Looking at the Flash

There are lots of portable flash units available for photographers. For any serious photographer, you need to have a decent flash unit for your camera. The flash will be used to help provide an even and uniform level of light on the subject. If photographing a wedding, that light need to be flattering to the bride. You cannot afford to have the brides photos full of shadows or harsh lighting. You will not make money with photos like that and you will have the wrath of the bride and groom upon you.

There are many reasons for choosing the Nikon SB800. From a technological point of view, the Nikon unit is quite unique. When you are ready to take a photo with this unit, the flash fires off a number of almost imperceptible flashes. The computer in the flash unit then takes the data from the reflected light, and makes some judgements to determine the correct amount of light to get a well exposed photo. The flash unit's computer also talks to the Nikon Digital Camera, and determines the distance the subject is from the camera, checks the brightness and reflectivity and comes up with a correct exposure. All, literally, in the blink of an eye.

This system makes it very difficult to take a bad photo , at least from a flash exposure point of view. The SB800 is also one of the most powerful portable flash units, and has many adjustments.

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Make Money with the Apple iPad

What is the Apple iPad. Apple describes it as a magical and revolutionary device, at an unbelievable price. Well, what does that really mean. Before it’s launch, there were a great many people who said that it would be a flop. Many companies had tried to make a “tablet” style computer device before, and failed. Many of the so called experts said that they did not believe that Apple could come in and make a similar device, and have it be a success. These so called experts used the ill fated Apple Newton ( one of the first hand held, portable, touch screen computing devices ever made) as an example of how Apple would fail with the iPad. Of course, this argument fails to consider how much of a technological leap the Newton made for its day. It may have been a commercial failure, but it was a technological leap, way ahead of anything available at the time.

Well, in less than 28 days, the Apple iPad has been a resounding success. In fact, it is estimated that Apple has sold more iPads than similar products combined in the last decade. So the question is, why. What has Apple done that has made the difference?

The answer is simple and yet complex. The simple answer is that Apple has done what they always do. Made the complex simple. In this case, they have taken the tried and true operating system from the iPhone/iPod Touch, and extended it into the iPad.

For many users, browsing the Web and checking emails is the main task for their computers, and this can easily be done on the iPad, with much greater ease and speed. And with it’s light weight and portability, and the built in Wi-Fi or 3G connectivity, these tasks can be done wherever you are.

But the Apple iPad is so much more. It is an extremely capable and professional device. Apple has shown how capable with the introduction of a suite of applications for creating slide shows, spreadsheets and page design. The Apple iPad is also an amazing presentation device. Show your sales pitch, annual report or just a bunch of personal photos, on it’s beautiful big screen.

By designing its own chip technology inside the iPad, Apple has been able to design a device that has exceeded the expectations of many of the industry’s experts. The iPad contains a very fast processor, designated the Apple A4 chip. This chip design has enabled the iPad to perform at extremely fast speeds, making the iPad very intuitive in operation. When you do something on the iPad, it responds instantly, making the experience very fulfilling.

And the user experience is what Apple is all about. When you use an Apple product, you can see why the design team, and the CEO (Steve Jobs), are so particular about even the smallest of details. And as a user, when you use Apple products, it just makes sense that they work the way they do.

The Apple iPad will again, revolutionize the mobile computing industry. Developers are already creating some of the most amazing programs for the iPad. Where previously, an investment of several thousand dollars may have been required to perform certain tasks, the iPad enables the same productivity or better, for just a few dollars. You can visit my blog to see some pictures of the iPad and how it could be used as a picture presentation device. Imaging, being able to show big beautiful colorful pictures to friends and family, wherever you go. Or to be ready to make a sales pitch, get directions or make reservations at a nearby restaurant. Yes, the Apple iPad truly is a Magical and Revolutionary Device.

Taking Photos at the 21st Olympic Winter Games

There is an art to taking to good pictures at any event. Whether you are photographing a wedding, your kids birthday party or the Winter Olympics, you need to be prepared in order to get great shots. If you will be lucky enough to be going to the Winter Olympics, I would like to offer some tips that may help you get some good shots.

As I mentioned, these techniques will help you take great photos anytime you are photographing an event. Lets start some one of the basics.

1. Whether you are sitting in the bleachers at the 21^st Winter Olympics in Vancouver, or just taking photos of the kids at the local soccer or football game, some things will be obvious. To get good shots, you need to be close to the action, and that usually means you will need a long telephoto lens on the camera. The professionals at the 21^st Winter Olympics will have the luxury of having several cameras with long prime telephoto lenses. But for the average person, you may want to consider using a telephoto zoom lens, the longest one you can afford. These are much more affordable than large prime lenses.

2. The second thing to consider is resolution. You will need to ensure that you take photos on your camera, at the highest resolution available on you particular camera. By combining the longest lens you have, together with the highest resolution setting, you will have the best chance of taking photos that can be enlarged and show the action on the field.

3. Thirdly of course, you will need to have some large memory cards to store the images. Make sure that you use the maximum size that your camera can use. Some digital cameras are limited as to the size of the memory card and the speed designation. For example, some cameras cannot accept the high performance SD memory cards, called SDHC. If you are at the 21^st Winter Olympics you sure do want to put a memory card into the camera, and suddenly not be able to take photos.

4. Fourth, you need to anticipate the action. You need to be aware that although we humans have pretty good reflexes, when it comes time to take a photo at the peak of the action, you need to be prepared to take the shot, just before the action peaks, so as to allow for the time it takes to press the shutter and for the camera to take the shot. In the blog, I have a good example of anticipating the action.

One of the keys to anticipation is to follow the action with one eye looking through the camera, and the other eye looking at the action. Whether you are photographing a wedding or a Winter Olympic event, you keep one eye open and follow the action with the open eye, while looking through the camera with the other eye, making sure that the action is framed in the viewfinder, so you can press the shutter release at any time and get the shot.

This might sound obvious for a downhill ski run at the Winter Olympics, but you may be wondering how it applies at a wedding. Just imagine the bride is about to toss the bouquet into the eager hands of the single girls attending the wedding. You want to get a shot where the bouquet is still in the air, but just about to be caught by one or more of the girls. So, you have one eye looking through the camera, and the other eye follows the path of the bouquet from the bride to the girls. Just before it hits the girls, you take the shot and you should end up with a shot of the bouquet just landing on one or more of the girls hands, with the hands still outstretched reaching for the bouquet.

In fact, if you interested in photography, taking photos can be a very lucrative part time of full time career. In the United States, wedding photography accounts for more than $5 Billion per year. With some know how and a decent digital camera, you can be a part of this industry and can be making some extra income pretty quickly. Wedding photography is often how many top professionals began their careers, either for friends or learning in a wedding photography studio.

In these troubled economic times, photography can help make some extra money, whether you take photos at a wedding, portraits and family photos or some work for a company, taking photos for a flyer or brochure.

If you are interested in becoming a wedding photographer but are not sure where to start, please check out my course at this link for details. I have developed a course which includes all you will need to know PLUS pre-formatted forms ready for you to create your own business. The forms include price lists, photo shot list, contracts and much much more. Check it out here.

Make Money with the Apple iPad

Below are some sample images showing the new Apple iPad. These are intended to show how effective this device will be as a sales tool for photographers. Always available and ready, the Apple iPad will be a revolutionary device.






We are living in a period of time with a very troubled economy. Unemployment is at record high levels. Starting your own business may not be the easiest choice, but it could well be the difference between being able to pay the bills and keep your house and provide for you and your family, or having to face some not so pleasant choices.

Are you interested in photography? Taking photos can be a very lucrative part time of full time career. In the United States alone, wedding photography accounts for more than $5 Billion per year. That's a very sizable market, and with some know how and a decent digital camera, you can be a part of this industry. I have designed a course that includes everything you need, including business forms, technical discussions, sample ads and business cards and even tips on using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple's Aperture.

And now, Apple has introduced an amazing new device called the iPad. This new device will be an incredible sales tool. For photographers, I believe that the iPad will be indispensable. Just image, being able to hold in your hand, thousands of photos and hundreds of albums. To be able to show prospective clients your best work on a large, bright LCD screen. Anywhere you happen to be, you will have the opportunity to showcase your work, and sell your services to interested parties.

Until now, I have used my iPhone as my portable wedding portfolio. The iPhone has been a great companion. Not just a communications device, but also a great, always on, internet connection, GPS, Maps, Apps and a plethora of other uses. I have had and used my iPhone from the very first day of its introduction, June 29, 2007.

So, you can imagine my enthusiasm when Apple announced the iPad. Light, easy to carry around, long battery life, online connections by either wi-fi or via 3g over the cellular network, large memory capacities to hold tens of thousands of images, large bright colorful screen. This device will I believe, change the way we do business.

The Apple iPad will allow us photographers to showcase our best photos either using images stored on the device, or on a website using the built-in network capability. Whether you are a still photographer or a videographer, you will be able to show still images or video of your work, right there in your hand with the iPad. Also, you will be able to present beautiful slide shows, in glorious color and sound.

Using the new software Apps that Apple has developed for the iPad, will allow users to create some truly beautiful presentations. Apple has taken the iWork suite of programs, and created versions specifically for the iPad…at just $10 each. Quite a deal. The suite includes Keynote, for creating the best looking slide show presentations on any system. Pages, for creating print documents. Looking at the demo of Pages, Apple has created an amazing piece of software, that includes all the rich and complex features of the desktop version, but made it ultra easy to use on the iPad. The last piece of the suite is Numbers, a spreadsheet program that allows you to do all the things you would do with a spreadsheet, such as calculation in real time, the total cost of an album for a client, virtually instantly while talking with your prospective client.

The iPad will be available within a couple of months. Now is a good time to begin planning some sales strategies for using the iPad to make money with your digital camera. If you are interested in making money taking wedding photos, please visit my site where you can purchase my course, designed to show you everything you need to know to start a wedding photo business.

At my wedding site, you can preview the many benefits of using my course to enable you to make extra money taking photos with your digital camera. The site, www.howtoshootweddings.net will show you how you can make money using your digital camera and using the Apple iPad as an effective sales tool.