The Exciting Careers in Photography

Posted on December 7, 2011 by admin

The art of Photography is capturing the emotion and essence of a scene in a still image. It is a very serious art and become well respected. A photographers have a broad variety of opportunities in this field, capturing anything from wildlife to weddings and even photojournalism. They often specialize with digital imaging and can make as much as $60,000 per year or more depending on their project.

Photographers study in their field at a university or by an apprenticeship and are taught about equipment, digital manipulation and lighting among other things. It is highly possible for a photographer to learn the trade on his own using hands on experience or a correspondence course. Photographers are generally freelancers but can also be employed by companies or agencies such as CSI Photographer.

Photography is a very exciting career field and depending on your niche, can be a very adventurous expedition. While some photographers chose not to be too active in the field, clinging to the walls of their photo shop and manipulating photos, there are a lot of photographers that get out of the laid back scene and take the plunge. You may see them in Africa capturing the exotic wildlife or beautiful sunset. Or you may see them underwater photographing sea life that we never knew existed. These are the type of Photographers that have explosive success in their careers.

Starting a career in Photography isn’t just taking pictures and posting them, it’s not that easy. It takes time to get noticed in the field, so your best start will begin with doing work for no pay to build your reputation. There are many diverse careers in the field. The career could lead to rewarding industries like, Fashion, Law, Media and Events are all a pretty good place to begin. Even becoming a Digital Imaging Specialist will fall within this career field. A Digital Imaging Specialist is one who works to alter and improve pictures using computers.

Most people probably wouldn’t figure on being a Photographer for the Armed Forces, but contrary to popular belief each branch of the Armed forces offer different a reality and intimacy for a photographer. You would be capturing photos worldwide and taking professional military images. Upon joining one of the branches, you must let the recruiter know your intentions in the career of photography.

A career in Photography is certainly a very versatile one and is sure to progress through the ages. Whatever your niche or your genre is, your primary function is to capture and perpetuate images with an artistic flair to set your art apart from the average. A little creativity and a good eye and your photos will come to life.

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Beach Photography Tips

Posted on December 1, 2011 by admin

We can summarize photography as an art, process, occupation, practice or science engaged in taking pictures by using light and reflection then printing photographs. As an occupation or practice means to conduct some form of professional or technical process that involves lighting or reflection. In this article we’ll approach photography with its relationship to “lighting”, and “reflection” set for the beach.

Pacing Your Shot: Timing

Part of photography is timing; When to shoot, and not! Questions like: “What makes a good shot?” or “When should I shoot?” has no answer because there’s no good shot, per se, but the camera and the photographer must simply “work the scene.” Timing your shot takes a real-time review of the scenery. This determines if a selected area can be converted into a “scene on film.” As a mandatory rule: timing requires patience, so there’s no need to and it doesn’t make sense to “rush a shot!”

Timing also includes adjusting the camera shutter speed since the beach is blasted with natural light. Photographers should consider using a tinted lens to darken the contrast or filter to enhance the hues, perhaps even both! The best setting for natural “beach” photographs is afternoon to sunset, while most “people” photographs are fitted for morning to noon.

Make the Scene

Using “backdrops” as equity to enhance the scene on film makes for a better photograph in real-time rather than using fake props. Much effort goes into making the photograph. The effort is really split into two groups; the first implies that professional photographs taken are bought and sold, and the second implies that photographs are taken for personal enrichment. The scene is the “state of the photograph,” a picture of a moment captured in time. Make sure the setting of the scene captures the moment.

Drawing focus to the aforementioned group types, photographs of people are bought and sold more than photographs of nature. In this case, the scene may be set differently for each type of scene. “Nature” photographs respond better to low-level lighting, while “people” photographs respond more to high-level lighting. As a beach scene, an off-horizon focal-point, and a good mixture of low and high lighting levels is sufficient.

Equipment for the Beach

Photographers often mention what has happened to them while filming at the beach. In many cases it’s the same incident – dropping the camera! This normally happens when a common rule is forgotten, but in the end is relearned; when changing the lens, place the camera on a firm level surface or change the lens with camera in hand and the camera strap around the neck!

Salt water is the enemy of all mechanical equipment, more dangerously is sand! Duly when changing the lens of the camera always use a lint-proof cloth, and cover a firm surface with a lint-proof cloth when setting down lenses. We would also advise keeping handy the following: Lens hood, light meter, and wide-angle lens. If at all possible at the beach use a wind-shield!

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Photography Lighting Basics

Posted on November 26, 2011 by admin

Lighting for photography can vary depending upon whether you shoot indoor, outdoor, color, black and white, or nighttime. We will cover each of these in general terms to give an idea of what is possible in the world of photography. All cameras require some source of light in order to capture the subject. The light itself can help set the mood for the picture you are trying to create. Harsh light or hard light give the subject matter much more detailed substance, it pops out at you. Soft lighting or diffuse lighting can lend it self to more spiritual or sensual settings. For example, many times soft lighting will be used when the subject is a beautiful woman. The diffuse light will soften the lines of her face giving either a more angelic look to her or more sensual depending on what you have in mind. Add a red gel to your light and you suddenly change the mood of the set, your model becomes a fiery vixen ready for action.

Studio lighting gives the photographer greater control over what is happening to the subject in terms of lighting. There are three types of lights used in a studio; these are key, fill, and back lighting. Together they are referred to as three point lighting which can be used in television programs to your basic still photo studio. The key light for your subject is the light that dominates the subject, it gives the most detail. This light is more focused, like a flashlight, on the subject. The fill light helps to soften up the harshness of the key, and it provides light upon the areas the key might have missed. This light is spreads out bathing everything evenly. Finally we have the back light to give the subject extra definition from behind. You can play with combinations of three point lighting to come up with some creative ways to shoot your subject. Take away the key and fill from the mix and the result is a silhouette which could make the subject mysterious or foreboding. Just have the key light will give you a harsh tone that could be used for dramatic effect. Take away color from the subject and it adds a more noir look. The options are endless, but the thing is your using lighting as the tool to change what is being shot on film.

Outdoor lighting is a bit tougher to control when shooting a subject. Your key light is usually the Sun. This gives you a limited amount of time to shoot something because the Sun does not stay in one place, and it will eventually go down. You can simulate the Sun with lights, but they need to be fairly powerful, cables need to be safely anchored, and you need a power source like a portable generator. Shooting outdoors means most of the techniques for lighting still apply. You need a source light as your key, a fill to soften things up, and possibly a back light. If sunlight is your source then a reflective photo umbrella can easily provide the fill, just bounce the sunlight back unto the subject. If shooting in daylight, then a back light isn’t necessary. If you are shooting at night, then you’ll need to find a way to provide key, fill, and back to your subject.

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The Many Faces of the Photography Industry

Posted on November 22, 2011 by admin

Photography is a fast growing industry in the art world and has a wide range of opportunities for careers. As well as being an art form, photography is a way a documentation and illustration and is useful for all sorts of companies and organizations.

The job a photojournalist is to capture photos that will engage the reader of a story at first glance, drawing them into the article or media. Photographing current events brings the news of the world into the hands of the viewer, bringing awareness and understanding. Photojournalists are typically employed by newspapers or magazines and have a great opportunity for traveling the globe, meeting diverse individuals, and being on the front-lines of news stories as they happen.

Fine art photography is the type one might see in a museum or hanging in a gallery. The purpose of art photography is to capture beauty and emotion, engaging the imagination of the viewer. This art form often focuses on a unique point of view, capturing something ordinary in an extraordinary way. The technical side of the equipment involved in photography comes into play, enhancing or enriching the subject that is photographed in a way that a first-hand viewing can not.

Wedding photography is a rapidly growing industry and the way in which photographers record the memories of that one special day is changing in many innovative ways. This mode of photography has become much more of an art form- not just chronicling the moment by moment images of a wedding, but also capturing the images in a creative and emotive way.

Fashion photography takes the photographer into the fast-paced and exciting world of the fashion industry. Photographers fill the pages of magazines with editorial shots and also snap shots as models walk the runway. The use of lighting and angle are extremely important to create a dramatic fashion photograph. This art form not only sells clothes and advertises designers, but also documents the changing face of fashion throughout history.

War photography has been in existence since the American Civil War and has been a critical element in the recording and publicizing of conflicts. Before widespread photography of wars, those back at home or in other parts of the world could only guess at what the real face of war looked like. Today, war photographers capture images that reveal the true nature of conflicts and record history for future generations. This raises awareness and sympathy for those experiencing the war firsthand.

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