Category: Photography

5 tips for buying a DSLR camera

On June 10, 2018

If you are planning to take photography seriously, then you should invest in a good DSLR camera. A good equipment can make your learning journey more enjoyable. Here are some tips that can help you buy your first DSLR camera.

Budget

The price of DSLR cameras varies and they can be as expensive as $15,000 if you go for the higher end cameras. So, you should first decide on the budget. If you have just started photography then you should go for the entry-level cameras and those won’t be that expensive. You don’t need the sophisticated features of the high-end cameras if you are an amateur photographer. A budget of $500 to$700 will be just fine.

Accessories

You should buy some accessories along with the camera. You will need extra lenses as you learn the advanced techniques of photography. You can invest in a flash, reflector, tripod, etc. You must have a good bag to carry your camera and other accessories with you. A good memory card is essential so that you can store all your beautiful photos in it.

Brands

A camera is a very sensitive equipment; you should go for the top brands. You will easily find accessories for those brands and if needed, can find the replacement parts as well. Nikon and Canon are the most popular brands. But you can go for Olympus and Sony as well.

Your objective

You should decide what type of photography you want to do. People do travel photography, sports photography, product photography, etc. There are cameras and accessories meant for the specific type of photography. So, you should choose a camera according to the type of photography you want to do.

Features

Different cameras have unique features. You should consider these features before buying a camera. These features will affect the quality of the photograph. The sensor size is important, for example. You should buy a camera that has a large sensor. Megapixel is another feature you should consider. You should go for cameras with 7 megapixels or more in order to get sharp images. Some cameras have video recording capabilities, anti-shake or editing capabilities, etc. Cameras come in various modes like Landscape, Night or Paranoma.

You should read reviews of cameras before buying. You can read online blogs or magazines on photography to learn about the latest cameras. You should spend time understanding the various features of the camera. If necessary, you can ask a professional photographer for advice. The camera is an investment and you should take the decision to buy the best camera after doing a lot of research.

How can you take low-key automotive photographs?

By Darren Diaz

On May 19, 2018

In Low-key Automotive Photograph, Photography, Promo

Low-key photography is a technique that can bring out drama to your image. However, it’s a great challenge and even the professionals sometimes struggle with it. It’s all about the right kind of illumination. A low-key image contains darker colors and tones. They portray a specific mood and atmosphere. You will find that a low-key image is full of mystery. Shadows are usually the primary elements of low-key photography.

The automotive industry is growing and millions of dollars of cars are sold every year. The manufacturers pay a big amount of money to take the pictures of their latest model cars. For professional automotive photography, you need an expensive gear and the right locations to shoot. But many times it’s not possible to get a warehouse-sized studio for shooting. So, you need to create such environment.

Camera setting

For low-key automotive photography, you need a reflector, a good camera, tripod, and flash. You should set up the camera to ISO 100. This way you will get a good image quality. You should then adjust the aperture and speed to capture the right image. You should set the shutter speed high.

Studio

The key to low-key photography is that you shouldn’t let the light reach the background. If you don’t have the appropriate studio, then you can use two separate rooms for automotive photography. You should block off all the light in one room. The other room should be used as the light source. You should use the door to control the amount of light entering the room. You can also choose between indoors and outdoors or daylight and night. You can use the moonlight and the streetlights. Parking lots are great places too for shooting pictures of cars. You can create a black background using your shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. It means underexposing an image.

Software

You can use Photoshop Creative Cloud. It is a very powerful tool. You should adjust the white balance, contrast, exposure, etc. You should remove reflections from your picture. You can use the ‘healing brush tool’.

You should visit ‘Flickr’ and look at the photographs of cars to get some idea. You should experiment with your photographs. You should use the right camera for your photography. You should think about the composition before taking photos. A tripod and flash are a must for automotive photography. After adjusting your camera settings and taking the photograph, it is important to edit it using the appropriate software. Learn the various features of this software so that you can give the final touches to your photographs. You should practice as much as you can to take better low-key automotive photographs.

Infographic by: Picture Correct

Top 5 tips for printing photographs

By Darren Diaz

On May 14, 2018

In Photography, Printing, Promo

The days of films are over. Now you don’t need to spend money on buying reels of films and weight long hours for your photographs to be printed. The cameras and printers are now much advanced. Most people now use digital cameras and smartphones to take photographs. You can take thousands of photos and store them on your memory card. There are instant printing machines available, so printing photos is not a hassle anymore. The latest model printers can print high-quality photos. You can print them right from your home. For printing photographs, here are some tips you should consider.

Choose the right printer

For printing photographs, you should use a color inkjet printer that is capable of printing photos or a printer that is specifically made for printing photos. For the normal printer, you should look for a printer with at least 2,400 dpi. The dedicated photo printers have about 9,700 dpi. The higher the resolution, the better it is.

You can find the latest model photo printers having a review screen. But the best thing would be to print a sample image first. Before you purchase a printer, make sure you read the reviews.

Use the high-resolution images

Your photo file needs to be original. If pictures are taken from a low-resolution camera, then your photos won’t come out good. You must use a camera with at least 5-megapixel photo capture. Your photos must be detailed and sharp if you want to print the photos in large sizes. Digital cameras having 10 megapixels or more are ideal.

Select the right photo paper

The type of paper you will use to print photo depends on the type of printer. Some printers can handle thick glossy photo paper; whereas, others can’t. For the best pictures, you should use the best quality photo paper. You should also check what size of paper your printer can handle. You can experiment with various kinds of papers. The common papers are the glossy ones. You can try matte papers as well.

Make sure the printer setting is correct

You should make sure that the printer is set to the highest resolution. The print speed should also be set at the maximum. If ink bleeding or color saturation occurs, then the speed must be set too low; so you need to increase the speed. On the other hand, if the image comes out faded, then the speed is too high and you need to lower it.

Software

You must make sure that your picture is in the best condition before printing. You should edit and retouch the picture. You can use tools like Adobe’s Photoshop Lightroom 5. You can edit the photo, resize it or retouch it to make it look better.

These tips will help you to print high-quality photographs. You should select the right photos to print from the hundreds you capture. Then take the time to edit those photos before printing in order to get the best results.