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How I Travel with a Camera
27th September 2012
…or improving my photographic memory
I’ve traveled by plane so often that the routine of traveling overseas has become old hat.
But for this trip, I am diligently recording the steps that I follow with the goal of creating a checklist that other travelers may find handy if they too want to have a photographic memory of their travels.
Following are some of my “photographic memories” from my travels to Germany and Switzerland that hopefully illustrate this article – arranged chronologically.
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Happy travels.
Written by Arnie Lee
Our Newest eBook
30th March 2012
28 Tips for Better Photographs
There’s nothing pretentious about this book’s title. We’ve packed this inexpensive eBook with a large set of easy-to-follow tips and hints that are guaranteed to improve your picture-taking.
What’s more is that these simple techniques produce great results whether you use a modern DLSR, a point-and-shoot or a cell phone camera.
Those amazing photos posted by others on Facebook or Yahoo for example, are well within your reach. It takes just a short while to master these tips which can transform yours into amazing captures too. For each tips, we show you “before” and “after” photos so you can immediately see the result of each technique. |
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28 Tips for Better Photographs is available as an eBook for iPad, iPhone, Kindle reader, B&N Nook reader and universal PDF format. For more information, please click here.
* Stay Focused is part of Abacus. Abacus has been publishing books and software since 1978 making it one of the pioneers in the industry.
Event Tip # 3 – James Taylor concert
10th March 2011
Having grown up in the late 60s, I was excited to learn that one of my contemporaries – James Taylor – was going to be performing in Grand Rapids on March 8th. I anxiously waited for tickets to go on sale, but they were quickly sold out in less than an hour. Fortunately, I found two available last minute tickets through StubHub so I was still in luck.
Through the years, I’ve done my fair share of event photography. But nowadays when I go to a concert or show, I’m usually attending as a spectator and not as a working photographer with a press pass. Since one of my hobbies is to collecting pictures of celebrities, I continue to take a small camera with me – just in case.
Typically, show venues are a mixture of dark backgrounds with strong spotlights. For effect, the performers are often “creatively lit” (read dimly). This stage lighting makes for a very contrasty scene.
So the challenge is to be able to use the theater’s available light to capture the performers. Flash is a no-no.
For stage performances, you can use relatively inexpensive equipment. On this occasion I used a Canon SX210 IS point-and-shoot which has a 14X optical lens. Our seats were fairly close – the seventh row – but the lens allowed me to zoom in to grab a decent shot.
Just a quick note about courtesy: The auditorium was filled to the brim. Everyone paid for tickets with their hard-earned money so I go out of my way to keep as unobtrusive as possible when taking photos. I’m careful not to put my camera in front of another spectator and to be silent as I snap (usually a menu selection for “silent mode”). They are there for the performance, not to be disturbed by a rude and noisy picturetaker.
And since my real reason for being at the concert was to hear the performance, I make sure that I get to enjoy the music without being overly preoccupied with my camera. And by the way, the performance was great!
You can see more celebrity photos from my hobby celebrity collection here.
Written by Arnie Lee
Kids Tip # 5
06th November 2010
Taking pictures of kids is one of the most popular uses for digital cameras. This is another article that we present to you for taking better kids pictures.
Of course these tips are subjective and there is no right nor wrong way – especially if the subject is your own child! Candids are just another tool to add to your gadget bag.
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Action Tip # 6
25th October 2010
Continuous Shooting
Most digital SLR and many point-and-shoots have a feature called continuous shooting that lets you capture several photos in a very short period of time. This is also referred to burst mode. So at the soccer game, by keeping the shutter depressed you can capture your star player as she runs towards the action, swivels her leg into launch position behind her, quickly drives her kicking shoe forward and finally strikes the ball.
On a recent outing, I caught one of our future diving stars practicing at the pool. With the camera set to take continuous photos, I quickly fired off nine shots as she made her big leap into the water.
Pressing the shutter was the easy part.
After reviewing the photos, I wanted to be able to show the young girl’s diving exploits to others. One method is to make a composite of the action. Here’s a miniature composite:
Making a larger composite makes it easier to see the detail of each frame. However, the time and expense may cause you search for an alternative if you’re planning to make many such composites.
Another way to show these is to convert the nine individual frames into a movie. One free and easy way to do this is to use Picasa 3*.
After starting Picasa, I added the nine photos to my library. Next I highlighted these nine frames and clicked on the Movie icon (towards the bottom of the screen). |
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For Transition Style, I chose Disolve.
For Slide Duration, I chose 1.0 second. You can choose a longer time which lets you study each frame more, but I prefer the shorter duration which makes the action seem to flow more naturally. For Overlap, I chose 100%. For the diving action, this setting seems to provide the best effect. Then I click on the Create Movie button. This converts the 9 individual frames into a short movie. |
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In just a few seconds, Picasa turns the images into a short movie with which you can enjoy the action with others. Click here to see the movie.
Yes, you can have a fun using the camera’s continuous shooting mode. But sharing the action with the world makes the fun last much longer.
* Picasa is available for the PC and Mac by free download from Google.
Portrait Tip #2
02nd September 2010
Portraits are one the most common type of photographs. We’d like to share some tips for taking better people pictures.
Portrait Tip # 1
30th July 2010
Portraits are the most common type of photographs. We’d like to share some of our know-how for taking better people pictures.
Kids Tip # 4
26th July 2010
Taking pictures of kids is one of the most popular uses for digital cameras. From time to time, we’ll present tips for taking better kids pictures.
Event Tip #2
13th June 2010
For me, Gordon Lightfoot’s music tells interesting stories while his soothing melodies and talented guitar-playing have kept my attention for more than 40 years. With camera in hand, we went to hear him perform again in concert at the lovely DeVos Hall here in Grand Rapids.
Action Tip # 4
03rd March 2010
Here in Michigan, we still have an abundance of snow. Rather than lock ourselves inside, we’ve decided to brave the winter weather and “enjoy”. After all, there’s plenty of life in the brisk cold.
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