Color Management, the Digital Darkroom, and Adobe Photoshop

Preface

In order to understand color management , it is important to get your hands around some of the workflow. It is also important to understand a little bit about the ICC itself. The ICC or "International Color Consortium" was created in 1993 by a number major corporations with the goal of assisting end users in creating consistent color throughout the entire reproduction process. ICC profiles are a means by which one device can translate the same color information to another. This process is applied in graphics programs like Adobe Photoshop , and created in color management systems like X-rite's Pulse or ColorVision's Spyder software.

How is a profile created?

In order to have a fully color controlled environment you must have all devices displaying or printing color, profiled . How is this accomplished? Color management software (CMS) takes readings from your specific devices and compares their color with reference files of what color "should be" as defined by the ICC. For example, to profile a scanner you would scan in what is called an IT8 target . This scan is then compared with a reference file by the CMS. The differences between what the reference file says the color should be, and what the color your device actually output is meat of the profile. Basically, a profile says what's not perfect about your particular device. If your scanner always seems to scan things in a little green, or your printer always seems to print things with a magenta cast-these are the things that are taken into account when color profiling your devices. To complicate matters a little further, this process also takes into account the differences in color between various paper and ink combinations.

Understanding Your Environment.

Color Model</B>: When you hear the term color model we are referring to the method from which we define or classify the color we are to work with. Examples of such are RGB, LAB, CMYK, etc. Color Space : A color space is simply a variation of your color model. For instance, within your RGB framework some common variations are, sRGB, Adobe RGB, and so on. Some of these spaces are better for display e.g. sRGB and Wide Gamut RGB while other color spaces are more suited to printing e.g. ColorMatch RGB and Adobe RGB.

Now, it is important to note that every device in our workflow utilizes it's own unique color space . Meaning, while your monitor, scanner, and printer will base their color spaces basically on what we can see their actual gamut (range of colors) will differ. This is where we lose our consistency across devices. This is the problem we must attend to.

Color Management Using Adobe Photoshop: Step-by-Step

Okay, so now we're ready for the whole process-it's a big one, so keep with me. In this section I will describe how color management works with entry-level CMS's like Monaco EZ Color or ColorVision's Spyder2-programs like these >b>utilize actual hardware colorimeters for monitor calibration and a reflective target for scanner calibration. Scanning the printed target with your home scanner creates the printer profile . Entry-level programs like these generally retail between $150 and $500.

Step One: The Monitor

This step is quite easy and is generally conducted entirely in the CMS program of your choice. The CMS will guide you through the process of adjusting you monitor brightness and contrast to its proper settings and then, with the hardware colorimeter, take readings of the colors your monitor can produce. Your CMS should also set this profile as your default profile for your operating system. Take note if your CMS doesn't already explain it, you should remove Adobe Gamma Loader.exe from your Startup folder after creating a new monitor profile. AGL is a very minimal monitor correction tool and will conflict with your newly created profile.

Step Two: The Scanner

For the scanner profile you will be using an IT8 target . This is a printed color reference of approx. 250 color patches. These targets are manufactured under strict controls and are measured by ICC approved methods to produce accurate reference files. Kodak, Coloraid, and Fuji are the major manufacturers of IT8 targets and should be included with your CMS package but may be a required separate purchase. There are two forms of IT8 targets: reflective and transparent . Reflective targets create a generally consistent profile for scanning reflective images. Transparent IT8 targets are printed on to the specific film to be profiled and therefore cannot be used as globally as reflective targets.

Profiling of the scanner involves scanning the IT8 target under the same conditions that will be used to scan originals. This has to be taken to the nth degree, as every setting in your scanner software needs to be exactly the same for scanning the target as it is for every other original that you will scan. Turning all hue/saturation/brightness/contrast controls off in your scanner software generates the most effective profile . Any auto correction adjustments need to be turned off so the same conditions the profile gets generated under will apply to each consecutive scan.

At this point you will scan in the IT8 target , most likely at 200 dpi, and save the file. Some CMS's will have you scan the IT8 target out of their own interface, but I would recommend scanning the target with the same application that you will be using in the future-if possible. When scanning into an application like Photoshop , remember to save the image without any profile attached (in Photoshop when saving you will see a checkbox under Save Options >Color that is labeled ICC Profile-make sure this is not checked). Now load this image into your CMS, it will take this image and calculate the differences between what your scanner sees compared to what the colors of the IT8 &quot;really&quot; are.

Step Three: The Printer

Now, the last piece to the puzzle, printer targets . Like transparent IT8 targets, printer targets are more complex. Similar to film, different papers or media can produce incredibly different color results. This has to be taken into account in the profiling stage. When creating a printer profile, you are essentially creating a description of the differences between what is ideal color and what is the result of the specific paper/ink/quality setting you choose. A profile created for a professional glossy photo paper will generally not produce good results if used to print on a matte heavy weight paper. The same holds true for differences in ink or quality/speed settings.

In your CMS you should be given the option to save your printer target for printing within your chosen graphic app. If asked choose not to apply a profile when opening. In Photoshop choose File>Print with Preview . Change the Output dropdown to Color Management. Under Source Space choose Document . Under Print Space choose Profile : Same as Source. You are now set up in Photoshop to print your profile target. You aren't done yet! Now go into your printer driver software and set any color options to none , or zero, or whatever shuts off any color changes by the driver. Now print your target.

This is where professional level CMS's and entry level ones differ. At this point with the entry level you will scan in the printed target and the CMS will actually use the before generated scanner profile to correct the scan, so it can the correct your printed target. A professional level CMS will have a separate hardware device designed specifically for reading printed media targets.

Step Four: Utilizing the Profiles

Okay, now that we've created all of the profiles, time to implement them. You monitor profile should be getting applied upon startup by your operating system, so let's move on to your scanner. Scan in an image-once again using the exact same settings that were used to create the profile (other than resolution). In Photoshop choose Image Menu>Assign Profile. Then choose Profile: Your Scanner Profile. Having done all of the previous steps in Photoshop correctly, you should now be amazed at how your image colors changes to appear incredibly like the original that you've just scanned in.

From here go to Image Menu>Convert to Profile and choose working RGB from the profile selections. This will convert your document to the native RGB working space of Photoshop. When printing you will apply the printer profile by once again choosing File>Print with Preview , select Document as your Source Space (which this time should be your Working RGB space) and in your Print Space choose Profile: Your Printer Profile . Remember once again to disable any color options in your printer driver. Finally, Print!

Other Notes on Profiling</B>

I would recommend using Relative Colorimetric as your Rendering Intent when doing the Convert to Profile step and when printing with Print with Preview out of Photoshop. Rendering intents control how the profile is applied to either the scanner or printed image. Relative Colorimetric has proven to be the best in my testing. Read the documentation that came with your CMS in order to learn more about the other available rendering intents.

Profiles are only as accurate as the CMS that generates them and the size of the targets that are used to generate them. Packages in the $150-$500 price range generally have around 75-250 patches, while $2000 and up gets you 729 patches or more. Also, the more expensive packages rely on physical hardware devices to generate printer profiles, while the less expensive packages use your scanner as the print colorimeter. In addition, the more expensive packages have numerous options for the edition of the profiles you create.

Sources cited in this column are:

Adobe?
xrite/monoco?
Colorvision?
Shawn Tolle, Technical Consultant.

Nigel is the E-Commerce Project Manager for Ultimatech Creative Consultancy located in Carbondale, Colorado. Ultimatech provides <a target="_new" href="http://www.ultimatechcc.com">website design for photographers</a>, artists, and art galleries along with Fine-Art Reproduction and SEO Services.

Weddings, From a Photographers Point of View

Your wedding day is without a doubt one of the happiest and stressful days of you life. The happy part comes naturally but how can you cut down on the stress? Well from a photographers standpoint, seeing that he is with you from the beginning of the day till the end, and sees you before and after the wedding, I would like to offer some tips and secrets to make it more happy than stressful.

1. When you meet before hand with your Photographer, make sure that after you agree on the syle of photos you want that you have a list made for the Photographer of all important photos that need to be taken. Then there won't be any stress because certain photos were not taken.

2. Make sure to tell all your bridesmaids and family members that are to be photographed beforehand where they need to be and what time you want them to be there. This way you won't be rushed.

3. Tell everyone to pay attention during the rehearsal so everyone knows their place and what they are supposed to do. You will be nervous enough, you do not need to explain to others what they should be doing.

4. If you decide to have a receiving line, have it at the church.

It moves quicker and gives you more time to enjoy your reception where you can mingle with everyone later.

5. Tell all wedding party and family members to go immediately to the place where photos will be taken. Ask them not to stop at the liqour store or any other place that may hold things up. The sooner everyone gets there the sooner photos will be done and the sooner you can start partying.

6. Once the reception starts there is not much to be stressed about, everything should flow and everyone should have a great time.

Hopefully this does not seem as if you are some sort of control freak to be asking all of this from everyone. After almost 30 years of photographing weddings, I have found that these bits of advice make for a smooth enjoyable day. Hope yours is great.

Edward Mercer Mercer Photography <a target="_new" href="http://www.thebestweddingdayplanner.com">http://www.thebestweddingdayplanner.com</a>

Underwater Digital Cameras

Underwater photography's is primarily focused towards entertaining and informing the people and the users themselves about what is happening in the world of under water with the aid of photography. The advent of digital cameras has opened up new horizons for such ventures. These digital cameras are not only handy and sleek but also they offer a spectral range of features that helps the underwater photographers in their work a lot. In this discussion these special features of underwater digital cameras are necessarily been revealed and done justice to!

Looking at the grass root level some of the main features that the users of the underwater digital cameras must necessarily seek are as follows. They are applications for land mode, sea mode and external flash mode. This helps in shooting in any conditions in the sea and obtains much better picture quality than ever before. Some other features are like instant delete option after each picture in both sea and external flash modes along with one-button operation features. These mentioned features provide the sophistication as well as ease of control for the photographers. Some more desirable features are expandable and good quality standard lenses, flashes and accessories.

Some of the sophisticated and well know underwater digital cameras such as the Aqua Pix DX3100 are fully functional and even have a 3.1 mega pixel resolution. These digital cameras can be aptly described as being effusively amphibious! Thus the chances of water damage and flooding in these underwater digital cameras are greatly reduced and are hence extensively used for professional purposes too.

Scrutinizing in some more detail it can be said that the underwater digital cameras mostly use a meniscus lens that can be used above or below the surface of water. The also have features for built in color correction filter and macro lens along with built in flash diffusers too. They utilize multi flash functioning in order to get adequate good quality pictures in the most adverse conditions too. They have sufficient memory of around 15MB and come equipped with complete storage, editing and image manipulation software.

It still remains a fact that underwater photography is a difficult yet fascinating profession. Moreover, with the underwater digital cameras this task has become even easier and creative along with greater scopes to express much more through the eyes of the lens. It is hoped that the new depths of underwater photography would be fathomed with the aid of the underwater digital cameras!

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of <a href="http://www.snapjunky.com" target="_new">http://www.snapjunky.com</a>. Visit his digital camera guide and learn how to take better pictures with your digicam.

Creating Personalized Photo Calendars

About Personalized Photo Calendars:

Photo Calendars are 12-month, wall-hanging calendars that you can create using your own digital photos and captions. As you customize your own photo calendar, you can start the calendar on whatever month and year you wish. Most photo calendars are printed on white heavy-weight glossy card stock that you can write on, and they are spiral-bound in the middle.

Creating Personalized Photo Calendars:

Most online digital photo printing services, such as Shutterfly (my favorite), Snapfish and Kiodak EasyShare Gallery, offer custom photo calendars. The process of creating personalized photo calendars usually involves:

1. Picking a starting month and year for your calendar

2. Selecting a page design from a variety of templates

3. Choosing your photos from those you have uploaded to the photo service's website and selecting which photo you want for a specific month

4. Writing brief photo captions to accompany each page of your photo calendar (usually optional)

5. Adding a cover photo for your personalized photo calendar

6. Placing your photo calendar order with the web site

Templates for Personalized Photo Calendars:

Most photo printing services like Shutterfly and Snapfish offer a selection of photo calendar templates to choose from. There are also several software programs that include free photo calendar templates. FotoFinish offers several photo calendar templates with its FotoFinish Suite software version, and you can download a variety of additional free photo calendar templates from its website. Adobe Photoshop Album and Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album 5 Deluxe also feature photo calendar templates.

Printing Photo Calendars:

If you design your custom photo calendar using an online photo service, to print it simply add your photo calendar to your online shopping account and check out. You'll have your printed photo calendar in a few days. The average cost is about $20 per calendar. If you are using your own software to create your photo calendar, you can print your calendar pages using your own color printer and have your pages spiral bound into a calendar at a local copy store.

Customized Photo Calendars Make Great Gifts:

Custom photo calendars make terrific gifts, whether for birthdays, Mother's Day, etc. Got an avid golfer in the family? What about custom golf photo calendars featuring photos of your golfer teeing off? Sometimes it is hard to come up with a good gift idea for elderly parents or grandparents. A photo calendar with pictures of your children makes a great gift that grandma and grandpa will enjoy anew each time they turn over a new month. Don't have kids? What about 12 months of your favorite pet photos? The ideas are endless.

Valerie Goettsch publishes the digital photography website <a target="_new" href="http://www.digitalphotos101.com">http://www.digitalphotos101.com</a> featuring reviews of photo editing and album software and digital photo printing services.

Digital Cameras & Resolution

While analyzing any camera, one of the most important qualities of a photograph that a person seeks, is resolution. This word itself needs a brief discussion before progressing onto its implication upon a digital camera. This is a word that seems to almost every new photographer as a nightmare. With all the myths and irrelevant information circulating all around, this is quite common. This however is an effort to clear those misty myths and provide good information for everyone. Without any complexity, generally a photograph, either viewed on the screen or printed, is composed of infinitesimal dots (called pixels). The greater amount of these dots that can fit per inch of space, the smaller the dots and the sharper the image. This is the basis of understanding ... resolution!

Considering an image at 100 dots per inch that is one square inch in size. It is comprised of 100 X 100 pixels. Now changing this image four-times to four square inches. This image is quite clear. Now the same 100 X 100 dots exist, but with only 25 dots per inch. The appearance becomes grainy. This is the factor know as resolution that determines this quality of image. Hence it can now be interpreted by any person what the importance of resolution is and where it is required in the filed of photography. While purchasing a digital camera, resolution is a very important factor to take into account when settling upon buying a particular one.

Digital camera resolution comes in as Mega pixels. A Mega pixel is composed of one million pixels. The greater the number of Mega pixels, the greater becomes the standard of quality of the photograph or picture. As a standard, one mega pixel is the minimum bottom line below which a digital camera must not be usually purchased. This is a general decided value for any amateur photographers also, and the exact value of higher mega pixels is not a concern for people who do not intend to print the photographs. In an effort to scrutinize the pixels in an image out of sheer anxiety, a person can magnify the display in a photo editor, like a little magnifying glass, and they become very much visible!

The resolution decides the ultimate the future of the hard copy of a photograph being taken, whether a digital camera or a conventional camera. A print from a high-resolution photograph challenges anything produced from a chemical film camera. However a low-resolution image print of a photograph is quite appalling with fine details and restrained color transitions absent resulting from too few pixels. Thus the resolution can spoil an entire effort to freeze a memorable moment. Thus it is so vital. As a general rule a minimum of 200 pixels are required for each linear inch of a print. However, some printers get better results with 300 pixels per-inch of resolution.

The above discussion has brought into light a lot of relevant information regarding resolution and its application in the digital camera and photography. Also in the concluding lines it can only be stated for digital camera ... resolution is the real soul!

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of <a href="http://www.snapjunky.com" target="_new">http://www.snapjunky.com</a>. Visit his digital camera guide and learn how to take better pictures with your digicam.

The Beauty of Nature Photography

Nature is all around us, and its beauties are unlimited. In this fast-paced world of mocha-lattes and traffic jams at rush hour, too many of us take the beauty of nature for granted. Luckily, there are still people in the world who see this beauty and choose to share it with those of us that are too busy to normally take notice. Poets and photographers are great at this. They take what seems like the ordinary and present it to us in a way that shows us the elegance, the magnificence and the amazing that is on this rock we call Earth.

What is Nature Photography?

So what do we mean when we say nature photography? Well, it may seem obvious but let's go ahead and explain. Nature is our natural environment. It is those things that exist in our world without human intervention; such as trees, grass, flowers, a forest, a river, and animals in their natural environment.

Nature photography is the photography of these things. There is a wide spectrum that is included in nature photography. Pictures of sunsets, sunrises and ocean waves lapping at the shore are all nature photography. So are the trees in the forest and beautiful flowers growing in an open field.

But nature photography can go even deeper than that, showing us parts of the world that we may not be able to see otherwise. If you live in the south, you may not see snow-capped mountains if it wasn't for nature photography. You may not be able to see a deep canyon, a volcano, or a beautiful beach if it were not for photographs of these places.

The photographers that bring us pictures of these places give us an image of something we may never see. It's truly an amazing gift to give.

Nature Photographers

But what if you are one of the people taking these pictures? What if you are the nature loving photographer that gives this fantastic gift to someone else? You are giving a gift to other people. But you are also doing something you love. Nature photography can only be achieved by someone who has a love for nature and sees its beauty and can capture it in a photograph so others can view it and have a touch of the same experience.

So how do you take great nature photography? The first step is to have an eye for these beautiful images. The second step is to have a camera. That's really all it takes. But as you grow as a photographer, you will learn how to take the best pictures and capture the image in a way that others can view it as the amazing sight that you saw. You will learn about lighting and backgrounds and focus and you will take better pictures.

Nature photography is a rewarding experience for the photographer and also for the people who get to view the results. You have taken a piece of nature that may otherwise go unnoticed such as a rainbow, and you capture it permanently in an image that you can look at any time you choose. This is a pleasing and rewarding part of photography. In nature photography, you are able to take two things that you love and combine them in a beautiful and artistic way.

Looking for information about Photography? Go to: <a target="_new" href="http://www.asaphotography.com">http://www.asaphotography.com</a> 'ASA Photography' is published by Colin Hartness - An excellent resource for Photography! Check out more Photography articles at: <a target="_new" href="http://www.asaphotography.com/archive">http://www.asaphotography.com/archive</a>

Photography Business: Taking Baby Photos - for Professionals & Families

Babies make the best and the worst subjects to photograph. They are the best for two reasons, people are more tolerant at looking at baby photos, as well as the fact that babies are not aware their image is being captured, and therefore they do not tend to put on the &quot;camera face&quot; so typically used by elder children and adults. They are the worst subjects because their behaviour is unpredictable. Because their behaviour is uncensored, they show their emotions, and can just as easily cry as gurgle happily into the camera.

One of the most challenging aspects of photographing a baby is to control the subject. On the one hand you want them relatively still, but too much control and the photo loses its impetuousness. Lighting and background are both important, you want the background as uncluttered and simple as possible if the photograph is indoors, or as natural as possible outside, a piece of grass is ideal. The lighting should be coming from at least two directional sources, but if it is too strong it will throw shadows that complicate the picture, and often lose the wonderful facial expressions it is possible to capture. However don't miss those impromptu shots either especially with a digital camera, you can always edit the background later.

It is usually helpful to restrict babies' activities; they are not portrayed at their best nappy high in the air crawling across the floor. A good way to restrict them is a highchair, or holding them in the arms of another person. Baby photography is often better taken very close up, and it is a wise move to look at the manual for your camera, and see how close you can get. It is better to get everything set up first, and then place the baby in position when the lighting and setting have been chosen. However that of course is not always possible.

Distractions in the form of noise, and toys can be a tool, but never forget that a baby's emotion's are always lightning fast, and it all makes for great photographs, whether it is tears of frustration, pouring a drink over your best camera, or laughing.

They are often easier to photograph when there is a minimum of people around because they are so easily distracted. The old school of thought was keep the mother well out of the way, however I personally can't see any mileage in that, as babies are calmer with someone they know, and in most cases that is the mother. Above all remember that photographing babies is fun, the unexpected if caught at just the right moment, makes great memories. Although I doubt if a father who has just picked up their offspring for a photograph will forget the time that their child was sick all over them. Control can only go so far with babies.

Babies are babies for short a period of time, you can never have too many photographs, and here a digital camera can save enormous amounts on both film and development. It also allows for wastage as you can view the results immediately and can the ones you don't want. You will have huge embarrassment value in later life showing your daughter's first boyfriend her as a baby with no nappy! Another enormous advantage to digital photography is that you don't have to shoot the photograph with a little black box in front of your face. This will catch a baby's emotions perfectly, but is not the best way to capture their best expressions. A small child will respond better when they respond to your expressions. By being able to hold the camera away from your face you have a chance to capture the best of their expressions as well; an LCD screen generally reaps huge benefits.

Another misunderstood statement is that the best photographs are taken by professionals, whilst there is no denying that professional take great formal photographs, and every baby should have at least one set to keep as an adult. It is hard to beat the formal professional photo. Some professionals offer annual sittings for family shots and supply regular updated montages specific to that family. A service that is hard to beat. However this formal stylised pose isn't always the answer, somehow, because children are not camera aware, they are not camera shy. Young babies are sometimes better photographed in an environment that they are entirely comfortable with and that place is often their own home or the garden. The great thing about photographing your own child is that it does not need any special equipment, special effects, or even any really special effort, and it certainly does not involve trailing somewhere in the middle of the night to capture a beautiful dawn. A point and shoot will work wonders.

Probably the most important technical point to remember when photographing a baby is that because of their size, you have to get down to their height to get that wonderful close- up. The easiest way and least dangerous way is to physically get down on the floor with them, not necessarily the most dignified way, but certainly the most rewarding. There are no imperfections in a babies face, you can get as close as you can without showing crow's feet! You cannot engineer this type of photography it has to happen, but you can be creative in your approach and let the baby respond to you, because it has no knowledge of how to respond to the camera.

With a very young baby still in its crib, there is very little option, but to shoot from the above, unless you want the baby to look as though it is captured in a wooden box, but it is an approach to be avoided if at all possible.

You have more opportunities to photograph babies in more settings than at almost any other age. After all you don't photograph your mother on the toilet. Few props are useful with babies, but baths and potty's are great because they are both tools that they are familiar with and with a little patience they can be put to great effect regarding play. Surely you can put up with getting a little damp at bath- time, but of course try and remember to make sure the potty is empty! Above all remember that it fun and relaxed, you will never have the opportunity to have so many natural photos again. Enter into the spirit of it and you will be amply rewarded. Another great &quot;prop&quot; to use if you have one is the family pet, providing it is not intimidating to the baby.

There is no fun at all in photographing someone screaming the house down in fear. Whilst every parent should have at least one set of professional photos taken, don't rely on someone else to capture those truly enchanting moments, especially at momentous milestones. If it is your child's first birthday they will reward you with better photographs if you take them yourself. Get someone else (professional) to do it on a less important day.

The professional would do well to keep a file for the parents and offer services such as a montage on the childs or childrens yearly progress (updated every year). There is great value in personalisation and there is an abundance of software available to help you organise this service.

Copyright 2005 Roy Barker

Publisher & author: Roy Barker. Roy is the author of the popular ebook, Income from Photography - a downloadable ebook which guides the reader on how to start up and market a Profitable Photography business. It can be viewed at <a target="_new" href="http://www.profitable-photography.com">http://www.profitable-photography.com</a>. Another top guide is at <a target="_new" href="http://photography-business.blogspot.com/">http://photography-business.blogspot.com/</a>

CCTV Camera Tip: Apply Simple Common Sense when Picking CCTV Cameras and Lenses

Get a good face shot: Use Higher quality cameras at entry areas.

Doors, gates and other entry areas need a good quality, high resolution camera to record a good 'face shot.' The video from this camera should be considered a highly valuable since it can be used as evidence in identifying a person in a court of law.

Wide Angle Cameras for large surveillance areas

Once you can get a good shot of a persons face, you should use a wider angle camera lens for the interior surveillance spaces of the building. Using color cameras inside your building is a good idea because you can readily identify a person by the clothes they are wearing. Used in conjunction with the face shot at the entry point, you have an excellent record of all people and activities in your surveillance areas.

Consider the following when choosing a CCTV camera:

1. Sketch out a Floor Plan: Put in all camera locations. Consider the distance to your surveillance zone: Are you 5 feet or 15 feet away from your surveillance target area? It is best to locate your camera as close to the surveillance area first, then choose how much zoom you need. Do you need 4mm, 8mm or 12mm lens?

2. Field of view or area of surveillance: Take photos of areas you want to cover from the proposed camera locations. What lens you need depends what you want to see and how far away and how wide a viewing area. Wide angle and fisheye lenses are available.

3. Resolution: Do you want to capture a persons face or a car license plate? Each camera location will determine which lenses would maximize your surveillance potential. Do you need 50mm lens or standard 8mm?

4. Vandalism potential: Will your camera be subject to damage? Damage resistant cameras are available.

5. Lighting: Is the space well lit or dimly lit. Are the lights turned off at night? Do you want to monitor the area with the lights turned off? Do you need <a target="_new" href="http://www.camerasecuritynow.com/CCTV-Cameras/Bullet-Infrared-Cameras.asp">infrared cctv cameras</a> or low light cameras?

6. Budget: Just like any technology, the more you spend, the better the system you get. Keep in mind a low cost camera is better than no camera at all.

About CCTV Cameras: Closed circuit television also known as CCTV is the industry standard in surveillance cameras. CCTV can be a single network of cameras or multiple networks of camera linked together via switches, internet or wide area computer technology. CCTV Video data is analog but can be converted to digital via CCTV Digital Video Recorders. Once the video data is digital it can be managed just like any other computer data and can be stored automatically on computers and network storage devices.

For more information on cctv cameras visit <a target="_new" href="http://www.CameraSecurityNow.com">Camera Security Now</a> or call toll free: 877-422-1907

John Beagle is president of Xponex Web and Media Services and can be reached at 513-422-1907x222. <a target="_new" href="http://www.xponex.com/">Xponex.com/</a>

Start a Photography Business from Home

Anyone with the right camera equipment, and the necessary skills can set up a home business, marketing photography. You need only to convert a room of your house into an office, and then you can work immediately.

With modern technology in the form of SLR digital cameras, you do not even need the room for a dark room. You need only to have a personal computer and a photo-editing program. The standard is Adobe Photoshop.

It is not necessary to clutter yourself with equipment you do not need. You can hire equipment on and when you need it basis. You have the freedom to work part time for a while until you can devote yourself full time to photography. All you need to be is a serious photographer. There are two types of photographers that makes their living from photography, the serious photographer and the very serious photographer. You can always bookmark this link and then you can quickly access just about all you'll ever need from here.

Whilst the technical skills needed to make a successful photographer have never been easier, other aspects have changed the business. The market for photographs of virtually every type has widened, the world seems to have an insatiable appetite for photographs. However the price has fallen as the marketing net has broadened. Photographers are needed in many more fields. For instance many people use car web sites, they simply did not exist ten years ago, and they sell their products as a result of photography. Cameras used by scuba diver's are now an excellent quality, and whilst they are initially expensive, they have forged a new market. People celebrate special occasions more with photography, than they did years ago. The travel and advertising markets have a greater need for landscape, travel and nature shots.

It is now easier than ever to turn your dream into reality and create a worthwhile business out of an engrossing hobby. However in today's modern world there is more to it than simply pointing a camera, and shooting a picture. You need to be aware of marketing techniques, and here marketing simply means transferring ownership of a product, in this case an image from a buyer to seller. You also need to be aware of any local gaps in the market in your local area. You should also try to be on top of your competitor's prices, to undercut an existing photographer is one choice, but to neglect to value your skills and not charge enough to cover your overheads is another matter entirely. Remember this, its an important point.

Use your skills to the best advantage of the business and define what you want from it. Writing a business plan helps to keep you focused on the areas you specifically want to exploit. A business plan helps you to define your goals and strategies, it will be changed and updated, but it will help you, to keep things in perspective. You can then refer back to it when things become confusing or complicated. Everyone's business plan will be different, as every objective will be different, but there are certain common factors that make up a good business plan which will help your business grow. It allows you to develop a professional attitude to your business, which not only helps you to increase your earnings, but also help you to finance your business.

For the photographer it should include, your business name, or your own, with full details of the proposed location of the business, a copy of your logo, as well as details of your copyright notices. What is the form of your proposed business (sole ownership, partnership, Limited Liability Company or Corporation). This should be followed by a table of contents, which focuses on a logical order. There are resources that will give you further details on such as profitable-photography.com

Included after this should be the type of business you intend to pursue, in a fair amount of detail, and it should contain the services you intend to offer. This section should include any future gaols or avenues you would like to explore, stating your clear objectives. This is so you can check at a later date whether your objectives are on course, or if you have got sidetracked.

If you envisage at any time you may need financial help, then you should include your personal business history.

You should also state a clear and concise marketing plan that should demonstrate how your business will differentiate from the businesses of your competitors. You should be able to establish whom your customers will be, as well as where your market will be, as in wholesale or retail or a combination of both. You should also be able to determine how long this type of market will be available to yourself.

The next section should clearly define your opposition, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. This should include the ways you may be able to exploit any gaps in the market in the specific area where you live. A section should follow this on how you intend to market and promote your individual services.

A financial segment should be included as to how you intend to manage the day-to-day bills of the business. How you intend to price your services, and what factors influence this pricing structure, which includes a section on your competitor's financial structures. This means a fair amount of detective work as well as homework. Get your friends to ask from quotes from the local competition. Or try an even more direct approach, tell your competitor's that you intend to start a new business, and that you do not want to undercut them, as this reduces the cake for everyone. They may well offer to help you construct a pricing structure that ensures everyone's livelihood. It is in their interests to help. Not everyone will be cooperative, but it may mean you can get a truer picture of the market factors that govern your area.

Make a list of all the equipment you will need in your first year, as well as how and where you intend to purchase. Note any difficulties that may arise in obtaining your supplies. Note whether the prices of your supplies have a seasonal fluctuation, that may help you influence you when to buy. You should make a note of any local licenses that will be necessary, as well as any zoning restrictions, that may restrict the growth of your business. Your neighbours may not be thrilled at a procession of customer's to your door, check whether they can restrict your services. Make a study of all your business insurance requirements.

The final segment should be devoted to how you intend to finance the growth of your business, as well as isolating what your financial needs will be. This should include a projection on your future earnings, as well as an accurate assessment of your outgoings'. This should be assessed on a monthly basis for the first year, and on an annual basis for the following three years. An important aspect of the financial statement is an assessment of the break-even point of your business, in other words the minimum you will have to take to pay your expenses.

The purpose of this documentation is to allow you to enunciate what the core elements of your business will be, in doing this it should help you to be able to quickly evaluate the success of your business objectives. If you are not clear on your objectives then you cannot possibly make a plan to bring about the success of those objectives.

Publisher & author: Roy Barker. Roy is the author of the popular ebook, Income from Photography - a downloadable ebook which guides the reader on how to start up and market a Profitable Photography business. It can be viewed at <a target="_new" href="http://www.profitable-photography.com.">http://www.profitable-photography.com.</a> Other related and reviewed services & research sources can be found at <a target="_new" href="http://www.profitable-photography.com/html/117/">http://www.profitable-photography.com/html/117/</a> The information on this and adjoining pages may be reprinted and used on other sites providing all information remains unchanged and the article and all pages remain as they are found here in its current font size & image with all links in tact.

Digital Image Files ? Megapixels, Megabytes, or DPI?

When I promised readers that I was going to do an article on this topic I was scared. For two reasons - firstly, it's a HUGE subject. I get lots of questions about it, and I see a fair bit of misunderstanding about it. Secondly, there are already a lot of good articles about it on the web, like <a target="_new" href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/res-demyst.shtml">this one on luminous-landscape.com</a>.

But I know that trawling the internet for technical information is not your idea of fun. That's my job! So here's my attempt at summing this up quickly for you:

DPI - Dots Per Inch

The most common question I get on this topic is, "My client / boss / nephew has asked me to send an image at a size of 300 dpi. What does that mean"?

The answer: Not much.

You see, DPI stands for Dots Per Inch. It's a useful measure of image resolution (in other words, how much information is resolved in the picture). But if you don't know the image size in inches (or feet, miles, centimetres, millimitres, or some other measure of size), then the amount of dots per inch doesn't mean much.

Using DPI to measure size is like using km/h to measure distance: "How far is it from here to the beach?" "Oh, about 60 miles per hour". For this to make sense the answer would need to be "about 10 minutes at 60 miles per hour".

Likewise, the size of an image needs to be expressed as, say, "six by six inches at 300dpi".

Different resolutions are used for different purposes. The most common are 72 or 75 dpi for screen viewing (Web use or PowerPoint presentations) and 300 dpi for printing.

OK, so to give an example - 1 inch by 1 inch, 300 dpi image would be 300 pixels by 300 pixels in size. A 2 by 2 inch image at 300 dpi would be 600 by 600 pixels in size. Here's where megapixels and megabytes come into it. Mega!

Megapixels

The term megapixels is usually used to describe the output size of digital camera images. For example, the Canon Ixus 50 produces images which are 2592 x 1944 pixels in size. Multiply these numbers together and you get 5,038,848 - just over 5 million. Hence this is described as a "5 megapixel" camera.

The last byte

On a couple of occasions, I've sent an image of a certain size to someone and they've said, "that's no good, we need a 10 megabyte file". Now, this I'm sure they were well-intentioned but they were also a little misguided.

The size in bytes (or megabytes - millions of bytes) represents how much storage the image takes up on your computer. This depends on all sorts of things, mainly the bit depth of the image and the file format - for example TIFF or JPEG.

So what should I do?

To avoid confusion, when specifying the file size you need, use pixels.

How do you work out how many pixels you need? Well, that's why I started this discussion with DPI. Work out the largest size you're going to want to reproduce the image, in inches; and the resolution - for example 72 dpi for or 300dpi for most print applications. Then just multiply the size in inches by the DPI figure you came up with.

Example: I want to reproduce the image A4 size in a printed magazine. A4 is 210mm x 297mm, or about 8.3 x 11.7 inches. The magazine needs artwork at 300dpi, so:

8.3 x 300 = 2490 and 11.7 x 300 = 3510 so I need an image sized about 2490 x 3510 pixels (about 8.7 megapixels)

By the way: 1 inch = 2.54 centimetres. Did you know you can also do conversions on google? <a target="_new" href="http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=9+in+in+cm">Try it yourself</a>.

Happy pixelling!

Steven Pam is a digital commercial photographer based in Melbourne, Australia, specializing in people, aviation and music photography. <a target="_new" href="http://www.stevenpam.com.au">http://www.stevenpam.com.au</a>

Understanding Digital Photography

Most serious photographers and all professionals use a Single Lens Reflex camera (SLR), the definition of an SLR camera is that the image is captured exactly as you see it in the viewfinder. However there are now two types of SLR the single lend reflex film (SLRF) and the single lens digital (SLD). They are both single lens camera, but digital does not use film and the resulting image can be processed at home with the aid of a photographic editor such as the chemical component in a traditional camera is film. When film is exposed to a real image, it makes a chemical record of the pattern of light, coming through the lens. Film has a collection of light sensitive frames, suspended on a strip of plastic. Colour film has three different layers of light sensitive material, which respond to red, green and blue (known as the (RBG) values. When the film is developed, it is exposed to chemicals, which dye the separate layers of film, into a color negative. All modern film is made up of silver halide crystals.

The digital revolution is the conversion of analog information, which is represented by a gradually fluctuating wave, to digital information represented by bits. This shift in technology has revolutionized both visual and audio information, in the form of cameras, televisions, and MP3 players. Whilst SLR cameras relied on a chemical process to transmit an image onto film, all digital cameras have their own inbuilt computers, which records images electronically. Essentially the digital camera represents a form the computer can understand, the information is collected in bits and bytes. Each part of the image is broken down into &quot;pixels&quot;, which is a contraction of picture element. When monitors display colors they are arranged in rows and columns, separated into thousands of little squares of color. They are so minute that they appear to be connected, but if you zoom into this the squares are quite separate. All these squares are the smallest dot that can be displayed by a monitor, and combined together they display the completed image.

Because of the enormous difference in the way the two types of camera work, there has been in many people's mind a huge confusion as to what type of camera to buy. Added to that, there are three types of SLRD cameras. SLR cameras had conventional shapes, because it was necessary to have room for the film, and the light path, SLRD cameras do not have these constraints.

At the lower end of the market for the digital cameras are the &quot;Point And Shoot&quot;, there SLRF equivalent is known as &quot;idiot Proof&quot;. They have low resolutions of between 3,000.000 and 4,000,000 million pixels. The next level is the proconsumer camera typically with a resolution of 4-5 million pixels. At the top end of the market the resolution is between 6-12 million pixels. The greater the number of pixel resolution the better the quality of the resultant image.

As with any new technology there are pros and cons with both types of cameras, and it will be decades before digital cameras replace SLR, if indeed they ever do, more likely the SLR cameras will be retained for use in a specialist market. It is also fair to say that the quality of digital cameras has improved enormously in the last ten years, and the price has also reduced dramatically.

One major factor determining the choice of camera is weight. Typically the SLTD camera is half the weight of it's SLR counterpart. The point and shoot is fully automatic, bit like their counterpart the idiot proof they do not give the photographer much creative control. They have earned their stripes, on the occasions when a photographic opportunity would have been missed with SLR. The middle of the range family of digital cameras represent the fastest growing demand for new cameras as they represent the ease of digital with a higher level of creative control. You can also make larger prints, as well as use the function of through the lens focusing.

The higher resolution top of the range digital cameras offer the same wider exposure controls and the ability to use different lens, in other words they offer the best of the features of analog photography to digital photography. The most recent development in digital cameras has been the development of a standard image sensor in the ratio of 4:3. As the image sensor has a standard size and shape, the mount for the lenses can be identical. That means that they will fit more than one type of camera, and will ultimately be cheaper to produce, as they can be produced in higher volume. Canon lenses for SLR film only fit Canon cameras, but they will now disappear. In future to add to the growing confusion, there will be a plethora of lenses from multiple manufacturers, to fit your camera, competition between the lens manufacturers should mean cheaper and better quality lenses. One factor not to be forgotten in deciding whether or not to go digital, is that the quality of the lens is still of paramount importance, it is still better to have a cheaper body and higher grade lens.

Another major factor is that digital image sensors are smaller than frames of film, which means that the lens can be correspondingly smaller and lighter. Until the development of the 4:3 ratio systems, digital cameras used conventional lenses.

The type of digital camera to choose is as complex as buying a car, it is a matter of personal choice, dictated by what it is used for, and the available amount of money to spend.

Fortunately there is a large amount of help in this respect already available on the Internet for you to research. At imaging resources you will find a large database dealing with individual camera models, the reviews also cover the scanners and printers as well. It includes member's forums to assess individual comments as opposed to manufacturer's claims. To review the cameras by make and price there are Canon, Fuji, Kodak, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus and Sony.

One of the major drawbacks of using digital film, was that the quality of prints produced on a personal computer's printer was less than satisfactory.

This obstacle has been overcome by the development of online printing centers. You upload the film to them via e-mail and they print the images and they are returned by post, with a professional standard. Kodak gallery offers you the opportunity to have your images improved and printed, and then to share your album via your computer, which means that your personal scanner is not necessary.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/colour_theory.shtml excellent article on colour to improve the final color of images

Publisher & author: Roy Barker. Roy is the author of the popular ebook, Income from Photography - a downloadable ebook which guides the reader on how to start up and market a Profitable Photography business. It can be viewed at <a target="_new" href="http://www.profitable-photography.com">http://www.profitable-photography.com.</a> Other related and reviewed services & research sources can be found at <a target="_new" href="http://www.profitable-photography.com/html/117/">http://www.profitable-photography.com/html/117/</a> The information on this and adjoining pages may be reprinted and used on other sites providing all information remains unchanged and the article and all pages remain as they are found here in its current font size & image with all links in tact.

The Photography Portfolio: Building Your Reputation

If you have hopes of becoming a professional photographer, or even just of trying to get your work published in a public forum, you will need to create a photography portfolio. So what's so important about a photography portfolio anyway?

There are many reasons why having a portfolio of your work available for others to view. If you are seeking employment as a photographer, then the need for a portfolio is obvious. If you are not seeking a photography job, there are still good reasons to have a portfolio. For one, you love photography and you take a lot a pride in your work. They are important to you. Most likely, some of them are very good. Why not create a portfolio that showcases your best work so you can show it to others (even if it's just friends or family that comes over for a visit)?

- Building a Photography Portfolio

Before we get into what goes into your portfolio, let's discuss the portfolio itself. What should it be made of? How big should it be? You may have seen portfolios with covers made of all types of materials such as plastic, leather and even stainless steel. These fancy covers are usually much more expensive and may not be practical for a beginner. If you are competing for high-price jobs and want to stand out from the crowd, these expensive covers may be a nice touch. But for most people, a regular black plastic cover will work just fine. It's what's inside the portfolio that is most important, right?

So, you are probably best to stick with a plain black plastic cover and work hard on beefing up what's inside. Don't decorate your portfolio with cutesy stickers and such; this will look amateurish and unprofessional. It's not a scrapbook; it's supposed to represent your high-quality work.

Now, as for size, this is going to depend on the size of your largest pictures. An 8 X 10 is probably going to be your largest. If your pictures are not this big, you don't need a portfolio this big. Your biggest will most likely be an 11 X 14 and it could be as small as a 4 X 7.

The most important thing for you to remember is convenience ? both for you and for the person who will be looking at your portfolio. You want to keep it professional and easy to hold, carry and look over.

- Using a Photography Portfolio

So now that you know what a portfolio is and what type to get, how do you actually use it? Well, we mentioned you are going to fill it with your best work. This means you want a portfolio that can easily be changed. You may want to pull out old ones and add in new ones. You don't want to go for a job carrying along every picture you've ever taken. You're going to want to have 15-20 of your best work. You are also going to want to be sure your pictures are relevant to the job. If you are trying out for different types of assignments, you may want to create portfolios that work for each of the types of work you are doing.

Of course, you only want to show your best work but you want to give the impression that you can handle any type of assignment given to you ad not that you are &quot;stuck&quot; in only one type of photography.

You want to showcase your best work; this is best technically as well. You may have a photo that is really important to you because of the image it represents or the memory it brings but if it is not technically perfect, it doesn't belong in a business portfolio. Save that one for your coffee table.

Looking for information about Photography?
Go to: <a target="_new" href="http://www.asaphotography.com">http://www.asaphotography.com</a>.

'ASA Photography' is published by Colin Hartness - An excellent resource for Photography! Check out more Photography articles at: <a target="_new" href="http://www.asaphotography.com/archive">http://www.asaphotography.com/archive</a>.

Keep a Digital Photos Diary

Digital Photo Diary - memories that last a life time

The best things in life come in threes, like friends, dreams, and memories.

A digital photo diary keeps some of the big and little memories of our life. With it, you can look back on these pictures, and appreciate the richness of our past.

Let's look at a easy and effective way to keep a digital photo diary:

Get a easy to carry, point-and-click digital camera

The key is to have a cameras when you want to capture the moment. Portability is more important than image quality. Also, remember to set the date & time on your cameras.

choose a site for store your digital photos online

MyPhotoAlbum.com seems to be a good choice at this moment:

MyPhotoAlbum.com let you choose your own look for your digital photo albums from its professionally designed styles. It also allows free and unlimited storage space.

Over here, you can personalize your online photo album using easy to remember, Internet address such as "http://yourname.myphotoalbum.com"

Take a few pictures every day

Make it a habit to take at least 1 picture every day. Take a picture of your son's drawings, or even the tree outside your house. It does not have to have professinoal quality, just something to show what your day was like. While it might seem boring, you would be pleasantly surprise thatwhen you relook at these pictures later.

Upload your picture to your online album regularly - says, once a week.

Remeber to add a few words to describe the photo. Do keep it easy and simple. Do not write an essay for each photo.

See you digital diary grow

Over time, you'll see your digital diary grow and become quite interesting.

Archive your digital diary

I always recommend that you burn your diary to CDs or DVDs. I usually burn it to at least 2 CDs or DVDs: Just to ensure that my memories will be safe for many years to come.

Other ways to share your digital diary

If you have a personal web site, you may post your digital diary on it. Making a hardcover photobook is also a great way to share it with others.

Digital photography should be fun! At <a href="http://www.digital-photos-fun.com" target="_blank">digital-photos-fun.com</a>, you'll find tips and guides on how to further enrich your photography experience.

Taking Professional Quality Pictures

By now I'm sure you've used Either a digital or film camera. You've taken pictures and had them developed and just weren't satisfied with the Quality. You don't need to be a professional or have a really expensive camera to take good photos. Here are some tips that can help you take your photo's from 0-100 in no time.

<li>Master your camera (Focus, Flash, Red-Eye, Shooting Modes, etc) <li>Take more pictures (especially with Digital) <li>Mix up your photos (portrait/Landscape) <li>Center your image around your target <li>Never shoot into a source of light <li>Try to use non-distracting backgrounds <li>Get Close - Zoom with your feet not with a button <li>Take advantage of shadows and reflections <li>Try different angles <li>Pay attention to vertical/horizontal lines <li>Shoot at the highest resolution available <li>Use appropriate film for shooting scenario's <li>Pay a little extra to have photo's developed at a quality shop

These are several tips that you can use to take higher quality pictures. It's important to take time to learn how your camera works, and to test different shooting scenario's (light, etc). Try some or all of the above tips and I'm sure you will satisfied with the quality of your photos.

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the following caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of <a href="http://www.pictures-area.com" target="_blank">Pictures Area</a>. Which is a great web directory and information center for Pictures and related categories like Photography and Film.

The Paradigm: Going Digital

As you might imagine the paradigm shift from traditional film-based photography to digital is rapidly creating new opportunities to learn and grow. The photography industry is moving at an incessant pace, and digital cameras sales have surpassed their film-based cousin at an alarming rate each year. On January 16, 2004, Eastman Kodak announced it would end its sales of film cameras in the United States and on June 15, 2005, Kodak announced it will discontinue production of black-and-white photographic paper by the end of the year as it continues its transition to digital photography. Soon digital cameras will hit critical mass and film will only represent a minute segment of the industry.

Traditionalists are disappointed, and amateur and advanced film photographers alike are pondering the inevitable question - how can I learn this new digital camera technology in shortest amount of time?

The differentiator between a traditional 35mm film camera and digital cameras is how the pictures are captured, processed, and stored. A conventional camera exposes an image on a roll of silver-halide coated film. A digital camera captures an image on a photosensitive silicon computer chip called a charged couple device, also known as a CCD. The camera converts the image captured by the chip into digital data and saves it in a camera's memory as a digital photo. These photos can then be copied onto your computer's hard drive where you can email, edit, and save them.

ASSESS YOUR INTERESTS

The immediacy of digital is quite satisfying and may present you with opportunities to photograph subjects that perhaps you had not thought of due to the financial constraints of film and development costs prior to taking on this new digital experience. It is important to assess what peaks your interest, i.e. sports, nature, medical, macro, people and lifestyle, etc. Brainstorm and narrow your equipment selection to suit your current and future photographic needs and budget.

CAMERA SELECTION

Just as with traditional film cameras, digital cameras come in two offerings: point and shoot, and digital single lens reflex (DSLR).

Both types of camera use flash memory cards (&quot;digital film&quot;) to store images and are immediately available for viewing through the camera's rear liquid crystal display (LCD).

Point and Shoot

Point-and-shoot cameras are extremely affordable and remain popular in current market conditions. These cameras are easy to use, give outstanding results, and for all practical purposes are compact. Point-and-shoot cameras mainly offer a limited feature set, offering mostly automatic features such as: auto flash, auto exposure, and the camera selects the shutter speed and aperture for you. Family gatherings and vacations are ideal for point and shoot cameras. The corporate world also uses point and shoot cameras for company newsletters, web sites, and business functions.

Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR)

Digital SLR cameras offer photographers the ability to use interchangeable lenses and accessories, which give the photographer greater artistic control and flexibility. DSLR cameras allow photographers to visually check image sharpness and composition. The effects of changing lenses, changing exposure values, and viewing the camera's histogram are immediately visible in the LCD viewfinder and/or eye viewer. There are many advantages of using DSLR digital cameras. They can handle a variety of lighting and focusing situations unlike point and shoot cameras. DSLR cameras offer optical zoom as opposed to just digital zoom, which essentially crops pixel data and will add unwanted noise to an image.

IMPORTANT TIPS

? Look for cameras that can save files in RAW. Saving your image as a RAW file will provide you with a higher quality image to work from in post processing. Images shot in RAW remain uncompressed, unlike JPEG images. Through repetitive opening/closing of JPEG files image -- image degradation occurs.

? Equally important is finding a camera with a minimal amount of shutter lag. It can be rather frustrating with some of the point and shoot cameras available when there is a long lag between clicking the shutter and the camera taking the shot. Choose a camera with a large buffer memory. This allows a number of images to be continually snapped before stopping to allow them to be downloaded and processed.

? Digital camera quality and the size of the created images are continually rising. As a general rule you will need at least 1800 x 1400 pixels (2.5 mega pixels) to print up to 6 x 4 inch with good quality. To date recommendations include the Canon Rebel XT (8.0 Mega Pixels), Canon EOS 20D, Nikon D70 and so on.

Based on the previous tips, there are two resources that will enable you to read professional reviews as well as real-world user feedback on various types of digital cameras presently available in the marketplace.

Steve's Digicams http://www.steves-digicams.com and Digital Photography Review http://www.dpreview.com

DIGITAL FILM: FLASH MEMORY

Manufacturers of cameras ,namely Canon, Olympus, and Sony use memory cards that are usually not compatible with one another. Canon uses compact flash cards and/or IBM micro drives. A micro drive is similar to a compact flash card, but it was formerly recognized for its larger capacity. Olympus uses an xD Picture card and smart media card, and finally there's Sony. Sony uses a memory stick. File formats generated by flash memory for digital cameras are RAW, TIFF, JPEG (pronounced 'J-peg'). RAW being a memory intensive format uses several megabytes of data on a memory card and does not compress the image at all.

Both RAW and TIFF are known as 'lossless' file formats because compression algorithms are absent, thus giving the photographer more pixel data and better image quality. However, since RAW is not as widely recognized as JPEG in the photography marketplace, special conversion software is necessary to convert images from RAW to TIFF or JPG. Some camera manufacturers include RAW conversion software with their higher end point-and-shoot and DSLR cameras, but it is not as great as some RAW applications developed by cutting edge companies such as PhaseOne, a Danish company that markets an outstanding product called Capture One DSLR. It is made specifically for photographers that wish to process RAW files.

For a complete primer on flash memory cards, visit the following links:

Primer: Flash Memory http://www.steves-digicams.com/flash_memory.html

Finally, once you determine which camera you plan to use, there are peripherals you might want to consider to round off your purchase. First, if you intend to take a lot of family photographs and wish to print photographs for friends and family, then a color photo printer is a must. There are low-to-high end printers. Get something in between. Needless to say, the printer is only as good as the paper you print your images on. Read the manufacturer's recommendations and check the online forums on dpreview.com to learn who is having success with a particular brand of paper.

Interestingly enough, another peripheral that will save battery life on your camera is a compact flash card reader. It plugs into your USB port and permits you to download your images by inserting a memory card in it. This is preferred over downloading from your camera/cable because your camera's battery juice will quickly render your camera's battery dead, especially if you are downloading several hundred photographs. The memory card reader acts as an auxiliary drive. Just make sure you get a memory card reader specifically made for your type of memory card and that it can handle a high capacity card such, i.e. 4GB (Gigabyte) flash card.

In closing, it is important to determine your budget for all of your photographic needs before you start spending. Whether a hobby or soon to be home-based business, your photographic equipment can quickly add up in price. It is not uncommon to spend thousands of dollars after the digital photography bug bites you.

Ryan Shapiro is a freelance digital photographer based in Germantown, Maryland. His most recent clients include Kerrigan Media International and Harvard Graduate School of Education.

You may reach Mr. Shapiro at: <a target="_new" href="http://www.digitalstockpro.com">http://www.digitalstockpro.com</a>

Passionate Organizing: How To Create A System To Organise Your Digital And Traditional Photos

Digital photography promises much. Store your photographs on your computer, print them when you want, email them to friends and family ? share them to your heart's content. Couldn't be easier, could it? So how come that for most of us storing and sharing our photographs is a bit of a nightmare?

The ease of using a digital camera is its very undoing. It's easy to take some shots and then 'work on them later'. The trouble is that 'later' doesn't happen often enough and we build up a huge backlog of images that we have to sort and process. That's where things start to get untidy. Very soon you won't know what you've printed or you won't be able to find the original file of that cute shot that your wife wants a copy of.

So what's the answer? As the Greek philosopher Hesiod put it nearly 3,000 years ago, &quot;It is best to do things systematically and disorder is our worst enemy.&quot; You need to plan a system for processing your photographs and be systematic in everything you do

You probably remember that after the thrill of your first digital camera, you began to realize some of its limitations. Without a computer or other digital device, it's hard to share them with granny or the cousins back home. You realize that you have to have traditional prints to pass around and share.

So the planning system you adopt must cater for both digital and physical prints ? you need a single system that organizes both and ensures your precious memories are stored forever.

Here's a six point plan to establishing your own system.

1. Decide how you want to organise your photographs

Without a system, you'll just get a list of meaningless file names. The longer this goes on, the harder it will be for you to find the photos that you want.

You've got to have a system ? a way of organising ? one that suits you. I choose to organise my photos by event ? but you could do it by date, by family member or by whatever is meaningful to you.

Under 'My Pictures' on my hard drive, I have four sub-folders ? Family, Business, Holidays and 'The Best'. The first three are self-explanatory; 'The Best' is where I keep images of which I'm particularly proud.

2. Create mirror images on both your computer and photo album

People love traditional prints so no matter how proud you may be of your computer skills, to really share your photos with friends and family, you'll need physical prints to pass around. And to get the most from your memories you should have a single system that runs across both.

Once you've decided on your system ? use the same categories on both your computer and your physical photo album.

3. Taking your photos

Snap away happily but don't carry around useless photographs on your camera or waste your time downloading them before deciding to bin them. As soon as you've taken photographs have a quick look at them and dump the ones that don't look special. Be ruthless and immediate.

4. Downloading back home

The temptation is to rush and get the exciting photos on the machine. This is where discipline is needed. You need to have an uninterrupted session. If you can arrange that easily fine. If you can't you should set aside a regular time once a week to do all your photographic work.

There are four tasks:

<ul>

<li>Download your photographs onto your hard disk

<li>Edit them, e.g. get rid of red eye

<li>Give each file a meaningful name with a date ? so instead of 'P1010012' use 'Sarah on the beach 07/03'

<li>Save them in the appropriate folder.

</ul>

Now make a back up copy. This is essential ? you don't want to risk losing your images. I use a ZIP drive for back-up.

5. Print your photographs

Plan what prints you want, print them and put them into your album immediately. Update your album index as you do so.

6. Store them and show them (but don't ever give them away)

Never give your album photographs away. If someone wants a copy, resist the temptation to hand them your album copy. Instead, print them a new one or email them a digital version.

About The Author

Kesh Morjaria is passionate about organising and runs <a href="http://www.arrowfile.com" target="_new">Arrowfile.com</a>. He provides an extensive range of organizing products that are used not only in the home but by professional photographers, collectors, local government, museums ? even police forces. You can find the full range at <a href="http://www.arrowfile.com" target="_new">http://www.arrowfile.com</a>.

<a href="mailto:kesh@arrowfile.com ">kesh@arrowfile.com </a>

Buying the Best Digital Camera for Your Needs

Choosing a digital camera can be a daunting task with the wide number of choices available in today's market place. There are lots and lots of things that you need to keep in mind while going to choose a camera for yourself. The best digital camera for your friend might not be the best option for you.

So, the first question that you need to answer is that for what purpose you are planning to buy a digital camera. Is it to take photos of your family while on vacation or are you planning to become a photographer? This will help you to narrow down your choices to a limited few. So lets take a look at the options that we have :

A camera for emailing photos, taking family photos etc. : Most people use a digital camera for taking personal photos and then emailing them to family and friends. For this purpose, a simple and relatively cheap camera costing $100 to $200 and having a 2 mega pixel range is sufficient.

A camera for photographing images for online auctions : With more and more business taking place through the Internet, you might also need a camera to take photos of your antique furniture which you would like to sell. So, you need a camera which can take pictures at an extremely close range, say within 12 inches of the object. Thus, a camera consisting of 3-4 mega pixel is suitable for such purposes. The prices of these cameras are falling nowadays since they fall into mid-segment, i.e. they are neither hi-fi nor low end. So if you go and do a little bit of research, it is most likely that you will hit a good bargain.

A camera for images of top quality for web pages, desktop publishing etc : Now, if you need a camera for taking pictures for desktop publishing or web site development, then you need one with a 4-5 mega pixel range. These cameras normally have lots of additional features which you can use to enhance your images. Even though they are quite costly, they provide the best options with respect to resolution, features, and creativity. They also allow you create prints up to 8x10 inches in size with very good quality.

Besides the above points, you also need to consider other issues such as the ergonomics of the camera. How does it feel when you hold it in your hand ? Are you comfortable with its size and weight ? Is it practical to carry it throughout the day ? Is its shape user friendly or does it look like a gizmo out of Star Wars ?

If you emphasize on a light-weight and small camera, then you must also keep in mind the fact that you will compromising on the battery life. Most small cameras do not have powerful batteries since larger the battery, more the power. Also, small cameras have very small flash lights ? so the amount of flash generated by these pea-sized flashes will be considerably less than a bigger camera.

Hence, it is very important that you know exactly what you need your camera for in order to ensure that you are truly buying the best digital camera for yourself. Find the best comprimis between form and function that fits the bill in your digital camera lifestyle.

Don't forget to take lots of pictures when you do get into digital. That is one of the great things about these cameras. No penalty for bad photos. Hit the erase button and move on to new images, that is my motto.

Kevin Rockwell worked as a network TV cameraman for 20 years shooting news and sports. Now a devoted fan of digital photography and video he works to gather information, tips and news for digital camera users. Oh and he loves to shoot pictures of his kids playing sports. <a target="_new" href="http://www.great-digital-cameras.com/gdcj.html">http://www.great-digital-cameras.com/gdcj.html</a>

10 Things You Can Do to Protect Your Photographs from Infringement

While it would be nice to live in a house where you don't have to lock the door, it's not practical these days. Likewise, here are 10 things you can do to help safeguard your images from being stolen.

#1 Use the copyright &quot;notice&quot; ?the ? with a date and name of the copyright owner whenever you publish your images. It may stop someone from copying an image, either because the person will be reminded that the image belongs to someone or because the notice impairs the image for the person's use.

#2 Include with your copyright notice the words &quot;All Rights Reserved.&quot; Some additional international protection is added.

#3 Register your copyrights with the U.S. Copyright Office. While you own the copyright to your image when you click the shutter (in most instances), registration itself provides some evidence that the image is yours. Register it even if it's already published. It's better late than never.

#4 If you find a website that is unlawfully using one of your images, follow the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to contact the Internet Service Provider who must then remove the material from user's website.

#5 When you provide copies of your images to someone else, put IN WRITING the specific rights of usage you are giving that person.

#6 Put a copyright notice on your website, such as: All photographs appearing on this site are the property of Carolyn Wright Photography. They are protected by the U.S. copyright laws, and are not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of Carolyn Wright Photography.

#7 Don't steal others work, such as music. Get a license if you need a tune to accompany your slideshow. Teach your children and others to respect other's work.

#8 Read the fine print whenever you submit your image to anyone/anywhere to make sure that it's not a license agreement to use your image or to transfer the copyright.

#9 Include your copyrights in your estate planning, along with your other assets such as your house and furnishings.

#10 Sue those who steal your work. Send the message that you value your work.

Copyright 2005 Carolyn E. Wright All Rights Reserved

--- ABOUT THE AUTHOR ---

Carolyn E. Wright, Esq., has a unique legal practice aimed squarely at the needs of photographers. A pro photographer herself, Carolyn has the credentials and the experience to protect photographers. She's represented clients in multimillion dollar litigations, but also has the desire to help new photographers just starting their careers. Carolyn graduated from Emory University School of Law with a Juris Doctor, and from Tennessee Tech Univ. with a Masters of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in music.

She wrote the book on photography law. &quot;88 Secrets to the Law for Photographers," by Carolyn and well-known professional photographer, Scott Bourne, is scheduled for fall 2005 release by Olympic Mountain School Press. Carolyn also is a columnist for PhotoFocus Magazine.

Carolyn specializes in wildlife photography and her legal website is <a target="_new" href="http://www.photoattorney.com">http://www.photoattorney.com</a>

Digital SLR Camera versus a Compact Digital Camera

Digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras are excellent cameras that produce clearer, sharper and more colourful images than most point and shoot digital cameras available. With prices falling rapidly, they are now more affordable then ever. With the price gap between an entry model digital SLR camera and the most expensive compact digital camera narrowing; the question is? do I spend the extra money and get a Digital SLR camera? or save a few hundred dollars and purchase the best digital compact camera.

Well, it really depends on your budget; however if you do spend the extra money, here's what you get:

In addition to the price falls in the Digital SLR models, the performance on these cameras has increased year on year with the latest Digital SLR cameras being quicker and faster than ever before. They have improved to such an extent that power up or start-up time is near instantaneous with virtually no lag time. &quot;Lag time is the time between you pressing the shutter release button and the camera actually taking the shot&quot;. This delay can vary quite a bit between different camera models and it is one of the biggest drawbacks compared to a compact digital camera. The latest digital SLR cameras have virtually no lag times and react in the same way as conventional film cameras, even in burst mode. Compact digital cameras are catching up; however the difference is still significant. A lag time of ~0.5 seconds can result in you missing the heartbeat of the moment and hence that potential great picture.

Digital SLR camera also has a larger sensor versus a smaller sensor in a compact digital camera. This equates to higher sensitivity and less noise and results in the camera taking clearer pictures in low light. (They also have better autofocus speed in low light as well). A measure of sensitivity in a digital camera is ISO and a typical ISO range for a Digital SLR camera varies from ISO 100 ? 1600 with the latter being more sensitive. The ISO range for a compact digital camera varies from ISO 50 ? 400. In summary, the higher the ISO rating, the greater the sensitivity and the better the photo can be taken in low light.

The Digital SLR cameras have a much longer battery life due to the limited use of the LCD screen. Please note, that as the LCD screen is only used for viewing the image, the battery life of a digital SLR can allow up to 2000 shots per charge in some cameras compared to 500 for a good point and shoot digital camera.

Digital SLR cameras also allow you to interchange lens such as adding a zoom or macro lens when required.

On the negative side of a Digital SLR camera; They are usually larger and heavier than compact digital cameras, the image cannot be previewed on the LCD screen prior taking the picture. If you really require the image to be viewed on the LCD prior to taking the picture, there are third party manufacturers that produce LCD screens that attaches to the viewfinder and allow the scene to be view just like a compact digital camera. The other drawback is the inability to take videos and finally, lenses are expensive with the majority costing more than the camera itself.

Although compact digital cameras cannot compete on features with a Digital SLR camera, they are great value, have the ability to take videos and are portable. If you have decided to purchase a Digital SLR camera I recommend you visit www.infodigitalcamera.com to find additional information on Digital SLR camera. If you are still undecided, purchase both.

Virginia Wong is an IT consultant and has a passion for digital photography. Her research into digital camera resulted in the development of <a target="_new" href="http://www.infodigitalcamera.com">http://www.infodigitalcamera.com</a>

The Venice Rookery

Love is in the air at the Venice Rookery. The birds (and the bees) are there doing the thing they are so famous for, and you can take pictures of it! Seriously, though, the Venice Rookery is an ideal spot to photograph birds mating, building their nests, fighting for territory and feeding their chicks. It's a requisite for bird photographers, and sheer delight for the rest of us.

A rookery is a breeding ground for certain birds and animals. At the Venice Rookery, you'll see snowy egret, great egret, anhinga, great blue heron, tricolor heron, night heron, and the like. Active during the months from November to April, the birds are most photogenic showing their breeding colors in February and March.

HOW TO GET THERE

The Venice Rookery is located in a Sarasota County park within the city of Venice, Florida, about half way between Tampa and Fort Myers on Florida's west coast. It is monitored by the Venice chapter of the Audubon Society. To get to the Rookery, take I-75 to Jacaranda Boulevard (Exit 193). Go right (north) on US Highway 41 until you see the State Highway Patrol Office located at 4000 S. Tamiami Trail. Turn left just past the Office, as if you were going there, but instead follow the road all of the way back until you reach the park in about a mile. Parking is to your left. It is free, plentiful and convenient to the Rookery on your right. There is no entrance fee.

The Venice Rookery itself is a small island in a lake, which forms a natural barrier. The island is full of small trees and bushes where the birds build their nests. They fly to surrounding areas for the good nest-building sticks and food but soon return, giving plenty of opportunities for flight shots. When the chicks are born, you will view the wonders of nature as the parents work together to feed them. You also get to see some strange behavior when the anhinga chicks stick their heads all of the way down the throats of their parents to get food.

HOW TO GET YOUR BEST SHOTS

The best photography can be had during the morning light, when the sun is over your shoulder. The birds also tend to be more active in the morning. While you can hike around the perimeter of the pond for the afternoon light, the photography access is limited and difficult. Instead, stay on the shore next to the parking lot for dramatic silhouette shots in the afternoon.

You don't need to worry about a blind at any time because the birds have become habituated to people, who are separated from the nests by the pond. All you need to do is stand on the shore along with the other photographers and birders, and fire away. Although the area is small, it hosts a variety and a tremendous amount of bird activity. For the best shots, you'll need big glass of 500mm or more to photograph the birds on the island, especially the chicks. You can get by with less for the flight shots or for the few times that the birds get close to shore. Discover the place where some of the greatest bird photographers go. If you have big glass, or just want to watch tons of great bird activity in one place that is easy to get to, the Venice Rookery is the spot for you.

MISCELLANEOUS

The park amenities are minimal. It consists of the parking lot, the pond and portable toilets. There are no food services or attendants. However, because the Rookery is in the town of Venice, there are plenty of facilities close by. A gas station with a mini-mart full of vital snacks is across the street from the Highway Patrol Office. Other restaurants and facilities can be found on US Highway 41, which is a main access road through the city. Some options are Applebee's Neighborhood Grill (4329 Tamiami Trail S.), Bob Evans Restaurant (4080 Tamiami Trail) and the Alpine Steak House (4520 S. Tamiami Trail). Because the Rookery is in the city, there are plenty of lodging options. Make your reservations in advance, especially during the spring break weeks. The entire west coast of Florida is a hot spot during that time. If you don't make your plans in advance, you may have to drive for hours to find a place to stay. Some options are the Days Inn (two miles away) http://www.daysinnvenice.com/, the Motel 6 (4 miles away) http://www.motel6.com/reservations/motel_detail.asp?MotelId=0364&state=FL&full=Florida&city=Venice, the Best Western Ambassador Suites (4 miles away) http://www.bestwesternflorida.com/details.cfm, and the Holiday Inn (4.5 miles away) http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hd/srqvn?irs=null.

The area is not very well shaded, so bring your sun block lotion and a wide-brimmed hat. You also may want to bring a lawn chair to take a quick break and snacks to keep you shooting throughout the morning hours. The photographic opportunities are so great; you don't want to waste time with extraneous items.

Another bonus of the Venice Rookery is its close proximity to many other prime places for bird photography. They include the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island http://dingdarling.fws.gov/, the Six Mile Cypress Slough in Ft. Myers http://www.captiva.com/stateparks/sixmilecypress.htm, the Corkscrew Swamp Preserve in Naples http://www.captiva.com/stateparks/corkscrew.htm, and Ft. Desoto Park in Tierra Verde http://www.pinellascounty.org/park/05_Ft_DeSoto.htm. All of these locations are so great for bird photography, they deserve their own article.

Copyright 2005 Carolyn E. Wright

--- ABOUT THE AUTHOR ---

Carolyn Wright is a professional photographer with an active portrait, event and nature photography business. Shooting for 25 years, her award-winning images have been used in books and corporate marketing materials. Her wildlife photos will be included in the upcoming book, "Captivating Wildlife - Images from the Top Ten Emerging Wildlife Photographers" by Scott Bourne and David Middleton. She also is working with Scott Bourne on "Wolfscapes," a photo book documenting the beauty and strength of wolves. Her wildlife images can be viewed at <a target="_new" href="http://www.vivdwildlife.com">http://www.vividwildlife.com.</a>.

On the faculty of Olympic Mountain School of Photography, Carolyn's passion is enhanced when teaching photography. She enjoys writing and speaking on the subject, as well, and is a regular columnist for PhotoFocus, an online magazine for serious photographers.

Canon Digital Camera - from Humble Beginnings to World Class Company

Started in a single-room by three Japanese men in the year 1933 under the name of Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory, Canon has come a long way today. It all began with the phantom prototype camera called the 'Kwanon'. At that time, Germany was considered to be the leader in camera production. German cameras were extremely expensive. So, Goro Yoshida, along with two others tried to produce a 35mm rangefinder camera at a cheaper price and came up with &quot;Kwanon'.

However, at that time, one of the problems faced by the company was that it did not have a lens of its own. So, it decided to tie up with Nippon Kogaku Kogyo (who was to become the founder of Nikon) and acquire lenses from them. With the use of these lenses, Canon came up with its first commercial camera called the &quot;Hansa Canon&quot; in 1936 which became a hit. However, the company still had to go through hardships due to the War.

After the war, the company officially adopted the name &quot;Canon&quot; as its name. Up till then, the lens was under a different name, the camera had a different name and the company had a different name. So, in order to unify all these three, Canon came into existence on September 15, 1947. Slowly the company started to expand, and many historical cameras were created such as the Serenar 50mm f/1.8 lens in 1951, Canonet in 1961, AF35M (Autoboy) in 1979 and the EOS 650 in 1987.

The first Canon digital camera was the PowerShot 600 in 1996. Then, after making several advances in digital technology, Canon launched the EOS D2000 digital SLR camera in 1998 for professionals. In addition, the XL1 digital video camera was introduced. Due to its superior functionality and reliability, the XL1 became the official digital video camcorder of the NASA.

In order to provide the market with a cost effective camera along with superior functionality and performance, Canon introduced the EOS D60 in 2002 and the EOS 10D in 2003. These two cameras made Canon the market leader in digital technology. Then, the EOS Kiss Digital was introduced in 2003, which became a big success.

Today, Canon has introduced several digital camcorders. Starting with the FV30 and the FV200KIT in 2002, Canon went onto launch the FV M1 and the IXY DV M2 in 2003 in the mid range segment. As the company progresses, Canon continue to strive to provide its consumers with better and better technology at the lowest price possible. They have been known as a choice of the pros for many years in the world of photography but now with a broad line of products Canon is firmly positioned in the consumer market as well.

Kevin Rockwell worked as a network TV cameraman for 20 years shooting news and sports. Now a devoted fan of digital photography and video he works to gather information, tips and news for digital camera users. Oh and he loves to shoot pictures of his kids playing sports using his digital cameras. <a target="_new" href="http://www.great-digital-cameras.com/gdcj.html">http://www.great-digital-cameras.com/gdcj.html</a>