Welcome to September's newsletter. Apologies for being a day late this month. I've been working on my first eBook (finally got around to it!) and have only just submitted it for approval.
But more on that later. For now...
 Been on your holidays? Going soon?
If you're planning on spending some time in the pool these tips are for you.
Or, if you anywhere taking an action photo, this is for you too.
How to freeze movement.
If you need to capture a moment - and freeze the action - you need to understand a little about how your camera works.
Your camera controls exposure by adjusting the aperture, shutter speed or the ISO (there's more detail on understanding exposure here).
For the purposes of this month's tip you need to control the shutter speed. Have a look at your camera settings, if you see a sports program use it. It is designed to offer you a fast shutter speed that will freeze movement.
I'm mentioning this because compact cameras come with so many modes that often we put it on one mode and forget there are another half-dozen modes in there!
If you have a digital SLR you're lucky because you can directly control the shutter speed - in this case look for either "S" or "Tv" on the selector dial.
Once into shutter speed mode select the fastest speed you can - this will be the highest number. And then start snapping!
A few points to bear in mind:
- If the light is low your camera will struggle with a fast shutter speed - you might need to turn the flash on to compensate.
- Your camera might struggle to focus quick enough. In this situation, focus on something stationary next to your intended subject, and then wait for the subject to get to that point - then take the shot.
- Anticipate movement - if it's a ball game you're photographing there will be moments when you know you can catch your intended subject in mid-pose. If you're ready (because you anticipated it) you stand more chance of getting the shot.
Finally, a bit of practice helps, so get out there and give it a go!
...and back to the eBook. Finally (it's taken almost a year) I have finished my first eBook. It's a complete Digital SLR Guide and includes two bonus eBooks plus a triple part guide on making money with your camera.
As I said at the start of this newsletter it's been submitted for publication and I hope to hear any day soon.
With a bit of luck and a fair wind it will be available by next month's newsletter - which should give me time to work out how to offer my subscribers a discount!
Enjoy the last of the summer sunshine (seriously lacking here in the UK!), or the first days of spring (for antipodeans) and see you next month,
Darrell.
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 Welcome to August's newsletter.
Schooooool's out for summer!
Well, it is for some of us. And it might just involve a trip to the beach at some point.
It's the ideal time therefore to share a few beach photography tips.
Beach photography tipsThe first thing to do is make sure you carry your camera with you the beach.
But I sense a feeling of hesitation...all that sand, water - recipe for disaster!
Cameras and sand do not go well together. Nor do cameras and water - unless you have a waterproof camera.
As for the rest of us, what do you do to protect your camera?
Here's my first tip - look after your camera on the beach. Get hold of a ziplok bag (the type you might put your sandwiches in) and keep your camera in it unless you're actually taking photos.
When you're about to take a few photos take your camera out of the bag and zip up the bag again - this stops sand getting in whilst you're snapping away. Retun your camera as soon as you're finished.
Second tip - select the right camera setting, or overexpose the shot if you can.
Your camera is set up assuming everything it photographs should have average light levels. By the sea things are brighter and your camera compensates by underexposing the scene in order to achieve those average levels.
This is why beach photographs look dull when you view them later on.
You probably use the same camera setting for all your photos, but if your camera has a beach setting don't forget to use it (this will force your camera to make a better exposure).
Final tip - back to lighting again - try to make use of the late afternoon light rather than taking photos in the middle of the day.
At midday the light is strong and shadows appear harsh. The late afternoon light is much softer and will give your beach photography a nice warm glow!
Final, final tip if you have kids, and are facing weeks off of school, this is for you...
If you're stuck for things to do this holiday season I can highly recommend this downloadable and printable children's activity pack. I bought it myself and now the holidays are here it's proving its worth! Plenty to keep the little ones happily entertained AND learn as they go!
Download the activity pack here - it comes with a 100% money back guarantee and might just be the best $49 you ever spend!
Happy holidays and see you next month,
Darrell.
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 In the Northern Hemisphere it's nearly time for school summer holidays.
If you're a photographer and a parent you are presented with a wonderful opportunity to not only get out taking photos, but also entertain the kids too.
And if you're not a parent, but get called upon to take on the parenting duties at some point over the holidays this is for you too!
Summer holiday kids tipsThe first thing to do is either buy a cheap digital camera for the children to use, or find an old one that you don't use anymore and don't mind them having.
I wouldn't advise getting a camera specifically for kids. These tend to be expensive. A simple digital is not only a real camera (which they will probably appreciate) but it's also cheaper!
The next step is to come up with a theme or idea. Kids love stories, so to keep them involved you could get them to photograph a story of some sort.
Some story ideas for you:
- Get them to photograph things that go with a favourite story of theirs (let's say it's the Gruffalo - they could photograph a tree (the deep dark wood), a nut (the hazel nut), toy animals (representing the animals in the story)...
- Make a photo diary of a day out - photos of everyone getting ready, photos en-route, some activities of the day and then the return journey.
- Make a photo recipe. Let's say you're going to do some cake making with them. They photograph all the ingredients, the mixing, the baking, the finished cake and of course the eating!
If you keep in mind the concept of a start, middle and end you will be able to come up with plenty of ideas. It's the start middle and end part that keeps kids interested - as I said before, kids love stories!
To finish it all off you could print some of the photos out, get hold of a scrap book, and they can stick the photos in and make their very own story book.
Finally, the photo at the top of this newsletter is of me, the wife and our youngest enjoying a day out - one of many taken that day by our 5 year old son.
It's not the most perfect shot in the world, but does go to show what a five year old can do.
If you're stuck for things to do this holiday season, apart from photography, I can highly recommend this downloadable and printable children's activity pack. It's bursting with ideas (literally hundreds) to keep the little ones happily entertained. They learn as they go too - bonus!
Download the activity pack here - it comes with a 100% money back guarantee and might just be the best $49 you ever spend!
See you next month,
Darrell.
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 As it's wedding season (at least it is for those in the Northern Hemisphere!) I couldn't help but give you another wedding tip.
I know last month's tip was also a wedding one and I promise this will be the last one this year!
I was at a wedding recently, as a guest not as photographer, and it struck me that as a guest you have opportunities that the professionals often don't get - the more unusual wedding photos.
Wedding photography tipsIf you're invited to a wedding over the summer, first try the tips in last month's newsletter, and then...
While everyone is looking at the staged photos, have a wander around to see if there's something unusual to include. Things to look out for are:
- A photo of the back of the assembled group,
- A photo of a bridesmaid touching up her make-up,
- A tray of drinks in the foreground with the assembled group in the background,
- A photo down the line of the group (like the one I took that you can see here).
And there will be plenty of other possibilities too!
One way to make your photos a bit more classy is to use a shallow depth of field (that's what I did here). This creates a really sharp foreground and a blurry background.
Here you can find out more about controlling depth of field.
And if you're interested in taking wedding photography a step further there's a complete wedding photographers package that will get you on your way.
You can find out more about it here.
See you next month, and no more wedding tips - I promise!
Darrell.
PS: As you already know my website and all the tips are, and always will be, free. If you find the site useful and would like to say thanks, how about buying me a coffee?
You could be donating a steaming hot beverage in just a couple of clicks.
Thanks!
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Madame, Monsieur, Nous vous faisons parvenir, ci-joint, votre invitation au salon "LA SEMAINE DU BATIMENT" qui se tiendra du Jeudi 12 au Dimanche 15 Mai 2011 à Casablanca au Centre des Expositions de l Office des Changes - Route d El Jadida. Ouverture du salon : De 10H à 19H Imprimer la page, ci-jointe, pour vous et les gens qui vous accompagnent. Aussi, vous pourriez inviter d autres personnes en leur envoyant cette invitation. Veuillez croire, Madame, Monsieur, à nos salutations les plus respectueuses. LE DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL Redouane BARGACH
Tél : 05.22.86.22.24
Fax : 05.22.86.40.47
GSM : 06.61.21.83.94
Email : proxedit@proxedit.com
Madame, Monsieur, Nous vous prions de trouver, ci-joint, la nouvelle édition du journal CASA ANNONCES. Ci-après, lien pour télécharger CASA ANNONCES en grande résolution : (Copier ce lien dans la barre d adresse de votre explorateur internet, puis cliquer sur le bouton REGULAR DOWNLOAD ensuite le bouton orange “DOWNLOAD”) : www.sendspace.com/file/cfwo81
Nous vous souhaitons une bonne lecture. Veuillez croire, Madame, Monsieur, à nos salutations les plus respectueuses. LE DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL Redouane BARGACH Contact: Redouane BARGACH
Le Directeur Général
Tél : 05.22.86.22.24
Fax : 05.22.86.40.47
GSM : 06.61.21.83.94
Email : proxedit@proxedit.com 
 I realise there are some people around the world that can't bear being swamped in Royal Wedding news. Personally I can't wait until tomorrow and will be watching the whole thing on the sofa with my wife, a glass of bubbly and a box of tissues!
I just hope the weather holds for them. We haven't had a drop of rain for weeks now, and yet the forecast for tomorrow is showers. Good for the garden, bad news for weddings!
Anyway, wedding fever has got me thinking that over the coming months there will probably be a fair few of my newsletter subscribers attending weddings. Maybe even a few actually tying the knot.
So now seems to be a good time for some wedding photography tips.
Wedding photography tipsIf you want to get some great shots of the bride and groom spend a little time familiarising yourself with the venue and the timings.
 Other things to try:
- If you know that the bride and groom will be arriving in flashy cars then don't be the first to enter the venue - wait outside until they pull up.
- Check backgrounds for 'foreign objects'. This could be anything from a litter bin to a poorly placed drain pipe sticking out of the bride's head!
- Zoom in close to the bride and groom. They're the focus, not the grassy lawn they're standing on.
- Follow the pro! If there is a profession photographer present stay close to them if you can. I don't mind hangers on - always gives me someone I can talk cameras to during the day! And you'll get the best angles to shoot from.
The digital wedding photography home page goes into more detail on wedding photography in case you're after even more tips.
See you next month, and to Kate and William - my very best wishes!
Darrell. Help wanted!My aim is to share digital-photography-tips.net, and this newsletter with as many people around the world as possible- helping the whole world take better photos!
If you know of someone who would be interested in receiving this newsletter, please forward this email onto them, and ask them to click here, or send them this link:
http://www.digital-photography-tips.net/Digital-photography-tips-newsletter.html Thanks for your help,
Darrell. |
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 Astonishingly we've had a good few sunny days here recently.
So sunny in fact that our friends had a barbecue and we all sat outside with a cooling drink eating sausages.
And here's a photo of my wife and her friend enjoying that sunshine.
Will it last until November? Amateur meterologists please send in your predictions!
Also quite astonishing is the creativity of photographers. And don't let anyone tell you that creative photography is a dark art that only a few can master!
Like most things you can learn to be more creative with your photography. Here's a few tips to get you started.
Creative photography tipsThe most important tip to train yourself to be more creative is to look at the world from a new angle.
It could be very close up on an everyday object, ground up, or top down. Try all of these and you will find it completely changes your photos.
 Other things to try:
- Play with the perspective - things nearest to the camera will appear larger than things further away. Use this to line up unusual objects. The photo here is me holding up a minature friend.
- Place objects together that don't normally go together - an single bright orange set amongst a collection of apples.
- Freeze movement by using a fast shutter speed - this captures movement that is normally too fast for the human eye to register.
- Use a slow shutter speed - anything that moves whilst the shutter is open will blur, everything stationary will remain in clear focus.
- Seek out repeating patterns - this could be anything from a stairwell to railings or even just windows on a building.
The creative photography page goes into more detail on each of these techniques.
As always, now you have the basic concept, have a go at creative photography yourself!
See you next month,
Darrell. Help wanted!My aim is to share digital-photography-tips.net, and this newsletter with as many people around the world as possible- helping the whole world take better photos!
If you know of someone who would be interested in receiving this newsletter, please forward this email onto them, and ask them to click here, or send them this link:
http://www.digital-photography-tips.net/Digital-photography-tips-newsletter.html Thanks for your help,
Darrell. |
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 Here in the Northern Hemisphere it's that time of year that just seems to drag.
Christmas and New Year have gone, winter is still with us and there's little hope for warm sunshine for a good few weeks yet.
And for those of you in sunnier places - I'm jealous!
But there is one thing us photographers can try to relieve the dark evenings - use them to our advantage and try painting with light.
Painting with LightPainting with light is a photographic technique that needs two things - a long exposure and a light source.
The light source can be anything and some of the cheapest torches (the ones that use LED lights) work really well.
 What you do is place your subject in a dark place, set your camera on a solid surface and then trip the shutter.
You will need a long shutter speed (20 seconds or more) - so set one if your camera has the ability.
If your camera doesn't allow you to set the shutter speed turn off the flash and take the photo. Without the flash you should get a shutter speed of a good few seconds which will still work.
Whilst the shutter is open move your torch around the subject - painting with light as you go. The photo here (not mine I should say - it's from a technique book I downloaded) shows you the effect quite nicely.
So, now you have the basic concept make the most of those dark evenings and have a go!
There's much more detail about painting with light on the site so have a look for more ideas, plus you'll find links there to the techniques book I used for lots more creative photography tips and tricks.
See you next month,
Darrell.
Help wanted!My aim is to share digital-photography-tips.net, and this newsletter with as many people around the world as possible- helping the whole world take better photos!
If you know of someone who would be interested in receiving this newsletter, please forward this email onto them, and ask them to click here, or send them this link:
http://www.digital-photography-tips.net/Digital-photography-tips-newsletter.html Thanks for your help,
Darrell.
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As promised (or was that 'threatened'!) here's my last newsletter for the month.
I just wanted to remind you that you can still take up the January offer of $300 of valuable digital photography goods for just $15.
And get the chance to win $50 every month in the photo competition.
But the offer expires on Monday 31st January and once it's gone it's gone for good.
If you regularly check back to the site (as I know many of my subscribers do) you'll notice the offer has already been withdrawn to ordinary site visitors. It's now only available to you, my subscriber. But only for one last day. By Tuesday it will be too late.
- The 18 back issues will be gone, together with the video tutorials that go with them.
- The complementary copy of Digital Photography techniques goes with it.
- And the eBook Powerful Landscape Photography disappears too.
I would be a shame to miss out as it's the best online photography magazine I've ever come across, and this has to be the best deal I've ever managed to get for my subscribers (long-term subscribers will know I only get to do this sort of offer once a year)
To take up the offer, and get your hands on those $300 worth of photography goodies all you need to do is visit Amy's page (digital-photography-tips.net readers only) and place your order.
Once your order is done you will have instant access to all those video turorials, back issues of her magazine, two essential photography eBooks AND the chance to win $50 every month!
This really is it folks, have a look at the offer now. I promise you wont be disappointed!
I'll be in touch again with more photography tips and tricks in a few weeks time, until then, happy snapping!
Darrell.
PS: If you didn't get a chance to see three of Amy's videos from my last newsletter here they are again. In them Amy explains shutter speed, aperture and ISO:
And if you like what you see click to view the offer, only hours remain! |
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I have three things to tell you about in this edition:
1: How can you make your eBay photos look better (and maybe get you a better auction price too!)
2: How to get $300 of valuable digital photography goods for just $15.
3: And how to make a Mr Tumble birthday cake!
 I'll start with the first and third - Mr Tumble cakes and eBay.
The cake you see pictured here is the one my wife made for our daughter's second birthday.
Our daughter loves Mr Tumble and so my wife set about making her a Mr Tumble cake (all comments about the cake will be passed straight to my wife - you have been warned!)
And after spending so much time making it she then took a few snaps for the family album. And here's where the eBay part comes in.
If you want to photograph something to put on eBay (maybe an unwanted Christmas gift?) it helps if the photo is a good one. And here are some photography tips to help you get the most from your eBay auctions:
Tip 1, Eliminate as much clutter as possible from the background.
Tip 2, Get as much light as you can onto your object (use table lamps, spotlights...anything that will add light).
Tip 3, If it's small enough, and you have a white bath, photograph it in the bath. Light will reflect from the sides of the bath to illuminate yout object perfectly and the white background will look professional.
How to get $300 of valuable digital photography goods for just $15
Last year you might remember that I got together with a good friend of mine, Amy, to deliver a great photo gift for all my readers. Amy is a photographer, author and teacher and has a real knack for making difficult photography techniques seem easy.
Well, this year, we've done it again. A special offer for all my readers!
Amy publishes a monthly online photography magazine stuffed full of photography tips and ideas. She also includes video tutorials to make things really clear and simple. And there's a monthly photography competition where you could win $50!
In this year's offer Amy is giving away the last 18 back issues of her magazine (worth $270), a copy of her eBook "Powerful Landscape Photography" (worth $30) AND a copy of "Digital Photography Techniques (worth $17) all for just $15 per month subscription.
Risk free! If you sign up for the subscription, and then decide that it's not really for you, you can cancel - and still get to keep all the free gifts.
You can cancel at any time, but to be honest the magazine is so good I doubt you'll want to. In fact, of those who subscribed last year 87% continued their subscription!
Click to read all about Amy and to view the offer.
You'll see at the top of Amy's page that this is an offer for "digital-photography-tips.net readers only". This really is only available to you and you alone. It's not available anywhere else on the web.
You'll also see that you only have until January 31st to subscribe. After that the offer is gone.
Take a look at the offer now. I promise you wont be disappointed!
Phew! Sorry if I've gone on a bit. I was also going to add that if you have any New Year's Day photos that you would like to add to the New Year's Day 2010/11 page you only have a few days left to submit them.
On 31st of January (everything seems to be ending on the 31st of January!) the page will close to new submissions.
Darrell.
PS: I'll send out only one more reminder for Amy's offer. And then it's back to one newsletter per month, promise!
PPS: Amy has let me have three videos for you to look at - just to give you a taste of what her magazine offers. In them Amy explains shutter speed, aperture and ISO:
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Madame, Monsieur, Nous vous prions de trouver, ci-joint, la nouvelle édition du journal CASA ANNONCES. Ci-après, lien pour télécharger CASA ANNONCES en grande résolution : (Copier ce lien dans la barre d adresse de votre explorateur internet, puis cliquer sur le bouton REGULAR DOWNLOAD ensuite le bouton orange “DOWNLOAD”) : www.sendspace.com/file/mi9xf4 Nous vous souhaitons une bonne lecture. Veuillez croire, Madame, Monsieur, à nos salutations les plus respectueuses. LE DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL Redouane BARGACH Contact: Redouane BARGACH
Le Directeur Général
Tél : 05.22.86.22.24
Fax : 05.22.86.40.47
GSM : 06.61.21.83.94
Email : proxedit@proxedit.com 
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Have you been good this year? Will Santa be bringing you a shiny new camera? New camera or not Christmas is a great time to be taking photographs. 
