We thought we’d post some tips on the most important elements effecting exposure:

Exposure means achieving the correct combination of three elements:

ISO Shutter Speed Aperture

Once you have correctly married together all three, you will achieve the right exposure, meaning the photograph will not be too light and not too dark. However, while shooting at night, for instance, you may intentionally wish for your photograph to appear dark or under exposed. While at other times you may wish for your photograph to appear too light or over exposed.

ISO

On your DSLR, the ISO setting controls the sensitivity of the camera’s image capturing cells. You can increase or decrease their sensitivity by lowering or raising the ISO number. On most cameras you will have the following range of ISO numbers:

100 – 200 – 400 – 800 – 1600 – 3200

100 is not very sensitive to light, meaning a lower ISO is suitable for brighter conditions. 3200 is very sensitive to light, meaning a high ISO is suitable for darker conditions.

But be warned, the higher the ISO the more degraded the image quality becomes. If image quality is important, you should try to avoid shooting on ISOs higher than 800.

SHUTTER SPEED

Shutter speed controls the duration of time that light is allowed to hit the camera’s light sensitive cells. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of seconds and usually a DSLR camera will have the following speeds:

SLOW MEDIUM FAST 1” – 1/2 – 1/3 – 1/4 – 1/8 – 1/15 – 1/30 – 1/60 – 1/125 – 1/250 – 1/500 – 1/1000 – 1/2000 – 1/3000

When you start to see a number with a after it, this means that the shutter speed is no longer in fractions of seconds, but in seconds. You should be able to scroll all the way from 1” (1 second) to 30” (30 seconds).However, shutter speed is also used to create two very different visual effects within your image: A slow shutter speed (1/60th sec and slower) will show more evidence of movement. A fast shutter speed (1/125th sec and faster) will start to freeze any movement.

APERTURE

While the shutter speed controls how LONG light is allowed into the camera, the aperture controls how MUCH light is allowed to enter the camera. Unlike your shutter speed, which is located in the camera’s body, the aperture is found in the lens.

Aperture is measured in F-Stops and on most DSLR cameras you will find the following range of F-Stops:

f2.8 – f3.3 – f3.5 – f4 – f4.5 – f5.0 – f5.6 – f6.3 – f7.1 – f8 – f9 – f10 – f11 – f13 – f14 – f16 – f18 – f20 – f22 – f32

Like your pupil, a camera’s aperture is a hole that gets larger (letting in more light) and smaller (letting in less light). You will see from the diagram below that the larger the hole, the smaller the number and vice versa:

REMEMBER: The bigger the number the smaller the hole The smaller the number the bigger the hole

DEPTH of FIELD

Similar to shutter speed, different F-stops give very different visual effects within the image. When using a small F-stop (f11 – f32), you will achieve a large depth of field, meaning all the image, from the very foreground to the very background, will be in focus. When using a large F-stop (f2.8 – f8) you will achieve a shallow depth of field, meaning only a very small slice of the image will be in fo- cus.

The effects of depth of field will be most evident when working in close up, or when you have some- thing very close to the camera (within 1 metre or so).

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Today many people are using digital camera as a means to achieve better and quality photos. Yet sometimes we have to admit the fact that we really don’t get the perfect image that we want. Because of the existence of the digital photography software, we can now have the ability to modify and edit the photos to get the perfect image we want – we might want to modify it to better suit a canvas print or perspex print.

To give you some examples, below is a list of the digital photography software you can use for free and is made available to download online.

Adjustment of images and photos:

Infran View. With this software program you can alter the graphics at the same time crop and cut your graphics, produce slideshows and even enhance your graphics. All these features in one simple and free software program. This is also perfect for group processing.

Image Force. This is a free software program with editing and painting tools. This tool has an image editor and will let you transfer images from digital cameras and scanners. It is also best used for modifying, sending and printing you photos. Though this is a complicated program, you can be sure you’ll have quality output.

Kodak EasyShare Freeware. This is widely used for modifying, sharing and even printing your photos. This is great for amateurs since it is easier to use.

PhotoFilter. This is a simple software program. Though it has limited features, it is elegant in a way that it has a user interface and lots of image adjustments buttons, effects and filters.

VCW Photo Editor. This free version of graphic editor provides lots of editing and painting features and tools such as, text tool, color replacement, gradients, editing in any scales, selections by region or color, special effects, etc. You can also upgrade to a higher version for a better features.

Picasa. This is a freeware from google. This software has the ability to share and edit all your photos saved on your PC. The good thing about this digital photography software is that it instantly sets all the images and then sorts them by album with date on each folder. This would help you recognize all the pictures. You simply drag and drop to organize your albums as well as to create labels on each album. Moreover, Picasa like other software has the ability to share and send your pictures through uploading them in your emails, and blogs.

Serif Photo Plus. This digital photography software includes features such as, editable text, image slicing, export optimizer, image maps, smart shapes, selection tools and other image enhancement tools. Its current version is now available for free online, but you can order a CD, with a shipping charge. This could be used to put dates on your photos when you turn them into canvas prints.

ADG Panorama Version 5.0. Like other software programs, Panorama also lets you share your photos easily and generate them quickly. It has added features that embed, edit and publish 360 degrees of interactive panoramic composition directly on the web. This software is internet dependent.

Picture Shark. This freeware allows you to “inscribe” visible text or logos on the photos. Additional features includes: The Wizard user interface; the capacity to of produce real watermarks; it also has a feather that create edges between the picture and the stamp, to make the image smarter; and its support any image format. If you’re worried about copyright when you are selling canvas printing reproductions of your prints.

These are some few of the available digital photography software. As a digital photographer, you can always play with your image. Put some creativity and don’t be afraid to explore. Practice and research more on the software program that you think would work best.

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Photography is a year-round activity but now, with spring at last approaching and the Easter holidays not far off, it’s a great time to get some really wonderful photos. More daylight, more warmth means more colour. New life, new growth means a new energy. It’s a brilliant opportunity for the enthusiastic photographer, whether amateur or professional.

After the stark monochrome scenery of winter, spring bursts out with a glorious medley of sunshine, showers and rainbows, silver morning frosts and fresh green grass, catkins and pussy-willow, and bright daffodils and tulips. Photographers keen on landscapes, plants and garden shots are suddenly spoilt for choice.

Those interested in animals and wildlife also have a wealth of subject-matter as birds start nest-building, hedgehogs and squirrels come out of hibernation, and the fields and city farms fill with the new crop of lambs, calves and foals and chicks. A little patience can provide some truly amazing pictures here.

And then, of course, there are the children, dressed in brighter clothes, playing outdoor games, hunting Easter eggs in the garden, or sitting on the floor surrounded by tinfoil and half-eaten chocolate eggs. Some great opportunities are here for stunning photos, be they fun snaps or posed scenes for the family album.

Even an untrained amateur can take some really beautiful photos at this time of year. Many of them will be printed out and preserved as mementos. Some of these spring shots, though, will deserve special treatment – enlargement, framing, or maybe printing on canvas to preserve them as a permanent showpiece. Indeed, transferring photos to canvas in this way can turn that fleeting moment of spring into an impressive artwork or treasured family portrait that lasts for ever.

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Sometimes, when you decide to turn a photo into canvas, you discover that you don’t have a good enough picture and feel disappointed. To make sure this does not happen it is important to think about the canvas while taking the picture. Make your bags, take the camera, buy the tickets and think about possible locations and pictures you’d like to see hung on your walls in your house.

Know your camera. It is important you know which camera is in you hand. I’m not saying you should buy a new one, nor should it be the latest generation, I’m saying you have to know exactly how it works, especially the quality of the photos. If you have a digital one, try taking several pictures and then download it to your computer to see how it seems. Some cameras come with pre-defined settings, so take pictures to understand the difference between them.

Think before you take a picture. Don’t just imagine, view and scheme too. Sometimes we want a picture and just go and take it, and it is not always good enough. If you want to take pictures of the sea, don’t just point the camera already with the finger on the trigger. Look through the camera, see, feel and breathe before you take a picture.

Show what is important. You may not have the best camera in hand, not even the best conditions of light, but when you want to turn a picture into art it must be unique, or at least different. If you want a picture of your friend and you, capture exactly what you want to show: your friend and you. By reducing the background, you have more space to display the features of joy and friendship in your faces. Decide what you want to show and do it as much as possible.

Following these tips, remember to enjoy as much as possible and be sure to bring home unforgettable and exciting photos to turn into canvas.

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Britain has never been known for having particularly great weather, in fact this little island on the side of Europe seems to get some of the most contrasting weather of any country, ranging from rain, to heavy rain, to sunny spells between rain showers. We’re now in the full swing of summer, and once again it’s raining.

With the credit crunch affecting people’s budgets too, many are choosing not to go abroad this year on their holidays, and instead spending their summer holidays inside Blighty. While this means many of those trips are spent in doors looking out at the bead weather, or running around in between sunny spells, this is great news for British photographers.

Beautiful hot weather with glaring sunshine maybe what everyone craves, but not the photographer. Our weather is dull and dreary perhaps, but when it comes to taking pictures the British climate is just about perfect. The best lighting conditions for taking outdoor pictures are overcast skies, cloudy skies and low light conditions (basically our British summer).

So don’t stay indoors wondering when it will all clear up, or jump on a plane and head off to warmer climates; no, grab your camera and utilise our photographic favourable weather conditions and take some great pictures.

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Infra Red Photography isn’t something out of a science fiction film, nor is it the stuff of make believe. Infra Red Photography is a great technique that utilises an ultra sensitive film to make use of light that is visible to the naked eye, as well as light that is not such as longer length light waves. These light waves are above 700nm and include infra red radiation.

More sensitive camera films are able to pick up short light waves, for example UV rays. All of this means that the films are very sensitive and can pick out aspects of an image that regular camera films cannot. This means that they can be used for uses such as scientific discovery and analysis. For example, you could use Infra Red Photography to conduct an aerial survey of a forest.

Infra Red Photography is also used by art restoration experts to restore paintings to their former glory. One thing they are very capable of however, is creating stunning images.

It’s worth experimenting with infra red photography to see what sort of images you’re able to produce, as you’ll find you’ll take some beautiful pictures that would look great framed or printed on canvas.

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One thing you should always try with your photos is using black and white. Black and white photography shouldn’t be dismissed as something old, surpassed by colour. It’s become very popular with advertising, magazines and even weddings. Gone are the days of grainy, fuzzy old images; today’s black and white pictures are sharp, clear and full of contrast.

Great black and white pictures also look great printed on canvas, making for striking canvas prints.

A few things to consider when taking black and white pictures are the choice of background, and the light and shadow areas of the composition.

Due to there being no colour tones to differentiate the background from the subject, you’ll need to be sure your background doesn’t blend in too much with the foreground. You could try switching the angle to make sure your subject and your background are separated sufficiently.

The light and dark tones of the picture are the most important aspect of a black and white photograph, so try to maximise them for the best quality pictures. If you practise with taking the same photograph at different times of the day, with different lighting conditions, you’ll be able to see what makes for the best pictures.

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When choosing your photos for printing on canvas you should always try to pick the best pictures you have. You’ll want photos that are sharp and in focus, free from dirt and scratches, devoid of red-eye and well lit; these will make for the best canvas prints.

However it doesn’t matter so much if you can’t find any photos that are quite perfect. If you have a picture that looks great and you think it will look wonderful printed on canvas, don’t discard it just because it has red-eye, or there is a small hair on the picture caused from the camera lens. In these digital times one can perform minor miracles with photo editing software, and getting your pictures ready for printing on canvas is no exception.

We can edit your pictures using our photo editing software to take out any blemishes, errors or even red-eye; ensuring that you have the best quality canvas print possible.

Remember, it’s no so much the technical quality of the photo that matters, it’s the compositional quality that’s more important. A good photo is a good photo, you can always improve minor blemishes later, you can’t improve a bad photo, even if it’s technically perfect!

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If you’re looking to take better photographs that will look great when printed on canvas, you could look into the latest technique in photo editing that’s currently being used in a wide variety of different mediums.

High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR) is a brand new technique for taking stunning photographs and utilising computer graphics to improve the pictures. High dynamic range imaging (HDRI) is a technique that uses a much greater range of exposures, which represents the difference between the light and the dark areas of the picture.

HDR Photography techniques have existed for the some time, and they give a better image of the real tones such as the contrast between the sunlit areas and the dark shadows.

It has existed since the 1930s and was created and developed by Charles Wyckoff. His technique was used to produce the famous photograph of a nuclear explosion in the 1940s, which was used on the cover of Life Magazine.

What was difficult to produce back then and solely the domain of the expert professional photographers is today more commonplace thanks to the popularity of digital cameras and photo editing software.

HDR is now a commonly used term within photography.

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When taking portrait shots outside the temptation is to leave the lighting up to Mother Nature, as after all it’s the original and the best lighting source. However that’s not necessarily the best way to light your outdoor photos. Instead, you should use a manual flash on your camera to ‘fill’ your subject with light, ensuring that you don’t lose any features to the often-harsh natural light.

Fill flash is available on all of the best digital cameras. On some cameras it is known as the ‘mode’. It’s particularly useful when taking wedding photos outdoors so that the sun doesn’t cause you to lose detail in your pictures.

When you utilise the ‘fill flash’ the camera automatically adjusts the amount of light required for the flash to compensate for the amount of light in the background of your subject. This ensures that the natural light doesn’t silhouette your subject. The outcome is a much better balanced image, and an overall more professional effect.

One thing to note though is that generally the range of the flash is no more that around ten feet, so ensure that you are not out of effective range when taking your photos.

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