What Do You Love About Photography?

by Lauren

Okay guys. This article requires your cooperation. I want to foster some friendly conversation, but I need your help to do so!

My post this week focuses on the simple (or maybe not simple) question, "What do you love about photography?"

In short, I want to know why you love photography, what you love about photography, why you take photos, and anything in between.

What inspires you?

You guys are awesome. Several of you have written articles for this blog and others have let me know how much you enjoy it.

Beautiful, random photo. By Daily Picture

I would love for you to leave a comment here. (Keep in mind I have to approve it before it shows up.) Or if you prefer, shoot me an email, Facebook message me, write on the PhotoStasher Facebook Page, or tweet me (@PhotoStasher). The point is- I want to hear from you.

You can even write an article if you would like!

Most of all, I want you guys to inspire each other.

Can't wait to hear about your love of photography. Please leave your comments below...

How To Take A Perfect Family Portrait At Home

Family portraits are the kinds of events that you dread as a child but as soon as you have a family of your own they become an incredibly important way to remember close bonds and take a snapshot of a moment in time that will pass quickly as kids grow up and move on. If you’re not keen to have your portrait taken by a photographer – which can be incredibly expensive – then it’s very easy to do this at home. Here is a list of dos and don’ts that will help you work out how to take a perfect family portrait at home.

Do

Pre- plan your photo

Decide how you want the photo to look and then put some thought into how to achieve that. If you want soft, hazy sunlight and the feel of nature then you’re going to have to take the photo in the garden/outside in the summer months. If you want a picture where everyone is bundled up, pink cheeked in the snow then obviously it will need to be winter. Settle on location and the season that you want as a background for the photo before anything else.

Decide your look

Although you might not want to opt for a family portrait where everyone is dressed in the same outfit, it’s still worth putting some thought into what kinds of clothes everyone in the photo should be wearing. This is especially important if you have a child going through a Goth phase, or a partner who has taken to never washing their hair. Sit down with the family in advance and agree what everyone should wear and then make sure the outfits are clean and pressed. Dirt and wrinkles really show up in photos and you don’t want the permanent memory of your happy family stained with chocolate ice cream.

Choose your moment

If there is a particular time of the day when the kids are at their happiest then zero in on that hour as the one you set aside for the portrait. If none of your family are morning people then that’s going to be reflected if you try and take the snap at 9am – even if that works best for your schedule – and if by 6pm everyone is looking a bit worn out and ready for bed then avoid that too. Pick a time when your family is likely to be fresh faced, full of beans and open to spending some time getting it right.

Don’t

Make it too stiff and formal

The best family portraits are those that catch the genuine interaction between family members so it’s a good idea to encourage people to be as natural as possible. Take as many pictures as you need to in order to catch the perfect shot and try and make everyone feel at ease and together in front of the camera.

Keep your distance

Family portraits are meant to display a family as a unit and if you are dotted all over the photo, your family will look separated and the viewer’s eye won’t know where to look first. Position everyone close together and focus especially on having faces near – or even touching – each other.

Turn it into a chore

Unless you’re working to a particular time limit the portrait is something you can have some fun with. If you try and do it one day but the light isn’t right or no one can seem to get the right look then put it aside for another time. If you force your family to stand still and pose for hours on end until you get exactly the photo you want, you’re unlikely to get laughter, happiness and smiles.

John is a guest blogger from Deal Zippy who have some great deals on canvas prints - perfect for showing off your family portraits

Backup Your Photos with Help from Google’s Picasa

by Matt Dupree

Everyone seems to have a digital camera these days either by itself or built into their phone. This is giving rise for people to demand for ways to backup photos effortlessly and reliably. For this demand Picasa was born.

What Is Picasa?

Picasa is a photo organizer, editor, and online storage service that started out as its own company, but later was bought out and managed by Google. This service not only gives you the ability to edit, organize, and store but to share and send to photo print shops that can be found at most chain stores that have a photo printing department.

Soon to be called Google Photos, you download a small program to your computer which will comb through and help organize all of your videos and photos (you will need a Google account which is free). You will have the option to upload any of the photos to the online Picasa webserver which gives you 1GB (about 500 pictures) of storage. Got more than that? No, problem. Google offers more storage for a very small annual fee.

From this software you can perform minor edits such as cropping and resizing. You can share through social media like Google +1, or with a free add on with Facebook. You can email out your favorites to friends and family, or send directly to a long list of printing providers. You can also create and manage a back up to an additional hard drive or cd/dvd thus giving you another option for backing up your photos.

 Picasa home page

How Do I Organize Picasa Albums?

Picasa’s biggest asset is its ability to organize how you want. You can create multiple folders for organization as well as use tags that you create for each of your pictures. These tags can be anything. In my case, I create a tag for each of my kids and a separate tag for their age at the time and activity that they may be participating in. The search function allows you to look for these tags and quickly narrows down the snapshots you are looking for.

What About Mac or Linux?

Google Picasa works on just about any operating system. There are versions available for the Mac OS as well as systems running Linux. Although it has not been updated recently (as of this writing) the Linux program is distributed and setup with the Wine program.

Can You Add More Editing Features To Picasa?

You can perform many edits in Picasa such as cropping, resizing, color correct and correcting eye glare. Google just recently acquired Picnik which gives even more editing capabilities such as adding “stickers” and labels as well as other higher end abilities. Although not as complete as a higher end product such as Sony Vegas, you can perform minor editing and add soundtracks to your movies as well.

One great feature is when you edit your photos you never lose the original. Picasa will creates a new version of the pic with the edits and leave the original alone. You have to go to your original and manually delete it so this means no worries of accidentally overwriting it!

How to upload to Picasa?

It’s fairly easy to back up pictures to Picasa. The main way is by using the uploader in the program downloaded to your computer. If you are on someone else’s computer or they have pictures they want to send you there is an interface that can be used through a browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer. You can also email pictures from your laptop, tablet, or smartphone. If you have an Android phone you can send pictures directly from the Android gallery to your Google Picasa account.

How to download from Picasa?

You have the ability to send a link to others so they may download your pics. This link is uniquely yours and is generated by the program. Anyone with the link can view and download your albums as long as your security settings allow them to.

Want to upload your photos to Facebook? There is a third party application that can be used with Picasa so you can send them at the press of a button. This app can be found at apps.facebook.com/picasauploader

How secure are my photos on Picasa?

You certainly do not want just anyone viewing your private moments. You have the ability to choose your security settings for your photos and limit who can see them. The available settings are:

Public-Anyone can see them

Limited, anyone with the link- You can send out the link to anyone you like and they will have access. The link is made up of characters, numbers, and letters making it virtually impossible to guess.

Limited- You get to chose who sees your albums. These people have to have a Google account however (remember that it is free, too!)

Only you- This is the highest level of security. No one outside of your account can see your pics.

As you can see, not only is Picasa a great way to back up your photos, but also a great way to organize, edit and share. You can learn more by going to Google.com and look for the Photos link.

What do you think about Picasa? Have you ever used it? Is it something you might use now?

About the author:

Matt Dupree is the owner and publisher of databackupforu.net a site that answers questions like “ how to backup my computer ” for those less technically savvy. Among other things he is an amateur photographer who does not miss the days of darkrooms and development.

How Facebook Timeline Will Affect Your Photo Experience

by Lauren

Have you heard about Facebook's Timeline? Do you know what it is and how it's different from how Facebook is currently structured?

I know that a lot of people get annoyed when Facebook makes changes. It's frustrating because you feel that you are going to have to learn something new. The good news is, Facebook always provides you with prompts to help you in the form of hints and tips on how to use the new features. The majority of the time, Facebook changes enhance your user experience, and Timeline is no exception. While change is something we as humans seem to resist and view as frustrating, I believe Timeline will revolution your Facebook experience in a very positive way.

According to Facebook, Timeline lets you "tell your life story with a new kind of profile". Think of it like a scrapbook of your life, with the most important events highlighted and prominent. Timeline determines what it judges as the most significant posts, photos, and events in your life, but you have complete control over which of these are emphasized. For example, you can hide something that you don't think is significant and star moments that are. You can even add information about your life before you joined Facebook all the way back to the beginning of your life.

What About My Photos?

I haven't switched my profile to Timeline yet, but I did listen to Mark Zuckerberg introduce it at the F8 conference, and I've watched the video as well as seen the sample profile of how it will look. My first reaction was wow. This is exactly what photo enthusiasts like myself and you are looking for. One of the best features of Timeline, in my opinion, is the increased attention to and focus on photos. The first thing that you will notice is the addition of a "cover photo". You still have a profile photo, but there is now a larger photo above the cover photo that is meant to represent you as well. While your profile photo will most likely be a photo of you, the cover photo can be used to show something interesting about your life right now such as a recent vacation or a new puppy.

Here is an example of how prominent photos will be on Timeline.

I think Timeline is an improvement to the Facebook experience. It just makes sense. The emphasis on photos is a huge plus as well.

To learn more about Timeline and covert your profile to Timeline please visit: https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline.

What do you think about Facebook's Timeline? Have you switched your profile yet? Do you see it as an improvement to Photos? Please leave your comments below.

Underwater Photography- If You Can Swim, You Can Do It

by Jess Speight

Photos taken underwater are particularly effective because they show scenes rarely seen by human eyes. To be really interesting, a photo of a dog has to be outstanding, but a photo of a dogfish almost always shows the viewer something they haven't seen before.

It's easy to find intriguing subjects underwater (as long as it's reasonably clear down there) but capturing high quality images is a little trickier than it is on the surface. You don't need an expensive new camera to try taking pictures below the waves- clear, sealable underwater housings are available for most popular digital compact cameras. A good one will let you use most camera functions while swimming or diving. That includes the zoom and usually the flash.

However, the flash could cause trouble. One of the worst problems underwater photographers face is backscatter, or the light reflected back towards the lens by small particles suspended in the water. If you've ever seen a photo of an underwater scene peppered with tiny white dots, that's backscatter.

There are two ways of avoiding backscatter problems. The first is to use an external flash or strobe, or even a really strong dive flashlight. Hold it away from the camera and aim it at the edge of the subject, not right on target. This way, very little backscattered light hits your lens.

The second method is to get up close to the subject. The less water there is between it and the camera, the less backscatter there will be. Taking macro shots rather than wider scenes also prevents colors from becoming dull and washed out by too much water in the way, but it can be quite difficult to approach close to marine animals.

The best advice is to move slowly towards your chosen fish (or stingray, or sea turtle). Don't wait for the perfect position. Take a few photos at intervals as you approach. That way you'll get some photos even if the critter takes flight just as you're about to get the ideal shot.

Manoeuvring underwater is a lot easier for scuba divers, because there is plenty of time to move slowly, adjust camera settings, and set up strobes, but if you're not a qualified diver try snorkelling or even just swimming. Some great underwater photos are taken by people with nothing more than a cheap disposable camera, a pair of goggles, and a generous helping of creativity.

It doesn't have to be all about the ocean either. Every local swimming hole, lake, or river provides opportunities to try underwater photography. Even a backyard swimming pool can be the venue for a sub-surface photo shoot.

Jess Spate is a diver, snorkeller, surfer, and general outdoor sports enthusiast. She edits an outdoor clothing website and works for Mozaik Underwater Cameras- a place where you can find all kinds of underwater camera and housing goodies.

5 Tips to Help You Capture the Fall Season

by Lauren

I absolutely love Fall. It is by far my favorite season. A combination of beautiful colors, cooler weather, and other signs of Fall make you realize that things are changing and time is moving forward; perhaps more than any other season. Fall is such a special time of year, so I wanted to write an article on how to capture its essence so you can be reminded of it year round.
Originally I planned to outline several Fall scenes that you could photograph. The ones I had in mind would most certainly capture its charm, but after thinking about it I realized it would be better to give you tips on how to create photos that you think perfectly capture Fall.

 by Daily Picture

1. Choose a location- What location says Fall to you? Is it in a park where you can see the leaves turning? Maybe a football game or your backyard? The first step to capturing photos that represent how you envision Fall is to decide the location(s) where you believe Fall will be most evident.

2. Choose your props- After selecting your locations, the next step is to decide the props that you want to use. There's a lot of Fall produce that can be used to create the perfect photo. Pumpkins, an assortment of gourds, and apples are all great props to use. Other props are a pile of leaves, haystacks, tractors, bonfires, and stalks of corn. These are more traditional prop ideas, but I also recommend getting creative with the props you choose. Anything that reminds you of Fall will work.

3. Choose the time- The time during Fall when you choose to take photos is also important. Why? Because there are different events, occasions, and changes throughout the entire season. For example, Halloween and Thanksgiving both happen during Fall. At the beginning of Fall most leaves are green and are just starting to change colors. As Fall progresses, trees are much more colorful and brilliant, then as Winter nears the leaves become dull and brown. Maybe you want to capture Fall from beginning to end or maybe you would prefer to capture your favorite parts. Either way, the decision is yours.

4. Choose your subjects- The subject(s) of your photos can be anyone or anything you like. Many people want to photograph their children or grandchildren during Fall, playing in a pile of leaves or running through a park. Others like to photograph their pets, and some just want Fall itself to be the subject.

5. Experiment and be creative- Make sure that you try different things and don't judge anything you do as right or wrong. One of the worst things you can do is to stifle your creativity because you think that there are only certain items you can use and certain scenes you can photograph to capture Fall. Your experience of Fall is just that, yours. It doesn't matter what form it takes.

What reminds you of Fall and what do you like to photograph? Please let me know below in the comments section. I would love for you to share your Fall photos with other readers. Contact me to find out how.

Why Engage in Photography?

by Victoria

Whether you’re a beginner or an expert in the art of photography, I’m sure you’d agree that it is a rewarding and fun craft. You can do so much with photography:

• Capture emotions of loved ones and friends

• Use your camera to document special events

• Enter competitions and have fun with capturing the ‘perfect shot’

• Use it as a hobby and learn the finer points of the craft  

When cameras were invented in 1839, they were cumbersome to handle and the photo shot would often fade away. In today’s world, there are hundreds to choose from and each caters to a specific need. When choosing a camera, ask yourself what you want to ‘get out of it’. Do you need it for: 

• Capturing events chronologically (for example family get-togethers)

• Taking professional shots for a business or competition(s)

• Using it for fun/ as a hobby

Engaging in photography can be a wonderful experience whether you’re a novice or expert, and it’s important to get the right camera for the ‘right job’. Shop around and don’t be afraid to ask questions to get the best camera suited to your needs. If you just want to use photography as a tool to remember events and people involved, you obviously don’t need a professional top-of-the-range camera. There are plenty of basic cameras that are inexpensive yet have features that you can play around with and suit you and your budget.

 

Photography can also start out as a hobby and lead on to greater things. Many people capture extraordinary images and use them to submit to competitions and/ or photographic displays. You may want to document your child’s progress from when they're just a newborn up until they’re an adult, and you can be sure that everyone will appreciate flicking through albums and remembering those special moments. Or you may want to find a niche market in professional photography and focus on that (capturing beautiful sunsets or taking pictures of nature in all its glory for example).

The most important thing when delving into the wonderful world of photography is to have fun and enjoy what you’re doing. Take advantage of the amazing things cameras can do nowadays and don’t be afraid to experiment. It’s a wonderful art form that has no limits. What do you (as a creator of images) like to take photo shots of?

This guest post was written by freelance writer Victoria she loves sharing uplifting news with people.