A photographer on the lookout

Capturing Fireworks through the lens.

2008-02-17T22:14:00.000-08:00

A Fireworks show dissipates in a matter of minutes in mere flashes. It's just memory and smoke soon afterwards.
Here are a few tips to capture it on camera.
Location Location Location!!! yes it applies to shooting fireworks as well as buying a good piece of land.
Find a location away harsh light or street lights that might strike your lens and point the camera against the dark sky (as majority of fireworks show start in the dark).Reason being,stray light on the lens will produce unwanted distraction in your final image.

A tripod is a necessary requirement for this kind of shooting as the exposure can last several seconds through possibly several bursts.

Type of camera - an SLR is ideal. But these days a compact camera will provide several seconds of exposure.
Type of lens is entirely up to you, depending on how much of the fireworks show you would like to capture. If it is an SLR, do not use auto focus, as the lens would start to hunt for focus.
Wait for the fireworks burst to start and focus on a couple of bursts and fix the camera position on the tripod. From here you are just a few easy steps away from shooting some interesting fireworks with your camera.
If you have an SLR or and advanced digital compact camera, set the exposure mode to either manual or shutter priority and in either of these modes you would set the shutter speed to bulb (keeping the lens open). It would be immensely helpful, if you would have at your disposal a good size black cloth or a big enough black card board cut so that it can completelt cover your lens.
if your camera has a cable release fix it else it is the kind triggered by a wireless remote adjust the camera so that it would respond only to your wireless remote control. This is done to eliminate any possible vibrations induced from pressing the shutter release using your fingers.

Once the above steps are taken care of click to keep the shutter open as the fireworks show is going fulls steam ahead. Capture several bursts while the lens is open, to accomplish this, Wait for the first burst to be captured, cover the lens with either the cloth or the black card board until the next burst gets ready to explode. Uncover the lens till that burst disappears. Cover the lens again and repeat the process until you are satisfied you have gotten several bursts. Its time to close the exposure by either clicking the shutter release or if it is an advance digital the max exposure would be 30 secs to a minute. Hence it will close on its own accord.

This is not an exact science. It is more of trial and error. The above is shot of fireworks was captured in stone mountain park Atlanta GA. This was the second show of the evening. I had the advantage of watching the first one to get an idea of the sequence and waited for the second one to capture it in my camera. The above shot captured several bursts using the technique described above. Experiment all you can with a digital camera you have nothing to waste and a lot to learn.

Alpenglow or Alpenglühen in the Alps

2008-02-03T03:46:00.000-08:00

I came across the phenomenon of Alpenglow while reading Galen Rowell's book "Inner Game of outdoor photography". His website features Alpenglow's in all forms on high mountain ranges. Mountaineers witness them on a regular basis almost. A few years ago, While visiting the swiss alps. we had started on a short hike between mountain villages of Murren and Gimmelwald in the Bernese Oberland. It was late hour of the evening, Walking back to Murren around sunset from Gimmelwald that was at a higher elevation, the view was breathtaking. At that time, I was still shooting film and my Nikon N80 had a roll of Fuji Velvia 50, the camera was dangling on my neck. The day had been clear with blue skys earlier and a little after the sun went down, I looked up and could not believe my eyes an Alpenglow. Then a brilliant almost red band of light crowned the peaks. The drama in color was heightened by the scatter of the snow.
I swung into action composing the shots and firing away. Soon the roll finished and I loaded another and squeezed a few more before it disappeared as soon as it had initially appeared. For the next couple of days I was there,I never observed another alpenglow. I was merely lucky to witness one of the best alepnglow's in my life.
But for someone on a mission of hunting an alpenglow, it would pay to do some research to be at the right spot and find out the direction of the sun and patiently wait for one to make an appearance.

Yep!!! Its the crater on top of Mt Rainier

2008-01-30T22:06:00.000-08:00

Continuing with my posts on Seattle area.
On the flight back home around late afternoon. A few minutes after take off. Guess what!!! The flight path was over Mt Rainier. I caught a glimpse of the dormant volcanic crater on the mountain. Lucky had my camera in hand to squeeze this shot of the crater. It was so easy sitting in an airplane window seat looking down on this crater from 30000 ft. It takes a great effort to hike up to this crater. It must be worth the effort hope I get to do it some day.

Seattle's view of a Mt Ranier Alpenglow

2008-01-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

To most Seattle residents "the mountain" is a part of their natural background . At over 14000 ft Mt Rainier is an imposing feature and a reminder of reach of the awesome volcano to the surrounding metropolitan area.
Given the weather of Seattle and its surrounding areas, clear days are something to cherish for. It is on clear days that one can see the looming mountain appear majestically in the background.

I took a short walk down the space needle towards alaskan way to check out location of victoria clipper ferry to Victoria Canada on pier 69. It was late afternoon right around dusk. Having checked out the area i headed towards Myrtle Edwards Park along the shoreline of the sound and not too far from the pier. Along the rocky shores I had settled down with my camera fitted with a zoom lens and was looking through the view finder to perhaps shoot the port area. I was really lucky to see Mt Rainier catch an alpenglow. Not wanting to waste the opportunity I squeezed a couple of shots before the magic light faded away. Having been to Mt Rainier National Park and the surrounding area one can only admire the mountain in awe. It would give an immense perspective of the power of a volcano, if one were to visit Mt St Helens national park.

Going to the Movies

2008-01-22T23:03:00.000-08:00

There was a time when I was quite regular going to the movies. Of late, there are not many movies that pull me into a movie theater. Hence I have settled for the comfort of my home theater. However, there still lingers the irreplaceable charm of going to the movies to watch a movie.
So, whenever I head out to this movie theater in my neighborhood, I stand back and watch the life outside the theater, which could be interesting in itself.
The interesting element of this movie theater is the smokestack on top of the box office with its neon lights accentuating it like glass of soda with a straw sticking out. I exposed this shot for a few seconds to capture the light trails of a few passing cars. If you like this shot dont hesitate to leave your comments.

Houston!! "the autorickshaw" has finally arrived.

2008-01-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

Stumbled upon this sight yesterday around Hillcroft area of India town right here in Houston. It is the most common means of conveyance in India. The ubiquitous auto rickshaw.

This vehicle out numbers conventional taxi's in countries such as India. This particular auto rickshaw put a smile on the curious around the location. It was used as a promotion gig by music masala a local radio station in Houston. Bajaj Auto is the leading manufacturer of many falvors of this three wheeled beauty in India.

Contrastingly, it was parked next to a Hummer baring the radio stations Logo. Someone out there definitely has some sense of humor.
The only thing that deterred the general public from spending a lot of time admiring this vehicle was the garishly blaring hindi music enough to put a hole in the ear of any bystanders. Still a few of us braved the experience.

Think about it, if only someone would make this into a four wheeler instead of three it would be a cheaper alternative to the worlds cheapest car the Tata Nano.

Incidentally, this is not the first appearance of an auto rickshaw in Houston. It appears that there is a loyal user of this form of transportation in the city for over an year. As reported on Xnomad's
blog .

If this is fit for James bond in 1983 movie Octopussy, It's surely a chic magnet!!! Its time for auto rickshaw limo to make its appearance some time in the future. Right here in Houston.

Tarmac Watching

2008-01-10T23:04:00.000-08:00

It happens to all of us some time or another. we are stuck in the airport and the flight is not scheduled for another 2 hrs. It happened to us at Houston Hobbby airport on this day. If you don't have anything to read or have no one to talk to. you settle down to an entertainment of people watching. I on the other hand am fascinated by life as such on the tarmac. It is more entertaining to watch what goes on there than anything else. On the other hand it is a tough job for the ground crew and the flight crew. I was lucky to have a telephoto lens on my nikon and waited to capture at least one take off or landing. After missing a few landings, I was lucky to shoot a landing. In the meantime I shot anything that moved and out there and the shot above is that of a tractor hauling luggage and the other where one flight is helped by the tug for taxing while another approaches a nearby gate. Pretty soon it was time for us to head towards our gate. In the end, Tarmac watching turned out to be more relaxing than sitting down with a book or talking to some one or watching people.

Foggy Night

2008-01-09T22:45:00.000-08:00

Continuing on from yesterday's post this is yet another scene of a foggy night at La Centerra retail center in Katy TX.
This picture is an HDR merge of 5 shots taken at +_1ev +-2 ev and 0ev.
I had the flower pot in the foreground left and the wall to the right illuminated by my car's headlight to add some shine to it. It funny how the street lights have weired flares. It was a chilly night almost drained the juice in the camera battery.

Christmas lighting in HDR

2008-01-08T22:47:00.000-08:00

Yeah I know, its a little too late to be posting pictures related to Christmas in Jan. Still better late than never. Not too long ago I stumbled upon the whole phenomenon of HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography. It was a huge discovery for me.
If I were to explain HDR to a layman, I would say with a it comes close to resembling the nuances in shades of light that we see with our naked eyes. Where as a single photograph reproduced by a camera can see a small range of shade.
HDR Photograph is a result of digital post processing using a photo editing software such as photomatix or adobe photoshop cs2 or cs3.
In a nutshell (slightly bigger nutshell, bare with me), The process of producing a HDR image from any conventional camera involves merging a series of pictures shot in different exposures (preferably raw) or using a single raw image saved in different exposures using a photo editing program and merging them using blending modes in any software that supports an HDR merge.
Here is an article that explains how such a merge could be performed using photoshop CS2 or higher. Check out some cool HDR pictures in Trey Ratcliff's site.

To try out my first experiment with shooting a high contrast scene in HDR, I headed to La Centerra a retail shopping center in the quaint neighborhood of Cinco Ranch. Christmas decoration were pretty decent and not overly done. Since it was a cold foggy night there was hardly anybody around.

The two pictures above show the opposite end of the perspective in each. The picture with the tree in the foreground reveals all the lights including the bright light on the bow from a powerful overhead light while revealing the fog in the background. Such a contrast tends to be blown out or underexposed in any conventional photograph.
I shot a total of 5 exposures of each scene above at exposures 0ev +1ev +2ev -1ev -2ev. Merged them in Photoshop CS2 as explained in luminous light website.

Runway in the Valley

2008-01-07T00:22:00.000-08:00

This runway does look like a ski ramp from where I shot this picture. It was late summer and I was driving through Telluride CO. Decided to stop and have a quick look see. The free cable car ride from the town of Telluride to the Mountain village was well worth the effort. In between you can get down mid way atop a mountain at a scheduled stop. if you do get off at this stop, You can then absorb the alpine scenery at a local restaurant or hike around or start on one of the many ski trails during winter. We love the place so much and wanted to spend more time around. Guess what, the hotels were all booked and what was available was way beyond our meager budget. The locals said that during ski season this town is packed and the rental real estate is booming and availability scarce.
However, there was plenty to shoot around ( pictures I mean).

Telluride Regional Airport, located only seven miles from the Towns of Telluride and Mountain Village. That late sunset provided some interesting color for me to choose this shot for this post.

Abstract Art In Glass

2008-01-06T03:02:00.000-08:00

It has been said that this is one of the most commonly shot subject at the lobby of The Bellagio, Las Vegas NV, besides the "Fountains at Bellagio" in front of the hotel.
This beautiful work of art was created by Dale Chihuly

On a recent visit to Las vegas, I was sitting at the lobby of the Bellagio. When I turned my head up to the ceiling, i intuitively wanted to squeeze a shot or two of the famous glass flowers like most others present there.
Then i wondered, if i could shoot it any different. so I set up my tripod at the lowest spread and adjusted my slr on the ball head so that the lens was parallel to the ceiling and staring at it.
I then fired of a few shots at different apertures to get the well defined edges of the glass in good depth. It was then that it occurred to me to rotate the camera around its
axis during the exposure (about 10 secs) so that the center was in focus while all around would be colorful blurry motion.
You can view the results of both these shots. The final shot that I choose was post processed in photoshop elements with one picture on top of the other using a blending mode that
would not cloud the glass completely yet give it a hint of the spin. This is most definitely an abstract. However, I've been told that it looks colorful on a wall inside the frame.

How to capture the spectable in a magical Sunset Sky

2007-08-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

Any good sunset brings a wonderful smile on anyone's face. But a spectacular sunset is like

a mood elevator not only does it bring out the ooh and aah, it imprints itself in ones mind.

Let us imagine if you were at the right place at the right time with your camera.

To capture the setting sun is one of the most cliché shots ever. However there is something special

about the color of the light it paints the sky with.

Composition Composition and Composition....Include as much sky as possible. Each sunset sky is different as the sun sets in a slightly different position on the horizon each day.

Sunset is about observation and patience. Actual magic begins after the sun goes down the horizon. I have seen people shoot alongside that leave right after the sun has set. They would miss the magic in the

sky most of the time.

To bring out the intense color of a sunset a zoom lens is essential. Those movie sunsets larger than the sky are usually shot with a super-tele zoom. However you can capture a great sunset sky with a zoom as big as 300mm.

The two shots include here were shot from the same spot the same evening minutes apart. It was my lucky day that the light turned out so dramatic. There have been many many days when a sunset starts out bright only to be blotted out at the last minute by an overcast horizon or the dull light. But when you do get the opportunity don’t shy away from being trigger happy once you have composed the shot. You will be definitely rewarded with a keeper.

How to shoot great night photographs with a compact digital camera

2007-08-02T23:37:00.000-07:00

Compact digital camera these days pack powerful punch. You can shoot great night shots with these small cameras and create captivating posters out of them for your living room. All you need is a good subject, the right time in the evening and inexpensive stable tripod.

However, it would help a lot if your compact digital camera had a manual exposure mode.
While some absolutely basic cameras have a night shot mode that might work well on a tripod. With a manual exposure mode you will have most control of shooting a impressive night shot. For cameras that have a manual mode, set the aperture to the highest number (most compact cameras stop down to a maximum of f/8). The reason behind this is to capture the greatest detail in you picture and if you happen to shoot any street light they tend to be attractive stars rather than burning a hole. Most importantly, when the aperture is stopped down. The time required to correctly expose a night shot stretches to several seconds. This would be indicated by your camera's in built exposure meter.
This combination of aperture/time (exposure) creates the drama in your shot. An exposure lasting several seconds helps blur or completely remove any movements in the shot, such as anyone walking in and out of your shot during its exposure. Besides those neat traffic trails of headlights and tail lights are possible only with an exposure lasting several seconds.

The best time in the evening to shoot is after the light have been turned on but before the sky turns completely dark while there is still some blue left in the sky.
One of the most essential tools in shooting a picture in a low light situation is a stable tripod. For most compact camera's an inexpensive tripod is more than sufficient as these camera's are light weight. Night photography is impossible with out a stable support.

Finally the subject of your shot and composition play an important part. choose a subject that reflects light. Try to avoid light sources shining bright on the camera lens as these can blow out any details in you image.

I shot the above picture of night scene in Santa Fe NM, using a cannon powershot A620. I had a light velbon aluminum tripod and used the manual mode for the exposure. I stopped the aperture down to f/8 to get the details of display inside the window as well as keeping the edge of the screen sharp. I might have exposed to about 20 seconds. Although you can see the blurry motion of an individual walking towards the camera. he is visible simply, because he walked in before the exposure ended. Otherwise there would have been no trace of him. The above shot was taken 10 minutes before the sky turned completely dark. Most of the light for this shot was from street lamps illuminating the walls of the shop front. hence i tried to avoid getting any of street lamps in my composition.

So in summary I followed all the above guidelines to portray the scene as I saw it. You can do better following the above guidelines and a bit of trial and error.

Sculpture is about the 3rd dimension

2007-07-31T22:18:00.000-07:00

Continuing with another post on Santa Fe NM. Art galleries are plenty and inviting. I was lured by the sculpture in front of Frank Howell gallery. Not wanting to record a snapshot of the art in front of the gallery. I was thinking of ways of bringing out the third dimension inherent in the sculpture. One of the elements readily available was the afternoon shadow. Moving in closer to the foreground figure helped a bit too.

Cathedrals stand test of time.

2007-07-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

Most old Cathedrals are showcases of architecture that last many centuries. It is a living museum of history. Invokes different emotions in people that visit them. When I visited St Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe NM.
I was impressed by the architecture and angle in which the afternoon sun lit the facade. As I was walking around the grounds of the castle, I was taking a few snapshots. This one struck as captivating composition as i did not want to shoot people in the perimiter of the cathedral.
Not only was I was to golden light shining on the face of the cathedral. I found the foreground interest of the fence and the overhang of the branches a good anchor point for the above shot.

Of Statues in the afternoon sun

2007-07-29T00:28:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to Santa Fe NM. I was taking a leisurely stroll around the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. A famous landmark around the picturesque downtown. As the cathedral itself is quite an astounding architecture in the area, my eyes would stay focused on the bronze statues of these saints in the bright afternoon sun. The geometrical backdrop of the circular stain glass and the arch of the door provided a good anchor point for me to compose this statue against in this rather bright light.

An Evening at Santa Fe

2007-07-08T23:23:00.000-07:00

One of the most beautiful cities in the American southwest. Santa Fe New Mexico - with its captivating architecture and a great downtown lined with art galleries and nice restaurants, provides something for everyone. For someone with a camera, it means a stop around every corner and a test of patience for any companions one is traveling with.
This was a pleasant cool spring evening and I had to wait for the pedestrian traffic to thin down before the sky turned black.

Sunsets are about the Sun

2007-05-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

When I see a spectacular sunset and have no camera on hand to capture the moment, I grind my teeth with regret. Well....what do you do if you are lucky to have a camera on hand and are staring at a one of these awesome sunsets?
You need to find a way to capture the sunset with the sun in it right. Well it would go a long way to include something extra the sunshines on. If you happen to see a body of water in front of you that is bathed by the sunlight. You are in great luck. This might add some interest to the shot. Such was the day and the scene when I captured the moment above. It was a reservoir close to my home and I had walked there with a camera to capture some water ripples. However even with the above I was not left with a element on the foreground other than the water reflection and most importantly the SUN. So I cliceked the shutter composing the shot to put the sun in the center.I was shooting slide film pushed 2 stops. That helped bring out the pop in the picture.
Shot with Nikon N80, on a kodak vs 100.

Tags & Social Bookmarking Links

Technorati Tags: KDPHOTOMAN, NIKON N80, BARKER RESERVOIR

Technorati Directory Tags (Domain): KDPHOTOMAN, NIKON N80, BARKER RESERVOIR

Technorati Directory Tags (Blog): KDPHOTOMAN, NIKON N80, BARKER RESERVOIR

Delicious Tags: KDPHOTOMAN, NIKON N80, BARKER RESERVOIR

IceRocket Tags: KDPHOTOMAN, NIKON N80, BARKER RESERVOIR

Flickr Tags: KDPHOTOMAN, NIKON N80, BARKER RESERVOIR

Ask.com MyStuff v=1.2&t=webpages&title=Sunsets+are+about+the+Sun&url=http%3A%2F%2Funiquelight.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> AskJeeves Backflip Bibsonomy BlinkBits Blinklist Blogmarks Blogmemes Bloxor Bmaccess Buddymarks CiteUlike ClaimID Co.mments Commontimes Connotea de.lirio.us del.icio.us digg Dogear eggkeg Fark Feed Me Links FeedMarker Filangy Frassle freedomSLUT Furl gabbr Getboo Give a Link Google - Googlize Gravee Hanzo Hyperlinkomatic igooi IndiaGram IndianPad Indiza iTalkNews Jookster Jots kinja Lilisto linkaGoGo Linkarena Linkatopia Linkroll Linksnarf looklater Lookmarks Magnolia maple markaboo Maxigate MediaMatrix Memeflow MesFavs MyBookmarkManager MyLinkVault MyPIP Namakkal netvouz Newsvine Nextaris url=http%3A%2F%2Funiquelight.blogspot.com&title=Sunsets+are+about+the+Sun" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Ning NowPublic OnlyWire OpenBM Penntags Posta Su Segnalo Protopage PubSub Raw Sugar reddit Riff.com Rojo Scuttle Shadows Simpy SiteJot Smarking Social Bookmarking Socializer Spurl Squidoo SyncOne tagtooga Tailrank Technorati Unalog Wink Wists Wobblog Yahoo My Web zurpy ?action=add&address='+http%3A%2F%2Funiquelight.blogspot.com+'&title='+Sunsets+are+about+the+Sun+'&description='+<%Description%>;void 0;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Zybatsu

Zoom through the exposure

2006-09-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

Today I was fooling with my DSLR trying to get the zoom exlposion (zooming out during long exposure) technique perfect. After several attempts I was successful in getting a shot the resembled an exploding flower vase. However,
Since I had zoomed out during the exposure and stopped at a wider angle. I had imagined that would end up wiht an perfect image the displayed the zoom, I was dead wrong.
Not wanting to give up, I took a normal shot of the subject from the same focal length that I stopped at upon completing the zoom explosion shot . In photoshop elements using the zoom exlposion shot as the basis, I imported the normal shot as a seperate layer and adjusted the opacity of the normal shot on top of the zoom explosion shot, I experimented with different blending modes finally settling with Linear light. The result was the third picture, providing what I had pre-concieved when I began shooting.

Am sure the same effect can be achieved from any still shot using one of the many filters or special effects in photoshop elements. However, I have the satisfaction of not using any of those other than pictures I had shot. Your comments are most welcome.
- KD
Equipment - Nikon D70 with a 70-300 ED IF Nikkor Lens

Tags & Social Bookmarking Links

Technorati Tags: kdphotoman, kaushik dwarakanath, Houston Photographer, Digital Techniques, Nikon D70

Technorati Directory Tags (Domain): kdphotoman, kaushik dwarakanath, Houston Photographer, Digital Techniques, Nikon D70

Technorati Directory Tags (Blog): kdphotoman, kaushik dwarakanath, Houston Photographer, Digital Techniques, Nikon D70

Delicious Tags: kdphotoman, kaushik dwarakanath, Houston Photographer, Digital Techniques, Nikon D70

IceRocket Tags: kdphotoman, kaushik dwarakanath, Houston Photographer, Digital Techniques, Nikon D70

Ask.com MyStuff v=1.2&t=webpages&title=Zoom+through+the+exposure&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> AskJeeves Backflip Bibsonomy BlinkBits Blinklist Blogmarks Blogmemes Bloxor Bmaccess Buddymarks CiteUlike ClaimID Co.mments Commontimes Connotea de.lirio.us del.icio.us digg Dogear eggkeg Fark Feed Me Links FeedMarker Filangy Frassle freedomSLUT Furl gabbr Getboo Give a Link Google - Googlize Gravee Hanzo Hyperlinkomatic igooi IndiaGram IndianPad Indiza iTalkNews Jookster Jots kinja Lilisto linkaGoGo Linkarena Linkatopia Linkroll Linksnarf looklater Lookmarks Magnolia maple markaboo Maxigate MediaMatrix Memeflow MesFavs MyBookmarkManager MyLinkVault MyPIP Namakkal netvouz Newsvine Nextaris url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com&title=Zoom+through+the+exposure" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Ning NowPublic OnlyWire OpenBM Penntags Posta Su Segnalo Protopage PubSub Raw Sugar reddit Riff.com Rojo Scuttle Shadows Simpy SiteJot Smarking Social Bookmarking Socializer Spurl Squidoo SyncOne tagtooga Tailrank Technorati Unalog Wink Wists Wobblog Yahoo My Web zurpy ?action=add&address='+http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com+'&title='+Zoom+through+the+exposure+'&description='+<%Description%>;void 0;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Zybatsu

Dinner and Margaritas at the Riverwalk

2006-08-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

More on the recent visit to San Antonio River walk. Having to wait for a table at one of these fine place by the river is entertainment in itself. People watching is one of my other hobbies. However, on this special day I was with my friends trying to decide where to dine. As we were vacillating between a few choices of restaurant, I ran atop one of the main bridges that connect one bank to the other and captures the above two shots of the night life along riverwalk. The tripod was balanced precariously over the bridge ramparts.
Technical Details : Cannon A620. f/8 25-30 secs
Comments are welcome - KDPhotoman

Tags & Social Bookmarking Links

Technorati Tags: kdphotoman, Houston Night Photographer, Lowlight Photography, Kaushik Dwarakanath, Houston Realestate Photographer

Technorati Directory Tags (Domain): kdphotoman, Houston Night Photographer, Lowlight Photography, Kaushik Dwarakanath, Houston Realestate Photographer

Technorati Directory Tags (Blog): kdphotoman, Houston Night Photographer, Lowlight Photography, Kaushik Dwarakanath, Houston Realestate Photographer

Delicious Tags: kdphotoman, Houston Night Photographer, Lowlight Photography, Kaushik Dwarakanath, Houston Realestate Photographer

IceRocket Tags: kdphotoman, Houston Night Photographer, Lowlight Photography, Kaushik Dwarakanath, Houston Realestate Photographer

Ask.com MyStuff v=1.2&t=webpages&title=Dinner+and+Margaritas+at+the+Riverwalk&url=http%3A%2F%2Funqiuelight.blogspot.com" target="_blank"> AskJeeves Backflip Bibsonomy BlinkBits Blinklist Blogmarks Blogmemes Bloxor Bmaccess Buddymarks CiteUlike ClaimID Co.mments Commontimes Connotea de.lirio.us del.icio.us digg Dogear eggkeg Fark Feed Me Links FeedMarker Filangy Frassle freedomSLUT Furl gabbr Getboo Give a Link Google - Googlize Gravee Hanzo Hyperlinkomatic igooi IndiaGram IndianPad Indiza iTalkNews Jookster Jots kinja Lilisto linkaGoGo Linkarena Linkatopia Linkroll Linksnarf looklater Lookmarks Magnolia maple markaboo Maxigate MediaMatrix Memeflow MesFavs MyBookmarkManager MyLinkVault MyPIP Namakkal netvouz Newsvine Nextaris url=http%3A%2F%2Funqiuelight.blogspot.com&title=Dinner+and+Margaritas+at+the+Riverwalk" target="_blank"> Ning NowPublic OnlyWire OpenBM Penntags Posta Su Segnalo Protopage PubSub Raw Sugar reddit Riff.com Rojo Scuttle Shadows Simpy SiteJot Smarking Social Bookmarking Socializer Spurl Squidoo SyncOne tagtooga Tailrank Technorati Unalog Wink Wists Wobblog Yahoo My Web zurpy ?action=add&address='+http%3A%2F%2Funqiuelight.blogspot.com+'&title='+Dinner+and+Margaritas+at+the+Riverwalk+'&description='+<%Description%>;void 0;" target="_blank"> Zybatsu

San Antonio Riverwalk after sunset

2006-08-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

On a recent visit to San Antonio with my very close friends, I had almost forgotten to shoot some of the humming night life around riverwalk. Having been busy on a boatride in the river downtown during the twilight hour. I finally stumbled upon this bride along the curve. Waiting for a couple or river boats to pass beneath me, I was in luck when one boat arrived and the other departed painting a small part of the trail.
Details: Cannon A620 f/8 at 5 secs.
Comments are welcome - KDphotoman.

Tags & Social Bookmarking Links

Technorati Tags: kdphotoman, Houston Night Photographer, Lowlight Photography, Kaushik Dwarakanath, Houston Realestate Photographer

Technorati Directory Tags (Domain): kdphotoman, Houston Night Photographer, Lowlight Photography, Kaushik Dwarakanath, Houston Realestate Photographer

Technorati Directory Tags (Blog): kdphotoman, Houston Night Photographer, Lowlight Photography, Kaushik Dwarakanath, Houston Realestate Photographer

Delicious Tags: kdphotoman, Houston Night Photographer, Lowlight Photography, Kaushik Dwarakanath, Houston Realestate Photographer

IceRocket Tags: kdphotoman, Houston Night Photographer, Lowlight Photography, Kaushik Dwarakanath, Houston Realestate Photographer

Ask.com MyStuff v=1.2&t=webpages&title=San+Antonio+Riverwalk+after+sunset&url=http%3A%2F%2Funqiuelight.blogspot.com" target="_blank"> AskJeeves Backflip Bibsonomy BlinkBits Blinklist Blogmarks Blogmemes Bloxor Bmaccess Buddymarks CiteUlike ClaimID Co.mments Commontimes Connotea de.lirio.us del.icio.us digg Dogear eggkeg Fark Feed Me Links FeedMarker Filangy Frassle freedomSLUT Furl gabbr Getboo Give a Link Google - Googlize Gravee Hanzo Hyperlinkomatic igooi IndiaGram IndianPad Indiza iTalkNews Jookster Jots kinja Lilisto linkaGoGo Linkarena Linkatopia Linkroll Linksnarf looklater Lookmarks Magnolia maple markaboo Maxigate MediaMatrix Memeflow MesFavs MyBookmarkManager MyLinkVault MyPIP Namakkal netvouz Newsvine Nextaris url=http%3A%2F%2Funqiuelight.blogspot.com&title=San+Antonio+Riverwalk+after+sunset" target="_blank"> Ning NowPublic OnlyWire OpenBM Penntags Posta Su Segnalo Protopage PubSub Raw Sugar reddit Riff.com Rojo Scuttle Shadows Simpy SiteJot Smarking Social Bookmarking Socializer Spurl Squidoo SyncOne tagtooga Tailrank Technorati Unalog Wink Wists Wobblog Yahoo My Web zurpy ?action=add&address='+http%3A%2F%2Funqiuelight.blogspot.com+'&title='+San+Antonio+Riverwalk+after+sunset+'&description='+<%Description%>;void 0;" target="_blank"> Zybatsu

Rain Forest Foliage

2006-07-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

A walk through Hoh Rain forest, part of Olympic National Park (Pacific Northwest) makes one acutely aware of our true dimensions in comparison to these giant trees amongst these giants are Sitka spruce and western hemlock; some grow to tremendous size, reaching 300 feet in height and 23 feet in circumference.
I was lucky it was not raining during my visit. But the well overcast weather provided the best lighting i could wish for. This giant rested on the moss coverd forest floor supporting many life forms on its fallen torso.

Since the above was taken in uniform light and strangely monochormatic (green.white)
Using a photo editing program I created a variation of of the same shot by making it a BW monochormatic. I then reveald just the color on this giant fallen tree trunk. That is what you see in the first shot. Your comments are welcome.

Technical info: f/16 (unknow shutterspeed) WB cloudy. Nikon D70

Comments are welcome
-KD

Tags & Social Bookmarking Links

Technorati Tags: Kdphotoman, Nature Photographs, Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Giant Trees

Technorati Directory Tags (Domain): Kdphotoman, Nature Photographs, Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Giant Trees

Technorati Directory Tags (Blog): Kdphotoman, Nature Photographs, Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Giant Trees

Delicious Tags: Kdphotoman, Nature Photographs, Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Giant Trees

IceRocket Tags: Kdphotoman, Nature Photographs, Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Giant Trees

Ask.com MyStuff v=1.2&t=webpages&title=Rain+Forest+Foliage&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com" target="_blank"> AskJeeves Backflip Bibsonomy BlinkBits Blinklist Blogmarks Blogmemes Bloxor Bmaccess Buddymarks CiteUlike ClaimID Co.mments Commontimes Connotea de.lirio.us del.icio.us digg Dogear eggkeg Fark Feed Me Links FeedMarker Filangy Frassle freedomSLUT Furl gabbr Getboo Give a Link Google - Googlize Gravee Hanzo Hyperlinkomatic igooi IndiaGram IndianPad Indiza iTalkNews Jookster Jots kinja Lilisto linkaGoGo Linkarena Linkatopia Linkroll Linksnarf looklater Lookmarks Magnolia maple markaboo Maxigate MediaMatrix Memeflow MesFavs MyBookmarkManager MyLinkVault MyPIP Namakkal netvouz Newsvine Nextaris url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com&title=Rain+Forest+Foliage" target="_blank"> Ning NowPublic OnlyWire OpenBM Penntags Posta Su Segnalo Protopage PubSub Raw Sugar reddit Riff.com Rojo Scuttle Shadows Simpy SiteJot Smarking Social Bookmarking Socializer Spurl Squidoo SyncOne tagtooga Tailrank Technorati Unalog Wink Wists Wobblog Yahoo My Web zurpy ?action=add&address='+http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com+'&title='+Rain+Forest+Foliage+'&description='+<%Description%>;void 0;" target="_blank"> Zybatsu

Reflections of Skyline

2006-07-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

Being tired of shooting cliche shots of downtown skyline. On this day I was taking a stroll in the park behind Houston DT Library and the afternoon sunlight prefectly reflected the skyline on this pond. The curious ducks in the pond cruising towards me added some interesting ripple to this shot. I had to hurry and take this shot before they sailed into the frame.
Technilcal Details : f/16 at 1/25 Nikon D70.
Comments are Welcome - KD

Tags & Social Bookmarking Links

Technorati Tags: Kdphotoman, Houston Downtown, Water Reflections, Reflection Photography, Nikon D70

Technorati Directory Tags (Domain): Kdphotoman, Houston Downtown, Water Reflections, Reflection Photography, Nikon D70

Technorati Directory Tags (Blog): Kdphotoman, Houston Downtown, Water Reflections, Reflection Photography, Nikon D70

Delicious Tags: Kdphotoman, Houston Downtown, Water Reflections, Reflection Photography, Nikon D70

IceRocket Tags: Kdphotoman, Houston Downtown, Water Reflections, Reflection Photography, Nikon D70

Ask.com MyStuff v=1.2&t=webpages&title=Reflections+of+Skyline&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com" target="_blank"> AskJeeves Backflip Bibsonomy BlinkBits Blinklist Blogmarks Blogmemes Bloxor Bmaccess Buddymarks CiteUlike ClaimID Co.mments Commontimes Connotea de.lirio.us del.icio.us digg Dogear eggkeg Fark Feed Me Links FeedMarker Filangy Frassle freedomSLUT Furl gabbr Getboo Give a Link Google - Googlize Gravee Hanzo Hyperlinkomatic igooi IndiaGram IndianPad Indiza iTalkNews Jookster Jots kinja Lilisto linkaGoGo Linkarena Linkatopia Linkroll Linksnarf looklater Lookmarks Magnolia maple markaboo Maxigate MediaMatrix Memeflow MesFavs MyBookmarkManager MyLinkVault MyPIP Namakkal netvouz Newsvine Nextaris url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com&title=Reflections+of+Skyline" target="_blank"> Ning NowPublic OnlyWire OpenBM Penntags Posta Su Segnalo Protopage PubSub Raw Sugar reddit Riff.com Rojo Scuttle Shadows Simpy SiteJot Smarking Social Bookmarking Socializer Spurl Squidoo SyncOne tagtooga Tailrank Technorati Unalog Wink Wists Wobblog Yahoo My Web zurpy ?action=add&address='+http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com+'&title='+Reflections+of+Skyline+'&description='+<%Description%>;void 0;" target="_blank"> Zybatsu

Curtain of Water

2006-07-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

Moving water is a popular subject to capture in a camera. On a trip to Mt Rainer National park in fall of 2005, I stopped at Narada Falls. Although, water flowing down the falls was not too ferocious. It still provided a good amount to create a nice water curtain. Instead of shooting the whole falls I concentrated on the portion that fell to the ground provinda nice water curtain, the sky being overcast help me with an great soft lighting.
Shooting information : f/16 at 4 secs
Comments are welcome - KD

Tags & Social Bookmarking Links

Technorati Tags: kdphotoman, Water Photography, Slow Shutter Speeds, Nikon D70, Narada Falls, Washington State

Technorati Directory Tags (Domain): kdphotoman, Water Photography, Slow Shutter Speeds, Nikon D70, Narada Falls, Washington State

Technorati Directory Tags (Blog): kdphotoman, Water Photography, Slow Shutter Speeds, Nikon D70, Narada Falls, Washington State

Delicious Tags: kdphotoman, Water Photography, Slow Shutter Speeds, Nikon D70, Narada Falls, Washington State

IceRocket Tags: kdphotoman, Water Photography, Slow Shutter Speeds, Nikon D70, Narada Falls, Washington State

Ask.com MyStuff v=1.2&t=webpages&title=Curtain+of+Water&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com" target="_blank"> AskJeeves Backflip BlinkBits Blinklist Blogmarks del.icio.us digg Furl IndianPad Jots Magnolia netvouz Posta Su Segnalo Protopage PubSub Raw Sugar Shadows Simpy Spurl Technorati Unalog Yahoo My Web

Planning for Night Photography

2006-07-07T23:28:00.000-07:00

Night photography does need some planning. A tripod is a necessary tool one needs to carry case exposure run in excess of a few seconds. But more important is the subject. On this night as I was wandering around the capitol building in downtown Austin. The statue of this horseman provided a good subject. I did have a flash light, a sturdy tripod. I did try to use the flash to light up the horseman but that light did not provide the desired effect. Hence I decided to use his outline by exposing for the brightly lit building in the background.
These days when you are out for night photography it would be better to make a few judgement calls about what you plan to shoot. If you are shooting a public building such as above inside of the grounds, if you see any security around. It would help to inquire to see you are not violating any unpublished laws against photographing the place.
Shooting details f/22 at 4 secs on a Nikon D70 White balance set to Luminscent.
Comments are welcome - KD

Tags & Social Bookmarking Links

Technorati Tags: kdphotoman, Low Light Photography, Night Photography, Nikon D70, Austin Capitol

Technorati Directory Tags (Domain): kdphotoman, Low Light Photography, Night Photography, Nikon D70, Austin Capitol

Technorati Directory Tags (Blog): kdphotoman, Low Light Photography, Night Photography, Nikon D70, Austin Capitol

Delicious Tags: kdphotoman, Low Light Photography, Night Photography, Nikon D70, Austin Capitol

IceRocket Tags: kdphotoman, Low Light Photography, Night Photography, Nikon D70, Austin Capitol

Ask.com MyStuff v=1.2&t=webpages&title=Planning+for+Night+Photography&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniquelight.blogspot.com" target="_blank"> AskJeeves Backflip BlinkBits Blinklist Blogmarks del.icio.us digg Furl IndianPad Jots Magnolia netvouz Posta Su Segnalo Protopage PubSub Raw Sugar Shadows Simpy Spurl Technorati Unalog Yahoo My Web

Making an obstacle part of the composition

2006-06-27T23:44:00.000-07:00

Texas summer sunsets are some of the biggest and most spectacular. Living close to a reservoir , I can grab my camera and walk along the levy to witness the sunset sometime. However, when there is nothing but a beautiful sunlit sky and no interesting foreground one is left to ponder is there anything at all to include in your composition?
To add to the complexity, Imagine a series or power plyons and power lines running acorss your sky. The question becomes shoud you even take a shot. Not wanting to miss the fire in the sky, I decided to make the powerlines a part of my composition. Sometimes it helps to include the unavoidable as a part of your composition.
Your comments are welcome.
By Kaushik Dwarakanath

Tags & Social Bookmarking Links

Technorati Tags: Houston Photographer, Texas Sunsets, Sunset Shooting, Landscape Photography

Technorati Directory Tags (Domain): Houston Photographer, Texas Sunsets, Sunset Shooting, Landscape Photography

Technorati Directory Tags (Blog): Houston Photographer, Texas Sunsets, Sunset Shooting, Landscape Photography

Delicious Tags: Houston Photographer, Texas Sunsets, Sunset Shooting, Landscape Photography

IceRocket Tags: Houston Photographer, Texas Sunsets, Sunset Shooting, Landscape Photography

Flickr Tags: Houston Photographer, Texas Sunsets, Sunset Shooting, Landscape Photography

Backflip BlinkBits Blinklist del.icio.us digg Furl Magnolia netvouz Raw Sugar Shadows Simpy Spurl Technorati Unalog Yahoo My Web

Perspective makes a great deal of change

2006-06-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

On a recent visit to Rialto Beach in the pacific northwest coast I was looking for something different to shoot. On that particular afternoon the sunset turned out to be obsured by thick clouds. As I started walking back along the beach, I observed the retreating waves and the patten it was creating. That was all I needed to squeeze a couple of shots above. I liked the lay of the tree debris in the first shot above pointing towards the sea and the patterns formed by retreating wave added something to the second shot. Not to mention the rich colors rendered on a fuji velvia transparency film. The second shot was a mere few paces away from the first. So the moral of the story is that a small change in perspective makes a huge impact on the picture
Your comments are welcome.
By Kaushik Dwarakanath

Tags & Social Bookmarking Links

Technorati Tags: kdphotman, lowlight photography, slow shutter speeds, Rialto Beach, Fuji Velvia , Nikon D70

Technorati Directory Tags (Domain): kdphotman, lowlight photography, slow shutter speeds, Rialto Beach, Fuji Velvia , Nikon D70

Technorati Directory Tags (Blog): kdphotman, lowlight photography, slow shutter speeds, Rialto Beach, Fuji Velvia , Nikon D70

Delicious Tags: kdphotman, lowlight photography, slow shutter speeds, Rialto Beach, Fuji Velvia , Nikon D70

IceRocket Tags: kdphotman, lowlight photography, slow shutter speeds, Rialto Beach, Fuji Velvia , Nikon D70

Backflip BlinkBits Blinklist del.icio.us digg Furl Magnolia netvouz Raw Sugar Shadows Simpy Spurl Technorati Unalog Yahoo My Web

Shafts of Sunlight

2006-06-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

Shafts of sunlight peering through those ominous clouds can create interesting spotlights on a landscape. I was blessed to witness one on a visit to Hurricane Ridge (Olympic National Park). Hurricane Ridge is about half hour drive up the mountain from Port Angeles on the North Western tip of olympic peninsula. On a clear day one can take in grand vista of glacier capped mountains that includes Mt Olympus. On this particular day we had clear sunlight for a few minutes with some clouds rolling in later on. This shot was taken from the visitor's center while sipping a glass of coffee before the clouds rolled in.
Used a 2 stop ND Grad to emphasize the cloud cover and avoid some hight lights being blow out. Commetns are welcome.
KD

Dont just pack up after sunset.

2006-06-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Low light is better than no light .
How many times have you planned a trip to a nice location to enjoy a great sunset and capture a few nice shots on camera, only to be disappointed as nature had other plans. Well.... it happend to me not long ago when I was visiting the pacific northwest coast. Specifically Rialto beach with its spectacular spread of fallen trees and sea stacks along the beach. It was late summer, luckily not a dull rainy day common to that part of the US. I thought i might get lucky to witness a nice warm suset peering through the seastacks. So I started walking along the beach while enjoying a whiff of the crip sea breeze approximately about a mile or two away from the crowd where i had parked my car. I was in search of a good spot to settle down to snap that perfect picture. I had walked along the beach not realizing the distance but very close to that distinct sea stack in the picture. I thought this was a perfect evening and i had all the ingredients from mother nature to witness a wonderful sunset. I setup my tripod and composed a decent shot. As the sun started slowly sinking to the horizon, a layer of clouds moved in just above the horizon neatly blocking the sun. I tried every which way to compose or out think the situation to get shot. Only to realize i was not going to get a shot. I started to laugh realizing how futile it was. So I sat down on the sand and watch the a faint glow of light as the sun dropped into the horizon. A lot of times, It is good to be an observer and enjoy the moment and not worry about shooting the damn picture. After a while..the light was starting to fade and i decided to pack up and walk back to that tiny dot along the beach that i assumed was where i had initially started. Along the way the waves were starting to make more of a roar and extended their finger up to the very edge of the beach. Rialto beach is (as I was told later ) quite popular for strong waves. At this time however,the light was beginning to turn a shade of blue that was truly amazing and surreal. About a half mile from the sea stack I paused to enjoy the moment and turned back to where I was near the sea stack, I noticed a fine curtain of mist develop above the waves and the light was truly amazing. I immediatly set up my tripod as I knew was going to be a long exposure, lucky there was not a very strong breeze, I carefully composed to include the sea stack in this mist and wanted to emphasize the waves lapping. Shot a couple frames by bracketing the exposure about 30 secs. The above was the result.
That evening, I learnt it pays to stick around after the sun has set. You are likely to see great shades of blude at dusk after the sun has sunk below the horizon.
Your comments are welcome. This picture was made with a 70- 300 mm ED nikkor zoom lens on a D70 body.
By Kaushik Dwarakanath

Filling the frame is important

2006-06-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Use of a long telephoto lens to isolate the subject there by filling the frame is an effective technique to create a macro like image. Also using a long telephoto lens creates a shallow depth of field (making the background blurred) . For this shot I used a Nikkor 70-300 mm zoom lens on a D70 body. Additional off camera flash was used to fill some light.
Comments are welcome . KD

Phoenix 100mm f3.5 macro lens with Nikon D70

2006-05-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

A Salute to Phoenix 100mm f3.5 macro lens
One of the most inexpensive macro lenses out there for Nikons AF. As the above test shot on a Nikon D70 shows this lens is a winner for those who cannot afford $1oo's on a brand name macro lens. The phoenix (same as Vivitar) is tack sharp and produces stunning results. The build quality is suseptible to damage in the hands of a klutz. But with care this lens would be an asset to those getting their feet wet in marcro photography.
For the experimental kind the above lens produces magnification in the order of 1:2 if used reversed with a 50 mm normal lens. However for such a set up, the focussing distance becomes very close about 0.5 - 1 inch from your r subject. With that type of focussing distance it would not be adviseable to shoot anything that moves. But the results produced were anything but stunning. More in following posts.
The above shot was taken in daylight flourescent lighting indoors and an off camera external flash to fill in the shadows.
-By Kaushik Dwarakanath
email : kdphotoman@yahoo.com

More Digital Photography Tips

2006-05-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

How many of us once dreamed of becoming professional photographers for “National Geographic,” only to find out that we did not even know how to get the lens cap off of our cameras? And now that digital cameras are becoming more and more common, it seems that we will have to learn all over again how to take a photograph, this time with a digital camera.

Do not worry – realize that this time, you have technology on your side. You may not end up with photographs worthy of “National Geographic” status, but you will be able to get some that will look beautiful on your wall and in your photo album.

Here are some tips for taking better photographs with digital cameras:

· Get to know your camera. It may seem tedious, but be sure to read through your owner’s manual. Spending just an hour or two acquainting yourself with your camera will save you a lot of stress down the line.

· When you first get your digital camera, practice taking photos. Make sure that you know how to use it before you take it on your vacation or to your daughter’s graduation! You do not want to miss great photo opportunities because you are too busy trying to turn your camera on!

· Do not be shy – take as many photographs as want. Most digital cameras come with memory cards that hold a multitude of photographs – if yours does not, get an extra memory card. If you take a hundred photographs of one thing, at least one of them will turn out!

· Use the features on your camera! Most digital cameras have different modes for different types of photographs – night mode, landscape, portrait, macro, etc. Understand these modes, and know when to use each one.

· Use the LCD screen – if your digital camera has a good LCD screen, you will be able to tell almost immediately whether or not you took a good photo – if your daughter’s eyes were closed, be sure to take another one!

· Remember: close-ups are often more interesting than shots from a distance. You do not have to have everyone’s feet in every photo! Consider taking a photo that includes everyone from just the shoulders up. Also, if you are taking a photo of your family at the Epcot Center, for instance, realize that you do not have to fit the entire Epcot globe into your photo. If you do that, your family will look like ants in the photo and there is no reason for them to have stood in the frame in the first place. Instead, get a close-up of your family with just a small aspect of the globe in the background. Or get a photo of your family by the sign, instead. You can always use the landscape feature of your digital camera to take a photo of the entire globe, later.

· The subject of your photograph does not always have to be the center of your photograph! Try taking photographs with your subject slightly to the side of the frame, for instance.

· Be aware of lighting. Without learning too much about how lighting affects a photograph, you can still be aware of certain aspects. For instance, if the sun is setting behind your subject, your subject may turn out as a silhouette. Of course, if you try take a photo of your friend with the sunlight hitting him from the front, be aware that he will probably have to squint his eyes.

· If it is extremely bright out (like if you are in bright sunlight or in the snow), hold up something of a neutral color (like a dark tan bag or light gray sweatshirt) to the camera as you focus (most digital cameras focus when you push the button halfway down), then remove it before you take the photograph of your actual subject.

· Try new things. Do not be afraid to get down on the ground to take a photo of an object or a person from a different angle. You do not have to take all of your photos head-on. Take a photo of a sign from an angle, take a photo of the Eiffel Tower from the bottoms looking up, etc.

· If you are on vacation, do not get stuck taking photos of your fellow travelers standing in front of one famous, forgettable building after another. Yes, you can still take these photographs, but consider taking a photograph of your friend in front of the sign, too, so that you at least know which building it is! Also, be sure to take photographs of not just places, but of memories. For instance, be sure to get a picture of your friend’s feet as she stumbles around with a broken high heel. Take a photo of the menu from your favorite restaurant. Take photos of not just the beautiful fronts of buildings, but the graffiti-ed, trashy alleys, too. Take photographs of things that you will not see on the postcards, of things that are unique to your own personal experience!

· You do not need to set up every single shot. Take photos of people when they are unaware that you even have your camera out. Go ahead and take some photos of strangers, as well.

· One of the benefits of taking digital photographs is the fact that you can touch them up on your computer at home. Be sure to make use of this great feature. You do not need to spend your time touching up all of your photos, but definitely go through and fix up your favorites – you can straighten them, remove red eyes, brighten or darken them, and do many other things, as well.

· If you are unsure as to whether or not you think you would like using a digital camera, try out a disposable digital camera, first. Disposable digital cameras are also excellent for if you are going somewhere where there is the potential of breaking or losing your camera.

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, art, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on digital photography and cameras, please visit Disposable Digital Cameras.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Clarke