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April 26, 2011

Digital photography photo stitch assist and sweep panoramas.

Photo stitching and panorama photography is one thing that digital photography has made a whole lot easier. Photo stitching if you don't know is when you join a few different images together to make a larger image. This technique is usually used to take a wide landscape panorama or shots of tall subjects such as buildings or trees. Usually the images are taken in a long string and then stitched together in a special computer program. Usually digital cameras will only let you join images from left to right or right to left or top to bottom or bottom to top and in a string. There is usually not the possibility to take an area cluster and then stitch them together if that makes any sense.

So what do you need to start with photo stitching? Well it is a good idea to start with the right camera with stitch assistance. If you have a base model camera then chances are that your camera does not have the ability to assist you with this in the first place. If your camera does have the stitch assist setting for photo stitching then you are better placed for this. Now what you will get with the photo stitching setting on your camera is only the ability assist you to take the images that will later be joined together with your photo stitching software on your computer. So start by turning this setting on. Then take your first image. Then after the first image has been taken it will move to the side of the view finder so that a small part of the edge of it is still visible. This small part of the first image is then made about 50% opaque. This then gives you the ability to better line up the next image. Depending on how you have set your camera this will be either left or right or if your camera allows either top or bottom. Then each successive image moves and is made opaque in the same way. When you have completed the panorama you may have to press some button on your camera to signify this so the assistance image can be reset.

If your camera does not have stitch assist then it will be a little more difficult to take the images required for later stitching. If you want to go about this then it is a good idea to start with the camera on a tripod. This will make it a lot easier to make the images line up in the horizontal plane. Then when taking your images use a land mark in the panorama to assist with lining up the successive images. You want to try and overlap the images about a quarter to an eighth of your view finder. This is required for later stitching. Further to this you should lock in some exposure settings on your camera so that each image has the exact same exposure. If you leave it on the auto setting then there is the possibility for each of the images to have a different exposure and this will make it more difficult to later stitch the images together.

Now for the stitching. If your camera has photo stitch assist then chances are that your camera came with the software to be able to stitch them together. It is then a simple case of downloading your images to your computer then selecting these images in the software package then pressing the go button. If the stitch has not worked to your satisfaction then you will have the ability to adjust things to improve the quality of the final image. If you do not have the proper software for this then it is possible to get photo stitching software from the internet or you may simply use something like photoshop to arrange and adjust your images accordingly. A little fisheye filter and blurring the edges of the joins is really all that needs to happen.

Photo stitching is all well and good but is a little clunky and quite frankly old technology. Take a look at the Sony DSC-TX7 for example. With this camera you have the ability to take a wide panorama photo that does not require any further processing and no stitching is required. This is called i-sweep technology and is the most simple method available. Simply turn the setting on, press the button and sweep the camera across the panorama that you want to capture. Simple.

Send in your panoramas for all to see and good luck with your photography.

March 27, 2011

Photography Tips - Understand Your Shutter Button

A lot of people using cameras these days, especially point and shoot cameras, don't fully understand how they work. One common problem I see is the lack of understanding of the simple use of the shutter button. This lack of understanding can lead to bad pictures being taken. Lets have a look at the problems and work out some solutions that will work for everyone.

Nikon COOLPIX L24 14 MP Digital Camera with 3.6x NIKKOR Optical Zoom Lens and 3-Inch LCDThis is the Nikon COOLPIX L24 14 MP Digital Camera with 3.6x NIKKOR Optical Zoom Lens and 3-Inch LCD. A great point and shoot camera that will suit most people needs. The automatic settings will cater to a number of different situations to assist you with taking your pictures. There is the two stage shutter button incorporated into this design and this type of camera is very commonly seen these days. Although cameras such as this have automatic settings and tonnes of mega pixels and features to go around it is still possible to take a bad shot if you don't understand how to use the camera and especially the shutter button.

When you don't understand how to use the shutter button you would just press the shutter button all the way down instantly when taking any type of picture. When pressing the shutter button you would expect the image to be taken at the very instant that you press the button. You will find that this is not the case and you may very well miss the image that you were after and be dissatisfied with the whole experience. So why is this the case and why doesn't the camera the picture instantly?

Commonly there are two stages when depressing the shutter button on any camera. The first stage sets the auto focus and exposure and other settings and the second stage will actually take the picture. These two stages are clearly felt with differing pressures on the shutter button. Now when actually taking an image you have to understand that these two stages exist and allow each to run its course. The first stage of the process is the longest and the second stage is usually pretty instant. If you simply depress the shutter button all the way down when taking a picture then  the image will only be taken once the focus and exposure have been set by the camera in the first stage. Some cameras may actually skip the focus and exposure setting when depressing the button too quickly. So how do we get around this?

One way I get around this shutter button issue is to use the following technique. I set up the shot and frame the image that I want to take. There will be some action happening in this image that I want to capture but I will plan ahead rather than taking the image instantly. Once the image is framed I will then depress the shutter button to the first stage only. This will allow the camera to focus and set the exposure and anything else that is needs to do. This will allow the camera to be ready to take a shot so that I can wait for the action to happen in the shot. Now once I see some action that I want to capture I can simply depress the shutter button through to the second stage and be confident that the image will be taken instantly at the moment that I need it to be. This is especially useful when taking action shots with a lot of movement such as sports.

Now another way to get around the shutter button problem is simply to get a good camera. I know ha ha ha, but it is true. Cheaper cameras have cheaper technology integrated into them which means they will be slower. They will do the job fine, for the amateur photographer, but there are better options available to you. The more advanced the camera, the faster the auto focus and auto exposure setting will take place which will minimize the lag between hitting the shutter button and actually taking the image.

Canon Rebel XS 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black)This is the Canon Rebel XS 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens. A camera like this Digital SLR unit is all about speed good image quality. This camera will set itself up quicker even when depressing the shutter button all the way down instantly so your images will not suffer. Although keep in mind that just because you have spent a lot of money on your camera this does not mean that you will instantly become a professional photographer and take great pictures.

I hope this tip helps you out and please send some of your successful images to me so everyone can see.

March 25, 2011

Top 5 Selling Digital Photography Items For Different Categories For March 2011

These are the top selling photography items that appear on the Amazon.com website as of March 2011 ranked from highest to lowest in each category. Get yours today.

Digital SLR Cameras - Obviously dominated by Nikon and Canon.
  1. Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens
  2. Nikon D7000 16.2MP DX-Format CMOS Digital SLR with 3.0-Inch LCD (Body Only)
  3. Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens
  4. Nikon D7000 16.2MP DX-Format CMOS Digital SLR with 3.0-Inch LCD and 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR ED Nikkor Lens
  5. Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 MP CMOS APS-C Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens
Point and Shoot Digital Cameras - This is a clean sweep and only Canon cameras appear in the top 5.
  1. Canon G12 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.8 inch Vari-Angle LCD
  2. Canon SX30IS 14.1MP Digital Camera with 35x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 Inch Wide LCD
  3. Canon PowerShot SX210IS 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 14x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD (Black)
  4. Canon PowerShot SX130IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with 3.0-Inch LCD
  5. Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch inch LCD
Digital SLR Lenses - As per the SLR camera list we can only see Canon and Nikon
  1. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens
  2. Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
  3. Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
  4. Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
  5. Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR [Vibration Reduction] Nikkor Zoom Lens
Flashes - Some good quality items appearing here which is testament to the great prices available at Amazon.com
  1. Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
  2. Nikon SB-400 AF Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
  3. Macro Ring Flash LED Light! Works with Canon/Sony/Nikon/Sigma lenses!
  4. Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras
  5. Nikon SB-700 AF Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
Tripods - Mostly cheaper items appearing here. One tip, if you are buying a high quality camera then please get a high quality tripod.