I am often asked by keen amateur photographers how they can make money with their hobby. The answer is very often, wedding photography. Many professional photographers began their careers by shooting weddings. As a wedding photographer, you can make a substantial income, without a lot of overhead. Many wedding photographers work from home, and very often, part time. But if you are ready to take the next step, then my Wedding Photography course can help get you off to a great start. See more at www.howtoshootweddings.net

Wedding photography can be a very lucrative part time of full time option. In the United State alone, wedding photography accounts for approx. $5 Billion per year. That’s a sizable market. And with some know how and a decent digital camera, you can be a part of this industry. I have designed a course that includes everything you need, including business forms, technical discussions, sample ads and business and even tips on using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple’s Aperture. You can see more information and order at www.howtoshootweddings.net.

One of the first questions I am asked when shooting with a digital camera (after the “which camera do you use, question), is, what format should I shoot? Tiff, High Res JPEG, RAW etc. And the answer is very simple. RAW! There is NO other option. And you need to make sure that you are using the highest resolution (megapixels) available on your camera.

You should only be using a digital SLR (DSLR) camera, with the most powerful (expensive) flash available for your system. When you shoot a wedding, you will need to use flash for basically every shot you take. Indoors and out, even in bright sunlight. The flash will light dark subjects inside and when you are outside, it will fill in the shadows of your subject, and make the resulting photos look their best.

A very important point to remember when you photograph the bride, is to make sure that there is lots of detail in the brides dress. With digital cameras, the sensor cannot record as wide a range of light to dark as with film, and whites in particular, can be very challenging to record with detail. This is where you need to be able to balance the flash with the available light to get acceptable results. Otherwise, you may have some angry people calling you after the event. And you cannot arrange a do-over for a wedding, it is a one shot deal. So, make sure you do lots of practice before your first real, paying event. A good way to practice is to have you wife/girlfriend/kids dress up in white clothes and take lots of shots and note the settings you need to get detail in the dress, and good skin tones on the brides face.

Whenever possible, set up the kids in the bridal party by themselves. These kinds of photos will sell to the parents, the bride and groom and many other family members, especially the grandparents. Part of your job is to not just take good photos, but to take photos that will sell and keep you in a job and allow you to buy more equipment as you need it. You should always take individual shots of each kid and have the parents help to get them comfortable so you can get some good shots. Always try to choose an interesting background where possible. In order to focus attention on the kids and not the background, I often make a selection around the kids in Adobe Photoshop, and darken the background a little, so the kids will stand out and be the attention of the photo. For more information, goto www.howtoshootweddings.net

You have a digital camera, but how do you make money. I have created a great wedding photography course, based on my 30 years as a professional photographer. Everything is included, even business forms and contracts, how to pose, what to do every step of the way; nothing is left out. Please, learn more by visiting
me here.

The Canon Camera 500D offers everything a pro needs at a price the amateur can afford. When comparing this to its predecessor, the XSi, the differences are subtle, but worth it. Most notably 15.1 MPs is a substantial improvement in resolution, but for most casual users not that noticeable. Unless you have a habit of cropping way down, or printing your photos larger than 16×20 you will not notice a difference. Especially on your computer. What the larger format does bring with it is the Digic 4 image processor.

This is a fast and accurate processor that Canon is putting in a lot of their new cameras, even some of their compact P&S cameras. On the Camera 500D this processor works very nicely. There is virtually no need for White Balance or Level correction and it’s fast and accurate when shooting action, low light, outdoors, or indoors. The one drawback with the 15.1 MP sensor is that there is minor spacing between the individual sensor pixels within the sensor. This is unnoticeable for almost everyone except the hard core photographer who like to zoom in and see the details at 2000x and they are willing to pay the extra 2 grand for the higher end camera.

The Camera 500D also boasts a higher resolution 3 inch screen over the XSi this is very nice for looking at your images. It shows even minor focus and blur issues that previously weren’t detectable until you put your images on the computer. The Camera 500D also has a live view button on the back of the camera which is nice for Macro shots and the movie mode is seen through the live view. As a photographer I look at the movie function as a salad with your steak. It’s not why you buy the meal, it’s just nice.

The menus and button layouts are intuitive and easy to use. The various shooting modes are nice, but the real photographers will use the A, Av, Tv, and P settings. The Camera 500D has a setting not found on the XSi called CA, which stands for Creative Auto. This is a photo for dummies setting. It allows for setting depth of field, exposure, and white balance correction from a simplified menu. This seems nice, but unless someone explains what these setting mean it’s hard to do it with purpose.

I guess with some playing around an amateur could figure it out. All of these features are comparable to the Nikon D90 which is the Camera 500D’s main rival. For those who are debating between the two it’s all a mater of choice. The Camera 500D is a little smaller and lighter and the menus are different. I personally like the Canon user interface systems better and thats why I choose the Camera 500D. Also Canon lens’ run cheaper and easier to find. I recommend going to a camera store and handling both, then come back to Amazon and buy here.

With all that said the Camera 500D’s higher resolution, Digic 4 processor, and increased screen resolution are the reasons to buy this camera unless you have an XSi and then you will have to way out how much you would use the new features.

Now the lens offered in the kit with the Camera 500D is flat out useless. I would not recomend buying the kit, but rather buy the body only and a more versatile lens like the Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Standard Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras. It may be $450 more, but you get a much, much better, more versatile lens.

I am very very pleased with this camera and would recommend it to any novice, amateur, or student (I teach photography) who wants a great camera at a fair price.

You Can See My Lens for Canon EOS 500D On www.squidoo.com/Camera500D-T1i

Copyright (c) 2008 Tom Jackson

I am writing this article in December 2008. In the economic crises we are now facing, it can be very difficult to make enough money to pay the bills. Many people are being laid off, and finding work is becoming more and more difficult. One way is to start your own home based photography business using your digital camera. If you own a good quality digital camera, you can start your own home photography business. Wedding Photography is an approx. $5 Billion per year industry.

You can make an excellent at home with your digital camera and shooting weddings on weekends. Do you love taking photos of family and friends? Do your family come to you for photo advice? Then you can start your own business taking wedding photos on weekends. Wedding photography can be a very lucrative part time or full time career. In the United State alone, the Wedding Photography industry accounts for approx., $5 Billion per year. That’s a very large market. And with some know how and a decent digital camera, you can be a part of this industry. All you need is a course that includes business forms, technical discussions, sample ads and business cards, and even tips on using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple’s Aperture.

In this article, I will explain some technical considerations of picture taking. Available light photography and many people often have questions about the aperture and how to use it effectively.

Available light photography is pretty much as the term says. You take photos using just the available light in the scene. You do not use the flash on the camera or other portable light sources. However, by using s reflector, you can redirect, or model, the light to give a more pleasing and natural effect. In my blog, the address is below in the resource box, you will see some sample photos, including a scene from a wedding which does not use a flash.

If you look carefully at the photo, you will notice some very obvious things about the light. Overall, the light is very even right across the whole image, including the background of the image. This is because the light is bouncing off the walls of the church and lighting the whole scene. A flash on the other hand, will only light a small part of the scene, usually just the bride. The problem with flash is that it will product a lot of hard shadows both on the bride and dress, and also on the background. With flash, you would normally see a big shadow of the bride on the wall in the background. By using available light, you eliminate this shadow. Also, the shadows on the brides face are also very soft.

Now, the biggest problem with available light photography, is that the exposures are usually much longer, and so there is more opportunity for the subjects to move a create a blurred image, thus negating all the advantages. So, you need to let people know that this is a special lighting effect and that they need to stay very still for the exposure. The image shown in the blog, had a shutter speed of a quarter of a second. Photographically speaking, that is a long time. Most exposures will be in the order of a hundredth of a second or more, which will freeze the movement of most subjects (maybe not very active children) and give you a nice pleasing photo as a result.

We need to consider two things to when using available light to get correct exposures. One is, as we mentioned, the shutter speed, and the other of course, is the aperture.

Lets take a look at how a correct exposure works. The shutter speed, in a wedding for instance, will freeze the movement of the subjects, so that the images appear sharp and pleasing to the eye. So, the shutter speed determines how long the light affects the sensor on the camera, and the aperture affects how much light hits the sensor. So the combination of how much light hits the sensor for how long determines by the shutter speed, gives us a correct exposure.

The secondary effects of the shutter speed is the amount of movement shown on the image. A fast shutter speed will show no movement, and a slow shutter speed will cause a blur of the image, either from the movement of the subject or by not holding the camera perfectly steady.

The secondary effect of the aperture is how much of the image is in sharp focus. With either shutter speed or aperture, a lot of people get confused about the numbers involved. The aperture shown on a camera lens is usually shown as f5.6 or f8 etc. The confusing part for many photographers, is that the larger the f number, the smaller the lens opening. But do not let the numbers confuse you. The numbers are only written this way because of space constraints. The number is really a fraction, and every number technically should be written with a one on top of the number. So, f8 is really f and 1 over 8. And f16 is really f 1 over 16, or a sixteenth. What this means is that each stop downs, halves the amount of light coming through the lens.

The effect of closing down the aperture this way, is that the smaller the aperture, the larger the depth of field. In other words, the smaller the aperture, more of the image will appear in focus. So, when shooting portraits, we usually want a shallow depth of field, so that the background does not affect the appearance of the subject. But as we adjust the aperture, by letting more or less light reach the sensor, we have to adjust the shutter speed to allow the light to be on the sensor for a longer or shorter period to make a correct exposure.

If you enjoy photography as much as I do, then you might be considering how to make some money with your camera. Tom Jackson began his career by shooting weddings. Tom has been a consultant to the graphic design, advertising and publishing industries, teaching digital technology. You can get more info on photography and see examples of his work here; For free tips visit Toms blog.

Canon introduced its first digital camera in the year 1996. Before that it was always a problem to capture the right picture with the right color. Then came the Canon digital camera, it became easy, even for a novice to capture the exact moment in the split of a second. You do not need to be a professional photographer to use a canon digital camera since it is very easy to use.

The controls are very easy to understand even when it comes to an amateur. All the models of the Power shot series are very easy to handle. The main feature of the Canon digital camera is the picture quality. If you wan to take pictures in a low light, canon cameras are more suitable for it and it will also deliver very high quality pictures.

Even when film cameras were cheaper than the digital ones, people started buying the digital cameras since they were a lot easier to handle and had many extra features too. Canon was the first manufacturer of the digital camera with a sensor that is of the size of 35 mm fame. But these cameras are quite expensive.

Canon digital cameras have built in functions which will reduce the blurry effect of an image if your hand shakes while clicking the picture. Even when there is low light these features still work. The greatest advantage is the view finder in a canon camera where the preview of the image is seen by the photographer just as you would see it if you were the lens.

If you do not want to spend too much on a camera, you can buy the Canon Digital Rebel which is the least expensive digital slr. It has more of less all of the features which digital cameras also have. With the exception of the detachable lens, all the features of other slr cameras are found here.

Since the film is free since you have a memory card you can take as many photographs as you like, in accordance with the storage capacity of the memory card. Moreover you can delete images so that you can reuse the storage space which is occupied. The images can be seen instantly, so you can rapidly change or alter anything that you wan to. So the canon digital cameras are quite useful to everyone when it comes to taking pictures.

Want to read more? Visit http://www.CanonCameraDigitals.com

Digital cameras took off from where the traditional cameras of the past gave up and have over the time fulfilled the dreams of many photo enthusiasts and others with a different image capturing experience. You can easily capture videos as well as still images with these cameras. These cameras are even suitable for digital SLR photography. They are quite high on resolution and pixels and deliver consistent and reliable image solutions to all without fail. Moreover, they are easy-to-use and carry as they come with user-friendly buttons and are lightweight and portable.

Digital camera delivers a high performance with the built-in functionality for high pixels, image clarity, resolution and smart features such as red eye reduction, flash, night mode and auto focus to name a few, so that the user can easily click special moments of life.

There are many leading names in the present day digital camera market such as Sony, Panasonic and Nikon to name a few. Nikon digital cameras are among the very few cameras in the modern day digital camera market that make use of seamless technology to deliver exceptional image solutions with perfect ease and control. The Nikon digital cameras are easy-to-use, affordable, and user-friendly and at the same time come with world class image solutions and technology.

The popularity of digital cameras is on an all-time high since the last few years. Earlier, a digital camera was an obsession for the high-class but with the emergence of new market players and reduced prices, even other sections of the society are now able to put their hands on these devices.

Thus, it can be easily said that with the prices of digital camera expected to fall down in the coming years, it will not take a long time before it becomes a necessity for all than just a mere luxury device.

The author is a specialist in retail writing. Her writing skills reflect the outcome of years of exposure to the retail industry. Working with retail giants as a consultant has enriched her knowledge base and her passion for writing got fire. She can be read regularly on RetailsDirect.com. For details please visit: www.retailsdirect.com – Online Shopping Store

Digital cameras rely mainly on battery power, so there are many places you should pay attention to about canon battery save and carry.

1. If you are not using a matchable canon camera battery, or not pay attention to save the battery, the battery will run out when you just take a few photos. So we should try to save canon battery usage. Flash is a very power-hungry, it is recommended you do not abuse them. When adjusting the image it is best to use the viewfinder instead of the LCD display. The LCD display power consumption is astonishing, so it’s best to use fewer. Of course, it would not be blocked in order to save power, such as when shooting at close range, LCD display is an indispensable and important component. Finally, remember turn it off when you do not use digital cameras.

2. Majority of people do not pay too much attention to the clean of the canon camera battery. Before charging, please use a soft dry cloth to clean the contact points at both ends of the battery and keep them clean, in this ensures that the canon battery can be completely sufficient power. If the battery’s electrodes occurs oxidation, you need to wipe it out, when severe oxidation or drop, you should change the battery.

3. Other details should also pay sufficient attention to, the rechargeable canon digital camera battery you just bought are generally very low or no battery power, and you should charge before use. After fully charged the battery is very hot, it should be cooled and then put into the camera. Pay attention to the integrity of the battery insulating paper, once they are damaged, you should cement it with a trubberized fabric. When you don’t use the canon digital camera in a long time, you must taken out the canon battery from the digital camera or battery charger, and let its fully discharged, then stored in a dry, cool environment, but do not with metal objects. Because the canon camera battery stored in the digital camera or charger for a long time may result in leakage, and damage and so on.

4. Using the original canon charger and battery also will help to extend battery life. If it’s the first time using the battery(or not used for several months), please remember the lithium battery charging hours must be more than 6 hours, Ni-MH battery for canon digital camera must be more than 14 hours, otherwise the canon battery life is shorter in future. Only after several charge / discharge process the battery can achieve an optimal efficiency. And try not to repeat the charge to ensure camera battery life when there still remnants of power in the canon digital camera battery.

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Nobody likes to be limited by a budget, especially penny-pinchers like me. But hey, that’s a story for a later discussion. Let’s stick to talking exclusively about digital cameras here, and more importantly Nikon digital SLR cameras. It’s no secret, that Nikon creates many of the best digital SLRs out there, and there are plenty to choose from.

For such a discussion, we’re staying away from beginner entry level SLR models, and focusing on those cameras that allure to individuals with more photography skill, or simply a bigger budget that compensates for a lack of skill. I do not really fit into either of these categories at the moment, but hey, things are changing.

Lets start by dealing delving into the Nikon D90. A camera which just beats the $1,000 entry barrier, but comes amongst a generous 12.3 megapixels. Now I know you may have read other discussions in the past about how megapixels truly don’t matter, but that runs best for consumers who don’t own many cameras. The D90 comes with other nice appealing features like dust control, updated live view (all you purists out there just need to get over it), and outstanding detection abilities

For the more advanced photographer (not the same as the guy with the larger wallet), you will need to look at the D200. If your seeking out speed from a camera, this baby’s got it. By speed, I’m talking about a fast and versatile shutter speed, and the ability to take rapid fire pictures one right after the other. It’s been available for a while, since 2005, which explains why it’s at only 10 megapixels, but it is also a testament to how good a camera it really is. To still be a viable model, nearly four years after the initial launch.

Hey, I’m Jay, and right now I’m a working photographer. Find out more about Nikon digital SLR cameras and photography at Digitalslrnikoncamera.com.

I’ve had the Camera 500D for about almost week now and after some extensive use, here are my thoughts:

1. 15.1 megapixel sensor. Yes, the high megapixel count is impressive, but keep in mind that, as you approach higher resolutions, you need to ensure the lens on the SLR can resolve that much detail. Sadly, the included 18-55mm IS lens is functional, but the high resolution really shows the so-so quality of the lens. Even if taken at the proper focus, pictures can appear soft with this kit lens. Shots I have taken with Canon EF-S 17-85mm and EF 70-200mm L lenses are crisp. I don’t have any gripes on image quality. There are some issues with noise on the higher ISOs that don’t seem to show up on the Nikon digitals, but overall, the quality is amazing for the price. Skin tones, textures, colors are reproduced very accurately.

2. Digic 4. The Digic 4 processor appears to process/save the 15 megapixel images in the same time (if not faster) than the Digic III processor on the XSi (even in RAW+Jpg mode). I have also noticed that at higher ISOs, the sensor and the Digic 4 produce images with less overall noise compared with its predecessors.

3. LCD. The 920,000 pixel LCD screen is large (3″), crisp, vibrant and fully visible even in bright sunlight. In comparison, the Canon XSi SLR (which the Camera 500D replaces), also has a 3″ LCD, but with 230,000 pixels. The viewing angle is great as well and the LCD can easily be seen nearly 180 degrees around.

4. ISO 12800. Canon and Amazon are correctly identifying that the Camera 500D maxes out at ISO 3200. Some less reputable dealers are listing an ISO 12800, which you should disregard. The ISO 6400 and 12800 settings are expanded ISO settings. The pictures taken on these two settings are ISO 3200 images pushed to ISO 6400 or 12800 by the Digic 4 chip before saving to the memory card. These pictures are extremely grainy and contain a lot of noise to the point of only being usable as for snapshots or adding an artistic effect to certain compositions.

5. Penta-mirror. That Canon is still using one in the Camera 500D is disappointing. The penta-mirror viewfinder image is functional, but still noticeably darker than that of the penta-prism viewfinder in the Nikon D90 (which is the Camera 500D’s main competitor). I really would have preferred if Canon had kept the XSi’s 12.2 megapixel sensor, forgone 1080p video altogether, and maybe upped the cost of the camera slightly to cover the production cost of using a penta-prism in the Camera 500D. Honestly, unless you are massively cropping your images, or creating large photos, the difference between 12.2 and 15.1 megapixels really is negligible.

6. Size. This is the same body as the XSi, and therefore a bit on the smaller side compared to other digital SLRs. I have small hands, so the Camera 500D is comfortable for me. If you have big hands, I can see this being a very difficult camera to use over an extended period of time. If you haven’t handled a Canon XT, XTi or XSi, I would suggest you go to a store and hold the Camera 500D yourself before purchasing it online. (I will upload a picture of the Camera 500D in my hands to the user gallery for a size reference.)

7. HD Video. Yes, the Canon marketing department made a horrible marketing decision and pushed the Camera 500D onto shelves limiting the 1080p recording to 20fps (frames per second). Recognize this as a marketing gimmick that allows them put a 1080p sticker on the camera box. The 1080p @ 20fps is fine most times, but seems a choppy if you have a lot of action in the frame or are panning quickly. The Camera 500D’s 720p video is recorded at 30fps and is clean, smooth, and sufficient for all but the most discerning consumers. One major criticism though is that the sound is recorded in mono, AND there is NO input for an external microphone.

A lot of pre-production reviews of the Camera 500D criticize its inability to automatically autofocus while recording. I wouldn’t put much weight in this criticism, mostly because neither of the other two SLR cameras with HD recording capabilities (Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D90) can automatically autofocus while recording either. What you can do with the Camera 500D is pan/zoom the lens and then press the AE lock (*) button to make the camera autofocus on the new subject (all while recording). A problem with using the AE lock button to have the camera autofocus is that the microphone for the camera is on the front upper left of the body near the lens mount. Therefore, the lens motor noise is picked up just as much as ambient sounds. Even with my quietest Canon USM (ultasonic motor) lenses, this lens motor sound is pretty loud in video playback. Although, remember, you can always manually turn the focusing ring on the lens to get your subject back into focus. It’s not easy, but after a little practice, it’s not all too hard, either.

Ultimately, you shouldn’t let the HD recording limitations sway you one way or the other. This is an SLR camera — not a video camera. The HD video is a great feature, but if you’re looking for something primarily to take video, look elsewhere. There are much better, cheaper VIDEO cameras out there which can record true 1080p.

8. Record button. For some reason, the record video button is next to the LCD screen (the same button used for direct printing). The first few times you take video, you’ll intuitively find yourself using the shutter release button used to take pictures. The reason for this switch is that you can take a still picture while recording video, although, doing so will interrupt the recording.

9. Battery life. My first fully charged battery only lasted about 250 shots (no flash), but all charges since have given me in the range of 500-700 shots per charge. I’m guessing the first charge had such a short life because I spent quite a bit of time learning the camera, its menus, and settings.

10. Live View. I honestly can’t review this as I haven’t used it too much yet — I prefer using the viewfinder. One feature I can say is nice is that, on the LCD, you can digitally zoom in (up to 10x) on a section of your shot to ensure it is properly focused. This, and the fine focusing, can really help if you’re into macro-photography.

11. HDMI cable. The Camera 500D has an HDMI Type C output on the body to allow you to directly display pictures and video on an HDTV. A minor criticism is that the HDMI Type C cable is not included in the box. You have to buy it separately. It would have been nice if it were included, as it’s not an expensive cable.

Conclusion. The Camera 500D is a bit on the light end, yet the construction still feels solid. For the camera’s price point, you’d be hard pressed to find any digital SLR out there which gives you all the capabilities and growth range of the Canon Camera 500D. The camera is intuitive enough for those new to photography to pick and learn easily, yet configurable enough for advanced amateurs. If video is not a big deal for you, then get the Canon XSi.

There is very little the Camera 500D has (other than ISO 3200 and a sharper screen) that the XSi doesn’t. Plus, with the release of the Camera 500D, you can probably pick up a used XSi for a great price on eBay. My wife recently gave birth, and I’m not looking to record endless (never to be watched) tapes of video footage of our son, but I do want several minute clips of him as he grows through the years. I’ve always been more inclined towards photography, so this camera gives me a very versatile digital SLR that I need with the wonderful capability of recording HD video that I want.

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You Can See My Lens for Canon EOS 500D at www.squidoo.com/Camera500D-T1i