Tips for Digital Photographers

The following tips come from Efficiency Tips For Digital Photographers by Dave Johnson. In this article Dave gives some great tips that were sent in by readers;

1. Don't Procrastinate

Delete obviously bad shots before you download them to my computer. In the past, I promised myself I would weed out the good from the bad while sifting through folder after folder of photos on my laptop, but by then the job is very daunting. These days, I make myself stop and delete unwanted pictures from my camera, and I am much happier with the scope of my photo library.
--Patricia Moorhead, Ontario, Canada

2. Choose Your Best Shot

When uploading photos to Flickr, be sure to upload your best shot last, since that's the one that will be at the top of the page. And remember that uploading a bunch of photo to Flickr all at once is okay, but it'll be a waste because no one will generally see all but the very last few that you upload. It's better to upload a few at a time, spaced out over the course of a week.
--Susan Monroe, Louisville, Kentucky

3. Don't Share Memory Cards

If you share a camera with someone else in your home, each person should have their own memory card. That way, instead of having to sort through dozens of photos that aren't yours just to find the pictures you recently shot, swap out the card and you'll never have to waste time that way again. Memory cards are so cheap even your kids can own their own.
--Matt Boulerice, Orlando, Florida

4. Don't Overtax Photoshop

I've found that when using Photoshop, it's best to only open a few images at a time. Opening many large digital images at once will slow Photoshop down, sometimes to the point that everything slows to a crawl.
--Matt Boulerice, Orlando, Florida

5. Make a Simple Tripod

I may have read this here, but it bears repeating. You can make an incredible tripod (monopod?) for free, and it's small enough that you can always carry it with you. All you need is a quarter-inch bolt, some string long enough to reach the ground, and a small weight for the bottom. Screw the contraption into your camera, stand on the bottom to keep it taught, and most camera shake is eliminated. Alternately, you can use a retractable key chain instead of a string--that works great too!
--Tom Schmidt, Manheim, Pennsylvania

6. Resize Before Sharing

Don't share your photos at their full size. Whether you upload your photos to Flickr, Photobucket, or even Facebook, larger file sizes mean long load times for you and your viewers. Your high-speed Internet connection might be able to handle 8-megapixel photos in a flash, but Grandma might still be on dialup. Use a program to shrink them down to screen size or smaller.
--Emily, Clearwater Beach, Florida

7. Make Smaller Copies

After I download my full-size photos from the camera, I immediately use software to reduce all the images to a smaller file size, and I move the originals into a folder named "Originals." This way, I already have the images in a smaller size that I can e-mail to friends or upload to photo sites, but I still have the originals for printing or editing.
--Kyle R Paschall, McGregor, Texas

8. Back Up Your Photos

It is really important to back up your photos often. All you need is an external hard drive and a free program like Sync Back.
--Ezra Kennedy, Virginia City, Nevada

9. Make Duplicate Backups

Before I delete the photos from my camera's memory card, I download them both to my computer and to an external hard drive. I organize all photos by date, and every new year I make two sets of CD backups of that year's photos. I keep a complete set at work. This way if some disaster strikes my home, I still have a complete set of my photos. And this system works: A few years ago, I was wiped out by Hurricane Andrew, but I didn't lose a single photo. Many people don't realize how important their photos are until they lose them.
--Lester, Glendale, California

10. Shoot Faster

If you are disappointed by how long it takes your camera to take a photo, try holding the shutter halfway down and hold this position until the perfect shot comes along. There will be less of a delay before the shutter actually opens. This is a great if you are photographing kids or animals that never stop moving. Beware, though, that this step locks the focus, so if your subject is moving towards or away from you, you might need to let go of the shutter and then press it down halfway again occasionally.
--Cassy Simon, Lonsdale, Minnesota

11. Rename Your Photo's.

Rename your photo's from your July 21, 2008 trip to San Francisco as follows: from "DSCF6816" to "20080721 San Francisco Vacation 816", thereby you can easily easily sort all your pictures in chronological order, as well as partially preserving some of the original.

Flautist 2002

Archival Pigment print on watercolor paper stock
29x20" Image
Unmatted
$750

Please click here to purchase a print.

File under;
Photography, Musician, India, Flute

Did you know...

...that the first real zoom lens, which retained near-sharp focus while the effective focal length of the lens assembly was changed, was patented in 1902 by Clile. C. Allen.

Photographic Quote: John Szarkowski

The camera has interesting ideas of its own.

John Szarkowski

The First Photograph...

From the Wikipedia Photography Portal;

The first photograph was an image produced in 1826 by the French inventor Nicéphore Niépce on a polished pewter plate covered with a petroleum derivative called bitumen of Judea. But for centuries images had been projected onto surfaces - artists used the camera obscura and camera lucida to trace scenes as early as the 16th century. These early "cameras" did not fix an image, but only projected images from an opening in the wall of a darkened room onto a surface, turning the room into a large pinhole camera.

The advent of photography, from the Ancient Greek words φως phos ("light"), and γραφη graphê ("stylus", "paintbrush") or γραφω graphō (the verb, "I write/draw"), together meaning "drawing with light" or "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", has gained the interest of scientists and artists from its inception. Scientists have used photography to record and study movements, such as Eadweard Muybridge's study of human and animal locomotion (1887). Artists are equally interested in these aspects but also try to explore avenues other than the photo-mechanical representation of reality, such as the pictorialist movement. Military, police and security forces use photography for surveillance, recognition and data storage. Photography is used to preserve favorite memories and as a source of entertainment.

Beginning of the Dance

These images are a small sample of a few series that Ratnesh shot in India. His attempt is to document the rich history, culture and tradition that manifests itself through architecture, dress, music and dance.

Archival Pigment print on watercolor paper stock
20x30" Image
Unmatted
$750

Click here to purchase this print

file under;
India, Indian, Musician, Dance

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The Digital Photography Book

Product Description
Scott Kelby, the man who changed the "digital darkroom" forever with his groundbreaking, #1 bestselling, award-winning book The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, now tackles the most important side of digital photography--how to take pro-quality shots using the same tricks today's top digital pros use (and it's easier than you'd think).

This entire book is written with a brilliant premise, and here’s how Scott describes it: "If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, 'Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, but I want the background out of focus?' I wouldn't stand there and give you a lecture about aperture, exposure, and depth of field. In real life, I'd just say, 'Get out your telephoto lens, set your f/stop to f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away.' You d say, 'OK,' and you'd get the shot. That's what this book is all about. A book of you and I shooting, and I answer the questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I've learned just like I would with a friend, without all the technical explanations and without all the techno-photo-speak."

This isn't a book of theory—it isn't full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts: this is a book of which button to push, which setting to use, when to use them, and nearly two hundred of the most closely guarded photographic "tricks of the trade" to get you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos with your digital camera every time you press the shutter button.

Here's another thing that makes this book different: each page covers just one trick, just one single concept that makes your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you'll learn another pro setting, another pro tool, another pro trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. There's never been a book like it, and if you're tired of taking shots that look "OK," and if you’re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, "Why don't my shots look like that?" then this is the book for you.