Posts Tagged ‘photography’
Question Asked: Is It Cheaper To Print Photos At Home, Or Have Them Printed?
Great question. As someone who takes and prints a lot of photos, I’ve often asked myself this same thing.
Let’s evaluate some printing options, shall we?
Shutterfly: 4×6 print: .15 cents.
Kodak Kiosks: 4×6 print: .15 cents.
Rather than listing them all out, I’ll just say that the majority of printing services I looked at were at, or about, 15 cents per print. (Cheaper if you pre-pay for a bunch at a time.)
Printing at home: If you were to purchase the exact amount of paper, and ink, to print, say 110 photos (for example: Hp 110 Paper/Ink Photo Value Pack - 4×6
That brings us to roughly .36 cents. Factor in the electricity to run your PC, and printer for the amount of time to print 110 pictures, and you’ve probably bumped up the cost by a few cents, at the least.
Let’s call it .40 cents.
Looks like printing via Shutterfly, or a kiosk at WalMart or CVS is almost 3 times cheaper than printing at home. And all this time I thought I was being smart by printing them at home. Looks like I’ll be ordering them from Shutterfly now.
Question Asked: What Is A DSLR Camera?
Well let’s assume, for the sake or arguement, that you know what the camera part is, and address the DSLR part.
DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex.
Great, but what does that mean? It’s all in the details of how the camera’s insides work. A traditional digital camera works with a series of mirrors, that direct a reflection of the image you want to photograph, to the digital sensor, to capture the image.
The “viewfinder” (the part you look through, to see what you’re taking a picture of), is generally off slightly to the right of the actual lens. This is done with a second set or mirrors, in some cases. That’s why you’ll notice, sometimes, if you take photos of something up really close, you didn’t actually get the thing you wanted to, because your viewfinder was off to the right.
A DSLR, however, uses on one set of reflective mirrors, hence the “single” portion of its name. The principle is the same, a set of mirrors reflect the image to your sensor. However, with a DSLR, when you press the shutter button to take the photo, the mirror flips out of the way (either up or down, depending on manufacturer), and the image is processed directly to your sensor.
A downside to DSLR cameras, is that they’re more complicated than regular “point and shoot” digital cameras, and they’re not for everyone. Further, they’re generally much more expensive than point and shoots. For example, the DSLR Canon Digital Rebel Xsi
Coming from someone who got a Canon DSLR earlier this year, I can attest that once you get over the initial shock of having to tweak a few extra settings, and get used to not using a live image preview, it’s worth the jump. The photos are much nicer, clearer, sharper, more vivid colors.
The added benefit of a DSLR is that you can get interchangeable lens for it. Have you ever tried to use “digital zoom” on your point and shoot camera, and wondered why the image looks all pixelated when you look at it on your computer? That’s because the lens on your point and shoot isn’t designed to do what you’re asking it to do, regardless of what the manufacturer tells you.
With a DSLR, you can pop off your lense, drop on a Canon EF 75-300mm
Big Ben from across the street
Hope that answers your question. I’m a shutterbug, so feel free to send more photography related questions that you may have.
Question Asked: How Do I Take Better Landscape Photos?
First thing’s first, you don’t always need a ten zillion dollar camera to take good photos. Sure, a better camera helps, but it’s not a necessity to spend your life savings on a camera and lens combo to take a nice picture.
With that said, here’s some tips on taking good landscape pictures, assuming you’re using some form of a digital SLR. (I’m using that as an example, mainly because it’s what I have, and know)
- Choose your location and time of day wisely. Often sunsets and sunrises illuminate scenary wonderfully, using natural light. You won’t struggle to get optimal lighting if the sun’s coming over the horizon.
- Use a tripod. Don’t rely on yourself to keep the camera still, you’ll end up with blurry pictures, especially if you’re using longer exposure times.
- Choose the right lens and filter combination. This is really an acquired taste, I’ve taken many pictures that I think came out great, without any filters. But according to various sources, filters can help. (Note to self, get some filters)
- Use a remote control. Don’t rely on the self-timer feature. Using a remote control can allow you to step away from the view finder, and view the “bigger picture”, and decide when to snap a shot without cramming your face into the view finder.
- Take pictures of places you enjoy. Photographing places that you love is a great way to practice. You know how the place looks in real life, and can compare that memory to how your photo came out, to see how realistic your shot is.
- Focus on your focal depth. The “longer” a shot seems, the more beautiful it can be. Try to get as much distance in the shot as you can. Often, people try to zoom in on an object too far in the future, resulting in something that looks sloppy. Zoom as far out as you can, using a short lens for landscape photography.
I’m sure there’s a million other tips out there, and you could probably find a whole bunch on your own. My biggest suggestion to you; practice. The more photos you take, the more likely it is that you’re going to get better.
Get a really large memory card, and go out and take hundreds of photos at a time. My 4GB Compact Flash card can hold just over 900 photos at 10.1MP, and I generally fill it up when I go out to take some shots. The more you take, the more likely you are to get “the one”.