It doesn’t matter what age you are, what you do or where you live. It doesn’t matter what camera you had or how much it cost. Never mind if it was a SLR, compact or Box Brownie.

You will always remember your first shots.

Getting your first camera is one of the most exciting feelings in this world. Suddenly you have the ability to capture images from around you - images that are your sole creation. And you can show them off to anyone who cares to see them.

Although it was many years ago, I still remember my first camera: a Zenit E - built like a tank and with an exposure meter build from spare car parts. But it was, for me, a dream to own my own camera at last. The touch, the feel, the smell …..

Loading the first film was such an exciting moment. Shaking with anticipation, and with the instruction manual lying unused on the floor, the color film was eventually loaded and I was ready to go.

For me, my initial images were taken within but a few feet. The house cat became a supermodel and the tabby was snapped from all angles - at least until the 36 exposures were completed.

Five days from that heady time witnessed the delivery of the fruits of my labour. Thirty six cats - many unfocussed, most poorly exposed, yet all treasured even to this day.

Do you also remember your first time? It may have been your cat, dog, loved one. Or perhaps your home, street or the nearest flower. You wouldn’t share the images today - they would be criticised and ridiculed. But those early shots began your photographic journey which will have continued till this day.

No, you won’t share the images. But you might share the memory

Eric Hartwell is an enthusiastic photographer. He owns and runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums http://www.theshutter.co.uk/forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com Anyone interested in getting involved contact him at shutter@theshutter.co.uk

Unless trying to produce a mood of stillness, include action in your pictures. Far too many photographs are static and lifeless. Even though you are making still pictures, that does not mean your subjects have to be still when you photograph them. Informal pictures of people are always better if your subjects are doing something. Candid shots are superior to posed pictures because they are lifelike and reveal natural expressions and action. If someone sees you taking his photograph and stops to pose, ask him to continue his activity so the picture will appear more spontaneous.

Even if you have to organize your subjects for a picture, don’t let them become stiff or appear too posed. Make sure they are relaxed. Don’t tire them out by making them wait for you to get your equipment ready and the exposure reading made. Plan as much in advance as possible and be set to shoot when your subject flashes the expression you want. Don’t ask him to “hold it”; the result too often seems unnatural. With portraits of babies, children, or pets give them something to keep them occupied and their attention off you. A toy or snack treat works well.

There are several ways to photograph action. And shutter speed is a key factor. You can shoot at a fast speed to stop the action, or at a slow speed to let the action blur in your picture. Stop-action is very common and the purpose is to freeze the subject so the viewer can see it clearly. Stop action is effective only when the viewer realizes that the subject was moving when the picture was made. A pole-vaulter frozen in mid air or a diver doing a back flip into a swimming pool are examples. Be sure to include a point of reference so the viewer knows who the subject is and what he is doing.

The easiest way to stop action is with a Fast Shutter Speed. How fast a shutter speed depends on three interrelated factors, how fast the subject is moving, how far the subject is from the camera and the direction of the subject’s movement in relation to the camera.

Another way to stop action is to trip your shutter at the peak of action. Shoot when the basketball players are at the highest point of their jump. Make your exposure the instant the action is suspended.

Action can also be captured by panning with the subject. This is one of the most effective techniques for portraying the feeling of motion in your photographs. To pan, follow the moving subject with your camera, carefully keeping it in your viewfinder. When you decide the moment is right, press the shutter release. Since the camera was keeping pace with the moving subject, the subject will be sharp and the background blurred, which gives the feeling of speed. Slower than normal shutter speeds usually produce a very action packed effect.

Another way to stop action is by using the flash. Instead of the camera’s shutter speed, it’s the brief burst of light from the flash unit that freezes the action.

Slow shutter speeds can be used effectively with many subjects to show action. Experiment at various shutter speeds with flowers or leaves blowing in a breeze, children riding a merry-go-round, or a grandfather clock with its pendulum swinging. Always look around for subjects whose motion will enhance your pictures. The decision you’ll need to make is how to suggest action to your viewers: stop it, blur it, or both.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Photography

It is often the simple things that spoil an image. Using simple techniques and a little care, you can easily give you images the attention that will do them justice. The materials used in printing your images play an important factor in the quality of the finished print.

Printer: When buying a printer think about the materials that you’ll be using. If your are going to be printing your images in large format buy a printer that can handle rolls of photographic paper. These printers are usually more expensive, but great savings can be made when buying paper.

Paper: Photographic paper comes in many different sizes and textures. It doesn’t do any harm to test a few different papers from different manufacturers to see which one suits your needs.

Ink: When buying inks for your printer I would strongly recommend that you buy from your printer’s manufactures. Third party inks will give you great savings but may not be suited for your printer.

When buying a printer, photographic paper or inks, it is advisable to plan well in advance. If you are only going to print a small amount of images it may be better using your local photo lab. If you’re planning to sell a large amount of images, your own printer will be very valuable. Having your own printer will ensure that you can process orders immediately after getting them.

In today’s world, offering a speedy delivery can be the difference in making a sale. Using a third party to print your images may take a week or more before you’ll get your images back. This will not be good for your business.

Presentation.

When you are happy with the quality of your printer you now need to consider presentation. Placing an image in to a cheap frame will not do anything for your prints. Presentation is all about giving your images the impact they truly deserve. Before you print your images start thinking about presentation.

It is often very effective to add a white border in Photoshop before printing. If you decide against Photoshop I would recommend that you mount your image before framing.

When finished printing match your prints to your computer screen. If you think you have a problem with your final print you may need to calibrate your computer. This is a common problem with a lot of people printing at home. Most advance photographic software comes with a basic calibration program, which can be simply used in improving results.

Printing Tips:

Before you print your images do a final check to make sure colours are perfect and that there are no marks on your image.
Make sure that you have the right quality settings on your printer.
Always use the best printing options available on your printer.
If you are using heavyweight paper - load the paper one sheet at a time. This will avoid clogging.
Once you are happy with your printing, allow your prints to rest for 24 hours, place a sheet of plain paper between each print when storing your images.

Other printing tips: Most ink and paper companies claim that their product dry instantly - this means that they are dry to touch. If you print you own images there are a few important points to follow before framing.

1 - allow your prints to rest for 15 minutes after printing.

2 - after 15 minutes place a sheet of white paper over the print - use standard paper - don’t use photographic paper. The paper acts as a sponge absorbing the outgoing gases from the printing process. Allow this process to continue for twenty-four hours.

3 - if the plain paper is crimped once removed, repeat the process for another twenty-four hours. If not, your image is ready for framing.

TJ Tierney. Award winning Irish Landscape photographer. If you are looking for more photo tips visit www.goldenirishlight.com/photographytips.html To view some of his images visit his on line gallery @ www.goldenirishlight.com

Though most quality prints are printed on Archival papers, such as Fuji Crystal Archive Papers or Kodak Endura Professional Papers, it is essential to consider a few important aspects to maximize the life of any print you are planning to display.

Things to Avoid

* Avoid placing your Fine Art Prints in direct exposure to sunlight.
* Avoid places with high levels of moisture or humidity.
* Close to a source of direct heat, like near a wall heater, or a furnace.

Consider the Sun

If you are going to frame the print, and are planning on hanging it on the wall, you should consider the placement first of all. We recommend placing your print on a wall which does not receive direct sunlight. What’s wrong with sunlight? Well, sunlight is a full spectrum light, which means it packs many different frequencies of light, including UV (ultra-violet). The problem with UV is its effect on photographic papers. UV causes fading, simply put, regardless of the quality of paper used to produce the print. This does not mean that all prints, regardless of the paper, or method used to produce them, fade at the same rate.

Archival papers are meant to last. Special chemicals are used to protect these papers from long-term effects of UV, moisture and other factors. However, even archival prints are not immortal. While Archival papers are meant to last, over time they will also show signs of age. The good news? They will likely outlive you.

Print Comparison

If you were to compare a print produced on a high-end inkjet printer using standard inks to a Fine Art Print produced in a Lab on Archival paper, initially they may appear of equal quality. But many inks are water based, and are not rated for archival usage. Such a print, if displayed properly, will perhaps last 3 to 5 years before any fading becomes visible. On the other hand, an archival print, also displayed properly, will last 50 or more years. Back to Top.

To Summarize

Place your prints into a quality frame, and hang it somewhere out of sun’s direct rays. There’s nothing wrong with light falling on the prints. After all, full spectrum light means your photos are going to shine. Indirect light is best, because it will not accelerate natural aging of your prints, and will provide soft even illumination. In today’s hi-tech world you may be able to purchase a frame with UV shielded glass, which is ideal, if your prints are going to receive quite a bit of direct sun light.

Try to hang you photos away from sources of heat and moisture, because both cause materials such as paper, and glues or tapes used to mount photos into mats to warp. The last thing you want to see is your print rippling in its frame.

Owner of a small photography marketing company. If interested in learning more about me, visit http://www.worldonpaper.com.

A photographer setting up a portrait studio for the first time always includes a tripod for the camera. A better solution is to use a camera stand.

A camera stand rolls around on three lockable wheels for complete freedom in positioning. In addition, internal weights allow easy movement up or down for a proper camera angle. These free movements of camera position add immensely to the freedom of photographic expression.

The camera bar will hold two cameras, one for everyday use and the other for backup or other specific use. The second camera is mounted in the reverse position so that a simple twirl of the stand will bring the second camera into position for photographing. It is important that a backup camera be ready to go so as not to interrupt the flow of a portrait session. There are many things that can go wrong, like batteries dying, a memory lockup, a misaligned flash memory card or the frequent complaint, ‘Why won’t these *&%$# buttons work?”

For complete freedom of movement I recommend a wireless trigger for setting off the lights. Remote radio units are to be preferred over infrared triggers even though both are effective. The internal weights can be adjusted to balance the weight of the two cameras for easy raising and lowering of the cameras. Some friction can be introduced via the screw adjustment so that the cameras remain steady without sideways motion. The wheels can be left free with the brake toward the photographer when many shots from one position is needed. The light bar offers a convenient perch for squeaky toys or puppets. My favorite attention getter was a baby Big Bird who enjoyed jumping off the stand. Check out the camera stand from Bogen. You will be glad you did.

Retired portrait photographer. Questions welcome kchoffman71@juno.com

Customers Worldwide are looking for photos to sell their goods/services right NOW. You can sell photos from your digital camera.

There are several ways to do this but the most common is through a photolibrary. You need at least a 6 Megabyte camera or people won’t look at your pictures.

DIGITAL CAMERAS

The biggest thing to hit Stock Photography since the start of Photography. Publishers are now able to bypass the whole scanning process and make major savings. Fuji Canon and Nikon are the most commonly used pro Digital cameras.

Presuming that you are taking SHARP, COLOURFUL, INTERESTING photos, there is no reason why YOU can’t make money from Stock (bigger is better and most Stock Photo Agencies insist on a 50 Megabyte picture size).

BEWARE of claimed picture sizes - some 12Mb cameras are actually 6Mb cameras with fancy software to make the picture expand in the camera! (You can increase the picture size to 50 Mb in Genuine Fractals or Adobe Photoshop programs but you should start with at least a 6Mb file).

This seems a lot but it’s only just enough to print a HIGH QUALITY 2 page magazine spread. Customers want to illustrate THEIR product,article,service or news item. You have to put yourself in the customers place before you even take the picture

Consider WHERE the picture will sell before you take it.

Resource Section :
Keith Jones has been a Stock and Travel Photographer for over 40 years
His Website is at http://www.fotos4web.com
Where you’ll find lots of his photos and articles.
This article may be freely reproduced in print or on the world wide web providing :

This resource section is also published intact and the article is not altered in any way.

What is a zoom lens and why should you use one?

Until fairly recently, when you bought a camera it would most likely have come with a “fixed focal length” lens. This means, basically, that the magnification it gave was the same and could not be changed (or, if it could, it would be fairly crude).

This was fine for most simple situations and served as an “optimum” magnification to be able to take standard shots.

But, if you wanted to get nearer to a subject, you had to use your feet or had to buy an additional “telephoto lens”. This would magnify the subject so that you appeared closer than you actually were.

Similarly, if you wanted to see the wider aspect of your subject, you would have had to step back or get a “wide-angle lens”. This would make your subject look further away than it really was.

Zoom lenses were developed to be able to change the magnification by using simple controls on the lens. A telephoto (or long) zoom would typically magnify the subject, as you saw it, from normal to larger - in this way you could appear closer to the action. A wide-angle (or short) zoom would move you back from your subject - in this way you could appear more distant from your subject and see a wider view.

With both types of lenses, you could choose all the steps of magnification in between.

Now virtually all cameras come equipped with a zoom lens - this includes compacts and cameras for the more serious-minded. These zooms are typically a compromise and incorporate both wider angle and short telephoto setting and are usually of very reasonable quality.

Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com