Phone Shot

In this new era, the camera on a smart phone can be far superior to the point and shoots of yesteryear. But, this is not the case for all of them. A bad camera mixed with poor shooting practices will destroy an image.

First thing is first. How do you take a picture with a camera phone. It is different than using a DSLR. The first thing to keep in mind is the extreme lack of power. At most you will have 8mega pixels. Of course there is no optical zoom either. No changing of aperture, no adjusting of exposure times. You are alone.

Depth of Field Preview

Depth of field is important. Unless you are a top notch photographer; chances are you're not getting the aperture right on the first shot. Fortunately there is a handy little button on most DSLR's that allow you to see the depth of field before pressing the shutter release. I admit that when I first ran across this handy little button it was accidental. At first glance all it appears to do is darken the overall image. Of course there is so much more. The button is the "depth of field preview" button. By pressing this button you can see exactly how the image will be focused when captured. While the depth of field preview button was far more important during the days of film, it is still a useful time saving tool. No longer do you need to take your eye away from the viewfinder to see what you need.

Panoramas: A How To

What is more striking than a panorama? You are hiking through the forest, walk around a corner. There it is, a vista that is so striking you must take it home. There are a few different options. The first being wide-angle photography. In wide angle photography a special lens is used. This lens will allow you to capture far more of a scene than a traditional lens. Of course a wide angle lens may still not be able to capture the entire scene, you may also not have a wide angle lens. After all, lenses are pretty damn expensive. There is an easy answer though. With a little bit of planning and some Photoshop magic that entire striking scene can be yours.

FILM! WHY U SUCH A BITCH!

The great thing about digital photography is that learning settings is pretty easy. Find a target and fire away until you get everything just right. The results are instant. You don't have to worry about wasting a shot. If the end result sucks like a mother is unsavory, simply delete it and move on. Now film is a delicate creature. There is no guess and check. Once your shot is taken, that is it. You have 24 shots on that roll and by god you had better get at least one right. Of course, this is where we run into another obvious issue.

Play With Your Knob.

A good friend of mine, who happens to be just getting into digital photography himself, asked me what on earth the different camera settings do. I could never find a simple clean cut quick answer. So I will do my best to answer as simply as I can. Because I am a Canon man, I will be describing things in Canon terms. But these are things all camera users should know, so listen up.

Film: Not as simple as sticking it in.

As a new film using photographer. I think one of the first things to think about once you have your camera in hand, is what to put into it. Easy answer, film ya twat! Well, not so easy as it turns out. Walk into the store and take a look at the film counter. Depending on where you go, there may be many different films. You will probably see a few different boxes of 35mm film. Let's assume you have ventured into an actual camera store, or a film site like this or this. Now we will talk about the films you might run across.

The Beginnings of a Photographer

I am always looking for that new hobby. Whether it be the peaceful joys of fishing or the excitement of sky diving. I am always searching or something. Almost a year ago today I discovered a new hobby. Not the most exciting, and certainly not the cheapest. But one of the most rewarding hobbies I have found yet. That hobby is of course photography. I had seen photos all my life from "professional photographers" but had never really had the desire to go out and take pictures. I really did not feel comfortable with the idea of taking pictures of things and people. After all, who wants some punk kid with a camera bothering you? I came across something different though, the art of night photography. I loved the images and I loved the idea that I could go alone and be alone. I had to get into that. Now, I wasn't interested in picking up my cheap point and shoot and going out into the world. Oh no, I was doing night photography, I needed something better. I needed to look professional.