Yes, digital photography is dead in the water IF ‘photography’ is taken out of digital photography. As Kodak’s brownie box camera and their Instamatic brought photography to the masses in the 20th century, so the digital camera has done the same in the 21st. But, once the ‘ability to take photos novelty’ wears off, the lack of skills will relegate the digital camera to the hobby drawer.

There is a principle in management science that says in business a person is promoted to the level of their own incompetence and no further. It’s called the ‘Peter Principle’ formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in his book of the same name. After that they stagnate and can only move sideways. This is true for photography also. Once you reach your level of incompetence or maximum ability, there you sit. It’s at this point the interest wanes and your camera outings become more and more infrequent. In other words, another death of digital photography.

There will always be the hardliners in any field who will continue to practise to the level of their incompetence, but, the average Joe who was once excited by digital photography is no more. The enthusiast has lost his enthusiasm.

So what’s the answer to the problem? The focus, as in any hobby or pastime, is a continual learning process. In the business world we call it upskilling. Adding competency and qualifications to your existing tool bag will keep you moving up the ladder of promotion. It is the same with photography. Learning is imperative.

Most of us are at some stage dissatisfied with our photos. They don’t quite look like those in the glossy magazines and daily newspapers. What is it that they have that rest don’t? They’ve learnt the techniques and disciplines of photography and have applied them on a continual learning journey to great photos.

A hobby, as with any plant or animal, has to be nurtured if it is to show any signs of growth. Buying a digital camera with the sole purpose of just snapping away without the high costs of film, will on most occasions result in the death of digital photography. If your digital photography is going to flourish it will need three key ingredients:

1. Time

As with anything of value in life time is a key ingredient to its success. Unless you take the time to invest in any venture you will probably reap an equivalent reward. Garbage in garbage out. No pain no gain as the old adage goes.  There is no instant photography.

2. Passion

Unless you are enthusiastic about a hobby or pastime it is inevitable that it will gradually diminish with time and eventually fizzle out. I speak from experience. Developing your passion is essential to growth. Passion is the fuel that fires your hobby.

3. Ability

Some are born with natural ability but for most of us we have to work at it. Practise makes perfect. If you don’t have ability then acquire it in whatever way you legally can. Acquiring ability is a process and for many of us a journey of discovery. Something we have to work at.

Take any of these three points out of digital photography and its demise is well on the way. But, the key point is photography. Learning photography and acquiring creative photography skills will nurture digital photography and keep it alive.

Photography is not governed by the medium it uses, digital, film, pinhole or Polaroid. Photography stands alone and independent of the tools or media. As with beauty it’s in the eye of the beholder. It is not contained in a box, a camera or digital sensor. Its results can be seen on a computer, t-shirt or magazine.

Digital photography is the answer to photography because of its ease of use, methods of distribution and costs. But take photography out of digital and it will result in the death of digital photography.

Do you want to learn more about photography in a digital world? I’ve just completed a brand new e-course delivered by e-mail. Download it here for free: http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/ To learn how you can take your photography from ordinary to outstanding visit http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/21steps.htm

Wayne Turner has been teaching photography for 25 years and has written three books on photography.

Author: Wayne G Turner
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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For sports enthusiasts, there’s nothing more exciting than sports people playing their favourite game. The sight of the field, rink or golf course initiates the thrill and anticipation. This, combined with digital photography, can provide some amazing photographic opportunities. However it’s not a matter of point the camera at the person diving for the ball or puck and snapping away. It’s a lot more complicated than that.

In digital photography sports can be quite challenging. The sports people do not present an easy task of being photographed because of the amount of high movement. However, you can indeed achieve great sports digital photography. Most excellent sports digital photography requires good planning and execution.

Here are some exclusive tips for gaining fantastic sports shots in your digital photography.

First things first; know your digital camera. I recommend taking note and practicing first all the settings that sports photography needed. You may find yourself going for the faster shutter speed, increased ISO and burst mode. Let’s take a look at all these things on your digital camera and see how they can be applied to give you sensational sports photos.

High shutter speeds:
As with all moving objects, in order to capture the “frozen in time” look in digital photography a fast shutter speed is required. The faster the movement the fast the shutter speed will need to be. In digital photography the general consensus is that the shutter speed needs to be faster than that of the subject. For example if you have a sliding puck across ice and there is a someone about to take a dive for it then its necessary to quickly mentally assess how fast that person might be traveling at. If they are traveling at approximately 50 kilometers (approx 32 miles) per hour then you may find a very fast shutter speed is needed for this digital photo.

A very fast shutter speed in digital photography may be anything from 500th of a second or higher. For high speed movement you may want to consider an even faster shutter speed of 1000th of a second or something in that range.

Keep in mind that in digital photography a fast shutter speed works to reduce some of the light which is why a higher ISO is often necessary. (I’ll talk about that in a minute.) Usually a if a ball, such as a baseball going at around 145 kilometers an hour (90.09 miles per hour) a shutter speed of around 1/4000 will get you that “suspended ball in mid air” type of photo. For physical movement, such as someone leaping to catch a football, a shutter speed of 1/500 or over is a good place to start.

Now this is all very well if your scene if well lit. But what if you are taking your digital photography shots indoors at night and the light is not quite enough to provide enough light? In most instances, an indoor stadium at night time will be well lit, but that doesn’t always ensure good digital photos. In sports photography we need to understand that we can only control the artistic value and input of our digital photo and the control of the camera. We can’t control the lighting on the scene being such a public event. In digital photography sports photos we must realize that it’s going to be a challenge to begin with. So here are something’s you can in your digital sports photography to increase the amount of light.

If you have a light tool on your digital camera such as a histogram you can get a good idea of what the light levels are like on your sensor. With this handy tool you can adjust the ISO at the time of your pictures taking.

Increase your ISO: A high ISO in digital photography simply means the sensitivity to light that your digital camera has. In a nutshell the more ISO you have increased the image to, the less light the sensor needs. In sports photography an ISO of 400 or higher can work really well. The downside to this is that it does increase noise. To combat this you can use noise reduction software in the post editing process such as Noise Ninja or increase the LAB mode in the post editing process. Don’t be afraid to try a few shots at 400, 800 and even as high as 1600.

Burst mode:
In most sports digital photography this will be one of the settings you will turn to. Burst mode is also known as ‘continuous shooting’. This ‘continuous’ shooting mode allows you to get a sequence of shoots in succession. You can increase your chances of getting that ideal “split second perfect shot” that you might not be able to get by pre-emption or in normal shooting. This also works so beautifully if your digital camera has a painfully long lag time. I’ve used this so many times to get around the high lag my Sony Cyber shot has got. Some cameras have 3 frames per second and some go up to 12 frames per second. You simply select this mode and hold your finger on the shutter button and it will fire off as many shots in 1 second as it can.

Okay so I’ve been talking about your digital camera and the setting’s used for ideal sports digital photography, so what about any external equipment? If you have been thinking about this you’re spot on. You can take as much time with your settings but there’s not much point if you can’t get close to the action. There’s no point having a picture with perfect lighting and perfect action if the players are like dots on a sheet of paper. You need a good telephoto lens if you can’t get close up. A telephoto lens brings you closer because of its long distance capability. It will get you closer to the action but will need a faster shutter speed.

Many fantastic sports digital photos are taken with an emphasis on a very fast shutter speed, an f stop of around the 2.8 mark to blur the background and focus in on the subject. You may find that if your sportsperson is visually separated from the background and you take the digital photograph with a telephoto lens you’ll have a more shallow depth of field which can give you a more powerful feeling in your digital photo. You can get away with a good optical zoom lens, but you’ll get far better digital sports shots with a proper telephoto.

So what about the artistic side of sports photography with your digital camera? Plenty!

Pre-emption and Emotion is the key to good art.
When taking sports photography you probably won’t find a more public display of human emotion. The emotions of a sports person range from intense anticipation to extreme disappointment or extreme exhilaration. Pre-empting when these emotions take place is they key to getting artistic and impressive sports photos. This comes with practicing your digital photography.

SO much pressure is placed on our athletes, expecting them to perform so we can enjoy the show and the investors can enjoy their returns. This is another reason why I say to get a telephoto lens so you can capture the emotions on their faces and their body language. It makes for superb photography. For ideas on ice hockey, have a look at some ice hockey images that are great study tools.

Don’t just look at these digital photos, you must study them. Take on the attitude that studying sports photography will improve your digital sports photos ten fold. You will have a style to emulate and copy to start with then eventually, when you become confident, you’ll start to adopt your own style.

Happy shooting,
Amy Renfrey

To study digital sports photography check these sites out: http://www.espn.com and http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Amy Renfrey is the author of two major successful ebooks Digital Photography Success and Advanced Digital Photography. She is a photographer and also teaches digital photography. Her educational ebooks takes the most complex photography terms and turns them into easy to understand language so that anyone, at any level of photography, can easily move to a semi-professional level of skill in just a very short time. Shes photographed many things from famous musicians (Drummers for Prince and Anastasia) to weddings and portraits of babies. Amy also teaches photography online to her students which can be found at http://www.DigitalPhotographySuccess.com

Author: Amy Renfrey
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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As we have discussed there are many avenues open to a professional photographer. Some actually graduate from the world of business into corporate photography. Corporate photography has many facets; it is used for publicity, in the form of advertisements; for public relations, for historical purposes, and for in-house brochures. Some corporate photographers can work for the same company for many years. They cover special events in the companies’ history, as well as being as in some cases an important aspect of industrial history. The history of the steamboat, the transition from the Agrarian to the Industrial revolution has all been captured on film.

Not only industrial history but history has been captured on film. War photographers usually by press photographers’ have captured history.

In the 1940′s Ansel Adam’s was probably the best-known American photographer. He captured images of the enforced internment of American citizen’s of Japanese descent at the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California. These prints record history in another way as the Photographic Division of the Library of Congress show digital scans of his negatives as well as his prints; this allows a student to study his dark room techniques.

The art of action photography is a specialised art that presents unique challenges, requiring both technical skills in capturing a moving image, as well as knowledge of the activity you are photographing. A sense of timing is vital as well as having the ability to pre-focus. Some types of photography has peak moments, such as the hour before dusk, action photography has peak milliseconds! Your sense of timing has to be well developed to know when this is going to be, because you have to shoot a millisecond before that to give the camera time to actually shoot. This is where knowledge of the activity is very helpful to allow you to anticipate the peak second. However, this is a very specialised aspect of the photography business, your techniques can be improved. Sport photography is easier than moving wildlife, or breaking news stories, as it is more predictable in its outcome. Common sense is fairly important with your positioning, you need an interesting backdrop, as well as a place that allows you to make best use of ambient light, be it also to keep yourself in a position of safety. The Pulitzer Prize for photography is no use to anyone when they are dead. Often these skills can be refined at amateur sporting events, where you do not need a press pass.

Another specialist type of photography is underwater photography, partly because you also need to be a qualified diver and partly because the equipment is specialised. It is possible to take shots underwater, with a normal camera, but amphibious cameras, get better results, unfortunately they are expensive, with a lot of things to learn and the possibility of very expensive repairs. As with action photography this is best left to the specialist and it is not a feasible option, unless you work in this media for the majority of your time. The sea can be a dangerous medium to work in, and it presents special challenges such as night, and wreck photography, as well as drift photography, all of which challenge both your diving skills as well as your technical skills.

Scientific photographers take images of a variety of subjects to illustrate or record scientific or medical data using knowledge of scientific procedures. They typically possess additional knowledge in areas such as engineering, medicine, biology, or chemistry. Often the photography of this type of record is an adjunct to a scientific career.

Assignment photography is the delivery of material for a specific assignment, often with limited appeal. It includes portrait photography, as well as wedding photography. Portrait photographers often have their own studios, as their clients come to them to have a formal portrait photographed. SLR digital cameras are often preferred to do this type of work, as there are more opportunities to “view real timework”, you do not have to wait for the negatives to be printed to see if you have created a shadow on the face with a hat. Also they can be retouched, pixel-by-pixel, which means the small time imperfections can be glossed over. The adage the camera does not lie has never been completely true, but in today’s world is even less so. A portrait photographer has the opportunity to go out on assignment and covers events such as weddings, and christenings.

Photo Journalism is another branch of photography that covers the breaking of various events; it can be general, on a local paper, covering local events such as school plays etc. International freelancers often cover specific areas such as war photography. Press photographers are often characterized under the banner of “journalism”, as they collect, edit and present news material, yet despite this they use images to tell a news story.

It is distinguished from documentary photography, street photography and the photographing of celebrities because they have a timeline in that they tell a story in a chronological order. A narrative to further complete the story nearly always accompanies the work. Implicit to a degree in this type of work is a level of objectivity rather than creativity, as the images are recording real events in real time. For these reasons it differs from a wedding photographer, even though in theory he covers an event in real time and for publication.

A further aspect of photography is the “celebrity” and “Society” photographer. The two are distinguishable, though the person being photographed can fall in both categories. The society photographer may be also a photojournalist himself. In Europe at least the Society photographer, is nearly always of the same class, partly on the ground that they have the “breeding” to cover such events, which may be Wimbledon, or the Melbourne Cup, or even a charity-raising gala. It is implicit that the Photographer has permission to take the photograph. That’s quite different to the inherent distaste often applied to the methods used by the celebrity photographer, whilst at the same time the public retain an insatiable desire to be able to see the photographs. Celebrity photographers are often these days called paparazzi, after a famous Italian photographer known for his dogged determination to trail after celebrities, and publish photographs taken in an unguarded moment.

This article has been supplied courtesy of Roy Barker. Roy often writes and works closely with Profitable Photography Business. This site is dedicated to coaching you in starting your own photography business but places a strong emphasis on profitability issues & guidelines. You can also gain many photography resources (some free) from Digital Photography If you seek further guides, helpful hints, articles and news, you can go to http://www.photography-business-tips.com which also has a Photographers Forum for exchange of views with other photographers.

Author: Roy Barker
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Two-day courses are for those who do not want recognition of a master degree in photography or for those who do not have much time to spend on a regular degree in photography. Most regular courses are designed keeping amateurs and newcomers in mind but for professional photographers, weekend or online courses along with other photography workshops are the best choice. With a weekend photography course, you will learn to combine photography concepts and techniques with a proper understanding of composition.

Basic understanding about the different types of photography is significant when you are looking for a new course because most weekend courses are designed for photographers who are looking for more information on a particular niche. If you are looking for a course that can provide you with the general insight to photography techniques such as editing, lighting, composition, exposure, light and shade, a beginner level course is the best deal.

There are many streams of photography such as:

Commercial- In commercial photography, your basic job is to click pictures that can be used in various marketing tools such as the company’s website, brochures and other marketing materials. You are limited to click pictures of the company’s employees or products but chances for exploring your creativity are almost limitless. If this type of photography fascinates you, you should look for a course that leaves you with more insights on this niche.

Fashion - In fashion photography, you will be mostly involved with promoting yourself and picture taking is just a part of your job because the competition is quite tough in this industry. For a fashion photographer, good communication skills and marketing skills are must have skills. Good courses usually deal with portfolio creation and management, marketing techniques, business promotion, studio techniques, communicating with model and photography tools. Normal Digital photography tools are not commonly used in fashion photography studios but custom cameras and tools are commonly used.

Medical Photography- Medical photography mostly deals with clicking pictures of human organs as well as various hospital settings.

Forensic Photography- For a crime scene photographer, attention to detail is the most desirable skill. Even the smallest piece of object and mark is important in forensic photography so you should be equipped with necessary tools.

Photojournalism- News photography is the common form of photojournalism but these days, there are individual photographers who work on specific assignments as freelancers.

Wedding- Gone were the days when wedding photography was not taken seriously. Today, this is one of the most desirable streams of photography where a lot of money and fame is involved. If you have noticed, the niche is becoming competitive day by day.

Wildlife- Wildlife photography demands reasonable level of knowledge about animals, insects, plants and ecosystems. You can find plenty of courses offered in this niche.

Underwater- Marine photography is a great profession, especially for those who love scuba diving.

All these photography niches use different types of cameras and other equipments. Go for weekend courses that help you to improve your skills in your favorite photography niche.

Tobias is an IT-Specialist and editor of http://www.best-photography-courses.com – an information portal with tips and suggestions for photography courses and photography schools. Further information can be found at http://www.best-photography-courses.com/weekend-photography-courses.html.

Author: Tobias K
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Wedding photography has been around since a very long time now. This is concerned as one of the best options for the various independent and photography studious to gain a niche for themselves. The technique of wedding photography has developed after the discovery of the art form in 1826. In the early days of wedding photography most if the young couples did not hire any special photographer to shoot the whole event. It was later in the 19th century when this tradition gained a lot of popularity and developed into something called thrash dress photography in the modern times. In the beginning of the 20th century when the industry witnessed the arrival of the color photographs, the wedding photography gained a lot more popularity. With the advent of improved lighting facility along with improved film roles the tradition of wedding photography gained even more popularity.

The growing competition among the photographers forced them to adopt it as their profession and start providing this service visiting various locations. Development witnessed more and more sophisticated technology making the load of the photographers less but expectations of the couples were always on a rise. Today there are mostly two types of wedding photography which is recognized. The first one is the traditional one and the second one is the photo journalistic. Traditional photography provides the couple with more classic posed images as the photographer has to supervise the whole event on the eve of wedding. While photo journalistic is that form in which the photographer does very little or no supervision of the event and takes photographs which are unposed.

There is a third form of wedding photography which is coming up and is known as the fashion based approach of wedding photography. This kind of wedding photography can be called as a mixture of the traditional and the photo journalistic form of wedding photography. The main aim of contemporary photography is to capture the whole story and the atmospheres of the happenings of the day. This form provides the couple with many excellent photos which are not predetermined or posed. The advent of the new technology and devices of photography like digital cameras have widened the scope of wedding photography. This form also involves the use of lighting, composition and the timing to capture the photograph which creates a strong visual effect.

For most of the people it has always been a tuff question to answer. What is thrash dress photography? For some it may seem a meaningless word or concept but for others it is simply what it stands for. The main concept of thrash the dress photography is to take amazing as well as funny pictures in the various wedding dresses. The main aim of thrash photography is to provide the couple with the photographs which they would have liked to be taken on their wedding day but, were not able to do so as there was no time or were afraid to get the dress dirty. Thrash photography is something very different than what the name actually suggests. It is not about ruining the dress as one would think according to the name. Thrash photography sessions can be attended by the whole family along with the kids as well as the pets.

Most of the thrash photography sessions conducted by the studios do not ruin the dress and if any problem arises the couple can always avail the dry cleaning services provided instantly. The couples are also provided with adequate guidance to complete the photography session by the experts. Thrash photography is mainly aimed to provide the marriage of the couple a completely different look. After the completion of the blessed event the bride and the groom once again strap their gorgeous dresses for a last photo shoot a weird place like a mossy lake or at the back alley irrespective of some predictable place like a studio. Thrash photography is gaining a lot of popularity amidst the young couples as more and more couple is coming up with ideas of giving their marriage a different look. There are many studios which are engaged in thrash photography and providing excellent service to the couple.

Most of the brides the wedding dress would be of no use after the wedding ceremony get over. It’s of not use to suffocate the dress into the plastic cover and keep it safely into the cupboard. Thus, the best thing to be done is to go for a detailed thrash dress session which will not only give the wedding a unique and splendid look but, also convey your love to the groom. This will also provide you with some magnificent and fun filled pictures that will last for lifetime. Most of the thrash dress photography is carried on in session when the couple is taken out in an unexpected place to carry out the shoot. The couple is also provided with choices of the various locations where the shoot will be carried out.

Most of the studies that are providing this service nowadays have employed various expert photographers for shoot. There are some experts out there in the market having a lot of demand and always full of projects. These experts mostly demand a lot of money but the end result is always awesome with some great photographs that will last for centuries and remind of the special occasion. The concept of thrash photographs is something that has been developed very recently and hence is not popular among the people so much. As the days go by and the couples gain knowledge about this type of photography there is a lot of expectation that it will be liked by many. Some of the studies like Hawaii photographers at LotuStar.com have been working in this field for quite a long time now and are the pioneers in thrash the dress photography. Studies like these are known for producing photographs that tell the whole story of the wedding and the style of the couples as well. They will surely fulfill every demand of the couple with the excellent services and facilities provided by them.

Paul Agung is the owner of www.awebwedding.com a website that helps couples create their wedding website design. He discusses many different types wedding articles related to wedding themes based in Hawaii he is an active Hawaii wedding coordinator and event planning specialist.

Author: Paul Agung
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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