Better Photographs Blog
"Summary of What's New"
This is where to find my most recently added pages, along with other news and information that will help you to produce better photographs.
If you have not come across Blogs and RSS before, they have many advantages. They enable you to control what you receive, ensure that you never miss the news that you want and you don't have to keep revisiting your favourite websites to keep up to date on the latest information - click here to find out more.
Want something different for Valentine's Day?
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| If you are looking for something a bit
different to send to your loved one this year, take a look at what the
Guys at Animoto have come up with. |
Click for more info
Digital Photography Masterclass - Tom Ang
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It's easy to see why digital
photography has overtaken analog in popularity-it's affordable,
convenient, versatile, and, above all, it makes photography more fun
than ever before. Tom Ang's latest book is an in-depth, inspirational,
and uniquely practical guide to every aspect of digital photography.
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Permalink -- click for full blog post "Digital Photography Masterclass - Tom Ang"
Free downloadable photographs, free help and now you can
help as well.
At Better Photographs you can get free help from fellow photographers, receive free downloadable photographs and give your help as well.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Free downloadable photographs, free help and now you can
help as well."
Combining Two Great Pastimes
Our first
Masterclass for 2010 is about Underwater Photography.
This fascinating pastime is no longer just for professionals with loads
of expensive equipment.
We are seeing more and more everyday compact cameras capable of taking
superb photos underwater. |
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Paul Shepherd is a very experienced diving
instructor and an accomplished photographer who has been recording
the sights he sees almost every day in the seas off Zanzibar's
coastline. |
| In this masterclass he shares some of the
key lessons he has learned in
perfecting his photographic skills and provides us with an insight as
to
what it is like to take a photographic adventure with him at the Rising
Sun Dive Centre in Zanzibar. |
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Permalink -- click for full blog post "Combining Two Great Pastimes"
Mastering Speedlight Photography - The secrets of
stunning portraits.
Speedlight photography becomes straightforward thanks to Damien Lovegrove's comprehensive DVD.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Mastering Speedlight Photography - The secrets of
stunning portraits."
How much Infra-red for a Model?
Last October we invited your vote on the use of infra-red equipment in wildlife photography competitions. We did this in the light of the image of a wolf which won the prestigious "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" competition. Without exception, you voted that images triggered by the animal itself should be in a separate category in wildlife competitions.
Following a recent investigation by the owners of the WPOY, it appears likely that the winning image was of an animal model.
A statement has been issued - "It saddens us to confirm that after a careful and thorough investigation into the image, the storybook wolf, the co-owners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide have disqualified the winning entry of the photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez."
A full statement is available on the Natural History Museum website.
We believe that the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" will continue to be a highly respected competition of complete integrity. However, if it is to maintain its appeal to honest photographers, we feel that clear lines need to be drawn. Shameful cheating aside, we maintain that the use of technology has its place but needs to be set apart in the case of infra-red. We believe that the photographer should actually depress the shutter at the instant of capturing the image, albeit directly or by wireless control. Infra-red can assist the creation of superb images but such images should be categorised separately in wildlife competitions.
Click here and let us know what you think.
Your anonymous collective vote will be presented to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year organisers and to the Royal Photographic Society.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "How much Infra-red for a Model?"
A Photographer's Dream
| Hello
from the Hampshire Snowdrifts. We've been snowed in for a week or so;
even when we have managed to walk to the local shops the cupboard is
bare because deliveries by lorry are not possible. Like the rest of
Britain, what has been a nightmare for most folk, has been a dream for
photographers. |
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I'm
no exception so a couple of days ago I wrapped up warm, set up the
camera - (remembering to
dial in over-exposure to render the snow as white. Actually +0.7
compensation with the shutter set to 3 bracketed exposures of 1 stop.
Not just as a safeguard, but because I prefer to use HDR techniques
when necessary. Few of the scenes I shoot have straight enough horizons
for graduated filters.) - and set off in search of some
"great" images.
Three hours later I returned home with 250 shots and cold wet feet - my
boots had sprung a leak. Unperturbed, I reviewed my images on the PC.
Were they all "great"? Of course not. One or two that I might exhibit
perhaps but a lot more that, even though they are just average, tell
the story of the first time in a generation or so that snow did fall in
Hampshire.
What to do? Leave them on the hard drive to rot? Post them to Facebook
or elsewhere to be forgotten?
OR
Put together a slideshow set to music, with a difference. Take a look
at "Snow
Falls On
Tisted". Perhaps you
might produce something similar? If you do, let me know so other
readers can share in it.
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Finally, one image is very different. It was inspired
by my friend Damien Lovegrove. Whilst he specialises in Portrait
Photography, with particular attention to lighting, I had a go at
applying one of his ideas to this image - simple use of a reflective
surface and an off-camera flashgun. Which reminds me of my next project
- to watch Damien's latest instructional video - "Speedlight
Mastery". I'll let you know what I think of it
in a day or so.
Bring on the thaw -
the golf course is calling!!
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Permalink -- click for full blog post "A Photographer's Dream"
Great Wildlife Pictures - How to take that Special Photo.
Wish you had taken those great wildlife pictures? Well here's how you can.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Great Wildlife Pictures - How to take that Special Photo."
The Tenties or the Teenies?!?
HAPPY
NEW YEAR
We begin 2010 with
your free downloadable photograph - "Until
Tomorrow".
The sun sets on an idyllic island in The Maldives bringing peace to an
area where, just five years ago, debris from the violent tsunami across
the Indian Ocean was washed up on its beaches.
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Permalink -- click for full blog post "The Tenties or the Teenies?!?"
Merry Christmas
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Hi,
Just taking a break from hanging the holly and stuffing the turkey to wish all Better Photographs readers a very Merry Christmas.
Thank you for your support throughout the year and I look forward to hearing more from you in 2010.
John
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Learn Landscape Photography
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This masterclass assumes you have read what John
Perriment covered in Better
Landscape Photography about the importance of light,
particularly around dawn and sunrise, and takes it further..
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Permalink -- click for full blog post "Learn Landscape Photography"
Olympus Cameras - The Pen
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Olympus Cameras - The Pen"
Macro Photography Courses for 2010
New Macro
Photography Courses by John Bebbington are announced.
John specialises in close-up photography of flowers and insects and has
been leading photography courses in the UK and abroad since 1979. He
also lectures to Photographic and Natural History societies.
In 1991 he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society for
a panel of slides on the theme of - Protective Colouration in European
Lepidoptera. |
Over 2,000 of our readers have benefited from John's
masterclass -
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Permalink -- click for full blog post "Macro Photography Courses for 2010"
Modeling Tips - Advice from a Successful Model.
If you want to get the most out of your photography session, these modeling tips from successful model and actor, Steven Hooper are valuable to you whether you are a photographer or a model.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Modeling Tips - Advice from a Successful Model."
Portrait and Wedding Photography Books - A Selection of
Good Buys
A selection of Portrait and Wedding Photography Books which have helped our visitors take Better Photographs.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Portrait and Wedding Photography Books - A Selection of
Good Buys"
Your Vote is Needed
In October, the results of the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" were announced and the overall winning image was an outstanding photograph of an Iberian Wolf.
Like last year's winning image of a Snow Leopard, the wolf triggered the photograph itself as it cut an infra-red beam.
Whereas the winning photographer set up the necessary equipment to take the photograph, he did not fire the shutter himself.
This posed a question - should photographs triggered remotely by the animal itself and not the human photographer be in a separate category in wildlife competitions?
Since we asked this question, the BBC Wildlife Magazine has published readers' letters which also beg this question. In view of this, I intend writing to the magazine with the results of our survey. We have some but we need more votes to have a more realistic sample.
Please share your view by voting here.
By the way, there is currently a special Christmas offer available on the BBC Wildlife magazine.
Click for more info
December's Free Wallpaper - Support the Prince's Rainforests Project
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The eyes of one endangered species are set on two more
whose future, like ours, is threatened by the destruction of
rainforests.
All donations made in December will go to support one
of the non-governmental environmental organisations which require
funding for project activities in the
rainforests of the world. |
Permalink -- click for full blog post "December's Free Wallpaper - Support the Prince's Rainforests Project"
Need to Learn Photoshop Easily?
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This book gets you going quickly and takes you as far
as you want to go. For me, it is the best source of knowledge and
understanding on a product that can seem challenging and complex, to
say the least. |
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Need to Learn Photoshop Easily?"
RPS Digital Imaging Group - at the forefront of
Photography and Imaging
The RPS Digital Imaging Group is the fastest growing special interest group and is at the forefront of Photography and Imaging.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "RPS Digital Imaging Group - at the forefront of
Photography and Imaging"
Another Christmas Present Idea
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Internationally renowned master photographer Damien
Lovegrove has now produced his 5th video - "Speedlight
Mastery".
There is a pre-order special offer which will cease to exist at the
point the discs arrive in stock or December 15th, whichever the sooner. |
This
video is for any photographer who uses or wants to use Speedlights on
location. It doesn't matter if you have just one flash because several
of the set ups show how to use a single Speedlight creatively to take
striking portraits on location. When you are ready to move on to more
complicated set ups Damien shows how to break down the rig and lighting
design into easy chunks.
Damien shows exactly how he designs a
picture from scratch deciding upon background, lens choice, shooting
position, and framing before he goes on to set up the Speedlights. Once
the lighting is rigged he brings in his model and shows how he evolves
the shoot, working with his model to get the look he wants.
This
production is jam packed with tips, ideas and solutions to problems
you've yet to encounter. It's a video designed to inspire and stimulate
the creativity within you. Damien delivers the constant stream of
valuable information in a logical and fluid way. If you want to light
portraits on location like a top pro then this video is for you.
Click for more info
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