Below are the 9 most recent journal entries recorded in barbarasysharp's InsaneJournal:

Sunday, February 27th, 2011
6:49 pm	The way to improve the quality of your photography The majority of keen photographers enjoy shooting images and the majority will be hoping to produce high quality pictures however not everybody seriously considers and carries out all the steps that would significantly improve the technical quality of their pictures. Here are some techniques you should try. 1) Use of a tripod to significantly improve eliminate camera movement which normally occurs with a hand held camera. 2) Use of a cable release to eliminate on the amount of shake that normally otherwise occurs at long shutter speeds. In the past these were simple but nowadays they are electronic. 3) Make use of the feature on your camera to lock up the mirror and notably reduce the vibration as a picture is created. Any vibration that occurs when a picture is created introduces image softening and should be eliminated. 4) When feasible always try to shoot at the best aperture for the lens. This is usually around F8 on the majority of lenses. Small apertures like F22 are usually softer. Large apertures like F2.8 are also often optically inferior. 5) Check that your lenses are perfectly clean with no marks that might impair final image. 6) Make sure choose the lowest possible ASA on your camera since this will reduce the quantity of picture noise and ensure the best possible image quality with the most detail. 7) Using a lenshood will control any stray light from hitting the lens surface and producing flare, which would notably degrade the picture quality. 8) Buy the best quality lenses you can manage, since low cost lenses will never be that good in anything less than ideal conditions and using all the practices outlined above. The Canon L series lenses are known for their superb optical results. 9) Try to take photographs when the light is crisp and clean on sunny days. It is also a good idea to shoot in the early morning when the natural light is especially beautiful. Shooting in miserable weather will heavily worsen the sharpness of your pictures. The illumination at the end of the day is soft and warm but not ideal for producing the sharpest possible photos. 10) Ensuring the best possible light reading is important to ensure that your files are as high quality as possible. Over exposure may produce burned highlights with no detail. Under exposure can lead to terrible image noise levels in the shadow areas. To get the optimum possible exposures I suggest making use of a hand-held exposure meter like a Gossen. By using the techniques above you should see a noteworthy improvement in quality of your photographs. Current Mood: nauseated Current Music: Indy (Comment on this)
Saturday, February 26th, 2011
3:51 pm	Nude photography and finding models There are lots of venues where you can find a suitable model to work with, whether for commercial glamour, beauty or fine art nudes. The first and most logical place to look will be a proper agency for models, where you will most likely find professional models that are well adapted to your particular job requirements. This is my first choice usually and how most established serious photographers search for models. Alternatively there are Internet sites where photographers and models frequently get together through the internet. These are big websites where users publish pictures, make contacts and try to improve their portfolios etc. This is not my preferred method of searching for possible models, since I invariably find they are much less dependable in general and more often than not not aware of standard business practices; making up their own rules as the mood takes them. The most common difficulties with models found through the Internet are final moment cancellations or just choosing to disappear without warning, which could leave you at the crucial moment with the ordeal of an costly studio and stylist etc. but nobody to photograph! For fine art nudes don’t forget venues such as dance schools where you can often find very interesting possible models. Dancers will invariably be in great shape and move with a fluid femininity, which can assist you to produce some genuinely beautiful pictures. In most cases the pictures can actually be better than those obtained with experienced professional models. Athletes and gymnasts are also well worth considering since they tend to be understandably confident about the shape of their body, so they are less likely to be afraid in front of the camera. For glamour photography, some photographers search for possible subjects at glamour workshops or strip clubs but as always I always choose to work with an experienced professional model from an established agency wherever possible. There are a thousand tasks you need to get right on the day of the shoot so I would always rather go with the easier option than gambling on a novice. Regardless of where you search for a model and no matter who you shoot with, always endeavour to have a friendly and polite but above all professional approach in your dealings with other people. As a final point, always make sure that any model you want to shoot with is at least 18. professional nude photography Current Mood: nauseated Current Music: Indy (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
10:38 pm	Choosing the right lens for nude and glamour photography Some photographers like to have a vast array of lenses encompassing everything possible from the widest angle to extreme telephoto. In reality however, this is more often a sign of gadget obsession rather than real necessity and most should find that working with just a few top quality lenses is a far better plan. When photographing a nude model, most photographers will aim to produce an photo that is visually pleasing without distortion or unwanted effects. With a far off scene such as a nude model in the landscape it is very possible to employ a wide angle zoom lens, but as you move nearer that same lens is likely to cause undesirable distortion and this is particularly evident with low cost lenses. When shooting in an indoor location using a full frame 35mm digital camera, I try to work with lenses no shorter than 35mm at most and even that is not ideal most of the time. Rather surprisingly to many, one of the best lenses available for shooting a nude body is the frequently discarded normal 50mm lens, that is invariably the most economical option in every camera maker’s lens range, but invariably of top notch optical quality, suffering from almost no distortion or chromatic defects. When captured from a close distance the female nude will often look a little more rounded than in reality with a 50mm lens however not in an unflattering or over the top manner and the same rule would apply just as much to glamour photography. This is approximately equivalent to the 80mm lens on a medium format Hasselblad, which is my preferred choice when shooting nudes or glamour images, since I tend to prefer the less elongated shape of medium format pictures. Another useful lens would be the 85mm, though often thought of more as a portrait lens all the main camera makers such as Nikon and Canon etc. produce an optically wonderful version and this can be used in just about any situation to good effect. Much like the 50mm lens it also generally has a wide maximum aperture permitting the photographer to easily blur the background if required. One alternative option that should not be overlooked is a good quality zoom lens, such as the Canon 24-105L for example, which covers all the necessary focal lengths for the majority of jobs while removing the necessity to change lens every 30 seconds during an assignment. There was a time when zoom lenses were not really thought viable for high quality professional work however these days the better lenses are truly excellent and very convenient. Lenses with built in image stabilisation are also useful for photography without a tripod in low light conditions. nude photography Current Mood: nauseated Current Music: Indy (Comment on this)
Monday, February 21st, 2011
10:58 am	Black And White Digital Photography By its very manner, Black And White digital photography is an artistry that takes a lot of time and experimentation to dominate since it requires dealing with a number of challenges. When there’s no real colour to play with, lights, contrasts and framing become exceedingly crucial in achieving great photographic results and in the era of digital photography, post processing will help you get there. But foremost, you should make use of your camera and its capabilities to photograph images that are pre-maximized for the black & white transition process to be finalized by your photo developing software. Here are 5 speedyideas to do that: Always shoot in RAW and rather in color – since it gives you most mastery and most information to use and work with in post processing. Even when you swap to black & white from your camera settings, photographing in RAW will preserve all information - including colors - and will make your post processingwork easier. Always shoot with the lowest possible ISO – to avoid increased image noise that automatically occurs when converting your images to black & white. Even if you enjoy the look of film given by granulated images, you can always create this result in development, but it’s incredibly hard and time consuming to remove it. Take advantage of low contrasts – it’s said that gloomy, dark days add an additional something to your captured images, lending a feel of softness and mood to the final effect of your black & white photo. Use the available light wisely – shadows, highlights and different tones will make all the difference in a black and white photo. Use framing wisely – to emphasize your most essential element that will grab the viewer’s interest in your black and white image. Use foregrounds and backgrounds to produce depth and give more substance to your main subject. These of course are just a few short tips to acquaint you with Black And White Digital Photography. Current Mood: nauseated Current Music: Indy (Comment on this)
Friday, February 18th, 2011
2:13 pm	How to photograph stunning female nudes with candles Only a small number of photographers have tried using candles as a source of lighting in their nude photography; but it’s extremely useful source of light that creates a artistically rich and very particular effect. For obvious reasons you will find that candles don’t create a significant amount of light, so you will need a quite a lot to lift the overall light luminance to a usable level and be prepared to shoot with long exposure times, so a tripod is absolutely essential and a cable release would also be useful. You can also use the mirror lock up facility if you have that option on your DSLR. Make sure those candles are positioned in secure positions where nothing can catch on fire! Given that your exposure will probably be many seconds, it’s important that you find a position for your model that is comfortable and allows her to stay fairly still or you risk having photographs with unwanted blur from the subject’s body movement. It’s that slow exposure time however with the soft flicker of the candlelight that delivers the special end result. When preparing your setup, take a moment to consider the various lighting effects as you move your candles into various locations and study the changes between shadows and highlights. After you find the correct balance try one or two test images to verify how the picture looks and ask yourself if you have to make any changes. Since candles have a particularly warm colour temperature you will most likely wish to create a custom white balance with your digital camera using a white card. A handheld light meter can also be used for measuring light levels in various zones of the scene. Precise measuring of the illumination is vital to avoid burned out highlights or shadows with not enough detail and if you have a computer at your disposal you can download some test shots to check them using Photoshop before you continue with the main shoot. You should always shoot in RAW mode if you have this facility available because it will produce superior quality files and permit you to make more enhancements later on during postproduction. After you have taken your images and copied them on a computer you now have the possibility to work on the end result where you can decide if you wish to have the picture in colour or black & white, along with other changes you can make to noise levels, contrast and other areas. One of the great advantages of using candles is that the lighting is extremely flattering to female skin, so that should minimise the amount of skin retouching you need to do. Have a go and discover how amazing candlelight can be for creating professional nude images . photography Current Mood: nauseated Current Music: Indy (Comment on this)
1:51 pm	Painting with light Techniques Painting with light gives you sensational images that are fully unique and are straight forward to create when you know the right method to do so. Light Painting in digital photography can turn the most mundane subject into a gorgeous image that is completely unique. What you do in effect is literally paint with light when creating such images using a source of light such as a torch. In order to be able to capture the best result with this technique you can employ the following tips: Painting with light is literally painting an object with a light source such as a torch or flashgun. The technique is simple if you follow a few simple rules. Using a light source such as a flashgun or torch you illuminate the scene and paint it. Here are a few ideas to guide you. Due to the need for long exposure hand holding the camera is out of the question so a stable tripod is required. The subject you wish to shoot and its size will generally determine your selection of light source. For landscapes and other large subjects such as buildings a torch between 1-5 Million candles will probably be the order of the day. Another requisite is a useful source of light that you can use to assist you while setting up the camera and packing it away. Ideally a torch mounted to a headband is ideal as it allows your hands to be free. Absolute darkness may sound like an obvious tip but light spill or light pollution as it's commonly known from distant roads or street lamps can sometimes ruin your images. Tips For Light Painting. Your first step is to discover a location that is ideally away from any light pollution, such as a street lamp. Get in place early while there is still ambient light and set up your camera for both focus and composition then lock it down securely. Exposures ordinarily will start about 30-45 minutes after the sun has gone down when exposures are long enough to permit you to paint the scene. Apertures can range from F2.8 to F16 depending on the scene and you should permit yourself a good minute or so to paint the scene. Current Mood: nauseated Current Music: Indy (Comment on this)
1:30 pm	Do you know which exposure mode to choose on your camera? For the last few years there have been many different exposure modes on modern digital cameras. These include options for manual, aperture priority, shutter priority and full program, along with some options like sports mode in program which alters the settings to favour faster shutter speeds to freeze fast action sequences. In manual mode the user has to choose both the shutter speed and the aperture. This is more complicated than other exposure modes but gives the most flexibility. It allows the user to maintain total control over the brightness of the image. It is particularly favoured by professional users who want to maintain total control and is also the main choice when working in the studio. In aperture priority the user chooses the aperture he wants to use according to how much depth of field is desired in the photograph. Although the camera will change the shutter speed to maintain the correct exposure the photographer still has to ensure the combination is acceptable for technically correct images. Landscape photographers often use aperture priority because control over depth of field is important to achieve the best possible image. Shutter priority functions in the opposite way to aperture priority so the photographer selects the shutter speed leaving the camera selects the appropriate aperture for the correct exposure. Shutter priority is very popular with sports photographers, who usually decide that the shutter speed is the most important factor they have to consider. Program mode is basically full automatic. That means the shooter leaves all the exposure decisions to the camera and just presses the shutter button. This allows the shooter to focus totally on the composition and subject without worrying about the exposure. This is very popular with amateurs who are not yet sure about the exposure options or even professional users who sometimes just want to focus on the subject and don’t have time to think about other questions. Many years ago most shooters thought that serious photographers only worked in manual mode but this is not really true these days. The best exposure mode is the one that helps you to get the picture. As well as the exposure modes, most advanced digital cameras also have exposure compensation, which allows the shooter to allow for diverse lighting conditions that might confuse a built in camera meter. In snow scenes for example exposure meters tend to underexpose, so the shooter can use exposure compensation to fix this problem and still continue to work in automatic or program mode without being forced to use manual. When a photographer is first learning about photography it is a good idea to test with all the various options to learn how they function then later on it will be easier to make the correct decisions that will all help to produce the best possible images and turn the photographer into a real artist. Above all it is most important to take lots of pictures so that you improve as a photographer and learn something every day. If you are one of those photographers who always photographs everything in program mode try some of the other modes to gain greater control over your photography. Current Mood: nauseated Current Music: Indy (Comment on this)
1:20 pm	Digital Photography, Not So toilsome! Digital photography tutorials are plentiful all over the internet so you may ask why is there a need for me to look at this? Well to set it in simple terms most tutorials are just too advanced, while some are so primitive that they overlook some of the fundamentals of photography and digital imaging.   Photography is not as tricky  as you probably think it is. However it is advisable to be familiar with the fundamentals before attempting to take lots of pictures.  Cameras these days are fairly good in fact straight out of the box, so you can be assured of some very good snaps however a real knowledge of the fundamentals of digital photography will allow you with real creativity. Here are some basics that you might wish to consider in creating beautiful images.   Exposure Metering - More often than not, when we talk about camera metering we are referring to how a camera generates appropriate exposures for a scene. While each camera has  pre-programmed equations which effortlessly guides you in choosing auto-exposure, it's still effective to know several metering modes. Spot metering – This focuses on minuscule areas of the full scene. Some cameras have a default metering mode to choose from but you can still change it. Fundamentally, this metering type allows you to focus on one region which can later on compensate the other areas which might determine the overall exposure. Center-weighted metering – This occurs when the focussing is on more than a half of the overall image. Rather than focusing on a small area, this type of metering actually permits you to do the metering of the full picture. Other  types of metering that you might want to  look into are: average metering, partial metering and multiple-zone metering.   Color Balance -  This is the tonal variation of the color appearance. In color correction, levels are an important tool. In order to understand to a greater extent you might want to look into the color level tools in your photo processing application and do so expertly by having access to adobe photoshop training. In your levels control panel, you can see a drop-down menu where you have a varied range of color tones. There are RGB (red-green-blue) and CYMK (cyan-yellow-magenta) colors. The Red Blue Green deals with tonal ranges of from absolute white to absolute black. This is what most of photographers will use. RGB and CYMK hues are essential to get the correct color balance. Correcting the color balance depends on the shot that you are using and your desired result. Depth of Field (DOF) - Depth of Field is that portion which appears nicely sharp in the image. If you require to have an overall sharp photograph, you need to obtain a larger DOF. Generally, DOF is affected by a trio of considerations i.e. the aperture size, length to the subject and the lens used. A shallow DOF works well by laying emphasis on the subject while giving less significance on the foreground and background in the image. This is somewhat set by the space of the camera to the subject and the aperture used. Occasionally, it's a good idea to change the aperture if you are having a problem with the zone of focus. Your space to the subject is also crucial because DOF is shorter if you are nearer to the subject. As for lenses, with a wide-angle lens, the DOF is much greater and this is very effective if you are trying to obtain a picture of a group of people. A knowledge of Depth Of Field can literally make your subject stand out from a crowd! Current Mood: nauseated Current Music: Indy (Comment on this)
1:13 pm	Digital Photography, The Plusses And A Few Cons Digital Photography is relatively new-found. (II decades to be accurate) compared to its film peer and has without question brought photography to the masses by the respective formats and platforms available. Digital cameras are simpler to use. Indeed you can just about open the box and start shooting without even reading a manual if you wish which could not always be said in the days of film cameras. The innovative new digital cameras and lenses are bursting with technology that help you avoid many of the pitfalls of Digital Photography such as histograms to check for any exposure problems and image stabilizers to help avoid camera shake, ensuring sharp images even in less than perfect light. Most folks feel that after the inital purchase of buying the camera and lenses that their photography is now toll free but that is not the case I'm afraid. Even after purchasing further accessories like software, tripod, bag, memory cards, extra lenses etc. you still have to think about long term secure storage of your photos. In the days of film, negatives or transparencies where essentially very easy and inexpensive to store but with digital photography this can be a little more complex if you really want to protect your precious images. In an ideal world you want to store your photos at the very least in duplicate form, perhaps one set of images on DVD kept in a location other than at home and another set of the same images on an external hard drive. This ensures you have a backup safely stored against unfortunate events such as fire, theft or flood at seperate areas with an additional set conveniently on hard drive available for fast retrieval when needed. So digital photography, although a tremendous new medium does have a few extra costs that may not be immediately clear and we have not even started to talk about computer equipment which can require a whole lot more money depending on how serious you are about your photography. I'm talking about printers, ink a good quality monitor and the calibration tools needed to assure that what you see on screen will match any prints that you may wish to produce. The modern high resolution DSLRs also require higher quality more expensive lenses than cameras from the time of film. Current Mood: nauseated Current Music: Indy (Comment on this)