Photoscout

• Betterphoto.com

  Nowadays, you will discover that there are thousands upon thousands of online resources that you will be able to look at if you’re looking for photography material. If you’re looking for quality material online, you need not look any further. Betterphoto.com boasts of their excellent online photography courses as well as the different avenues that they provide so that you will be able to learn and apply what you learn in photography.

  BetterPhoto.com is the leader in online photography education. It has so many user-friendly resources for photographers of all walks. If you are a photographer and you are looking to share your photos and get critiques from people who are willing to help you, as well as improve your skills, you will be able to learn a lot through this very helpful website.

  The aim of BetterPhoto.com is to help different photographers be more creative in their photography. It also has the objective of improving the photographic skills of photographers while they are having fun doing it. For photography-enthusiasts, it is all about helping them realize their potential with regard to creativity. The site is also a means for different people to make new friends and share their photos to other people of the community.

  The founder and president of BetterPhoto.com, Jim Miotke, was compelled to explore Web publishing during the late 90s. When a friend was able to open her experiences in creating an online college thesis, he knew that he could build upon that idea so he was able to apply his passion for web development and he eventually started out with BetterPhoto.com.

  The passion for creating the site stemmed from a particular passion that Jim already had before web development. He listened to the advice that was given to him one fateful day: “Write about what you love.” Because he was already into photography, Jim published a particular article which began what would later become the current site of BetterPhoto.com.

  The site is built upon innovation, creativity as well as exceptional support. The staff of BetterPhoto.com know what they can accomplish together and so they continually to strive to provide the service that they can give to the wide range of audiences that they have. The site is more of a community website instead of a having it owned by those who are regular contributors of the site. This photography site stresses the importance of an excellent photography but also a solid community.

  Posted in Tips & Techniques

  November 29th, 2007 / No Comments

• Shooting The Moon

  People don’t have nearly enough opportunities to shoot the moon on a clear night. However, if the moon does show up where you are, then count it as a blessing and quickly prepare your camera gear so you’ll be able to shoot it as soon as possible. If you have the moon in the right location and try to shoot it, you would be surprised to know that it also moves at a fast rate. It crosses the sky much faster than you would think and it typically travels its own diameter in distance across the sky in two minutes. That’s a pretty large space to cover if you’re a photographer.

  Another thing to remember is that that will give you just about enough camera shake to blur the moon if you’re ever thinking about capturing it using a slower shutter speed or using the handheld method. One of the things that you have to remember is to make the right lens choice.

  If you use a standard 50mm lens on a 35mm film, the moon can appear quite small in the image. You will probably need more than that in order to capture the moon in all its glory. You would probably need 110mm of focal length per 1mm of moon on the negative. This will probably bring the moon in much closer to a better photographing distance and make it much larger in the final photograph. You should remember that since you’re using a telephoto to capture the moon, that will be exaggerated as the moon is moving at a very fast speed.

  When you’re exposing the moon, remember that it is a lot brighter than one thinks. On a sunny day here on earth, the average exposure that a photographer would set his camera settings on would be on ISO 100 and 1/125 at f/16. The moon receives just about the same amount of sunlight therefore your exposure of the moon should be roughly around the same exposure for daylight. Shooting using those particular settings will give you a good, properly-exposed view of the moon.

  Another thing that you have to note is the haze that is present your surrounding environment. That is why it is harder to get a clear picture of the moon when you’re shooting on ground level in a city as opposed to getting a shot of the moon when you’re on the Grand Canyon. The haze has so much to do with the quality of the shot.

  So set your sights, mark your calendars, get up a high building or go to the mountains and start shooting your moon picture.

  Posted in Tips & Techniques

  November 23rd, 2007 / No Comments

• Shooting Stock Photos

  Whenever someone hears the idea of shooting stock photography, their minds flitter away to thoughts of expensive camera gear which would cost an arm, a leg and maybe even more. However, shooting stock photography isn’t as hard as it may seem—and it definitely isn’t as expensive. Here are some tips on how to shoot beautiful and profitable stock photos that you can sell in the future.

  One of the things that you could do if you’re shooting stock photography is to simply get out there and shoot. You will most probably get one or two shots from time to time but unless you experience shooting for yourself, then you will never be able to get in the necessary portfolio that could be potentially sold in the future to websites that market stock photographs.

  Shoot the common themes
  Some of the most common themes that sell are those of nature. Some of them are about people which essentially have particular poses. You should remember that when you’re talking about stock photographs, these are the type of photographs that will most probably be seen in magazines. These are pictures which clearly depict something such as “dancing couple” or “sunset”. Stock photographs are easily classified because of their obvious portrayal of the given subject.

  Be patient
  One of the things that you need to learn whenever you’re photographing stock photographs is patience. Whether you’re setting up some off-camera flash for some additional lighting or you’re walking around a nature trek, trying to look for insects to be able to capture, then you’re always going to be tested with your patience. Stay with the photo opportunity and keep your eyes alert at all times. You might just miss a moment simply because you were too busy being irritated at one particular time.

  Think small
  If you’ve already decided that you’re going the nature stock photography route, then you should start small. By that, we mean that you should keep an eye out for insects and other bugs which may be crawling around. This will open up a whole new world for you as you take shots of the small things in life.

  So there you have it: some of the best advice when it comes to shooting stock photography. Try to understand them and come up with your own ways on how to be able to apply them when you’re on the road or simply on your backyard.

  Posted in Tips & Techniques

  November 14th, 2007 / No Comments

• Wide-angled Wonder

  Panoramas and wide-angle shots are always a wonder to look at. These are the shots that you normally see in travel and scenic magazines. You might have stumbled upon such a shot in National Geographic magazine or maybe even TIME. These are the shots that will leave you breathless and fixated at them for a long period of time—they are shots that will astound you.

  So how does exactly one get a particular “wide-angle” shot just like the pros? The secret is in their lens. Most of the professionals opt to use super wide to ultra wide lenses for these particular shots. It is important to get these lenses if you are interested in landscape photography or if you want to take more interesting pictures of people, landscapes, buildings and other ordinary scenes, you might want to try investing in an expensive but well-worth it wide-angle lens. This is one of the most important pieces of equipment that you will own if you’re a photographer.

  Many people try their hand on wide-angle photography by simply starting out with a not-so-wide zoom lens with the 16-35mm f/2.8 of Canon. This is an excellent workhorse because it has a wide focal length that ranges from 35mm to as wide as 16mm. This is one of the best lenses that one will be able to own as it can serve as a lens that’s perfect for documentary photography or journalism photography.

  If you would like a slightly wider version of a wide-angle lens, you might want to try your hand in the 15mm fisheye lens. This lens is perfect for those occasions that need a wide point of view with a little touch of creativity. This lens will be able to give you that since the curvature is not rectilinear and will thus give you a “fish eye’s view” of the picture that you’ve taken, thus the name of the lens.

  Finally, if you’d like to take a wide-angle picture of a horizon without distorting it as the fisheye does, your best bet is the excellent 14mm f/2.8 lens by Canon which will give you astounding pictures that will not distort your subject in any way. This way, you get to take the entire landscape with you without altering the natural curvature of the horizon.

  Those are the different lenses that you can use if you want to take wide-angle shots. Try them out at first before you decide. But when you finally do, be prepared to be astounded with their wide-angled wonder!

  Posted in Equipment

  November 8th, 2007 / No Comments