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I've always felt that my Nikon SLR's primary drawback had to do with white balance . I just don't think the camera is that good at setting white balance automatically. It imposes blue tones outdoors, and orange tones indoors. While I realize that outdoor light does tend toward blueness, and...
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As I've said before, I am a Photoshop novice . (I work surrounded by skilled designers who would no doubt agree, as they spend their day doing crazy smart things with layers and Photoshop plug-ins.) But I mainly use Photoshop to touch up digital photos. And as a result, there is only a handful of...
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Crutchfield is full of enthusiasts — audiophiles, gamers, car audio lovers, you name it — and it has become apparent that a solid population of photographers exists here as well. So we decided to form a club that could share photos, talk about photography, and bounce ideas around. Here's...
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Having so recently practiced slow shutter shooting, I just couldn't resist when the carnival came to town. No, I did NOT run away with the carnival. Instead, I spent an interesting hour hanging around after dark taking pictures. The first was taken at f/14 with a shutter speed of 30 seconds and sensitivity...
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Just following up on my last post, where I tried and failed to show a particular slow shutter technique . I got much closer with this later shot. I think I'm getting there.
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I posted the results of three different slow shutter techniques previously ( slow shutter in the dark , slow shutter to capture crowd motion , and slow shutter with a bright light ). More recently, I tried a different approach: one that requires physical coordination and a generous helping of luck. ...
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Generally speaking, we think of a "one-lens" solution as being a zoom lens which covers a wide focal range . The logic behind this is infallible: I can snap a wide-angle shot one minute, then wheel around and zoom way in on something else the next. And I never have to switch lenses (switching lenses...
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Macro photography means getting really close and shooting extreme closeups of your subject. Flowers, insects, and everyday items take on a whole new meaning when you start shooting macro photographs of them. It's like a window to a world that's all around you but impossible to see — the details, in many...
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I've already looked at using slow shutter in the dark , and slow shutter to capture crowd motion . Last night, I took a stab at using bright light for effect. The plan was to use a flame to create a glowing image, while the subject remained still. I had seen photos like this, where people used lighters...
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As I wrote before, I've started experimenting with slow shutter speeds and the effects they can produce. I always looked on these kinds of shots as beyond me, but it's exciting to realize that they are very very easy to achieve if you're planning them. My first experiment involved nighttime slow-shutter...
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In my never-ending (although frequently on hold) quest to be a better, more knowledgeable photographer, I decided to take a look at what could be done with slow shutter speeds. Technically, I was aware that by slowing your shutter speed waaaaaay down and opening the aperture waaaaay up you could take...
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My guilty confession: I haven't posted a new entry in some time, mainly because I've been too busy using the Nikon D700 SLR . I've been planning to review it, but it's been hard to put down the camera and pick up the virtual pen. There are a lot of people out there writing excellent and detailed reviews...
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A few days ago, I wrote about my difficulties getting a baby picture to look good . That photo started as a way to show my friend that my baby was enjoying her quilt, but it ended with an exploration of some Photoshop functions that are useful when it comes to rescuing a photo that you're not too impressed...
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A day or two ago, I wrote about how I had taken a baby photo and lightened it using the "Levels" adjustment in Photoshop , in order to make it good enough to send in a thank-you note. I noted that it still wasn't a photo that I liked well enough on its own. Part of that was simply that the brightly colored...
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This blog entry is a little tough for me to write, because I'm going to be using a photo that I think is below average to demonstrate a few things. Ouch, that hurts! But it's in a good cause. And it was other people's willingness to blog about their missteps that helped me learn how to take better photos...