Most times, when you take a photo, the camera will make calculations to determine the correct shutter speed settings. These speeds will typically be in the range 1/15 to 1/000 of a second. At other times, especially when the light is low, the shutter speed will be longer than this. Shutter speeds greater than a second would typically be termed “timed” exposures.
In some cases, exposure times can reach several seconds or minutes and at these low speeds mounting the camera on a tripod is essential to prevent camera shake and blur. The lower the light, the lower the ISO and the smaller the aperture then the longer the shutter speed will need to be.
Modern digital cameras are capable of calculating the exposure time in low light and many have a built-in speed setting of up to 30 seconds. In other cases you should use your “B” or “bulb” setting to achieve the desired timed shutter firing.
In very low light, such as at nighttime, you should calculate your expose then readjust according to the results. By taking several pictures with a long exposure you can determine which is the best exposure setting bearing in mind that the camera meter (and even a hand held on) can be fooled by the low light and often high contrast scenes.
Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com.
Cheap digital photo processors are a dime a dozen
Digital photo processors that do the printing cheap abound. They are everywhere you look. But to find an affordable location that can give you the quality that you expect is another story. Some places offer prints for as low as 12 cents for a 4X6 print. Others can charge as much as 58 cents per print.
What do you get for 12 cents per print?
Many customers of the chains that offer prints this cheap have a complaint similar to this one; “Some companies try to “alter” the images to get the “highest” quality photos. This person had done a test and submitted the same photos to various processing services. What they received were totally different results. Their complaint was that the photo shops try to make them look good instead of trusting their customers abilities. As simple as it sounds, leaving the picture alone can be a difficult quality to find in a photo printer online. To try to find out on your own is quite a lot to ask of paying customers. Other than altering your photos after you upload them common complaints are that the quality is not what they expected. As a photography lover let me tell you there are a lot of companies that will give you very high quality prints that will amaze you no matter what your expectations are.
What can you get if you find the right photo printing company?
There are printers that do not charge very much more and the quality is outstanding. With these more capable companies they offer very good sign-up bonuses such as 60 free 4X6 prints to start, and free membership. They can also offer various albums to organize your pictures online. All the while offering file uploads as high as 10MB. Other great services are bulk order prices. With bulk order pricing the more you order the cheaper they get. That way having a family reunion will not break the bank. As you look for a great company to print all your favorite photos remember that there are photo printers that can disappoint and there are printers that can dazzle.
To view our list of recommended sources for digital photo printing online,
visit this page: Photo Mugs.
Mindi Haehl is the owner of an informational site about printing your digital photos online.
Unlike humans, pets are not going to follow instructions when you’re trying to take photos of them. For that matter, some humans can make pretty lousy subjects as well. So what do you do in order to get the most out of your pet pictures? The following tips aren’t some miracle solution, but they will help make the job of photographing your Fluffy or Fido a little easier.
The first thing you have to understand when photographing your pet is it’s not going to do what you want it to do. So getting a “staged” or “posed” photo is not going to be possible unless you have a trained animal and good luck in finding one of those. The best thing you can hope for when photographing your pet is the best possible situation that is going to come about on its own. Having said that, there are things you can do to help the situation along.
For starters, you’re going to have to get down to your pet’s level in order to photograph it properly. That doesn’t mean you become a blithering idiot and start drinking out of the toilet. We’re referring to the angle of the shot. If you’re photographing a small cat, for example, you’re going to want to bend down to the floor in order to shoot the animal, unless of course it happens to be sitting on your favorite sofa taking a nap. In either case you want the camera to be at eye level with the pet. If it’s possible to get even lower than the subject, then by all means give it a shot. This will make for an even more interesting photo.
The next thing you want to make sure you DON’T do is startle the animal. No sudden movements or noises. These things are most likely going to end up chasing your subject out of the room in a hurry. You want to be quiet and sneak up on the subject slowly. This gives you the best chance of actually having a subject to shoot.
Action photos are great, but very unpredictable when it comes to pets. If you are lucky enough to catch your cat or dog in the act of playing with some object then don’t wait for him to look at you. Fire away. These make for some very interesting photos.
One way to get your pet to perform for you is to get a family member involved, especially if you have a child or somebody in the family who the pet is very attached to. Many cats and dogs will actually perform tricks for certain family members they are comfortable with. If you can orchestrate the situation then by all means do it. These will become some of the more interesting and entertaining photos you are bound to take.
When photographing pets, you’re going to probably have more “throw away” photos than good ones because of the nature of the subject. So make sure you have plenty of extra film. The last thing you want is for your cat to finally do that trick you were waiting six hours for and you’ve run out of film.
These tips are by no means exhaustive, but they will get you a good jump on getting the jump on your subject, before your subject jumps out of the picture.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Photography
Perhaps you never quite mastered your film camera, but that does not mean that you can not become the master over your digital camera. There are certain things about digital photography that make it easier than that “other” kind of photography.
For one thing, with digital photography, you don’t have to worry about wasting film. You can take as many photographs as you want with a digital camera and not worry about it - as long as you have enough memory in your digital camera. It is a good idea to have extra memory cards (or memory sticks, etc.), just in case. Another great thing is that you can relatively easily touch-up all of your digital photography on your computer.
That being said, you probably don’t want to have to touch up all of your digital photography, nor do you want to have to sort through a hundred similar photographs to find the one that really stands out. It is best to take good digital photographs in the first place.
If you want to warm up you digital photographs as you’re taking them, rather that on the computer at home, why not change your white balance setting from “auto” to “cloudy” when shooting outdoor photographs. This adjustment is like putting a mild warming filter on your digital camera - it increases the reds and yellows.
Polarized shots have richer and more saturated colors. But you may not have a digital camera that accommodates filters. So, instead, you can take a pair of polarized sunglasses and set them as close to the lens as possible. Voila! You will get deep, rich colors.
Another great tip for digital photography is to use your “macro” mode. This allows you to take great photographs from close up. You can get such a clear photo of a flower that you can even see its pollen.
Another great tip for great digital photography includes using a tripod. A tripod will keep your camera steady which will make your photos clearer. Also, play around with the fun things that you’re camera has got. Why not take some photos with the self-timer? Use the portrait mode when taking a portrait and the landscape mode when shooting a landscape. Work with what you’ve got now, and save yourself time fixing up your digital photography on the computer later.
Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching, gardening, and art. For more of her articles on digital photography, visit Digital Cameras and Accessories.
