Digital Camera Tips: Shooting Macro Pictures

It's a Small World After All

I always hear people saying how they only get their camera out when something special is going on like relatives coming over, Christmas, birthdays or traveling somewhere. When I ask them why they don’t get the camera out more often, they usually say there is nothing to take pictures of. Most of us hardly notice the little things right in from of us, but there is another world that can be captured with macro photography.
Macro photography can be a fun and educational thing. Macro photography allows you to take close up pictures of basically anything. It's amazing to look at these extremely close-up photos of insects or flowers or even moss. I recently took some photos of snow on a branch and the little ice crystals are amazing.

Here are some tips to get started:

• Like any other photo that you take, simplify.
• Fill the photo with your subject.
• Sharp focus is a must.
• Try shooting from different angles. If you’re looking for deep saturation of the colors, use front lighting. If you’d like to bring out the texture of your subject, side lighting is the way to go.
• due to the narrow depth of field, the background will usually be thrown completely out of focus, which allows the natural background to be nice backdrop,. Just make sure you don’t have anything distracting in the back that’s recognizable (branches, cigarette butts, etc.).

Try taking a photo of a bee in resting in a flower. You’ll be astonished by all the little details your camera will pick up. Now I know for some of you that’s a bit of a risky thing. So try taking a picture of a little pebble. You wouldn’t believe how nice nature photos are when taken close up. A picture of a raindrop barely clinging to a leaf or tree branch can really get some good reactions from friends.

Five Secrets to Great Flower Pictures

Floral Photography Tutorial
You don't have to be a professional photographer to capture great flower pictures, whether you want to show off the splendor of a rose in your garden or shoot pictures of flowers during your travels. Here are five secrets to taking great flower pictures.

Tip 1: Lighting for Flower Pictures
It can be tempting to wait for the brightest midday sun to take your flower pictures. That's actually one of the worst times because the powerful sunlight will wash out your image, and can create harsh shadows.

Instead, take flower pictures when it's overcast, or in the morning, afternoon or evening when the sun isn't as bright and overpowering. This will result in more saturated colors in the blooms of the flowers.

Tip 2: Level with the Flowers
To get unique and beautiful flower pictures, move around.

Don't just stand and shoot it. Try getting on the same level with it, standing above it, or even shooting underneath it. Play with distances of how close or far away you are.

Tip 3: Focus on the Flowers
Be sure you have a focal point, whether it is a cluster of brightly colored flowers or simply one blossom. Follow the photography rule of thirds, and avoid placing your

Also be sure you pay close attention to everything in your frame. Watch in particular for distractions or unattractive items or lines in the foreground and background. If you encounter that, try moving into another position to shoot.

Tip 4: Keep it Steady
A potentially stunning flower picture can be ruined by something as simple as human nature: the shaky hand. Even if you think your hand is steady, you might be surprised that it does move. Try using a tripod (you can even get a mini tripod if you don't want to lug around a large one.

Tip 5: Add Some Spice to Your Flowers
Don't just shoot the flower, but also look for unique ways to capture the flower or flowers. You can try framing the flower with something natural in the environment, such as dangling vines. You can also look for insects on flowers to make for an interesting flower picture.

How to Buy Digital Camera Lenses

Do you get confused by the different types of lenses in the world of digital photography? I know I was when I started out in this field.

We all need to learn about digital camera lenses because they are fundamental to good photography.

However, how do you distinguish between the different kinds of lenses? Wide-angle or telephoto? What focal length and what speed? What brand of lens do you buy?

There are so many different lenses with varying specifications available that it can be quite overwhelming to find exactly what it is that you require from a lens, but that is where we step in to help.

Some digital camera lenses available to the consumer

This article acts as a guide to explain the jargon and to allow you make a better-informed purchase the next time you are shopping for a new digital camera lens.

Choosing a Suitable Focal Length
Focal length is probably the most important factor that should be considered when choosing a lens, and for good reason: focal lengths determine the field-of-view of the photos you will be able to take successfully with your camera.

The two main types of focal length are telephoto and wide-angle, and while telephoto lenses have a narrow field-of-view and are best suited for close-up shots and portraits, wide-angle lenses have a wider field-of-view which is perfect for indoor photography and landscapes.

Keep in mind that the performance of lenses can differ from camera to camera, with the magnification power behind a lens generally being greater on a digital camera than on a 35mm film-based camera.

The Need For Speed …
When you hear about fast and slow lenses, reference is being made to a lens's maximum aperture, which is the maximum amount of light that a lens can let in. A simple rule of thumb is that a fast lens lets in a lot of light, while a slow lens lets in less light, which defines how your photos will look.

Maximum apertures are measured in f/stop numbers, which are actually a ratio of the size of the lens aperture and focal length. The smaller the f/stop number, the more light is let in. An increment in the f/stop number doubles the amount of light let in, so f/1.4 lets more light than f/2.0.

This may seem quite confusing at first, so the easiest way to make sense of it is to remember the following: fast lenses are best suited towards successful photography in darker lighting conditions, and slow lenses are targeted towards photography in lighter conditions.

The Ins and Outs of a Zoom Lens
Unlike a fixed-focal-length lens, a zoom lens often gives you the diversity of a range of focal lengths all rolled into a single adjustable lens. This can be great if you often have to switch between various lenses for different shots, but it is important to remember that not all zoom lenses have a constant maximum aperture, and those that do are often larger and more expensive.

Although the maximum aperture may be reduced as you zoom in using a lens with a variable maximum aperture, this may not be as important to some photographers as the reduced cost and size of such lenses. Keep this in mind when purchasing a zoom lens.

Add-on Lenses
Add-on or accessory lenses are targeted towards compact digital cameras, and allow owners of such models to significantly lengthen or reduce the camera's built-in focal length while at the same time being able to automate camera functions including f/stop settings and focusing.

These lenses can be an excellent low-cost add-on to your digital camera, with telephoto add-on lenses being able to increase focal lengths by up to 300%, and wide-angle versions allowing for reduction in focal lengths of up to 30%.

Final Considerations
There are several other terms to take into consideration when buying a digital camera lens to make sure you are making the best purchase. If your lens utilizes aspheric lens elements, then you can rest happily with the knowledge that your lens will help produce sharper photographs and help keep lens weight to a minimum.

Lenses using internal and automatic focusing also keep lens weight down thanks to less moving parts, and of course allow for faster focusing. Low-dispersion glass leaves photos looking less hazy or fuzzy, while stabilization systems help to keep images sharp when taken using slow shutter speeds.

Conclusion
Hopefully this article has helped you to better understand what to look for in a digital camera lens. There are a lot of terms to remember here - so before shopping for your new lens it may be a good idea to take the time to make a list of what you want to do with your camera. Then you can double check your requirements against the features of different lenses. If you are still unsure if a lens will cater for your needs then by all means try to test it so that you can see some results before you buy!

How to Buy a Photo Printer

For a long time digital photography seemed to somewhat ignore probably the most prominent part of the activity – photographic prints.

Things have changed a lot since those times, and digital photographers are now offered an overwhelming amount of different photo printers that are jam-packed full of useful, and sometimes not-so-useful features.

But which photo printer is the best choice for you?

This article takes a closer look at the different types of photo printers available and will help you to choose the most suitable photo printer to cater for your needs.

Some of the photo printers available in the market

Inkjet Printers for Photos
Generally providing a combination of fast printing speed and photo-quality printing, inkjet photo printers range in price from as little as $40 (if you look hard enough) to around $400.

Most of these printers offer good quality output for printing standard size photos, but pay attention to the detail because not all inkjet printers provide good quality output for larger photos. Although most inkjet printers produce a similar quality - the majority providing the maximum dpi (dots per inch) of 1,200 X 4,800 – spending more on an inkjet printer will most likely provide you with more features or a faster printing speed.

Keep in mind that many photo printers use color ink cartridges to produce black and white, or grayscale images, which can lead to photos printed with a colored tint, so try to stick to inkjet printers that use black or gray inks if you want to print many black and white photos.

Photo Printers for Professionals
What separates professional photo printers from consumer models is that the professional variety can produce quality images at much larger sizes.

Depending on your needs, printers accepting paper sizes from 24-inches all the way up to 60-inches wide are available, but because they are targeted towards professionals, many convenient features such as printing from your digital camera will not be available on professional printers.

If you want to create large quality prints of your photos, maybe even posters, then a professional photo printer may be thechoice for you, if you can afford it – professional printers range in price from around $500 to anywhere in the thousands.

Photo-only Printers
While many inkjet and professional printers can also double up as printers for reports and other documents, those dedicatedto printing photos alone are often much more compact and offer faster printing speeds. Print size is often limited to 4x6-inches but the quality remains high, and larger models do exist if you are prepared to pay a higher price.

Although the dpi tends to be low on these types of printers, the output quality is high due to the use of thermal-dye technology that utilizes primary printing colors in several hundreds of shades, meaning no need for dithering like inkjet printers do.

Another great thing about these printers is that their reduced size makes them very portable - some can even be battery-powered!

Standard Printers
Maybe you don’t need a printer for the sole purpose of creating prints of your digital photos, and would like a little more freedom with what you are able to print.

If this is the case then there are many printers available to you that can fulfill your needs – standard inkjet and laser printers, and consumer printing services – all of which can be excellent choices if you are not too concerned about exceptional quality or do not plan to print a lot of photos.

Both standard inkjet and laser printers can provide good quality photo printing even if they are not exclusively designed for it, but make sure to choose your printer carefully because photo quality can vary wildly on standard printers.

Printing Supplies
One of the factors that people often overlook when choosing a printer is the type of paper and ink they will be using to print their photos and how the price of these supplies adds up in the long-term. It’s not just the price to take into consideration either - choosing the right paper and ink cartridges will also make sure that the photos you print are of the best possible quality.

While ink cartridges made by a company other than the printer manufacturer may cost less, they will more than likely produce lower quality prints and can also cause photos to fade faster.

Most printer manufacturers also create paper for their specific printers, and although it may not seem as important as ink, testing a sample of paper that isn’t made by the printer manufacturer is advisable before making a large purchase.

Conclusion
Many new photo printers come with useful features like being able to connect your digital camera directly to the printer, or allowing you to print from memory cards directly – both cutting out the time needed to print your photos.

It’s also important to remember that most of the photo printers out there can produce excellent quality photos, and many have very attractive price tags to match.

Also make sure that your printer will be able to create large or small enough prints, and once you have made a purchase make sure to test with different types of paper to find the best compromise between quality and price.I hope that this article has helped you to understand the difference between the types of photo printers available and the important factors to take into consideration when making a purchase.