to a separately purchased digital camera. While a $200 digital camera may produce photographs at as high a resolution as 5, 6, or 7 ?mega-pixels?, the cameras found aboard a similarly priced PDA will be less than half a mega-pixel, and even more expensive PDAs rarely boast a camera with a resolution as high as 2MP. Digital camera PDAs are not just a trivial toy, though, and have many useful applications. And of course, no-one ever knows just when they might need a camera.
The Hewlett Packard HW6515 iPAQ is a fully featured PDA featuring a 1.3MP camera, with an LED flash. PDA cameras often use a high powered LED rather than a conventional strobe because they use significantly less power. Unfortunately the intensity of the flash is also much lower, but using an LED is the most efficient tool for the job. In addition to its camera, the 6515 has a 312MHz Intel CPU, 320×240 TFT display, and 128 MB of on-board memory, of which, 55MB is available for to the user. It is Bluetooth enabled and has all common digital cell network compatibility (GPRS, GSM, EDGE.) Data cable is USB, and it uses Secure Digital removable media. It comes with a very full bundle of Microsoft mobile software, and runs the Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 (Phone Edition) Operating System. Weighing in at 5 ounces, it will set you back a little under $700.
If you are more interested in the camera capabilities themselves, then you will want to consider external cameras designed to be used in conjunction with an existing PDA. These offer much better camera quality, resulting in better image reproduction. Another 1.3MP PDA camera is the Lifeview Flycam. This small digital camera plugs into your existing PDA by way of the CF card attached to it. This is inserted directly into the CF slot of your tablet or PDA, and you have almost immediate camera functionality. It offers a few more features as a camera, and it is the camera aspect itself that is important to you, it makes a lot more sense to buy your PDA camera and PDA separately. As better PDA cameras are developed, you will be able to upgrade the camera without having to replace the whole PDA, which ? as can be seen by the above example ? can be quite an investment. The Flycam retails for as little as $130, making it a very appealing way to retrofit a camera to your PDA.
The HP Jornada is another retro-fitted PDA camera, also installed by way of an attached CF card. At a maximum resolution of only 640×480 (0.3MP), this camera retails for about $60. If you have an existing PDA, and have no desire to upgrade it yet, and you only need a simple camera, then this could well be the option for you. With an auto-focusing lens, this is a very easy camera to use, however, it will not appeal to more astute photographers. If all you want is to be able to take pictures of your friends whenever you want, then this is a great purchase.
Choosing a PDA camera is a matter of weighing up what you need. If you mostly just need a good camera, you are best off buying a normal digital camera, completely independent of your PDA. If it’s a PDA-camera hybrid you need, along with all the other functionality of a top shelf palmtop, and you can afford the considerable outlay, but you don’t need absolutely top notch photography, then consider an integrated option. If the idea of being able to swap the camera between different PDAs, and you like having the option of progressively upgrading as newer and better technology comes out, then you may wish to consider one of the retro-fitting options. They’re an ingenious solution that promises to stay within budget, and allows you to upgrade at will.
Posted by christine on Apr 19, 2010 in
Photography A relatively new product in the digital imaging industry is what has become known as the digital picture frame. These clever devices use a flat-panel TFT (usually just referred to as LCD) screen to electronically store and display digital photos, which can be transferred directly between the picture frame and your digital camera. They can be powered by either batteries or an AC adapter power supply that plugs into your mains wall socket, and are capable of storing between thirty and more than a thousand digital photos, depending on the frame, the size of the files, and the capacity of the memory card being used. While most people are probably aware of the numerous advantages of digital photography, there have always been a few areas where modern digital imagery simply didn’t offer what people wanted out of their photos. With only a slightly wider profile than a normal picture frame, a digital picture frame retains all the benefits of digital photography, combining them with the convenience and most of the features people liked about conventional paper photos.
Digital picture frames solve most of the remaining problems people have about digital photography in a simple, easy to use, and cost effective manner. One of the main problems people have is that they don’t have the time, opportunity, or knowledge required to view their pictures on the computer any time they feel like going through their albums. Digital picture frames solve this easily, as all prominent models on the market can store multiple images, and display them as a slide show. Most models allow the user to flip through each photograph one by one, much like they would with an old photo album. Older users, or the very young, who may not be familiar with computers, or may have no desire to learn, will enjoy the practical and straight-forward interface offered by these products. Learning how to use one could be compared to learning just the basic functions of a new television remote-control.
Digital picture frames allow the user to leave a photo on display for the long term, much like a conventional picture frame. This eliminates the cost of maintaining a printer and buying consumables, and allows you to have your picture of choice on display without tying up the computer.
When making a purchasing decision, you should compare the feature set offered by the different models available, with regard to your budget, and what you want from digital picture frames. Some things to consider include:
? Media types: The number of different storage media that a single device can use – for example, SmartCard?, CompactFlash? etc, and whether the device can accept multiple types. Remember to check which media type your existing digital camera uses.
? Power options: How long the photo viewer’s batteries last, what type of batteries it takes, and whether it has a power supply to run plug straight into the wall socket are all important to consider.
? Physical dimensions: What size it is, how heavy, the look you’re after, and how you intend to use it. If you want to carry a digital picture viewer around in your briefcase or pocket, you’ll want a smaller, lighter model.
? Data transfer interfaces. Some models allow you to transfer pictures between your computer and picture frame via serial or USB interface, in addition to the normal camera memory cards.
? Various advanced features: The ability to connect the device directly to the Internet, and use it to send pictures to someone else who also has one is an example of just one deluxe feature.
Having laid down the criteria, it is possible to have a quick look at some of the products on the market today. The very cheapest digital picture frames start at about $85. These offer a very narrow feature set, with a tiny viewing area, rarely no larger than 3?, with relatively low quality image reproduction. For something of this size, you’re probably better off simply viewing with your existing digital camera, or viewing its image on your television, a task most digital cameras are capable of doing to some capacity. Most of the frames on the market, however, fall between $200 and $450, so we’ll have a very brief look at three such items.
VideoChip Wallet
While being a smaller model, the VideoChip Wallet has an appealing set of features, and is probably the choice for portability. If you prefer to carry your photos around with you wherever you go rather than setting a frame up on a side-table, then this is probably the one for you. The Wallet uses only CompactFlash card media, meaning that the number of photos you can store is limited only by the size of the JPEG or Bitmap files (.jpg, .bmp), and the storage capacity of your CF card. While the viewing area is just 4? with a 230×200 pixel display, it still manages to impress, weighing in at less than 11 ounces! It can be run directly off the included AC adapter, which also charges the internal 3 volt lithium batteries. This allows 3 hours continuous viewing between charges, and you don’t have to worry about changing batteries, as you can simply just plug it in again to recharge, much as you would a cell-phone. VideoChip Wallets offer rudimentary viewing options, either as a static image, a slide-show, as well as the option of several animated image transitions. They can be bought for about $350, making a Wallet a hefty purchase, considering that the main feature is its compact profile. But if you’re always on the move, or delight in showing your friends and family your photos wherever you are, then maybe this is the one for you.
Ceiva Internet Connected Picture Frame
This really is a remarkable product. Ceiva boasts this as the world’s first web-enabled digital picture frame. When you buy one of these, Ceiva signs you up with a subscription for their service for a period of time ? usually a year ? then you simply plug a spare phone line into the rear of the frame. At a scheduled time, say, at night when you’re not making calls, the frame’s integrated dial-up modem connects directly to Ceiva’s servers and synchronizes with your account on their service, which you can configure from your home Internet connection, or by phone if you don’t have a PC! In this way, you can download new pictures every day, or send them to family and friends also on the service. The frame itself stores only 30 JPEG images, however, your Ceiva account can store thousands, in almost any digital picture format you care to name. Viewing options are wide and flexible, with a full complement of features. The frame is powered only by an AC adapter for constant use, meaning it is not especially portable. It features a large 8.2? LCD display, making it easily one of the biggest on the market. Ceiva is currently offering a deal for three frames plus a free digital camera with new subscriptions for $340. For what is included this is an excellent purchase, however, if all you want is a digital picture frame, and you are not so much concerned with the Internet capabilities, then you may find the small storage capacity and lack of other more rudimentary features too restrictive.
DigiFrame DF-560
If what you’re after is a medium sized viewing area, with high-quality image reproduction and the most flexible range of features, then the DF-560 is for you. The DF-560 accepts both SmartCard media and CompactFlash cards, stores up 1,500 images on board, which display on a 5.6? high resolution 640×480 pixel LCD display. Also designed for constant, or all-day use, it is not battery powered, but runs off the included AC adapter. It offers changeable cosmetic frames, which allow the user to have a wood finish, if they’re after the authentic look, or something sleek and modern, giving an impression of brushed stainless steel, as well as everything in between. Again, you don’t need a PC to run this, as it has everything it needs on board, and images can be transferred via either of the storage card slots. However, if you do wish to use it in conjunction with a PC, it has a 9-pin serial port on the side, and includes a cable and software to allow you to transfer files directly between your PC and the frame, at a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 128kbps, or slightly better than twice the speed of a dial-up Internet connection. The DF-560 offers the widest range of slide-show transition effects, and allows you to prepare a number of customized slide shows using the images of your choice, all on the same card. As well as scaling large images down on the fly, which it is able to do with the inclusion of its relatively powerful processor, this digital picture frame packs a host of other features. All of this comes at a price, however, and while the feature set is great, the DF-560 retails somewhere around the $560 mark.
If you’re in the market for something to put your digital photographs on display or to show to friends, then one of these could be for you. There are more than just the three digital picture frames reviewed here out there, and this brief examination is by no means exhaustive, but it should give you an idea of what the different features on offer are, and what to base your decision on. If you’re after portability, then VideoChip’s Wallet may be for you. If the idea and the possibilities of an invention such as an Internet digital picture frame really appeals to you, the Ceiva frame is a logical choice, and cost effective at that. If all-round solid performance and flexibility is what you’re after, and you’ve got a budget to match, then give the DF-560 serious consideration.
Posted by christine on Apr 11, 2010 in
Photography If you are on the market for a digital camera, then there are several things that you need to do to get the best product for your money. It can be confusing to look at the options that are provided and determine which the best of the best is. If you try to talk to a salesperson, you are likely to find out that he doesn?t care which the best is for you. He?s looking for a good investment for his own paycheck. There are several things you should consider when selecting a digital camera. Here are some to think about.
? Megapixels: This is the most important aspect of any digital camera. In short, this is the amount of storage that the camera is offering you. The more that it has, the better off you are in selecting the right choice overall. Yet, you do not always need to purchase the highest level of megapixels in order to get a good product. Depending on your specific needs and your budget, select the level that is the best for your needs.
? Size: The size of your digital camera is an important consideration as well. There are many to choose from but sizes are shrinking. When it comes to purchasing a compact digital camera, make sure you go for one that offers the highest quality rather than the smallest size.
? Test Before You Buy. Before you try to bring home your compact digital camera, make sure that you get a test run with it from your provider. You will find that most good quality retailers will allow you to take a picture or so to determine the quality that it offers. This can help you to make the best decision possible.
Luckily for all of us, digital cameras are coming down in size and in price. You can do more with these unties that ever before. For that reason, take a bit of time to select the highest quality that you can afford and enjoy it as much as you can.
Posted by christine on Apr 7, 2010 in
Photography There is so much to consider when looking for the best digital camera to suit your needs. It is important to decide what features matter the most to you. The main factors, apart from cost, in assessing which is the best digital camera for you are as follows:
? Size and weight
? Resolution
? Level of Control
? Options and features
The size and weight of the best digital camera for one person varies greatly to that of another. If you want a camera that is lightweight and will slip into a pocket or purse then a ultra-lightweight cameras will probably be the best digital camera for your needs. These are often the least complex of the digital cameras as they offer point and shoot simplicity and are the best digital camera for beginners. At the other end of the size and weight scale comes a bulky 1? pound SLR camera for the ?serious? photographer who wants the best digital camera with all of the accessories to take the perfect shot.
The resolution you need can narrow down which is the best digital camera for your requirements. The resolution affects the detail of an image for printing quality and the higher the resolution the greater the detail. The best digital camera for printing standard size pictures has a lower resolution than if you want to create oversize prints.
The best digital camera for being able to edit and manipulate your images is one with a resolution of 5 or 6 mega pixels so that you can crop the images with photo editing software and still print them out full size.
The amount of control that you have available will also be an issue in finding the best digital camera. Some people think that the best digital camera is one they can use in an automatic mode and let the camera do the work. Others choose the best digital camera that allows them more input in the creative process by manually adjusting the focus, speed, aperture and other settings. A simple point and shoot camera is the best digital camera for people not wanting to make any setting changes but the range of manual controls available on other cameras varies with make and model. The latter will require more research to find the best digital camera to meet your requirements.
The next part in deciding which is the best digital camera to buy is to assess what, if any, additional features you would like. Here are some suggestions:
? Audio annotation to add commentary to your images.
? Burst shooting which allows you to take multiple pictures in rapid succession for fast moving action shots.
? Macro photo capability that focuses on extreme close-up detail for images of flowers, insects, etc.
? Movie mode with audio to take short videos.
? Panoramic stitching function, often included in a camera’s software package, which joins individual images into a multi-photo panoramic picture.
? Weatherproof casing
The most important aspect in choosing the best digital camera for you is ensuring that you are comfortable using it and have some fun taking pictures.
Posted by christine on Apr 3, 2010 in
Photography It?s your wedding?one of the most beautiful days in your life. How else can you make the perfect occasion last? Capture the momentous event with great wedding photographs. Read this guide to make sure you choose the right wedding photography service for your big day.
The first thing to do is to give the most opportunities for the photographer when scheduling activities during the wedding day. When planning the time of the wedding ceremony and of the reception, couples should incorporate the time that the photographer requires to capture all of the couple?s special moments. There should be a gap between the end of the ceremony and beginning of the reception, to allow for more photographs for the bride, groom and wedding entourage, especially if they are in two different locations. The photographers and subjects will have a more relaxed shoot and will enjoy all the parts of the wedding if the events are well spaced out.
Next, think of important factors when selecting a wedding photographer. The photographer should be able to show more than one complete set of wedding photos. Couples should not accept someone who shows only selected prints of their best photographs from different weddings. Ideally, all photographs from 3 to 4 complete wedding sets that are at least satisfactory should be a criterion of a professional wedding photographer.
It is also good to have a photographer that gives a package with unlimited coverage for the whole day. Again, this way, photography will not be rushed.
Next, try to be aware of photography companies or individuals that contract out jobs to a pool of wedding photographers or even freelancers. Salespersons often pose as actual photographers and try to woo customers. Make sure companies deal openly, and ask them to show 3 to 4 complete weddings from each of the photographers they offer you, so you can choose. Make sure the one chosen is the one that will cover your wedding. Otherwise, it is better to find a photographer that personally shoots weddings. A two-person team is an even better package because two points of view of the wedding can be taken.
Some photographers only offer the traditional wedding photography style, or strictly a photojournalistic style. It is best to find a versatile photographer that can do both.
Lastly, couples should take note of some important questions to ask a prospective wedding photographer:
? Are colored and black and whites included, or would he charge extra for B/W? Dramatic effects can be made with black and white photographs, so ask if this is a premium.
? Are hand and digital coloring or digital color separation included in the package or would he charge extra for these? Better pictures are developed when the photograph colors are separated first, improved, and then printed.
? What kinds of cameras does he use? Does he use medium format equipment and have a back up? Does have a “leaf” shutter or “focal plane”?
? What lenses does he use? Does he use only one, or will he change lenses? Make him show you photo effects that he is able to achieve with different lenses and choose the ones which you like to appear with your photographs.
? Is he willing to customize a package that is within your budget?
Asking intelligent questions will encourage photographers to deal openly with customers. Remember, it?s your special day, and you should make sure that the wedding photography is something that will help you and your loved ones relive those wonderful memories.