How To Shoot Truly Artistc Glamour Images
February 7th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
Human body has always been a popular theme to depict in fine arts. But how does one make it look artistic rather than vulgar? I would like offer you some general insight on how artistry can be achieved in shooting nude portraits.
When shooting a nude portraits one must always hold the following in mind - they are, first of all, art. They may be rather bold or provoking or sexual, yet they provoke thoughts rather than carnal excitement and raise emotions much subtler than plain loathing. This is all theory though – to hell with it, it’s high time to see how it is done in practice!
I offer you 7 useful tips that will help you take off into the world of nude Glamour Images with some knowledge of the subject and, hopefully, great motivation.
- Balancing artistry and vulgarity is a must: you don’t want the latter, you want the former. The main goal is not to expose nudity but to reveal the sensual and artistic beauty of the human body - ergo, focus on depicting shapes and texture. Displaying too intimate details should be avoided - people usually feel uncomfortable when staring at someone’s genitals. Let your sense of taste take flight – if you’ve got one (and you must have, otherwise why in the world would you take interest in glamour photography), nothing can go wrong;
- You shouldn’t fall victim to the game “look how much junk I managed to stuff into this picture!” - your model is to wear only essentials that contribute to the mood of the picture and correspond to basics of good taste. To create an impression of glamour and elegance, you only need something pretty and sophisticated to complement the composition - but not to draw the viewer’s attention away from your model;
- For practical purposes one should always avoid using so-called “hot lights” in a studio. It’s always better to use cold lights – they are more economizing, they don’t make everyone in a studio sweat and they are very powerful tools to make a great photo. If you need a softer, more diffused light, using fost-boxes is always the most desirable option. Actually, always try to make light as soft as possible – it creates a proper mood;
- Always mind the proportions: depending on the angle from which you shoot, your models body can become too stretched or too short. Don’t you think it wouldn’t actually demonstrate your good taste?
- Get inspired. Experimenting with poses, light and surroundings can result in very unexpected and original variations;
- Can’t you forget that your camera has its limit of exposures and you have the limit of time? I mean it - to call your session successful, you need lots of material to look through. No good photographer takes less than a thousand of pictures per session - just to have a vast choice;
- Try to reach mutual understanding with the person you shoot. She is not a “main character” of your shots, but the one who plays a vital part in the process. She helps you to create these portraits and can provide some really valuable insight. A model who doesn’t feel comfortable can ruin the shot, however skilled you are!
It’s never a piece of cake to be a nude photographer, nor is to shoot Artistic Glamour Photography. Yet you can achieve a lot if you keep practicing and pushing on. A travel of many miles begins with a single step! In the case of glamour artists one flash is enough.
Useful Beauty Photography Tips
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You Can Repair Your Canon SD Series Lens Barrier Covers Yourself!
February 7th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
Many people have asked about repairing their front covers/flaps on their Canon PowerShot SD series cameras, so I’ve written up some instructions. Our lens barrier repair kit is a little tricky to replace on Canon SD series cameras but definately not impossible for you to do yourself. All you need is some patience, a steady hand and a small tipped screwdriver. We’ve been using dental picks for some time, they do a good job!
To start, you will need to turn on the camera and extend the lens, then open the battery door to turn off the camera and keep the lens out. This allows you to easily work on the lens barrier assembly.
The first part that goes in is the barrel drive ring; it has a small part sticking down into the lens. Most cameras have a drive ring, but some do not. If you don’t see one in your kit then your camera does not need one. Be certain that it will rotate slightly after installation, otherwise it is probably not installed properly and can cause the lens to get jammed.
Next are the springs and flaps. Put one spring on each of the flaps, there are little tabs to hold them on. They are TINY, they are hard to hold and if you drop it… please take my advice and don’t drop it, ok? If you do lose some springs, we have them available on their own in our store for you to purchase.
Carefully put the cover or ‘flap’ in the hole with the spring pointing towards the post where the other end will connect, and then with something with a tiny and pointy tip (we use dental picks!) gently grab the loop of the spring and stick it on its post.
Do this with the flaps in the open position, they will stay in place if you get them seated properly. If everything pops off, just start again. Try not to stretch out the springs, they need to remain tight for the assembly to work properly.
Then gently put on the barrier cover, it’s a flat plastic ring. There are tabs on the barrier cover, they match up with little slots on the lens and it locks into place. Be gentle, don’t force anything too hard or you will break it and the parts will not hold it place.
Now it’s time to test your skills! Put in the battery (cross your fingers) and press the power button! Is it working? Did it go *SPROING!* and all the parts flew across the room? Yeah I hope not, but I’ve been there myself so you’re not alone.
Once it’s working nicely …you’re almost done with your first camera repair!
Next put the dual sided tape on the barrier cover. CAUTION: Make sure to take the tape off of the backing paper but DON’T remove the paper that matches the shape of the tape on the other side!! Removing the small paper part will cause the tape to fold up on itself and stick together. Bye bye tape!
The tabs of the tape fold over the edges, if they stick out the lens cover will not fit properly and can jam up the lens. The tape lines up with one tab at about the 11 o’clock position, then fold the tabs over and press them in so they don’t stick out.
Now put on your chrome or black lens cap, line up the cap with the small indentation at the bottom, you’ll see how it goes on easily.
Fire up the camera again and admire your handywork! Good for you! You now know how easy… and yet still hard Canon digital camera repair can be, and the “Geek Squad” said that it was either unfixable or would be two hundred dollars and take several weeks to complete. Whatever Geek Squad… Whatever.
Hmm… I think I’m seeing the beginning of something big here; affordable do it yourself Canon digital camera repair
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#1 Thing That Will Break On Your Digital Camera? LCD Screen!
February 7th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
We live in a throw-away society, it’s a simple fact. You buy that brand new fancy digital camera with all the bells and whistles for $400, and in 6 months to 1 year it’s worth maybe half that, and then the unthinkable happens: you drop it and it breaks. The screen is broken or the lens is broken or stuck, so what do you do? You go back to there store where you bought it and the kid working there that knows next to nothing about cameras to begin with, let alone camera repair, tells you to throw it in the garbage and it’s not fixable. You feel ripped off and mad at the camera manufacturer and you toss it out and buy a new one made by somebody else.
There are always alternatives to every problem including this one. Honest! It may cost you 0 to fix your camera, and yes you can buy a new camera these days for 0 at some places, but what sort of quality do you think you will get from a 0 camera? You shouldn’t expect high quality that’s for sure, because you won’t be getting it.
#1 - Cracked, broken, smashed LCD screen.
It was hard for me to choose between a jammed lens and broken LCD screen repair but I stuck with LCD for #1 because it’s so easy to break your LCD that you don’t even have to touch the camera to do it!
The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is the view screen on the back of the camera that lets you see menus, playback pictures etc. An LCD screen is a very thin and fragile part of the camera and on many of them it is completely unprotected! Take a look at your LCD screen; is it slightly recessed or does it look like it’s flat and even all the way across? If it’s flat you have a protective ‘window’ or ‘glass’ over the LCD to help prevent damage and breakage. It there is no protective window over the LCD screen then you should invest in a good LCD screen protector made from acrylic plastic and not the silly, useless ‘Saran Wrap’ protectors you always see as they are a waste of money.
- Don’t leave your camera in your car in summer or winter. Excessive high tempertures could cause the LCD to expand such that it cracks, and conversely extremely low temperture could cause it to freeze!
- Don’t put anything up against the LCD in your camera bag, it will bang against the LCD and crack it (yes, even if it has a window over it, it will break!)
- Don’t put your camera in your back pocket and then sit down!
- Don’t store your camera in your pants pocket, it can easily break from the pressure.
- … Please do not put your camera in your pants pocket. =)
Ok, so it’s broken, what do you do now?
- Manufacturers usually cite impact damage as the cause of the breakage and will not repair the camera under warranty. You can still try, but they will most likely not fix it.
- Search for defective cameras on eBay and use one to repair yours and make one good camera out of them.
- Look for an actual camera repair business and not somebody that will send it to the manufacturer and tell you it’s $200 and 4-6 weeks to repair. (If they tell you this, they are NOT repairing your camera for you, they are sending it to the manufacturer, guaranteed)
Many LCD screens are very easy to install and you can do it yourself and all you need is a small screwdriver. There are LCD repairs that are quite difficult; even seasoned pro’s don’t want to do them! I can’t tell you Brand …. is the best and Brand … is the worst, it’s really not like that. Certain SERIES of cameras have 1 or 2 models that are difficult to work on, yet the rest of them are fairly straight forward. You need to decide for yourself if you want to open your camera and try the repair yourself or not.
How is the LCD screen replaced?
With most Canon camera LCD repair for example (using them as the example because they have the largest market share) all you do is disconnect the ribbon cable for the LCD and the backlight (the light that shines through the LCD and allows you to see what is on the screen) and then install the new LCD. Some LCDs do come with the backlight that shines through it attached and others do not. Some backlights need to be soldered to the mainboard of the camera, some do not.
- Be careful to not touch the flash capacitor contacts! You will shock yourself pretty good if you do it and it will hurt a bit. You will probably throw your camera across the room when it happens. (Yes I have done it, I have been repairing digi cams for about 5yrs so….) We have ‘flash capacitor dischargers’ and use them every time we open a camera.
My wish is that I have helped you to understand the subject of digital camera repair. You do not have to throw your camera away because the LCD is broken, and you can even fix it yourself!
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Ribbons Can Create a Difference In the Project of Handmade Wedding Invitations
February 7th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
Handmade wedding invitations are a unique way of treating your guests when asking them to join you for one of the most special moments in a lifetime. Hand-making involves very complex personalization, which means that the style and the wedding theme can be followed and accomplished. The paper, the graphic design and the fonts have an important contribution to the design of the wedding invitations. Craftsmanship is something that goes hand in hand with the services of hand-making wedding invitations, thank-you cards and similar other items related to the organization of special events.
Depending on the service provider that takes care of the handmade wedding invitations, the couple could also suggest the use of special elements for the decorations. Thus, a simple paper edge will reveal whether the invitation is handmade or not. Real dried flowers, painting, jewels, represent other touches of uniqueness and originality that can be added to handmade wedding invitations. And here, online websites and catalogs provide a rich source of inspiration and a stimulant for creativity.
Ribbons could look fine on the handmade wedding invitations, but sometimes people tend to be too peculiar with the invitations and turn them into real treasures that cost a fortune. Thus, before deciding to work with one company or another, it is important to inquire about such details so that you don’t get financial problems or become unable to meet the deadline for sending the invitations. In case you have a more special request, ideas need to be analyzed in order to determine whether they are practical or not.
Do not deal with the handmade wedding invitations separately, but keep them within the overall wedding plan and budget. If you neglect such aspects, lots of unpleasant situations may appear and upset you, spoiling the day. If you care about your parents opinion, don’t forget to consult them to in relation to the invitations. All the peculiarities need to be covered by the time you order the handmade wedding invitations because modifications are more difficult to deal with later. For such cases, the costs could become unexpectedly high, so, why risk?
Special decorations in wedding invitation can be made by using engraving equipment or machine. If you would like to know what kind of machine is this, you can visits the particular website on laser engraving equipment which reviews about engraver machine and related information. With this kind of machine, you can make your wedding invitation as personalized as you like.
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Different Elegant Wedding Hairstyles For Your Special Day
February 7th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
A wedding is a satisfied occasion which is generally the bridal couples’ day. The point of interest of the wedding, though, is the bride. The making of a great wedding will sometimes cost many thousand bucks. One of the calls the bride needs to make for this very special day is the different haircuts for weddings that may suit her and her dress. Bride frequently have 2 options for haircuts for weddings, either out the hair up or simply let it down. The common choice before is to put up the bride’s hair for during the wedding but lately, haircuts for weddings have taken a more casual turn where the bride and her entourage just leave their hair down and put accessories like tiaras and other jeweled pins or brush.
Nowadays, if the bride places her hair up, it is often in an informal bun or knot in which tendrils of hair flow from the knot and softens the general effect of the hair cut. Hair cuts for marriages are now truly casual and not as desperate as the old days. This is probably as the marriage robes which are in fashion today are also casual robes which do not have the common equipment of the older robes. In truth, some of the brides have done away with the conventional veil and just wear flowers or jewels on their hair. Haircuts for weddings also have to be thought about for people in the entourage. The bridesmaids also have to look their best in the rite and it is traditional to have similar hairstyles though, it must not cast a shadow over that of the bride. Generally , haircuts for weddings have a theme or correspond to the dresses worn.
It’s not simply the girls who have to choose their own haircuts for weddings but also the men. Though the choices rely predominantly on their present hair cut but they also have the choice to pull back their hair or just gel it in front. Men don’t put any accessories on their hair nor do they wear any veil or bands on their heads.
It’s a smart move to have a hair cut around 2 weeks before the wedding so that there may still be some expansion in case the men don’t like their haircut. Girls with longer hair have more selections of haircuts compared to people who have shorter hair. Women with cropped hair can accessorize to add ritual to the occasion.
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Digital Camera Repair #2 Problem? Broken Lens
February 7th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
Digital camera lens repair is as common as LCD repair, but it’s #2 on my list because it’s harder to repair a digital camera lens and there are so many different types of lens problems whereas a broken LCD is a broken LCD no matter how you look at it.
Basic Lens Care Tips:
- Do not leave the batteries in your camera in the camera bag. The power button can be pressed accidentally causing the lens to extend and get jammed because it cannot open properly inside the bag.
- Try not to drop the camera with the lens extended.
- Do not attempt to pull or twist the lens barrel if it’s stuck, it’s not going to fix it.
I would have to write a book to fully explain lens problems fully (hmm.. what a great idea!) so I will try and keep it simple and informative.
The lens is made up of many different parts… Let’s start with the several pieces of glass referred to as the lens elements. The outer lens element is prone to being scratched and scuffed, and usually has a special coating on it that you DO NOT want to clean off with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), or Windex or something similar. Nothing to worry about if it’s not there, it’s not a big deal. Just keep the lens clean (why are there fingerprints on your lens anyway??) & free from wear.
The inner-most lens element is responsible for the fine focus and resides directly in front of the CCD. When you press the shutter button half way down to focus, this part moves forwards and backwards till it’s in the correct position and your image is in focus. You won’t be messing with this part of the lens… unless you feel like removing the lens from the camera and then tearing down the lens to get at it’s ‘guts’. It’s kinda fun the first time, but uh… Good luck putting it back together properly. The tearing apart stuff is fun, the putting it back together is a drag!
The lens has two small motors with their own gears that connect to the two main parts of the lens. The larger motor drives the lens barrel in and out when zooming. The smaller motor drives the fine focus element mentioned above and controls the focus. If you get ONE GRAIN of sand in these gears, they will jam and the lens will “error out” as we like to say. Open it up and clean it out if you like, but it’s not easy. Typically the main motor of the lens has 5-6 different gears that must be set and aligned properly to function. But hey, your lens is already jammed, why not see how it works, right?
Then there is the CCD, “charge-coupled device” which translates the light that enters the lens into a digital signal that the camera can record.
There was a very large CCD recall for digital camera lens repair over the past few years that covers many manufacturers like Canon, Fuji and Nikon and not just Sony, but Sony provided the CCDs to many other manufacturers for their cameras so they do have a large amount of defective cameras on the list themselves. The defective CCD’s cause the camera to take solid black photos, or purple/pink “dripping paint” photos, or they have repeating white horizontal or verticle lines on the images. If your camera does this, call the manufacturer and tell them you want a repair under the CCD recall no matter how old your camera is! IF it’s on the list, you might get your camera repaired for free.
Got spots on your images that get bigger and smaller as you zoom in and out? Usually there’s a spot of dirt on the CCD unit. You will need to remove the lens and then remove the CCD from the back of the lens and clean it off. Don’t lose the gasket that goes around the CCD, don’t get any other dirt inside the lens and don’t leave any fingerprints! Tall order I know, sorry, I’m demanding. =)
Let’s see… what else? Your lens is part way out, stuck at an angle because the camera was dropped while turned on. Now please read that carefully; the lens must be stuck part way out or all the way out, and one section of the lens MUST be stuck at an angle. For this repair tip to apply the lens must not be moving at all, and be aware you may follow these instructions at your own risk. The following repair trick works, but I am not responsible for your actions or anything you do to your camera.
Alright then, the lens is jammed at an angle and you think it’s worthwhile to attempt to fix it yourself. No problem.
Hold the camera with the angled part of the lens resting against the edge of a table, and the rest of the camera hanging over the side. Do not place the camera facing down with the “Canon Zoom Lens…” metallic front section down flat on the counter. The round part of the lens barrel is what we want on the flat surface of the table. Now… here is the tricky part… press the angled part of the lens back into alignment by pushing down on the lens on the edge of the table. Put your fingers on the LENS below the angled part to support it and press firmly but still gently (how do I do that? I don’t know.. you just do it) and the lens will either POP!! back into place and work perfectly or it won’t budge and no harm will be done, -OR- one of the “guide pins” that run inside a small track in the lens barrel will break off and you have just destroyed the lens.
I told you it was at your own risk!! Camera repair is fun… right?
Alright, enough information for today about lenses? I think we have covered most of the basic problems, and possible solutions. If you want to buy a lens for your camera there are several ways to do it which include calling the manufacturer; but they will want 5+ for the lens, guaranteed.
Do a Google search for “digital camera repair” and you will see at #1 the only site that has affordable digital camera repair and DIY parts… Darntoothysam.com!
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