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! 

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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! ;-)

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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!

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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!

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Failure.

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

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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!

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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

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