THIS WEEKEND 2 PLACES TO TAKE GREAT FAMILY PHOTOS

September 28 - October 28 Fright Fest Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Over Texas
Address:
2201 Road To Six FlagsArlington, TX 76011
Phone:
817-530-6000

It's thrills by day and chills by night at our annual Halloween Fright Fest. Bring the little ones in the daytime for trick-or-treating and kid-friendly fun. Because when the sun goes down, well, let's just say it's not for the faint of heart.

State Fair of Texas
Address:
3921 Martin Luther KingDallas, TX 75210
Phone:
214-565-9931

September 28 -October 21 State Fair of Texas Fair Park The State Fair of Texas runs for 24 days. With more than 70 rides-- including the 212 foot Texas Star Ferris Wheel, and a parade through the park every night!

How to Photograph Insects

Learn a little about your subjects and their habits to know when it is best to capture photos.

• Getting close is very tricky, so knowledge of the environment is crucial in insect photography. Observe your subject carefully; try to see patterns in their behavior: do the honeybees like one particular flower in your yard best? Stake one out and wait for the subject to come to you.• There is not just one bee or fly out there. Remember, you are surrounded by millions of insects every day and if the first one you see gets away, there'll be another soon enough.• Patience is the key. Think of insects like they are two year old kids running around without a break. But everyone, even bumblebees and toddlers eventually needs a break, so that's when to make your photos. It may only last for a few moments, so be ready.• Most insects are very sensitive to carbon dioxide, and will run or fly away if you breathe directly on them; however, certain beetles will freeze when breathed on -- experiment!• Early morning and twilight are the best times to make insect photos, as the cold-blooded creatures slow down when the temperature is lower.• Insects can see shadows very well, so never approach your subject from the same direction as the light casts, or they'll scamper.• Spring and fall, with more dramatic temperature swings are prime seasons for insects. In the late summer and fall most bees will be totally focused on gathering as much food as they can to overwinter -- meaning they'll care less about you, and more about the pollen gathering at this time.• Learning about your local insect and invertebrate population will help you to locate as many of them in their natural habitat, and also to understand their life cycle, so doing your homework is a big part of making successful photos.• Be careful! Many insects and spiders can be dangerous, even deadly! If you are unfamiliar with a specific bug, it's better to presume it's got powerful venom, rather than find out the hard way.

Dramatic Lighting of Outdoor Insects
• Take a Sharpie (or other brand) marker cap and cut the end off -- in effect, making a tiny snoot. • Attach the modified cap to the center area on the diffuser of the strobe or ring flash with black electrical tape. • Cover the entire flash diffuser surface with more black electrical tape, so that the only light transmitted will be through the marker cap. • You've now got a highly focused beam of light that will spotlight your subject -- from above, either side, or even partially backlit. • If you are using a dedicated hotshoe connection, you can shoot (e)TTL exposure. • With non-dedicated flash units or when using a PC-sync cable, you'll have to set the flash manually. Distance to the subject and the strobe's guide number will vary, so you'll have to experiment to find the proper output ratio. • Patience and practice will help you make dramatic winning shots. With this "spotlight" you've now got two items, the camera and the strobe, to position close to the subject -- but once you get the hang of it, I think you'll be happy with the results! • I use this lighting technique and set-up for insects and microfauna, but the sky's the limit! The macro spotlight technique can also be used for miniature collectibles, details of flowers, and whatever else you may shine you macro spotlight on.

Your Home Macro Sweep
Build a simple right-angle frame out of thin wood beams, as shown in the photo here. Use small finishing nails to assemble the pieces into a right-angle frame. • Use a staple gun to mount the stage area of the sweep to the frame. • Affix another smaller piece of white material to the top of the frame, with a fold along the front edge to contain stray light, and you've got a mini-seamless studio! • A single off-shoe flash bounced off the "softbox" will provide pleasing omnidirectional light to your tiny subjects!


By Christopher Badzioch July 2007

Improve Your Images

Take TIFF:
Most digital cameras use JPEG format, which sheds some detail to save space when storing images. >>TIP If you plan to edit your digital photo and print it later, save the edited image in Tagged Image File Format, which doesn't compromise image quality. Choose File, Save As in your image editing program, and select TIFF from the drop-down list.


Sharpen your photo:
Many digital shots come out looking "soft" or out of focus after you print them. >>TIP Use your image editor's sharpen tool to emphasize the edges of items that appear in your photo. (Though dozens of image editors are out there, we'll offer specific steps for Jasc's Paint Shop Pro.) If you work with Paint Shop Pro, use the oddly named Unsharp Mask tool (click Effects, Sharpen, Unsharp Mask). This tool runs automatically each time you select it. The program that you use, however, may not have an Unsharp Mask tool. If it doesn't, use the more basic Sharpen tool instead. If you can't find a tool by that name in your program, use the Help option to search for the term sharpen. >>TIP Take it easy with Unsharp Mask and Sharpen: If you wind up with a grainy or distorted image, undo a few levels or start over.


Bring out the subject:
Draw attention to the main element in your photo by softening the background. >>TIP First, select the entire subject with your image editor's magic wand (found in Paint Shop Pro's tool palette). If your first click doesn't select the whole subject, hold down the Shift key and click to add more area. Then, reverse the selection to select the whole background. After that, run the Soften tool a few times to blur the background to your satisfaction. In Paint Shop Pro, choose Selections, Invert and then Effects, Blur, Soften.


Pump up the gamma:
It's a fact of life--dark images print poorly. >>TIP Use your program's gamma correction tool (if it has one), rather than the brightness tool, to add life to your picture. Increasing brightness can turn shadows into mud or make whites look radioactive. Gamma concentrates its brightening power on the middle tones in your image more than on the extreme blacks and whites. In Paint Shop Pro, click Colors, Adjust, Gamma Correction and drag the color sliders slightly to the right (no more than three notches). Most pictures won't benefit from a change of more than 30 percent; beyond that, images begin to look bleached out.


Crop with caution:
What looks great on your almost-square computer screen isn't always a good fit for an oblong frame or photo album. >>TIP Use the crop tool from your tool palette to make your photos more appealing. Instead of positioning your main subject smack dab in the middle of the frame, offset it about a third of the way to the left or right of center. Don't crop the image too severely, however. As you trim the image's size, you discard valuable pixels. The finished image needs a sharp enough resolution to print without showing the jagged edges that come from having too few pixels.


Match pixels and size:
When it's time to print your snapshots, one consideration is key: How many pixels can your printer bring to the table? Most ink jet printers are optimized for images with 200 pixels per inch. >>TIP If you're producing an 8-by-10-inch print, use your editing program to verify that your image is no less than 1600 by 2000 pixels (in Paint Shop Pro, choose Image, Image Information). If you start with a lower-resolution image (1024 by 768 pixels, for instance), the resulting print may be blurry. In general, digital images taken with a 2-megapixel camera yield good 5-by-7-inch prints, and images from a 3-megapixel camera are better for 8-by-10-inch prints. Don't worry if your image has an overabundance of pixels--you can still create excellent prints of 3-megapixel images in 5-by-7 format.

Top Tips for Camera Phone Pictures

Take lots of pictures
Since your camera phone is always with you, take advantage of capturing those spontaneous moments. Take lots of pictures to increase your chance of capturing just the right shot. Afterward, you can go back and delete the pictures you don't want. Then be sure to upload the keepers to an online photo album, like to your computer so you can save them on your hard drive or CD.

Move in close
Many camera phones lack a zoom lens, so make sure you move in close to capture your subject. Often, you'll be taking pictures with your camera phone that you wouldn't necessarily take with your regular camera, like your latest find at a yard sale.
Fill your phone's display screen with your subject to create pictures with greater impact. Up close you can reveal telling details – a wrinkled nose or an arched eyebrow. But don't get too close or your pictures will be blurry and distorted. As a general rule, stand about one to two feet from your subject.

Shoot at eye level
Direct eye contact can be as engaging in a picture as it is in real life. When taking a picture of someone, hold the camera at the person's eye level to unleash the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing smiles.
For children and pets, that means stooping to their level. Your subject doesn't have to stare at the camera -- all by itself that eye level angle will create a personal and inviting feeling that pulls you into the picture.

Watch the light
Unless your camera phone has a built-in flash, low light = bad picture. Try to take pictures in bright light. Without adequate lighting, your camera phone pictures will look dark and grainy. In sunlight, move around where the sun beams onto your subject. Indoors, turn on extra lights to brighten your subject.

Use a plain background
A plain background shows off the subject you are photographing. When you're ready to take your picture, force yourself to study the area surrounding your subject. Make sure a tree isn't growing from the head of your subject and that no cars seem to dangle from their ears. Check your picture in the your phone's display screen and retake it if necessary.

Try different angles
Try turning your camera phone sideways to take horizontal pictures. Many things look better in a horizontal picture, like group shots. While you're at it, experiment by taking pictures at different angles from your subject – above, below, diagonally – you might like what you find.

Set resolution to high
Many camera phones let you choose the size of the pictures you take. They often include a low, medium, and high setting for the resolution (picture quality). The higher the setting, the better the quality. You should set your camera phone to the highest setting to capture the best quality pictures. You might not see a difference between the different quality settings on your phone's display screen, but it will definitely make a big difference on a computer screen.

Discover your camera phones capabilities
Discover your camera phone's capabilities Although camera phones are relatively new, many are packed with fun features. Check your phone provider's manual (or your cellular provider's Web site) to see if you can take advantage of these:

Picture effects – snap pictures in black & white or sepia or add different frames to your pictures. Photo caller ID – associate a picture with a person in your address book that appears every time they call you
Wallpaper – save your favorite picture as the background for your phone.
Self-timer – capture your picture at the right moment.

Be courteous
Just as we've grown accustomed to turning off our cell phones and pagers at the movies, we should incorporate camera phone etiquette into our everyday behavior. Here are some guidelines to follow:
Ask permission from strangers before taking their picture.
Check for restrictions on cameras and camera phones. Many places, like airplanes, court houses, concert venues, and military bases, don't allow cameras or phones. Abide by their rules.
Don't bombard people with your pictures. Phones and e-mail have limited storage space. Try storing your pictures at an online photo site, like KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery.
Make sure your recipients recognize your e-mail address. Many camera phones send e-mail with a phone number instead of a name.

Don't forget your regular camera
Today's camera phones are great for spontaneous pictures and sharing everyday moments -- but they don't capture enough detail to make high quality prints of your pictures. So if you want prints of special events, like birthdays and vacations, make sure you use a film or digital camera also. That way you'll get the best of both worlds – pictures to immediately e-mail using your cell phone and great prints from your camera that will last a lifetime.

Store and share pictures
KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery allows you to store and share your life in pictures with anyone, whenever you want, wherever you are. Share your photos with any computer or photo-ready phone and access all your saved pictures, including photos from friends and family, anytime you want. Send pictures directly from your phone to your Gallery account, where you enjoy unlimited and secure storage for your photos and phone-captured video online in one location.

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THESE ARE SOME OF MY PICTURES.

I LOVE BLACK AND WHITE PICTURES.

How to Take Travel Pictures Like a Pro

CLASSIC VACATION SHOTS BY JEFF WIGNALL

SHOOTING FROM THE AIR
Pictures taken from commercial airliners won't be perfect technically, because the plastic windows are so thick they destroy sharpness. Still, the quality is fine for 4- x 6-inch album prints. You can minimize the blurring by getting the lens as close to the window as possible, but avoid touching the surface or fuselage, because the plane's vibration will cause camera shake. Take-offs and landings are the best time to shoot, because the lower altitude makes ground features more recognizable and there's less haze.
In many places you can take relatively inexpensive low-altitude air tours to get some one-of-a-kind scenery shots. Most of the planes have high wings, and often the pilots will let you pop open the window to get clean photos if they know you're a serious shooter. A normal or mild wide-angle lens is good for both commercial and low-level tour planes, but you can use longer lenses to isolate smaller ground features from an open window. In all cases, the exposure recommended by your through-the-lens meter should be very accurate. Depth of field doesn't matter, so use the highest shutter speed you can to offset vibration.


PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR CRUISE
There is one key thing about taking photographs on a cruise: You have to be prepared to work in a lot of different lighting situations: on deck in very bright sunlight, indoors by dim available light, and in both good and bad weather (yes, it does rain on cruise vacations).
One of the blessings of cruising is that you can bring a ton of gear and it's as near as your cabin. If you are an SLR shooter, bring a pair of zooms (a wide-angle-to-normal and a telephoto zoom), an accessory flash, and both fast and slow films.
If you're making an inland passage or are cruising in an island group like the Bahamas, you'll have many opportunities to photograph scenery from on deck. Coming into port is an especially exciting time, but it happens quickly and often at dawn, so be up early and bring everything you need. Work from the upper decks and use a wide lens to include the bow or side of the ship for scale and perspective. On breezy days there will be a windward (windy) and leeward (calm) side to the ship; if the scenery is equally nice, shoot from the latter.
Most ships publish a daily calendar that is slipped under your door each night by seagoing elves; it lists the next day's events and helps you plan your day's shooting. On a ship you don't have to worry about not being included in pictures; the ship's photographers will capture your group's every waking moment and post the photos for sale each evening.


ZOOS AND AQUARIUMS
It may not be quite as thrilling to photograph a lion or a zebra in a zoo as it is in the veld of Africa, but you can still make some terrific pictures. Because you can get much closer to your quarry, you can work with shorter lenses. While you might need a 400 mm or 600 mm telephoto to bring a lion or a polar bear up close in the wild, in a zoo you can get similar shots with lenses in the 180 mm to 300 mm range, or shorter. With smaller animals and reptiles that are behind wire or in glass enclosures, you can even work with macro lenses.
In composing pictures of captive animals, shoot some images that disguise the captive aspect and others that exploit it. To keep the human environment from showing, look for vantage points that hide fences or other barriers. You can make wire fencing or bars seem to disappear by working close to them with a long telephoto and using a wide aperture for shallow depth of field; be sure the autofocus frame is on the subject and not the bars. Conversely, if you want to make a statement about the plight of animals in captivity, look for shots that emphasize the confinement: a leopard peering out from between steel bars, for example.
The two problems you'll encounter in most aquariums (and many reptile displays in zoos) are the dim lighting and the thick glass. Though you may see people trying it, don't use on-camera flash through glass; you'll only get a picture of the reflection of your flash. With an SLR you can have a friend hold an off-camera accessory flash against the glass, but using a faster film is easier and keeps the light more natural-looking. Press the lens right up to the glass to avoid reflections.
As in the wild, animals in captivity have both active and quiet periods. Generally they are most animated early and late in the day and before feeding times. Finally, remember that captive animals of all types are already under stress; take great care not to add to it. Better to lose a shot than become another insensitive tourist.

AROUND THE CAMPFIRE
If you're planning a wilderness trip, fear not: The rich and ruddy glow of the campfire can be an equally evocative conveyor of atmosphere. The cozy mood of people relaxing around the flames is ideal for informal portraits. A tripod is a good idea for very sharp pictures, but you can take handheld shots using fast film if you steady the camera on a rock or a fencepost.
Whether or not you want the fire itself in your shots, be careful not to include it when you take your meter reading, because the flames will fool the camera into grossly underexposing your subjects. Instead, use your spot-metering mode to take readings directly from a well-lighted face; alternatively, move in close and fill the frame with just a face. This will provide good exposure setting for skin tones, though it may tend to wash out the colors of the fire. You can take a second reading of just the flames; setting an exposure that's midway between the two readings will keep faces well exposed while retaining the intensity of the flames.
With many autofocus cameras, the exposure and focus locks may be linked. If you move in to get physically closer to take a face reading and lock that reading, then the focus also locks at that distance. When you back up to recompose a wider picture, your subject will be out of focus. Using a zoom lens can get around this by zooming in on a subject's face, locking the exposure and focus, then zooming wider to take your picture. Changing the zoom setting does not affect the focus position with most cameras.
In any event, be sure your subject's face is evenly lighted by the fire, or ask her or him to turn toward the flames so it is. If there are lanterns in the scene, arrange them to provide additional fill-in lighting.
While flames are bright, the light reaching the faces isn't, so you'll need to use fairly fast (ISO 400 or 1000) film or mount your camera on a tripod. If you have a tripod and can get your subjects to sit still for an exposure of several seconds, sparks and flames streaming up from the fire will create interesting light trails.


SHOOTING FROM THE LAND AND SEA
On almost any trip, you'll find yourself using all sorts of ground and sea transportation. Depending on where you roam, your transportation may range from the ultramodern, like the high-speed trains of Japan, to the traditional, like the eccentric jitneys of the Philippines or the gondolas of Venice. Photographs of and from these conveyances bring a great sense of presence and authenticity to travel pictures that helps carry the viewer along on your journey.
En route, your transportation will often reveal vistas or vignettes that you may not see again once you arrive at your destination, so be sure you have a camera ready to snatch such opportunities. Point-and-shoot cameras are ideal for this kind of photography, because they let you react quickly with little fuss or bother. One solution to the problem of constant motion is to use high-speed films (ISO 400 or faster), so you can set shutter speeds fast enough to stop the motion and f/stops small enough to provide adequate depth of field. The alternative is to use a slow film and intentionally set a slow shutter speed to present a blurred, more vivid impression of movement.
Once you arrive in a place, take time to look around for interesting views that include your means of transportation. Straight shots of a ship in a harbor or a train at the station tend to be static, so try instead to find compositions that reveal their relationship to the locale.


PARADES AND CEREMONIES
Because festivals, parades, and other ceremonies can infuse your travel photographs with a splash of color and excitement, they're worth making a special effort to take in. People tend to be less inhibited at such events, so your candid pictures of strangers will seem more friendly and intimate. As they usually celebrate something of historical, religious, or traditional significance, they can add depth to your travel album.
Some festivals--such as the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain--are annual highlights that draw crowds of tourists from around the world. Others may be less adventurous but can be equally chaotic both physically and visually. Finding a clear vantage point to shoot from, then, is vital. You can shoot from above, from a hotel balcony or a high set of steps, or you can arrive early and stake out a good shooting position before the hordes arrive. If you're unfamiliar with the event or its history, ask around a few days in advance; you may get ideas for where to position yourself.
What to shoot? People--especially children--are the heart of any special event, so use a zoom lens to isolate candid expressions and reactions in the participants and the crowds. Look also for costumes or decorations that symbolize the focus of the festivities--the American flag and Uncle Sam costumes are a colorful part of Fourth of July parades. What are the emblems of the event you're shooting? At religious ceremonies and events, take special care to avoid photographing any situations or scenes that are sacred to the participants.
Sometimes important ceremonies are held at night, presenting a real challenge in available-light photography.


F I R E W O R K S
Photographing a fireworks display is similar to photographing an electrical storm, but you have the advantage of knowing approximately when and where the bursts of light will occur.
If you're using an SLR, you have a few different exposure options. For handheld shots, load your camera with an ISO 400 film, wait for the peak of a burst, aim, and fire. An exposure of 1/60 second at f/2.8 is a good starting point with bright, nearby displays. If your camera has a multiple-exposure button, you can use it to gather several bursts onto a single frame.
For a more striking effect, borrow the technique used for capturing bolts of lightning: With the camera on a tripod, open the shutter on B, set the aperture to f/8, and capture a series of bursts on one frame. This technique lets you trace the path of the bursts as their colors sear the night sky; the disadvantage is that you have to guess where the bursts will occur before you open the shutter. With either method, using a wide-angle lens will provide room for framing error.
Because most point-and-shoots lack both a B setting and multiple-exposure capability, the best option is simply to load up with medium- or high-speed film, set the autofocus to infinity, and shoot single exposures at the peak of each burst.
You can almost always improve a fireworks shot by including something in the foreground: either a partial silhouette, like a city skyline or heads in a crowd, or a lighted monument, like the Statue of Liberty. Two other tips: A small flashlight will help you see camera controls better, and don't forget to save several frames for the finale!


SIGNS ALONG THE WAY
At home we take most signs for granted, barely noticing them unless they happen to be lit up in pink neon, mention a monetary fine, or provide directions. On the road, especially in more exotic parts of the world, spotting interesting signs is great fun; you can use them as a running theme in a travel journal. Pictures of signs can identify locales, mark progress, provide information, or even just make people laugh.
Humor is always successful, especially when it is unintended and comes from juxtaposition or odd coincidence.
Familiar-looking signs in other languages, such as a French stop sign saying ARRET, are also attention grabbers. If you're traveling in a place where languages change frequently, as in Europe, try building a collection of similar signs in several languages.
Probably the most useful exploitation of signs is to mark progress in your travel album. Look especially for signs that announce dramatic locales (see the photograph of the sign for the equator), city limits, unusual town names, or driving distances. Signs that recall trip highlights, such as hotel banners or names of famous museums, are also useful as props or backgrounds for posing your companions. Photographing historical markers, if you can read the language, is a good way to remember details of a historic place or event.


STAGE SHOWS AND EVENTS
Stage shows and other theatrical events are a popular part of travel itineraries and, when photography is allowed, provide a chance to bring home professional-looking pictures. They are, however, among the most difficult photographic subjects you'll encounter. The two major obstacles are low light levels and limited stage access.
You can overcome some of the problems of low light by using a fast film in the ISO 400 to 1000 range, but even then you're likely to be working at very slow shutter speeds. Because stage performances are rarely static events, you're bound to get some motion. One solution is to watch the performance long enough to get a feel for when there will be lulls in the action and shoot at those instants. Sometimes it's better and less frustrating simply to accept a certain degree of subject blur--or even exaggerate it by using longer-than-necessary shutter speeds.
Stage lighting is also tricky to expose for, with bright spotlights hitting some parts of a stage and other areas falling into darkness. The best solution: Use a telephoto lens to isolate an individual performer, and take your meter reading from that person's face. Be especially careful not to let bright spotlights or very dark surroundings into the frame--either will mislead the meter. Incidentally, flash is rarely allowed; even if it is, it's not recommended, because it destroys the beauty of the theatrical lighting.
As to stage access, occasionally you'll have plenty of mobility and will be able to approach the stage or performance area freely. More commonly, if you want close-up shots, you'll have to work from a distance using a telephoto lens. In some cases (see the photograph of the bagpipers and the castle), you may even want to switch to a wide-angle lens to include more of the overall setting.
Remember, too, that if the stage lighting is very dim, your autofocus system may have difficulty finding sharp focus, so you may need to switch to a manual-focus mode if that's available.


SILLY PICTURES
One quick trick for improving the pictures you take of your travel companions is this: Lighten up. Stop taking your pictures (and yourself) so seriously. Let silliness reign and your pictures will be more fun to look at and tons more fun to take. Allowing your subjects to slip into occasional fits of silliness may also keep them from plotting a mutiny against your camera mid-trip.
How to set your own silly streak in motion? Start by letting your subjects decide how they want to pose. Or give them a challenge: See if you can get the family to do a Rockettes kick on the beach or mimic holding the Statue of Liberty's torch with an ice cream cone. Whatever the scene, be sure your subjects are in on the fun and that you're not catching them off-guard, or next time you may need to find someone else to hit the road with.

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Common Mistakes When Taking Photos

You have probably taken photos before just to find out later that they did not come out as expected. Although digital cameras are getting smarter there are still a lot of decisions that the photographer has to make. There are also many mistakes that the photographer can make. Here are seven common ones.
Many mistakes can ruin a photo. Here is a list of seven common ones. The first step to avoid these is to understand what they are and why they ruin a photo. The second step is to be aware of them when shooting your photos.

Out of focus:
An out of focus photo looks blurry and has low contrast. Usually such a photo is useless and can not be corrected. Most digital cameras can automatically set the focus for you and in most cases they choose the right focus for the scene. Some scenes however are harder to focus on and can fool the camera's auto focus mechanism. If you are using an SLR camera you can make sure that the objects are in focus by looking through the viewfinder. Most cameras sound a short beep when the focus is locked and also display a green rectangle around the area that they focused on. Always make sure that this area is where the objects that you care about are. For example if there are two objects in the scene in different distances from the camera make sure that the camera focused on the object you want.


Blurry photos:
Blurry photos are most likely the result of camera shakes. Learn how to hold your camera to minimize shaking: it should be held firmly with two hands and it should "touch" your face. If you are shooting photos using slow shutter speeds you should use a sturdy tripod to prevent shaking. If you can not guarantee that the camera will be stable - for example if you are shooting while you're moving - set the camera to shutter priority and choose a fast shutter speed (assuming of course that the light conditions allow such setting) - for example setting the shutter speed to anything faster than 1/250 of a second will most likely guarantee a non blurry photo even if the camera shakes a bit.


Underexposed:
Photos that are underexposed look dark and lack details. The reason for underexposed photos is setting the exposure too low. Although the camera can measure ambient light and make the exposure decisions for you it can be confused by more complicated scenes. For example if there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting. The result will be a photo that captures the bright area but darkens all the others. Usually you can assume that scenes that have extreme lighting gaps between different areas confuse the camera - for example if a quarter of the photo is very bright and the rest is very dark the camera is likely to set the wrong exposure. In such cases you can manually correct the exposure.


Overexposed:
Photos that are overexposed have blown out areas and sometimes are completely saturated and white. The reasons for overexposed photos are similar to underexposed ones. The camera makes an exposure decision that is incorrect due to complicated scene conditions. In such scenes you can manually correct the exposure.


Shaded objects:
A good example of shaded objects is when taking a portrait photo in daylight. The camera measures enough ambient light to set a low exposure value. Although there is enough ambient light shades can appear on the object depending on the angle of the light source relative to the object. For example if the object's face is lit from the side the object's nose can create shades. Or maybe if the object is wearing a hat and is lit from above the hat can create shades on the object's face. The camera can not automatically correct such shades. By understanding what causes shades you can easily eliminate them by turning on the fill-in flash. Firing the fill-in flash (make sure that the object is within flash range) will remove the shades from the object.


Red eye:
This is a very common phenomenon. When taking photos of people or animals using a flash in a dark environment the eyes have some red glow in them. There are a few things that you can do to prevent red-eyes: some cameras support a "red eye reduction" mode. In that mode the camera fires the flash a few times before taking the photo. Although this can help reducing red-eye it can also result in photos of people with their eyes closed (as they are blinded by the pre-flash their reflex is to close their eyes). Other ways to prevent red-eye is to use bounce flash (you can do that with special equipment or for example by pointing the flash to a white wall) and using more ambient light if possible (for example by turning on all the lights in the room). Some cameras include built-in image processing software that automatically removes red-eye from the photos or alternatively you can use many software packages on your home computer to accomplish the same.


Dark Silhouettes:
When taking photos with a bright light source behind the object (for example when the sun is behind the object) the result will be a silhouette of the object. One example is taking a photo of someone on the beach against a sunset. The result will be a dark silhouette of the person with a good photo of the sunset background. This problem can be solved using a fill-in flash. The fill-in flash lights the object making sure that it is captured with all its details. Simply remember to use a fill-in flash when taking pictures of objects with a bright light source behind them. One limitation is that the objects must be within the flash range - otherwise the flash is useless and they will appear as silhouettes in the photo.


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Creative, Alternate Ways to Take Pictures

Sometimes, making a few little changes will give you big results with your photos. Here are a few ideas to get you started.



Change your point of view
Move the camera around--shoot from the hip, above your head, or even down around your feet--to get a unique look at your subject.


Use a time-delay setting creatively
Take a picture of yourself every day, or take a photo of the same place or setting every day. One guy has a blog of self-portraits taken every day for the past six years.


Visualize your blog
Keep your camera handy to record events and items that will add interest to your personal blog, like food, your family, even the new puppy.


Just shoot
Don’t worry about composition or framing. Close your eyes and point the camera, and you might be surprised at how beautiful your photos are. Point, shoot, enjoy.


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Taking Great Halloween Pictures

Halloween Pictures

Tell a story
Remember all the devilish details by taking pictures that tell the whole Halloween story. Capture the transformation from child to trick-or-treater. Keep your camera handy throughout the process, and be ready to capture eerie glares and goblin grins.

Get close
When taking pictures, a common mistake is to stand too far back from your subject. Avoid distractions in the background by getting in close. By doing this you'll brighten up those ghostly nighttime scenes. And you'll be sure to capture costume detail and monstrous smiles on your children's faces.

Stay within the flash range
Typically, flash range for digital cameras is 6 to 10 feet and up to 15 feet for film cameras. Subjects outside the flash range will be either too dark or too light. Check your camera manual for the correct flash range.
Even though you may be within flash range, weak batteries will result in dark, disappointing photos. Considering all the flash pictures you'll be taking, it's wise to install fresh batteries in your camera.

Avoid flash reflections
When you use flash, avoid windows and mirrors in the background. They'll reflect the flash, creating glare that can ruin an otherwise great shot. If you can't avoid them, stand diagonally from your subject to take the picture.

Bigger is better
If you know that you'll be photographing your finished product, carve your pumpkin with pictures in mind. A bigger opening for eyes or mouth will cast more light, especially if you plan to light up bystanders with its glow. And the bigger the pumpkin, the bigger the holes!

Keep the glow in those jack-o'-lanterns
Turn off your camera's flash to turn up the glow in your jack-o'-lantern. Check your user's guide if you don't know how. Then ignore any warning lights or beeps as you hold your camera extra steady and focus at the luminous face of your orange orb. Use a tripod for extra sturdiness. Try taking the picture outside around dusk to take advantage of natural and artificial light. You can also create a hair-raising silhouette.

Add light to your subject
To safely brighten the light in your pumpkin, use a flashlight or two. Don't use candles because the open flame is dangerous. Make sure to adjust your angle so you don't see any of the light directly through the pumpkin's eyes or mouth
The glow from the pumpkin has its limits, so play around with room or porch lights. Try dimming the room lights or turning on lamps in adjacent rooms. You can also ask a helper or two to shine flashlights on your pumpkin to give it highlights or reflections.

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Shooting Portraits

Portraits.

When taking portraits the closer you get to the subject the better. You will focus attention to the subject by cutting down on the amount of superfluous background detail.
You can also bring out your main subject by making the background go out of focus. Use your camera aperture priority mode and set as large an f/stop (about F2.8) as your camera will allow. If your camera has a zoom function you could use it to zoom in and achieve the same results. Use optical zoom only for best results.
If the subject is in shadow compared to the rest of the picture, you should use a fill-in flash to properly expose the face. In order to eliminate shadows, do not place the subject too close to a wall etc.

Recommended camera settings for portraits:

Focal length: 100 mm
Aperture: F2.8 (as large a f/stop as is available for proper exposure)
Exposure / Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority / Portrait
Flash: Fill-in, if face is in shadow

3 Ways to Better Backlight

Shift your horizon, follow the sun, keep your backlight burning, and other photo remedies.

Why It Works

•Fundamentals: A skewed horizon line, strong color contrasts.

Photo by Atanas Atanasov/Fotolia

•The tilt: The deliberately tilted horizon goes way back in the history of photography (perhaps the greatest practitioner: Aleksandr Rodchenko). Like any effect, it can be misused and overused. Here it works for a variety of reasons. It creates a momentary disorientation on viewing the picture. It makes the triangle of the rice farmer, the reflection in the water, and the boy in the background more dynamic. And it leads the foreground figure’s reflection into the corner.

•Color contrasts: With a diagonal dividing line, the photo effectively plays off two complementary colors -- the blues of the sky with the greenish-yellow of the water. The hat, clothes, and hoe repeat the scheme.

•Lighting: An overcast sky, with the sun low on the horizon, keeps the shadows open.

•Rule of Thirds: Turn the picture so the horizon is level, and the picture loses interest. The subject is now in the middle of a dead-center horizon. The tilt, in fact, throws picture elements off-center and into power points in the grid of thirds. Clever!

3 Ways to Better Backlight

Perhaps you’ve heard the advice to beginners to keep the sun behind you when shooting outdoors. Nonsense! Shooting into the sun so that your subject is backlit can create exciting pictures.

1. Light a fire. Translucent objects such as leaves and flowers seem to glow with an internal fire when backlit. You’ll likely want the glowing subject recorded about 1 stop brighter than medium gray to keep it lively. So meter on the subject with a spotmeter or by moving in close to fill the viewfinder, then add 1 stop to the indicated exposure, recompose, and shoot. A digital histogram will tell you if your exposure is good; with film, bracketing is a good idea.

2. Draw strong lines. If your subject is opaque, backlighting can outline it in white, separating it from the background and surrounding it in a magnificent halo. This is how I shot these prickly pears (below, left). If the subject is darker than the background, you should meter exclusively on your subject when setting your exposure. (This is the strategy for getting rimlit portraits -- meter your subject’s face and use that as a starting point.) If there is no light falling on the front of the subject, it will become a pure black silhouette. In this case, meter the background instead of the subject.

3. Fight flare. When shooting toward the sun you risk lens flare -- ghostly light that often ruins an image. Provided the sun is not actually in the frame, prevent flare by shading the front of the lens from sunlight. Lenshoods sometimes work for this, but you’re better off using a hand, card, or hat.

Problem Solver

•Follow the sun: The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Right? Not really. The sun travels due east to due west only during a short period of the year (the March and September equinoxes at the equator). It pops over and under the horizon at different bearings at other times: more southerly during the winter, more northerly during the summer (in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway). It’s handy to know where for landscapes (so you know what landform the sun will rise over) and outdoor portraits (where the sun will set behind the subject).

By Pop Photo Staff August 2007

Share photos and get creative

Pictures are like memories: They're better when shared with someone else. And with the increased popularity of digital cameras and camera phones, people are sharing their memorable photos more than ever using online albums and personal web logs.With so many hosting services available free of charge, it's easy to start your own online album or diary. We'll show you how HP Photosmart Share can make it simple to share your photos online, and introduce you to other ways to make your images available to friends, family, and even the whole world.

Online albums
Online photo albums are a convenient way to share pictures on the Web. HP now offers an easy-to-use service called Snapfish that lets you share and store photos online. With Snapfish, you can share individual pictures or entire albums with friends, and allow them to order prints of their favorite photos.Getting photos from your computer to Snapfish takes just a few simple steps. To upload pictures, just log in, click "upload photos," create an album, select pictures, and click "upload selected photos." You can also send photos to the site from your e-mail account or a camera phone.If you've taken pictures with a film camera, you can mail your roll to Snapfish—they'll develop it for you and make the images available online. You can store, edit, organize, and share your files and also create photo gifts like mugs and calendars.

HP Photosmart Share
HP Photosmart Share lets you quickly and easily download, organize, and e-mail photos, and send them to an online finishing service or photo sharing website, too. Even while you're traveling, you can share snapshots with your family and friends across the room or around the world.Using an on-camera menu, you can select up to 34 destinations for your picture—from an e-mail address to a printer. Once your camera is hooked up to a PC or camera dock, the images are sent automatically. Using HP Photosmart Share to e-mail pictures to family and friends means you can do it without sending huge file attachments—this guide, Sharing photos via e-mail, shows you how.HP Photosmart Share is included with HP Photosmart Premier software, which comes with many HP products—or you can download HP Photosmart Essential for free. This version of the software lets you find, manage, edit, create, and share images in just a few clicks.


Blogging with photos
Web logs, or blogs, are sites containing short, frequently updated journal-like postings. Most let you share personal thoughts and links as well as images. Blogs that are completely photo-focused are called photoblogs.In photoblogs, each photo is arranged by date. It's like a diary told in pictures instead of words. Unlike a picture gallery or online album, in which a collection of images is sorted into different categories or pages for easier viewing, a photoblog is always in chronological order.

Creative photo sharing
Now that you know how to share photos online, consider the possibilities:
Create a photoblog to capture your summer vacation memories.
Send e-postcards featuring your favorite snapshots.
Create an online family album that everyone can contribute to. Of course, you can always go online to Snapfish to get professionally processed photo prints, too.

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Take better digital pictures

Digital cameras are easier to use than ever -- but less-than perfect pictures are still a reality. If you've taken pictures that are fuzzy, under-lit, overexposed, or just don't seem to work well when you try to print them or share them electronically, this guide is for you.
Whether your digital photographs are headed for the printed page or electronic presentation via the Web or e-mail, this How-To guide will help you improve the result. The guide highlights techniques you can use to take great digital photos and offers some advice on how to make the most of your pictures once you capture them. It also introduces you to the important decisions you need to make before, during, and after the shot to ensure maximum results with minimum hassle.

Understand it
On the most basic level, digital cameras are easy to use. Generally, all you have to do to take a picture is point and shoot. It doesn't get much simpler than that. However, using a digital camera well is not quite so simple.
Even though today's digital cameras incorporate the most advanced image-capturing technology, they cannot magically create a good photograph. Considering the new wrinkles of the digital photo age -- file type, compression, file size, and media choice -- and it's no surprise that it takes a little know-how to make the most of your digital camera. It's up to you to combine technology with technique if you want to capture the best possible picture.

Instant results don't always mean instant success
Digital cameras deliver instant results. No more waiting on the film lab. Even one-hour turnaround is not quick enough for the speed of business in this new, networked world. However, this speed can be deceptive. You may dash through the entire digital photography process only to be less than satisfied when you see the results. These failures can be aggravating. If you have to take the same picture over and over again to be satisfied, where's the efficiency?
The key to obtaining excellent results lies in the choices you make. Careful composition and cropping draw the viewer's eye to the photograph's focus. When you choose the right resolution, you guarantee that the picture looks good in its final form and that it is portable enough to succeed in digital format. Take the time to manage your digital photographs properly and you can rest assured that they are more than a new take on an old medium. They become important business assets that serve you and your customers with ease.
In short, to take great digital photographs you have to start with a quality camera and easy-to use picture management software. Then, you have to:

• Make some well-informed decisions before you snap the shot.

• Properly manage your pictures from capture all the way to output.

• Think about investing in good photo editing software.

Plan it
To take a useful digital photograph, you have to portray the essence of the subject in a format that is suitable for the photo's final destination (printed material, Web sites, or electronic presentations for example). This is where the planning comes in. You'll need to do several things before you even press the shutter button.

Compose the picture in your mind
Before you shoot your first photograph, take a few seconds to compose the picture you want to take in your mind. Allow yourself to be creative and recompose your picture as many times as you'd like. One of the fantastic things about digital photography is that practice and creativity cost nothing more than time and effort.
For example, you should feel free to venture past the notion of the eternally centered subject by employing the rule of thirds. As you compose your picture with your camera's viewfinder or LCD screen, mentally divide the scene into thirds horizontally and vertically, yielding a 9 square grid, The intersections of the grid lines offer four potential points of placement for the primary subjects of your photograph. See how the picture changes as you move the subject from one point of placement to the next.

Choose the right resolution
A more technical choice you have to consider as you plan your image is what resolution to use. At the least, your camera has high and low resolution settings, although it may have more. The one you choose to use directly impacts the usefulness of your photo later on, as the following table shows.

___Image Destination__________Best Resolution_____
Web or electronic delivery ........................72 dpi

Print .......................................................300 dpi

Both electronic and print ...........................300 dpi
__________________________________________
Pictures headed for web sites or electronic presentations over a computer monitor can have a resolution as low as 72dpi because monitors can't display more than 72dpi. This low DPI makes for smaller file sizes, a necessity when you want to transmit pictures electronically. Alternately, for pictures intended for print, you should take the photograph at 300 dpi (dots per inch) or higher. The more dots there are, the better the photo will appear in print. Newer megapixel cameras support resolutions required by many commercial and offset printers, but these file sizes can be huge. All of this means you're generally better off carefully considering the destination of your photograph before you take it. However, sometimes that's not possible. A photograph that debuts on a Web site might someday end up in a brochure or catalog. Starting with a higher resolution photograph preserves the largest number of possible options for output.
Of course, taking pictures at a higher resolution means the file takes up more space in your camera's memory. If you're concerned about running out of space on your camera try one (or more) of these techniques:

• Purchase an extra couple of media cards for your camera. When you run out of room on one, you can quickly swap cards and take more pictures. Card swapping is the digital equivalent of carrying several rolls of film with you, and most media cards are smaller and lighter than film. For example, if you own an HP PhotoSmart 720 digital camera, you might purchase two 256 MB Secure Digital (SD) memory cards, each smaller than a credit card by half, so you have 512 MB of storage space in addition to the 16 MB of space built into the camera


• Make a habit of regularly transferring pictures from your camera's memory or media cards to your computer. Not only will your camera always be ready to hold more pictures, but you will also have better luck keeping track of your pictures if you catalog them regularly


• Take advantage of your camera's review and toss out pictures you don't want to keep before they even find their way to your camera's memory. Every iffy picture you toss out is one more you can take before running out of storage space

Properly zoom and focus your shot
When the subject of your photograph is extremely distant or extremely close, use your camera's auto-focus feature. On just about any digital camera, the auto-focus button is labeled with a flower/mountain graphic. When you press the button and a flower shows up on your camera's display, you're ready to take pictures in macro (or close-up) mode. When you press the picture and a mountain appears, you're ready to take pictures of distant subjects.
In macro-mode, most cameras can take clear pictures of objects that are as close as just four inches away. However, the optical viewfinder is not capable of seeing objects at this close range, so the LCD activates when you enter the macro-mode. Use it to accurately frame your close-up pictures. This feature is very handy when you do want a close-up shot that demonstrates some exceptional detail of a product. Alternately, if you want to take pictures of a subject that is far away, you can set the auto-focus to infinity. To activate this feature, press and holding the wide-angle/telephoto controller to zoom in to the maximum range allowed by the lens. If you press the wide-angle/telephoto controller again, it will extend the range of the lens and activate the digital-zoom capabilities of the camera. As with extreme close-up shots, this additional magnification will only be visible by looking at the picture displayed on the LCD. In most situations, auto-focus will do the job focus on the subject. However, there may still be situations where neither of the auto-focus options seems sufficient. The solution is to focus the camera manually. Manual focus should allow you to clearly capture the intended subject.

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