photos by richard

There are a number of important things that must be covered by someone who is hoping to turn into in Richmond wedding photography. Here is a synopsis of the secrets to success of a fledgling Richmond VA wedding photographer. It is important to remember that the success of someone who is planning to pursue a career as a professional wedding photographer is largely dependent on the amount of training he or she has before starting in the business of wedding photography.

Invest on the perfect and appropriate camera and lighting equipment. These are obviously the most critical elements of the wedding photography besides the photographer himself. Completea full and comprehensive research on the types of cameras in the market and check out the features of each. You can also check out for some useful tips and information in the Web for those latest camera gadgets that are available in the market. There are also a lot of sites that provide some useful tips and information from professional wedding photographers. The most important things to remember while making your choice are the features and functionality these cameras offer.

A competent wedding photographer also has to identify with the location. Just like a soldier who must be able to see clearly the terrain, a competent wedding photographer must be able to read the layout of all the locations related to the wedding celebration. A professional wedding photographer should not forget to know both his subjects and his atmosphere. He must also carefully consider the surroundings and the background in the shots that he is taking. The surroundings are as important as the subjects themselves because they add to the drama and the highlights that make a truly composed wedding photo.

It is also important to aware of small details such as glare from subjects wearing eyeglasses. Make sure that your camera angles are made while considering the subjects with eyeglasses. In such a case, you may ask your subject to adjust his pose in order to relieve the big bright spot from showing in the pictures that you take.

A professional wedding photographer normally plays out the entire proceedings in his mind and makes notations of the highlights and critical points of the wedding celebration. It is important that you are always a step ahead of everything; making sure that you don’t miss any opportunities to take shots way before an important highlight unfolds in front of you. This is easily one of the most critical aspects in the performance of a competent wedding photographer. One must be able to have to eye for the drama and highlights of the event. In some instances a professional wedding photographer would even have his assistant taking shots of the same event from a different position in order to achieve the desired effect. In other situations, the wedding photographer would use more than one camera in order to capture a stream of shots of a critical portion of the wedding event.

There are a number of ways to answer this question. One would be to obtain manufacturer sales data, if available. What I have today is a more easily obtained source - Flickr.com.

This popular file sharing site can capture camera info from about 2/3 of the photos submitted to their site. If you are wondering how they do this, check out the term "exif".

As of today, Sunday April 19, 2009, the 5 most popular DSLR cameras in use for Flickr uploaders are

* Canon Rebel XTi
* Nikon D80
* Canon Rebel XT
* Canon Rebel XSi
* Canon 40D (my baby!)

And in the Point and Shoot category?

# Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
# Canon PowerShot SD1000
# Canon PowerShot SD750
# Canon PowerShot G9
# Canon PowerShot S5 IS

WOW! Canon sales people must love this.

To see an up-to-date version of this data, just visit www.flickr.com/cameras/

And along comes one of the newest Canon DSLRs. The Rebel T1i.

* New 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor
* DIGIC 4 Image Processor
* Includes Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
* Full HD video capture at 1920 x 1080 resolution
* HDMI output Continue Reading »

If you are trying to find the best value digital camera, you have some things to take into account. Many people just think about the price when it comes to the best value digital camera, but that's not the only thing to consider. There are a few things that you should look at when you are looking for value in digital cameras, and we'll go over them here.

One of the things that you should examine first is the digital camera's resolution. You can tell the resolution that the camera is going to have by the megapixels it has. The camera that you choose should be one with a higher amount of megapixels than a lower amount. You will get better quality pictures with more megapixels.

The second thing to consider is the zoom lens that the digital camera comes with. You want to know that you are going to get some crystal clear pictures with your digital camera you chose a best value digital camera has a good zoom lens. It's really frustrating to miss a good picture due to the fact that you don't have a decent zoom lens.

It's a good idea to choose one that has a big LCD screen. This helps in determining whether or not you want to keep the photograph or try taking it again.

Next, think about the weight of the digital camera when you are buying it. Even though it may not be at the top of your list when you are buying a digital camera, it might make a difference. If a digital camera is very heavy and you use it over a long period of time, you may find that it's affecting the way that you take your pictures. It's a good idea to look at the cameras that you are considering and take into consideration their weights and how you are going to use it.

Although people look at this first, usually, it should be the last thing to consider. A good cheap price won't do you any good if the other things aren't decent.

Choosing the best value digital camera isn't easy, since there are a lot of things to be considered. The people who think about the big picture when they are choosing a digital camera instead of just the price find themselves happy with their choice. You may find that you paid a lot for a camera that you thought would be cheap because you didn't choose wisely. You are going to find value in the time you take to carefully weigh the factors.

WOW!

The people at Flip are not stopping! Now they have an HD model, for only $229 US.

• Holds 60 minutes of HD-quality video (1280 x 720 resolution at 30 frames per second; 16:9 widescreen) on 4 GB of built-in memory
• Weighing only 3.3 ounces, MinoHD is the world’s smallest HD camcorder
• Features one-touch recording and digital zoom
• Flip-out USB arm plugs directly into your computer to launch built-in FlipShare software
• FlipShare software lets you save and organize your videos, edit individual clips, make custom movies, email your videos, and upload them
• Records high-quality MP4 files that can be easily dragged and dropped into iTunes, iMovie, and iPhoto

Stunning HD Video

Flip MinoHD is the world’s smallest HD camcorder. But, in this case, small in size translates to high in quality. Flip MinoHD produces vibrant HD 720p (1280 x 720, 16:9 widescreen) video that can be enjoyed on any HDTV. Flip camcorders have earned a reputation for high-quality video, and MinoHD combines that signature Flip quality with the latest in HD technology. Its 4 GB of built-in memory lets you capture an hour of brilliant HD video, even in low-light situations. Plus, premier AAC audio means your videos will sound clearer than ever.

More info by clicking

I recently bought and reviewed the Flip Camcorder. Now, along comes a lower priced competitor, the Jazz. How do they compare?

They both use 2 AA batteries, but my Flip included a starter pair and the Jazz does not.

They both work for YouTube, but the Flip is 640x480 and the Jazz is only 320x240, so if you want to make a full screen home video, get the Flip.

The Jazz has a better microphone.

The Jazz USB is only 1.1 so transfer is slower. BUT, the Jazz® Pocket Camcorder uses an SD card (bought separately) so you can remove it and plug it into your computer's USB 2 port. Flip does not use removeable media.

I will stick with my 640x480 Flip.

I have a photo quality ink jet printer that can print very good colour photos, up to 8x10, on photo style paper. I was intrigued when a number of well known retailers started offering to print digital photos for less than it costs me for the paper alone.

So, I ordered a group of 4x6 prints from one of them, by uploading the files to their website. If a store that does this is convenient to you, you can pick them up. If not, they will ship them for a small extra charge.

I ordered mine on a Tuesday, after supper, and they were delivered via regular mail that same Friday. I was impressed. That same store now has a walk-in 1 hour service for the same price.

To test the effect of extra pixels, I sent them the same photo 6 times. The only difference in the photos was the resolution:

- 150 dpi (600 pixels x 900 pixels)

- 200 dpi (800 x 1200)

- 250 dpi (1000 x 1500)

- 300 dpi (1200 x 1800)

- 350 dpi (1400 x 2100)

- 400 dpi (1600 x 2400)

The photo was a picture of a couple I know. One of them had highlights in their hair, and gel had been used, so hair was sticking out somewhat. When I looked very closely at the photos (naked eye only, no magnifiers) at fine details like the hair, I could detect a minor difference between the 150 dpi and the 400 dpi, (actually, there was even a bit of a difference noted between 150 and 200) but if the photos are destined for your photo album, you would never know the difference, in my opinion. I normally use either 200 dpi or 250 dpi.

On a 4x6, lets say you go with 200 dpi. That is 800 pixels by 1200 pixels. That is about 1 mega pixel. If you go to your local digital camera reseller today, you probably cannot buy a serious camera that is less than 6 mega pixels. A 6 mega pixel camera gives you about 2100 x 2800, which at 200 dpi lets you print a 10.5 x 14 print (most stores have 11x14 in their product offering). At 150 dpi, you can get an 12 x 18 easily from a 6 mp. (p.s. the store I used will NOT print anything less than 150 dpi). At my local store, a 12x18 was $11 Canadian in August 2008. My printer cannot even print that size. For a 4x6 they want 19 cents.

Based on my tests, a 6 mega pixel camera can print a great quality 8 x 10 print, which at 250 dpi needs 2000 x 2500 pixels. If you just need 4 x 6 prints, you will get great prints from even an ancient 1 mega pixel. Need I remind you that the current pricing is less than I pay for the paper alone.

Do I use my fancy photo quality printer anymore? Not very often.

I bought a Canon 40D during the winter and finally gave it a good workout this past weekend.

It was the annual church picnic, with several hundred people attending. Highlights of the day for me were the children's races and the volleyball tournament. Lots of sports photography type action to try my 6 frames a second camera on.

The 6 frames a second (with a huge buffer for about 70 jpg's) was awesome compared to my older Rebel, which only has a 2.5 frames per second, 4 frame buffer. I never truly pushed the camera in this way, as my largest run of frames was only 6 or so, although I did have some situations where I would take a 5 frame batch, wait 1 or 2 seconds and then take another batch. Not possible with the Rebel, as it took a while to save the first 4 to the CF card. It was great being able to predict where the action would be, aim the camera there, and start taking photos before the action arrived. That increased my odds of getting a perfectly timed shot.

I used "Sports Mode" most of the time, and although it did blur some shots, the majority were good. I was disappointed that it seemed stuck on ISO 400, as the book suggested it would also use 800. Most of the afternoon was sunny, and thus 400 was fine, but by the end of the volleyball tournament it was cloudy and ISO 400 was resulting in shutter speeds that were unacceptable to me. Apertures were also too wide, giving little depth of field. I will have to study that and see if there are ways of me getting better settings without resorting to Av or Tv mode. My understanding is that Sports mode gives me better continuous auto focus control.

If you have a 40D and have learned some tricks that will help me, please leave a comment by clicking on the link just below this final paragraph. Thanks.

You just got home with your new digital camera, but have no idea how to get the best out of the batteries in it. You have heard all sorts of rumors about how the battery functions and what it can and cannot do. This article is going to walk you through the answers to your questions.

Basics Of A Digital Camera Battery

There are several different kinds, but the most common digital camera battery is a lithium ion battery. Continue Reading »

When looking for a digital camera, you may be a bit lost about what you really need. The great thing about memory is that you can buy memory cards for a digital camera that can hold hundreds of pictures. Zoom is another important feature on a digital camera. You have to be careful about what kind of zoom the camera features. Digital and optical zoom are two different things. Optical zoom is true zoom, much like on a film camera. When a digital camera has high optical zoom, you can zoom in on far away objects without losing clarity. Settings will allow you to set your camera for fast paced settings, low light settings, and other situations where you camera will need to be adjusted for difficult lighting. When choosing a digital camera, remember that some come with a video feature. Some cameras have video with sound, while others just record the video. Lithium batteries are commonly required for higher end models of digital camera. Overall, finding a digital camera that suits your needs will take a little research. See also in French: imprimante laser photo