Green Screen Photography is gaining more and more in popularity, especially among small photography studios that wish to bring something new and innovative to their business - something that the large corporate photography studios don’t even bother with. Green screening, also called chroma keying, is the type of innovative technique that can give a small studio the critical edge needed to smother the competition.  Moreover, if your studio can carve out a niche with a specialty such as fantasy photography, you’ll stand out in the vast photography field.  

In the world of green screen photography, there is the fantasy-theme option known as “sword and sorcery.” Some examples include the role playing game “Dungeons And Dragons” and stories such as the “Lord Of The Rings”. To shoot these fantasy-theme photos, pose the client dressed in a period costume in front of a green screen, holding a “weapon” or prop such as a sword, bow and arrow, or a magic wand. Then, add digital background scenery such as breathtaking views of nature or ancient architectural structures — especially castles. Tip: If the client wants to have that soft mystical look, take a piece of nylon and strap it to your camera lens with a rubber band. That trick will instantly add softness and a sense of mystery.

Science fiction is another widely used fantasy-theme choice. Common settings for this genre would come from Star Trek, Star Wars and Babylon Five. But it also includes steam punk (a Victorian era character who uses steam to power today’s technology) and the time and inter-dimensional travel character of “Dr. Who.” This particular niche come complete with thousands of costumed characters who are eager to be photographed. Some ideas for amazing pictures would be: For space travel - like Star Trek - think the observation deck (a large window with a star field behind it) or Ten-Forward cantina (shoot a modern bar for the background). Steam punk photos could be shot using interiors of Victorian homes.

A niche that is related to the first two, yet deserves a distinct category, is fairy tales. Fairies and other gentle creatures are the stars of these photos.  Magical landscapes that relay an air of mystery and a bit of mischief work well for this genre. However, don’t think that fairy tales are only for small children, nor only for cos-players. There’s another unique group who love these particular photos: high school senior girls. Think about shooting portraits of them in their prom dresses, standing in front of this mystical backdrop. The result is that your client receives memories that are joyful and magical.

Finally, the last niche which can fit inside of all of these, yet also is all by itself, is that known as Anime and video game cos-play. Ideal areas for these photos would include an indoor or outdoor Asian-inspired area and decrepit locales, such as an abandoned warehouse or remnants of a old civilization.

The most important thing to keep in mind when shooting fantasy photos is that regardless of the strange, outlandish costumes you may use, and regardless of the odd locations your clients want you to create, if you can produce a believable photo you will have plenty of eager clients for many years to come.

There so many people out there that have digital cameras, but don’t know how to use them.They get stuck looking at all the different camera settings and not knowing where to begin.

There are plenty of books available that teach about photography, most are severely outdated and therefore not very good.There are an almost infinite number of free online photo sites, so it can be hard at times to know which ones are good and which ones are just shy of worthless.

Is the site run by a real honest to goodness commercial photographer or is it a hobbyist that’s teaching as they learn the ropes themselves?

Just about everything about photogrpahy is subjective.  If you like someone’s photography, great.If someone’s photography doesn’t appeal to you, that’s ok too.Only you know what kind of photography you like.

Find someone you like and let them mentor you.  If you grow from the experience then it’ll be a good relationship for you and your photography will get better as you study and apply the techniques you learn.

Whether you learn only from free photography websites or you enroll in an online photography workshop is entirely up to you and your comfort zone.

The greatest advantage to the online photography workshop is when you get direct feedback from the instructor.  You can’t get that from a book or a free web site.

Learn from their experience and watch your own photographic abilities grow as you apply what you learn.If you choose your workshop wisely you’ll enjoy the benefits of it for years to come.

If you’re a beginner or new to digital photogrpahy be sure to find a workshop that speaks to your fears and photographic insecurities.  Make sure that it answers your questions and fills your photographic needs.

A beginning photography workshop should address basic camera settings, exposure settings, basic composition and lens choices.  You should also learn about cropping, props, wardrobe and how to use available light to it’s best advantage.

Most importantly, remember to keep it fun.  A good workshop will teach you how to uncomplicate things.  Simple is better.  Find a great photography workshop, get registered and enjoy the ride!

Taking a professional shot of a child comes with its own issues, not excluding the task of holding the child’s focus long enough to snap their picture. However, there are other major problems photographers deal with unknowingly. In no particular order, these problematic issues are: having the child not look as if they are truly a part of the backdrop, creating an image that does not hold the viewer’s attention, or especially creating a boring picture that feels flat. Even the best photographers will face these three issues every now and then, and this article will help you to eliminate them completely.

To begin with, when using a photographed background, such as a professional printed backdrop, people who view the end result can at times see that it was faked. Most of the time this isn’t a huge issue, but occasionally we all experience these nit pickers. Using modest props would be one approach you could use to fight back. As opposed to using a muslin or printed backdrop at the start, think about using a green screen as an alternative. By using a green screen with cheap chroma key software, positioning a digital photo would be a lot simpler than attempting to make your angle perfect with a printed cloth.

Now with the child standing or sitting in front of the chroma key screen, add in a prop or two that can add to the illusion that the child is really there. A holiday like Christmas, for example, could have the child carrying a cheerfully wrapped gift box for the picture. Or if the child is being shot as if on the beach, have them wear a swimsuit and then wrap themselves with a towel. The main idea is to make an effort to add natural elements to the child’s surroundings. Tricking your viewers with the perfect illusion can be done if you pair your props and digital backdrops correctly.

Now another benefit to adding in props such as these is that they can help to engage the viewer. Think about it: which of these two pictures would look more interesting to you? A picture of a child wearing a nice suit standing in front of a background of the Star of David, or one where it’s a three-quarter view of the child wearing his yamulkah and he’s lighting a menorah for Hanukkah? The first picture gives and overall understanding, but the second one is much more engaging and fun to look at.

On the other hand, these pictures also help to tell a story. A baby laying on a blanket is cute, but add in a background of a grassy field and you’ve got a nature spirit. On that very same field, retrieve the child and hand them over to their mother - you now have a gentle spirit, dozing in his mother’s arms. Remember this: Use props in conjunction with a green screen to help make the scene more solid and real, to engage the viewer on an emotional level and to tell a story. Why wait any longer?  Find out more about green screen software today!

You probably won’t find a soul in the world who wants to throw money away on cheap photo printing . Anyone on a budget wants to spend as little money as possible. All thrifty shoppers are going to look at the cost to quality ratio when chosing a photo print or developing publisher or service. Otherwise, they will end up in a trash pile. Many of the best photo printing services (HP’s Snapfish, Photoworks, Shutterfly) offer cheap photo printing as low as 9 cents a print if you order in bulk, but you must consider that’s usually for smaller prints as well.

Where to find Cheap Digital Prints

• Photobucket - One of the more popular choices on the internet, they offer membership levels ranging from free to paid and offers savings allowing you to purchase cheap digital prints. Edit and crop your photos or add special effects then head on over to the linked Koday Gallery to order your cheap digital prints.
• Photoworks -  Has generous offers of fifty free photo prints for first time customers. Photo prints can be as low as 9 cents per print for larger orders.
• Shutterfly - 25 4X6 prints at no cost They offer unlimited photo storage at no additional cost for customers.
• Smugmug - A wide variey of membership prices to fit within your budget. You must foot the bill for a year upfront as no other payment choices are offered.There is no free membership option as paid memberships will not have to view any advertisements like you would with a free photo storage site. HIgh quality prints is their utmost specialty and you’ll never find any of your oldest photos purged from your account.

Free photographs are an industry standard for these online print shops. Frugal bbuyers are afforded a unqiue position of comparison amongst the quality of prints for each sevice to see which best suits them.

Shipping costs and savings for larger sized orders are 2 other key factors when on the lookout for digital photo developing. Make sure your cost to quality ratio is satisfactory. The quality to price savings ratio is an important factor to keep in mind. It’s always worth pursuing cheap photo prints but if your cheap photo prints turn out looking like they were made on the cheap, it’s not worth it.

You can also get in on cheap photo printing by doing the printing on your own! The industry contain many photo printers that offer nicely printed photos. Be on the lookout for some of the best photo printers on the market.

Sweetie!?! The computer is making a strange clicking sound.
What’s that smell? Is something on fire?
Weren’t all your pictures on that computer?
Oh, no!

Don’t be a loser … like me.  I am talking about loss, data loss.  In terms of digital photography I am talking specifically about the pictures of your life that are more than likely all stored in one place only: the hard drive of your computer. 

Wedding pictures, vacation pictures, birthdays, holidays; these precious moments of your life can be lost in an instant from a bolt of lightning or the spark of static electricity you might pick up from rubbing your feet across the carpet. Machines are imperfect and do fail, and by Murphy’s Law, they will fail at the worst possible time.

If you experience a hard drive failure it could cost between 0 and 00 to recover the data depending on the severity of the hard drive crash, and this service is not guaranteed.  The data could be lost permanently anyway.  What dollar value do you place on your digital photo archive?

Here is a short list of things you can do to protect your valuable photos, videos and other personal data:

Buy and Keep Your Antivirus Software Up To Date

Malicious viruses can erase your hard drive.  Use a system that is updated automatically every day with the latest virus definitions.

Keep Your PC Serviced

When dust collects in and around your hard drives, they overheat and that will shorten the life of the drive.  Your personal computer is a big dust filter.  Have it serviced by a professional at least once a year and keep them off of the carpeted floor, away from dust and pet dander.

I recommend getting an air filter and keep it in the room with your PC.  Your PC will not collect as much dust and, as an added benefit, you will breathe less dust at the same time.

Keep Your Data and Photos Backed Up

Backing up your photos and data over the web is becoming a very popular choice for data backup.  This was formerly a pretty expensive solution for the convenience, but with the lowering cost and expanding capacity of hard drives, many web based services are popping up.  Online backup is like buying an insurance policy for your digital photo archives.

Here are the advantages of backing up to the Internet: 

You can backup securely over any high speed Internet connection.

Since your data is stored on a server offsite, you are covered from events such as PC theft, fire or hard drive failure. You might consider what would happen if there is an earthquake, flood or other natural disaster wherever your backups are stored.

Mozy.com is the online backup system that I use. Recommended by PC World Magazine, it works equally well on PC and Mac. You can back up to 2 Gigabytes for free and you can backup unlimited data from your home computer for only .95 per month (even less with an annual subscription). They have a pro version as well for your office computer.

Many online backup companies offer a low cost data backup only to charge you on the back side to restore your backup data.  Not so with Mozy.  They have no hidden charges!  When I asked their tech support to confirm, they told me “We don’t hold your data for ransom.”

So, don’t be a loser. You’ve invested hours and dollars in your digital photo library.  It is literally priceless.  One day (maybe even tomorrow) you will be glad you did, or sorry you didn’t.  Save early and save often, and make data backup a critical part of your digital photography processes.

You might even encourage your friends to back up their data (send them a link to this article!)  You may become one of their biggest heroes the next time they experience a data loss event.

Sign up for a free digital photography tip of the week at www.photonack.com. If you shoot in camera RAW (you should be), please visit www.rawconverterreview.com for news and reviews about popular RAW converter programs.

The Wedding Photography Blueprint is the most in-depth digital wedding photography ebook on the Web that is designed to give anyone the chance to become a successful wedding photographer, regardless of experience or knowledge.

The aim is for anyone to follow our step-by-step guide, practice like mad, and then to be able to pick up any Digital or Film SLR camera and shoot an entire wedding without worrying about camera settings, flash, natural light, low light, groups, the church, timings and everything else that you may come acros

As well as covering things such as the camera settings, flash photography and low light photography, the chapters inside the Wedding Photography eBook include:

1. The Contract
2. Costs and Necessities
3. Preparation
4. Equipment
5. Computers and Software
6. Lighting and Noise
7. RAW vs. JPEG
8. You and Your Attitude
9. The Morning and the Bride Getting Ready
10. Photographing: The Jewellery, the Dress and the Bride
….. and much more.

If you are thinking of becoming a wedding photographer full or part time, or even if you are currently shooting weddings and need a little guidance, this comprehensive and extremely detailed e-Book will cover everything you need to know about shooting weddings.

Price: $47.00

Click Here to Find Out More

Are You Tired of Spending a Fortune at the Photography Studio for Stiffly-Posed Pictures of Your Kids That Don’t Even Look Like Them?

Discover all the information you need to start taking your children’s pictures right away. Not only will you be surprised by the results - your friends and family will be stunned! Get ready to enjoy your own home portrait studio that will save you time and money, just like it has for the ebook’s author, Christina Moyer (mother and her kid’s photographer!).

Listen to what Christina has to say: “”I have been taking my childen’s portraits for over 8 years with extraordinary results, and I love it!

I was tired of hearing stories of other people’s bad experiences at the portrait studio, as I thought, ‘Why not take my daughter’s portraits myself?’ After experimentation, I learned how to create a mini-studio in my home with items I had around the house. I also used my digital camera that I already owned.

Living near wooded land made for a natural backdrop for taking her pictures outdoors. Many other locations around my community also became my studio.

It was then that I decided that I would never go to a portrait studio. I can do it myself and get outstanding results. My pictures turned out beautifully and my friends and family started raving about them and asked me how they could do it too.

Now, what I am going to tell you will blow you away. You, too, can take your children’s portraits at home and it will not cost a fortune. My eBook tells you exactly how to take their portraits, step-by-step.

The eBook is in a multi-media format where you read, listen, and watch video. It is filled with wonderful content such as audio from my own personal stories, and video explaining the various methods of taking your children’s portraits. Best of all, I have included over 100 of my personal photos of my children and my friend’s children.”

Price: $27.00

Click Here to Find Out More

I’ve been asked dozens of times “how do you do it?” and after answering emails from doll collectors, artists, and doll fashion designers, I’ve decided to go ahead and share the methods that have taken me six years and hundreds of hours to learn

You’ll receive several options for an easy-to-set-up photo stages, and I’ll show you my personal photo stage so you can see exactly how I do it.

If after reading this book you don’t learn new and easier ways to photograph your dolls, then I will personally give you a full and immediate refund without any questions asked.

I include step by step printing instructions so you’ll end up with a high quality book.

It’s filled with full color photographs and illustrations to guide you through the process of taking professional quality pictures of YOUR doll

It doesn’t matter if you sell dolls, doll clothing, or anything else, this book will help you get more money from each and every auction!

Price: $19.95

Click Here to Find Out More

Advanced Techniques for Beginning Photographers is a mini-course to take you from shooting snapshots to fine art!

Hello! My name is Chip Clark, of Chip Clark Photography, and I am excited about the opportunity to introduce to you my self-study mini-course, Advanced Techniques for Beginning Photographers!

While I have been involved with photography on a professional level for several years, I am just as passionate about simply making great photographs. I am also just as passionate about helping beginning photographers with some of the challenges we have all encountered when first bitten by the ’shutter bug’. This became the inspiration for me to develop this mini-course for beginning photographers!

In a nutshell, Advanced Techniques for Beginning Photographers addresses, step-by-step, some of the most perplexing challenges beginning photographers encounter, and teaches you how to work with them in easy-to-understand instruction.

This guide will teach you, step-by-step, many of the same techniques used by the most famous photographers around the world; because much of what separates a snapshot from a fine art photograph, can be learned. The technical aspects of making a photograph are no different than the step-by-step procedures for putting a bicycle together. Notice I said the technical aspects! Talent, of course, cannot be taught.

The mini-course alone will normally be priced at $24.95 but for a limited time you can have all this for only $9.95!

Click Here to Find Out More

The Nature Photography Cookbook …by Esther Beaton will show you “the 60 Easiest and Most Effective Techniques of Professional Nature Photography that get Salable Results Fast”.

With Esther’s step-by-step recipes, you’ll learn how to turn ordinary subjects, ordinary situations, ordinary places, into truly amazing artwork. By following her secret nature photography recipes, you will learn how to:
* get it all in focus
* use color to create exciting compositions
* compose with reflections, clouds and shadows
* create dramatic landscapes
* use different lenses for different effects
* create soft even lighting without a flash unit
* use the built-in flash on your camera
* make captive animals look wild
* eliminate distracting backgrounds
* get close, closer, closest
* stalk wild animals
* take advantage of “bad” weather
* set your camera to not miss important shots
* use fill flash technique properly
* and much, much more.

Find out more about Esther Beaton and her achievements as a wildlife and nature phtographer from her website, Estherbeaton.com

After 25 years as a full time, award-winning nature and wildlife photographer, Esther is ready to teach you all she knows. You’ll love dipping into this book one recipe at a time!

Price: $47.00

Click Here to Find Out More