Sat 19 Nov 2011

Welcome To Photography Classes Atlanta

Posted by wrasku under Learn Photography, Photography Classes - Atlanta
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At Photography Classes Atlanta The Belief Is That Learning Photography Can Be Life Changing

Photo of the Fabulour Fox Theatre

Photography Classes can help you learn the right settings for images like this.

Digital cameras are improving all the time. With the possible exception of the personal computer and the cell phone, it is difficult to image a technological gadget that has become more popular than the digital camera. The digital camera has become one of the necessities of life for some of us. We are moving from simple point and shoot models to more advanced digital compacts, and then to digital SLR cameras as a normal progression.

Digital SLR cameras are literally exploding in popularity among non-professional photographers. The proof is in the marketing. You can no longer pick up the sales circulars of a Sunday paper that are not loaded with digital camera and camera gear advertisements.

Stand anywhere in a public area that has lots of people traffic and you will see digital cameras galore. They are attached to wrists and belts, draped around necks, and much of the time they are actively being used to record every activity of life. Every age group has been taken with the digital photography bug, from the elderly to children.

With all this photo activity, there still exists a kind of mystery about the operation of the digital camera. There is not doubt that we can press the shutter and record an image. That is not the problem. The mystique lies in getting the picture that will wow the crowds. How does that happen? What are the elements of a great photograph? What do the professional photographers know that we don’t about composition, exposure, f-stops, shutter speeds and all that photography lingo?

There is truly a need for education in digital photography. Some of us are quite adept with the skills that create good pictures, and the menu of a digital camera poses no threat. Yet there are others who love great photos, but they are totally intimidated by the digital camera in their hands. Getting familiar with the camera is paramount to getting better photos.

typwriter-vintageLook
You can learn to take better photos, then enhance them using photo editing software like Photoshop.. this vintage typewriter looks much better with the Photoshop editing added.

Learn How To Take Better Photos

The goal at Photography Classes Atlanta is to connect those who want to become better at the craft of photography with the resources necessary to make that happen. There are lots of places to learn photography, and there are plenty of ways to learn, whether it is to sit in a physical class, take a field trip with other photographers, watch videos about how to use your digital camera, or simply meet others who have the same passions for digital images that you do.

Below is a list of ideas that you may want to consider for learning about photography – a sort of “Photography Classes Atlanta Directory”:

  1. Take college level classes in photography -
    *Art Institute of Atlanta – The Art Institute has been offering classes for over 60 years. They currently have degree programs in Commercial Photography and a Bachelor’s Degree in Photographic Imaging. There is also a 2-year Associates Degree in Photographic Imaging.
    – Address: 6600 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, N.E., 100 Embassy Row, Atlanta, GA 30328
    – Phone: (770) 394-8300
    – Website: Art Institute of Atlanta

  2. *SCAD – The Savannah School of Art and Design is the premier art school in the South, and they have a campus in Atlanta
    – Website: http://www.scad.edu/atlanta/
    – Address: 1611 W Peachtree Street Northeast, Atlanta
    – Phone: (404) 541-9496

  3. Buy a new digital camera at the right store and a beginner’s Photograph Class is part of the package Wolf Camera offers these free bonus camera classes. There are lots of these Camera centers around Atlanta, but the one below has a free class coming up soon.
    – Wolf Camera at Town Center at Cobb
    – 400 Ernest W Barrett Pkwy NW
    – Kennesaw, GA 30144-4917
    – Phone: 770-423-0498

  4. Join a local Photographic Society – there are classes conducted by society members for very reasonable prices.
    – Atlanta Photographic Society – Website: http://www.atlantaphotographic.org/
    – Roswell Photographic Society – Website: http://www.roswellphotosociety.org/

  5. Adult Education Programs – continuing education program courses of study are given at many area high schools and colleges.The Atlanta Journal Constitution has a comprehensive list of continuing education classes on their website.
    Website: http://www.ajc.com/ajccars/content/hotjobs/careercenter/articles/2009/03/08/atlanta_career_education.html

  6. Photography Workshops
    If you can find workshops that are being lead and taught by well respected professional photographers, you can learn much more about how to take good photos and you can learn it faster. Photo workshops are like on-the-job training. Workshops are held in the city and the surrounding areas. Whether you are interested in Photo-journalism on the streets of Atlanta or macro photography in a setting such at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, there are enough Photography workshops to fill your needs.
    Check out The Digital Photo Academy in downtown Atlanta. Prices are really reasonable.

  7. YouTube
    You can find anything on YouTube. What do you want to know about? Just type that into the YouTube search box and your problem is solved. Yes, you may have to wade through literally tons of “less than stellar” content, but you will probably find what you are looking for. Sometimes it may even be on the first click. Many folks have put a whole series of videos that you can follow in sequence, and some of these video tutorials are very well done. PhotoGavin is a photographer who has over 150 video tutorials that are not only information, but entertaining as well. If you watch all of his videos, you will learn a ton about many different aspects of photography.

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Sun 8 Jan 2012

Learn Photography – 5 Tips For Street Photography Portraits

Posted by wrasku under Learn Photography
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Street photography is awesome. The people on the streets and in shopping areas offer so much diversity and interest. You can learn street photography very quickly. Just grab your camera and head for places where people hang out.

However you will need more than a digital SLR. You need a good portrait lens as well. In the event you are using a Canon Rebel, you also have to have a Canon Rebel lens that will take excellent portraits. One of the 50mm models will qualify very nicely. There are three Canon 50mm lenses: the f/1.8, the f/1.4, and the f/1.2.

Selecting the right one of these lenses just isn’t as critical as it might seem, especially considering the difference in cost. The f/1.8 is the lowest priced bargain at about $100. Then the prices go up to about $350 for the f/1.4 and more than $1000 for the f/1.2. Granted, the quality of build is undoubtedly different, but you can get great portraits with any one of the three.

street photography

Shopping centers and malls are great places to get interesting shots. “Street photography” is not always on the street.

There is yet another hurdle along with obtaining proper equipment. If you aren’t comfortable talking with strangers, this could be a struggle for you to walk up to a stranger to request permission to take their image, nevertheless, after you have tried it several times, the idea is easier. This will be very true when you see the wonderful outcomes. Street pictures tend to be more exciting than your typical family picture. That is, except if your Uncle Pete or Aunt Claire is as colorful as a lot of the street dwellers you will come across in the down-town locations and shopping malls.

Street Portrait_0002

Here is an unsolicited tip about street photography: You can offer the subject a print of their photo. This will many times entice them to say “yes” to your request to photograph them. Of course, you must then make sure you send the print to them.

There are actually five tips which you can easily utilize to allow you to be prepared to get those great photos after you manage the difficulty of paralyzing fear.

  1. Never ever venture away from home without the digital SLR camera. We are all guilty of it, yet it’s a good idea to keep on telling yourself that you should not leave home without that camera. You can actually train yourself.  After a couple of weeks of taking the camera each time you depart home or office it will become second nature. Absolutely nothing (well, practically nothing) is more frustrating than coming upon an incredible photo opportunity on the street when you do not have the picture taking tools on hand. And this does not necessarily mean you need to carry the complete camera travel bag along with you. You just need your SLR and trusty portrait lens.
  2. You should keep that Canon 50mm lens on the dslr camera. You will find a variety of reasons for making use of this lens instead of one of the “other” choices. First, the 50mm is a very practical portrait lens due to the high quality images it produces and the large aperture. And second, it is smaller and light. It doesn’t wear you out hauling it around the street or shopping center for a number of hours. Furthermore, some folks will be put off or intimidated by a giant, showy piece of glass.
  3. Don’t use your flash. You will definitely get natural shots with no flash, and on the street, this is especially true. You can make use of the large aperture of the 50mm lens to get a good quick shutter speed, and if the brightness is very low, just increase the ISO of the Canon Rebel to speed up the shutter.
  4. Be prepared. The old Boy Scout motto works in street photography too. Check your camera to make sure all of your settings and dials are correct before you approaching your prospect. You could ruin the whole shoot if you have to stop and fool with your camera whilst the subject is waiting for you.
  5. Have your model release forms ready. If you’re going to sell your pictures or display display them in some public place (hint.. Internet), you will need to get a model release from the individual. This is especially true if children are in the photos – ask for their parents’ approval. The great thing is that there is currently an app for the iPhone and iPad for this. It will cost about ten bucks, but it is really necessary. You can go green!

That’s it. You, too, could be a street photographer. Get out there and shoot!
Click this link ==> Canon 50mm lens lineup

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Sun 11 Dec 2011

Photography Classes – Learn Enough To Make Some Extra Cash

Posted by wrasku under Photography Classes - Atlanta
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Photography Classes Get You On Your Road To Success!



There are many people who wait and wait before taking the plunge into professional photography. What I mean is, they have some skills, but they think they need to take all the photography classes and know everything there is about photography before they feel justified for charging for their services. Of course there are others that take that step far too early.

Photography Classes can help learn to take portraits like this.

Photography Classes can help you learn to take portraits like this.

But, the truth is, if you have even an inexpensive digital SLR camera, such as a Canon Rebel T3i with a decent Canon Rebel lens, and you enjoy taking pictures, you may be able to generate some extra cash with your photos. Digital photography is at the top of the list of fastest growing hobbies. If you just have a little bit of creativity, you can turn your digital photography into a cash generating opportunity. There are a great many ways you can put that camera to work to generate an income.

 

All you have to do is combine a bit of creativeness and showmanship with some salesmanship, and you can start making money with your pictures.

Assuming that you are already a photography enthusiast, you may have the camera and accessories at hand to start. It goes without saying that a camera is needed, but the best one would be a digital SLR camera such as a Canon 60D or even a more professional DSLR. You will also need a tripod and a good printer or photo printing service.

In addition to the camera and accessories, you will need photo editing software. Adobe Photoshop is the top of the line in photo editing software, but Corel also has a good software product titled Paint Shop Pro.

As far as salesmanship is concerned, spending a few hundred dollars in marketing materials will get you moving in the right direction.

It’s valuable to acknowledge one thing before moving on. Don’t be discouraged by those who say that doing photography as a business is too hard because just about everybody has a digital camera these days. While this is definitely true, you will be astonished at how many people don’t know how to use that camera to get acceptable pictures. They are prepared to hire you to take those pictures for them!

 

Have a glimpse at the images lots of people take. To be honest here; their photos stink (excuse my French, but it is true). Most people take photos that suffer from quite a few issues like motion blur, sorry color, and poorly posed subjects among other things. They don’t understand the first point about good composition. They do not know the effects of lights and flash, so there are (blank) unpleasant shadows around the subject in the image. Their photos are normally so terrible they cannot even be repaired with Adobe photoshop.

Printing is another difficulty for many folks. Because the pictures are improperly done to start with, the prints are also bad. The person who took the images didn’t have a clue with regards to the best way to utilize the camera settings to get the correct resolution for publishing.

Nevertheless, you know what? This is what gives an exceptional opportunity to step up and provide your services. Because you have the skills necessary to take very good pictures, all you might have to do is supply a couple of samples to demonstrate your abilities, and you may have gained a new client!

Photography Classes help you learn people photography

People photography is a popular subject at photography classes

If you are still on the fence about whether you are able to get into the “photography for cash” marketplace, listen to this. It happened to somebody who was thinking about whether or not she could make money with her photography. She went to a small party, a celebration for a colleague’s promotion. The host of the party had arranged for her to take some photos.

Many of the party people had their own cameras, plus a few of them were even taking pictures in the beginning. But as the celebration got started, these people were having such a good time they forgot about taking pictures. And the majority of these photographs that they did get were simply not very good.

Following the party, the photographer received a small fee for her services. The plan was to print a few proofs for that host as well as print a specific quantity of pictures. But she also published the images she had taken to her website and emailed the link for the photographs to each of those that went to the party. She got quite a few inquiries for prints from those that attended the event , and all she had to do was permit those that wanted photos to download and print them. Easy!

It developed into quite a profitable outing for the photographer, and she did not even need to bother with printing or delivering the images.

It turned into a life-changing party for that young photographer.

But it’s not unique. Almost any person can do this! And it’s even a good excuse to get that new Canon Rebel lens you have been drooling over. Create a plan, build your self-confidence and photography abilities, and begin shooting!

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Sun 7 Aug 2011

Setting The White Balance

Posted by wrasku under Learn Photography
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Digital Cameras Have “Eyes”

Digital cameras perceive color much differently than the human eye. The eye compensates for most types of light making the scene in front of it look normal. But the truth is, every different light source emits a different type of color. Our eyes just compensate for that making everything look normal. Your digital camera attempts to do the same thing with something called white balance.

When you set your digital camera on auto white balance, the software inside the camera analyzes the lighting and sets the white balance accordingly. While there is no research to back this up, my guess is that 98% of casual photographers just leave their camera set on auto white balance. In this article we’ll take a look at how you can get better and more creative using your camera’s white balance settings.

Scientific discussions about the color of light use the term “temperature.” Different light sources tend to have their own color temperature, and this temperature is described in the scientific term “degrees Kelvin”, or “K.” Simple daylight, for instance, has a color temperature of 5500 K. As the temperature of light decreases it becomes redder, and as the temperature goes up, it becomes bluer. Simple example would be a household lamp, which has a tungsten bulb. A normal light source of this type has a Kelvin temperature of about 3200 K, which is quite reddish in color.

Photographers using film cameras handled changes in color temperature of light in a couple of different ways. The first way was to use a filter over the lens that would alter the light entering the camera to make the picture on the film more natural. The second way was to buy film that was specifically for the lighting conditions that the photograph was being taken in. Today’s digital cameras handle this task electronically with the camera software.

Typical Digital Camera White Balance Settings:

Typical White Balance Settings

Auto White Balance:
Nearly every digital camera has a auto white balance setting. The camera measures the light around it and automatically sets the white balance. Even though this feature has developed to the point that it works extremely well, it still isn’t perfect. It is great for everyday snapshots, and many other types of photography, however, the auto white balance setting on the camera does shift colors in one direction or another and they end up in a close but not perfect color photograph.

One area of photography where auto white balance may give you some trouble is when you’re photograph has large areas of uniform color. For example, think about taking a picture of a pumpkin in close-up mode. Your camera has no conception of what a pumpkin is or should look like. You may end up with a photograph that is not the true color of the pumpkin at all. In this case it would have been better to manually set the cameras white balance.

Specific White Balance Settings:
In order to set a source – specific White balance setting, you will need to find the white balance settings on your camera menu. You will find settings such as sunlight, tungsten, cloudy day, shade, fluorescent, and flash. If you choose one of these settings you’ll have a much better chance of getting the color balance correct. Experimenting with these white balance settings is a good idea so that you can get an idea of what they actually do. In fact, it is fun to use all of the white balance settings on the same photograph just to see how much difference there is in different light sources.

Manual White Balance Settings:
More advanced digital cameras allowed the photographer to manually set the white balance of the camera. Using this method, you can get an exact match for existing light. One way to do this is to use a white card or a white sheet of paper directly in front of the lens and take a picture of that. Your camera will automatically set itself to the right color balance. You can also use the manual white balance setting to dial in his specific temperature. For instance, if you have a light meter, you can take a reading on your meter and I’ll that temperature setting right into your white balance.

Creative Ways to Use White Balance Settings:
Even though the cameras white balance settings are engineered and designed to give you perfect color, you can use the preset white balance settings to get some creative effects. For instance, if you take a typical daylight photograph with your white balance set tungsten, the picture will turn out would be very blue overcast. The same tungsten setting can be used to entirely change the appearance of a portrait.

You can also switch the situation around and use the daylight setting under tungsten lighting. This will create a deep yellow cast to the photograph.
If you use the same technique mentioned above under manual white balance settings, but instead of a white card you use a color card, you will hold the camera into thinking the lighting is quite different than it really is and the results could be quite creative and surprising.

Normal White Balance = 5900K
This photo was taken on a “sunny” day. White balance is 5900K
Tungsten White Balance - 3200K
The same photo with a white balance setting equal to “tungsten” at 3200K.

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