Christmas Photography Tips and Advice

For Christmas photography tips, or any sort of photography, we want the best results to come from our time and effort. Christmas photography captures special moments, especially when children are involved. In fact, this leads to my first Christmas photography tip:

(1) Focus on the children first. This admittedly is a bias of mine, but Christmas foremost should be a children's holiday. This applies to gift-giving, and also to photography. If you disagree and/or if adults are at the center of your Christmas, fine, that's just my opinion. Just think of ol' Art Linkletter: "Kids Say the Funniest Things." Kids also make the best photo subjects, and regardless, Christmas (like Trix cereal) is for Kids.

Our Top Ten Christmas photography tips are going to relate to the strategy of taking the best photos, not to the type of camera. That's a whole 'nuther topic. In fact, yours truly is not even a shutterbug. My advice comes from working as a local daily newspaper reporter, among some of the best professional photographers, going back to the 1970s when they still used darkrooms, up to today in the digital age. These Christmas photography tips are geared toward how you interact with your subjects, once the camera is chosen and the lighting adjustments are made.

(2) Don't be one of these photographers who is constantly out front and interrupting things, asking people to pose. For your best Christmas photography, be the fly on the wall. Stay in the background and take candid photos of what's happening, photos in which the subjects don't realize you're taking their photos.

(3) A lower angle (shooting "upward" toward the subjects and the scene) often yields better results. Don't hesitate to sprawl on the floor.

(4) In your Christmas photography, look for sequences of events. A photo is just one moment in time and to capture a sequence, many folks nowadays prefer a video camera. Still, there's nothing like a series of photos. For example: (A) Child awaits anxiously for gift-giving to begin. (B) Child receives wrapped gift. ( C ) Child tears wrapping off of gift. (D) Child reacts to gift.

(5) In fact, your sequence of events could begin hours earlier. Child helps decorate tree. Child puts on Christmas outfit. Etc.

(6) Just because you're staying out of the spotlight with your camera, that doesn't mean you can't be persistent. Patience is a virtue in waiting for just the right moment, just the right shot.

(7) Be a minimalist. Don't try to illustrate the whole scene of the Christmas event at once. If it's a party, take turns focusing on individual participants, or no more than two or three in one frame. If your Christmas photography involves a group of carolers, go ahead and photograph the whole group, but also aim for closeups of one caroler, or a small group.

(8) If you still want some posed Christmas photography for the archives, that's fine. Try to do the posing at the conclusion of the shindig, not at the start or during the middle.

(9) For posed photos, try to keep the number of subjects small. Let's imagine the group of Christmas revelers is 20. Go ahead and shoot the group of 20, but keep in mind that with so many folks in there, their faces are going to be the sizes of dimes. Also shoot "subgroups" with three, four, five people.

(10) When people pose in groups, have them put their heads as close together as possible. This may seem like a minor point, but when you see the results, you'll understand. Faces can be 20 percent larger and up close if we eliminate the wasted space between their heads.

SOURCES

Personal experience

http://digital-photography-school.com/16-christmas-photography-tips

http://www.best-family-photography-tips.com/Christmas-pictures.html

http://photography.about.com/od/christmas/Christmas_Photography.htm

Comparing Cinema and Film with Painting, Literature and Other Arts

Film and cinema have always been compared to other types of art such as painting or works or literature. Film writer James Monaco makes a clear distinction between films and “other recording arts” while film critic Manny Farber contrasts this view by saying that film is no different than other representational art. 

In James Monaco’s book How to Read a Film, he compares film and cinema with other types of arts such as photography, painting, literature, theater, and music. Monaco makes the argument that film has combined the works of the older arts and is able to create certain images or impressions due to its technology in which the older arts struggle to measure up. While painting and photography are able to capture one moment in time that can captivate a viewer’s attention, film is a reproduction of many images throughout several scenes in the film. Painting had tried to keep up with motion picture of cinema through Cubism, but as cinema developed newer and better technology, photography and painting were never truly able to capture the concept of motion in the same way film has succeeded. As Monaco states, “In a sense, movies simply fulfill the destiny of painting (44)." Movies have been able to make scenes or images come alive and appeal to the viewer through motion and connecting with real situations and feelings in a way in which painting cannot. 

Monaco also goes on to compare film to the world of literature and the novel. He states that while novels are told through the perspective of authors and films through directors, a film’s image can generate views and opinions different than the original intent of the film director. Novels on the other hand are generally shaped by the words, details, and plot that the author has chosen for the novel or work of literature. In addition, Monaco states, “It would be an absurd task for a novelist to try to describe a scene is as much detail as it is conveyed in cinema” (45). Monaco posits the idea that film and cinema stand above and beyond the traditional representational art forms because of its ability to shape the different arts in various way. For example, painting was shaped by film in that it immersed itself more toward the design of the painting and novels focused more on its unique language. 

Theater is the one traditional art form that Monaco compares most closely with film. Film and theatre share many common attributes like the ability to express emotion and make the viewer react to what they are seeing. However, where theatre is only able to use a couple or only a few different sets for different scenes, film is able to rapidly go from one scene or location to another. In addition, film can capture a scene or action in real life and bring it to the projector for an audience to view. Theater can only recreate a scene that has already occurred. The final traditional art form that Monaco discusses is music. Monaco states that music’s advantage over the other arts is that it has the ability to control time. However, as the technology of cinema has progressed, music has become an essential part of film. Music started out in the silent film by being played with a screen of dialogue on it such as in “Birth of a Nation.” This was used to indicate a rise in the action, suspense, or to portray a certain character as good or bad. As cinema got more advanced, music was integrated into film as the director saw fit. The concepts of melody, harmony, and rhythm are able to be successfully expressed in today’s films. Music throughout a cinematic production is now very common as it is used for sound effects, background music, speech, etc. 

Film critic Manny Farber, on the other hand, treats film like any other art. He categorizes film into termite art and white elephant art. Farber desired and preferred termite art over white elephant art because of termite art’s ability to create a moment in time without glamorizing it (Farber 02). Farber enjoyed looking at film for its simplicity and without dramatizing it. Farber preferred termite art for its ability to allow the viewer to interpret the scene or picture for itself without leaving a certain message; leaving it up to the viewer what he or she wants to take away from the film. He has particular distaste for films he categorizes as “white elephant art.” Farber describes these types of films as ones in which they are impersonal and try to be masterpieces that break away from common films. 

As a critic he treats film as just another art form because it can be categorized into termite art and white elephant art. Film can be like any other art such as a novel, newspaper column, or painting in that it too has the ability to be simple enough to capture the reader or viewer’s attention to be wrapped up in the moment. In addition, elephant art in films and other arts is common because they can both loose sight of the original intent of the art work. They become fixated on too much detail and as Farber calls it, “clogging weight-density-structure polish amalgam associated with self-aggrandizing masterwork” (Farber 02). 

Both film writers and critics James Monaco and Manny Farber write about film and cinema in its relation to the other representational arts. However they each look at film differently. Monaco treats film as a unique art head and shoulders above the traditional representational art forms of the past. By comparing film to the other arts he demonstrates the wide range of possibilities and abilities that film has and how great an impact it can have on a viewer. On the other side of the spectrum, Farber treats film as just another piece of artwork which can be separated into the distinction of white elephant art or termite art. Through this class distinction he is able to separate a truly great film as one of simplistic style and personal from one that tries to be a masterpiece but fails in the process.

The Independent Film Scene in Eugene, Oregon

source

The small, but active Independent film scene in Eugene, OR seems to be growing at the same pace as the bustling city itself. Even with a population of fewer than 150,000, Eugene is no stranger to the movies. The block buster comedy “Animal House” was shot at the University of Oregon campus, the Eugene celebration has just started the Best Film Festival to help showcase Oregon’s film industry, and the Bijou Art Cinemas continues to play fresh creative films on a daily basis. More activity is on the way.

The Oregon Screenwriters Group calls Eugene their home and meets at Eweb every month to share creative film works and help each other. Many of their members are film and television industry professionals who can offer invaluable help to newcomers. Their membership is free and open to anyone from writers, actors, actresses, filmmakers, producer, directors, camera folk, grips, to “Shakespeare’s ghost”. They are even working on organizing another Eugene Film Festival. Meetings are held the last Sunday of each month from 6-8pm and always at EWEB address: 500 East 4th Avenue Eugene. The Eugene Film Festival planning meetings are every other Thursday at 8:30 at EWEB, beginning Sept. 8th. Get involved!

The Eugene Celebration in 2005 will kick off the first annual Best of the Best Film Festival at the McDonald Theatre, 1010 Willamette St., in downtown Eugene. It’s goal is to showcase Oregon’s booming independent film industry and shed light on other exciting Oregon film festivals. Many different film genres and styles from animated shorts to full length features will be presented. The website to check out to stay up on all the latest happenings in independent film throughout Eugene would be the Eugene Indie. Other publication which would include festival information and screening would include the Eugene weekly, See the resources section for their websites and contact information.

If you want see the latest independent films all year round check out the Bijou Art Cinemas, an independent movie theater located between Mill and Ferry Streets, four blocks west of the University of Oregon campus. The “Spanish Mission” style building has been around since 1925, when it was designed by the first dean of of the U of O school of architecture. Besides showing film daily the Bijous is available for private movie screenings or celebrations. It has also been known to support local productions.

Choosing the Sex of Your Baby

boston celtics baby clothes

The topic of choosing the sex of your baby has been of interest to many people. I myself have been interested in conceiving a boy. To learn more on this topic, I  read the book "How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby" by Landrum B. Shettles.  This book was informative and very easy to understand.   Because of the success I have attained from this book, I have decided that a review of this book shall be in order to help others in my situation.

People have various reasons for wanting to have a child of a certain sex.  There can be medical or genetic reasons.  Or, some people may have had several girls and would now like to have a boy.  Whatever the reasons are,  Dr. Landrum B.  Shettles describes how to do so in this book.

This book begins by describing several medical aspects.  First, there are two types of sperm.  The "y" sperm which conceives a boy, and the "x" sperm which conceives a girl.  Y sperm is very fast swimming, but small and weak.  X sperm is slow swimming, but much larger and stronger.  

Dr. Shettles describes timing is the key. If you wish to conceive a boy, you must try to conceive within 2 days of ovulation.  This is because the egg will already be present so that the fast swimming y sperm can get to it faster.  But if you want a girl, you should have intercourse as much as 5 days before ovulation.  This is because the y sperm is weak and would have died off before the egg is present.  But the strong, slow swimming x sperm can survive this long.

Dr. Shettles then describes how to chart your ovulation schedule and recommends doing this for several months before conception.  Dr. Shettles also goes over several other means of adding to the success of conceiving the sex of your choosing.  This includes basal body temperature, what types of clothing to wear, and something you can consume to help at your task.  To find out what that is, you're just going to have to read the book!  

The book also has a large section depicting why some people just can't have a child of a certain sex.  You must read the book to learn if you fall into any of these categories.  There is an awful lot of things that many people are not aware of.

This book was probably the most informative book I have ever read.  And, I must say, it worked for me!  I was so happy with my results, that I lent out the book to several of my friends who also obtained the results they wanted.  Please be forewarned that you really must read this book before you attempt it.  All of the information contained within it has been medically proven.  There is so much you can learn from it.  i recommend it to anyone who has an interest in this topic.  I give it my highest ratings.  

You can purchase "How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby" by Landrum B. Shettles at any retail bookstore for $13.95

A Look at Some Helpful Photography Websites With Beginner Photography Tips and Advice For Pros

Photo Credit: celtics baby clothes

When I was in high school I found my moms old Nikon camera. I always wanted to get into photography but didn't know anything about it. So I got a job at a photo lab and took that camera with me everywhere. I'd bring the film into work the next day to see what I had learned and how the photos turned out. When prom time came around a bunch of my friends wanted me to do their prom pictures. So I borrowed a nicer camera from a friend and charged my friends to shoot their prom pictures. I made enough money to buy my first camera. After that it was a start of a dream

Since then I have done paintball photography for a world wide magazine, been a sports photographer, wedding photographer, school photographer, child photographer, and every kind of photographer in between. These are a list of sites I used when I first started out that I found to be invaluable.


www.photographytips.com
Great site that is some what member based. You can look around most of the site for free but if you want to access everything there is to see you can sign up online for only $5.00 a month. There are great articles on subjects from composition, to light, to how to use your flash. There are also some great galleries so that you can learn by example. Every page is filled with helpful information and numerous pictures that help explain the topic of the article.

www.photosecrets.com
This site may not be graphicly pleasing but it covers its bases. The tips are divided up into beginner, intermediate, and advanced. The beginner section covers topics like what kind of camera and film you should buy as well as how to take better pictures of people. he intermediate section talks about quipment, hot to tackle more complicated subjects, and travel photography. The advanced section is more about selling photos, more details about film, and the use of filters. The only thing I Don't like is there are no photos on any of the pages. I think a photography site should have pictures!

www.kodak.com
As one would expect this site covers everything that is photography. This site is easily to scroll through and has a wide variety of topics. Learn the best way to photograph your baby, take better vacation pictures, or photograph your pet. The site also covers topics like printing pictures, sharing pictures, and getting started in digital. The photographs on the site are great and offer some step by step examples of topics discussed in the articles. There are also interactive demos on different subjects that are worth checking out. You can even research information on
film and digital cameras.

www.photonhead.com
This site offers a great tool for the photographer who wants a better understanding of shutter speeds and f-stops. This is the hardest concept to grasp when starting out=t in photography. I know, Ive been there. No matter how many times its explained you just Don't quite get it. This site offers a tool where you can set shutter speeds ad and f-stops in any combination and see what the effect would be. You have a sample photo to your left and to your right you can see what it would look like with your f-stop and shutter speed combo. This is a great tool that helps you learn about f-stops, shutter speed, focal length, and depth of field.

www.betterphoto.com
This site offers online photography course for the photographer who wants to become a professional. The online classes are rated for skill level of the photographer. Classes usually include weekly assignments and have the course instructor personally look over your work. Course range from the business of photography to how to use photoshop and many other topics. Classes vary in price. A 8week class could be between $200-$400. If your aren't happy with your course by the third assignment there is a money back guarantee.

www.scphoto.com
This is one of the best sites I can recommend for young photographers who need direction. This site was created by a high school photography teacher. Its is a free lesson plan that offers homework for photographer. The best thing it offers is assignments on different areas of photography. There are assignments for learning magazine photography,lighting, concepts, and much much more. There are list of words and terminology you should new. Its basically a free high school photography class. I went through the whole lesson plan when I was teaching my self photography and highly recommend it.

Photosecrets.com


Photographytips.com


Kodak.com


Photonhead.com


Betterphoto.com

Whoever Said a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Probably Didn't Use Positive Images Photography

photo source

Well I've come to terms with the fact I'm no Denzel Washington... and I'm okay with that. All I really wanted to do was to take some good quality pictures I could use as profile headshots for my internet businesses and for my business cards, brochures, etc. This was important since I had a deadline coming up that I needed pictures for.

Based on my photography needs, I had wondered was there a photographer where the average looking person can go to get reasonably priced, almost "Star Quality" pictures taken. Also, I preferred that they were local too because I wanted a photographer that I could do business with again on future projects. Just imagine my delight when I found out that there was such a photographer located in Oakland at Positive Images Photography.

The owner is Gisele Bonds (no relation to Barry) and she not only consulted with me on the objectives of my project, she also happened to be a pleasure to talk to. She is very knowledgable. She definitely won points when she suggested that I go home to retrieve a few darker outfits to round out my photoshoot after I mistakenly arrived with all lighter colored outfits. She then explained why and how the darker colored outfits could be used to my advantage in the photoshoot.

As we took pictures she instructed me to pose at various angles and again she told me why those angles were important based on the numerous ways we discussed I could to utilize those pictures in my marketing mix. For instance, some of my pictures were taken with my business' branding in mind so that my company's logo or other images could be easily incorporated into those pictures. Nice!

For someone who's camera shy, I can honestly say I did enjoy Gisele's professionalism and creativity. After what felt to me like a thousand pictures and almost an eternity, we finally finished! At that point my mind started thinking, I hope these pictures look okay. I have to admit, I felt a little self-concious about the prospect of seeing the finished product because I have like many people, facial blemishes. When I mentioned this concern to Gisele she said not to worrry the pictures are going to look good.

Gisele invited me to come in and take a look at all the pictures we took and choose the ones I wanted. She gave me some positive feedback that was helpful and then I selected my favorites.

Later, when I received my Picture Disc I was happy to see that she was so right, my pictures did look good and my facial blemishes were gone... at least in my pictures! Interestingly, I'm told her specialty is working with high school aged students. Her studio is filled with with a plethora of graduation and prom pictures, etc.

She mentors students by providing intern opportunities at her studio and one of her past interns who is in college currently, still works at the studio which to me says alot about the kind of person Gisele is. I think that Positive Images Photography is aptly named and if you're looking for high quality photos, Gisele is the person you need to see. You may soon find that your pictures will be worth much more than a thousand words if you do!

Christmas Photography Tips and Advice

credit,photo credit

For Christmas photography tips, or any sort of photography, we want the best results to come from our time and effort. Christmas photography captures special moments, especially when children are involved. In fact, this leads to my first Christmas photography tip:

(1) Focus on the children first. This admittedly is a bias of mine, but Christmas foremost should be a children's holiday. This applies to gift-giving, and also to photography. If you disagree and/or if adults are at the center of your Christmas, fine, that's just my opinion. Just think of ol' Art Linkletter: "Kids Say the Funniest Things." Kids also make the best photo subjects, and regardless, Christmas (like Trix cereal) is for Kids.

Our Top Ten Christmas photography tips are going to relate to the strategy of taking the best photos, not to the type of camera. That's a whole 'nuther topic. In fact, yours truly is not even a shutterbug. My advice comes from working as a local daily newspaper reporter, among some of the best professional photographers, going back to the 1970s when they still used darkrooms, up to today in the digital age. These Christmas photography tips are geared toward how you interact with your subjects, once the camera is chosen and the lighting adjustments are made.

(2) Don't be one of these photographers who is constantly out front and interrupting things, asking people to pose. For your best Christmas photography, be the fly on the wall. Stay in the background and take candid photos of what's happening, photos in which the subjects don't realize you're taking their photos.

(3) A lower angle (shooting "upward" toward the subjects and the scene) often yields better results. Don't hesitate to sprawl on the floor.

(4) In your Christmas photography, look for sequences of events. A photo is just one moment in time and to capture a sequence, many folks nowadays prefer a video camera. Still, there's nothing like a series of photos. For example: (A) Child awaits anxiously for gift-giving to begin. (B) Child receives wrapped gift. ( C ) Child tears wrapping off of gift. (D) Child reacts to gift.

(5) In fact, your sequence of events could begin hours earlier. Child helps decorate tree. Child puts on Christmas outfit. Etc.

(6) Just because you're staying out of the spotlight with your camera, that doesn't mean you can't be persistent. Patience is a virtue in waiting for just the right moment, just the right shot.

(7) Be a minimalist. Don't try to illustrate the whole scene of the Christmas event at once. If it's a party, take turns focusing on individual participants, or no more than two or three in one frame. If your Christmas photography involves a group of carolers, go ahead and photograph the whole group, but also aim for closeups of one caroler, or a small group.

(8) If you still want some posed Christmas photography for the archives, that's fine. Try to do the posing at the conclusion of the shindig, not at the start or during the middle.

(9) For posed photos, try to keep the number of subjects small. Let's imagine the group of Christmas revelers is 20. Go ahead and shoot the group of 20, but keep in mind that with so many folks in there, their faces are going to be the sizes of dimes. Also shoot "subgroups" with three, four, five people.

(10) When people pose in groups, have them put their heads as close together as possible. This may seem like a minor point, but when you see the results, you'll understand. Faces can be 20 percent larger and up close if we eliminate the wasted space between their heads.

SOURCES

Personal experience

http://digital-photography-school.com/16-christmas-photography-tips

http://www.best-family-photography-tips.com/Christmas-pictures.html

http://photography.about.com/od/christmas/Christmas_Photography.htm