Photo and Pictures

Why should you fuss with using Raw format? There are a few compact cameras with Raw otherwise it is most SLRs, which use it. There are several reasons to use raw format, but there are also reasons to use .jpg . You have to ask yourself what you value most in your photography and what conditions you have. With the raw format is different depending on which camera you use so you get more information and more opportunities in post processing. It also takes much more memory space and may require a little more after work. Post processing has become much better these days and is constantly being improved.

The advantages of .jpg format is that it is faster and takes up less space. A memory card can hold lots of pictures in .jpg format, but are filled pretty quickly with Raw. You can take it directly into Photoshop or Gimp for post processing work. The files are visible and easily managed in operating system. With Raw you can do more advanced changes to the information without losing data. Jpg contains only 8 bits of information.

Memory is now less important in your decision, the file format you should shoot with. Today, there are cheap hard drives that you can use for storage and backup. Both internal and external, where some may even have the slide show function. I also know that many photographers use JPG because it has a fast workflow and they feel sufficiently secure in his photography. I myself uses Adams zonesystem and therefor exposure is not as vital. Do you use JPG, you can not do nearly as large retrospective adjustments.

To learn more about Raw vs Jpg: Ken Rockwell, Popphoto, Luminious Landscape , .jpg follies, DPS

Selection of different software

Digital Photo Professional
(Mac and Windows)

Nikon Capture NX —
(Mac and Windows)

Lightroom —
(Mac and Windows)

Aperture —
(Mac only)

Bibble
(Mac, Windows and Linux)

LightZone
(Mac and Windows)

Camera Raw (plug)
(Mac and Windows will work with Photoshop CS3)

I though it would be helpful to describe the site and help you get the most out of Photo and pictures. The first might be obvious to everyone the featured post is often the first you come to. There is also a random post down in the magazine that let you easy search the site while doing nothing. That is actually a plugin, Random post.

You can also search the site in the right side column or look at a certain category with a click on “Photography, Photo editing, Photo service…” etc. There will also be links above the posts on the front. On the front page and down you can reach Recent comments, Random articles and Recent articles. You will also find a link to our community at the right column. There will also be RSS flow to the posts and to comments and you will find links to good pages. You can also translate the site from the right column.

Linkwithin is a plugin that help you out when at an article to find and show similiar articles that might interest you. Four are shown at the bottom of the posts.

Make magazine have as a weekend project a magically photo cube. Its easy to make and probably be your pride on your desktop. You surely find more weekends project that may just up your ally. Don’t let your photos sit useless on your harddrive. Let them work on your desktop instead or why not do big photos that is the pride of your wall.

On You tube will sometimes be small pearls, and in you need time to capture them. A British photographer talks about his situation and shows how his life is. Army photographer corporal Adrian Harlen talks about his experience in Afghanistan. The life seems not being any easier we suffer with all you stuck there.

I have change Photo and pictures some and added random post to the frontal page. It is so you get a way to simply dive in the amount of posts that are being made and coming. I am translating some swedish posts and more are coming thus you can simply reach the old stuff that are hard to get to otherwise.

Do you have any suggestions to change you are welcome to suggest change in the comments. I sometimes might take up on your idea. I will though feel free to develop the magazine as i feel free to do. It is simply an hobby of mine growing into articles trying to articulate my thinking. Even so there is a community that are still growing and you are more than welcome to contribute.

There will be some odd changes. I am thinking of getting a better theme on the site. What do you think, should i stick to this simple theme or make it better?

When you are seeking information or knowledge on the web about photo so it tends to appear in the discussion forums and blogs that are totally meaningless. They seldom lead to anything constructive, sometimes maybe you learn something new but very rarely.

Film or digital photography. These techniques have, of course, their various pros and cons. It is something that you yourself can decide individually. Technology is not immortal because the development is progressing. There are differences and it is subjective to what you prefer.

Canon or Nikon. It is probably the most discussion and I certainly think that no matter which brand you choose, you will be pleased. Systems takes very good pictures and myself, I have a Canon, but can just as easily imagine a Nikon. I had bought a camera today, it would probably become one of their Nikon camera is a little more robust and it is nice when you are outdoors. Actually the photo here is taken with a mobile. Its not the camera that take the picture its you.

Which camera should I buy? I do not know how many forum threads I’ve seen with this theme. Often want the person asking the question to have a really cheap camera that takes nice pictures tremendously. It usually ends in a Canon or Nikon discussion or go to the store and feel of the camera. In the end it’s you who will buy the camera. I ended up with Olympus since it suits my needs. I do understand that others might have other needs like taking photos indoors.

Black / white or color? Again, it is totally subjective and discussions can go on indefinitely. There are as many answers as people. Various images suited in black and white and I can not see why you should just stick to one. The world is richer when you have more options. Moreover, so I think we all should respect each other’s views. Why rule out the other if you have a choice.

Photographs law is changing and making their work obsolete. How will this will be met. Copyright must certainly be changed so that amateurs and professionals doesn´t collide. The right thing is not to take away their copyright but very well be creative commons. It will be a way to marketing yourself but still being on the market. Some of your work might be CC but others are still copyright and a big no no.

Creative commons is a new way of looking at copyright in which artists themselves sharing their materials with their copyright intact, but so that others can use it in the creative process. Many bloggers and amateurs think that the stuff you put up on Flickr is free for grabs. I think you as a photographer, artist or other creative workers can use CC as a way to market yourself and at the same time invite others to create commons. You can decide how you will use your material by putting a license on the material. It is good to think about only what you want to allow for the licenses are irrevocable. Once you’ve stamped a license for an image, text or other creative materials, it is the case. You can change the license, though the work you have released with a certain license. That license stick to that work.

The various Creative Commons licenses can be combined to suit your particular need of protection for your specific material. It also means that you can if you are a blogger, writer, musician or other creative materials used CC-stamp on the understanding that the license specifies. So follow the rules you have of course an agreement with the author who says you are entitled to use his materials.

You can find the CC materials through the Creative Commons search, and myself, I think it’s very easy to find pictures to my posts through these licenses. So was frightened of your own and other copyrighted materials. The creative process can still be encouraged as you have your copyrights remain. There are also licenses that allow you to use the material commercially and monetize it.

My way to try the licenses is to produce some pictures as Creative commons myself. You find some of my pics are CC others are not…a service contribute but its up to you to sort how the license work. You as a blogger or publisher need to take a big responsibility.

Mattias Adolfsson is an illustrator with his own unique style that you can take part in his blog Mattias Inks. I intend to take up a little of another image-building than just photography. The magazine is called the Photo and pictures so I think it is appropriate to take up little of visual artists as well. Tell me please about more artists in comments or simply advert yourself.

Mattias was the Senior Artist “at a game company” (PC and consoles). He began using sketchbooks when he was studying to become an architect in the early nineties. He says that it was not long before he took up drawing again. It began in earnest last year when he discovered Illustration blogs.

I have followed Mattias blog for a long time and think he has become trickier and developed his style. I think it is refining his style when you get an audience. That is how I personally feel when I write here. This post from 2007, I think says a lot about his cunning.

1st Your blog is of course well known not only in Sweden. What does it mean for you and your work?

The positive feedback I have received and may mean a lot to me personally, I’m working with quite different, the illustration piece at hand at the moment, (it has begun to turn up illustrations work remotely)

2nd If an artist, photographer, illustrator would like to post a similar blog. What would would you give as an advice?

An advice would probably be to post often, comment on other blogs and to post on the forums. You may cry a bit early, here I am.

3rd How much you use your computer for images?

Do not use computer at all, (formerly also to scan the images). Work with computer in my day job so the idea of sitting at the computer in the evenings is not attractive.

4th What do you think is a drawback to using Illustrator and similar programs?

Many are very adept at these programs, can not really see any direct detriment to them, it’s just that I prefer to work manually.

5th What grabs you in a picture?

Originality, vivid lines and humor are three things that catch me.

6th Have your imagery changed since you started posting it on a blog?

Yes and no. Practice makes perfect, and with bloging and the fact that I try to update on a daily basis has made that I signed an awful lot, and the more you are, the better it goes. Then I released all inhibitions, everything I post, I am not happy with.

7th How do you see your future and you have no clear goals?

One goal is to eventually be able to escalate my day job and invest all or part of my illustrations.

I hope it will go the way of Mattias and that he may fuss with what he wants. Thought fit to tell if some other nice pages of illustrators. 6Bilder is a very funny Illustration Blog. Liselotte is a Danish illustrator who is good at photography. Therapeutic Pictionary is also a very witty illustration blog.

Do you know of any blogs with illustrations that are good? Please tell in the comments. Remember that this interview was made 2007. Today Mattias is working with his pictures full time and he has made his dream come true.

Foto: Ilva B., Macro/Closeup Set

Ilva is a wonderful woman with a passion for food and photography. I got to know her through her blog Aglio e olio – an excursion into the Italian cuisine. She nows blogs at Lucillian Delights – an itallian experience. Just as you should be proficient in technology and function, it is important to capture the feeling of the moment. Ilva mastered just that and I am struck by is her passion that she has perhaps concentrated in Tuscany where she lives.

For beginners I would recommend looking at how others are doing and ask if you can. Copy and try to do the same before develop an own style that will grow in time. It is the only way to develop in her or his photography. To look at other people’s successful photo also gives inspiration and ideas for their own creations.

What I am envious of Ilva for her is alive and well composed macro and close-up photography. She does, of course, other fine well composed images. She plays with colors, lighting and structures so simple that I will be very jealous. It is very inspiring to follow her blog. I get lots of ideas of her photo. I asked her to write down some advice and tips what to think about. If you ask you´re not get any answers. It is by being inquisitive and to experiment as I feel that I learn best. Ask others what they think is important to capture a great image.

Bengt has asked me to come up with some advice for macro photography and I have put together some points with what I personally think are most important. Some apply only macro photography but really so I think it applies to all photography.

• Photography is for me more a matter of concentration than technology. When I am out and shoot and I’ll do it any time alone because I need to concentrate, if I talk or think about other things I miss so much of what is to be seen. In addition you need to take the time needed to photograph a subject, sometimes it can go directly but sometimes it can take quite some time so my first advice is that you are shooting alone (or with a very sympathetic companion, I often have our dog with and he is perfect, when he sees me picking up the camera so he stops and stands breathless. He is probably the only one in my family who puts up with my photography …) and in peace.
• Check if your camera has a macro setting and use it. It may sound basic, but well I see many photos on the web that definitely would have been better if the setting is used.

Foto: Ilva B., Macro/Closeup Set
• When you take close-up or macro pictures, it is important that the camera is not moving so happy to support it against something. One can, for example, set it on a small box or a bag of rice or something similar if you can not afford or desire to buy a tripod. Otherwise, you can support it sideways against something, it tends to be more steady when you are out shooting.
• Try to shoot from different angles, sometimes an inch here or there makes an ok picture of an exciting and interesting image, moreover, it is good to try to see things from different angles.
• Take many pictures, the more you have to choose the more likely it is that someone is you wanted it. I take several photos of the same image, often from different angles and with different distances and then when I get home so I sort out the worst is already in the camera so that I do not have to download unnecessary photos in the computer.

But above all, so one should not take things so bloody seriously, you have to have fun with it you can see the result!

Ilva sell her pictures if anyone is interested you can contact her via her mail. You can find more of her pictures on her Flickr feed and her other blogs. If you’re concerned about her camera so she uses Sony DSC H1 , Sony Alpha 100 and now Nikon D300.

Read more about: Macro Photography on wikipedia, Photo.net learn macro

The large errors you make when you are doing digital photos are perhaps more hidden than initially believed. This tells me about what I think is my pitfalls, and little about why I think it’s things that I should work on to improve.

Gear Acquisition Syndrome
Why this is an obstacle to taking great pictures, you might wonder. I often feel that my objective is not sufficient and that picture would be much better if I only had THAT lens. This is something I need to get away from. It is the equipment you have that you will work outside and not the one you’d like. Here it is important to make the most of the materials you have. To improve this, I am working motto is: Know your equipment.

The workflow inefficiencies
I do not know that I have a stream flowing. Often I feel that I am doing differently depending on how I can use the images. In addition, I use two different operating systems where I have different software. There are probably only one solution and that is to rule out a good model and then refine the model so that it goes as smoothly as possible to go from photo opportunity to the finished photograph.

My inefficient organization has also created a jumble of images over the entire hard drive. Here I must also become more efficient. The F-spot in Ubuntu, I can tag files and the same can be done in Lightroom, I know. I though have Bibble 5 Pro and that solves a little problem. It is fast and having a great solution on the workflow being able to search your pics at a certain aperture or shutter speed.

A crashed hard drive
Anyone who has encountered a crashed hard drive know what you ideally do not want to lose the images of the moment that can never get back. This often leads to paranoia and it’s easy to get caught in a constant backup of their files. This may be enough to go into therapy and try to be a little more moderate in the burning of CDs and dvdskivor. It’s probably good to get an extra hard drive or two. They are not so amazingly expensive. I don´t recommend using extra harddrives as a professional though. Remember that different DVD or CD drives read the disc differently thus one disc that works in one can be totally useless in another.

Far far too many photographs
It is true that the potential increases to any of all of the photographs will be fine if you take many photos. So some take lots of pictures, but it can of course also go to extremes so that you do not have time to select the real gems. I think this should you be a little selective, this applies when you learned how to expose and the cameras different twists. Select moments and pictures when you take lots of pictures. You should also consider the number of pictures with how many pictures you can take care of. You will of course produce the images also. Remove blurry pictures you are never gonna use them anyways (of course sometimes your after blurry pictures).

You rely far too much to your photo editing program
Many pictures I take with Raw I mess with settings and lighting, as I have opportunities to correct it a little afterwards. Here, I would gain by learning more about lighting and how I can set the camera to get as good basic picture as possible and avoid holding on to tricks afterwards. Learn the Zonesystem. My shortcomings, I try to weigh up the editing and here I think. What I know is that I also need to be better at the preliminary thinking on how to crop the images in the photo editing program instead of doing it as a post-construction.

Now I am curious what is your biggest pitfalls and what do you think are the biggest dangers in your digital photography? Please comment below.