Graphic Center

Photography Using Available Light

artikel — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 06:36:57 +0000

Often in night photography it is too dark for reading the explanatory symbols for the controls on the camera’s body. Photographers need to operate their equipment without looking at the controls, instead locating and adjusting them by feel. You even need to be familiar with the locations of the settings of the illuminated menu system, because these can be very different from normal daytime photography, so as to be able to find them in the menus structure, because reading the manual in the dark could be difficult.
Know Your Gear
Cameras have different characteristics, particularly regarding digital noise performance and inbuilt shake reduction. Just because there is a high ISO setting available it does not mean the digital camera will produce useable images. This is often a creative decision for the photographer as to how much noise they find acceptable in each situation. This takes some experimentation with different ISO settings to find the upper ISO setting that limits noise to a comfortable level.
Various camera systems offer shake or vibration reduction systems, either in the camera body or built into the lens. This allows slower shutter speeds without the need for tripods or other supports. Their effectiveness is influenced by how steady individual photographers can hold a camera, so experiment and find the slowest shutter speed that produces sharp pictures with each system.
High ISO
Normally the best image quality comes with low ISO settings as these minimize any digital noise produced in the image making process. In low light photography some noise is almost inevitable and in some situations adds to the mood. Carefully select higher ISO settings to give enough sensitivity to produce the image while balancing the amount of noise. Expect some digital noise in dark areas.
Flash Ruins The Mood And Colors Of Dim Lighting
Particularly in concert photography using electronic flash is either ineffective or overpowers subtle stage lighting designed as an integral part of the performance.
Find the Light
Rather than lament the lack of light in one location, search out spots where the light is good and make the best use of it. Sometimes this means waiting for the subjects to come to the light.
• Wide Angle Lens: Shorter focal length lenses are often better in night photography as they are not as sensitive to camera shake due to slow shutter speeds as are longer focal length lenses. A photographic rule of thumb is the slowest shutter speed for safe camera handholding is 1/focal length of the lens.
• Prime Lenses: These lenses often offer wider apertures to let in more light at a reasonable cost. For example, a 50mm f1.4 is a common choice for low light photography as even expensive zooms struggle to go beyond f2.8.
Manual Metering Mode
Auto metering modes are programmed for daylight shooting and attempt to expose for 18% gray and overexpose the shots, low light shots should be dark. Experiment and use the LCD monitor as a rough guide to aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. Take a number of shots at different apertures and shutter speeds until you get a feel for how the camera’s LCD screen displays images. It is a guide not a precision exposure meter.
Learn To Hold The Camera
If the camera has an optical viewfinder in then use it in preference to using a live view image on the LCD screen. This is start to holding the camera properly to minimize camera shake at the slower shutter speeds of low light photography. Elbows tucked into the body and camera viewfinder braced by the head is the most stable camera holding technique. Also look for solid objects such as walls fences chairs, and garbage bins help to steady the camera – of course use a tripod if possible.
Flash Contradiction
Sometimes flash is useful in available light photography so long as it is only part of the overall lighting plan, such as highlighting a portion of the scene.

Graphic Design Jobs

artikel — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 06:23:28 +0000

Many people aspire to starting their own business. This might be because their circumstances have changed, perhaps because of the birth of a baby, or because the they would like more freedom to choose when and where they work and what types of jobs they work on.

Many graphic designers work for advertising agencies and design studios, who are hired by other companies to visually sell products or messages. Graphic designers can also find work at magazines and newspapers who need designers to layout editorial content and images. Many companies have in-house designers to work on internal and external publications and advertising. Also, companies and publications hire freelance designers to work on specific projects for predetermined periods of time.
A graphic designer can choose have a broad base of knowledge or become a specialist in a niche area of design, such as information design, editorial design or promotional design. From there the designer can get even more specialized in web, multimedia (audio, video, photo slideshows), animation, print or production design.
Available Jobs Within Graphic Design
Art Director – Usually manages a team of designers. Is responsible for the creative vision behind the project. Has previously worked as a graphic designer and had a broad range of design software skills, as well as an understanding of production and materials.
Animator – Anything animated, such as flash Web site intros, TV and video openers and closers, DVD menus, etc.
Layout Artist or Desktop Publisher – Usually given text and images to work with. Focuses heavily on the relationship between the text, images and message of the overall piece. Works in a print media focused environment as an in-house designer for a business or in editorial.
Logo Designer – Hand drawn or with a computer, a logo designer creates logos for companies and helps them create a specific and distinguishable brand for their company.
Flash Designer – Flash was previously mentioned under animator, but being a specific flash designer requires more than just creating an intro for a Web site. Flash Web site design requires knowledge of how Web sites should be structured, an understanding of complex Flash design software and knowledge of web design.
Illustrator – Conceptualize and create hand drawn graphics as well as digitally created graphics. Usually contained within the fields of technical illustration for medical textbooks or book publishing, packaging, etc.
Multimedia Designer – Works in the film and TV industries, as well as advertising agencies. Uses audio, video, photographs to create compelling cross platform pieces for viewers and/or readers. Also can create designs for sets, props and costumes.
Web Designer – Focuses on the visual side of the creation of Web sites, although most successful web designers also know how to code Web sites and have a basic understanding of Web site infrastructure.

Adobe Photoshop

artikel — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 06:13:20 +0000

Adobe Photoshop is a bitmap graphics editor published by Adobe Systems. It is the market leader for commercial bitmap image manipulation. It is usually referred to simply as Photoshop.
As with most of other Adobe’s applications, Photoshop is available for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows; versions up to Photoshop 7 can also be run under operating systems such as Linux with an emulation program such as CrossOver Office.
Fireworks is developed by Macromedia and is bundled as of the Studio MX suite. This program is built to allow web designers the ability to manipulate vector and bitmap graphics. It is often compared to likes of Adobe’s Photoshop, even though the functions are very limited and less sophisticated. It is perfect for editing graphics in web site design templates.
Two popular graphics image formats are JPG and GIF.
In computing, JPEG is a commonly used standard method of compressing photographic images. The file format which employs this compression is commonly also called JPEG; platforms with short file extensions may use .JPG or .JPE to identify this format.
The name stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. JPEG itself specifies only how an image is transformed into a stream of bytes, but not how those bytes are encapsulated in any particular storage medium.
JPEG/JFIF is the most common format used for storing and transmitting photographs on the World Wide Web.
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is a bitmap image format that is widely used on the World Wide Web, both for still images and for animations.
“GIF” is often pronounced giff with a hard g (that is, like “gift” without the final t), but the correct pronunciation as specified by the creators of the file format in the official documentation is jiff. Arguments over the proper pronunciation of GIF have become a popular stereotype of computer geek society.
GIF was introduced in 1987 by CompuServe in order to provide a color image format for their file downloading areas. Fairly large images could therefore be downloaded in a reasonable amount of time, even with very slow modems.
You can often find graphics editors software like Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Fireworks at a discount on eBay. A software store may have gotten surplus copies of graphic editing software and wish to reduce their graphics editing software programs due to an updated version and will sell new copies of graphics editor programs at a reduced cost.

Photography Business

artikel — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 06:09:58 +0000

The business of photography is still on its limelight because people are not losing their interest in taking photos of themselves and the environment. Pictures are important to the way of life and culture of people in one place. Pictures can serve as proof and remembrance of important events and occasions. There are diverse processes of imaging used nowadays. The advancement of technology plays a big role in making things possible.
In the olden days, pictures are printed as they are. There is no manipulation whatsoever. In these modern times, pictures are highly manipulated with the use of different software and application which can enhance the beauty and clarity of pictures. If you have skin blemishes and fine lines because of aging, it can be resolve through image processing. Images are being process just like other products to enhance their qualities.
If you are in a photography business, there is a strong need for you to go with the flow and use advance technology for processing pictures. You will not succeed in your photography business if you don’t have the latest software which will enable you to edit photos, you will run out of customers. Most people nowadays like their photos done right before printing. People want to look good in their pictures especially for their ID pictures. Some want their pimples and skin blemishes to go away with the use of photo imaging.
Photography business is actually a good business to start nowadays because of the high demands of good quality pictures. Your client is not only limited to individuals who want their personal pictures done; you can also grab the market of corporate businessmen that want to enhance the effectiveness of their marketing strategy with the help of high quality pictures of their products and services. The following are added work which can create huge profit for your photography business.
Brochures- you can create effective brochures which corporate businessmen needs to promote their products and services. Photo processing will give you an opportunity to create attractive brochures with enhanced photos.
Billboard- editing photos for billboards is in demand. If you have the right kind of software, you can stretch picture to a size of a large billboard without affecting the quality of the images.
Website photos- photos for website are important for online business because these items are responsible for attracting consumers to stay inside a website and explore products available. This is big opportunity for a photography business like yours.

Pamphlets- this are small readable materials which can promote a business. With the help of photography business, they can enhance the photos of their products and services to increase their profit.
Indeed, imaging process is big help in all kinds of industries around the world. The effectiveness of photos is undeniably helpful in promoting businesses. Now is the right time for you to used technology and take advantage of its benefits for your own photography business. This is the most effective and easiest way to enhance any kind of photos whether old or new.