Inforlando.co.uk now live!

Inforlando.co.uk is now live.

A special website for UK tourists who visit Orlando and central Florida.

INFormation about ORLANDO becomes Inforlando

Shortly an affordable detailed travel guide can be downloaded full of facts and tips, that will help you get the best out of your time there.

Have fun. :)

New indipix photo web site at indipix.co.uk

Just to let you know about my new indipix web site at www.indipix.co.uk featuring Advertising, Industrial and Commercial Photography and Design in Lincolnshire, UK, along with a new telephone number and email address. Commissions and projects welcome. Enjoy.

A non photo link for anyone learning bass guitar.

www.dmanlamius.com

Loads of stuff on there for the complete beginner to paying lessons for the more advanced tutorials. There's a forum link on there also for questions and answers.

Eventually...

A famous photographer once said to me; "Never give up". Well after umteen visits, many sat in the cold draughty hide, a bittern flew past and I managed to get a shot off. Hurray!

Photo gear.

Try to keep it to a minimum otherwise you'll end up with a bad back. Over time you'll collect cameras and lenses, tripods, bags, flashes and filters, books and then there's the computer side. It all costs a fortune and some you'll hardly ever use.

Tripods and bags.

There are no one size fits all solution. A heavy tripod is needed for big lenses with an expensive head, yet a small one will do for a compact camera for an eBay photo. Current web forums favourite is a Gitzo GT3541LS, Markins M20 head and Really right stuff quick release B2 LLR II clamp. Also popular head choice is the Wimberley WH200 Version2 gimbal mount.

Deciding on a camera bag is a nightmare. Hundreds of choices and variations.
Check http://www.cambags.com/ to start.

Photo Budget

In January prices usually come down in the sales but because of the weakness of the pound against the Yen and Euro, prices this year have gone up. Now is not the time to be buying unless you can make money on your purchases.

Photo forums

What can you believe on internet photo forums? There are people posting dozens of times a day and people who post to sell their products, some are confident but wrong and some are just downright clueless.

Future trends

This is the end of the 'digital photography for beginners' section. Soon there will be posts on all kinds of photo topics.

Not so long ago, a digital SLR cost over £30,000 and was big, heavy and awkward to use. A better product can be had now for less than £500. Memory cards have seen an even more dramatic change.

Video has just been introduced onto a high end DSLR and others will follow. I expect a levelling off on the megapixel front as the current ones can manage 20x30" prints. I think 18MP is a good compromise. Memory cards could be set for a giant increase, up to 2TB - Terabytes!

Mini fuel cells could solve the power problems of constantly recharging batteries and carry adapters for chargers. Hopefully we we see some new lens designs. I wish the camera companies would work on getting autofocus to work on lenses with effective apertures less than f5.6, so that teleconverters could work down to say f11, now that ISO is good enough at 3200.

So now that bit of my blog is done, not comprehensive and a little bit random but if you have never considered digital photography before you may have learned something.

Internet

So how can you use the internet for your digital photography? Research, purchasing, education, communication, repairs and photo sharing - posting examples of your photographs for all to see (and critique), to name a few.

The big difference between internet and print photos is the file size, the colours may differ slightly but all else should be the same. If you invite comments on your work be prepared to receive negative as well as positive. If you have only previously shown your photos to friends and family, it can come as quite a shock to hear criticism. Some of it will be nonsense and can be safely ignored, however if some comments become a theme, check your work. For example, it was pointed out that my subjects were too near the centre of the frame. I looked and indeed the images that I'd posted did show this. What had happened that I was using the autofocus and allowed myself to concentrate on the focus and subject too much. After a small amount of cropping, order was restored.

These days, it is now possible to not only show your photos but have people buy prints from the internet as well. Providing you uploaded a sufficiently large file size from which to print, the printers will be able to make a good print which will satisfy your customers. Anything from a 6MB camera upwards should be OK if you use jpg format. Your upload file size will be much less. A broadband connection will be required. Some companies can sell digital downloads (no printing involved) directly for use by publications such as magazines.

Photo Links 2

Studying great contemporary photos made by others is a good way to learn and even if you don't like some of them, make a conscious note of why that is.

http://photo.net/

Photo Software

Your computer could come with bundled photo software but soon you may find you want more. There is a program called Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) which is free and will suit many users. There are also programs such as Photoshop Elements and Corel Paint Shop Pro and more expensive ones. Avoid buying these off internet auction sites because they could well be illegal copies. The expensive ones will require much time spent learning the program and maybe even additional books, videos and training courses.

These days photo software can take your photos off the memory card, transfer it to your computer, organise, browse, select, edit, manipulate, colour correct, resize and export to different formats. It may also do slide shows and web pages and automate many repetitive tasks. Check photo forums for particular software and recommendations.

Editing

Editing seems to be a dying art. Recently I posted a question about how people edited their photographs and almost no-one did! Everybody seemed to save every shot they ever made. Editing is crucial if you want to progress. Maybe the ability to shoot at 10+ fps and the relative cheapness of storage is to blame.

When I was shooting slides about 90%+ ended up in the bin. Be your own worst critic, discard those that are out of focus, badly framed, poorly composed, blurred and anything else that someone else would criticise.

Learn from your mistakes, don't rely on just one other persons opinion. Check at 100% zoom for sharpness and obviously if it's a once in a lifetime shot or evokes a special response, keep it.

Street Photography

Street Photography is probably my favourite kind of photography. Moments that are usually lost can be captured forever. It takes a certain kind of skill and awareness that take years of practice but still requires some luck. Prepare by having your camera pre-set to the conditions around you. Autofocus can help and have your zoom at slightly wide angle. In cities where the big buildings block out sunlight, expose for the highlights and let the shadows go to black.

Be confident and know you are allowed to photograph in public spaces. http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page17959 Don't be intimidated but be aware of danger, you'll soon find out what you can and can't do. You don't have to be covert or secretive, trip the shutter when you think certain elements are working together.

Check out this site and give it a go. http://www.in-public.com/