Thursday, July 17, 2008

The first Glick Newletter is out :)

 My good friend Vivek and I formed a Photography club at Great Lakes and it has been a good journey so far. One of the ideas we had was for a fortnightly news letter. Im proud to say that the fist one is out. Yes, it might not be perfect, but its a start. Do give us feedback with all your comments... (of course the rendering is not perfect here...)

:)


Copy pasting below the entire NL...



Welcome to Glick Monthly News Letter - July Edition



Foto of the Fortnight




The glow of nature




Glow Of Nature by Suvadip Das








And some that almost made it ...








DSCN1962

    


Rebirth of the Mother

    


DSCN1939

    


DSCN1464

    



DSCF2509







Topic for next FOF : " Beach Photography "







SOME RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE FOF CHALLENGE




  • ONLY images taken between July 18th, 2008, 00:00 hrs and July 31st, 2008 23.59.59 pm are eligible for this competition.
    Please DO NOT post any images taken prior to July 18th, 2008. The competition will close midnight of July 31st, 2008.
    This is so that members do not keep sending in old pictures from their collections. We have incorporated 2 weekends into it.
    So guys, you have plenty of time :)


  • Be as creative as possible. Please see the Tips & Tricks section for some help on this specific challenge.
    For some sample beach pics, please visit the Glick Flickr Page


  • Any picture with Date and Time marker in it will be DELETED.


  • There are no limits on image post-processing. Edit to your tastes and the voters will decide if it's too much.


  • To preserve the EXIF-information, it is recommended to use the "Save As"-command instead of "Save for Web".


  • You are allowed to upload a MAXIMUM of THREE shots per competition so please DO NOT send in more than three shots.


  • Please give a title to each image of yours and EXIF details if possible including shutter speed and aperture settings.
    Also the camera with which you shot it and of course the date. This is most important. Any
    photograph with out a shot date in the EXIF data will be removed.


  • Those looking for critiques on their pictures may say so in the entry post.
    Please select one picture among the three that you will be submitting for the critique.
    Please mention if you would like it as part of the next Newsletter or if you would like individual mail on it.
    We would recommend that you opt for the Newsletter as any critique on your picture will help others too in the process.

    If you opt for Newsletter critique but we are unable to comply, we will send you personal critique.








TIPS 'N' TRICKS FOR THE NEXT FOF



  • Remove the Date and Time marker from your pictures. You can do this by changing the setting for this in your camera settings.
    All details like date and time are already embedded on to the pictures in digital cameras as EXIF data.
    So you will not loose information on when the picture was taken. Date and Time markers destroy the feel of the picture. For instance, take a look at this picture:

    DSCN1962

    (Click to view) An otherwise perfect picture, has been ruined just because of the date and time marker!


  • You can have a watermark with your name with copyright symbol. But be sure to place it at the left or right corner so as
    not to divert the viewers attention from the main subject. Preferably, put a border around your picture and have the watermark there.

  • Look for focal points: Instead of taking mundane and repetitive shots of the sea try to turn your camera
    to the life that is in the beach. If possible mix the life with the waters. Try long exposure shots to bring
    out the mood of the beach at night.

  • Timing is important: The start and end of days can present the best opportunities for shooting at the beach.
    There will be less people during the mornings but also you'll find that with the sun shining on an angle that
    you often get more interesting effects of shadows and colors - particularly in the evening when the light
    becomes quite warm and golden.

  • Watch the Horizon: Employ Rule-Of-Thirds to keep your photos off center for better effect.
    Take care to get the horizon to be parallel to one of the sides of the frame.

  • Fill Flash: If you're photographing people at the beach as a portrait and it's bright you'll find
    that they will almost always have shadows on their face (often cast by hats, glasses, noses etc).
    Switch on your flash and force it to fire when shooting in these situations and you'll find the shadows
    eliminated and your actual subject is well exposed. But take care not to over expose.
    If your subjects do look overexposed and you cant decrease the flash strength try moving back a little
    from your subject and using your zoom to get a tighter framing as this will decrease the impact of the flash.

  • Black and White: Do a little post photo production and see what impact stripping a photo of color has upon it.
    There's something about a black and white shot at the beach that completely changes the mood and feel of a shot.




Beach Photography Tips - Source:
http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/10-beach-photography-tips/





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Graduating from just a click to The Click...


Is it just clicking whatever comes your way? For most of us who loves to use the camera, this is the way how it works.
We generally click to record, copy pasting the present to be reviewed later. But for some of us it is a passion,
more than the picture it is the technicalities that they bother about (of course after the beauty of the snap),
a more technically sound picture is a better picture.


For most it is just fitting in all the twenty odd people into the frame,
but for some it's all about capturing the features of one single face and nothing more.
Most of the times we end up asking the question, "why is the picture that I take always looks bad,
and the same when taken by others become a master piece". We tend to attribute the causes to the instruments.
Is the cost of the camera directly related to the quality of your picture? It depends.
Try taking a picture with a costlier camera and see the difference. There is a difference for sure,
but for the picture to reach its zenith, there are a lot more things to be taken care. It's all about
how you see the subject, or how good you see through the view finder.



Is it enough if you start seeing things differently?
You can certainly improve if you understand how your camera works and what does each of those buttons and jargons stand for.




Let us start with the basics:



Exposure:
The more the exposure the whiter the picture, the lesser the exposure the darker it is.
You might have come across pictures where the face of your subject is simply burned off!!
For example a picture that was clicked with your flash on at a close range. Photograph the
sun and what you see just a white area with no specific boundaries, we may not find any objects
or details of any objects there. This is what we call Overexposure, meaning you simply exposed the
photo sensor of you camera for more time than what was required.





The other category is where we have the picture having a transparent dark curtain all over,
covering the entire picture. E.g.: A photo taken in a room with less light without the flash.
This is what under exposure is, meaning "I can't see anything properly, it's all dark!!!"




What is the exposure then?




Any body would say that it is how long you expose the film.
The correct exposure results when optimum amount of light falls on the camera
sensor (CCD). And this happens when your aperture and the shutter speed are set at the right values.






over


Over Exposure


correct


Correct Exposure

under


Under Exposure




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A few more helpful Links...



http://www.geofflawrence.com/photography_tutorial_exposure.php



http://kalyanvarma.net/


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