|
Using Film Speed Effectively (Black & White Film Thoughts)
It's hard to find sometimes but it's making a resurgence, black and white film. If you've never used this film now is the time to try it out. Here are some tips to using b&w film and what you can expect from the results. 1. Forget color. This is the hardest thing to do and the number one reason that you will not get good results with b&w film. 2. Look for contrast. Once you can ignore color look for contrast. You will want your image to have a bit more contrast than you would normally want in a color image. 3. Consider shooting situations that are more formal. Black and white film gives such a wonderful timelessness to an image and it's perfect for formal situations. 4. Keep your photos simple. Black and white film simplifies so don't fight it. Keep the images simple by keeping close to your subject or place your subject against a simple back drop. 5. Babies and pets look great on b&w film. Place the pet or baby on a white background and you'll be stunned at the beautiful results. Black and white film creates a timeless simple look. It's wonderful for portraits and formal events. After shooting a few rolls of b&w you'll notice that you start to pay attention to composition of your image more, since you don't have to worry about color. If you're just learned photography try using b&w film for awhile it will help you teach yourself good composition. Think of light and dark, black and white, and good composition and you'll find that b&w film could be a whole new hobby for you. Copyright 2004 Kelly Paal Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently she started her own business Kelly Paal Photography (www.kellypaalphotography.com). She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. She enjoys applying graphic design and photography principles to her web design.
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Creating Printable Photo Greeting Cards STAY CONNECTED WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. Seven Ways for Saving Your Digital Images Forever! So, you have taken lots of pictures with your new digital camera, the memory card is full, and you are wondering how to store and archive your images. The Primer on Digital Camera Printers Once you have clicked photos through your digital camera, then the next step is to turn these 'virtual' images into real photos. One way is to send the memory card to a digital photo laboratory and get the images developed there. But if you click digital photos on a regular basis, then it is better that you buy yourself a digital camera printer, or more commonly known as a digital photo printer. 9 Tips For Taking Great Digital Photos Introduction Let Those Digital Photos Out! (You Don?t Have To Print Them Yourself) What have you done with the photos you've taken with your digital camera? Hands up if they are languishing on your hard drive waiting to be printed. If your hand is up you are not alone. Well I have my hand up too! But I've promised myself that two years worth of digital photography will see the light of day before Christmas. How to Easily Start Up Your Own New Photography Business From Home With modern technology in the form of SLR digital cameras, you do not even need the room for a dark room. You need only to have a personal computer and a photo-editing program. The standard is Adobe Photoshop. A Guide to Disposable Digital Cameras Disposable Cameras (also called single-use cameras) first came on the market as film cameras. You would take the entire camera back where you bought it and they would crack it open, take out the film and process it, resulting in photos that were virtually indistinguishable from photos taken with a more conventional camera. Now, following the trends in conventional cameras, there is a choice between using film or digital disposable cameras. The Truth About Pixels, Part 2-1: Printing 4x3 Inch Photos Why is a 3 megapixel camera better than a 1 megapixel camera? It really depends on how you intend to reproduce the picture. The reason cameras produce pictures at 72 pixels per inch is that this format is standard in video uses such as television and DVD. So there is no noticeable difference in quality when viewing pictures on a TV or DVD. The difference appears when you are cropping and/or printing these pictures. If you are not familiar with the term cropping, I will explain it later. First, let's talk about printing. To Camcorder Enthusiasts: What Does Reality TV Really Mean? - Great News for the Camcorder User! Reality TV is experiencing an upsurge in popularity and its presence has conditioned the public's acceptance of a number of things: How To Make A Time-Lapse Video With Your Digital Video Camera Getting the most out of your digital video camera can mean being able to create some really cool stuff. You just have to step outside the manual a bit and find the cool things you can do with your digital video camera and your editing software. Digital Imaging Explained Digital Imaging is a process where an electronic photograph, scanned document, or image is converted into a series of electronic dots called pixels. Pixels is an acronym for "picture elements". Megapixel Cameras: How Many Megapixels Do You Need? Knowing which megapixel camera to buy can be intimidating. There are literally hundreds of models of digital cameras out on the market today. How can you know how many megapixels you'll need? Review of the Photek Product Shooting Tent Here's the challenge. You have to photograph small items for Ebay or for clients' brochures. Lighting them can be challenging. Small reflective items usually exhibit specular highlights that must be controlled. If you add a product/shooting tent to the equation, your job is made dramatically easier. Digital Camera Reviews and Ratings De-Mystify the Choices Shopping for a new digital camera can be quite frustrating with the hundreds of choices available. Digital camera reviews clarify this confusion by comparing camera features and options, then rating how each camera compares with similar models. How to Take Better Photos of Your Baby or Toddler Every Mom wants to take great photos of their babies and toddlers. We all want professional looking photos for our children without paying a fortune! This better baby photo article will help you take the best photos you can and you don't even have to own an expensive camera. Traveling to Europe with Your Digital Camera? The Vacation Season is fast approaching and naturally you will be taking your digital camera along for the journey. After all your vacations are far and few between and it is nice to look back on those memories as you slave away at your job. However, when you travel with a digital camera, it is a completely different experience from that of traveling with a film camera. This is a lesson that far too many travelers seem to be learning the hard way, especially if you're traveling to Europe. After a couples years of relying solely on digital camera for taking photos when I travel, there are things you should consider before you head off on your next trip. Keep a Digital Photos Diary Digital Photo Diary - memories that last a life time Studio Photography and Digital Backgrounds The article given here was written for Adobe Photoshop 5,6,7,CS, and Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 and 3. Landscape Photography - Capture the Beauty That is All Around There are many different types of photography. You can take pictures of anything and there is someone out there somewhere who would like to see the pictures that you take. So, photography is a great field to get into. What Should You Look for in a New Camera? These parameters are discussed at 2 levels: -Based on degree of functional use of available features -Based on the type of photography you want to attempt -->Based on degree of functional use of available features A person who is happy with his or her camera model usually responds with the following words of praise. 'Incredible ease of use' 'User-friendly controls' 'Intelligently and thoughtfully designed' 'Excellent value for money' 'Light and compact' These are the kind of terms that you will come across from camera owners who are satisfied with their camera models. These superlatives sum up what people usually look for or could look for at an overall level in their camera. It is a broad evaluation based on design elements, size and affordability. Before you make a decision to purchase you should explore a little further and study the type of features available to you. Unless you make the attempt to understand the features at your disposal, there is the risk of being stuck with a model that does not suit your particular requirements. Let's take a look at what features you should look for, as well as the features that you should be wary of when you choose a camera system. -->Features to Look For 1. The lens is by far the most important device in your camera. The quality of the lens ensures the sharpness of your image. The camera lens is described by length (given in mm), known as the focal length of the lens. 50mm is the standard focal length in a lens. A lens of shorter length is known as a wide-angle lens and is used usually by landscape photographers. A lens with focal length greater than 50mm is called a telephoto lens and is especially useful to professional photographers in capturing distant images. There are also cameras with a zoom lens. A zoom lens can offer various focal lengths, so you have a lens capable of many focal lengths. Simple put, when you use a zoom lens you can make your subject bigger or smaller within the frame. For instance, a wide-angle zoom can cover a range of focal lengths below 50mm, or a telephoto zoom gives you a range of higher order focal lengths. Some superior zoom lenses can take you from wide angle to standard and through to telephoto ranges. The power of the zoom lens is defined by the extent of magnification from a lower focal length to a higher end and is given as 2x, 3x and so on. Some lens tips: --A 50mm or 100mm lens is considered adequate for most non-professional hobby users. The professionals usually go for telephoto lenses of 200mm or more. A lens with higher focal length costs a lot more. Most beginners don't need to invest in a telephoto lens. --Check if your camera is compatible with the range of lenses that the manufacturer of your model has on offer. Most manufacturers have hundreds of lens options on offer and your requirement for lenses varies as you progress in photography. Your camera has to be compatible with lenses of higher focal length and speed. If you are planning to upgrade your camera by buying another model from the same manufacturer, check for compatibility with older accessories so that you can put to use some of the lenses already available with you and save yourself an additional expense. 2. Depth-of-field preview button A depth-of-field preview button is a necessity if you want to achieve better focus. It allows you to identify the area that will be in focus in your photograph. This area is referred to as the 'depth of field'. When you adjust the focus in your camera the preview button is a useful tool that can help you vary the focus and depth of field in different shots. 3. Image sensor resolution In digital cameras, there is no film in use but this is instead replaced by a device called the image sensor. The image sensor renders colors, is sensitive to light and is the device that captures images in small pixels on its surface. Image resolution is a measure of the sharpness or level of detail in photographic images. Image resolution is expressed as a number and is measured in mega pixels. High-end professional use cameras have an image sensor resolution of around 12 mega pixels and the most advanced professional models go up to almost 14 mega pixels. At the mid range you have camera models with resolution ranging from 2 - 6 mega pixels. To deliver large format prints of superior quality, you should go for models with resolution greater than 3 mega pixels. At the lower end, you have models of 1 mega pixel or less and the sharpness of the photograph is slightly inferior compared to cameras with higher values of image sensor resolution. Lower pixel models are best suited for small format prints. 4. If you have the facility for Auto-bracketing it can be a very useful tool. Auto-bracketing enables the camera to automatically take 3 exposures or in some cameras 5 exposures of the same shot by varying the Exposure Value (EV) to lighten or darken an image. Each of the images will be slightly differently exposed and this is a great tool to ensure that you capture the moment perfectly. You can bank on at least one being a properly exposed picture. This tool comes in handy especially for professional photographers. 5. If tonal quality of the photograph is your top priority when you choose a camera then it is best that you go for a digital camera. Photographic prints of scenes captured on a digital camera have a level of tonal quality that is far superior to best quality traditional prints. 6. There are sophisticated camera models available today that can capture movement and audio-visual images. If you want to go beyond static images and capture the first steps of a child or activities during family get-togethers, then you should look for a camera with these advanced capabilities. It will create a better experience when you go down memory lane. The Kodak Easyshare LS753 Zoom Digital Camera is one such model that offers audio-visual capability. |
|
Copyright © 2006 Advancing Women/font> |