Past Issues January-February 2008
January-February 2008
January-February 2008
Cameras
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D-SLR Systems
Get a grip on the complete offerings from the major camera makers when selecting your new D-SLR
Buying a D-SLR is a little different than buying most other high-tech devices. You're also selecting a complete photo system, from lenses and flash to accessories and software. The "right" camera for your needs, present and future, depends a lot on what you expect from your system.
Hardware
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Toolbox: Laptops
Take your digital darkroom on the road with these compact computing powerhouses
It may not be an absolute necessity, but taking your digital darkroom with you when you travel is definitely a huge benefit for your photography. You can thoroughly review, organize, annotate, edit and back up your photos as you go, so there's less to do when you get home. You also can upload to the Web and create an online gallery of your travels as they happen or send photo postcards.
How-To
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Effective Flash
Five ways to improve your flash photography
I'll be the first to admit, old-school flash photography intimidated me. Just the thought of figuring out guide numbers and flash charts put me in a cold sweat. If I was in a spontaneous shooting situation, say, photographing a colorful market, I just put my flash away and shot using available light. This resulted in a lot of mediocre photographs.
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January/February 2008 HelpLine
Technically Speaking
Q) I'm trying to figure out how the exposure compensation works on my digital SLR. It doesn't seem to affect the metering. Am I using it the right way, or is there a problem with my camera? -
Photographing Festivals
Tips For Capturing The Fun, Action And Excitement Of Special Events
The action, costumes, colors and performances at festivals, special events and reenactments make them a ton of fun to attend and photograph. Taking snapshots is easy, but if you want to turn your snapshots into great shots, you have to pay careful attention to everything that's going on around you, as well as realize the importance of your camera settings and lens choice. After all, you may get only one chance to photograph the event.
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Simulating In-Camera Effects
Use these photoshop tricks to replicate the look of aperture and shutter speed adjustments
With a digital SLR, and even with many compact cameras, you can manually select the shutter speed and ƒ-stop for powerful creative control. Fast shutter speeds (1⁄500 sec. and higher) freeze most action, and slow shutter speeds (1⁄30 sec. and slower) blur action. Wide apertures (ƒ/4.5 and wider) can be selected for shallow depth of field, and small apertures (ƒ/8 and smaller) can be used for greater depth of field.
