Shutter speed and Exposure

Want to learn how to get light trails and other cool effects like above? or just want to learn more about manual settings on a camera? Take a Read!

Winter Lights 4:52

Week 4 In the weekly photo challenge; Winter Lights!

Development Shoot - Sharpness and composition

After my Windkarting shoot in the Summer, I went out to develop the skills I felt I was lacking in, and I chose sharpness and composition

Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds technique, adds tension and dramatization to any photo! A must know for the aspiring and the experienced photographer alike!

Autumn Angles

Autumn is a beautiful time of year, Take advantage of it!

Sunday 11 December 2011

Buying a new camera

Christmas is around the corner, and you might be thinking about buying a new camera for that special someone, or even a nice gift for yourself!  Unfortunately, buying a camera is harder than ever these days, with so many brands making so many models, choosing a camera can be a more difficult than you first expected! So in this post, I'll be walking you through choosing your investment, from cameras you can pick up for under £100 to cameras so expensive, you practically need to take out insurance when you buy them!

Usage!
What are you going to be using the camera for? If you're buying a camera to capture memories, I wouldn't bother going out and buying a £1000 camera, as it's full of things you don't need, but on the other hand, if you're a seasoned photographer looking to upgrade, I can't say I'd recommend buying a £50 camera at your local supermarket!

Of course, this is only my particular opinion, and the real decision is yours!

Budget
Some people, me included, don't have much money to spend on a camera, so another thing I must mention, is look online! You can find some great deals that you couldn't get in store, but make sure you're buying genuine products!

Features
Having a higher mega-pixel camera doesn't always mean a better camera, there are many other things you want to take into consideration, such as size, photos per second, geotagging, and movie capability!

Some cameras have some really cool features, that can really sway your choice, and depending on what you need the camera for depends what features your looking for! Such as the new Samsung Multi-view (pictured below) that can be great for multi angle shots and the newer Sony Alpha cameras that can take up to 12 photos a second!



Remember to shop around and keep a look out, read reviews, and you won't be disappointed with your purchase!

Happy Christmas shopping! 

Friday 2 December 2011

Vanishing Points

Hello! I've decided to do a post on vanishing points, as someone mentioned it in the comments, so I thought I'd do that!

A Vanishing Point is where two Parallel lines in a picture seemingly meet or touch, when of course it can't, it is just the perspective!

This technique can be manipulated to create some great mind meddling effects! Unfortunately, My example is rather boring and I should've spent more time on it, My apologies!


Here's the image I started with, as you can see, the rood of the platform, and the floor, as well as the floor and the tracks are perpendicular, and lead to a vanishing point.


Using the crop tool, I positioned the vanishing point on to a focal point according to the Rule of Thirds (rule linked in a previous post!)  


Finally, I adjusted the colours to make the photo a bit warmer.


And here is my finished product, with the vanishing point being rather large because I wasn't far back enough, But this was the best example in my sets I could find.


 Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it, happy photographing! ;-)

Thursday 1 December 2011

New Domain Name, and changes to come!

Hello! Today's post is just an update on where I'm going with the blog!

As you may have noticed, I've finally managed to buy a domain name for the blog! This is the first change in a series of many that should be starting this weekend!
I plan on getting a new template and adding a load of minor changes as well, so look out for the changes!

and don't worry, I have a post about either Lighting or Vanishing points coming this weekend!


Do you like the new domain name? Would you prefer an article on  Vanishing Points or Lighting? what should I change? Leave a comment below!

Saturday 19 November 2011

Band Set

Hello! Toady I've got a little post and a few photos about Portraiture and Theme!

The other day, me and two other band mates were in a garage, practising and I couldn't miss the chance to get some photos,

The above photo is quite boring in colour, but in black and white made it looks a lot more emotive. When taking photos, always think of what you can do to them afterwards, and how you can adjust photos to give a better feel and atmosphere! 


Colour splashing! Draw attention away from the things you don't want people to see and towards what you do want them to see, you can do this in picnik, using their black and white tools!



Softening; this is a like colour splash. use the soften tool in picnik, and then using the brush tool, remove the effect from the desired focus point, which in this photo, is the guitarist.  This effect can add a lot of depth to a photo, and really help make the composition of your photo look a lot better! you can also use this effect in macro photos.

Having trouble defocusing the background in your macro photos? Use the soften tool to give the same effect, then use the brush to remove the softness from your focus point!


Use vignetting (the blurred shadowed edges) to draw attention to the middle of your photo, and create a more emotive photo, how ever, I dislike this photo, as the vignetting is far too strong.


That's all for now guys! Thanks for reading!

Thursday 10 November 2011

Failure.

Had a long mess around with the HTML on the blog. failed miserably.   Will try when I find out more about HTMAL xD

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Down Time

Okay Guys, gonna be down for a day, gonna try and mess about with the layout and ect, possibly sort a domain name, although the latter is not very likely!     Sorry for any inconvenience, Should be back up tomorrow!

Thanks!

Sunday 6 November 2011

Rule of Thirds!

Rule Of Thirds
First of all, I have to say a huge sorry, mostly to Liaata, for not updating in quite a while! I've had a number of problems, as well as 100 other things to do, with a constant barrage of exams following me around! But here we are:

Rule of Thirds, A technique that enhances the composition of a lot of photos! If you look at a lot of professional photography, do you usually see that the main subject, or focal point of an image is usually off centre.  This is usually because of the use of the rule of thirds.

By the Wikipedia definition: "The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography and design. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. Proponents of the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centring the subject would."            Or a simpler explanation,




Divide your photo into 9 boxes like above, and make sure the focal point is on one of those dots around the middle box! on some cameras, you can find this grid as an option on your camera, so you can see it over the photo as you take it, if not, just try to visualise the grid.  This technique can really enhance the composition and feeling behind any photo!

A really useful way of utilising rule of thirds if you have trouble using it while out and about, is to crop your photo afterwards, which if I were honest, is the way I usually do it!

To crop your photo, to use this technique, first go to Picnik.com, and upload the photo you want to use, when it loads, look at the side bar, and click the Crop option, it should then look like this:



Then, crop the photo to get your focal point on one of the four dots, and see if you  like the result!
Here was my result:



This small edit can really help make your photos look a lot better! so next time you pull out your camera to take a photo, try and have a go at this technique!

Thanks to Calum for some fantastic modelling there! xD

Source

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Autumn Angles



With Autumn here you can get some really nice photos that are impossible to take during other seasons, and you can really capture nature's beauty in full!

When thinking about how to take a photo, and where, you must always place a great deal of thought into the angle, this is REALLY important!  Angle can make, or break a photo, and it's up to you to look at various view points, or you won't get the perspective or feel you really want! For instance, I was walking down this particular path, and it looked beautiful with the leaves falling and the sky a really nice colour, but as I tried to take a photo, it looked awful, until I remembered a photo I had seen the day before, taken from a very low angle, so I gave it a go, and I loved the effect!

Remeber: don't give up if you don't get it right first time! Mess about with the settings, and positioning, and you WILL get a great photo!

Photo Source

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This document was last updated on October 25, 2011

Sunday 9 October 2011

After Effects!


When looking or thinking of photos to take, taking the photo is only the beginning! With powerful editing software available for free online (e.g Picnik) taking the photo is only the first step!
  
          This photo was taken on a gloomy day, in a few minutes, with no preparation, when I got home,I opened it up on paint. That's right, good ol' MS paint,and I PAINTED the sky blue! Lo-tech edits master ;)
 I then uploaded it to picnik, straightened the photo out, and cropped it into a nice size,  and had a mess around with the exposure and contrast,I then added a focal zoom for the blurring effect,and Voila! A finished picture!

Even if a photo look awful, mess around with it,You might be surprised! 

Monday 3 October 2011

Canvas!

Mornin' Guys!

So a  while back while I was shopping,I found these:
And:


I absolutely love them, and have had them on my wall for a while now, but I've had to take them down to make room for something else, and I couldn't throw them away, they are too beautiful!

Do any of you guys want to buy them? £15 each+ whatever postage is to your location, Email me at ryanfrank267@live.co.uk  Open to offers :D

Sunday 25 September 2011

The Bigger Picture: Pt2!

Part 2 of a panoramic set I plan on doing,Will take LOADS of these and upload a few to the set!


What do you guys think of this one? like it? hate it? anyway to improve?

http://frankcom.deviantart.com/  Check it out, It's where I upload all my art!

Saturday 17 September 2011

The Bigger Picture!


A lot of cameras, have difficulty fitting a lot into a picture, meaning we may not always be able to capture what we want to, or have to miss some bits out.
   Is there a cure for this madness?   Yes! In the picture above, I took 20ish photos, And put them all into Autopano Giga, and this is the result! I added the bluring myself, the original pictures came out spotless, no lines or joins spoted, it was a smooth photo!


If you want to try it yourself, I recomend Autostitch, a free program that produces quite incredible results! It also has an iPhone app!

Source

Monday 5 September 2011

Focus

Normaly in life, one thing will catch your eye above all others in the scene, be it a person, an object, or any other mundane thing! In photos, the focus captures what really stood out to the photographer, even shows other people how they saw it, one more reason I love photography, seeing a different point of view!



Source:  http://frankcom.deviantart.com/art/Us-Pedestrians-195510548


Personally, I always carry my point and shoot camera with me, becuase when I havent got it, I always miss a fantastic photo, or somthing I want to express! 

Enjoy! :D

Thursday 1 September 2011

Sim cards anyone?

Okay everyone, it's coming up to my first year with giff gaff, and I AM IMPRESSED. Run's on O2's network, so loads of coverage, and FANTASTIC prices, Have a look! remeber to order a sim form my link ;D

http://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/frankcom

1000 Views!!!!

YEAH!!!!!

Wow, thanks guys! I really appreciate all the support I'm getting with this blog, it's amazing, THANK YOU GUYS :D

http://frankcom.deviantart.com/

If you like the blog, Please follow, and give me some support on the bar on the left :D

Monday 29 August 2011

Skating anyone?

Just come back from a bit of skating, And my legs ache like mad

My skates ------>
Found the picture on Gumtree though xD I didn't take it xD

Do any of you guys rollerskate, long board/skateboard? 


Photo's in this particular post (skating anyone?) were not taken by me,
 No copyright infingment intended :)

Sunday 28 August 2011

Travelling through the Night

I love travelling, going different places, and exploring the world around me, and embracing new cultures. One of my favourite parts of travelling is the journey to get there, You could see the scenery of a whole different country  just by getting in a car and driving to get to a different place. The world is different, even in a space of 50 miles, Languages can differ, as can religion, and that is what makes the world such a large place. Variety.

In the next 4-8 years I want to go to 3 different countries, and I hope to be able to take many a photo, so have you guys got any ideas for attractions to visit in Japan, Australia and Canada? Or even a suggestion for a better country to visit?

Source: http://frankcom.deviantart.com/#/d41hku1

Taken in Spain's Poble Espanol!

Enjoy!

What I love about Macro

It's quite amazing what details we miss in everyday life, It's what I love about macro photography, Seeing the details we miss in the rush of life.

(side note - I drink hundreds of these a month!)

Source-http://frankcom.deviantart.com/#/d41h90w

Bored?

Saturday 27 August 2011

Trains!

Went into town today, had the most awesome day, some random women gave us 3 vouchers for free milkshakes! :D

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=train#/d11cn0i  <==== Going into town on these :3

Mornings

So, Wake up, grab a cup of tea,
THEN PLAY GUITAR .

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=guitar#/diujl0

Loved the focus and colours (or lack of) in this photo!

Friday 26 August 2011

My deviantart!

http://frankcom.deviantart.com/

Hi guys! Please take the time to check my gallery out! 



Thanks guys! 

Starting!

Alright guys! Just made my blogger blog, plan to be using it to upload inspirational pictures taken by me, AND by others!

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