http://www.articlearmies.com Articles posted by TJ Tierney. en-us Copyright (c) 2005 ArticleTime.com http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/photography-printing.html Printing images has long being a passion for a lot of photographers, but with the cost of inks and paper plus the length of time it takes, is it best to print at home or leave it to the professionals? The following article will explain all about photography printing and the pros and cons of printing at home. Once your images are taken the next and most important factor is the quality of the print. If you are thinking about doing the printing at home, you need to be able to create quality prints and you also need to know the best quality paper and ink to buy. Before you decide whether to print at home or use a professional service, you need to weigh up the pros and cons of doing it yourself. With a good printer it is possible to print great images in your office or at home. One of the biggest cons of printing at home is the time it takes; if you have a great deal of images to print I would advise that you get a professional service to do it for you. You will not save any money by doing your own printing but it is extremely handy to be able to do it your self, especially if you need the prints in a hurry. If you have decided that you are going to do your own printing you need to know and understand how to do so. Your prints need to be perfect. Printing images takes time and most affordable printers are slow. Your printer needs to be able to print at a minimum of 300 dpi. If possible get a printer that will print up to 600 dpi. This will give you a sharper and better quality image. You also need to know what paper will suit your printer. Your printer should have a minimum of four ink cartridges. Always buy inks from the manufacturer of the printer. As a rule, I would only use ink and paper made by the same manufacturer of the printer. This has been tried and tested by many photographers and should become your standard for your photography printing. Papers that are not designed for your printer may cause jams or even repel ink. I find that Epson is very good. But I would never put any other manufacturers ink into my Epson printer. Cheap inks will give you poor colours, resulting in poor prints. There are many different types of paper to choose from with different textures. Glossy paper will produce rich colours but should be handled with care. Matte paper may be a better choice for an image which is going to be handled a lot. Always remember that whiter paper produces sharper more vibrant colours. Many of us have digital cameras that tell us the mega pixel quality. As a standard a 2-mega-pixel camera will print a 4 x 6 inch print. A 3-mega-pixel camera will print a 5 x 7 inch print. A 6-mega-pixel camera will print a 10 x 8 inch print. An 8-mega-pixel camera will print a 12 x 8 inch print. The final thing that you need to understand is how to calibrate your monitor so that when you view your image on a computer screen the colours will be as close as possible when you print. Your computer manual should have a section on this and it should be redone every time your computer is moved. I hope this article was be helpful and that you are ready to create your digital darkroom. Photography printing at home will give you a better concept of colour along with the convenience of being able to print when you need. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Business/new-photography-business.html You may be considering that its time to take the jump to professional photography. If so, you need to understand how to set up your own photography business. If your images are a very good standard and you are making a few quid from a few jobs on the side, maybe its time to consider taking the plunge of entering the world of the professional. Before you start you need to take a look at what is involved in running your own business and learn how to promote it properly. If no one knows about you no one will give you work as a photographer and no one will buy your images. The following article is a guide to setting up a photography business and the promotion that will be needed to succeed. For any individual or group setting up a photography business the first and most important area to cover is promotion and marketing. This is the key to success and the more marketing you do the higher the chance that you will succeed. Once you have set up a business with your accountant, the first thing needed is to create business cards and promotional material. This material should have all your photography details and the services that you offer. Place as much promotional material as possible in local businesses. Local businesses will nearly always help if you are not competing with them. This is a great form of free advertisement. Many supermarkets have notice boards and allow local businesses to use them. Libraries will always let you put up some type of advertisement. And, of course the web is an escalating place for self-promotion. Most businesses have a website and your business will look more professional with one. Your website does not have to be too large, five or six pages may be large enough but do have the following pages: contact page, services page, and a portfolio page. Depending on the type of photography you do, I would advise that you hold regular galleries if you sell prints. This will lead to sales and may also give you free advertisement in your local press. Many new businesses today advertise in their local newspaper. My advice to you is that if you are using this medium be careful, as it is a costly means of marketing and you could spend a lot with very little in return. It is very important to keep records of every thing you do. Try to find out from clients where they heard about you. This will help you to understand what type of marketing work best. Don’t ever take on a job that you cannot do. This will give you a bad name and harm your business. Word of mouth will help your business and in some cases this could be the best means of getting work. Every business needs to make a profit. One of the most important items to work out with a new photography business are the rates that you are going to charge. If you are too expensive you won’t get work. If you are too cheap your business may struggle. Before you do a job you must take everything into account, and make sure that you are charging enough to cover costs, have a wage, and make some profit. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/photography-gear-buying-a-camera.html In today’s world of photography there is tonnes of great equipment on sale that makes taking pictures easier. This article will look at some of the more popular cameras on sale. One thing that puzzles most of us when buying a camera is which one to choose. There are hundreds of cameras on the market today, most of which are made by manufacturers with very good track records. All cameras will work well in most circumstances but we need to look at the finer details to get the best value for our money. As a landscape photographer I am out in all sorts of harsh conditions so I want a camera that is versatile to my needs. When I buy a camera the first thing I look at is the strength of the outer shell. The shell needs to be strong if you are out and about each day. Normally the weight of the camera will give you a good indication of the durability and strength. There are many manufacturers to choose from, but if you are buying an SLR in digital or film format, Nikon or Canon are the main players. If you enjoy photography purely as a hobby and are planning to buy a digital compact camera, there are hundreds to choose from. I normally stick to the main manufacturers, but before I buy, I read photo magazines. Most photo magazines carry featured articles about the latest equipment on sale and they are constantly testing them to give their readers accurate feedback. This may spare you a lot of money and help you decide which camera to buy and which one will best suit your needs. If you are buying a compact camera I would definitely recommend checking out these magazines. There are so many to choose from and the prices can vary a lot. If you do decide to buy a compact pick one that accepts removable memory cards, other wise you may run out of memory taking holiday or family snaps. Also pick one that will offer you a reasonable size print. A 2-megapixel camera will allow you to print a good quality 10 x 8 inch print. Also make sure that the cameras software is suitable for your computer. If you are buying an SLR digital or film camera you are moving more closely toward the professional end of the market where prices can be quite high. Most SLR will allow you to capture images that can be enlarged to a good size. You will also be able to use interchangeable lenses on most SLR and add a strobe unit where extra light is needed for accurate exposure. For any photographer who works in a specialized area there are also specific cameras available. Photography manufacturers produce a range of cameras for professionals in digital or film format. Where large images are needed manufacturers sell large format cameras. These are ideal for landscape or advertising photography. There are also portrait digital cameras available for professionals. Buying an expensive camera will not make your images better. Regardless of your equipment you should be able to take good images with any standard compact camera if you apply good photography techniques. A good camera will enable you to be more creative with manual settings and will give you a higher resolution image but your creative eye will still work the same. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Self-Help/photography-red-eye.html Tips to beat annoying red eye in you photography. Red eye is a major problem for amateur photographers and occurs when a built-in-flash unit is positioned too close to the camera. This is down to poor design of cheap cameras, but can also happen with the built-in flash units in most SLR cameras. Red eye is caused by light reflecting back off the retina at the back of the eye. The chances of red eye happening and destroying an image are high if you are new to photography. One trick that usually works is to ask the subject to look at a bright light seconds before you take your image. The best way to avoid it is by placing your flash off camera and at a 45 degree angle to the subject. One of the handiest tricks for avoiding red eye is to use the double flash technique. When you are ready to take your shot pre-program your camera to give a double flash. The first flash will make the eyes of whoever you are photographing react by narrowing their pupil size. The second flash is for the images that you are taking. Not all cameras have the pre-program for a double flash facility; but a flash on an old camera will do the same if you time it correctly. Another technique is to angle the camera so that you are not shooting head-on portraits. This should also help to avoid any unwanted glare from the image. Some photographers use tracing paper to diffuse the light. The tracing paper is placed over the flash window. It is a method that can work, but it would be my least favourite. While all the above may work well, the best way to avoid red eye in photography is by using a flash off camera or by bouncing the light of a surface that will direct the light back onto the subject. Camera designers have gone to great efforts to minimize the effect of red eye, and there are many software programs that claim to remove it digitally. For those who are into digital photography and have access to Adobe Photoshop the red eye can be removed in two minutes. To remove red eye in Photoshop follow these instructions. 1. Select the Red Eye brush tool from the toolbox. 2. Zoom in on the eyes. 3. You may need to click on the Default Colour button and reset the colours. Once done make sure that the Sampling tab is set to First Click. 4. Resize the brush tool to suit the image. 5. Place the brush pointer over the red eye and click. This method works by changing the colours of pixels in the area affected. If it does not work completely the first time restart the process and set the Tolerance tab to a higher percentage. When the tolerance tab is set correctly all the red eye should be removed. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Sales/the-photography-magazine-market.html This is the biggest market open to any photographer, and in spite of your rank as a photographer it is great to see your images published in a magazine. Three months ago I walked into a news agent and saw a new landscape magazine that I found interesting. I bought the magazine and later decided to send in a few images. Two weeks later I received the images back in the post with a nice letter stating that they have used one of the images and that they would like to see regular submissions from me. The also included a cheque for the image used. Seeing your images published in a magazine for the first time is special. The feeling of excitement and honour is hard to describe, it will give you an extra lease of life and give you that extra drive to become more successful. To be successful at getting published you first must need to understand everything that is required. The best images are not always the ones that are chosen. Magazines editors will pick an image that will suit their current story line and they will pick images that will help the reader understand the topic being discussed. Magazines normally publish bright colourful images that tell a story, or help to describe or sell a certain product. If your photography capability is up to par - there is no reason why you can’t start sending your images to photo editors straight away. First, go to your nearest newsagent and select a few magazines that you are interested in submitting to. Study each image that has been used by the publisher and then compare the images in the magazine to your own. This is were you need to be honest and also be your own hardest critic. If you think your images are good enough create a portfolio of your best shots and get it in the post as soon as possible. If they’re not, you have to accept that; if you send in images that don’t meet the standard they will be returned. You will end up wasting your own time along with the time of the publisher. If your images are chosen, don’t submit the same images to a different company straight away. Wait a few months before using them again. If a magazine finds out that images they used are in a different magazine at the same time, they won’t use your photography again. Most magazines have standard prices that they pay to photographers, and will not go over this. Don’t be afraid to ask for a price list before submitting images. Some of the smaller companies won’t pay you too much and it may not be worth it. If you are unsure about a publisher, send an e-mail to the company letting them know that you are interested in submitting images and would like to get their guidelines for photographers. Editors of magazines are always looking for new material, and up and coming new photographers. I now get my photography published every month in this magazine and receive a regular payment from this publishing company. If you have got enough images there is no reason why you can’t supply five or six magazines every month. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Sales/stock-photography-agency.html Stock photography agencies or picture libraries can be a great way to market and sell your photography. The following information is advice on how to get the best from using image agencies. For any photographer starting out, one of the hardest elements is to try and sell his images. If you spend all day by the phone promoting the business, the chances are that you will spend less time doing the thing that you love most, taking pictures. This is a problem facing many aspiring young photographers. If you fall into this category then it is time to have a rethink about your photography and contact one of the many stock photography agencies. One of the main reasons for letting an agency handle your entire sales is their customer reach. A large stock company will have thousands of clients on their books, and are always on the lookout for new talent. You have the pleasure of taking images and leaving all the sales to the agency. The following is a synopsis on how photography agencies work. Submitting your images to a picture library or agency should be looked at as a long-term investment. You could have to wait for six months before you receive any payments. When an agency accepts the work of a new photographer they will have a lot of scanning and filing to do and all of this takes time. They will then have to market your images. An agency will ask for a contract to be signed, licensing them to the right to market and sell your images for a standard length of time. The standard term is normally five years with some of them looking for up to seven years. Agencies normally sell the reproduction rights of an image, which means that the image is being licensed to a buyer for a specified purpose. They will not normally sell outright rights without the photographers consent. Photography agencies work on a commission basis. Usually when they sell an image to a publisher the photographer receives a percentage of the price agreed. The percentage is normally fifty percent of the sale price. Most image libraries will require a minimum submission. This could be anywhere between fifty to five hundred images. Before you submit your photographs do your research. Find out what sort of images are accepted by image libraries. All agencies will have their own set of guidelines; do follow these or your images will be rejected. Check out their website to see what images they are using. You will also see the quality of the images they accept. Make sure that you add a detailed caption with each image - this will help to sell it. So, do you think you have what it takes to be successful with a stock photography company? If you are a well-published photographer you should have no trouble. If magazines and publishing companies have rejected you in the past, the chances are that your imagery is not up to par. If you do feel that your pictures are good enough, create a portfolio on a CD and submit it. You do not need to submit all your images to the stock agency; you can always keep some images to sell yourself. Don’t be afraid to get a rejection slip through the door. Some of the world’s greatest photographers have received them. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Sales/sell-your-travel-photography.html Taking travel images that you will be able to sell. Travel photography is not about taking nice snaps that you show to your family and friend. It’s about capturing the character and charm of a location. The following are tips that will help improve your travel photography. If your travel images are good there is no reason why you won’t be able to sell them. Every year thousands of travel images are destroyed mainly due to the fact that they were not carefully planned and the skills required to take good photography were not used. Sometimes when we are on holidays we may get careless and leave our skills at home. If care and planning is put into your travel shots there is certainly a great chance that they will sell. To sell your images you need to expose them correctly, and also have good colour and composition. Good colour is always important with travel images. Every new city or country we travel to will produce a different test. This is mainly due to the strength of light that will differ from region to region. Light will differ from your home and exposure may in some cases be difficult to calculate. Try to get your hands on a grey card. This will help calculate tough exposures and will not cost you much. You place the grey card in front of the subject that you are taking and then take your exposure reading from it. There are many different things that you can shoot. The following are the main subjects that you should take. Cityscape portraits and landscape shots are the most popular topic, but this means getting up early in the morning. You need to plan carefully and arrive at your destination before most tourists do. Other important subjects are local people, food and drink, buildings and stores and road signs. Portraits of local people in national dress will also sell well. There are many places to sell your images once you return from your trip. If you have a large amount of images it may be better to get a stock photography agency to sell them for you. This will save you a lot of time but the agency will take up to fifty percent of the sale price. Regardless of what percentage they take, stock agencies are the best way. The will have a list of paying customers on their books. They will know which market best suits your images. They will also know the correct prices to charge. There are thousands of agencies out there - be careful with your choice. If possible try and pick one of the bigger agencies. Your images will get a lot more exposure and make your travel photography more profitable. There are many great photographers who make their living from travel photography. They travel from place to place capturing the character of each location they visit. There is no reason why you can’t do the same. Every year image publishers are always on the lookout for unique imagery. They will pay good money to secure rights for the image - so it is worthwhile giving it a go. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/landscape-photography.html Tips for capturing that perfect landscape scene. The job of a landscape photographer is far from easy, and he often has the elements of the weather against him, but for those who have mastered the art of creating excellent images, the outdoors are a perfect place to do a days work. Landscape photography is one of the toughest forms of photography; it demands a great deal of care when selecting a location to shoot. One of the biggest mistakes amateur photographers make when arriving at a scene is to start shooting straight away. They end up shooting dull, lifeless images that lack colour and impact. When arriving at a scene the first thing a photographer should do is to walk the scene with your camera and a compass. The compass is used to see where light will rise in the morning and set in the evening. I bring my camera just in case I arrive at a perfect moment. I start by recording the scene. I record the best time to return so the morning light will bring out the best in the area. I also try to record how the evening light will embrace the scene. Low morning light usually brings out the best in any landscape setting and adds mood and impact to a scene. When I return to the area that I have selected, I try to arrive as early as possible. I don’t leave home without a good tripod, a cable release, and a few photography filters. A polarizing filter is very handy for side lit scenes and a warm-up filter is very useful for a scene that seems cold and dull. Composition for landscape photography depends on a range of things. There are many different types of composition that can be used; one that normally works with most landscape scenes is the Rule of Thirds. The Rule of Thirds is pretty straightforward and is based on where you place the focal point of your landscape scene. The law behind it is that when you draw two vertical lines on your scene and two horizontal lines across your scene, you should have nine rectangles of equal size. The four points where the vertical and horizontal lines meet mark the area where you place the focal point of your image. You may use any of these points - it’s up to you. If you are unsure take four shots of your scene. Compare the results when you return home. This will also help to develop your eye. Once you are happy with the composition you will need to calculate the correct exposure. To get the correct exposure, you should invest in an exposure meter and a grey card. Take a light reading from the sky and if possible take some readings from the ground in front of you. The chances are that if you are shooting a low light scene you may need to add an ND filter to compensate for the light difference between the foreground and the sky. When shooting landscapes you should remember that the weather will plays a very important part in your day to day activities, and you should be always be prepared for the worst. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/photography-composition.html Regardless of which type of camera we use the elements that make good composition remain the same. Excellent composition is a key structure of good imagery and when done well will add great value to your pictures. Regardless of which type of photography we participate in, the rules of composition remain the same. Good composition is required in all types of photography - Here are a few tips which you may find practical. Lead with lines: To lead with lines into the main part of the scene will draw the viewer into your image. These lines don’t have to be straight. Lines, such as tracks, riverbanks or fences, may work successfully. Foreground interest: Simple foreground objects can give your landscape a greater sense of depth. Use a small aperture (f/22) to keep the entire scene in focus. Natural frames: Frame your scene with the elements all around you. This will help to focus attention on the main part of the picture. Branches of trees make great natural frames for landscape and nature images. Using windows as frames can also help. Fill the frame: Used mainly in macro photography and portrait photography, filling the frame is another composition technique. Isolate the subject: Using an aperture of f/5 or smaller will isolate your subject. With this technique the subject should remain sharp with the background and foreground becoming blur. This is used creatively in sports, nature and wildlife photography to draw attention to the subject. This can also be used for outdoor portrait shots. Adding or removing objects from a scene can help with composition. Still life photographers will always be re-arranging their subjects. Most still life photographers sell their images to the advertisement market where perfection is essential. Here is where attention to detail should be at the utmost. Landscape photographers can use several ways to produce good images. Natural frames will work well in certain scenes, as does attractive foreground interest. Leading with lines works well in certain circumstances. A popular way is to use the rule of thirds. Understanding the Rule of thirds: If you draw two vertical lines on your print and two horizontal lines across your print, you should have nine rectangles of equal size. The four points where the vertical and horizontal lines meet are the area where you place the focal point of your image. Composition is also extremely important for portrait photographers. If this is an area that you have interest in, study portraits owned by family and friends. This is a great way to see how the professionals use some of the above techniques. Many portrait photographers use a dull background isolating the subject. Composition for architecture photography is tricky. Outdoor urban scenes can be a nightmare to control and sometimes it is impossible to know what to leave in or out of the image. It is also the same with indoor architecture photography - many items in a room may clutter your image. If you do come across a scene and you are unsure about the composition take a few different shots - don’t miss out on the chance of getting a gripping image. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/interior-photography.html Tips for photographing interiors of homes and buildings. Interior photography is very demanding and the photographer must be sensitive to all the elements that will appear in the final print. Most rooms consist of small objects that look good in the room, but in a print, these objects may cluster the image. Photographing interiors involves working within a confined space, so the first thing you need is a suitable lens. Most of us would prefer to use a wide-angle lens, but this lens causes problems with image distortion. Distortion is a large and common problem when shooting interiors, but can be reduced if you use a lens with the focal length set between 80 and 100. Interior images should be bright, with perfect exposure and have fresh vibrant colours. This is the standard used by publishers all over the world. To achieve this the photographer must be able to control these elements and have a very good understanding of light. Light will play an important part when photographing interiors. Most of your images will be shot with a low shutter speed, because natural light levels will be very low, so a tripod will be needed. If the natural light is good, use a reflector to bounce the light into the dark areas of the room. If the natural light is not good enough you will have to use a strobe unit. Try to bounce the light off a photographic umbrella to soften the light in the room. If you are using more than one light have some reflectors with you. Composition is very important when photographing interiors. Here are some pointers that you may find useful and helpful: Look out for lines that will lead to the focal point of your image. By leading with lines into the main part of the scene you will draw observers into your photograph. These lines don’t have to be straight. They can be a row of seats or interesting converging vertical objects. Simple foreground objects are also perfect for composition. Patterns on a floor can give your interior a greater sense of depth. Use a small aperture (f/22) to keep the entire scene in focus. Try to frame your scene with some of the elements in the room. This will focus attention on the main part of the picture. Tiles on the floor and walls can be very handy as composition when photographing a room - use the tiles to focus attention on the focal point of the room. When photographing bathrooms, if possible exclude the toilet. Always try to exclude anything that you think is distasteful. Sometimes framed pictures hanging on walls will appear distorted so it is best not to include them. If you are photographing someone’s home ask the owner before you move items. Good interior images are not easy to take but the rewards are great if you can master the trade. If you are unsure of the standard, buy some of the magazines that use these images. Publishers pay fine prices for well exposed, good quality indoor images. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/getting-your-images-published.html There are thousands of companies seeking images to be published, understanding the market is the key to getting published. Everywhere we look today we see great photographs being used to sell products - all of these images are well-exposed colourful shots that were taken by photographers from all corners of the globe. It does not matter where you live; if your images are good enough they will sell. The market out there for freelance photographers is massive. Every day publishers and photo editors are on the lookout for new talent. Photography publishing companies will not care if you are a professional or amateur. If your photography is good enough they will pay you the going rate. To sell your images to the magazine market or any other type of market, the first thing you must understand is the standard required. You must compare your images to the images that are published by that company. If your pictures are up to the standard you have a chance of being published. If they are not you must be your own hardest critic and try to improve. The best way to understand what a publisher is looking for is to buy copies of their product. Once you have a copy, you must study all the images they use. Once you have compared your images to the shots that they have used, put together a portfolio of your best work and send this to the publishing company. Include a stamped addressed envelope so that the images can be returned to you. Most publishers will have a set of guidelines for photographers on their website - I would strongly advise you to read these carefully before you send them your work. When submitting photographs, make sure you give a detailed caption for each image, and if the photograph has people in it, make sure you have a photo release signed. Publishers will not use images of people without a proper photo release signed. If your image has private property the publisher may also request a signed release form. The image caption does not need to be several pages, but you should at least have the location of the image, the date the picture was taken and any other information that you think may be useful. Do not be afraid to submit your images if you think they are good enough - every photographer has to make a start and every photographer will get rejected now and again. No one will like receiving a rejection slip through the door, but this may happen from time to time. Thousands of images are used online and the market is growing larger each year. If you are serious about selling your photography try to put an online portfolio together where people can see greater samples of your work. If you are successful at selling your images to magazines and to all types of publishing companies, the chances are that with time you will accumulate thousands of great images. You will then need someone to handle and run this part of your business and to sell your pictures for you and you will need to find a stock photography agency that can handle all your sales and give you the time to take more images. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Advertising/good-photography.html The elements that make a good photograph are quite simple to follow and with a little extra care average images can become very good. The worlds greatest hobby is photography. Today everyone has a camera, but a lot of potentially good settings go to waste through lack of experience and knowledge. With a little help, our holiday snaps can become great images to share with your friends and family. These days, everyone has a digital camera and the concept of taking reasonable images is quite simple, thanks to the higher spec of cameras - but how many people know exactly what makes a good picture? Knowing what makes a good image will result in improvements in your photography. A good photograph should have a theme. The theme of the photograph should be clear and simple. The theme in most types of photography is the model or the subject that you are shooting. You must focus attention on your subject to make that image perfect. Most great images are simplified by removing any unwanted material in the background that might take from the subject. A good image should be sharp and in focus - and thanks to digital technology most new decent cameras will do this for you. Understand your camera settings to get the maximum results. All new cameras will have standard auto-focusing settings. Your images can be brought to an even higher standard by using light correctly. Light transforms everything - it creates mood in an image, and also adds impact. Once you are able to understand how to use light correctly, you will soon start to see an improvement in your pictures. There are three things to consider when looking at light: strength, direction and colour. Strength: Cloudy days bring soft and defused light. Light can be very harsh and too bright at midday when the sun is high in the sky. Low light at sunrise and sunset is warm and good for adding mood to images. Direction: this refers to light placement. There are three main categories of light placement: front lighting, back lighting and side lighting. Side-lighting produces more texture between light and shade. Frontal lighting can be too harsh and back lighting can be tough to control and does not always add to an image. Colour: the colour of sunlight varies depending on conditions and time of day. Sun shine at the beginning or the end of the day is the most dramatic and therefore make the best time to take images - the colour of the light will be much warmer, and will lead to much more mood in your scene. One of the most rewarding aspects that any person can take from photography is the manner in which we learn to see different objects through light. Light, and the way we use light is so very important - this is as important in portrait photography as it is in any other type of photography. Photography is a powerful means of storing memories. The key to capturing these memories through photography is how we combine the elements of light and good photography techniques. Creating everlasting memories that are worth viewing time after time is priceless. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Education/photography-courses.html Are you a keen photographer? If so, learn how to take better images and learn how to sell your pictures through photography courses. Will you improve your photography by taking an online photography course? The answer to this is yes, if you are serious about photography and keen to learn all aspects of the trade. But the first thing that you have to do is pick a course that will suit your spare time and your budget. There are hundreds of photography courses online that will offer you all types of results. Some are very good, but many are a waste of time and money. You need to be able to pick a course that will offer you up to date information on all aspects of photography. You will also need to join a course that will allow you to submit your images to a tutor for review. Most good courses will have professional photography tutors who will examine your images and give you constructive criticism.; this is a very important part of any course that you take. The chances are if you do decide to take a course online you will need to be able to do the course in your own time. Any good photography school that you subscribe to will allow you this. Take your time doing the course; you will be a lot better off in the future if you understand the course information completely. The price of a good course should not be any more than 600 euro. If colleges or websites are looking for more than this you would be well advised to look further. Before signing up to any course make sure that you fully understand all the rules and regulations of the course. Some may have small print that mention extra fees apply if the course goes over a certain length of time, for example. You should also take note what the course fee covers. If the course is done by post the postal fee should be included in the course fee. If there is a final exam at the end of the course, your course fee should cover this. Your course fee should also cover any diplomas that you will receive at the end of the course. Online photography courses are certainly one of the best ways to get started and update your photography skills, but do remember that there are many online courses to choose from. There are many great online courses that cover all types of photography and that will also give you advice on how to sell your images. You don’t need to go out and buy any fancy equipment to be successful doing a course. Most standard SLR cameras will be good enough. Some of the best photographers in the world use standard SLR and they do not waste money on fancy new equipment. There are many people out there who would love to turn their photography hobby into a paying career, but the chances of doing so may seem like a vivid dream. But, dreams do come true, and with a little work the start of a new career may not be that far away. A good photography course will certainly help you. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/promote-your-photography-site-part-2.html The best method of getting your Photography Website noticed - using online forums and photography competitions. As discussed earlier in part 1 of promoting your photography site - photography directories are certainly the best way to start promoting your images and business. The second and another great way to get visitors to your site is by using photography forums. Photography forums are an online chat centre where you can discuss all types of photography, get tips from other photographers and create good quality links to your site. Photography forums are pretty simple to use - first you must register, then you are free to ask and give advice, discuss all the latest camera equipment and much more - the choice of topic is yours - all while promoting your own website. Some forums will allow you to show your images to promote your site even further. For anyone interested in using forums as a promotional means, and to make sure you get the very most out of them, sign every comment you make with a link to your site. It is truly that simple. You get inbound links to your site while discussing your hobby or giving advice about your work. When creating a comment do not write rubbish or give bad advice, people will be reading your comment and may take it serious. The goal behind using photography forums is that you get visitors while creating links to your site. Forums and directories are not the only means of promoting your images online. Photography competitions are also a great means to earn some extra cash and receive award-winning status. It is also a great source of free advertisement if you win or come in the top five. It would be nice to be able to write in bold after your name on the top of your Website: AWARD WINNING PHOTOGRAPHER. There are thousands of competitions held online every year. Some are just for amateur photographers while most are open to all. Most competitions will have certain guidelines, and you would be well advised to read them very carefully. Some firms hold competitions to gain access to free images - so read the guidelines before enter. It may be great to win a competition, but you do not want a company using your images for free without receiving any payment. Most photography related sites that hold competitions will not be looking for free images - they hold competitions as a promotional means for photographers. If you are looking to find a list of local competitions in your area you should contact someone in your local photography club. Photography clubs are usually notified of all competitions that are held within their area. Some of the main photography directories should have a list of the online competitions. Prizes do vary from cash to camera gear and equipment; some online companies offer free advertisement on their site, which may result in your business making thousands through sales. Regardless of the prizes you should add your image and Website to as many competitions as possible especially when most of them are free to enter. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/photography-competitions.html Learn the art of winning photography competitions. Whether you are new to photography or a glowing professional, photography competitions are well worth considering. In order to increase your winning chances, you must first understand that what you consider to be the best image is not always reflected in the final result. This may sound ambiguous to some but certain requirements must be adhered to. To be successful entering and winning photography competitions one must first understand what the judges and the companies holding these event require. Companies usually have strict guidelines telling photographers what sort of image they are looking for. Most companies will use the winning image as promotional material for their business, so submitting images that don’t meet their guidelines will certainly not be ranked. Travel companies will be looking for an image that they can use on their brochure - so before you enter in any competition it is well worth while to take a close look at the company and the images they normally use. Regardless of the type of image entered, photographers must submit images that are technical perfect, with good composition and proper exposure. Submitting poor quality images will waste your time along with the judges. One of the utmost moments in any photographers career is to see his/her images displayed in the winners section of a website or newspaper or at a prize winners ceremony. This is a moment when a struggling photographer’s business may start to take off or give his studio an extra boost. It is also when the value of a photographer’s images rises. But to win a photography competition, the right approach is very important. Your image should hold a theme that will suit the company holding the competition. If the company is travel related they will be looking for an image that has vibrant colours; an image that has life and soul. Energy companies will want an image that will blend their industry and the environment together. When entering a competition there will be hundreds, if not thousands of photographers with entries. To give yourself the best possible chance of winning, only submit images that you think will have a decent chance. The image that you enter should have impact and must be a photograph that you are proud of - an image that you are constantly showing off to your friends and family. Prizes on offer vary and can range from cash to equipment. Some of the larger competitions pay out tens of thousands of dollars. Competitions that are free to enter will have smaller prizes but are still worth entering. One thing you should remember is that some companies hold competitions to get free images. Before submitting your pictures, read the guidelines. Make sure that you will be able to sell the image after the competition and that you are not signing away the copyright of your image. If you are unsure about it and the guidelines are not clear, it is best not to enter. There are thousands of competitions held all over the world each year. To find out which ones suit your photography contact your local camera club, or look up some of the photography directories on the web. Some of the larger competitions that are open to photographers world wide will charge a submission fee, but there are a wide selection of free competitions out there. If you are new to photography or unsure about your chances of success its best to try a few free ones at the beginning. Photography competitions can do so much for a photographers career - some say it’s the taking part that counts - but when the winner receives so much free advertising for their business, plus the large amounts of cash on offer; I think they are worth taking seriously. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/SE-Optimization/promote-your-photography-sites--part-1.html The best method of getting your photography Website noticed - using photography directories. You may have spent a great deal of time and money creating the perfect Website - your photography images may be superb, but if people cannot find your site your images and talent along with your business may become a white elephant. Promoting your Website is not that difficult but will take up some of your precious time. My advice for you is to set out a few hours per week for this. If your Website is new the chances are that Google, Yahoo or any search engine won’t index your site for a few months. And it may even take several months before they place it to appear when someone types in a search phrase that suits your site. So you need to give your photographs and business a reasonable chance of getting paying customers. When a search engine index’s your Website it looks to see how many links point to your site. The more links you can create the better your site will rank, but only if they are the right kind of links. Don’t spend hours and hours online getting thousands of standard ordinary links. Get links that relate to your site. Get links from other photography sites. Photography Directories are a great way of creating free advertisement for your site and also a great way of getting valuable links to your site that search engines will recognise. Before you submit your Website to directories, research the correct keywords that best describe your site. If your photography site is Landscaped based you need to optimise your site correctly for the keywords Landscape photography. Once you are happy with which keywords best describe your site start submitting your site to Photography Directories. Most photography directories require a return link so you should create a links page for this alone. When you are submitting your website you need to use the correct keywords that best describe your site in the link title to your site. The link title will be the title on the submission form. You will also need to create a good definitive description for your site. This should be no more than twenty-five words and should start with the keywords that best describe your site. This is what people will read - this is where you sell your site - a good description will enable potential customers to enter your site. Once you have completed the form click submit and move on to the next directory. There are many good photography directories online - some specialised in certain areas of photography, more cover all areas of photography. Once you fill out the submission form correctly you will start to see the rewards. Some directories will charge you when creating a listing; my advice is to research such websites before you part with your hard earned cash. Stay away from link farms and link companies that offer you thousands of links - these sites don’t rank well with search engines and may harm your site in the long run. While photography directories are just one way of promoting your site; they are the easiest and quickest way to get started. Creating good quality inbound links to your site will help you achieve excellent search engine ranking for your site resulting in more and more traffic entering your photography site. In part 2 of Promoting your photography site, read how to gain exposure from forums and photography competitions. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Advertising/travel-photography.html Capture the world with travel photography. Summer time is the perfect time for snap happy people, and for anyone heading to an exotic destination for a well deserved break. Tourists all over the world capture priceless memories forever and their top-quality images are then stored away never to be seen by anyone. Travel photography is a great hobby for any holiday goer, and with a few helpful tips you can bring home some great images that you can enjoy forever. If your images are better then normal you may be able to make some cash from them. The key to travel photography is to make your images appealing to a wider audience than normal. You want to capture the mood and culture of a new place. You need to be able to sell a holiday through a photo. Tips on what to photograph when travelling: Taking landscape images in a far-off land can be tricky. The light conditions may be very different from what you are used to. Exposure may also be very tricky to calculate. If you are in doubt, bracket your shots to ensure that you will get the perfect image. Travel photographers should start their day as the sun is rising. This is the best time to capture mood in a landscape image. Night time urban landscape pictures will always make an interesting shot when exposed correctly. Use a tripod to ensure that your image is sharp. Food shots can be very memorable, try to include the waiter or anything that you normally don’t see at home. The interior and the exterior of restaurants can also be photographed. Take pictures of local signs, buildings and famous landmarks. Be very careful with the position of the sun. Try taking images when the sun is to your side. This will cast long shadows along the front of the building. Use a polarising filter to cut out any glare from the glass in buildings. Photograph the people. Travel companies are always seeking interesting people images. Photograph people eating food - people working - children playing - local police, fire fighters and any other service people in the area. Make sure that they are doing something interesting. Visit local markets. This can make very interesting photography. Take plenty of images of the local stalls and the sellers. Take pictures of the different foods and anything else that you think may be unusual. Travel photography may also be an immense financial trip for the professional photographer. Photo publishers are always seeking new material and are always on the look out for new talent. When you return home with your images make a copy of each. Label each image with a brief caption. Its best to do this straight away when the holiday is fresh in your head. Any holiday goer with the ability to use their lens correctly has the potential to sell their images. All you need to know is what makes a good travel image. You don’t need to be a top class photographer to profit from taking pictures of far-off places. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/black-and-white-photography.html Black and white photography tips. With today’s digital technology, transforming colour images into black and white photographic prints is pretty straightforward but don’t throw away your rolls of black and white film. Black and white photography is still regarded as a favourite with many photographers - dull landscape scenes become more dramatic with black and white photography. Most subjects that are shot in colour can be taken with black and white film. Portraits are still widely taken by professional photographers all over the world. One of the most popular uses of black and white photography is with wedding photographs. More couples are now opting for a combined wedding album of black and white images that really capture the mood and emotions of the special moment. Black and white landscape photography is becoming popular again and is more suitable for taking images when the day is dull or too bright. If a scene does not have an entire spectrum of different colours, consider viewing it as a black and white photograph. Do we need to learn black and white photography tips in a world of colour? You must choose the answer to this yourself - but here are a few pointers that will help you to make your decision. 1 Black and white photography is becoming more popular with the general public, and for that reason alone… new opportunities will open up for you. 2. In some situations, black and white photography has the tendency to make photos look more like works of art - fine art images will sell better in galleries. 3. Landscape images often lack a multitude of colours, using black and white film when shooting daytime photos will add impact to your photography. 4. There is also the value of using your own darkroom - the thrill of developing your own film and processing your images. The same principles for colour photography apply to black and white photography. If you have mastered the art of photography, taking images with a roll of black and white film should be easy. Filters are just as important with black and white photography. There are fewer filters available for black and white photography, but one that you should use is the polarizing filter. This filter is very effective for both black and white photography and colour photography. The polarizing filter makes the sky stand out to give your landscape images serious impact. It also helps to reduce glare from the sun’s rays - which is very handy for urban or architectural photography. Exposure with black and white photography is a small bit easier. Black and white film handles light more easily than colour film can - which gives you greater room for error. Most black and white film allows you to capture detail when you underexpose at two stops. With overexposure the range is greater - between five and seven stops are allowed. This is known as film latitude. With colour film you are limited to a latitude of one stop each way. This does not mean that you can become lethargic when taking black and white images. It means that if you do make a mistake the results may be acceptable. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Advertising/travel-to-ireland.html Are you taking a trip to the emerald isle? The following will help you plan for the special vacation. Ireland is an island in the northwest of Europe with an area of 32,595 sq miles. About 370 km (230 miles) long by 225 km (140 miles) wide, Ireland comprises the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The population of the island of Ireland is approximately 5.8 million people, 4.1 million in the Republic of Ireland and 1.7 million in Northern Ireland. Ireland is the third largest island in Europe. Geography: Ireland has thirty-two counties, and four provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. A ring of coastal mountains surrounds low central plains. About five percent of Irish land is under forest. The island's green vegetation is a product of its mild climate and frequent but soft rainfall. Ireland's most scenic areas lie in the south western and western counties. These areas are largely mountainous and rocky, with beautiful green views. Irish: is the Celtic language of Ireland. It was brought to Ireland by Celtic invaders in 1000 BC, and to the end of the 18th century, was spoken by the majority of the people. The English language gained ground rapidly and Irish is now spoken regularly only in certain areas in the west of Ireland. It is taught in all schools, but despite active support from the government of Ireland, there are probably fewer than 90,000 speakers. It is the first official language of the Irish Republic and recently became an official language of the European Union (EU). Literature and the arts: For such a small country, Ireland has made a large contribution to world of art and literature in all its branches, mainly in English. In more recent times, Ireland has produced four winners of the Nobel Prize for literature: George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett, and Seamus Heaney. James Joyce is widely considered as one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. His novel: Ulysses is considered one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. Landscape: The Irish landscape is one of Ireland’s greatest attractions. Ireland's most scenic areas lie in the south western and western counties. There are several National Parks filled with towering hills, romantic lakes, and will always remain Irelands most unspoiled treasures. Magnificent scenery has attracted many visitors to these parks for years. Climate: The Atlantic Gulf Stream keeps the Irish climate mild most of the year. Average temperatures in winter are 4 - 7o C, and in summer are 14 - 18o C. Rainfall is heaviest in the west and lightest in the southeast, but at all times very unpredictable. Sport: Gaelic hurling and football are the most popular sports in Ireland - they make up the national sports of Ireland, known as Gaelic Games. All Gaelic games are governed by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Other main sports include: Rugby, Football (soccer), Horse racing and Greyhound racing. With a similar landscape a visit across the border into Northern Ireland is a real treat. If you a planning a trip to Ireland contact the northern Ireland Tourist Board - the have a now launched a new short break brochure full of great ideas to help make your trip better. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/photography-forum.html Promote your photography business using online photography forums. As a professional photographer I am constantly looking for new ways of promoting my online photography business. Using photography forums is a new way to help create more exposure for my website, by giving advice and tips to amateur photographers, and also involves me with people who share a common interest. Photography forums are a great source of free advertisement. Any of us that have paid for online ads in the past know how quickly we can waste money with very little return in sales. Photography forums are a great means for a photographer to promote their business as long as they use them with common sense. Thousands of amateur photographers are constantly seeking tips and advice on how to improve their photography. Forums work by professionals answering questions and giving advice to those who seek it. Photographers who are using these forums as a form of free advertising should create a link to their website after every post they write. This gives the people who read your comment an opportunity to click the link to your site. If you post a comment that has little relevance to the forum topic people will glance over what you have written and won’t visit your site. Registering for any forum you are interested in will take just a few minutes and once registered you are free to post as many threads as you wish. Most questions can be answered in less that fifty words - if you create great tips people will automatically click the link at the bottom of the thread and thus enter your site. For amateurs who seek information there’s no better place to get free advice and tips. They cover most photographic topics with the larger forums attracting thousands of professional photographers each day. Amateurs should not be afraid to ask the simple questions. This is why the forums exist. Even if you do not want to become a member of a forum they are a great source of information. Most forums will allow you to browse the content of each topic, but you will not be able to compose or post a comment without registering. Different online forums offer different topics. Some forums deal only with digital photography while others are created for particular elements of photography. The Goldprints photography forum has a buy and sell section where photographers can buy or sell used equipment. Other forums allow you to share images online and most are full of great tips and advice. Any person using an online photography forum for spamming, or misuse a forum in any way will have their e-mail address blocked along with their IP address. So don’t abuse what is a great source of information for so many. People from all over the world use these photography forums for all sorts of reasons. If you want to talk about religious or political issues for example, you should use a forum that has a similar theme. Most of us have different reasons for joining online forums - some join to be part of a special community, more join to create exposure for their own business, while others join to get information and advice about their hobbies. Regardless of the reason we join photography forums, they are a great place to share a common interest. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/get-the-perfect-exposure-every-time.html Disappointed with your last batch of images. Did you ever get back a fresh batch of film, only to be disappointed in finding out that you got back wash-out boring images. The problem is that you didn’t expose your film properly. Whether we use a digital or film camera, we need to be able to calculate exposure properly. But first, we need to understand how the aperture and the shutter work together. We also need to know how film handles light, and the relationship between film light sensitivity and f/stops. Lets take a quick look at the main elements. Aperture and f/stops: the aperture is an opening in the centre of the lens through which light passes. The amount of light which passes through an aperture is indicated by f/stops. The lower the f/stop the more light that passes through the aperture. Opening up one full f/stop doubles the amount of light entering the camera. F/4 admits twice the light of f5.6. Shutter: the shutter is a mechanical device that controls the length of time that light is allowed to act on the film. Each time you open the shutter by one, we double the light, when we close down the light by one we half the light. Opening the shutter at 1 second allows twice the light as that of a ½ second. ISO (ASA): stands for International Standards Organisation. The initials are used for film speed which rates light sensitivity. A film with an ISO number 100 is twice as light sensitive as a film with an ISO of 50. The faster the film, the more sensitive it is to light. Most digital SLR have ISO settings built in to them. If you are taking a low light image with a digital camera use a slow ISO rating of 200 or upwards. Getting the perfect exposure isn’t easy, but there are several different ways of making it easier. Using a light meter: there are two types of light meters, 1. Reflected-light meter (the same that is built into your camera) works by pointing the meter at your subject. 2. Incident-light meter: instead of pointing the meter at your subject, you stand beside the subject and point the meter at the camera. The light that falls on your subject will also fall on your meter. The most common way is to use the meter built into your camera. All modern day cameras have a reflected-light meter built in to them. But don’t point the camera directly at your subject from 10 meters. This will more than likely underexpose your image. Take the exposure reading up-close, then return to the starting position and take your image. It doesn’t matter which metering system we use, if we don’t point them in the right direction our images will return too dark or too bright. The key is to know where to point the meter. When I take a landscape image I normally take five or six different readings. I take an incident-light reading with my light meter to record the foreground and a reflected-light reading of the sky. If you are unsure take three or four images at different exposure settings. Don’t let a perfect picture moment pass by without recording it flawlessly. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Advertising/fashion-photography.html The true art of fashion photography. Do you want to be a fashion photographer? Fashion photography is an extremely tough market to break into, but if you are willing to work hard, have a good imagination and hold the ability to take perfect images you are off to a good start. A fashion photographer must be good in two photography disciplines. First, you need to be a great portrait photographer - second, you need to be able to create images for the advertisement market. You must be able to combine the two if you are going to succeed. To be a successful fashion photographer you must also have a love of fine design clothes - without it you will never achieve the heights that bring success. A fashion photographer must stay up to date with all the latest fashion and have the ability to use his/her imagination to sell new designs. Selling is the key - the fashion photographer must be able to sell his images to the fashion editor. Fashion photography is advertising and selling clothes. To establish a reputation in fashion photography, the first thing you must do is set up a portfolio. Your portfolio should display your best work and be your first selling point. The second, and equally as important as the first, is to set up an online portfolio - your own personal Website. To set up a portfolio you first must hire a model. Contacting your local modelling agencies can do this. You don’t need to hire a well-known model for your fashion portfolio - you need someone who will act well in front of the camera. To be very successful you need to build a good relationship with models. Some models can be tough to work with so people psychology will play an important part. If you intend to shoot from your home studio supply a changing room for them. If a model becomes unhappy for any reason the photo session will be a waste of time. Allow your model to make their own suggestions - regardless of how trivial it may be, it will help to keep them relaxed and you may get results that may be useful. Once your portfolio is created you need to get exposure for it. If you have previously published work - use them as a statement with the picture editors. You need to establish a good working relationship with all fashion editors that you’ll be working with. So be professional. Fashion photo editors are looking for concise images that clearly communicate an idea. You must, as a fashion photographer, have the ability to create unique settings. When you do gather a large amount of fashion images, submit them to a fashion agency: Women's magazines all over the world buy hundreds of stock shots every month. Photo agencies exist to sell photographers images - some of the larger fashion agencies have buyers all over the world. Some agencies can also re-sell your work in several different markets, and others will give you great career advice. Keep up to date with fashion magazines, study the market and always be on the lookout for changing trends. Don’t be afraid to take the first step. If a fashion editor has no interest in your work - don’t worry - try contacting different magazines or agencies - most great photographers have their work rejected some time during their career. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/understanding-image-resolution.html Resolution is a term used a lot in photography these days - regardless which type of photography you do, or which type of camera you use, understanding image resolution, pixels and the different properties attributed to them is so important. Whether you are printing, scanning or sending an image by e-mail, you need to understand and know how to keep your images sharp and preserve as much detail as possible in your final print. This topic does cause some confusion, so I hope the following will help. Image resolution explained: Photography resolution is a measurement of image quality, so you may define resolution by how much detail is in your print. If your print has sharp detail you may consider your image to be of good resolution. If detail is blur in your image you may consider your image to have poor resolution. Good resolution is a direct result of having a large number of pixels in an image. Pixels explained: Digital images are made up of millions of small dots - each dot is called a pixel. Each dot contains a small piece of image information, and when added together with the other pixels you’ll get your final image. Print resolution is measured in pixel per inch (ppi) or in dots per inch (dpi) - both hold the same value. 300ppi means that there are 300 pixels per inch or 90,000 pixels per a square inch. What size can I print my images? A digital image that’s 1500ppi wide will print a 15-inch wide print if the print resolution is 100ppi. If you change the same image to a print resolution to 300ppi your final print size will become a 5-inch wide print. If your image file is 3000ppi wide x 2400ppi high with a print resolution 300ppi, your final print size will be 10 x 8 inch. The same file with a print resolution of 150ppi will give you a final print of 20 x 16 inch. Divide the print resolution into the pixel width or height of your image. Higher resolution should not be taken to mean that your images would be of higher quality - your images would only be of high quality if you print to the correct format. Example - if you print a 3000ppi x 2400ppi size file to a print size of 20 x 16 inch at 300ppi, the pixels may be visible resulting in a blur image. You need to print it at 600ppi to attain good quality. What size resolution should I use? At 600ppi (which is an extremely large resolution) your image will be supreme sharp. You will be restricted with print size. Printing your images at 300ppi is the standard quality. Image sharpness doesn’t get much better. The only setback is that the maximum print size will be restricted - you might need to drop the resolution to get a larger image. If you need a large print from a small file print your file at 150ppi - your print will lack detail and the pixels may be visible. You should not print an image any smaller than 150ppi. 72ppi is standard with your computer screen. Don’t print your images at this size - the pixels will be visible. Resolution tips: Scan your images as large as possible; it's easy to resize them later. If you scan an image to small you may have to re-scan at a later date to get a larger print. If you need a print that’s twice the size of the original - scan it at 600ppi and print it at 300ppi. Try to print your image at 300ppi. If you use a tripod when taking an image you may be able to push the print resolution lower than the recommended 300ppi - this will enable you to get a larger print. Other Tips: Be very careful when cropping an image, if you crop it too much you will reduce the print size. Be careful not to confuse print resolution with printer resolution; printer resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi), but these values are a great deal higher- common printer resolutions are 2400dpi and 5760dpi - this is a measure of the amount of ink dropped onto your paper per inch. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Hobbies/digital-or-film.html For many, digital photography is a breath of fresh air, but be wary - believing our landscape images will be superior could be a serious blunder. Having lost count of the number of people who have asked me: “have you gone digital?” I am always left wondering why it’s such a much-asked question. The camera is only a tool in which a photographer creates an image. His personal ability to create a unique image remains the same. For many forms of photography, digital has long held obvious advantages, but for landscapes the resolution necessary to make larger prints just wasn’t available. But things have changed and digital cameras are fast becoming the tools that most pros use. Modern digital cameras are perfectly capable of matching the 35 mm film - the format which most landscape photographers begin with. But can they really match the large format film cameras? This is probably the greatest question that all photographers face. Instant LCD feedback is digitals greatest gift and this enables the photographer to check exposure and composition of their image in the blink of an eye. While this is a big advantage, the hours spent in front of the computer processing the raw images have to be a hindrance. A landscape photographers time is best spent behind a camera not in front of a computer. The pros and cons of digital photography will remain an issue for some time. At the end of the day a digital camera won’t make a photographers images better. The same values we apply in our photography should remain regardless of which camera we use. Good photography remains as elusive and as enticing as it ever was; going digital doesn’t change this or make getting good images any easier. It brings technical advantages, and plenty of them, but the majority of photographic techniques never change. Good landscape images come from the photographer’s personal ability, not the ability of a camera. The camera helps, but the creative eye remains the same. As a landscape photographer I am still hesitant to embrace digital photography and all the qualities that digital has brought to other professionals in different photography fields. There are a few simple reasons that I still use a film camera: The authenticity of my images could be questioned if I used a digital camera. It is often assumed that great digital images have been manipulated. Too much time is spent in front of a computer. Slide film produce stronger colours than a digital camera. There are many advantages for changing to digital but I’m going to stick with film; for the time-being that is. With time film cameras will be a thing of the past and all our images will be exchanged for the pixels. But, be wary - believing our work will be superior would be falling into a great trap. For me size matters, the larger I can print an image the better.