What could be more frustrating that holding a DLSR camera worth thousands of bucks and not being able to focus on the subject in front of you? So, I collected a few excellent guides or tutorials which provide good summaries (I think) of the possibilities of these cameras when it comes to autofocus or AF.…
Tag: tutorial
Photo filters must be high-quality
To complement the other previous posts about photographic filters, here are few additional elements. Is a UV filter harmful? First, I would like to demonstrate once again the critical importance of having a very good quality filter rather than the usual plastic junk. Too often, we forget that the filter is degrading the image quality…
Fireworks: The 10 best tips
Summer is coming and the 4th of July celebrations (in the US, of course) are upon us. This means that we will have the opportunity to shoot fireworks, this ever-wonderful show. Usually, we will get only a few minutes to shoot and we don’t want to wait until next year for another opportunity. So, here…
GIMP links are back
After a long absence when we collected a few GIMP-related links but we did not publish them, here is a new list of useful tutorials and tricks for the users of GIMP the GNU-Linux and Windows-based photo edition software. GIMP still being free, these free resources are all the more welcome: photo credit: andyspictures 60+…
Lens repair
You must not be too easily frightened to go and reapir your own photographic lenses. But with some patience, some tidiness and a lot of concentration… This is exactly what Fredy Willette of Alpha-Numérique teaches us in his article Réparation d’un problème d’engrenage sur un objectif non motorisé (Google English translation).
Canon excellent video tutorials
Did you know it? Canon developd on its US web site a collection of very beautoful training videos for using the various DSLR cameras of the red brand. They are part of the excellent Canon Digital Learning Center. This is an excellent complément to the User Manuals. You will find there training turorials for entry-level…
Tamron video tutorial for the photo beginner
Sometimes, it’s good for the beginner; Sometimes, the more expert photographer will like to check again his/her knowledge of photography techniques. Tamron created a YouTube channel for publication of a set of training videos, named TamronVids.
8 tips to make a better slide show
Back from your holidays, with about a million photos to show to your family and your friends? You are about to start preparing a digital slide show. You will take risks, like so many other photographers, that may lead to pure chaos in the family if you do not work perfectly on this. Here are…
Unchain your GIMP links
This month, it’s time for a new round of GIMP links. Of course, the Linux-based photographers are the primary target of this list. But, remember that GIMP is also available as a valuable option for the money-sensitive user of Windows, too. Use GIMP to Process Time Lapse Photography (from LifeHacker) GIMP 2.8: A preview of…
Photograph a lightning
During the warmest days of the Northern hemisphere, it is more pleasant to go and photograph the stars or even the storm coming at the end of a day too hot. The PhotoArgus web site will tell you all about it: Lightning, a photography primer.
BBC wildlife photo masterclasses, for free
You could do much worse than learning from the best wildlife photographers. Actually, the BBC Wildlife Magazine is now providing an impressive list of compact training courses for wildlife photography. There are titles like: Wild Places Mammal Portraits Plant Portraits From Dusk to Dawn Underwater Photography Invertebrate Portraits Birds in Flight Animals in their Environment…
The art of camera tossing
Camera tossing is all about sending a photo camera up in the air while in long exposure settings to record the whirling moves of the camera into a somewhat different picture. This is an obviously dangerous photo technique (How many times can you strike such a move without letting the camera fall on the floor?)…
A fish-eye lens at rock-bottom price
When you use an expensive SLR camera you are often tempted to purchase a specialty lens like a ultra-wide angle (fish eye) lens. But, apart from the rare occasions when you really need it, it’s too expensive for you and me. Why not build it yourself? Instructables does the demonstration with a Nikon D90, but…
Mountain photography from a small plane
When you are in a plane of a light plane flying near a mountain range, it is quite tempting to shoot a few landscape photos; But the conditions will stay very difficult for the photographer. There are many traps and the results may loose a lot of quality compared to what you expected. For example,…
Sports photography
Shooting good pictures of sports events is challenging at best. Rob Miracle is offering good advice about sports photography, grouped in several important categories: Location, Location, Location! The Decisive Moment Required Equipment Depth of Field — Isolating the subject Focus Composition Know your Sport, Know your Players Freezing Action Shots Giving the illusion of movement…
Water splash: The easy way to a great photo
photo credit: nsaplayer Who did not dream of making such a great photo as the milk or water drop stopped in mid-air? But this seems quite difficult. It may be, but there are a few techniques that can simplify things a little. Gavin Hoey, in the following video, shows a few of them, explaining lighting…
Print your photos on everything
photo credit: irrezolut A few years ago, the only destination we could think of for our photos was the paper used for most family snapshots. A few photographers were also making large format printouts, but nothing more. With the advent of digital photography, it is now common not to print at all and to look…
13 photography lessons for your child
Thanks to Digital Photography School. They have marvelously varied and nice lessons for the amateur photographer. Today, I noticed a rather old post on their site which is a compendium of the best, most important lessons to teach somebody starting photography (aged from 7 to 77 years). 13 Lessons to Teach Your Child About Digital…
Time lapse 6: Introductive lesson
When I started writing a short series of posts about time-lapse photography, I thought it would be quick. But I keep getting information about good web sites and articles about it. So, I could not close this without mentionning the introduction to time-lapse photography just posted on Digital Photography School (an excellent web site, by…
False HDR for free
If you want to get an HDR (High Dynamic Range) aspect to your photos but do not want to spend the effort of taking multiple picture and combining them together, there is a free solution: Fake it! Forget all the hassle and apply the right image transformations to obtain a picture with all the features…
Photoshop tutorial: The Police
You know this album cover from The Police. Digital Photography School, inspired by the album cover, teaches you how to do the same effect with your own photos. → Source: Photoshop Inspiration: Police CD Label.