Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Which Camera ?


Which camera should you choose? Well some folks have only one so that makes it easy. You use what you have. But sometimes we have a choice.

I was recently involved in a very arduous outdoor experience. Taking my big D300 and tripod along with the backpack bag and assorted lenses would have been ideal. But, we were hunting deer and I didn't want to lug all that equipment around while trying to help my grandson fill his tag. I wasn't shooting a film or documentory, but I wanted nice shots to record the event.

One of my backup cameras is a little Kodak EasyShare V1253 point and shoot. It fits in my shirt pocket, takes good close up movies and snapshots, and shoots at 12megapixels. This camera, equipped with a 1gb memory card and a spare battery would be my choice for this trip.

As you can see from the images below, the little Kodak camera has done a great job of capturing our event. The day was very cold and very windy with blowing snow at times. Using the little Kodak in this instance was an advantage over my Nikon D300. A Camera I really like.


The only problem I had with my Kodak was that for some reason it would loose the date and time. Because I didn't have my eye glasses I could not see the menu's to make corrections. This was frustrating and the date stamped on my images is incorrect. I will either crop this or otherwise edit it out on the computer but it's something that should not have happened.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Tips for Digital Nature Photography

Tips For Digital Nature Photography
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Dennis_Oh]Dennis Oh

Digital nature photography is almost always taken outdoors. These are rarely taken indoors since houses and buildings are not really the natural habitat of most wildlife specimens and other nature based photographs. Digital nature photography can be categorized into landscape photography, plant photography, wildlife photography and close up photography pertaining to wildlife and other scenes which may be associated with nature and maybe natural texture. The following nature photography tips work for many pro photographers.

Eye Level

For many photographers, digital nature photography works when they shoot an animal or wildlife subject with the subject's eyes within the eye level of the camera. This kind of angle brings a closer and more personal touch to most photographs. Viewers also appreciate the personal nature of this kind of digital nature photography. The perspective of the photographer should be the same eye level of the subject. An example of this is to photograph a frog on the ground while laying flat on the same level ground, instead of shooting while standing or kneeling. This means that dog's pictures should be taken at their level.

Establishing The Subject

Many pro photographers of digital photography for nature often define what they want to take a picture of before they even start out to look for it. For others, inspiration strikes them while they look at nature. For those with a purpose, it may be best to seek out particular things to take pictures of rather than wait around for inspiration to strike. Making up one's mind regarding what the subject may be will help a person establish what should be in the photograph and what should not be. In digital nature photography, certain angles when taking photographs will bring clutter into the picture. Work out which angles omit clutter or things which are unwanted and then shoot several pictures to pick out the best among them. This is the advantage of digital nature photography; one can shoot many different shots from different angles without the loss of film.

Be At Ease With Nature

This is one of the most important facts of digital nature photography. A person who wishes to take part of digital photography for nature should be at ease with nature itself and be aware of what goes on wherever he or she is. Knowing what to look for may take several exposures to nature such as walking around in the woods or just sitting in one's yard and observing nature as it goes through life.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_Oh http://EzineArticles.com/?Tips-For-Digital-Nature-Photography&id=2996078

Photography Tips

Here are a few things you can do to improve your photography that will apply regardless of what camera you use. These are the basics that every photographer should know and do to get reasonably good pictures out of any camera.

Make sure you have a clean lens. Don't just blow the dust off, but use a clean cloth suitable for cleaning lenses and do it right.

Set up so your camera is stable and won't move as you press the shutter. You can do this a number of ways. If you will be handholding the camera, hold your elbows in against your sides, and stand with your feet apart with one slightly forward of the other. You can also lean against a solid object like a light pole, tree, building or whatever. The best method though is to use a tripod or monopod. I have both but I like to carry the tripod best. If I want to use it as a monopod I just extend only one leg and us it as I would a monopod. I'll add instructions about to how to use these tools later.

Finally the "First" basic thing you need to do is read your manual and learn what all the parts of your camera are for and how to use them. If you understand how your meter works and what white balence is you'll go a long way to getting that shot you want when the light is wierd and you are wondering why your pictures are all dark or yellow instead of like what you saw on the monitor or in the viewfinder.

I'll expand on all these topics in the coming weeks and months so you'll want to check back and see what I've added from time to time.