1. Read your manual

This is where everyone fails. The reason you have a camera manual is so that you have a basic understanding of how it works. If you know how to use the creative modes of your camera you will create better images. I am a classic non-manual reader to my own detriment so I speak from experience.

2. Plan your shoots

Take time to think about where and when you are going to take photos. Planning ahead will give you the time and not hurry your shots. As with any activity, if you do it on the spur of the moment you aren’t going to experience much success. Make a date with yourself and put some time aside for your photography.

3. Think before your shoot

I have coined the phrase “the disease of digital” because of this problem, the lack of thought. When we shot on film in the old days, there were 36 exposures on a roll of film and each one cost money and we were forced to think before a shot, or waste money. But, the results were better images. A thoughtful image is often a better image, although not always. Take time to think when composing a shot.

4. Improve your knowledge

Take some time out to read a magazine, a book or articles online. Find out what gaps there are in your photography knowledge and find a way to fill them. It may be a short course or just an article in a magazine. Whatever it is, find a way to fill that knowledge gap. My own philosophy is that the world is my university and every day is a day to learn something new.

5. Practise, practise, practise

When I teach photography my mantra is practise, practise, practise. If you aren’t taking photos you cannot improve no matter how many books you read or courses you do. It’s all about taking photos. There is a view that if you want to become an expert in any field, you need to practise your craft for 10 000 hours. I am not saying practise this much but spend time and you will take better images.

Don’t be scared by the words ‘new year’s resolution’ but take them to heart and determine to take your photo to the next level. Happy shooting!

Many people purchase a digital camera and then hope that by some miracle of technology they will start taking wonderful photographs. Chance and serendipity do not create great images, you do. In order for you to shoot really great photos you need to give it some serious thought and make a move on your way to great photos. Here’s how to do it.

1. Maximise your thought process

The greatest photographers are thinking photographers. They take time out to think about what they want to do and how they will achieve those great images. If you are not thinking as you learn then you won’t maximise opportunities that stare you in the face. A thought process must start somewhere in order to reach its climax. So, take time out to sit, think and ponder what you want out of it.

2. Maximise your photographic identity

Find out who you are first and what you enjoy in life. Don’t cop what others enjoy. It’s not going to last for you if you follow a dream that isn’t yours. Sit down with a pen a paper and write down whayt you enjoy in life, your hobbies and interests. What pushes your buttons? A shiny vintage car or an antique pen set or perhaps a yacht in full sail. Define yourself as a photographer first. If close-up photos ring your bells then write it down. If wide open landscapes excite you then write it down. By defining what you like early on you will start heading in the right direction. I realised early in my journey that close-ups were my passion. Thirty years later it is still the same.

3. Maximise your goal setting

Once you know what you like then set your goals out on paper. You must right them down so that you can measure whether you are reaching them. Plan what you are going to do on your journey and what you need to learn to achieve it. This means that you can plan to do a course, buy a book, research on the internet and buy or budget for the equipment necessary to achieve your goals. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Knowledge is power over yourself and your dreams.

4. Maximise your practise

Similar to goal setting is taking the time to practise your art or hobby. Allocate the time in your schedule no mater how busy you might be. Regular and focused practise will go a long way to helping you become a quality photo taker. Gary Player the famous golfer and winner of every major tournament over 5 decades says that the harder he practises the luckier he gets. You create your own luck through dedicated effort and practise.

5. Maximise your review and evaluation

You cannot progress along your photographic journey unless you take the time out for review and reflection. Firstly on the quality of your images and secondly on where you are at with the goals you have set for yourself. Set specific review dates in advance of your planning then sit down and measure your self against these plans. If you aren’t aiming at the bull’s eye you may not even reach the target. Make the time to evaluate where you are at and then based on where you are, create a new set of goals for yourself.

By following these steps I can guarantee that you will go a long way as you learn digital photography. The person who is focused and looks for results in their learning experience will maximise that experience. Simple steps to follow but maximum results will be achieved. Happy shooting!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3975499

In order to protect your precious images it essential that you follow a protocol or process after every photo shoot. Keep it simple in order to ensure that your images are protected for ever and are never lost. Here are some simple steps to follow in order to be sure that keep your images forever.

1. Backup your memory cards after a shoot

Even if you are a point and shoot photographer it is essential that you back up the cards you are currently using after every shoot or picture taking opportunity. This means that at all times you have your photos stored in two places. One set of images on the card you are currently using and the other on a computer hard drive or field backup device that allows you to copy from a memory card.

2. Create a set of backups

Once you delete the images from your memory card make sure that at the same time you make a copy or backup of the images on the hard drive or backup device. Again the rule is there must always be two sets of photos available at all times. This might mean that you copy your laptop hard drive to an external hard drive or write them to a DVD or CD. Backup does NOT mean copying to another device and then deleting from the original location. It means you have a source and a copy of that source at ALL times.

3. Use an online storage service as an offsite backup

It’s great that you have everything on your laptop and then copies on CD, flash drive or external hard drive, BUT, if they are all at the same location then disaster can still strike. If your home were to burn down or get flooded you are still in trouble. If you are able to, store the copies at your office or if you are backing up your office files, store them at home. The ultimate solution is to use an online storage company where you can upload everything of importance. Google and many other online companies offer huge amounts of storage at low or no cost. USE THEM!

4. Repeat and rinse

Once you have backed up there is a false sense of security. This can lead to future disasters. Get into a rhythm of doing this regularly. Set a time on a weekly basis to do your backups and repeat this. There’s nothing worse than thinking you have it under control and then realise your last backup was 6 months ago. As long as you keep this process going on a regular basis, then you are safe.

5. Check your backups

Make sure that you check your backs on a regular basis to see if the CDs, DVDs or hard drives are in good condition. There is nothing worse than trying to restore after a crisis and finding that your backups are damaged, corrupt or inaccessible. Not all CDs last a lifetime so back archival CDS and DVDs for backup. And, there will come a time when your backup hard drive comes to the end of its life and needs replacing. Find this out before you need to use it in a restore crisis.

All of us will at some stage have a hard drive go bad on us. Don’t let the disaster of losing irreplaceable images and documents befall you. Make sure that you have some plan in place to prevent tragedy. Lost memories are irreplaceable so make sure today that you are protected by regularly backing up.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6201378

So, how can people take better images for posting to Facebook and other social media sites. Follow these simple steps for immediate improvement to your photo taking abilities.

1. Think about the lighting

When taking an image have a look at your lighting. Firstly, make sure that there is enough light to take a photo. I know sometimes this is not possible but consider it carefully before you shoot. Secondly, look where the light is coming from. Unless you are trying for a specific effect never place the light behind your subject. The camera will always focus and meter off the brightest area of a scene so your subject will be dark and indistinct. Rather shoot with the light coming from behind the camera over the shoulder of the photographer. Good images need good lighting to get a good exposure.

2. Use your feet

Sometimes it’s more important to use your feet before your head. Use them to get in closer. Most of the time photos are being taken with cellphones or point n shoots with either no optical zoom or very little. So the subjects are little blips in the photo. Get close to your subject and fill the frame so your see more of the person or object. Don’t use digital zoom as it degrades the image. Try it out and see which image you prefer. I like to see more of the memory I am making rather than all the clutter around scene.

3. Change your angle

Ninety percent of images are shot from in front of the subject approximately 5 feet (1.5m) above the ground. They all look the same, just different people. Change your angle so that you shoot from either low down or high up. Move around from your left to your right so that you aren’t directly in front of your subjects. Turn your camera at a forty five degree angle or hold it high above your head or at your waist. Digital photography allows you to review quickly and see if it works.

4. Think outside the box

Try to come up with a composition that is out of the ordinary. Be creative and take time to think about what you are going to shoot before pressing the shutter button. Look at the scene and ask yourself if you have seen a picture like this before. If you have then try another composition or angle. The key is to experiment.

5. Review your images

Before uploading to Facebook, review the images you’ve taken. Look through them and delete or remove the ones that you aren’t totally happy. Rather upload 10 good images than 50 average or bad ones. A little time taken to ask yourself whether you are proud of the image will ensure that your photo gallery stands out from the rest.

The bottom line is to learn digital photography and apply it so that you become a photographer and not just a picture taker. A little bit of thought and putting into practise some basic photographic principles will help you create images that you can be proud of. Facebook is there to showcase your images so try to upload only your best ones. Just because people aren’t making funny comments about them doesn’t mean they aren’t thinking them.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6353645

So, how can people take better images for posting to Facebook and other social media sites. Follow these simple steps for immediate improvement to your photo taking abilities.

1. Think about the lighting

When taking an image have a look at your lighting. Firstly, make sure that there is enough light to take a photo. I know sometimes this is not possible but consider it carefully before you shoot. Secondly, look where the light is coming from. Unless you are trying for a specific effect never place the light behind your subject. The camera will always focus and meter off the brightest area of a scene so your subject will be dark and indistinct. Rather shoot with the light coming from behind the camera over the shoulder of the photographer. Good images need good lighting to get a good exposure.

2. Use your feet

Sometimes it’s more important to use your feet before your head. Use them to get in closer. Most of the time photos are being taken with cellphones or point n shoots with either no optical zoom or very little. So the subjects are little blips in the photo. Get close to your subject and fill the frame so your see more of the person or object. Don’t use digital zoom as it degrades the image. Try it out and see which image you prefer. I like to see more of the memory I am making rather than all the clutter around scene.

3. Change your angle

Ninety percent of images are shot from in front of the subject approximately 5 feet (1.5m) above the ground. They all look the same, just different people. Change your angle so that you shoot from either low down or high up. Move around from your left to your right so that you aren’t directly in front of your subjects. Turn your camera at a forty five degree angle or hold it high above your head or at your waist. Digital photography allows you to review quickly and see if it works.

4. Think outside the box

Try to come up with a composition that is out of the ordinary. Be creative and take time to think about what you are going to shoot before pressing the shutter button. Look at the scene and ask yourself if you have seen a picture like this before. If you have then try another composition or angle. The key is to experiment.

5. Review your images

Before uploading to Facebook, review the images you’ve taken. Look through them and delete or remove the ones that you aren’t totally happy. Rather upload 10 good images than 50 average or bad ones. A little time taken to ask yourself whether you are proud of the image will ensure that your photo gallery stands out from the rest.

The bottom line is to learn digital photography and apply it so that you become a photographer and not just a picture taker. A little bit of thought and putting into practise some basic photographic principles will help you create images that you can be proud of. Facebook is there to showcase your images so try to upload only your best ones. Just because people aren’t making funny comments about them doesn’t mean they aren’t thinking them.

So what is there to shoot?

Focus on what is unique about the season. Is it the dry branches of the trees or the buds and flowers of spring and summer. Maybe it’s the leaves as autumn ends and winter begins. There is just so much to photograph as the seasons change. Here are a few tips to help you shoot the seasons.

1. Summer

Focus on the vibrant colours and luscious greens. Get in close to the flowers and look for detail. Or, get back and shoot the rolling fields of colourful flowers and trees. Shoot landscapes of green with skies of azure blue. The world is at your mercy so shoot till you cannot any more.

2. Autumn

Autumn is a favourite season for many with the colourful leaves of  trees and vines. There are so many shades of brown and red in the carpets of leaves strewn across woods and forest. Look closely for pine cones and acorns and their patterns across woodland floor.

3. Winter

Winter is a time of texture and patterns as trees stand starkly contrasted against pale grey skies. If you’re fortunate to have snow there is opportunity to shoot beautiful snow clothed subjects. The colours are cool and neutral across landscapes of crisp whites.

4. Spring

Spring is the time time to go wild. There is just so much to shoot as the world rises from the dead of winter and new life blossoms across the countryside. Colours are vibrant and the wildlife is active and ready to face the abundance that creation provides. So get in close and see what new life offers your creative genius.

Now is the time to learn photography and develop the photo techniques that will help you create those magnificent images.

A buffalo racing through sprays of mud and the concerted efforts of two ants carrying a leaf in a close-up image of incredible skill as well as the pose of a chic model with the backdrop of a chic city street, are some of the amazing amateur images going on display side by side with the pros. The Sony World Photography Awards 2011 images will be exhibited at Somerset House in London from April 26 to May 22.

For a full gallery of all the winners CLICK HERE

If you haven’t already purchased my ebook then now is the time.

Till midnight on 24 December I will slashing the price by 50%. Together with the free Audio book 21 Steps to Perfect Photos, the bonus ebook 30 Keys to Photography Success and a free assignment field guide this deal is not to be missed.

Just click on the link below and take a look at the sample chapter before you purchase.

http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/21steps.htm

Take you photography to the next level this Christmas or buy this ebook and give it to someone for Christmas.

Canon EOS 7D

The Canon 7d, on the market for almost a year, is in my humble opinion the best digital SLR Canon has released for the avid amateur or semi-pro. It’s not a 5D and it’s not a 1Ds but it is an affordable camera with great specifications. And, comparing it to the 500D for my application has a microphone input. The video is incredible and I can quite see why ad commercials have been shot on this camera.

So why did I purchase this camera? Firstly, the ability to record sound directly from a microphone plugged into the camera. I was a little surprised at the fact that there is no way to control volume levels which is a downside although Canon have promised a firmware update. There is a work around if you are serious about your video sound and that is to use a stereo digital recorder mounted on the hot shoe. Taking your sound out of the recorder into the mic socket allows you  to control the sound as good as the ability of your digital recorder. For my applications this is more than adequate.

Canon have maintained their participation in the megapixel race by giving a brand new 18 megapixel APS-C sensor with a 1.6x crop factor. The new sensor gathers plenty of light with each pixel 4.3 microns in size with their gapless microlenses assisting with this. This baby is definitely competition to the Nikon  D300.

The 7D is designed for speed with dual DIGIC 4 chips together with a fantastic 8 frames per second top speed. The buffer can handle 94 jpegs at the highest speed or 15 RAW images.  I like the fact that exposure compensation has been increased to five stops over or under coupled with a top ISO of 6400 which can be expanded to 12 800.

If you like HD video then this camera is for you. The HD movie mode captures full HD video at 30 fps when set to NTSC format and 25 fps when set to PAL in non-USA countries. Just be sure that your PC can handle these files and don’t get a surprise like me when it doesn’t.

The electronic horizon level to help with those landscape images doesn’t ring any bells for me but will probably help some. The RAW button will help when moving between jpeg and RAW as long as you remember the last change you made. Another little feature is the flash commander mode that allows you to control up to three groups of off camera flash units.

I am happy that there is still a non-full frame high end DSLR that will allow me to get that extra out of my zoom lenses. It’s size is slightly bigger than the 50D weighing in at 3.23 pounds or 1.4kg with a 28-105 kit lens.

If you are looking for the  idiots settings or Scene Mode you’ll find that they are missing on the dial which hails this camera as an entry level pro camera. The enthusiast who can afford it will miss these settings.

If you are looking for a camera that shoots high quality video and stills then this one is for you. There is a lot more that I could write about the 7D but what I have given here is perhaps for the serious amateur who is looking to take a step up to pro quality and ease of use without breaking the bank. Happy shooting if this the route of your choice.

Make More Money

This is a question that all of those who love photography ask at some time or other. Even those of us who are professional photographers sometimes need to sit down and evaluate where we are with our photography businesses. So how can you make more money from your photo business or hobby?

A professional photographer is someone who earns their living from photography, but, it doesn’t mean that a pro is better than an amateur. Of course, doing it full-time ensures that you spend more time doing what you love and becoming really good at it. So here I sit evaluating my business and asking the above question. Let’s take a look at what I found that will help me make more money from my photography.

1. Do more marketing

All of us fail here at some stage. Many pro photographers are not pro marketers and numerous businesses in general fail because of their marketing strategies, or, lack of strategy. I have sat down and looked at where I am at and what I am doing to market more effectively. I took a white board and began to mind map by writing down what I WAS doing, what I SHOULD be doing and what I COULD be doing with my marketing. If you can answer these three questions effectively and so something about each one, I can guarantee that you will make more money than you are at the moment. By taking your core business elements and letting people know about them will make you more money. So, bite the bullet and examine your marketing efforts and do something about it. If you need help, find it and implement it. A simple strategy can not only make you more money but save your business during difficult times.

2. Evaluate your style and quality

Complacency in any business is a killer to the entrepreneur. It creeps up on you and before you know it you are no longer growing but in the process of stagnating or even terminal. You stick to the same old portrait or wedding styles while the industry moves on. Your quality starts to be affected and before you know it what once was great is now average. I am not saying copy the market trends but keep up with them and adapt. If your clients want the happy family actions shots with a white background then give it to them, but, put your own unique style stamp on the final product. By keeping up with what people want you will make more money. You are in it for the money if it is a business so don’t be idealistic and refuse to watch the market trends.

3. Write a book

You’re a great photographer and have come through the ranks and now have a wealth of knowledge, wisdom and practical experience. So, share it by writing an e-book. Don’t share your trade secrets or unique techniques but show others how to do what you do well as a photo entrepreneur. Those of us who have followed this route have made thousands of dollars supplementing our businesses. There are so many people who want to become better photographers and will never make use of the services of a photo business and in this way you can reach their wallets. The process is simple with a little research on the internet. I am on my third e-book and reached the point where it is a great passive income every month. Wisdom cannot be owned so benefit financially by sharing it.

4. Run a course

All photo businesses have down time so run a course or offer personal photo coaching. When the studio has no bookings or the photo shoots have slowed, offer your services to people who want to learn the basics of the business. Show them how to do the things they think only pros can do. You aren’t going to show them everything and create competitors to your own business but rather help someone get better at what they can do.

5. Make a gift

Giving your time to people, organisations or charities who cannot afford a photographer will always help the growth of your business. As the old adage goes, ‘your gift will make room for you’. A photographer who gives often wins the trust of those she serves and others who observe her generosity. Trust is a huge factor in any business and someone who serves others will get noticed by those who can afford the services. So get involved in a local charity and showcase your business.

The proactive photographer who works at their business or hobby will make more money as they carefully apply these five points. Don’t work harder but rather smarter and you will make more money. Happy shooting!