Amazing new technology digital cameras
www.red.com
Thanks kapil for sharing this link with me
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Monday, October 16, 2006
Top 10 Techniques for Better Pictures
Making beautiful photographs involves nothing more than a bit of thought. While it often helps to have decent equipment, all you really need is to take a moment before each shot to think clearly about what you are attempting to capture or create.
The following guidelines are intended to help novice, non-artistic, and/or non-technical picture-takers immediately improve their photography.
If you would like to:
Bring home much more pleasing memories from your travels;
Make more artistic portraits of your family, pets, or friends;
Be satisfied and excited instead of disappointed every time you look at your photos; or
Simply enjoy the process of making pictures more;
Then read, study, and implement these simple guidelines.
Top 10 Beginning Photography Tips
1. Move in closer
2. Be quick
3. Compose with care
4. Be selective
5. Focus on your subject
6. Experiment in time
7. Look at the light
8. Watch the weather
9. Keep it simple
10. Be Bold
Beginning Photography Tip #1:
Move in Closer
Each time you spot a subject, snap a shot and then move in closer for a better shot. Having your subject almost fill the frame helps your viewer understand and appreciate your photo. Also, details are often more interesting than an overall view.
Keep moving in closer until you are sure the photo will successfully represent your subject.
Beginning Photography Tip #2:
Be Quick
If it is at all possible that your subject may move, bolt, fly away, stop smiling, or just get tired of waiting for you to take the picture, shoot once right away.
Practice getting quicker and quicker to the draw.
Do not worry about taking too many pictures and do not wait until you're absolutely certain all the knobs and buttons are in their correct position.
As the motto of one of BetterPhoto old t-shirts states, "Shoot First, Ask Questions Later."
Beginning Photography Tip #3:
Compose Your Picture with Care
Even if you don't plan on selling your photo to the Smithsonian, make every effort to keep it balanced and beautiful. On one level or another, everyone responds better to a picture that has all elements in balance.
Strive to lead the eye along an interesting path through the photo, with the use of strong lines or patterns.
Keep the horizon level;
Crop out extra elements that you are not interested in (more on this is the next tip);
Consciously place your subject where you think it most belongs rather than just accepting it wherever it happens to land in the photo;
Play with perspective so that all lines show a pattern or lead the eye to your main subject;
Work with the Rule of Thirds.
Beginning Photography Tip #4:
Be Selective
Discern what you are really interested in and center your efforts on getting the best photo of this subject, whether it a still life, your funny cat, your doggy, a friend, a family matter, a mood, a place or culture.
Then be sure to keep anything that would distract out of the picture. The easiest way to do this is to watch your borders - the edges of the view you see through the camera's viewfinder. Then recompose if anything - such as an unattractive telephone wire, an old soda can, a distracting sign, your finger, or your camera strap - hangs into your picture.
It can become more difficult if you want to, say, shoot a San Francisco cable car without a single distracting telephone line. But even in such a difficult case, you have many options.
You can:
Focus in on a close-up that tells the whole story;
Move around until you arrange the telephone lines into a neat pattern that leads to the subject; or
Take a panning shot that makes the cable car remain in focus while the background goes blurry.
Beginning Photography Tip #5:
Focus on Your Subject
Practice shooting with different apertures and monitor the results afterwards to learn how depth-of-field affects your photo.
You will find that a smaller depth-of-field (and smaller f-stop #) focuses all the attention upon your subject. This is great for taking a picture of your child, your dog, or your husband - subjects stand out against a blurry background.
Likewise, you will find that a greater depth-of-field (bigger f-stop number) will make everything from here to eternity appear in focus. This will help make those landscapes fascinating and lovely.
Beginning Photography Tip #6:
Experiment with Shutter Speed
One of the most basic, overlooked, and fun aspects of photography is that you have the power to slow time down or catch a split second.
One image happens so slowly that we could never see it and the other happens so quickly in real time that we would never notice it. Play with shutter speed!
Use a slow shutter speed and a tripod to make a pretty picture of any creek or stream. On the other hand, you can use a fast shutter speed (1/500 and up) to capture an object in motion.
Combining a fast shutter speed with a long lens, you sports buffs can get a trophy of your own when you are able to catch the expression on your favorite runningback's face as he slips past the final defense toward a winning touchdown. Remember, catching the moment in fast-paced action photography may take a little more practice so hang in there.
Beginning Photography Tip #7:
Look at the Light
By this, I don't mean look into the sun - no, that won't do at all. But it is good to see what kind of light you are working with. Which way are the shadows falling? Unless you want a silhouette effect, where your subject is black against an interesting background, it's generally best to shoot with the sun behind you.
How is the light affecting your subject? Is the subject squinting?
Is the light blazing directly and brightly upon your whole subject? This works well if you are in love with the bold colors of your subject.
Side lighting, on the other hand, can add drama but can also cause extreme, hard-to-print contrasts.
Lastly, indirect light can be used to make your subject glow soft and pretty.
Beginning Photography Tip #8:
Watch the Weather, Too
Look outside and decide whether or not you are going to want to have the sky in your picture.
If it's overcast, simply keep the sky out of your pictures as much as possible. This is usually the best way to avoid both muted tones in your subject and washed-out skies in your background. You might also find black and white pictures of an overcast day more pleasing than color.
When the day is beautiful, go ahead and make the most of it.
If your camera allows for the use of filters, purchase a polarizer. This will help you render deep blue skies against bright white clouds, richly contrasting colors, and other wonderful effects with a simple twist of the wrist.
Beginning Photography Tip #9:
Keep Your Camera Settings Simple
While you may wish to have "all the bells and whistles" available just in case, you will probably get the best results if you do not try to use them all the time and instead learn a simple set up that works best for you in most situations.
This doesn't necessarily mean keeping your camera set on "Program" - while this mode may be perfect in its simplicity, it may be frustrating in its tyrannical control.
Instead of relying on a fully automatic program, pick a simple, semi-automatic program such as aperture-priority and master shooting in that mode. Then, you'll be able to control certain basics without letting the other basics control you, and thus keep that 150 page manual where it belongs - in your camera bag.
Tip: if you want one accessory, bring a tripod. This one item can solve camera shake issues and help you get beautiful evening shots.
Beginning Photography Tip #10:
Be Bold
Don't allow yourself to be paralyzed by fears of using the wrong settings, or an non-politically-correct social policy.
If you are afraid of upsetting someone by taking their picture, just go up and ask if it's okay. Ask them to sign a release and offer a print in return.
With wildlife, adopt a low-impact method when you go places where few photographers have gone before. For the above photos, I put my camera and telephoto in a waterproof bag and kayaked out into Monterey Bay. (Lawyer-talk: This can be dangerous - so be careful.)
Be wise... but be bold.
Making beautiful photographs involves nothing more than a bit of thought. While it often helps to have decent equipment, all you really need is to take a moment before each shot to think clearly about what you are attempting to capture or create.
The following guidelines are intended to help novice, non-artistic, and/or non-technical picture-takers immediately improve their photography.
If you would like to:
Bring home much more pleasing memories from your travels;
Make more artistic portraits of your family, pets, or friends;
Be satisfied and excited instead of disappointed every time you look at your photos; or
Simply enjoy the process of making pictures more;
Then read, study, and implement these simple guidelines.
Top 10 Beginning Photography Tips
1. Move in closer
2. Be quick
3. Compose with care
4. Be selective
5. Focus on your subject
6. Experiment in time
7. Look at the light
8. Watch the weather
9. Keep it simple
10. Be Bold
Beginning Photography Tip #1:
Move in Closer
Each time you spot a subject, snap a shot and then move in closer for a better shot. Having your subject almost fill the frame helps your viewer understand and appreciate your photo. Also, details are often more interesting than an overall view.
Keep moving in closer until you are sure the photo will successfully represent your subject.
Beginning Photography Tip #2:
Be Quick
If it is at all possible that your subject may move, bolt, fly away, stop smiling, or just get tired of waiting for you to take the picture, shoot once right away.
Practice getting quicker and quicker to the draw.
Do not worry about taking too many pictures and do not wait until you're absolutely certain all the knobs and buttons are in their correct position.
As the motto of one of BetterPhoto old t-shirts states, "Shoot First, Ask Questions Later."
Beginning Photography Tip #3:
Compose Your Picture with Care
Even if you don't plan on selling your photo to the Smithsonian, make every effort to keep it balanced and beautiful. On one level or another, everyone responds better to a picture that has all elements in balance.
Strive to lead the eye along an interesting path through the photo, with the use of strong lines or patterns.
Keep the horizon level;
Crop out extra elements that you are not interested in (more on this is the next tip);
Consciously place your subject where you think it most belongs rather than just accepting it wherever it happens to land in the photo;
Play with perspective so that all lines show a pattern or lead the eye to your main subject;
Work with the Rule of Thirds.
Beginning Photography Tip #4:
Be Selective
Discern what you are really interested in and center your efforts on getting the best photo of this subject, whether it a still life, your funny cat, your doggy, a friend, a family matter, a mood, a place or culture.
Then be sure to keep anything that would distract out of the picture. The easiest way to do this is to watch your borders - the edges of the view you see through the camera's viewfinder. Then recompose if anything - such as an unattractive telephone wire, an old soda can, a distracting sign, your finger, or your camera strap - hangs into your picture.
It can become more difficult if you want to, say, shoot a San Francisco cable car without a single distracting telephone line. But even in such a difficult case, you have many options.
You can:
Focus in on a close-up that tells the whole story;
Move around until you arrange the telephone lines into a neat pattern that leads to the subject; or
Take a panning shot that makes the cable car remain in focus while the background goes blurry.
Beginning Photography Tip #5:
Focus on Your Subject
Practice shooting with different apertures and monitor the results afterwards to learn how depth-of-field affects your photo.
You will find that a smaller depth-of-field (and smaller f-stop #) focuses all the attention upon your subject. This is great for taking a picture of your child, your dog, or your husband - subjects stand out against a blurry background.
Likewise, you will find that a greater depth-of-field (bigger f-stop number) will make everything from here to eternity appear in focus. This will help make those landscapes fascinating and lovely.
Beginning Photography Tip #6:
Experiment with Shutter Speed
One of the most basic, overlooked, and fun aspects of photography is that you have the power to slow time down or catch a split second.
One image happens so slowly that we could never see it and the other happens so quickly in real time that we would never notice it. Play with shutter speed!
Use a slow shutter speed and a tripod to make a pretty picture of any creek or stream. On the other hand, you can use a fast shutter speed (1/500 and up) to capture an object in motion.
Combining a fast shutter speed with a long lens, you sports buffs can get a trophy of your own when you are able to catch the expression on your favorite runningback's face as he slips past the final defense toward a winning touchdown. Remember, catching the moment in fast-paced action photography may take a little more practice so hang in there.
Beginning Photography Tip #7:
Look at the Light
By this, I don't mean look into the sun - no, that won't do at all. But it is good to see what kind of light you are working with. Which way are the shadows falling? Unless you want a silhouette effect, where your subject is black against an interesting background, it's generally best to shoot with the sun behind you.
How is the light affecting your subject? Is the subject squinting?
Is the light blazing directly and brightly upon your whole subject? This works well if you are in love with the bold colors of your subject.
Side lighting, on the other hand, can add drama but can also cause extreme, hard-to-print contrasts.
Lastly, indirect light can be used to make your subject glow soft and pretty.
Beginning Photography Tip #8:
Watch the Weather, Too
Look outside and decide whether or not you are going to want to have the sky in your picture.
If it's overcast, simply keep the sky out of your pictures as much as possible. This is usually the best way to avoid both muted tones in your subject and washed-out skies in your background. You might also find black and white pictures of an overcast day more pleasing than color.
When the day is beautiful, go ahead and make the most of it.
If your camera allows for the use of filters, purchase a polarizer. This will help you render deep blue skies against bright white clouds, richly contrasting colors, and other wonderful effects with a simple twist of the wrist.
Beginning Photography Tip #9:
Keep Your Camera Settings Simple
While you may wish to have "all the bells and whistles" available just in case, you will probably get the best results if you do not try to use them all the time and instead learn a simple set up that works best for you in most situations.
This doesn't necessarily mean keeping your camera set on "Program" - while this mode may be perfect in its simplicity, it may be frustrating in its tyrannical control.
Instead of relying on a fully automatic program, pick a simple, semi-automatic program such as aperture-priority and master shooting in that mode. Then, you'll be able to control certain basics without letting the other basics control you, and thus keep that 150 page manual where it belongs - in your camera bag.
Tip: if you want one accessory, bring a tripod. This one item can solve camera shake issues and help you get beautiful evening shots.
Beginning Photography Tip #10:
Be Bold
Don't allow yourself to be paralyzed by fears of using the wrong settings, or an non-politically-correct social policy.
If you are afraid of upsetting someone by taking their picture, just go up and ask if it's okay. Ask them to sign a release and offer a print in return.
With wildlife, adopt a low-impact method when you go places where few photographers have gone before. For the above photos, I put my camera and telephoto in a waterproof bag and kayaked out into Monterey Bay. (Lawyer-talk: This can be dangerous - so be careful.)
Be wise... but be bold.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
About Canon DSLR
here are some links that either I or other members have shared which I found after rummaging through my old emails. I hope this helps. As usual, any and all questions welcome.
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/index.html
http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/index.html lower left corner for XT
http://philip.greenspun.com/photography/building-a-digital-slr-system
Rob in NYC
http://www.canon.
http://www.photowor
http://philip.
Rob in NYC
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Saturday, September 09, 2006
The moon shot
The moon was looking pretty yesterday night and I took this apportunity to capture this on my camera.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Diet Coke + Mentos reaction
If you take a 2 little bottle of Diet Coke, put around 6 Mentos in the bottle. The coke erupts out from the bottle like a geyser. Need to try it.
There are dozens of videos on http://video.google.com
My favorite:
Google Video 1
Created a fountain using 200 litre of Coke and 500 odd mentos. These people have done crazy
http://eepybird.com/dcm1.html
And these are extremes!
Google Video 2
These are making ice bombs!
Google Video 3
There are dozens of videos on http://video.google.com
My favorite:
Google Video 1
Created a fountain using 200 litre of Coke and 500 odd mentos. These people have done crazy
http://eepybird.com/dcm1.html
And these are extremes!
Google Video 2
These are making ice bombs!
Google Video 3
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Trek the Sahyadris
Destination Type Date Photos
-----------------------------------------------
Vasota Yes
Harishchandragad
Kokankada
Purandargad
Dukes Nose
Lohagad / Visapur
Chawani Village Nature
Peb Fort
Makarandgad
Sajjangad Temple
Bhimashankar Wildlife Santuary
Tikona
Sinhagad
Malshej
Raigad
Monday, April 17, 2006
Visit to Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary
Visited Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary this weekend, to support the Forest officials for the animal sensex (animal counting). [Team size: 8]
We had a night trail on Saturday, where we strengthened our senses, to identify the location of the animals / insects /birds. Also located some water-holes and hide outs where we can possible hide to see animal at night for the sensex.
Sunday morning was the pugmarks search 6am - 12pm. With help of the forest servant, Ganesh, we identified the pugmarks of Monguse, wild boars, sambhar. Year 2005 sensex had counted 9 leopards (bibtya). During our visit, we identified and recorded 2 leopard pugmarks, one was identified as a young male (3 years old), and one was a female (mostly the other's mother). The pugmarks were fresh and looked like they had passed the location around 3 hours before our visit. [Pugmark prints are taken in plaster-of-Paris (PoP) to record the sitting.] Also sited the state animal - "Shekaru" (the giant squirrel) found in-majority around the Bhimashankar region. All-in-all a great experience and a fruitful event. Do follow the link below for a few photos from the event.
Photos link: Link
Details on Bhimashanlar on the web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhimashankar
We had a night trail on Saturday, where we strengthened our senses, to identify the location of the animals / insects /birds. Also located some water-holes and hide outs where we can possible hide to see animal at night for the sensex.
Sunday morning was the pugmarks search 6am - 12pm. With help of the forest servant, Ganesh, we identified the pugmarks of Monguse, wild boars, sambhar. Year 2005 sensex had counted 9 leopards (bibtya). During our visit, we identified and recorded 2 leopard pugmarks, one was identified as a young male (3 years old), and one was a female (mostly the other's mother). The pugmarks were fresh and looked like they had passed the location around 3 hours before our visit. [Pugmark prints are taken in plaster-of-Paris (PoP) to record the sitting.] Also sited the state animal - "Shekaru" (the giant squirrel) found in-majority around the Bhimashankar region. All-in-all a great experience and a fruitful event. Do follow the link below for a few photos from the event.
Photos link: Link
Details on Bhimashanlar on the web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhimashankar
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Issues in Installing and Upgrading Ant
ANT: ANT can be installed in many ways, the most convenient is probably with an RPM, if you can find one for your particular distribution of Linux. Alternatively building from source is relatively easy. There may be dependencies required by ANT, these will usually be reported as errors or warnings, when you attempt to “./configure” or “make” and you will be prompted with the names of the dependencies to be installed before being able to completely install ANT. Once ANT compiles completely, ANT_HOME must be set in your shell. In bash, the .bash_profile should include an export statement for this purpose.
I ran into several quirks with the installation of Ant. The first was due to a conflict with the previous installation of Ant that came with the system, another problem was associated with the path to Ant. To resolve these issues, I had to first make sure there was no ant.conf file on my system, and most importantly, set the PATH to point to the install directory for ANT. In my case, I installed from source, running (./configure, make, make install), and pointing to the directory in my .bash_profile as follows:
export ANT_HOME=/home/perin/prep/apache-ant-1.6.5
There were a few dependencies missing that Ant required, but those were installed in the order output after running ‘configure’ and all installed smoothly
Source: http://www.cbil.upenn.edu/downloads/RAD/JCPerin_InstallingRADSA.doc
I ran into several quirks with the installation of Ant. The first was due to a conflict with the previous installation of Ant that came with the system, another problem was associated with the path to Ant. To resolve these issues, I had to first make sure there was no ant.conf file on my system, and most importantly, set the PATH to point to the install directory for ANT. In my case, I installed from source, running (./configure, make, make install), and pointing to the directory in my .bash_profile as follows:
export ANT_HOME=/home/perin/prep/apache-ant-1.6.5
There were a few dependencies missing that Ant required, but those were installed in the order output after running ‘configure’ and all installed smoothly
Source: http://www.cbil.upenn.edu/downloads/RAD/JCPerin_InstallingRADSA.doc
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Awaiting Canon EF-S 17 - 55 mm F2.8 IS lens
Awaiting Canon to release this lens Canon EF-S 17 - 55 mm F2.8 IS lens
Its gonna be costly!
Link: Click Here
Its gonna be costly!
Link: Click Here
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