Picasa Homepage

There are plenty of photo manager software options out there, but the one I have to recommend is Picasa. This is the program I will use to describe the features photo manager software has. This software is fairly extensive and easy to use, but best of all it’s free from Google. It takes just minutes to download and install, and just a few more to find all your pictures so you’re ready to get started. It searches your computer (or just document and picture folders if you like) and finds all image and video files. You can also import images from a camera or memory card for all the new images you take.

After your images are all in the program, it then displays all your photos as they were ordered on your computer. If you move a file in Picasa, it will move the file in Windows as well. This way you don’t have to copy and paste files and navigate through folders. You simply click and drag. It couldn’t get any easier. I personally know the frustration of having files all neatly organized one place and a big mess somewhere else; this program takes away all the hassle.

Picasa also allows you to name, caption, and rate your photos for easy searching and sorting, which you can do by tabs in the program. Another feature that’s great for file organization is being able to search for pictures. You can search by file name, title, date, or even rating. That way you can easily find a picture to use or share, or quickly find the best you have to offer (so you know which ones to sell, of course). It also has a handy timeline that organizes your pictures in chronological order.

After you have all your pictures sorted and filed, you can then begin editing in Picasa. While it’s not a full photo editor, it has a lot of easily accessible and useful options. You can zoom in and pan your pictures to see what needs fixing. It has handy buttons to crop; remove red eye; fix the color and lighting; and much more. It may not have all the high tech tools, but it definitely has enough for most of the quick fixes you’ll normally need.

And once your pictures are all ready to go, you can then easily share them with family and friends (or anyone else who wants to see them). You can transfer then to an external drive, burn them to a CD, upload them to a photo sharing website, or email them using your email, Google’s g-mail, or Picasa’s built in client. This way no matter how you want to do it, you can share your pictures with the world.

Picasa is just one example of photo manager software. Go ahead and download it today so you can start enjoying the ease of photo management.

The Panning Shot

This picture was taken using the panning technique. Notice how the car is much clearer than the background.

Panning is a pretty difficult skill to master, but once you do you can get some wonderful shots. In pictures with this technique, the subject, which is moving, appears clear while the background appears blurred. You do this simply (ok, maybe not so simply) by moving the camera with the subject as it moves. This can be difficult, because the field of your shot needs to be moving at the same speed as the subject. To best accomplish this, you should begin moving the camera before the subject enters your field, and continue moving the camera after the subject has exited (like following through on a basketball shot). Also, remember not to set your shutter speed too fast or the subject and background will both come out clear. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t perfect this technique right away – it’s tough, just keep practicing.

Slow Motion Water Pictures

Another fun technique is slow motion water shots. These are pictures where the background looks clean and crisp, but water in the scene appears almost as if it is a painting. This technique is accomplished by using a slow shutter speed (best is one to two seconds) and a tripod to steady your shot so the whole scene isn’t blurry. You then take a picture of water that is moving. My favorite use of this technique is to photograph waterfalls, but the water doesn’t need to be falling. It can be moving rapidly or flowing slowly over rocks and other objects. It does, however need to have moving edges to create the "flow" effect. Also, it should be noted since you’re using a relatively slow shutter speed, the lighting should be low. Shooting at dusk or dawn is best; however, you can also shoot in a shaded area, heavy cloud cover, or after dark in an area
with not a lot of lighting.   And if you want to have a person in this type of picture, they need to remain perfectly still or they’ll appear blurry.

This waterfall photo was taken using a tripod and a 2 second exposure time.

Pinhole Camera Pictures

Another technique you can try, that might take a little more work to accomplish, is pinhole camera shots (yes, the things you use to look at eclipses). These are a great way to take pictures with an almost infinite depth of field. Make a box out of wood or cardboard that’s about a foot square. The inside of the box should be painted black on five sides and white on one. The white side will be the side you project your image onto. This is what you will actually be taking an image of. The opposite side of the box should have two holes cut into it: one for your camera lens (be sure to make this snug so you can block out the light from entering) and one in the center of the side for your pinhole. You then cover the hole in the center with silver foil and poke your pinhole. You can use this page to calculate your pinhole size. Once your camera is set up, be sure the camera is very still (you could use a tripod or even make a stand for it if you’re using wood) and take the shot. You should set your exposure length as long as you can because very little light is making it through the pinhole. One you get this technique down, you can take some great shots.

These are just a few techniques to take cool and interesting pictures. Try experimenting with them to see what you can come up with. If you get really good at them, try using the principles from these techniques to come up with other interesting shots you can take.

Bought a great new digital camera? Don’t know why you’re keeping the old film camera? Don’t put the garage sale price tag sticker on that old camera just yet. Film still does have some advantages, such as:

• Increased resolution (for those ever so popular “will you marry me?” billboards)
• Don’t need batteries (more recent point and shoots do, I’m talking the old SLRs)
• Easily accessible media (my local gas station doesn’t sell memory cards quite yet, does yours?)
• Burst mode and no shutter lag. Burst modes on digitals don’t usually take a lot of pictures except on the highest end digital SLRs (which cost over $4,000 and that doesn’t include the lens!)