You do not need any paid software to edit photos and/or post them on the internet. Most paid software (if you decided to go that route) will have professional features that you will never use.[hidepost=1] When most people think of image editing software, they think of a software title such as Adobe Photoshop. This software costs hundreds of dollars, takes a...

These two terms can be easily confused but I will attempt to explain it as best I can. [hidepost=1] Shutter speed: The measure of time of how long it takes for the shutter to open and shut. It is measured in thousandths of seconds (e.g. 1/1000 = one one-thousandth of a second). F-stop: The amount of light “let in” to the camera during the time the shutter is...

Concerning a digital camera, ISO denotes how sensitive the image sensor is to the amount of light present. [hidepost=1] General rule of thumb: The lower the light, the higher the ISO should be. You can consider ISO the “eye” of the camera. To let in more light, move the ISO number setting up. For less light, have the number setting down. For example, if...

A panoramic photo is a “super-wide” image. It can be done in two ways:Have a camera with dedicated lens that has the ability to take super-wide shots (very expensive). Composite (“stitch”) a shot together from different shots.[hidepost=1] Being that most people won’t want to spend the money for option 1, option 2 is more desirable. The tools...

“Nanny” modes are auto-settings on consumer and prosumer digital cameras. They are recognized by name such as “Sport”, “Fireworks”, “Sunset” and of course “Auto”. [hidepost=1] The default shooting mode on all digital cameras is Auto. This is what makes a point-and-shoot camera truly point-and-shoot. The cameras makes its best guess and what...

The frame, simply put, is the area that a camera “sees”. It is whatever the lens can capture. One common mistake made by many beginner photographers is that what you see is what the camera sees. This is not the case. [hidepost=1] The single largest difference between a camera lens’ view and your view is that you have peripheral vision; the camera lens...

Indoor light is completely different compared to outdoor. Important note: The vast majority of digital cameras “prefer” outdoor light. The flash (should you have one) is designed to emulate outdoor light as well. When shooting photographs indoors, shots will not look the same as they do outdoors. [hidepost=1] The best indoor light is Fluorescent Digital...

The best way to begin this section is to give you examples of some bad shots. [hidepost=1] Bad shot example 1: Shooting human subjects with sun directly overhead (high noon) There are several reasons why this shot will come out absolutely terrible.“Raccoon Eye” effect. The human subject(s) will have large shadows under their eyes when the sunlight is...

When comparing indoor vs. outdoor, the factors to take into consideration are:Color of light Direction of light Intensity of light[hidepost=1] Color Outdoor is “warm”, indoor is “cool”. With outdoor light, the vast majority of the time you are using the sun as your light source. On a typical Spring day, the sun is obviously not white but rather...

Digital cameras are everywhere today. Just about everyone owns one. Not only that, they are good cameras. Even the cheapest digital cameras today are capable of taking really great photography if in the hands of somebody who knows how to do so. Blatant Plug: We have just launched a brand new course at PCMech University which is designed to give you tactics you...

Per the last survey we sent out, one of the courses people wanted in the PCMech University system was a digital photography course. One is coming very soon. See video below for...

I’m currently working on a digital photography course for PCMU, so this week’s wallpapers are all real-life photos I’ve taken using a very inexpensive digital camera. In the course materials you will find out how to take photos like the ones shown below. In addition, all the photos below will be available as super-size wallpaper. One will be...