Digital Photography Student

If you are looking for a book that will be your introduction to digital photography, look no further. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson has photography exposure explained in a simple, easy understandable way that will help you get familiar with digital photography basics in no time. I have recently borrowed from a colleague a book titled Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera , and although I have read some good reviews of it, I had my reservations. I thought to myself, here is yet another photography book with loads of information that will only overwhelm a potential photography beginner. I am happy to say I was completely wrong. Understanding Exposure is a book written specifically to suit beginner photography level , and to explain the mechanics of photo taking process (exposure), in a simple, non-threatening way. Digital Photography at this day and age is very much technical, and given the amount of books, websites and other tu...

During last couple of years, prices of an entry-level DSLR cameras have dropped significantly, making them affordable to almost everyone. Consequently, we see an increasing trend favoring DSLR’s over compact digital cameras, so it only seems natural to examine the advantages of purchasing a DSLR instead of compact camera. Modern compact digital cameras have come so close to the DSLRs in terms of Megapixels, features and even accessories that to a beginner the line separating them might seem blurry. Therefore, we will illustrate the advantages of a DSLR using Pentax K-7 versus Samsung NV100 HD compact digital camera. Both of them feature 14 Megapixel sensors, for easier quality comparison. All of the photos have been shot in Krk, Croatia . 1. DSLR cameras are built for speed If one of your priorities when choosing a digital camera is speed, a DSLR is a natural choice. Have you ever experienced the following scenario: You want to capture a fleeting moment with your compact digita...

Macro photography is one of the most abstract photography categories. It's so easy to make creative macro photos. Bryan Peterson, the author of Understanding Exposure shows just how easy creative macro photography can be. In this fantastic video tutorial, Bryan Peterson ( ppsop2009 ) shows how easy it is to come up with creative macro photography ideas, even in most unlikely surroundings using nothing but scraps. A truly an inspirational video. Definitely a must see

Birds are usually very tricky subjects to photograph. They are rarely completely still, and when they finally settle at one place, they do not stay there for long. They are in a constant state of motion, and a good photo should reflect this. If you examine the photo on this fellow to the right I have shot while on a trip in Madrid in 2005. I have just caught him in the moment when he decided to stretch his wings. Addmitently, it was a lucky shot. When examining it closer, I have noticed that although the bird was perfectly still, its wings showed a nice sense of blur, thus conveying motion. In my mind, this motion blur made the shot. The key in shooting such a photo is selecting the right Shutter speed for the task. Switch your digital camera to Shutter Priority mode (marked as S or Tv depending on your camera manufacturer), and select the shutter speed at about 1/200. It should be enough to keep the bird still, while still retaining some movement in the wings. So the tip of the wee...

Backlighting is an interesting, although sometimes counter-intuitive technique for shooting photos. Backlit subjects can produce very interest photos. This is more often than not case in flower and macro photography. If you like shooting flowers and other plants, the most interesting way for them to come to life is to place a light source behind them. If you consider the leaf photo to the left, you will notice that the light illuminates the leaf from behind, revealing almost fractal-like structure of the leave's veins, which in turn, makes the shot. This works also particularly well with flowers, since flowers pack more color, and backlighting them can expose something that you as a photographer might not have noticed. So our tip for the week is: "Back-light your subjects for maximum impact" In case you were interested how the leaf photo above was produced, here are some guidelines. The photo below, illustrates the set-up. I have used Pentax K-7 with 50mm f/2.8 macro ...

Cropping is a simple, yet effective technique of cutting into image, that has been around from the very early days of photography. Back then it was paper and scissors, while today, there is Photoshop and Lightroom, but the principles remain the same. While some purists would disagree with the use of cropping tools and only focus on printing the photo as it was shot, our view is whatever improves the quality and the looks of your photo, is OK. Of course it is important to make an effort to make your photo look as good as possible in camera, and any post-processing techniques should be used sparingly, however in the process of learning what works and what not, the ultimate decision to crop or not to crop is left up to the photographer. Why Crop ? The reasons for cropping vary, but the most frequent one is to remove unwanted objects from the photo . Since some of today's DSLR viewfinders do not cover 100% of field of view, but some 92% or 95%, it is likely that the object that ...

Our colleague at the Nikon Help Hotline has posted another great video explaining the differences between the prime and zoom lens. If you would like to learn about lens' focal length, check out our Lens Focal Length Explained article.

When traveling, people usually take a lot of snapshots. Don't get me wrong, having snapshots in your portfolio is OK, but if you really want your photos to stand out, you need to kick in your creative wits. One of the more popular creative techniques is framing the shot, thus creating a frame within a frame. In example, take a look to the photo on the right. This is a Sagrada Famillia church in Barcelona that I have visited over a weekend. The photo has been taken from the roof of La Pedrera with a long lens. Yes, the Sagrada Famillia looks OK, but it is not creative. Let us now examine how could leverage some creative framing. Fortunately, Antoni Gaudi 's work on La Pedrera has produced one nice arch with a direct view towards Sagrada Famillia . I waited for the moment when nobody was close and fired the shot. So the tip of the week is: Look behind the obvious, and if you plan to frame the shot, try to find a frame that will strengthen the context of your subject. ...

Image editing software of the next generation is here. Photomizer is an intelligent piece of photo editing software that removes the hurdles of a digital darkroom manipulation while allowing photography beginners to enjoy beautiful images. How ? Read more in our Photomizer Review. Photomizer is referred to as the image editing software of the next generation. Why ? Because it is: Simple Intelligent Automatic Powerful It can transform hundreds of images, and automatically improve the most important aspects of every image such as exposure, sharpness , contrast, colors, white balance , recover detail from shadows and highlights, and much more. Simply put, it's an automated photo studio on your PC. Who is it for ? Photomizer is very easy to use and requires absolutely no image editing experience whatsoever. It's simple and straightforward interface clearly shows that it is aimed for photographers that are not willing to spend hours in front of a complex photo editing or...