Photography Tips Guide

Archive for the ‘Digital Photography Resources’ Category

I come from an era where, to shoot in low light, you had three options: use a faster lens; a faster film; dose up your chemical brew or stretch the dev time. Times were tough but at least you learnt the hard way.

These days to ‘do it in the dark’ you still have to juggle the lens aperture, burn up the ISO setting — then, if else has failed, resort to post processing with software.

Author Worobiec admits to a fascination when things we’re ‘accustomed to seeing in daylight are transformed … when viewed at night.’ In his opinion, the modern DSLR makes the task of photography in low light much easier and uses the book to explore the techniques you can apply in-camera and post-shoot to help successfully capture low light images.

Opening topics of The Complete Guide to Digital Night and Low Light Photography include the camera’s exposure options of auto, Program AE as well as aperture and shutter priority and manual; then he moves onto the sticky topic of RAW versus JPEG … and comes down heavily on the side of RAW. As he should!

More: the use of filters like graduated NDs, starbursts etc is discussed; understanding and using the histogram display and how it can be used to stretch your camera’s sensor; metering for low light; the use of a separate handheld exposure meter, especially the application of incident light readings to control the contrast range.

One of the greatest challenges of low light shooting is the occurrence of noise in an image and author Worobiec surprises by supporting Photoshop’s Noise Reduction filter, while ignoring other software fixes like Noise Ninja.

I found the book to be one of the most inspiring I’ve ever encountered … it encourages you to dash out, camera in hand, the moment the sun drops low on the horizon. Tons of big, encouraging pictures.

Author: T Worobiec.
Publisher: David & Charles.
Distributor: Capricorn Link.
ISBN 13 978 0 7153 3012 8 (hardback).
Price: $40.90 at Amazon

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

The Complete Guide to Digital Night & Low Light Photography

In its layout, author Davies’ book is less a primer on digital photography and more a publication that addresses the many puzzles the technology of the pixellated picture has thrown up in its short history.

Lavishly illustrated, Paul Davies’ book Digital Photography Q&A faces the task by saying “There’s no doubt about it, a digital camera can introduce you to a fascinating world of recording images — but it’s not long before the questions start.” Davies figures the book’s contents will be of interest to (both complete beginners and more experienced photographers ….”

The topic list runs from understanding a digital camera on through the actual taking of digital photos and closes in on the methods of taking images from camera to computer. The latter is of course the beating heart of the whole business and an area that often confounds the newcomer.

Some Q&A examples:

Q. How many pixels do I need?

A. Think about how you are going to use the images. For email you’ll need only a one megapixel camera; for bigger prints, look for an eight megapixel model.

Q. What is digital noise?

A. Comparing image noise to hifi amplifier hiss Davies explains that the former comes from random movements of tiny electric charges in the camera’s circuitry.

Q. Can I change a file into a different format, sch as JPEG or RAW?

A. Software can do this; simply choose the option, specify the file type you want, then save.

The book takes a novel and useful approach. The text is clear and easy to understand; numerous picture examples make this book ideal for the beginner — or the nervous photographer, lacking the courage to experiment.

Author: PH Davies.

Publisher: Lark Books.

Distributor: Capricorn Link.

ISBN 978 1 60059 483 0

At the time of publishing this review Digital Photography Q&A is available at Amazon for $15.56 (22% off)

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Digital Photography Q&A - Book Review

One of the more popular online photography education resources – 123 of Digital Imaging – has announced that it has had an update to a new version (version 6.0).

This Windows and Mac compatible resource is one of the more comprehensive teaching aides that you’ll find on the topic of photography. It contains a massive 5137 pages of information covering 173 topics with plenty of information aimed at beginners, intermediate and advanced photographers.

Topics range from the basics of understanding digital imaging through to selecting a camera to taking great images to a wide range of post production teaching (in a variety of software).

It comes either as a download or via the mail (boxed) and for considering the breadth of topics covered and it’s one of the more affordable resources on the market (many e-books of just 100 or so pages are a half of the price).

If you’ve got a previous version of it (as I know many of our readers do) there are discounted rates for upgrades.

I’d highly recommend that you download the free demo version first to get a feel for it and see if it’s the right learning resource for you.

Check out 123 of Digital Imaging for yourself.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

123 of Digital Imaging Launches New Version