The economic changes of the past eighteen months or so have led many to start researching on how to make some extra income. So whether you’re trying to supplement your current income to save for something special or you’re looking for the right option for a complete career change, professional photography could be a really viable option.

So how could you profit from photography? There are so many different options in photography and so many different target markets that you could get into if you have the right skills. Now, the availability of on-line tutor assisted photography courses makes this an attainable goal.

The availability of these online courses allows aspiring photographers who would like to turn professional have all the benefits of having a personal tutor, with none of the disadvantages of travelling to lectures, having to attend classes at particular times and having to work to pressurised deadlines. Distance learning based photography courses allows the person who wants to profit from photography to learn, work and study in their own time, and fit their career development around their family and business commitments. It allows participants to stay in their current employment while still developing their skills to change careers, or even to plan for an additional income stream so that they can earn the extra cash for a family holiday, upcoming wedding, or home renovations. Many of the top US financial experts say that if home owners had had an extra $1000 a month spending capacity their home repossessions could have been avoided.

So what areas could you get into if you were to attend an online photography school and develop professional skills that can be turned into hard cash?

Well, one of the most obvious options in Wedding Photography…everyone who’s having a wedding needs a photographer, and people skilled in wedding photography and the related business skills required to run a wedding photography business can earn around $1000 for a SINGLE wedding. You could have all this, doing something that you love doing, while developing a second income stream or going full time.

And how about Glamour photography. Imagine learning how to enhance photographs with lighting, how to set up your own studio, how to get the model to pose correctly, and how to sell your images. You would also need to learn how to edit and improve photographs after they’ve been taken, all very exciting stuff.

Yet, another way to profit from photography is Freelance photography…knowing how to capture, market and sell top quality freelance images….if you learn about current photo markets and who needs your services from the experts, you could save a lot of time and money by trying it trial and error….learn professionally and get access to the knowledge and experience of those who have already done this and understand current market trends. To succeed in Freelance Photography, you need to understand commissioned photography, stock photography, how to research your market, find clients, submit photographs and understand the legal side of the business. But all of these skills can be easily learned at a great on line photography school.

The first step is to learn the basics, whether it’s film photography or digital that you’re most interested in. Then, depending on where your passion lies, move onto learning about black and white photography, or maybe even a course on perfecting the art of taking landscape shots. Whether you just want to focus on one niche market, or you want to become a very versatile professional photographer, there are many excellent online photography schools where you can start to profit from photography.

Copyright (c) 2009 Aileen Gallagher

If you’d like to find out about a photography school that provides excellent online training in some of the areas mentioned in this article, you can do so here: http://www.profitfromphotography.net

Author: Aileen Gallagher
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Buy electrical pressure cooker

A brilliant pianist has no need to look at the ivory, his hands know the way. This is also true with a great photographer, and the best photography programs instill this in their students. While allowing their talent to shine through students with excellent photography skills are able to function with their cameras instinctively. They are so familiar with their equipment and the training is so etched in their mind they are able to simply work, allowing their talent to show itself while the training keeps them on the path of correct procedure.

The following is a short list of schools with excellent photography programs: Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara Ca., Brown College Mendota Heights, MN. Harrington College of Design, Ohio Institute of Photography and Technology, and Briarcliffe College. These are all notable schools that give fine photography training. These schools stay abreast of the latest technology in the business. Students are given the necessary training to keep them competitive in a highly competitive market. The best photography programs prepare a student to walk into any photography situation and go to work.

The best photography programs teach a student to be creative without losing control of the elements needed to make a shoot successful. In the best photography programs students are encouraged to find their comfort zone and expand on it while learning the discipline required for success. The Photography business is extremely competitive and a good photography program does not allow its students to go out without having the skills necessary to compete. Many things are taught in the best photography programs: Video Photography, Film Photography, Visual Journalism, Still Life Photography, Advertising, Portrait, and Commercial Photography.

A student learns and becomes proficient with their technical ability they are able to completely concentrate on there talent while taking care of the other aspects of the photography business. The camera is machinery a photography student must become familiar with; in a sense the camera is his lifeline. In the best photography programs the use of the camera becomes second nature the student has been trained so well.

The camera and the hand of the artist has been the recorder of history for generations. The development of these skills has only come to fruition through training. People become so developed with this skill they almost function without thought of the technical, completely concentrating on the art, the way only an artist can do. The best photography programs have a hand on learning situation, allowing the student to make mistakes with the benefit of professional correction. We get unforgettable movie images and pictures of events that stay with us; this is partly due to reflective genius, and training given by the best photography programs. Photographic excellence is everywhere we look, and many places we don’t.

My name is Allan and I love arts and I conventionally advise students who want the best for their career as photographers to visit high quality reference sites. When they ask me a good place where they can find good art and photography schools in USA, I forewarn them that the best action to take is to look for reference sites instead of visiting art schools and colleges one by one. You can find on Google good references, but I strongly recommend http://www.findyourartschool.com.

Author: Allan Fernandes
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Electrical Pressure Cooker Online

For anyone interested in study at home digital photography classes, there are a wealth of options available on the Internet. From professional online photography schools to free online photography lessons, there are truly more study at home digital photography classes available now than ever. Given that digital photographs are so widely distributed on the Internet, it makes sense that so many online resources are available.

This article will guide you through the three most common options for study at home digital photography classes.

Online Digital Photography Schools

For the serious student of digital photography, there are accredited universities that now offer entire photography degree programs online. The Academy of Art University, founded and based in San Francisco, CA, is one such school that offers a completely online photography degree program.

The major curriculum is heavily focused on digital photography techniques and includes such classes as:

- Digital Photography
- Photo shop for Photographers
- Digital Production for Photographers
- Advanced Digital Printing

In addition to accredited schools that have a diploma program, there are also independent companies that offer certificates and instruction in digital photography. It is important to do some research to see if the company you are considering taking lessons from is an accredited institution that can offer a valid diploma or a private company offering instruction and certificates of completion.

Online Digital Photography Classes

If you are not looking to earn a degree in digital photography but still want to take a course taught by college-level professors, local community colleges and vocational-technical schools generally offer study at home digital photography classes either online or through other distance learning arrangements. Most four year universities also offer adult learning, noncredit courses available on the Internet or by correspondence.

Free Online Digital Photography Lessons, Tips and Articles

There are also a sizable number of free study at home digital photography classes and lessons available on the Internet. Another great thing about these free offerings is that you can pick and choose from many different classes and take the courses or read the articles on your own time.

One especially fantastic free online resource is the site http://www.shortcourses.com. Some of the lessons include:

- Using Your Digital Camera
- Digital Photography
- Displaying & Sharing Your Digital Photos

About.com also has many articles available on their site; you can either search for “digital photography” using their site search tool, or visit http://photography.about.com for general and digital-specific photography lessons, tips and articles. A Google search for “digital photography lessons” will also yield many different results for you to read and learn from.

Conclusion

Thanks to the far reach and convenience of the Internet, study at home digital photography classes and lessons are easily available for you to pursue on your own time. In addition to the resources listed above, you will find that there are many wonderful communities out there that will also guide you in your quest to learn and master the art of digital photography.

Liz Thomas is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about study at home digital photography classes [http://digitalphotographyclassesonline.info/study-at-home-digital-photography-classes/] visit Digital Photography Classes Online [http://digitalphotographyclassesonline.info/] for current articles and discussions.

Author: Liz Thomas
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Advice on AdSense

Commercial Photography – what is it? It is probably best defined as any photography to which money exchanges hands. In this light money could be paid for the subject of the photograph or the photograph itself. Wholesale, retail, and professional uses of photography would fall under this definition. Commercial Photography can be split into different categories:

Advertising Photography: Photographs are taken for the purpose to illustrate and/or sell a service or product. If you are an advertising agency, design firm or in-house corporate design team you do best if you have a good selection of professional photographers to choose from.

Fashion and Glamour Photography: This type of photography usually incorporates models. Fashion photography emphasizes the clothes or product, glamour emphasizes the model. Glamour photography is popular in advertising and in men’s magazines. Models in glamour photography may be nude, but this is not always the case.

Food Photography: Used for editorial, packaging or advertising. Food photography is similar to still life photography, but requires special skills as high quality cameras and lenses, different filters, certain computer software and so on.

Photojournalism: Photographs made in this context are accepted as a documentation of a news story. We see them every day in the magazines and newspapers. Have you ever asked yourself what it needs to take apicture like you see them in a glossy fashion magazine?

Portrait and Wedding Photography: It is a major commercial endeavor that supports the bulk of the efforts for many photography studios or independent photographers. You definitely don’t want that these photographs are not looking good! It’s on of your most important day! Portraits are also a popular item and it takes a pretty good photographer to catch this certain smile, the glance, the typical look on the face. It’s not the photographer in a mall who takes the best shots. Professional photographers take up to 150 different pictures in color, black and white or sepia and out of this amount they take the 20 best which will be presented to you.

Fine Art Photography: Artistic Photographs which are taken to fulfill a vision, and will be reproduced to be sold directly to the customer. Fine Art Photography can be found at exhibitions, at a museum or in our directory.

Landscape Photography: Photographs of different locations made to be sold as postcards, for calendars, as posters and for touristic purposes.
Wildlife Photography: It is capturing all kinds of interesting animals in action, such as in eating, fighting, or in flight. The techniques of wildlife photography differ greatly from those used in landscape photography. In wildlife photography wide apertures are used to achieve a fast shutter speed, freeze the subject’s motion, and blur the backgrounds, while landscape photographers prefer small apertures. Wildlife is also usually shot with long telephoto lenses from a great distance; the use of such telephoto lenses frequently necessitates the use of a tripod (since the longer the lens, the harder it is to handhold). Many wildlife photographers use blinds or camouflage.

This was a small summary of some photography styles which are supposed to be the most important ones. The market for photographic services is very big and not everyone who owns an expensive camera can call himself a professional photographer. If you need photographs for self-fulfillment or for commercial purposes you deserve the best professional photographer. And it is possible.

Discover our US-Nationwide directory for professional photographers and hire your favorite photographer for FREE.

- Go here: http://www.FindPhotographers.us

Author: Gabriele Utz
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Canada duty

From exotic locales to magazine covers to newspapers, a career in photography will allow you to unleash your creativity and to choose exactly how you want to pursue it.

What Can Photography Schools Do For You?

These schools essentially help you to develop creative and artistic skills, along with the technical abilities that are necessary for you to become a professional photographer. Students can pursue lucrative and satisfying careers by blending photography and art to fit their specific interests. The courses provided are wide-ranging and technical, and provide training in the use and care of cameras, and in handling the intricacies of film development.

The training includes instructions on conventional cameras and other equipment, digital photos, types of lenses, length of exposures and the various techniques used for developing prints. Several universities and colleges award degrees in photography such as Associate of Arts (AA), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA). In addition, some schools provide graduate level courses for certificates in photography with advanced techniques. Students can select photography as either a major or a minor subject, or they can choose special photography classes simply to pursue their interests.

These schools encourage and develop originality, creativity, resourcefulness, personal expression and individual style through their training programs. The curriculum consists of digital and film techniques, lighting, camera basics, portraiture, fine arts, digital imaging software, and composition and darkroom printing techniques.

Many schools also offer courses in illustration, documentary film making techniques, designing, commercial advertising, presentation skills, business skills, photojournalism, and how to set up a studio for aspiring photographers. Photography school graduates can specialize in sports, marketing, news, portraiture and several other professions within the vast field of photography. Bachelor and Associate Degrees provide entry-level positions as artists, technicians, and assistants in commercial photography.

Careers in Photography If you acquire a comprehensive basic education from any school or college, then here are a few of the fields you can specialize in:

o Digital Photography

o Fashion Photography

o Editorial Photography

o Advertising Photography

o Wedding Photography

o Documentary Style Photography

o Photo Technician

For gifted people who are naturally talented, photography as a career can be very lucrative and bring fame. Indeed, many professional photographers have reached the top of this field, and are highly sought after for their services. Here are a few careers in photography that students can pursue:

o Newspaper and Magazine Photographer – Although freelance photography is more lucrative, photographers who are just getting started can make a name for themselves through newspapers and magazines.

o Advertising Agencies – In advertising agencies, photographers make ads for various campaigns. You can grow in this field and even become an art director or a supervisor for operations.

o Fashion Shooting – Working in fashion shoots involves hard work, but is a stimulating experience. Photographers conceptualize and direct the shoots. Many fashion houses employ photographers.

o Event Photographer – Events like weddings and concerts or debuts require photographers to document the function.

o Freelance Photographer – Freelance photography is a challenging but satisfying and exciting career. There are a number of international organizations like the UNICEF that hire professional photographers to make various documentaries in remote areas.

Photography careers are as artistically rewarding as they are profitable. For all those with a creative bent of mind and an artistic eye, a career in photography can open a wide vista of opportunities.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions – Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Author: Tony Jacowski
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Excise Tax

Digital photography may be one of the late 20th century’s most innovative technologies. It is about half the cost of traditional photography, with the results being of equal or better quality. You waste nothing; there’s no film required, and since you only print the pictures you need, digital photography is both cost effective and environmentally friendly. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of digital photography is the idea of showing pictures to people wherever they are, as long as they have a computer and an internet connection.

Photography

Photography is a popular hobby, pastime, or even a career for many people. Photography has come a long way since its early days and its popularity has not waned. In fact, digital photography is becoming even more popular and it is slowly replacing film photography, especially in professional environments. Even for experienced photographers, the move to digital capture brings with it a significant learning curve.

The Digital Camera

A digital camera is, in effect, a little computer. Picture quality varies from camera to camera. The quality of digital cameras has increased over the years, yet many people feel it isn’t quite as good as a regular camera yet. When you’re shopping for a digital camera keep in mind that it doesn’t matter how much your camera costs, or how big it is. You’re looking for the camera you’re happy with, and that is what’s most important. One of the things I like about digital cameras is that, unlike film, you can reuse the storage media over and over again with no extra cost. If you’ve ever used a film camera, you will remember how annoying it was that you could only store a few pictures on the film, without the ability to delete them once they were made.

The Digital Age

In a sense, digital photography adds a whole new step to photography. It is no longer just photography, it is digitally post-processed photography. The digital age has brought about the greatest transformation in photography since photography was invented.

Conclusion

Digital and traditional photography are complimentary arts. They each have their respective places in the lives of amateur and professional photographers. The skills acquired in traditional photography will definitely be passed on to the digital world. We can easily see that the world of photography has room for both digital photography and traditional photography. Let’s just hope that digital and traditional photographers can make the best of both worlds and continue to produce great work. After all, digital photography is just another tool of modernization in an ever-changing world.

Connitta Bowers has been an avid photographer for many years. For additional articles and information on photography please visit us at: http://www.squidoo.com/digitalcamerablog

Author: Connitta Bowers
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Import duty tariff

If you are like many, you have an interest in developing the background and skills necessary to enter the field of photography as career. And what a great career it can be. There is nothing more gratifying than creating a powerful image with your camera and a keen eye. Of course, in order to achieve your goal it is important that you get the right photographic education along with effective coaching and mentoring. With the right education, lots of hard work, and many hours of practice you will soon have the title of professional photographer.

Just like any school you will need to do your research to make sure that the photography school you select will best meet your individual needs. This article is intended to provide you several of the key areas that you should take into consideration as you begin to research good photography schools. After all it is your time and money so you owe it to yourself to make a well educated selection.

In choosing a photography school you should start by looking at the big picture. The selection of a photography school must be aligned with your specific career goals. As with any business field photography presents many opportunities in a wide range of categories. For example, you may have an interest in portrait photography, product advertising, or sports photography. At this point you may be focused more on the general aspects of photography and if so that is okay. But, if you have an area of interest it is worth your investment in time to determine the areas of specialization your short list of photography schools may have to offer. It would also be beneficial if your school of choice provides courses in general business in addition to the photography classes. This will aid you as you move from student to professional status.

I am sure you already know this but I will say it any way. Professional photography is more than point-and-shoot method for making a living. It requires an attention to detail and a wide range of skills including mathematics, business management, marketing and more. So make sure that the photography school you select can provide you the knowledge you need in the area of general business education too. Since many photographers eventually go into business on their own you will find these to be extremely valuable survival skills that will lend to your success.

It is always wise to inquire about the size of the class as well as the ratio of students to teacher. To many people in photography class can really be a hindrance toward proper learning. And it will also prohibit the instructor from providing effective hands-on supervision to each of the students.

Another skill area that should be considered is in the area of computers and you should determine if the photography school of choice provides learning in this area as well. A good photography school needs to have courses on basic computer use as well as more advance courses for those who have an interest in expanding their knowledge of digital photography as well as specialty software used for creating a digital darkroom. Since the field of photography is a very competitive it is imperative that you gain education and knowledge in this area as well.

Lastly, keep in mind that any education will have a price tag associated with it. So unless you just happen to have all of your photography education funding in hand it is worth while to determine if the schools provide scholarships or other forms of financial assistance for their students. Also keep in mind that you will more than likely need to invest in some of your own photography equipment. So I would recommend that you ask for a listing of equipment that the photography school offers to their students as well as a listing of equipment that you need to buy. This will aid you in determining the total cost of your education.

Hopefully, these recommendations will help you build your list of investigation questions so that you can make a wise and well educated decision. Choosing the right school is just as important as having a good view of where you want to go. And the right school is the best way to help you get there.

To Your Success as a Professional Photographer!

Did you know that you can continue learning about Photography for Free? Find out exactly how easy it is to improve your skills and knowledge and continue your photographic education at: [http://Photography.Your-Portal.info] Photography – For the Average Guy!

Author: Rick Calligaris
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
News of Solar Power and Alternative Engery

For sports enthusiasts, there’s nothing more exciting than sports people playing their favourite game. The sight of the field, rink or golf course initiates the thrill and anticipation. This, combined with digital photography, can provide some amazing photographic opportunities. However it’s not a matter of point the camera at the person diving for the ball or puck and snapping away. It’s a lot more complicated than that.

In digital photography sports can be quite challenging. The sports people do not present an easy task of being photographed because of the amount of high movement. However, you can indeed achieve great sports digital photography. Most excellent sports digital photography requires good planning and execution.

Here are some exclusive tips for gaining fantastic sports shots in your digital photography.

First things first; know your digital camera. I recommend taking note and practicing first all the settings that sports photography needed. You may find yourself going for the faster shutter speed, increased ISO and burst mode. Let’s take a look at all these things on your digital camera and see how they can be applied to give you sensational sports photos.

High shutter speeds:
As with all moving objects, in order to capture the “frozen in time” look in digital photography a fast shutter speed is required. The faster the movement the fast the shutter speed will need to be. In digital photography the general consensus is that the shutter speed needs to be faster than that of the subject. For example if you have a sliding puck across ice and there is a someone about to take a dive for it then its necessary to quickly mentally assess how fast that person might be traveling at. If they are traveling at approximately 50 kilometers (approx 32 miles) per hour then you may find a very fast shutter speed is needed for this digital photo.

A very fast shutter speed in digital photography may be anything from 500th of a second or higher. For high speed movement you may want to consider an even faster shutter speed of 1000th of a second or something in that range.

Keep in mind that in digital photography a fast shutter speed works to reduce some of the light which is why a higher ISO is often necessary. (I’ll talk about that in a minute.) Usually a if a ball, such as a baseball going at around 145 kilometers an hour (90.09 miles per hour) a shutter speed of around 1/4000 will get you that “suspended ball in mid air” type of photo. For physical movement, such as someone leaping to catch a football, a shutter speed of 1/500 or over is a good place to start.

Now this is all very well if your scene if well lit. But what if you are taking your digital photography shots indoors at night and the light is not quite enough to provide enough light? In most instances, an indoor stadium at night time will be well lit, but that doesn’t always ensure good digital photos. In sports photography we need to understand that we can only control the artistic value and input of our digital photo and the control of the camera. We can’t control the lighting on the scene being such a public event. In digital photography sports photos we must realize that it’s going to be a challenge to begin with. So here are something’s you can in your digital sports photography to increase the amount of light.

If you have a light tool on your digital camera such as a histogram you can get a good idea of what the light levels are like on your sensor. With this handy tool you can adjust the ISO at the time of your pictures taking.

Increase your ISO: A high ISO in digital photography simply means the sensitivity to light that your digital camera has. In a nutshell the more ISO you have increased the image to, the less light the sensor needs. In sports photography an ISO of 400 or higher can work really well. The downside to this is that it does increase noise. To combat this you can use noise reduction software in the post editing process such as Noise Ninja or increase the LAB mode in the post editing process. Don’t be afraid to try a few shots at 400, 800 and even as high as 1600.

Burst mode:
In most sports digital photography this will be one of the settings you will turn to. Burst mode is also known as ‘continuous shooting’. This ‘continuous’ shooting mode allows you to get a sequence of shoots in succession. You can increase your chances of getting that ideal “split second perfect shot” that you might not be able to get by pre-emption or in normal shooting. This also works so beautifully if your digital camera has a painfully long lag time. I’ve used this so many times to get around the high lag my Sony Cyber shot has got. Some cameras have 3 frames per second and some go up to 12 frames per second. You simply select this mode and hold your finger on the shutter button and it will fire off as many shots in 1 second as it can.

Okay so I’ve been talking about your digital camera and the setting’s used for ideal sports digital photography, so what about any external equipment? If you have been thinking about this you’re spot on. You can take as much time with your settings but there’s not much point if you can’t get close to the action. There’s no point having a picture with perfect lighting and perfect action if the players are like dots on a sheet of paper. You need a good telephoto lens if you can’t get close up. A telephoto lens brings you closer because of its long distance capability. It will get you closer to the action but will need a faster shutter speed.

Many fantastic sports digital photos are taken with an emphasis on a very fast shutter speed, an f stop of around the 2.8 mark to blur the background and focus in on the subject. You may find that if your sportsperson is visually separated from the background and you take the digital photograph with a telephoto lens you’ll have a more shallow depth of field which can give you a more powerful feeling in your digital photo. You can get away with a good optical zoom lens, but you’ll get far better digital sports shots with a proper telephoto.

So what about the artistic side of sports photography with your digital camera? Plenty!

Pre-emption and Emotion is the key to good art.
When taking sports photography you probably won’t find a more public display of human emotion. The emotions of a sports person range from intense anticipation to extreme disappointment or extreme exhilaration. Pre-empting when these emotions take place is they key to getting artistic and impressive sports photos. This comes with practicing your digital photography.

SO much pressure is placed on our athletes, expecting them to perform so we can enjoy the show and the investors can enjoy their returns. This is another reason why I say to get a telephoto lens so you can capture the emotions on their faces and their body language. It makes for superb photography. For ideas on ice hockey, have a look at some ice hockey images that are great study tools.

Don’t just look at these digital photos, you must study them. Take on the attitude that studying sports photography will improve your digital sports photos ten fold. You will have a style to emulate and copy to start with then eventually, when you become confident, you’ll start to adopt your own style.

Happy shooting,
Amy Renfrey

To study digital sports photography check these sites out: http://www.espn.com and http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Amy Renfrey is the author of two major successful ebooks ?Digital Photography Success? and ?Advanced Digital Photography?. She is a photographer and also teaches digital photography. Her educational ebooks takes the most complex photography terms and turns them into easy to understand language so that anyone, at any level of photography, can easily move to a semi-professional level of skill in just a very short time. She?s photographed many things from famous musicians (Drummers for Prince and Anastasia) to weddings and portraits of babies. Amy also teaches photography online to her students which can be found at http://www.DigitalPhotographySuccess.com

Author: Amy Renfrey
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
US Dollar credit card

Choosing the Right Digital SLR for Your Nature Photography

It is very true that it doesn’t matter what equipment you use — it’s what you do with the camera that matters. However, there is no question that when you’re hiking through a thick jungle in the middle of central america you want to pack light. Even though the Nikon D2x has the prestige of being Nikon’s premier “PRO” camera, you may not find it’s the best fit for your nature work.

One of the first things you need to consider is how you’re going to use the pictures. Look up the magazines you want to publish your work. Send in for “submission guidelines” and find out their minimum mega pixel count. The same is true for stock agencies — browse around and decide which place you’d ultimately like to sell your work. Many organizations have their submission guideliens published on their websites. If you’re more interested in learning and doing nature photography for your own pleasure then by all means buy the less expensive models. There’s nothing wrong with a camera that takes a 5 or 6 megapixel image. You’ll still be able to blow it up to poster size if you want a special print made.

Choosing the Right Digital SLR for Your Nature Photography

It is very true that it doesn’t matter what equipment you use — it’s what you do with the camera that matters. However, there is no question that when you’re hiking through a thick jungle in the middle of central america you want to pack light. Even though the Nikon D2x has the prestige of being Nikon’s premier “PRO” camera, you may not find it’s the best fit for your nature work.

One of the first things you need to consider is how you’re going to use the pictures. Look up the magazines you want to publish your work. Send in for “submission guidelines” and find out their minimum mega pixel count. The same is true for stock agencies — browse around and decide which place you’d ultimately like to sell your work. Many organizations have their submission guideliens published on their websites. If you’re more interested in learning and doing nature photography for your own pleasure then by all means buy the less expensive models. There’s nothing wrong with a camera that takes a 5 or 6 megapixel image. You’ll still be able to blow it up to poster size if you want a special print made.

Magnification – Use it to your Advantage

For wildlife photographers in particular, the one advantage of shooting with any Nikon digital camera these days is the magnification factor. Rather than create a sensor the same size as one frame of 35mm film, Nikon and most other digital SLR camera manufacturers decided to create a sensor that is smaller than the 24x36mm standard frame of the older film models. Having a smaller sensor means you aren’t going to capture all the information on the left and right and top and bottom of the frame. This may sound really bad… but there is no need to worry about what you haven’t captured because the viewfinder has been adjusted so that what you see optically is what is captured in the digital file.

The result is that the camera multiplies the magnification of all the lenses. Nikon’s magnification (depending on the camera you use) is around 1.5x. That means a 300mm lens is now magnified to 450mm. This is great news for wildlife photographers. The only drawback is that wider angle lenses (like a 17mm wide angle becomes a 25.5mm not-as-wide-angle lens. However, landscape photographers still have some options. I’ll get to those in a bit.

Choosing the Right Lenses

Unfortunately, no one can tell you which lenses to buy or “how to build the perfect SLR system for nature photography.” Again, it depends on the kinds of photos you like to take, your personal preference and the market where you want to sell your image.

The great advantage of Nikon cameras is that you can use older lenses on your body. This allows a lot more freedom of choice and means you can get really amazing older lenses at shockingly affordable prices.

I’ll give you an example. One of my favorite lenses is a 300mm f4 manual focus prime lens from the 1970s. It cost only $350 CAD (meaning it would be much less expensive in American dollars) and the glass is still ED! Nikon especially developed ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass to provide pricise optical colour correction. This special glass (not available in all Nikon lenses) provides the sharp, clear resolution required for superb photographs. The other advantage (at least for me since I generally hike to find wildlife) is that it weighs less and packs small.

Another example — the 50mm 1.4 auto focus lens (that’s right f1.4!) sells for only $166 CAD (again, much less in American dollars). It’s actually an 80mm on your body. That means you have a prime lens at 80mm that can take pictures in the darkest settings. And, because Nikon has been perfecting its 50mm lenses since its inception as a company (Nikon used to include a 50mm on all its bodies until well into the late 1980s), it’s one of Nikon’s very best lenses. It’s cheap because 50mm on a 35mm camera is kind of pooey. But 80mm on a digial camera is marvelous. edit
edit caption:
Magnification – Use it to your Advantage

For wildlife photographers in particular, the one advantage of shooting with any Nikon digital camera these days is the magnification factor. Rather than create a sensor the same size as one frame of 35mm film, Nikon and most other digital SLR camera manufacturers decided to create a sensor that is smaller than the 24x36mm standard frame of the older film models. Having a smaller sensor means you aren’t going to capture all the information on the left and right and top and bottom of the frame. This may sound really bad… but there is no need to worry about what you haven’t captured because the viewfinder has been adjusted so that what you see optically is what is captured in the digital file.

The result is that the camera multiplies the magnification of all the lenses. Nikon’s magnification (depending on the camera you use) is around 1.5x. That means a 300mm lens is now magnified to 450mm. This is great news for wildlife photographers. The only drawback is that wider angle lenses (like a 17mm wide angle becomes a 25.5mm not-as-wide-angle lens. However, landscape photographers still have some options. I’ll get to those in a bit.

Choosing the Right Lenses for your Style of Nature Photography

Unfortunately, no one can tell you which lenses to buy or “how to build the perfect SLR system for nature photography.” Again, it depends on the kinds of photos you like to take, your personal preference and the market where you want to sell your image.

The great advantage of Nikon cameras is that you can use older lenses on your body. This allows a lot more freedom of choice and means you can get really amazing older lenses at shockingly affordable prices.

I’ll give you an example. One of my favorite lenses is a 300mm f4 manual focus prime lens from the 1970s. It cost only $350 CAD (meaning it would be much less expensive in American dollars) and the glass is still ED! Nikon especially developed ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass to provide pricise optical colour correction. This special glass (not available in all Nikon lenses) provides the sharp, clear resolution required for superb photographs. The other advantage (at least for me since I generally hike to find wildlife) is that it weighs less and packs small.

Another example — the 50mm 1.4 auto focus lens (that’s right f1.4!) sells for only $166 CAD (again, much less in American dollars). It’s actually an 80mm on your body. That means you have a prime lens at 80mm that can take pictures in the darkest settings. And, because Nikon has been perfecting its 50mm lenses since its inception as a company (Nikon used to include a 50mm on all its bodies until well into the late 1980s), it’s one of Nikon’s very best lenses. It’s cheap because 50mm on a 35mm camera is kind of pooey. But 80mm on a digial camera is marvelous.

Lenses – Pros and Cons

While I can’t tell you the right lenses to buy for your particualr needs… I can give you some feedback/impressions about the particular lenses I am using or have used in the past.

Nikkor 10.5mm f2.8 Fisheye: I never thought such a specialized lens could provide me with so much use. For more information, I’ve written a short article about how to use a fisheye lens in your nature photography athttp://www.naturestocklibrary.com/gallery/2472892

Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom – This lens is all right. I bought it as a kit lens a long time ago and it’s served well for the wider range. I wish I had saved pennies and purchased a 2.8 that offered a wider range (like a 12mm to 25mm).

Tamron 17-35mm f2.8: This is a great lens but, alas, I purchased it for a film camera and the magnification on my digital body means that it isn’t that useful in my photography right now. I’m planning on selling it (along with my other wide angle) and buying a 2.8 that has a wider range so I can do more with landscape photography.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF – This is the same lens I discussed earlier. It’s small, has a low price tag, allows you to shoot in really dark situations and it’s an 80mm on a digital camera. You really can’t go wrong.

Nikkor Nikon 80-200mm f2.8D ED AF Zoom – This is a fantastic lens that stays at 2.8 no matter if you are shooting at 80 or 200mm. Again, magnification means it’s actually a 300mm zoom. Zooms are great because you can adjust your focus distance depending on where your subject is located. Not so great with subjects that are always far away (like the macaws seen here), but really awesome for docile wildlife like deer. It also has a macro function that works beautifully.

Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D AF Micro, or 105 Micro for short – This is probably Nikon’s most used macro lens, probably because the lens can serve triple duty. First of all, it is a macro photography lens and it allows you to take photographs at a 1:1 reproduction ratio (on a 35mm body), which means that a 24 by 36 mm subject will fill the entire frame. Second, it makes a very good general purpose short telephoto lens. Third, it is also at least a very reasonable portrait lens (although, with magnification it may be too much of a telephoto on a digital SLR). I really love this lens for macro photography.

Nikkor 300mm f4 manual focus – While a “prime” lens doesn’t offer the flexibilty of a zoom… it’s still an ideal choice for getting the best results in your work. This is the same lens I discussed earlier and, considering it cost only $350, it’s light & the focusing is so smooth, it’s one of my favorite lenses. I never leave home without it.

Nikkor 600mm f5.6 manual focus ED Glass – Again, I paid a lot less for this lens (which is actually a hefty 900mm on a digital body and also has the famous Nikon ED glass!!) because it’s an older model and it’s manual focus. I spent $1,599 USD – but consider that a newer model would go for at least $5,000 to $25,000, depending on the f stop. Some may argue that 5.6 is a bit too narrow of an f stop but I find the compression with telephoto lenses means that I wouldn’t want to shoot a 900mm subject with anything wider than 5.6 (2.8 would make the focus far too shallow on such a far away subject). Although… for closer subjects 2.8 is magic!

In the past, I have also used the Sigma 70-300mm 3.5-5.6 and the Tamron 200-400mm 3.5-5.6 and both served well as affordable zooms while I was learning about photography. I have since sold them to pay for the lenses I currently use.

Lenses – Pros and Cons

While I can’t tell you the right lenses to buy for your particualr needs… I can give you some feedback/impressions about the particular lenses I am using or have used in the past.

• Nikkor 10.5mm f2.8 Fisheye: I never thought such a specialized lens could provide me with so much use. For more information, I’ve written a short article about how to use a fisheye lens in your nature photography at http://www.naturestocklibrary.com/gallery/2472892
• Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom – This lens is all right. I bought it as a kit lens a long time ago and it’s served well for the wider range. I wish I had saved pennies and purchased a 2.8 that offered a wider range (like a 12mm to 25mm).
• Tamron 17-35mm f2.8: This is a great lens but, alas, I purchased it for a film camera and the magnification on my digital body means that it isn’t that useful in my photography right now. I’m planning on selling it (along with my other wide angle) and buying a 2.8 that has a wider range so I can do more with landscape photography.
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF – This is the same lens I discussed earlier. It’s small, has a low price tag, allows you to shoot in really dark situations and it’s an 80mm on a digital camera. You really can’t go wrong.
• Nikkor Nikon 80-200mm f2.8D ED AF Zoom – This is a fantastic lens that stays at 2.8 no matter if you are shooting at 80 or 200mm. Again, magnification means it’s actually a 300mm zoom. Zooms are great because you can adjust your focus distance depending on where your subject is located. Not so great with subjects that are always far away (like the macaws seen here), but really awesome for docile wildlife like deer. It also has a macro function that works beautifully.
• Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D AF Micro, or 105 Micro for short – This is probably Nikon’s most used macro lens, probably because the lens can serve triple duty. First of all, it is a macro photography lens and it allows you to take photographs at a 1:1 reproduction ratio (on a 35mm body), which means that a 24 by 36 mm subject will fill the entire frame. Second, it makes a very good general purpose short telephoto lens. Third, it is also at least a very reasonable portrait lens (although, with magnification it may be too much of a telephoto on a digital SLR). I really love this lens for macro photography.
• Nikkor 300mm f4 manual focus – While a “prime” lens doesn’t offer the flexibilty of a zoom… it’s still an ideal choice for getting the best results in your work. This is the same lens I discussed earlier and, considering it cost only $350, it’s light & the focusing is so smooth, it’s one of my favorite lenses. I never leave home without it.
• Nikkor 600mm f5.6 manual focus ED Glass – Again, I paid a lot less for this lens (which is actually a hefty 900mm on a digital body and also has the famous Nikon ED glass!!) because it’s an older model and it’s manual focus. I spent $1,599 USD – but consider that a newer model would go for at least $5,000 to $25,000, depending on the f stop. Some may argue that 5.6 is a bit too narrow of an f stop but I find the compression with telephoto lenses means that I wouldn’t want to shoot a 900mm subject with anything wider than 5.6 (2.8 would make the focus far too shallow on such a far away subject). Although… for closer subjects 2.8 is magic!
• In the past, I have also used the Sigma 70-300mm 3.5-5.6 and the Tamron 200-400mm 3.5-5.6 and both served well as affordable zooms while I was learning about photography. I have since sold them to pay for the lenses I currently use.

Why I LOVE and Highly Recommend Manual Focus

I used to be terrified of focusing manually. On most auto focus lenses, the focus ring is small and more difficult to use… also there’s something really easy about just allowing your camera to do the focusing work for you. I was afraid I couldn’t react quickly enough to moving subjects and that I wouldn’t be as good as my camera’s auto focus. Now I see the errors of my ways.

For wildlife (or people), you want to make sure the main subject’s eyes are in perfect focus. You won’t be able to sell any image if the eyes aren’t in focus. If you shoot a subject 10 feet away at 2.8 and use auto focus, the camera will choose the object closer to the camera (usually the nose, cheek, or eye brow… not the eye itself). A 2.8 aperture means that you will have such a soft depth of field that the eyes will appear out of focus. The older (and more affordable) manual focus lenses have the most beautiful focusing rings you’ve ever seen. I find it much easier to use manual focus on my 300mm f4 lens from the 1970s than my newer autofocus 80-200mm zoom (using the auto focus feature). Unfortuately, I find the focusing ring on the newer models a little bit pooey… but I did want to make the case for why I think manual focus lenses from the 1970s are the greatest things since sliced bread!

Rule of Thumb for Fast Subjects

You may already be aware that your shutter speed should be at least the same as the distance of your lens. For instance, you need to shoot at least 1/300th of a second if you are using a 300mm lens or hand shake will make your picture look really blurry. And anything larger than 300mm should be put on a tripod (preferably one with a ball head for wildlife work). With magnification, you may be able to get away with shooting a 300mm (a 450mm on your digital) hand-held… at 1/450th of a second or higher…)in a pinch… but investing in a good ball head tripod will really improve your results if your lens is higher than 300mm.

Back on the subject of pairing your shutter speed with lens distance… if you are currently shooting P or Auto it’s a good idea to change to shutter priority instead. If you’re shooting with a 200mm make sure your shutter is set at 1/300 because of the magnification. All modern digital cameras will then set the aperture to pair with the shutter speed. At the same time, practicing photography on manual settings is always a good idea because it will offer you greater control.

I could write for days about shooting nature and wildlife photography with Nikon equipment but I’ll stop for now. You’re welcome to read more of my nature photography articles online at http://www.naturestocklibrary.com/Wildlife%20Photography%20Articles.

Christina Craft is a professional wildlife and nature photographer living in beautiful Victoria British Columbia. She has a diploma from the Western Academy of Photography where she won the school’s highest honour – “Best Overall Student.” She also has a master’s degree in journalism. You can find out more about her and see examples of her work at http://www.naturestocklibrary.com

Author: Christina Craft
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Creditcard Currency Conversion Fee

As we have discussed there are many avenues open to a professional photographer. Some actually graduate from the world of business into corporate photography. Corporate photography has many facets; it is used for publicity, in the form of advertisements; for public relations, for historical purposes, and for in-house brochures. Some corporate photographers can work for the same company for many years. They cover special events in the companies’ history, as well as being as in some cases an important aspect of industrial history. The history of the steamboat, the transition from the Agrarian to the Industrial revolution has all been captured on film.

Not only industrial history but history has been captured on film. War photographers usually by press photographers’ have captured history.

In the 1940′s Ansel Adam’s was probably the best-known American photographer. He captured images of the enforced internment of American citizen’s of Japanese descent at the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California. These prints record history in another way as the Photographic Division of the Library of Congress show digital scans of his negatives as well as his prints; this allows a student to study his dark room techniques.

The art of action photography is a specialised art that presents unique challenges, requiring both technical skills in capturing a moving image, as well as knowledge of the activity you are photographing. A sense of timing is vital as well as having the ability to pre-focus. Some types of photography has peak moments, such as the hour before dusk, action photography has peak milliseconds! Your sense of timing has to be well developed to know when this is going to be, because you have to shoot a millisecond before that to give the camera time to actually shoot. This is where knowledge of the activity is very helpful to allow you to anticipate the peak second. However, this is a very specialised aspect of the photography business, your techniques can be improved. Sport photography is easier than moving wildlife, or breaking news stories, as it is more predictable in its outcome. Common sense is fairly important with your positioning, you need an interesting backdrop, as well as a place that allows you to make best use of ambient light, be it also to keep yourself in a position of safety. The Pulitzer Prize for photography is no use to anyone when they are dead. Often these skills can be refined at amateur sporting events, where you do not need a press pass.

Another specialist type of photography is underwater photography, partly because you also need to be a qualified diver and partly because the equipment is specialised. It is possible to take shots underwater, with a normal camera, but amphibious cameras, get better results, unfortunately they are expensive, with a lot of things to learn and the possibility of very expensive repairs. As with action photography this is best left to the specialist and it is not a feasible option, unless you work in this media for the majority of your time. The sea can be a dangerous medium to work in, and it presents special challenges such as night, and wreck photography, as well as drift photography, all of which challenge both your diving skills as well as your technical skills.

Scientific photographers take images of a variety of subjects to illustrate or record scientific or medical data using knowledge of scientific procedures. They typically possess additional knowledge in areas such as engineering, medicine, biology, or chemistry. Often the photography of this type of record is an adjunct to a scientific career.

Assignment photography is the delivery of material for a specific assignment, often with limited appeal. It includes portrait photography, as well as wedding photography. Portrait photographers often have their own studios, as their clients come to them to have a formal portrait photographed. SLR digital cameras are often preferred to do this type of work, as there are more opportunities to “view real timework”, you do not have to wait for the negatives to be printed to see if you have created a shadow on the face with a hat. Also they can be retouched, pixel-by-pixel, which means the small time imperfections can be glossed over. The adage the camera does not lie has never been completely true, but in today’s world is even less so. A portrait photographer has the opportunity to go out on assignment and covers events such as weddings, and christenings.

Photo Journalism is another branch of photography that covers the breaking of various events; it can be general, on a local paper, covering local events such as school plays etc. International freelancers often cover specific areas such as war photography. Press photographers are often characterized under the banner of “journalism”, as they collect, edit and present news material, yet despite this they use images to tell a news story.

It is distinguished from documentary photography, street photography and the photographing of celebrities because they have a timeline in that they tell a story in a chronological order. A narrative to further complete the story nearly always accompanies the work. Implicit to a degree in this type of work is a level of objectivity rather than creativity, as the images are recording real events in real time. For these reasons it differs from a wedding photographer, even though in theory he covers an event in real time and for publication.

A further aspect of photography is the “celebrity” and “Society” photographer. The two are distinguishable, though the person being photographed can fall in both categories. The society photographer may be also a photojournalist himself. In Europe at least the Society photographer, is nearly always of the same class, partly on the ground that they have the “breeding” to cover such events, which may be Wimbledon, or the Melbourne Cup, or even a charity-raising gala. It is implicit that the Photographer has permission to take the photograph. That’s quite different to the inherent distaste often applied to the methods used by the celebrity photographer, whilst at the same time the public retain an insatiable desire to be able to see the photographs. Celebrity photographers are often these days called paparazzi, after a famous Italian photographer known for his dogged determination to trail after celebrities, and publish photographs taken in an unguarded moment.

This article has been supplied courtesy of Roy Barker. Roy often writes and works closely with Profitable Photography Business. This site is dedicated to coaching you in starting your own photography business but places a strong emphasis on profitability issues & guidelines. You can also gain many photography resources (some free) from Digital Photography If you seek further guides, helpful hints, articles and news, you can go to http://www.photography-business-tips.com which also has a Photographers Forum for exchange of views with other photographers.

Author: Roy Barker
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Anti-angiogenic Food