Model Agency 411

A lens is simply a device for focussing the scene in front of you onto the camera’s sensor. All cameras have lenses. Some are built in (as in compact cameras and prosumers) and some are detachable (as with SLR cameras). All of them do the same job.

There are different types of lenses. Standard lenses will cover most normal jobs - portraits, simple landscapes and such like. However there are “telephoto” and “wide angle” lenses also.

Telephoto lenses basically bring far away things nearer. A wildebeest on the African plain is dangerous if you get too close, so a telephoto will get a closer image without you moving yourself.

Wide-angle lenses make you see a broader area of the scene in front of you. It will make the wildebeest look smaller and farther away but it will include a larger breadth of the scene and enable you to see the bigger picture.

It’s sometimes hard to choose which lens to get but luckily there is a cunning way of making sure you have a lens for virtually every situation. Manufacturers now very kindly produce “zoom” lenses. These are lenses that are normal until you twist or push or pull parts of it then they become telephoto. Or, one moment they are wide-angle then they become normal again. We commonly refer to them as “short zoom” (going from wide-angle to normal) or “long zoon” (from normal to telephoto”. Between them, you will hardly ever need another lens.

OK, you can get “super zoom” lenses and “super wide-ange” lenses, but these are for specialist use only or ar purchased by people with more money than sense. For most purposes you will feel entirely commfortable with a short and a long zoom. Talk to your local dealer and ask for a demonstration.

Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com

If you are still unsure about getting the correct exposure, there is a cheap but very effective device called an 18% grey card that can limit your frustration, if used correctly.

When light falls upon a certain object; if the object is too dark your camera or meter will automatically give you an over-exposed reading. This also happens when we take a reading from something that is too
bright - the meter gives us an under-exposed reading.

We need to find a mid-tone object for our meters to read the proper exposure.

Sometimes if we are taking pictures in a high contract scene a mid-tone object is impossible to find. 18 % grey is the mid-tone between pure white and pure black.

An 18% grey card will record the exact light that will touch any object. Start by placing the grey card where you are going to take your reading, point your camera or light meter at the grey card - your meter should read the exact light that falls upon the card.

These cards can be used for all types of photography. If you are taking a portrait place the grey card beside the subjects’ face. This will give you an exact reading and help to capture perfect skin tones.

We don’t need to understand the full science of how this works, but knowing a little doesn’t hurt. All light-meters are calibrated to produce an exposure of 18% The grey card reflects the exact same reading.

This card only costs a few Euro, and most decent camera stores should sell them. The 18% grey card should become an important part of your equipment. The grey card can be used if you shoot with digital or film cameras, and whether you use black and white or colour film.

TJ Tierney. Award winning Irish Landscape Photographer. If you are looking for more tips visit: Photo tips. To view some of his images visit his on-line gallery: Pictures of Ireland

Introduction
Photographing your pet can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Done well, it will allow you to immortalize Fluffy or Spot - that significant member of your family - the pet that shared you food, chewed your shoes, and brought you the newspaper. In fact, the act of seriously photographing your pet will bring you both closer because the process opens you to noticing the small, wonderful things that you might have missed before - the way he wags his tail, etc. This is a grand adventure.

Goal
As with anything, it’s best to proceed with a goal in mind so you know where to start. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to capture your pet’s playful side? Are you trying to setup a funny photo using a prop such as a birthday hat? Is this an interactive portrait between your pet and your child? Sit down and put on paper this goal, because it will help you in preparing properly. Nothing is worse than spending an hour going to your favorite scene with equipment in hand and realizing your forgot a favorite toy - do your self a favor, do not skip this step.

Setting
Now that you have decided on your goal, it’s now time to decide the proper setting. Indoors vs. outdoors. Near the fireplace with an open fire in the background, or in a studio. At the beach or in the woods. As you think about the proper setting, think about how your pet will respond to that setting. If you decide the public park is the perfect place, you must think about your pet’s resistance to distractions. Is he/she able to resist running after another animal or person? The more you know your pet and look through his/her eyes, the better off you will be.

Preparation
Now you are at the critical preparation stage. You’ve set your goal, you’ve decided on the appropriate setting - let’s try to anticipate all that can (and will) go wrong. I use the word ‘wrong’ loosely - try not be too rigid and to have fun - we will talk more about that in a minute. Write out on paper every possible thing you can think of. Here are some suggestions:
Exercise your pet - just enough so they are still alert, but not hyper
Lighting - outdoor is best, but flash will work too - should be natural lighting
Grooming - only if it doesn’t adversely affect your pet’s mood - then do it days beforehand
Props/Toys - favorite of the pet
Food - favorite of the pet
Be prepared for sudden movement - shutter speed about 1/125th and use iso 400 or 800 film (if indoors)
Watch the scene clutter
Have pet at least 6 feet away from background to reduce shadows
Bring an assistant to help manage your pet
Zoom Lens
Camera, Film, Tripod, Equipment, etc.
Etc., etc. Are you getting the idea? The first time you make out your list, the process will be a little tedious, but the beauty is that once the list is made, all you need to do is modify it slightly for the next sessions.

On Location
Whew, you’ve made to shooting location - congratulations. Hopefully, you’ve brought everything you are going to need, right? Right! Now, it’s time for setup. Be organized; get everything laid out in a logical fashion. The last thing you want to be doing is fiddling around with equipment when you need to be shooting pictures - an animal has a zero attention span and you have got to be ready to snap that picture when the moment is there. How is you animal’s demeanor? Is he/she super wound up? If yes, then perhaps some light exercise would be in order - nothing too heavy, but just enough to help him/her calm down. How are you? Are you stressed? Relax, and go with the flow - animals are super sensitive to your mood. Give your pet some last minute grooming - just touch-ups. If you are outdoors, how is the wind? Is it too strong? Is the sun too bright? Remember, overcast is much better for exposure. Make sure that your pet is far enough away from your background so as to not cast any shadows.

The Photographer’s Mindset
Your mindset should be one of peace and serenity. I can’t overstate that enough. Also, you need to climb into the mind of your pet as best you can. What are they thinking and feeling? Align your expectations properly. If you have never done this before, don’t expect perfection the first time out - that will just raise your anxiety level and will stress out your pet.

Shooting
One of the most important things to remember is to get down on your pet’s level, physically, as much as possible. A shot from above doesn’t portray intimacy. In addition, when you are at your pet’s level, it’s easier for you to empathize with it. If you’ve never crawled around on the ground before, you might feel a bit foolish, but trust me, it makes all the difference in the world. Make sure that you and your handler work with each other - you have got to be in charge, but also try to be flexible - you have a lot of variables that you are managing.

Be patient, and have a lot of fun!!!

www.Kitten-Pictures.com <http://www.Kitten-Pictures.com>

Stan Beck is a self-proclaimed animal lover. He also runs the website Kitten-Pictures.com.

Sharing and printing photos on the Internet has always been difficult for everyone. Trouble with attaching the photos when emailing as well as when uploading them inevitably occurs if you are trying to make it in the commonplace manner. Recently, the situation has improved by the appearance of online photo albums. There exists a large variety of different photo albums on the Internet. Their priority is to ease the process of photo sharing and printing. Online albums offer photo hosting for all kinds of photos. Both professional photographers and laics use the service to show their photos in publicity.

In what these photo sharing sites differ from the ordinary photo albums that people create on their web sites? The difference is only that online albums provide easier ways to share your photos. Many people in the past years became virtually fed up with life when they tried to upload their photos on a given web site. The procedure of uploading was so tediously long and took a really long time. First people had to scan their photos. Next, they had to convert them into a .gif or .jpg file format. They had then to resize the photo in case it doesn’t fit in the hosting services guidelines. Uploading it to the Web site’s server was the next procedure. Another thing was to ascertain the URL for the photo. Additionally, a code on the page had to be put, so that the photo would show up. As this long procedure wasn’t enough, people also needed to create thumbnails for every photo on the site so that loading of the page became faster (of course, not forgetting to create links to each graphic from the particular thumbnail!). If there were too many photos, the site would take years to wholly load. Uploading digital photos is a little bit easier, as scanning and format converting are omitted, but there still remain the other exasperating procedures, which usually take forever to accomplish.

What are the priorities that photo hosting sites have over the commonplace photo albums on web sites?

Pixyshare.com is designed to accomplish the whole uploading procedure for you. Your photos will be uploaded in just a few clicks and their online display will not depend on your HTML abilities. You don’t need to know anything about uploading to use the photo hosting service that Pixyshare.com offers. Another point is that the visitors of your album will have full access to the photos, if you only give them one URL address.

Pixyshare is one of the various photo hosting sites, but it offers many new extra features that other photo hosting albums lack. It is designed for photographers who like to display their photos on the Internet without having to bother about uploading procedures. For creating an account you only need to choose an username. Creating photo albums is easy and what’s more, it brings pleasure. In addition, there are no limitations about the amount of photos to be uploaded on a given album. In comparison to other photo hosting albums, which limit your files sizes up to few MBs, Pixyshare.com gives you the opportunity to upload a file with up to 10 MB in size. You may as well delete or compress original images, using our Original Image Processing tool, so that you have full control of your disk space. Another advantage of Pixyshare is the affiliate program, which offers a discount if your friends also become members. Any time a friend of yours becomes a member, you will be paid 6 $ for having asked him or her to use our service. Unlike most of the paid photo hosting sites that give you limited trial period, we offer you no time limitations when you want to try our service. Get your pictures online for as long as you like, and take your time to decide whether you like to join us.

Pixyshare is designed to make everything automatically - thumbnails, changing photo sizes and so on. You can add comments about each one of your photos. You may password-protect some of the photos so that only selected people can see them. You can choose the size of your photos: medium, small or large, depending on your preferences.

Pixyshare is the perfect photo hosting portal on the Internet if you want to discover the advantages of online albums. Just try it, without spending any money: the primary service is free and offers many extra features.

Article by Robbie Darmona - an article writer who writes on a wide variety of subjects. For more information click online photo album