Sites for managing your Photos and Videos

For all of you who want to and make your digital photos available online to parents, friends or family, or who want to store or capture videos, here are some free or inexpensive sites that can be used to do just that!

www.Flickr.com is a free 'photo album' that allows you to upload your digital photos from your camera or computer to this online site. Here, you can organize your pics and make them available for your parents, or for your home use.

www.CustomFlix.com lets you upload to them any DVD file you've created and they will duplicate it for about $7 per disc. This is especially useful if you are creating several copies, for use by a class or for a family gathering or party. That is because it can take at least 10 hours to burn a DVD on most PCs, which can tie up your computer for a long time.

www.EZArchive.com is an Internet based storage and origination site for your photos or videos. For about $10/month, or for a $100 lifetime fee, you can get 1 gigabyte of space. This is best thought of as a Web based disaster recovery solution.

www.YesVideo.com converts old videotapes to DVDs for about $25 for two VHS tapes. Nothing fancy like titles or editing, but you'll get DVDs of any video you have.

Taking pictures is FREE!

Be a better photographer by capitalizing on your digital camera's best feature - taking pictures is free! When you're taking pictures at parties, family and social events, vacations, or other situations where it's important to capture a good image, always take at least two shots, and better yet, take several. Think of yourself as a professional photographer and move the camera around to get  pictures from different angles. Just like the pros, you'll have plenty of pictures to choose from to get that one image that looks just right!

Never underestimate the value of natural light.

Many of us are now able to email photos to friends and family, and it can be fun to take pictures of things like our children's artwork or other objects as the subject of our photos. Remember that natural light produces the most accurate color and detail. Just lay the object against a plain, dark background, and take the picture outside, preferably early in the morning or later in the afternoon because midday sun can be too harsh. Standing too close or zooming in too tightly can distort straight borders, so keep that in mind when taking the picture. If you see reflections in the object, try laying it flat on the ground, and take the picture at a slight angle under a cloudless, or completely overcast sky.

When filming your movies, always hold the camera horizontally.

Most of you have a video clip feature on your digital cameras, so here's a tip for all of you budding cinematographers. When filming your movies, always hold the camera horizontally. If you turn the camera vertically, the viewfinder makes it look as if you are filming a vertical frame, but the playback default is horizontal so it flips the image 90 degrees. That means you and your audience will have to watch your movies on your sides! Seems like a simple thing, but don't forget - keep that camera horizontal when filming your movies!

Revisit Lens Filters with your Digital Camera.

Remember when you used a lens filter on your conventional camera? Those lens filters offered some terrific benefits to photography; color compensation, light polarization, among others. While it is true that a lens filter probably won't mount on your digital camera lens, you can just hold one in place over the lens to reap the rewards. These filters are available wherever cameras are sold. Happy snapping!

Using Your Camera's Flash in "Backlit Conditions"

Here's a terrific use for your camera's flash when taking a picture in full daylight. When you take a picture of your subject against a bright sky - the condition called backlighting - your camera simply averages the light from the subject and the sky to arrive at a middle exposure. Unfortunately, this results in too short an exposure for the subject, and too long for the sky. The result is a dark silhouette against a very bright background. To address this, try a technique the experts call 'fill-flashing' - just turn on your flash! It lightens the subject, and reduces the exposure so the background appears less bright.

Use the Right Resolution for the Job!

Don't make the mistake of using a higher resolution or more pixels than you really need. It wastes too much time transferring and editing picture files that are larger than necessary. Any time you are taking photos that are headed for the Web, email, or presentations, stick to low-resolution. Only use high-resolution (XGA or megapixel) for those photos you intend to print. If you are not absolutely certain of the final use, take the picture in the highest resolution. You can always make a copy and adjust the size with your image software. Remember, the higher the resolution, the more space your pictures take on a memory card. If you're short on card space, lower the image resolution to squeeze more pictures on your memory card.

Make-Your-Own Bounce Flash

If you put a small mirror at an approximately 45-degree angle in front of the flash you will reflect the light off of the ceiling! This trick helps diffuse the light and will keep it from making that unpleasant glare off of your subject. Better yet, make your own small mirror by recycling an old, unwanted CD, and cutting it to size with heavy duty scissors. Give it a try!

Take a step closer!

Don't be afraid to take another step toward the subject of your photo, especially if it's a person... When you get in close, the added detail will make your snapshot more intimate and personal. You camera can probably take pictures as close as 2 or 3 feet from the lens before the photo becomes blurry; get as close as you can!

Avoid using the auto-flash if possible!

The electronic auto-flash on your camera is convenient, but it doesn't make for well-lit photographs. It blasts the subject with bright light from exactly the same angle as the lens, resulting in that characteristic "deer in headlights" effect. Avoid having to use it by placing your subjects next to lamps, windows, or other diffuse and indirect sources of light. Keep moving around and find the best illumination!

Three Tips for Taking Holiday Photos

1. When taking pictures outside in cold weather remember that cold temperatures cause camera batteries to drain more quickly. Be sure to have spare batteries handy and keep the batteries in a warm place before using them.
2. Holidays are a great time to take pictures of children. Get down to their level. Consider lying on the floor to snap your pictures. This will give you some great angles.
3. Pay special attention to lighting when you are around Christmas trees. Christmas tree bulbs can look very shiny or appear as a big blur on a printed photo. Avoid flash unless necessary, and if you are using a camera with an automatic flash, consider turning off the flash when taking pictures around Christmas lights.
   

Getting The Right File Format for Sending Email Photos

It is important to send image (picture) files that can be opened by all computer operating systems, whether they are Mac or Windows. The two most universally recognized image file formats are TIFF and JPEG. JPEG is the preferred file format for sending email images because JPEG files are compressed and therefore smaller. TIFF files tend to be too large for efficient email sending. TIFF files are not compressed and are better used when you plan to print your pictures. When you email your images as JPEG files all computers will be able to open them.

Most digital cameras automatically save images as JPEGs, so you probably will not have to change your file format to send your photo by email. For example if you take a picture of your dog and name this image file "Fido", your camera will save the picture as Fido.jpeg.

Smaller is Better

Image files are the same as text files, only bigger&usually lots bigger! If you attach a big image file to an email it may never arrive at its destination. Or if it gets to the right address, the image may take forever to download and then be too big to fit on the monitor screen.

Your image editing program can help you reduce the size of the picture so that it is optimized for email. Explore the sizing features of your editing software and experiment with the different options it offers. For example, you can change the picture resolution, that is the number of pixels per inch (ppi), in your image. You can change the physical dimensions of the image from an 8" x11" photo to one that is wallet size. And you can also change the file size. When you alter any one of these three options, the other two will automatically be adjusted.

Here are some general guidelines for the right size picture to send by email.

• Resolution - 72 ppi (pixles per inch)
• Physical dimension of 3" X 5"
• Keep the file size under 300k
• More About Resolution

Most computer monitors can only display 72 ppi (pixels per inch), so sending a picture with a greater ppi does not improve the picture on your monitor. If you are going to print a picture, you may want the best resolution possible, probably at least 300 ppi. So save those high resolution images for photos you want to print. For emailing and web posting a 72 ppi picture is perfectly adequate.

Conserving Camera Battery Power

Digital cameras use up battery powerfast. Maintaining battery power can really be a challenge if you are on a photo safari miles away from Walmart. To conserve battery power, tryshutting off the LCD screen and flash whenever possible. When uploading your pictures to your computer, use your AC adapter instead of battery power!