Having a quick look around the web for something interesting in the world of Photography news, I came across this concept device which might shed some light onto the future of the photographic world.

From: Engadget

Portraying the digital still camera as an endangered species has been a popular pastime for years in the cellphone industry, and with the high-resolution stills and high-definition video capabilities of the latest round of smartphones, the argument is more convincing than ever when applied to the casual snapshot. But this week at the World Expo in Shanghai, Canon — a name synonymous with high-quality photography — offered a vision of a device that not only supersedes the digital still camera, but will likely eliminate photography as we know it.

The future will hold some really interesting devices to capture the world around us, 3D telly’s are coming out, we have 3d sound, where will it all end???

I promised a few days ago that I would bring you a photo that “blows my socks off”.  Well it is here, the second photograph down. None of these photos have been taken by me. They are a round up of great images from Flickr. All of them show motion in one way or another. There are some lovely images here, that catch the eye a scene and the imagination.

My favourite is a great creamy swirl of light. It is full of detail and colour, pulling your eye deep into the photo. I really love it, it catches my eye and mind. Some photos just work and for me this is one of them.

The other two photos I love here are the seagull and sparrow. I think the sparrow photograph is a great image. The detail in the bird is beautiful and the whole scene makes for a truly outstanding shot.

Please let me know what you think of these images by re-tweeting and commenting on this post…. I look forward to reading some feedback!

photo credit: Ivan Zuber

photo credit: Éole

photo credit: bichxa

photo credit: Hamed Saber

photo credit: ViaMoi

photo credit: Vermin Inc

photo credit: MyNameHere

photo credit: Tigresblanco

Rule of Thirds

Photo composition rule of thirds

I recently explainded Long Exposure photography and What is Depth of Field which will help provide artistic effect to your images, however, capturing a photograph is more than knowing the settings, pointing and shooting. You need to consider the the scene and how to best portray that by framing the subject correctly. This tip will help you learn how to compose a digital photograph.

For some reason, as a rule of thumb things look better in odd numbers. A photograph of three apples will generally look more balanced than just two. A photograph of five people works better than 4, for some reason it just works - speeches have gained impact by using a term three times, mathematics, writing and nature often use the rule of three.

So, how do we use this knowledge in our photography? The image above The rule of thirds from theirls flickr stream shows perfectly the rule of thirds. It is a well capture photograph, the horizontal lines create perfect thirds. The vertical line is again set on a third. If you mirrored that horizontal to the other side you would dissect the image into nine, equal boxes. Where those lines cross are you biggest impact points and where you want the focal points of your image to lie.

Rule of thirds marked

In this photograph I have highlighted those lines, clearly showing you the nine segments and you can see where they cross, showing you your impact points. So in practice, if you are taking a portrait photography, try and frame you image so the subjects eye falls on one of these crosses. For landscape photography, try and place horizions onto one of the lines. Vanishing points should fall under one of the intersections.

If you don’t manage to capture the photograph in camera perfectly, you can use the crop function in your editing suite to cut the image down and achieve sound placement. Many editing suites will also offer an overlay that can be used to marry up your photograph onto one of these lines or intersections.

Just remember, this is not a hard and fast rule, but it works and it is a great starting point to improve your photographic composition.

Camera in Motion

Improve your photography – Take Photographs

Photography is a huge learning curve. In the past I have explained a bit about depth of field in photography. In Cornwall we are spoilt for choice with landscape, seascape and town vistas. But don’t stop here. To improve your photography you need to TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS!

So my third photography tip is just take that camera where ever you go today and take photos. The image shown here is a bit of fun. I was returning home from a shoot (as a passenger I add!!) and for some unknown reason I decided to shoot everything I could see, testing and trialing to see what happened. I was shooting through a dirty car window in horrid light. There were colour cast in all different hues around me from the differing light sources, but I made no excuses and just carried on shooting – lets see what happens! was my mantra.

Take this shot. Its not the best, by far. It’s fun and has potential though. Its given me ideas for lots more images and I know how to improve on it.

Cleaning the car window will be the first step. Waiting for an evening with more interesting light, exposure times,  relax further when holding the camera, which focus setting gave the best results and which setting to use the camera in!! The next image similar to this I think I will follow a friends car and use an off camera strobe and pop it in the car in front to see what effect that will give – I could just add that important dimension into the shot, drawing the eye deeper into the image…

So, you have your camera, you have no cost for processing, lets burst off a memory card full of photographs. Shoot around the home, take snaps of yourself making coffee, adjust the camera out of your comfort zone, put it in manuel and eak out the exposure, use your flash in rear curtain sync, Move the camera around, change focus during and exposure, adjust the white balance to get different colours in your photographs. You can edit your images with this photography tip if you need to.

I think the answer is to PLAY and learn, soon you will improve your photography technique!!

Have a look at the photographs below and tell me what you think by commenting on this post. If you have any photo funnies to share, please send me an email…

Please visit the links below the funny pictures to see the original images and photographers flickr site.

Somthing fishey

laszlo-photo’s photostream

Balls of Texas

512 Photography’s photostream

Funny sign

Me-Liss-A’s photostream

Laughing at you

jpockele’s photostream

Strange Creature

Pixel Addict’s photostream

K-mart sale

Cosmic Kitty’s photostream

Hot day

mandj98′s photostream

Some things can't be answered by GOOGLE!

Mykl Roventine’s photostream

Long exposure of the London Eye

Long exposure photographs

“So what is long exposure photography, and how should I use it  is a question I am being asked a lot at the moment. I thought the easiest way to explain it would be to write a brief post on the subject rather than answering each individual request.

A basic explanation of exposure is it’s the result of the 3 variables, aperture, ISO and shutter speed, used to get enough light to capture a well lit image. Generally over exposed photographs will have blown out white areas and an underexposed image will be to dark. However, both options can be used to artistic effect…

A fast exposure will almost stop time. i.e. 1/1000 s will freeze time. including very fast moving objects like racing cars. In fact a shutter speed in that region will make the tyres look like they are still and you will loose the effect of the car racing.

So already we need to balance shutter speed to capture more of the emotion of the image, rather than just a snap shot of time. The above refers to fast moving objects. but it can be applied to anything, people, water, seascapes, trees and clouds for example. So by increasing the exposure time we can add a new element into our photography, capturing time it’s self!

Here are a few ideas:

1. Long exposure of large bodies of still water will remove wavelets and make it look mirror smooth.
2. Cloud will track in the sky.
3. The sea will look soft and more like mist.
4. Trees will show the effects of the wind.
5. People will move around town scapes, showing action.
6. Car headlights will turn into traces.
7. Stream and water falls will look soft and inviting.
8. Special effects with light sources can produce interesting abstract photography.

Considerations of long exposure photography

The primary problem will be camera shake. So you need to purchase a stable tripod to get crystal clear images. This is because the amount of time your shutter is open will be increased and any slight movement will be captured. Some long exposures can last 10′s of minutes.

Increasing exposure time in bright light can be a problem. Your camera ISO is as low as it will go, your aperture is stopped down as far as you want it, yet because of the amount of natural light the exposure time is still only a few seconds. The way around this is with the use of filters over your lens. You can buy a number of filters which will reduce the amount of light entering your camera. For long exposures in strong light you might consider a 10 stop filter. These filters were design for taking images of strong light sources, like furnaces, but work very well for creating long exposure photographs in bright daylight!

image from: wilfried.b’s photostream

I love wave photographs and I have found some great ones here to share with you all. Waiting for a great ocean swell to pick up and running out with your camera to try and capture the power and beauty of these swells really gets me excited. I enjoy surfing, but only small swells!! There is something intoxicating about waves. A stormy day in Cornwall will see thousands of people heading to the coast to watch the waves and feel the wind in their faces. Now for the photographs:

Sunset Wave

Hamed Saber’s photostream

Big Water - Ludington North Breakwater Light

mandj98′s photostream

Sea spray

*clairity*’s photostream

Surf thunder

colmsurf’s photostream

El Surf

Lanpernas 2.0′s photostream

Windy day at Sandys

RKHawaii’s photostream

I am a wave

Hamed Saber’s photostream

Wave at Cape Cornwall

From Digital Scene

Leven Wave

From Digital-scene

Porthleven Storm

From digital-scene

Coast Guard takes on the wave

kevincole’s photostream

I just love that last photograph, if you have any similar photos then please share them with us.

I have had an interest in birds (the feathered variety) for many years. I flew birds of prey from the age of 12, flying a Kestrel. From there I have flown Peregrine’s, Lanner’s, Harris Hawks, Buzzards, Hybrid Falcons and Sparrow hawks. I worked as a falconer on 3 airfields and did display work as well. In all, Raptors have played a huge part in my life.

As well as Falcons and Hawks, My dad used to keep aviary birds. He is also a keen ornithologist. This has rubbed off on me, I am not someone who treks around the country to spot birds, but I will travel to see what I class as interesting species. Generally Hawks and Falcons. I remember watching a Gyr falcon for hours on one of the airfields I worked on. These huge powerful falcons are  truly inspirational.

Anyway, for this weeks photo round up I have chosen photographs of birds to share with you all. Please visit each photographers link to view other photo’s they have.

Birds

wili_hybrid’s photostream

Grulla bird model

kekremsi’s photostream

pelicans observing

exrorro’s photostream

Mr Toucan would like to make

faeryboots’ photostream

Angels in fury

Jsome1′s photostream

Bird Tour

Jsome1′s photostream

If you have any bird photographs please email me or comment on this post. I would love to see some of your bird photography work

An iconic vehicle, especially here in Cornwall with the surfing scene as strong as ever. The VW Beetle and Camper are very popular. Cared for like a member of the family and enjoyed as a recreational vehicle, the following is strong.

If you walk into any surf shop in Cornwall, you will find some great photographs of VW’s as well as many small toys, key rings and other holiday trinkets.

Due to the large and popular following the VW has, I thought it would be easy to find a great collection of images on Flickr. I was wrong! But here are the best photos I could find to share with you.

I think I will speak to a few friends who are VW owners, take my camera and get some images!!!!  Anyway, have a look at the photographs below from Flickr members, and if you like their photographs, have a look at their profile.

Van Williams and Bruce lee

Elmo Alves’ photostream

Volkswagen Beetle

HAMED MASOUMI’s photostream

VW Beetle

Marcell aka drugue’s photostream

VW Reflex

Elmo Alves’ photostream

Injured VW

extranoise’s photostream

If you have any VW photographs to share or you would like some photographs of your VW then please contact us here – Digital-scene photography contact form. If you own a VW get your camera out and send in some photographs!

Well this was going to be a post of Apple Tree photographs from the web, sadly I couldn’t find any really good ones, so I have opted for photographs with apples in them, or apples as the main subject matter.

Have a look at this collection of 5 apple photos and comment on this post if you like what you see, or you have any ideas for future posts.

Remember this is not my work, just a collection of photos from the web…..

Apple Drop

Delphine -’s photostream

life is like you eat it

circo de invierno ~’s photostream

Snow White

apesara’s photostream

Reflecting apple

ArtNow314′s photostream

Apples

Daniel Zanini H.’s photostream