On the photography basics Flickr group I have set another challenge. This one is called ‘Red’, so nice and simple. A 1gb memory card is up for grabs too.

It is meant for beginners though, so I hope there will be no sneaky experts submitting images.

Go here to find out more.

As spring is here, I thought a spring clean of the site was needed with a nice new theme.

I’m still tinkering with it a bit, but I think it’s getting there. If you have an comments about it, please let me know.

I’m trying to get my Photography Basics Flickr group going, so I thought I’d run a little challenge and offer a 1gb memory card to suit the winners camera as a prize.

You can read all about it in the Flickr group. If you aren’t a member of Flickr and want somewhere to share you pictures, it’s a great place, and free too!

The challenge is only open to members of the Flickr group. Sorry.

I’ll be running similar challenges through this site at some stage though.

2008 has arrived, 2007 seemed to be about 2 weeks long, so let’s hope 2008 takes it’s time and we can make the most of it.

Over the Christmas period you may have been lucky enough to get a new camera, or are about to tackle the January sales and spend your cash on one. Or you may have got a new bit of kit to use with your camera, maybe a tripod, flash, or even a new lens to add to your collection. So now what do you do with it?

For those that got a new camera, you’ll have no doubt taken lots of pictures of the Christmas tree, your relatives, your feet, the dog and anything else that doesn’t run away when you point the lens at them.

I bet most of you just put the batteries in, put the memory card in and snapped away on the camera’s fully automatic setting. Great! It’s so easy to get up and running with a new camera, as they are clever enough to do most things for you, but is it doing the right thing?

The first thing to try is to look at the different camera modes, even the automatic ones like portrait, night time, landscape, sports etc etc these all have their own little icons and your manual, yes, the manual…. you have still got that haven’t you….. will tell you what they are. They are still point and shoot modes, but you will get different results from each one so experiment with those for a while.

Once you have tried those, and more importantly, noticed the differences in your images between each one, then you can move on to more manual settings. But let’s not run before we can walk!

So there you go, that’ll keep all you new camera owners happy for a while, now on to you new camera kit people.

So, you got a tripod for Christmas, what will that do? Well a tripod is a very useful piece of kit. OK, so all it does is keep your camera still when you take a picture, big deal. Well actually it is. The less movement in your camera when you take a picture, the sharper the image should be. It also can help you position the camera at angles that might be a bit awkward otherwise, good for close ups or slightly abstract view points.

So, you got a new camera bag for Christmas, how will that improve my photography? OK, I’ll be honest, a new bag won’t make you take better pictures, but having a better organised bag will make life a lot easier for you and will let you get the right piece of kit quicker so you don’t miss that one in a million shot! So take the opportunity to do a bit of a new year clean of your kit and organise it a bit better.

So, you got a new lens for Christmas, what do I do now? Well, aren’t you lucky, a new lens is a great addition to your kit bag. I’m assuming it will have been something you asked for and not a random gift from a long lost Uncle, so you’ve got it for a purpose. If it’s a telephoto zoom lens you can now explore things at a distance. Capture relatives when they don’t notice you are pointing the camera them, or maybe try getting pictures of birds feeding at the bird table where before you would scare them off by having to get too close. If it’s a wide angle lens, then maybe landscapes are your thing so go and experiment with those vistas and funky converging lines. Just remember to keep it dust free, and when swapping lenses try and do it as quick as possible to avoid dust getting in the camera or the lens.

Wow, that was a long post from what was initially going to be just a Happy New Year message.

Let me know what you got for Christmas or what you have bought in the January sales.

It’s nearly that time of year when I eat far too much, drink a little too much and end up spending too much money, but I also try and take a few photos too.

Many of you might be lucky enough to get a digital camera for Christmas, and will take lots of pictures of your feet, people sitting around you, decorations and anything that (I’ve done exactly the same thing in the past). Use these shots to get to know your camera a bit more and experiment. Ply your relatives with alcohol to make them willing models for you and try and take a few portraits, it can be a good laugh trying to make people act up for the camera, so enjoy it.

2008 is going to be a good year for this site and photography. I am getting closer to getting a photography course up and running, and have had lots of interest in it already. I’ll be adding lots of extra content to this site to support the course too, so those of you not able to attend will still benefit and hopefully learn a few things too.

I am always looking for ideas for information on this site too, so don’t be afraid to get in touch.

All the best

Garry

Long time no see…

I’ve realised that the way this site is organised is starting to get a little confusing so I am going to do a little restructuring to make it easier to find what you are looking for.

Soon there will be sections for:

1. Camera Equipment

2. Camera Accessories

3. Software

4. Technique Basics

5.  FAQs

I need to make sure that I don’t break any links to the existing structure so it’s not a straight forward reshuffle, but it will make things a lot easier to find.

I have lots more content to add too now the weather has been kind enough to let me take some photos to demonstrate things I will be talking about, so photography basics will be waking up again after a short hibernation period (although hibernation is more for winter isn’t it…. ah well, you know what I mean).

Please feel free to ask questions too. I’m always looking for ideas to write about, so if you have any photography questions, send them in and I will do my best to answer them for you.

The best way to learn about photography, no matter what level you are at, is to take pictures.

Sometimes it can be hard to get inspiration and motivation to go out and take pictures, so a good way to get round that is to set yourself a challenge. It’s all about the planning to make sure you get the opportunities you need to meet the challenge.

So the first thing is to think of a theme for your challenge. It may simply be something like ‘the colour green’ or ’street signs’, or you may want to set yourself a slightly harder challenge like ‘urban wild life’. Just make sure it’s fairly realistic!

Once you have picked a theme, you need to plan a location which may take a little research. Try and pick somewhere you are familiar with too as this makes it easier to work out where you are going to get the best shots. Going to a completely new location may mean you spend more time trying to find the places to take pictures than actually taking pictures.

OK, you have the theme and you have the location, so just give it a go. If you are using digital you can take lots of pictures. Just look for interesting scenes, objects or lighting and take several shots Experiment with your camera too, exploring the various settings and see what results you get. Take the same scene with different settings to learn how they effect the picture.

Try and get at least 10 good shots from each challenge that you are proud of. This is also a good way to build up a portfolio too should you want to pursue a career in photography and it’s also a great way to start building up a stock image library too.

So here are 3 challenge ideas to get you going:

1 - Circles. You can do this in your own home, but try and be imaginative.

2 - Trees. Look for interesting shapes and textures.

3 - Reflections. You can get creative with mirrors, or maybe see what reflections you can see in puddles.

If you are just getting into photography with the hope that one day it will earn you a living, then you need to know it’s a hard business to get into, but with a little time and effort you can make money from photography.

There are a few ways that you may know of, and have ideas about, so here is an overview of three ways that photography can be used to generate income.

Wedding Photography

There will always be a need to capture that special moment at a wedding. Whether you are taking the formal posed shots or are wandering around trying to capture that candid moment of the bride or groom, or the guests. Wedding photography can be a good money maker, but you will have to sacrifice your weekends in most cases and if you shoot digital, time on the computer afterwards preparing the images. Different people want different things from a wedding photographer. They may want you around all day getting pictures of the preparation, the wedding and the reception. That’s a full day of taking pictures. Or they may simply want you at the ceremony to get those few memorable shots. They may want the formal, traditional style, or maybe the more candid style which is popular nowadays. Either way you will need the right equipment for the job.

Equipment is key. You need to know that you can rely on your equipment, and that you have backups should one part fail. The bride and groom are relying on you to get the pictures they want so there is the added pressure to deal with should something go wrong, or maybe the weather plays it’s part and prevents you from taking your pre planned shots.

If you want to get into wedding photography then a great way to learn the ropes is to help an established wedding photographer. Learn the best way to do things, the way to manage the guests in the time you have and learn how to make the best of given situations. Then you can branch out on your own once you have the equipment and the confidence to do a good job.

Stock Photography

There are many stock libraries you can submit your images to, which they will then sell and you get a percentage of the selling price. It is a very competitive area though, and digital has made it more so with more and more people submitting their work. Finding a niche is a good way to do well as well as search for the photos that aren’t in the library. You are more likely to make sales if you supply pictures on a theme which is not already flooded with thousands of examples.

Stock images have to meet strict standards for most image libraries so always check what they want before submitting your work.

Stock has the beauty that once you image is in the library it can get multiple sales over time, therefore making you money for doing nothing, once it’s there. The larger your collection of images in that library, the more money you can potentially make.

It’s well worth looking into though, and over time can earn some good money, but you are competing with a lot of people so make sure your images stand out from the rest.

Magazines and other Publications

Magazines, newspapers and other publications are always looking for images and this can be a great way to earn a bit of money as well as get your name known. If you are interested in a particular hobby, or other interest, find out what magazines are linked to that subject and submit your images to them.

I would suggest writing to the editor first to see what sort of images they want, what format they want them in and if they pay for the images used. Regular submissions of good subject matter will help get you noticed and if you are good with words you may want to submit articles to go along with them. You’d be surprised how many magazines are dying for content to fill their pages.

So there you go, three ways to make some money from photography. They each take time and commitment and you may not make a lot of money straight away, but over time as you pick up experience you will find ways to improve your work to suit the market and thus improve your chances of making more money.

Macro photography is a term used for close up photos. It is a term applied to most close up photos but should actually only be applied to photos which have a 1:1 or closer magnification.

Macro is a great area of photography as you can take macro shots where ever you are. Find small details of larger objects to create abstract looking images, or maybe you want to take pictures of creepy crawlies like spiders and beetles (my favourite subject) or maybe close ups of flowers.

However, you do need the right equipment to do it properly.

Depending on your budget and the type of camera you use, there are many ways to achieve a suitable magnification for close up images. The ideal solution is an SLR or dSLR with a dedicated macro lens. This lens will have the 1:1 capability built in and the lens will be good quality designed for this purpose. These lenses can be expensive though, costing several hundred pounds new, although there are a few bargains to be had via auction sites like ebay. Having the all in one solution reduces the hassle and you can concentrate on taking the picture.

An alternative to a dedicated macro lens is to use extension tubes. These go between the camera body and the lens on an SLR or dSLR, they don’t have any glass in them, but they allow you to focus a lot closer than the standard lens would normally. So let’s say you had a good quality 50mm lens, but it didn’t focus particularly close so you couldn’t use it for close up work. If you added 50mm of extension tubes between the body and the lens, effectively moving the lens 50mm further away from the sensor you would get a 1:1 magnification ratio and would be able to focus very close to the subject. You don’t want to add too much extension though as it can put extra strain on the lens and lens mount.

A cheaper way to achieve close up capability is to use the various diopters that are available to screw onto the front of your lens. These are like the filters you buy, such as UV filters or polarisers, but are designed to allow closer focus. You can also stack these, so maybe you want a +2 and a +4 to get really close up, or you could just use the +2 on it’s own. You have to remember though that each one you add to the front of the lens adds an extra piece of glass. Too many extra pieces of glass can have a detrimental effect to your image, so don’t go mad with them. It is a cheap option though, especially if you can find them in a camera shop’s bargain bin!

Another way to achieve good macro capability is to reverse one lens onto the front of another lens. So if you already have a decent 200mm lens and a decent 50mm lens, you could fix the 50mm onto the front of the 200mm with the filter threads facing each other to give a 4:1 magnification ratio which is very high, but the possibilities with this type of arrangement are very good as different combinations can be used to achieve different results. The adapters are cheap too.

So what if you don’t have an SLR or dSLR and can’t add anything in between the body and lens? Well the diopter route is an option and so is the reversing a lens route although you may have to be a bit creative with how to connect the lenses together. See if you camera has a macro mode too, usually a little yellow flower appears on the screen, as that can help you get closer. Several point and shoot cameras are great for macro, especially the Nikon Coolpix 4500 which I used for a while before upgrading to a dSLR.

When you are actually taking the close up shots you will need to keep the camera totally still, so a tripod or a beanbag is essential. You will also need to be patient, especially with insects as they are very quick, so get used to the settings which work best on your camera so you are able to get the shot quickly when you need to.

Depth of field is also going to be more obvious. Being that close up you will need to use a small aperture to make sure you get a suitably large area in focus, although you can also use aperture creatively to pick out one area.

With the facebook craze continuing to grow, I thought I’d start a group to work along with this site.

So, if you are a facebook member, then stop by and join the photography basics group, or if you aren’t a facebook member, get registered now and join a huge community.