Face Detection Technology for the Perfect Group and Individual Portraits
March 30, 2009
Lets say you are at a wedding party and taking snaps of family and friends. Suddenly you find that the background effects are more clear as compared to the people in your photos. You don't need the background, you need your friends and relatives to be in focus. This can be done by using the Face Detection technology that has been incorporated in most of the modern compact digital cameras. Face detection is in fact a computer based technology that generally determines the locations and sizes of a human face in a digital image. It only detects the facial expressions and contours and ignores everything else in the background. This technology has been designed to automatically recognise faces within a given frame. This feature adjusts the autofocus in order to deliver sharp image while the exposure is adjusted to ensure that the frame is clear and precise.
Working Process: -
Basically Face Detection technology is a special form of the pattern detection technology. This feature uses an algorithm to locate the faces and to provide you with the preview on the camera's LCD screen. Using this feature is very simple. All you need to do is activate this function when you are out to shoot portraits. The camera first composes the photo and displays it on the LCD screen with the faces highlighted, and then flashes a green signal. This green light is an indication that the camera has adjusted the settings and is ready to capture the correct photo. One thing you need to remember is to turn off this feature while shooting landscapes or sports events. For these cases there are other shooting modes provided in the camera.
Advantages: -
This technology has proved to be handy while taking a portrait snap of multiple people or groups of persons. It also works effectively when the subjects are located away from the centre. With this technology incorporated in most of the digital cameras these days you need not have to worry about manually adjusting the exposure and contrast features. The camera does it automatically when you activate this functionality. Also it greatly increases your chances of getting perfect photos.
Limitations: -
One thing that we need to remember is that Face Detection technology is not fool-proof. It definitely cannot compensate for terrible lighting conditions nor can it adjust the focus or exposure for people situated very far away. Thus it is very important to know the basic laws of exposure and contrast compensation. While the camera is adjusting the internal settings, you may lose out on some interesting moment. Also you cannot keep the feature activated while shooting all types of photos such as nature, landscape, sports etc. For such instances there are other scenic modes provided by the camera manufacturers.
Conclusion: -
Though there are limitations to the Face Detection technology, it is still a boon for beginners and users of compact cameras for crisp and clear pictures. It helps in preserving those most important family get-together and wedding moments. It also makes the whole photographic experience a hassle-free and a memorable one.
Ansel Adams – Nature’s Best Friend
March 21, 2009
With so many digital cameras incorporated with the latest functionalities, it is convenient and interesting to pursue photography as a career. However, there have been some fantastic and popular photographers late back in the 1920s. One such famous photographer was Ansel Adams. Besides being a skilled photographer, he was also a lifelong conservationist, who dedicated his life to preserve and protect the environment. He encouraged people to understand and respect the environment. Although, the major part of his career was spent for commercial photography, he is also well known for the beautiful landscape he had managed to capture.
Ansel Adams, the only child of Charles and Olive Adams was born in San Fransisco, California on 20th of February 1902. Due to an earthquake that occurred in 1906, he was thrown to the floor and he got a broken nose. This made him a very shy and reserved child. He was extremely self-conscious about his nose and as a result faced lots of problems in school. Thus, after receiving eighth-grade education, he preferred to learn mainly by following his own intuitions. At the age of twelve, he started playing the piano. Due to his serious interest in music, he decided to pursue a career as a concert pianist. However, he also liked the outdoors and would often go on long walks exploring the nature around him.
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Ansel Adams Work -- Jeffrey Pine | |||
In 1916, he was on a family trip to Yosemite National Park. Here, he took his first photograph with his amateur camera. This incident reportedly made him embrace photography as a career. He then found a job as a photo technician in a commercial firm, where he got to learn a lot about his new hobby. He spent sometime working as a caretaker in the Sierra Club, and later grew up to become the club's president between 1936 to 1970. During the 1920s, he spent a lot of time in Sierra Nevada hiking, exploring, as well as taking photographs. He also got his photos and writings printed in the club's official publications by becoming acquainted with its leaders. He met his wife Virginia Best also in Yosemite, and later went on and married her in 1928. They later had two children, Michael and Anne.
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Ansel Adams Work -- Nevada Falls | |||
As a full-time photographer a lot of his important works were published in limited edition collections such as Taos Pueblo (1930) and Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras (1927) along with text that was written by Mary Austin. Yet, his first one-man show was held only in 1932 in San Francisco at the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. Adams later went on to open the Ansel Adams Gallery for Arts. He always believed in sharing his knowledge, thus he taught and lectured, as well as worked on advertising assignments in San Francisco area. Somewhere in the 1930s, Adams started extensively publishing about the different techniques of photography and stressed on the importance of careful craftsmanship in this field. He later moved to Yosemite Valley and began publishing a lot of volumes that included; The John Muir Trail (1938), Illustrated Guide to Yosemite Valley (1940), Yosemite and the High Sierra (1948), and My Camera in Yosemite Valley (1949). Adams' technical books on photography, which includes Making a Photograph, the Basic Photo Series as well as the Polaroid Land Photography Manual, were also very useful and popular.
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Ansel Adams Work -- Thunder Clouds | |||
Adams' soft approach to photography was changed when he met another famous photographer Paul Strand(1890-1976) in New Mexico. Strand's ideas of straight photography was reinforced further by his association with a group of important photographers that included Edward Weston (1886-1958) and Imogen Cunningham(1883-1976). This group played a major role in the development of photography as a fine art. In 1980 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the country's highest civilian honour. While presenting Adams with this honour, President James E. Carter quoted that Ansel Adams has proved to be a visionary in his efforts for preserving nature's beauty, both as a photographer as well as a conservationist. He also stated that it is because of Mr. Adams' efforts that a large section of nature has been saved for the future Americans.
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Ansel Adams Work -- Oak Tree | |||
Ansel Adams died on 22nd of April 1984. All through his life he was criticised for photographing nature while the other end of the world was going through a lot of crisis. For this, his modest reply was that only by wholly understanding the world of nature, people would learn to aid and help each other and remain united.
Exposure and Exposure Compensation
March 14, 2009
There may have been many instance wherein you may obtain images that are a little blurred or lack proper lighting. This is often due to insufficient light. For a proper photo the correct amount of light has to reach the camera lens. This can be varied by varying the aperture number or the shutter speed of the camera. However while using full manual mode it may be confusing to set the correct shutter speed as per the aperture number. Thus you can now vary the exposure compensation factor to get a realistic image.
The exposure compensation is is a method of adjusting the exposure that is indicated by the exposure meter to result in a realistic image. In fact many cameras include exposure compensation as a functionality. It is a function that allows the user to adjust the exposure. Compensation can either be positive or negative. It is stated in terms of exposure value 'EV'; one EV is considered equal to one exposure step. In case you are in the aperture mode then by using the exposure compensation you are in fact modifying the exposure time while in the shutter speed mode you are changing the f-number. In a camera the EV denotes all the values of aperture and shutter that would deliver the same exposure. Though all these camera settings provide the same exposure value; it is not mandate that they will reproduce the same image. The shutter speed determines the blur in the images while the comparative aperture determines the depth of field.
Most of the digital cameras do not provide an option to modify the exposure value except a some medium format cameras such as the Rollei models and Hasselblad models. This set EV could be locked thus providing you with a an image with the correct lighting effects. By doing this; when the shutter or aperture is adjusted the other factor gets adjusted correspondingly. However these days many cameras comes with an exposure compensation factor; this is the difference between the set exposure and the indicated exposure value. For any particular ISO setting there exists a direct relationship between the exposure value and brightness level. Generally the range of exposure adjustment ranges between +0 to -2 EV in 1/3 steps. This indicates that you can tell the camera how much light should be let to reach the lens.
In order to save you the pain of manually adjusting the exposure; these days cameras comes with the Automatic Exposure Braketing (AEB) method wherein the camera takes 3 shots; one with the auto set exposure mode, next with positive exposure mode and third with negative exposure mode. You can check later to save which you want and discard the rest. This is one functionality you can look out for while buying a digital camera as the proper exposure details bring out the essence of your photos.
DSLR’s Vs. Point-and-Shoot Cameras
March 10, 2009
The differences of these two types of cameras can be divided into five major categories. They are: -
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- Size: - A DSLR is bulky and heavy owing to the extra accessories that accompany it, like the lenses, the flash etc. On the other hand the point and shoot camera is light weight as it does not require these additional accessories. This is one of the reasons why many people prefer a point and shoot camera over a DSLR. In case you need to carry a DSLR, you need a separate bag for it to hold the camera and its accessories, the point and shoot can easily be slipped into your pocket or handbag.
- Image Sensors: - Generally the point-and-shoot cameras use CCD sensors while the DSLR's use CMOS sensors. The CMOS sensor provides better image quality and larger prints as compared to the CCD sensors. Also a CCD sensor consumes more battery power as compared to CMOS sensor. A CMOS sensor is larger in size as compared to a CCD sensor. Also CMOS sensors produce images with less noise factor as compared to CCD sensor. Thus people who need larger prints of their photos as well as less noise in the snaps and do not really bother about the size of the camera prefer a DSLR over the point-and-shoot camera. However if you prefer to have just small prints then you can choose a point-and-shoot camera.
- Creative Operations: - In case you want to play around with your camera then the DSLR is the best choice as it offers a galore of functionalities. The point-n-shoot camera however is limited with the number of control features. In case you want to leave your camera in the auto mode while shooting then there is no point in going for a DSLR, you might as well get a point-n-shoot. In case you are a beginner, then the number of options provided by a DSLR will leave you often confused.; so it is better to choose a camera with simple functionalities and then move on to a DSLR. Although point-n-shoot cameras also offer manual mode, the user have fewer settings as compared to the multitude of control functions in the DSLR.
- Shutter Lag: - The shutter lag is the time lapse that occurs when you release the shutter button and the camera actually captures the picture. Ideally it is better to have no shutter lag at all. However all cameras, point-n-shoot or DSLR come with certain shutter lag. In case of a DSLR the shutter lag is almost nil, while there is a comparatively higher shutter lag in case of a point-n-shoot camera. This may result in missing out on some important moments and events. So in case you are out to capture some fast moving moments and do not want to miss out any section of the event, then the DSLR is the best bet; however there are a lot of compact cameras that offer minimal shutter lag.
- Price: - The price is the main reason that determines which camera a person may want to own. A compact camera is available at a lower price range as compared to the DSLRs; though recently good DSLR cameras are available at an affordable rate. One thing you need to keep in mind while purchasing a DSLR camera is that you are not just buying a camera but a system. The DSLR camera needs to be upgraded with a number of lenses, filters, flash units etc. The price of the camera ultimately will be less important due to the price of the add-ons. However if you are a professional photographer and you would rather have a better unit than a cheaper and compromising model; then the DSLR could be your best bet. But if you are an amateur, then you could begin with a point-n-shoot camera.
Both the DSLR as well as the Point-n-Shoot have their own advantages and disadvantages. Presented above are just a few major distinguishing factors for the two types of digital cameras. They may be a lot more. Which one you would want to own is purely a decision of necessity and personal choice.
Rosanne Pennella
March 5, 2009
Rosanne Pennella started walking on her career path as a practising attorney. She has worked with federal judges and top litigation firms and was one of the most successful attorney in New York. But somewhere deep in her heart she felt a vacuum and was not happy practising law. This was probably because she had always wanted to travel. After a lot of thoughts and soul searching she decided to take up travelling as a hobby. There is a famous proverb that says -- “A Journey of a Thousand Miles must begin with a Single Step”. So Rosanne took a break from her legal career and set out on her dream journey.
She first travelled to Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia for around three and a half months. Here she recorded her experiences on a point-n-shoot camera and prepared a photo album. When she showed it to her friends and well wishers they all recognised that she had an eye for details, as this was portrayed in her pictures. She then decided to use her photographic capabilities and chose to become a professional photographer. However she set a deadline for achieving this goal. She gave herself 5 years of time to become a pro, if unsuccessful, she would return back to her legal profession. Rosanne's a very dedicated and determined person and it is this dedication and determination that made her achieve her dream.
When she started off she once laughed saying that she did not know anything about f-stops or shutter speeds. She took lessons on photography and later considered a career as a travel photographer. She received a Nikon 90S as a gift. Initially, her gear consisted of two Nikon F100 35mm bodies, Nikon D100 and Nikon D2X digital SLR cameras. The lenses include 12–24mm f/2.8, 17–35mm f/2.8, 35–70mm f/2.8, 80–400mm VR f/4.0–5.6, 70–200mm VR f/2.8, and 105mm f/2.8 macro types. She ensures that a level of intimacy is obtained with her subjects. Before getting her camera and firing a shot, she tries to understand and develop a rapport with the subject. Only after this level of proximity is achieved, does Rosanne fire a shot. She believes that only proper concentration and efficiency can help you connect with your subjects. Owing to her commitment and sincere effort and hard work; Rosanne Pennella transformed from a successful attorney to a successful travel photographer.
Her passion and commitment finally paid off. She was awarded the Annual Award by the Photo District News in 2001. she has worked with the tourism boards of China, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Hungary and Morocco. She has travelled and photographed almost all the continents across the world. Her work is displayed in various Galleries and Magazines. However she did not want to limit herself to just shooting and pursuing her passion. She wanted to pass on the theoretical and practical lessons she learned as a professional photographer. She is a strong source of inspiration to ambitious photographers. She follows a very simple motto in life “You should be the first person to be convinced of your ability”. She also advices every aspirant that they need to spend considerable amount of time and energy in this field before deciding to quit their jobs to pursue it as a career.
