Author: Andrew Goodall
Nature photography as an art form has been around for a long time, but recently it has found respect on the walls of up-market galleries. This is a big change from 20 years ago, when nature photography was only considered worthy of second-rate postcards and calendars.
Over the years, postcards and calendars began to improve in quality as nature photographers with real talent entered the industry. High quality posters of whales, wolves, elephants and spectacular landscapes from around the world were suddenly worthy of framing. Finally nature photography galleries began to appear and, more importantly, turn a profit.
When I opened my gallery in 1993, many people still felt that you could not make a living selling photography; that people would only buy paintings to hang on their walls. These days, new galleries are opening everywhere; some good, some not so good, and a few that have really hit the big time.
All this activity in the world of nature photography has inspired new generations of photographers to look at nature photography as a hobby or possible profession. These new nature photographers grew up in a very different world than the one I come from. Technology that was unimagined back then is now commonplace, and new photographers have more power in their hands than ever before. But what implications does all this technology have for nature photography?
Nature photographers must now decide how much they will allow their photography to be influenced by technology. In earlier days, good nature photography required a very simple approach; find a great subject, in the best possible light, and use your skill with a camera to capture what you saw. Today it is quite a different story. A nature photographer can (if they choose) find a decent subject, photograph it in whatever lighting conditions they happen to find, then go home and completely alter the colours, the contrast, and even the detail of the picture. The result can be an image that owes more to the marvels of technology than to the wonders of nature.
Each to his own. It is not for me to judge the creative decisions of another photographer. But the question that is in the back of your mind right now deserves to be asked; is this nature photography?
Every photographer is entitled to pursue their craft any way they choose. Of course skills with computer software are just as creative as traditional nature photography skills. However, the person who views a photograph deserves to know what they are looking at, especially if that person is a customer prepared to part with their hard-earned money.
I know many photographers get quite defensive on this subject. Camera clubs around the world continue to wrestle with the issue of judging natural photos alongside manipulated photos. Some clubs have tried to divide competition into separate categories, only to find people sneaking their digitally altered photos into the unaltered category for equal recognition. Understandably, ’software photographers’ want their talents to be recognised on the same level as the ‘in-camera photographers’. And so they should, but not in a way that ignores the difference between the two disciplines.
This is not an attempt to denigrate the skills of the software photographers. It just seems to me that the viewer, and in particular the paying customer, deserves to know.
Increasingly the public is becoming suspicious of good photography. Anything that is outstanding or unusual is now assumed to have been altered or manipulated using computer software. In many cases, it probably has. Unfortunately, this suspicion gives little credit to the traditional photographer (and there are still plenty of us out there) who prefer to do the creative work in the field, before they press the shutter, and reproduce what was captured on the day.
You can’t imagine, unless it has happened to you, how frustrating it is to proudly display your best nature photography, only to hear people say ‘These days it’s all done with computers.’
For the record, my photography is as traditional as it can be in the digital age. Software is becoming essential to my work, as I go throught the process of scanning thousands of slides from my years of travel. Not to alter a photo, but to balance the colour and contrast to make sure the printed photograph matches the original slide. It is also an enormous benefit to finally be able to restore images that have been scratched or otherwise damaged by age.
Posted by janet Schlarbaum
| Janet Schlarbaum will provide monthly donations of seasonal organic produce to help feed the homeless. |
Janet Schlarbaum, founder of Jai Yes Foods, Ltd., a leading organic food distribution company, announced a new partnership with the Juana Homeless Shelter to provide monthly food donations to help feed the homeless. These donations will comprise of fresh, seasonal organic produce to provide maximum nutritional benefits.
A nutritional expert for over twenty-two years, Janet Schlarbaum founded Jai Yes Foods in 2000 with the goal of sourcing and distributing sustainable organic foods. Based on Janet Schlarbaum ’s extensive research, organic produce offers significantly higher levels of nutrients than conventional food and has the added benefits of being free from harmful chemicals such as harsh pesticides. Organic foods have a higher level of anti-oxidants as well, which can boost the immune system.
“We’re very happy to give back to the community,” reports Janet Schlarbaum, founder of Jai Yes Foods, Ltd. “Everyone has given us a warm reception and we are delighted to have the opportunity to share the benefits of our locally-grown, organic produce with people most in need of healthful meals.”
“During these trying economic times, we worry since our donations become less frequent, especially since we are one of the smaller shelters,” explains Alfredo Juana, Director of the Juana Homeless Shelter. “Janet Schlarbaum and her team at Jai Yes Foods have been exceedingly generous and we are very grateful to them.”
Janet Schlarbaum kicked off the partnership this month with a donation that included avocados, potatoes, spinach, cauliflower and several fruits and berries including blueberries and anti-oxidant rich pomegranates.
About Jai Yes Foods, Ltd.
Jai Yes Foods, Ltd. is a privately held company founded in June 2000 by Janet Schlarbaum, a nutritional expert for over 22 years. Jai Yes, Ltd. has contracted farms across the east coast to grow certified organic produce which is then distributed through large supermarket chains across the nation.
How Digital Photography is Boosting the Fashion Industry?
By Mark C
Brought to you by Janet Schlarbaum
The growth of digital photography had made it feasible for everyone to capture the perfect moments of their lives better than ever. The big improvement in shutter speed and photo resolution, make it convenient and easy for both beginners and professional photographers to take good pictures. In addition, photo editing can now be done to create a more creative and artistic photos.
Digital photography has also been a huge plus for many online and offline businesses. A stock or image is used by a photographer to purchase images. These stocks are then purchased on different prices, depending on the license. But since they are digital, and they can be acquired outright from different companies, they can be modified, manipulated and edited using sophisticated editing software.
Today, digital photography is known to boost the fashion industry. Digital fashion photography far off different from doing television footages and taking photos on films. For digital photographers, it is a more challenging field to work on.
The ultimate purpose of digital fashion photography is to capture every detail in the ramp. It will focus on the figures of the stunning ladies, in their most fancy, magnificent and extreme fashion outfits. Digital fashion photography will capture the various outlooks essential to gratify the acceptance in world wide fashion trends.
While digital fashion photography is a meticulous field, a photographer should be creative enough to know the hottest craze each year.
Like fashion designers, digital fashion photographers should also work in high end ease, filed with beauty and glamour. The latter should really come up with the fashion’s great photos.
Here are few points to consider on digital fashion photography:
1. Keep focused
2. Ensure that your camera is always with you
3. Know and set your objective
4. Don’t let go of the opportune moment
5. Envision on how could come up with a creative and interesting pictures
6. Make use of various distance and angles for each shot
7. Show contrast by giving blurry parts and sharp emphasis over your photos.
8. Organize your subject
9. Put weight on the shapes and lines of interest.
10. Create good impact that you are giving information on your audience
A digital photographer should also be conscious that whatever output he delivers will uncover the care, readiness and awareness of the many vital points to remember in taking pictures.
Requirements for a Flourishing Digital Fashion Photography
1. Proper Lighting- The photographer should use curtains and reflectors. Use a tripod and set light to either left or right side of the object at an angle of 45 degree. As much as possible, avoid bright lights, or else use polarizing filters. And lastly, never underexpose parts or expose the whole photo(e); never expose the entire photograph, underexpose other parts.
2. Good Color Harmony- Photographers can make use of backdrop materials to give emphasis on tint and color. Use reflectors, filters, see through transparency, and diffusers to neutralize colors. It is recommended to use gray and white backgrounds.
3. The Artistic view of a Photographer - As a professional photographer, your audience may not see what you see in the picture. People pay value to the subject and not on the background. It should connect each other.
Posted by Janet Schlarbaum
By Colin Hartness
There is a wide world of photography. It touches each of us in our lives on a daily basis in some form or another. Photography is so much a part of our culture now that we hardly even notice all the places that it exists. When you watch television, look at a magazine or even view a billboard on the highway, this is all because of photography. There are so many ways that photography crosses our lives each day. There are a lot of opportunities for someone looking for photography jobs.
What Photography Jobs are Available?
If you enjoy photography and are thinking of it as a career, there are actually many different directions you can choose from. Obviously, there is professional photography but even in that choice there are many other smaller options that you have as well.
You can become a photographer in a special field such as wedding or family photographer. You can choose to make money taking pictures of things you love such as animals, nature or ships. If you enjoy scuba diving, you can become an underwater photographer. Pretty much anything you can think of, there is room to take and sell pictures of it.
If you love taking pictures and the idea of a career in photography sounds good to you, just how do you begin finding photography jobs?
How Do You Find Photography Jobs?
There are different ways of finding photography jobs, depending on the type of job you are looking for and your experience. You can begin by creating a resume and portfolio of your work. Then you can search on the internet at freelance photography job boards or photography websites and message boards. Get specific into types of photographing you have done and look on the internet for those.
You can go locally and look for internships or local firms or companies that may need photographers. You can get the word out by doing small events such as birthday parties and such. Get your name out as someone who will work these functions. Show friends and family samples of your work and ask them to spread the word. You may even want to participate in a charitable or non-profit event to boost your portfolio.
You can also begin submitting your work to contests and magazines to get yourself known and build your portfolio. Placing or winning in contests and getting published in magazines can help you build clips that you can use for getting bigger and better jobs.
Posted by Janet Schlarbaum
By Colin Hartness
Nature is all around us, and its beauties are unlimited. In this fast-paced world of mocha-lattes and traffic jams at rush hour, too many of us take the beauty of nature for granted. Luckily, there are still people in the world who see this beauty and choose to share it with those of us that are too busy to normally take notice. Poets and photographers are great at this. They take what seems like the ordinary and present it to us in a way that shows us the elegance, the magnificence and the amazing that is on this rock we call Earth.
What is Nature Photography?
So what do we mean when we say nature photography? Well, it may seem obvious but let’s go ahead and explain. Nature is our natural environment. It is those things that exist in our world without human intervention; such as trees, grass, flowers, a forest, a river, and animals in their natural environment.
Nature photography is the photography of these things. There is a wide spectrum that is included in nature photography. Pictures of sunsets, sunrises and ocean waves lapping at the shore are all nature photography. So are the trees in the forest and beautiful flowers growing in an open field.
But nature photography can go even deeper than that, showing us parts of the world that we may not be able to see otherwise. If you live in the south, you may not see snow-capped mountains if it wasn’t for nature photography. You may not be able to see a deep canyon, a volcano, or a beautiful beach if it were not for photographs of these places.
The photographers that bring us pictures of these places give us an image of something we may never see. It’s truly an amazing gift to give.
Nature Photographers
But what if you are one of the people taking these pictures? What if you are the nature loving photographer that gives this fantastic gift to someone else? You are giving a gift to other people. But you are also doing something you love. Nature photography can only be achieved by someone who has a love for nature and sees its beauty and can capture it in a photograph so others can view it and have a touch of the same experience.
So how do you take great nature photography? The first step is to have an eye for these beautiful images. The second step is to have a camera. That’s really all it takes. But as you grow as a photographer, you will learn how to take the best pictures and capture the image in a way that others can view it as the amazing sight that you saw. You will learn about lighting and backgrounds and focus and you will take better pictures.
By Suzanne Vandegrift
It’s called black and white photography, but it’s so much more. There’s the black at one end of the spectrum, white at the other end, and a whole lot of beauty in between. Just like the old black and movies of the 1940s, black and white photographs can appear classic and romantic.
Black and white photography is all about contrast. Texture creates a great deal of interest in a black and white picture. Shooting from different directions and different times of day will produce shadows and shading and result in an entirely different picture of the same subject.
If you’re new to the world of photography, beginning to photograph in the simplicity of black and white allows, or forces, you to focus on the real subject of the photograph and nothing else. You’re not distracted by the color, which can sometimes detract from the picture. Whether you use film or digital, black and white photography is at your fingertips.
Consider investing some time doing research. There are some good books devoted to the art of black and white photography. But nothing can replace experimenting as one of the best ways to learn. Most beginners look for bright, sunny days to grab their camera bags and head out for a day of photography. These conditions aren’t what will produce the most striking black and white images. To get some really amazing shots, take your camera bag and go out early in the morning when there’s some frost or fog across the field, lake, or mountains and take as many shots from various directions to capture the pure beauty of the landscape. Take some shots during an active thunderstorm from your porch or on a gray, misty day in the forest.
Portraits are another photographic category that lend themselves nicely to black and white photography. Where color shows every blemish and blotch on the skin, black and white tends to lessen the flaws of the skin tone and presents a softness. Many brides choose to have some black and whites included in their wedding albums. It adds an elegance and, again, there’s the undeniable romantic touch it lends to the collection of photos.
So watch the weather channel and keep your camera bag stocked and ready for those cloudy, overcast days to shoot some of the most perfect black and whites possible. Have some places already selected that you want to photograph so you don’t waste your day looking for a subject. Make sure you have charged your camera or have extra batteries. And most importantly…HAVE FUN!
Placed here by Janet Schlarbaum Pennsylvania
Posted by: Janet Schlarbaum
Submitted By: Albreht Moy
Photographic filter is an attachment that will allow certain kinds of light to be able to pass through, and able to reduce or block out other unwanted light sources.In short, the term filter really means anything that modifies the incoming light in some way and includes: polarizing screens, multi-image prisms,close-up attachments, soft focus filters, neutral density (ND) filters, graduated ND filters, and color filters for black and white photography. Filters come in two main shapes: round and square.
Filters add color and a certain touch to a photo that complements the individuals style of photo taking. When you are using a black and white film with filters, you can darken or lighten the tone of the subjects color. The color filters that are used can darken the tone of an opposite color and brighten the tone of the color filter that is being used. For an example, a red filter will make the red leafs on an autumn tree look very rich and bright, while on the other hand the sky behind it that was blue, is now almost black.
Neutral density filters reduce the light entering your camera so that a slower shutter speed,or a larger aperture can be used. Graduated ND filters are used to balance out bright skies against darker foreground scenes.
A neat filter is called the star filter. This type of filter in photography is placed on the cameras lenses to create a star look effect form any source of light. This is very popular with television game shows and used for portraits to provide a soft overall diffusion. A split field lenses is really a full lenses but only half of it is close-up, it is great for taking a picture of something close-up at the bottom like a small flower or bug in focus. The top of the lenses is just blank or empty and the camera uses its lenses to background in focus, say the mountain in the distance.
By Al Sanez
Learning how to take photos that sell is not hard at all. However, it does take some work. Before I learned how to take sell-able photos, I’d struggle to get my photos sold online. This article shows you how to take more profitable shots.
The main type of photo that will be discussed in this article is stock photos. Stock photos are very different than any other type of photo. Their primary purpose is to sell. Most people that buy stock photography use it for advertisements, book covers, magazines, etc. The pictures are purchased to add visual appeal or make an ad look more appealing to buyers.
When you take stock shots, you have to work differently. Taking pictures the normal way just doesn’t work very well. Your aim should be for a mix between two important aspects:
1. Sells Looking Shots
Stock photos all have that certain look to them. They are simple, have very easy concepts that anybody can understand, and are composed in a basic manner. Stock photos usually have plain backgrounds, high key even lighting without any harsh shadows, and are as sharp and focused as possible. Most stock photographs are too perfect looking.
2. Your Own Style
Anybody can take stock shots like described above. This is the generic type of photos that most agencies have. The key to taking great stock pictures is to balance this generic stereotype with your own personal style of photography.This is what will show your own unique voice. The trick, however, is creating the right balance.Too much personal style and your photo becomes artsy instead of stock photo material. And too little style and too much generic looks will make your photo just like all the others on those sites.
By John Reginald Wagner
Around the world young men and women are discovering the sport of bicycle riding, and at most events you will find a photographer or two recording the thrills and spills.
Bicycle and mountain bike races and contests offer unparalleled opportunities to take action photos, and photos of large groups or individuals moving fast over all kinds of landscapes.
They offer a myriad of chances to take individual character shots (closeups of riders striving, concentrating, elated, or downcast). The environment itself is yet another aspect waiting to be featured — steep mountains, dense forests, old towns, sunshine, rain showers, storms, rough roads and smooth.
Some photographers go a step further and envisage the crowds of riders and the landscapes as an opportunity to take photographs that are abstract or semi-abstract compositions.
Cycling photographers can cover all sorts of cycling events, or they can concentrate on just one or two categories, such as road, cross country, downhill, track (for example, velodrome), Mountain X, or BMX cycling. Equally, they can choose to cover local and regional events or national and even international events such as the Tour de France.
Photographers have the choice of using traditional film-based SLR cameras or modern digital cameras. Digital cameras have the advantage that you can take hundreds of photos per event (without worrying about paying for expensive film) and then keep only the very best shots and discard all the rest.
Digital cameras also allow you to edit the shots after the event, improving the color and contrast, and to crop away distracting elements from the shots, leaving just strong, clear images.
Even with modern digital SLR cameras, cycling photography can be quite a challenge because of the varying and often difficult lighting conditions, the speed of the bike riders whizzing by, and the changeable and sometimes trying weather conditions.
Photos of bikes and bicyclists have been taken ever since the nineteenth century. Subjects have included everything from antique high wheeler bikes and “bone shakers” to tandems and tricycles, and from cyclists quietly biking about European and American towns to specialist subjects such as circus clown bikes.
In recent years there have been just a handful of internationally-known photographers who specialize in cycling photography, notable names including Graham Watson and Phil O’Connor.
The books, posters, postcards and photo collections published by these photographers act as an inspiration and guide for amateur and professional cycling photographers and help them to improve their photographic skills, taste and judgment.
Author: Terry Roberts
Digital photography backdrops are very important as they provide an attractive background that can enhance photographs a great deal. More digital photographers than ever have turned to digital photography for many reasons, which include the convenience, cost, and ability to make photos unique looking by enhancing the images. Available in a wide range of styles and colors, finding the perfect digital photography backdrops for every image or photo is easier than ever.
In today’s market there are several different digital photography backdrop types available for both amateur and professional digital photographers with a different application for each type. The basic background is certainly one of the most popular and best-liked types of backdrops. These use the digital photography backdrop types to conceal the background in the photograph behind the subject with a more satisfactory one. A digital backdrop is also an excellent way to take an average digital portrait and, using a good digital photography backdrop, change it into a quality photograph that resembles one from a professional photography studio. Digital photography backdrops of this type have both commercial as well as personal applications. There are innumerable types of digital photography backdrops geared toward family, friends or children and intended just for entertainment and fun. Some of the many include:
Image enhancing blocky letters
Fanciful creature backdrops
Bright color backdrops
Island themed backdrops
Sports themed backdrops
Holiday themed backdrops
Landscape backdrops
Abstract themed backdrops
Compatible with numerous photo-editing software types, digital photography backdrops are very easy to use. Although you can use digital backdrops with practically any image and background, images or pictures taken against the green or blue backgrounds seem to transfer the best to digital backdrops. It is very easy to use photo-editing digital photography backdrop software. Simply open the image, using photo-editing software, onto the same chosen backdrop screen. Render the prior background transparent and then paste the image onto the backdrop, using photo-editing tools. Photo editing programs include tools that edit and smooth any rough edges when using photography backdrops.
The internet is one of the best places to find good digital photography backdrops as online retailers often have a far larger selection of backdrops. Many online retailers are professional photographers themselves, so along with selling digital photograph backdrops, they will share their extensive expertise with you if required. These online retail websites permit customers to look at the digital photography backdrop types they carry before purchasing any and provide customers with troubleshooting tips, easy to follow instructions, and answers to questions people may have about the product.
For a digital photographer looking for backdrops or props to use when taking photos, thrift shops are an excellent place to start looking, as you often find inexpensive and unusual items that will work great. Camera shops and computer stores often sell digital photography backdrops. Very low cost backdrops include using tape and rolls of seamless paper or low thread count, sold color sheets that only need ironing before using. For a photographer that is shooting something small, cheap fabric, curtains and tablecloths work well.