Tips for better holiday photographs

Holidays are over all too soon leaving only memories memories that can be re-awakened by great photos! To make the most of your holiday snaps, follow a few simple rules.

Carry a camera with you at all times! Opportunities for pictures present themselves unexpectedly. A simple cell-phone camera is extremely mobile and can do the job. Keep the SLR for special occasions. The Nokia N95 comes with a 5 mega pixel camera that can produce excellent results.

Look after your camera and remember to protect it from sand and sea water at all times! The last thing you want is to lose the camera and your precious pictures.

Ensure that you have enough memory (or film) to take as many pictures as you want, and don't forget to charge the batteries. An extra memory card may be the answer.

Before you go, spend time with your camera. Get to know what it can do. Many cameras have special settings for landscapes, portraits, close-ups and night scenes. These can help produce great results.

A common holiday maker mistake is to try to capture people and landscapes in one shot - for instance the spouse or kids posing in front of the Eiffel Tower. Both lose out! A good rule of thumb is that people photos should focus on people. The person should be the main object. The pyramids make a great backdrop, but don't try to do both. Spontaneous people pictures are often the most memorable. Children caught at play, people admiring an unusual scene and people celebrating. If you have a zoom option, then keep your distance and zoom in on unsuspecting subjects and capture the moment!

Children can be photographed in almost any lighting conditions, but older people benefit from indirect lighting. Back lighting only works if you adjust the exposure to suit the portrait or use a fill-in flash.

Holidays are often spent in beautiful - perhaps spectacular surroundings. Look through the camera to find interesting shots. Experiment with different angles. If your friends or family are with you let them explore the scene and capture them as part of the shot. A person near a pyramid provides a sense of perspective. The time of day can make a huge difference to the results. Look at the lighting, and try to avoid huge contrasts. Our eyes adjust easily from strong sunshine to a dark shadow. Cameras don't manage these that well. Your camera will respond differently to the same scene at different times of day.

Events and celebrations benefit from lots of photographs. Too many is better than too few. More is more! Most modern digital cameras perform well in at night with or without a flash.

Back at home, touch-up you pictures. Red-eye reduction, changing the brightness, contrast and colour saturation can enhance them. Crop photos to focus in on an interesting detail. Great holiday shots make calendars, key-holders or table mats. Print some enlargements and laminate them for stunning results!

Can a cell phone replace your digital camera?

Many photographers will dismiss the idea of using a cell phone camera to replace a digital camera without much thought. To them, a cell phone camera is nothing more than a sophisticated toy, incapable of taking serious pictures. But cell phones using the latest technology are able to compete very seriously against the more moderately priced digital cameras.

I use my cell phone almost exclusively as my digital camera. A cell phone has one advantage over a digital camera that is impossible to beat. It is always available. It goes everywhere with me and can be used as a camera whenever opportunity knocks. The technology now available means that cell phone photography can be used for much more than simple snap-shots. My phone is a Nokia N95. It comes standard with a 5 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and a 1 GB memory card. This arrangement suits me more than any camera that I have previously owned.

My cell phone pictures are used on my various web sites as well as tom promote various art works. 5 Megapixels provides a resolution that is more than enough for most day to day purposes.

As technology continues its rapid development, cell phone cameras improve by an equal measure. 10 megapixel cell phone cameras have already been launched onto the Japanese market.

The Nokia N95 camera has some impressive features.

The large screen provides an excellent preview of the scene to be captured. The camera includes auto-focus and auto exposure. The automatic flash includes a manual override.

The camera has a variety of modes for shooting under different conditions and subject matters.

The close-up mode allows for crystal clear pictures of tiny flowers or similar items from 10 to 60 cm. There is no difference between this and the macro facility on a sophisticated camera.

The portrait mode quickly provides the right settings for portrait photography. In addition, the flash may be used for fill-in lighting.

The landscape option provides the best settings for shooting landscapes.

Other settings include the sports setting; this apparently uses fast shutter speeds to freeze action onto an image.

The night mode makes using available light simple and effective while the night portrait option allows for fill-in flash for low-light night shots. The flash settings include red-eye prevention.

To make things really easy, there is an automatic mode that selects the right setting for you.

The camera is able to achieve quality results in almost any lighting conditions with or without the flash.

Another fairly sophisticated feature is the sequence mode. Burst captures six (or more) images in rapid succession - great for recording rapid movement in stills! Other options allow for a picture to be taken automatically at a variety of time sequences ranging from 10 seconds to 30 minutes. The sequence shooting continues until the memory runs out! This is a great option that is available when using the phone exclusively as a camera.

A whole range of additional options allow much more to be done with the camera. These include:

• A selection of colour tones,
• A viewfinder grid that divides the image into both vertical and horizontal thirds aids good composition,
• White balance,
• Exposure compensation that allows for exposure bracketing, and
• Sharpness, contrast and light sensitivity controls.

Every camera has limitations. A cell phone camera may have more limitations than some of the cameras on the market. For me the greatest limitation is the absence of an optical zoom. The electronic zoom results in a loss of resolution. There is no manual control of the shutter speed or aperture stops. But knowledge of the limitations allows you to work around them.

The phone allows for most of the simpler editing functions on the phone itself. It is even possible to print directly from the phone to some printers, and to upload your photographs directly to the Internet. The photos can be easily transferred to a computer for more sophisticated editing, distribution and printing.

My SLR camera usually stays at home while my cell phone is always with me. It is easy and convenient to carry around and is always available. Carrying a purpose built camera involves a degree of inconvenience! The cell phone can capture pictures at a moments notice when the opportunity presents itself.

I have built-up a collection of photo's from my cell phone that compare favourably to any that I have taken using a purpose built camera. My default camera is the cell-phone. When I photograph a planned event I have a choice of cell phone or camera. The cell phone usually wins, while the digital camera serves as an indispensible backup.

How to take great pictures on a cell phone camera

A good photograph is not only about high resolution or huge amounts of detail. Some digital cameras today provide the ability to enlarge detail from great distances. Many great photographers have never had access to that kind of equipment. A simple cell-phone camera will do the trick with certain limitations.

Something to remember is that cell phone cameras come in a huge range of resolutions and capabilities. From the most basic EGA to 5 and even 10 mega pixel cameras. Just a few years ago a 5 megapixel camera was at the cutting edge of technology.

With the quality of cell phone cameras available today, the quality of the camera reflects the quality of the photographer not the camera. The most advanced camera in the world does not turn a snapshot into a quality photo!

The first requirement for taking quality photos on your cell phone camera is to get to know what the camera is capable of. That means exploring and experimenting with the camera. Try out the various options and settings. Experiment with the camera and practice. Even a professional photographer will spend some time getting to know a new camera before using it for professional purposes. You need to get a feel for the camera. Find out what it does well as well as its limitations. Good photography is as much about working within your camera's limitations and with its capabilities.

Composition is an important aspect of photography. It applies as much to cell phone photography as anything else.

The first principle of composition to remember is the rule of thirds. Divide the screen into three horizontal levels and three vertical areas. Place the horizon or dividing point a scene along the top or bottom third dividing line. This creates a sense of balance. Placing an object on the vertical thirds intersections creates an area of interest. The rule of thirds works. Try it and use it. Once you have mastered it then feel free to abandon it.

Symmetry does not work in photography or in the visual arts in general. As a rule it is to be avoided. The rule of odds is a good principle to follow. Three or five similar objects work better than two or four. Perhaps it is the human brains quest for complexity?

A few other rules to bear in mind are that horizontal lines suggest tranquillity, a winding disappearing road or river creates an atmosphere of mystery and diagonals suggest movement.

Following these rules will generally produce above average results.

Remember to work within the limitations. A low resolution camera can produce quality pictures. These become very grainy when enlarged.

The photos can be uploaded onto your computer. Use Picasa, Gimp or Paint Shop Pro to edit and perfect your result.

A cell phone camera is just like any other digital camera with one great advantage. When you come across an interesting scene your cell phone is more likely to be available than your camera!

Living an illusion part 2

During the sixties and seventies people pondered the meaning of life. The world was full of young people seeking alternatives to simple material gain. A favourite phrase, coined by Dr Timothy Leary, one of the gurus of the new age was Turn on, Tune in and Drop Out. Get out of the rat race, expand your consciousness and get in touch with what is happening around you.

One of the great all-time imponderables of life - the search for meaning - became a key focus. A time of rebellion, rejection of the 'establishment' and taking on new values were a feature of the youth.

Murray had grown up in Hampstead - a good middle class suburb in North London. At the age of fifteen he had shoulder length hair and a bushy beard. He too, was interested in finding out what it was all about.

"Why are we here? What are we doing on this planet, and what are we doing to it?

In the same year his grandmother passed away. They had been very close in a rather strange way. She could never understand the long hair. A fifteen year-old with a thick black bushy beard!

At her funeral Murray just laughed. He couldn't help himself.

His grandmother's death had a profound effect on the boy and he found his thoughts turning more and more to the Secret of Life.

After completing his schooling Murray sought out an adventure.

The journey began in London. Across the channel to Amsterdam. Hitch-hiking through Italy, Greece and on to Turkey. To Kabul in Afghanistan - home to some of the world's finest hashish - and on across Asia. At every stop Murray asked the same question. "What is the secret of Life" but he got no answer.

As the journey drew him eastward Murray began to get hints of a man that may be able to provide the answer. On to India. The gurus sent him here and there, but every lead was false. Eighteen months of travelling, living as cheaply as he could was beginning to have its effects on the young Murray. He was missing his family and friends. Everything they did here was wrong. Murray began to miss those same conventional features of his home that he had hated so much.

His journey took him through India, to Opium dens, Hindu temples and the “Mighty Ganges”.

Travelling on a train one day Murray met a bearded guru that told him of a 330 year old Tibetan Lama that knew the secret of life.

With a dwindling money supply Murray began this final stretch. As he neared his target more and more people confirmed the story. High in the Himalayas was a little cabin.

As Murray entered the dimply lit room his eyes fell on a man of infinite age. The Lama's white beard extended towards his belly and he was dressed in a simple robe. After sharing a bowl of rice, the old man asked Murray about his quest.

“Ever since I was a child I have wondered about the meaning of life. But when my granny died my thoughts turned to finding it. I have travelled through Europe and Asia. I have explored the length and breadth of India. Finally, my quest brought me to you. Will you tell me the secret of life?"

The old man puffed away at his pipe and took a sip from his glass of water.

"Young man," he began. "The secret of life is something that I sought for many years. It is something that many are afraid to find. But I found it. Yes I have the secret of life."

The young man waited expectantly, but the Lama remained silent. "Would that be something that you would share with me?"

The old man took another long puff on his pipe and gazed at the young man's eyes. "The secret of life" he began "is in old British army socks."

Murray could not believe what he was hearing. Old British army socks? He was angry. "I have travelled thousands of miles across the world to find the secret of life and you tell me that it’s old British army socks?"

"Yes".

But Murray was adamant. "No. It is not possible. Old British army socks are not the secret of life!"

The old man stared in disbelief. "You mean I've been lining all these years on an illusion?!" The Lama rolled over. He stopped breathing. He was dead.

Murray's quest was over. He returned home penniless to begin a conventional life in the West. He knew that he would never find the answer.

Living an illusion

In 1929 Wall Street was experiencing a bull market like never before. Making money on the stock exchange had never been easier. Every Tom, Dick and Harry became an investor. It was very difficult to put a foot wrong.

As more and more people entered the market, share prices rose faster and faster. It didn't really matter ehat share you bought - every share was a winner! Investors invested on borrowed money. The banks were only too pleased to lend the money - debt produces an income for them.

What went wrong?

Someone suddenly realised that share prices were way beyond reality. A company that was perhaps worth $50,000 was trading on the market for ten times its value. At times even more. A share price that reflects a 100:1 price earnings ratio is clearly not a good buy. But who cared? Share investments were bringing in huge returns!

The first crash of 1929 happened on 24 October to be folloewed by Black monday on the 28th.

The world has changed considerably since then. Govenments will intervene in most circumstances.

The current crisis is one of the worst for many tears. But the checks and balances seem set to cope withthe masages!
South Africa may bit be totally imune

Flowers in the sun

Some of nature’s most exquisite handiwork is on a miniature
scale, as anyone knows who has applied a magnifying glass to a snowflake.

- Rachel Carson

Sunset across the suburbs