All Things Photography - Photography Tips : Digital Photography Tips Home : August 2005
August 2, 2005 21:35 - Free Adobe Photoshop Digital Plug-in
I read the following excerpt from an RSS feed today and thought, another cheap and tacky plug in...its free right? It must be?
"If you own a digital camera you'll want this free "one click" photo editing tool. Quickly turn any digital image into an impressive, eye catching piece of art. You'll want to download this one today. It gives professional looking results with minimum work.
We all know that not every photo we take is a work of art. Yet, we don't want to invest a lot of time learning new photo editing programs.
Good news! One of the best tools for creating masterpieces from your digital photos is easy to use, easy to install, and free."
I downloaded it and gave it a quick try and Wow! Very impressive. As plug ins go, this is pretty neat and I suggest that if you have Photoshop or one of the programs listed below installed, you download this and try it out.
Sigh....more stuff to learn......
You can get it here;
Read more and Download from OptikVerve Labs
(NOTE: Compatible with Photoshop®, Photoshop® Elements, Paint Shop™ Pro®, Photo-Paint and other popular imaging applications).
Have fun,
Nick
August 10, 2005 10:30 - Calling all Earth and photography lovers
If you haven´t seen or downloaded this program yet, I suggest that you do. It is called Google Earth and will keep you occupied and amazed for weeks.
The photography is taken from thousands and thousands of images taken from satellites over the past 3 years.
You can type in your street address and if the area is detailed enough, you can zoom in from outer space right down to your house and car.
If you fancy a trip around the world, just zoom right out, spin the globe and double click where you want to go. The program will zoom right down and stream until the image is clear.
You can zoom out to a height of about 30 miles above the planet, slowly spin the globe with your mouse (with a left click, hold and move to left or right and release), and glide right around the planet as though you were ON the satellite itself!
You can check out the volcanoes on Hawaii or visit Red Square in Moscow.
You can even plan your journies and shopping. Zoom right out, spin the globe, and type in "Stores, London". The program will zoom you to the UK, take you into the heart of London and list a few stores to look at. Amazing!
This program is still very new and many places are not finished yet but the uses and applications are endless! I know for one that when my children are old enough, this will be the most incredible way of learning about the planet, geography and even plate tectonics as you can see the ridges and undulations beneath the sea.
This coincides nicely with a story about the largest digital camera ever made being sent out into space and beyond Earths orbit, destination Mars. The images that this camera produces are so large that you would need 1,200 computer screens to see it in its entirity. It will also enable you to distinguish and recognise things such as a simple coffee table from a distance of 300KM above the Earth. Image then, this program from Google in a few years time with THAT kind of resolution!!!
For me personally, this era of Digital Photography is so exciting the possibilities are amazing.
Be prepared to lose a lot of hours to this amazing program and have fun learning!!!!
Go to Google Earth and download the free 10MB program and run...simple!
All the best,
Nick Stubbs
All Things Photography
August 17, 2005 14:50 - Want to earn a living with your Digital SLR? - This book is a must!
If you have, or are looking to own a new Digital SLR and need an outlet and/or more of an income from photography, I may just have the answer!
Why battle with everyone else for the "same old same old" jobs, when you can still get these and more glamorous jobs through the "side door"?
Nothing underhand here, I just want to tell you about my own experiences and how it turned my "photographic life" around!
- Maybe you find yourself wandering aimlessly "burning" CF space looking for inspiration?
- Maybe you are already a freelance/professional photographer who simply wants new challenges in their life?
- Maybe you are new to photography and need something to get your teeth into for inspiration, motivation and drive?
You never know, this could be just the ticket for the "breath of fresh air" that you need.
Don´t let the title fool you, read this entire page and see if it isn´t something that you could do!
Professional Tips for Profitable Property Photography
The price is set low as an introductory price for visitors to All Things Photography
All the best and thanks for your time.
Nick
August 24, 2005 09:13 - Canon EOS 1D MKII "N" and EOS 5D
Canon have once again raised the bar and dangled the digital carrot at the Nikon camp. From what I can gather so far, these 2 cameras are quite different in what Canon is trying to achieve.
Whilst the Canon EOS 1D MKII "N" has stayed relatively the same as the 1D MKII with a few alterations here and there (albeit very good and welcome ones), the EOS 5D is a whole new camera altogether. I have already seen arguments as to whether it should be classed as a pro or semi-pro camera.
In Canon's own words, any 1-digit number (1D MKII 1DS MKII etc) is classified as pro, 2-digits (20D, 10D) is semi pro and 3-digits (300D, 350D) is entry level.
For me, the 5D is another breakthrough for Canon. Based on the design of the popular 20D, the 5D now has a beautiful full frame sensor, 12.8 million effective pixels and a massive 2.5", 230,000 pixel review screen amongst many other new features.
If I didn't already own the EOS 20D I would definitely have the EOS 5D on my immediate shopping list, but the additional features on the 1D MKII "N" are not enough to make me want to upgrade from the 1D MKII.
For people already in the market for an upgrade or new camera altogether, these 2 "newbies" from Canon are positively mouth-watering. The EOS 5D is a definite contender for wedding and portrait photographers who can't quite stretch to a 1Ds MKII or 1Ds.
You can see more information on the EOS 1D MKII "N" here;
Canon EOS 1D MKII "N" at All Things Photography
And more information on the 5D at Dpreview here;
Canon EOS 5D at Dpreview.com
Happy Shopping!
Nick
All things Photography
August 28, 2005 12:04 - Quick Tip - Focussing - The Audio/Visual Method for DSLR's and Sports Photography.
A lot of the methods I use when photographing anything nowadays are automatic, and one of those is the audio/visual focussing for sports photography (I made that name up by the way)!
When shooting sports, it is normally recommended to use AI Servo mode whereby the focussing is silent and stays continuously on the subject focussing automatically as you go. There is no beep and no red indicator to tell you that your subject is in focus.
I sometimes use this but yesterday, I was shooting kitesurfers and on a couple of occasions the focussing strayed (as the surfers jolted out of alignment) and fixed on the background, meaning that all of my quick fire burst of shots were blurred.
I reverted back to One-Shot focussing and did the following;
I tracked the subject as usual by panning with the movement, but kept lightly pressing and releasing the shutter to refocus as I tracked. As I did so, I got the normal "beep" sound with the visual aid of the red glow of the focussing point on the surfer, knowing I had the subject well in focus.
When I wanted to catch the action I just pressed the shutter fully at the last beep and click-click-click-click, every shot perfectly focussed. In fact from then on, all the shots for the day were spot on and clear as day!
Set your camera to continuous shooting 3, 5 or 8 frames per second (whatever your DSLR has), and give it a try if you have problems with AI Servo mode or sports/action shots in general!
….and remember to use a fast shutter speed to capture the action ; )
All the best,
Nick
All Things Photography
