Wind Rush Photos

If you are a football fan, like myself, there are more opportunities than ever to watch your favourite team in action on television. But, despite all the camera angles, replays, and High Definition coverage available, I find that a well shot photograph actually taken at a game can speak volumes – capturing every ounce of sweat and toil the player is spilling, and holding that moment forever. If you would like to attempt this challenging, but ultimately rewarding genre, here are some digital photography tricks to help you on your way. A game over your local park is a great place to try this out.

Consider your position. Where you set up will have a massive impact on your final shots. Get on the side and close to one end if you want to take good shots of players running past and also a wide view of the goalmouth for any action here, or shots on target. For exciting shots of players coming straight at you, put yourself behind the touchline, at the side of the net. Beware of that striker who’s off target, though!

Put on your neutral head. If you support one of the teams, or have family playing, try to forget this and ensure you capture shots of both teams. Watch the game purely as a photographer, this will ensure you don’t miss opportunities that may pass you by if you concentrate on only one team or player.  Read more... (487 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Most of us grab one, or maybe two, family vacations each year. Some go for the classic beach holiday, whilst some people are far more adventurous. Nevertheless, you will want to capture every memorable moment and image. Here is a summary of some digital photography tricks to help ensure you don’t return home without the shots you really wanted.

Just because you are on holiday, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get up early, as this is when you can get some of your best shots. Just after dawn, light can be softer. The sun’s low angle is great for landscapes. Getting out and about early also means you can avoid crowds, so historical sites and landmarks can be captured in their full glory.

Shops and markets make perfect locations for really getting a feel of your holiday destination. A little research will tell you when the local markets take place, and these can often be colourful events. Market stalls or shop displays create interesting colours and shapes. Watch out for recurring themes such as bowls of colourful spices.

Beach holidays can provide some exciting action shots. Watersports always create the chance to produce scintillating images. One of the most important digital photography tricks to note is to take with you, if possible, a telephoto lens of at least 300mm. This will enable you to get close up shots of windsurfers, waterskiers, or even paragliders. A fast shutter speed, of around 1/1000 sec, will be required to freeze the action.  Read more... (413 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

If you are looking for any of the following features in your next camera you should take a look at purchasing a real digital SLR:

reliability; SLR bodies almost never fail; by comparison, point and shoot cameras are built for light weight and low cost big bright accurate optical viewfinder good quality images in low natural light, e.g., indoors without blasting everything with flash ability to attach specialty lenses, e.g., very wide angle lenses for interiors, scenery, and architecture, or long telephoto lenses for sports photography Choosing the right camera system is covered in a separate article on this server: \”Building a Digital SLR System\”.

Accessories You might want a lens cleaning kit.

You will definitely need at least one memory card. Most of the compact digital cameras take SD cards. If you are taking JPEG photos rather than RAW, you\’ll be able to fit between 250 and 500 images in a 1 GB card.

1 GB SD cards: SanDisk 2 GB SD cards: SanDisk 4 GB SD cards: SanDisk (good for a long trip into a remote area where you can\’t copy images to a computer) Personally, I have found that it is more convenient to use a single memory card for an entire project or trip rather than juggling multiple cards.

If you plan on wearing the camera on your belt you may want to consider purchasing a small padded case. Lowe and Tamrac are generally the highest quality brands. The manufacturers\’ own brand cases are generally the lowest quality.

Every time you open a motor sports magazine, you will see them – the panning shots. Through his skill and expertise the photographer has frozen a speeding vehicle, whilst successfully blurring the background to capture the sense of motion. This area of photography may well be an exciting genre, but if you thought it required years of training to master, you would be mistaken. With just a few digital photography tricks, you can soon take panning shots that family and friends would be proud of.

So when are panning shots used? Well, sports mainly – such as running and cycling, as well as motor sports. But similar techniques can help make your wildlife and nature shots look out of this world. Birds are excellent subjects. Geese or swans, being somewhat slow and lumbering, make surprisingly easy targets when panning. A panning shot helps the viewer to appreciate the element of motion, and is therefore far more powerful than a static shot taken using a super fast shutter speed.

The subject of the shot needs to be moving left to right, or vice versa. A colourful and blurred background helps to lend to the feeling of motion, but the aim is to make sure that your point of interest appears beautifully in focus. Whilst this is true for most sports pictures, in nature a plain background can be used, for example when photographing a humming bird and trying to capture the movement of the wings. A digital photography trick to remember is to take a decent zoom lens along for your shoot.  Read more... (465 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

A wedding day is a huge event – possibly the most important day of a person’s life. While the event may last for one day, the memories linger forever. Hopefully, with the aid of some really well taken photographs. However, in current times, things can be tough. Professional photographers may be used only in limited scope at the ceremony, and you could be asked to contribute your photographic skills to the event. Fortunately, if you can take a decent picture, you can also capture successful wedding photographs for a friend or family member. Here are a few digital photography tricks to help you do just this.

Lighting is one of the most important aspects of successful photography. Harsh lighting can create photos that aren’t pleasing to the eye. Shadowing can be just as bad to the final image. Natural light is best, so if possible capture the couple in the great outdoors. Early morning or dusk usually provides the most pleasing lighting opportunities. If you are taking your shots in full daylight, look for a shady spot to diffuse the harsh effect of noonday sun. However, avoid mixed sun and shade at all costs. A digital camera has trouble deciding which lighting spectrum to use to focus and the shadowing is less than flattering to the couple.  Read more... (555 words, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)