Have you been pondering over whether to buy that new digital camera? You’ve ruled the digicam out, figured a digital camera will give you the recording time you need. So when exactly should you buy that digital camera?

Do you want your money to go the distance? In other words, do you want the latest and greatest? If that’s the case, March and November are your big months to buy a digital camera. These are the months that manufacturers lead to for big months, the new years models and the holidays.

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Weddings are great photo opportunities. It’s a day that everyone wants to remember and happy couples often need a reliable, professional service to capture their wedding perfectly for them to remember for the rest of their lives. Investing in relationships with wedding planners is a great way to gain access to this profitable business. The wedding planner will refer you to couples who will be more likely to hire you based on the wedding planner’s advice.

First, if you have no wedding portfolio, offer your service to a bride in return for a testimonial. Be sure you keep the copyright on your pictures so you can use them to create a portfolio. You might locate a receptive bride within your circle of friends and family or through other networking activities. With at least one wedding under your belt and with a nice testimonial and portfolio, start looking for other weddings to photograph. Word of mouth is always ideal, but you might also check the wedding announcements in your local newspaper.

If you have neither a portfolio or testimonials, offer to work for testimonials. Weddings are expensive and you may be able to get work by working for free. A strange concept, but it will pay off in the end. Make sure you keep the copyright on your photos so you can use them in your portfolio. And remember most importantly to take great pictures! Your future career depends on it. Your first job will often come through your family or friends. Once you have a portfolio and some testimonials, you can look for work elsewhere. Browse the local papers for wedding announcements to look for clients.

Contact the bride and offer your service. You can either send promotional material by mail or try phoning her. You can offer to take pictures of the bride’s house and the preparation for the wedding which can produce some great photos. This service is rarely offered by studio photographers, so this extra effort will make you stand out.

Offer to photograph events related to the wedding for example bridal showers, the rehearsal dinner or the gift opening. Another way to generate business is to contact people involved in weddings such as florists and bakeries, and inquire about leaving brochures or negotiating a referral fee.

Being inventive and creative in the way you approach business goes along way in wedding photography. For example try working with a local artist to produce scrapbooks for your customers. You will offer a completely unique work of art to hold your clients happy memories. As a final tip, make sure to please the bride. Make her happy, and your job will be a lot more enjoyable.

Photo contests are generally for just about anyone who is interested in entering, whether you are:

Working as a professional photographer.

An amateur photography enthusiast.

Someone with a camera and a creative mind.

Someone interested in expanding a hobby.

Poetry, cooking and many other contests generally require a definite level of skill to qualify; almost anyone can start taking pictures with a camera. Digital cameras today are getting better and better, so there really isn’t much you have to learn. Taking pictures these days truly is nearly as simple as ‘point-and-click.’

What are the benefits of entering a photo contest?

I’m glad you asked that! Contests are a great way to:

a) Win money or prizes.

b) Show off your talent. Your photo could be published in well-respected photography books or industry magazines if you win.

c) Be evaluated not only by your peers but also experts and critics in your field.

d) Receive wonderful benefits such as the opportunity to talk with editors, well-known photographers, equipment manufacturers and more.

e) Get your ’15-minutes of fame’ or at least receive instant exposure.

The prizes range from small cash prizes to fully equipped photo studios from a few rolls of film to exotic photo safaris.

Here is a short list of some prizes from current and past contests:

* Survey wolves, bears and chamois when you participate in a Biosphere Land Rover Expedition to Slovakia’s Tatra Mountains.

* Discover Tanzania, Kenya and Zanzibar on a 22-day overland adventure.

* A Grand Prize worth over $8,500, including a Nikon camera, lenses, flash system, notebook computer, printer, software and loads of other goodies.

* A Grand Prize valued at approximately $9,300 Grand Prize that includes a Nikon Digital camera kit plus a trip to the Northwest Territories.

Besides winning prizes, entering photograph contests afford you an opportunity to build your own real-life portfolio and depending on the contest, becoming a winner. Even if you just finish near the top you could launch your photo career.

So what’s stopping you?

Getting Started

Get started by selecting a contest. Then visit this extensive ‘list of photo contests’ (link to your website’s photo contests page) at www.proofpositive.com. Here you will find dozens of on-going photo contests. The list is continually updated, so visit often.

The first step is selecting a contest. Then go to this comprehensive ‘list of photo contests’ (link to your website’s photo contests page) at www.proofpositive.com where there are dozens of on-going photo contests. The active contest list is continually updated, so check back often.

Winning Tips for Entering Contests

Every contest is different. There are different eligibility standards as well as different rules and entry regulations. One of the first things you have to do is determine whether or not you are qualified for the contest. Here are a few other tips:

- Follow all the rules and read all the instructions! This is vital! Ensure that you know the theme of the contest (scenic landscape, people or animals, travel photos, etc. . .). It’s surprising the number of people who submit a favorite picture of a beloved pet to a nature- or scenic-themed contest. Most contests limit the number of entrants and how many submissions each one can enter.

- Check out the contest website for past winners. It’s wise to check the pattern with which judges select winners. Photo contests aren’t exactly Olympic sports; the judges are subjective (remember: beauty is in the eye of the beholder), and while they do their best to remain objective and impartial, it’s imperative that you have an idea of what the panel of judges considers ‘winning’ material.

- Make sure that you agree with the terms & conditions of participating in each contest. There are some contests in which you forfeit your copyright to your photo / work just by registering in the contest. What’s the point of showcasing your work if you legally sign it over to someone else? Be sure to read all the fine print!

That’s it. Register, show off your work, and collect your prizes!

Experiment with Exposure: Both digital and even film cameras work best in sunlight, but once you move indoors or into dim light, it gets more difficult. Experiment with exposure to best handle any lighting situation.

If you can, shoot your subject from different angles and with different lighting. If you can manually turn off your flash, do so. Other flash settings can also be tried such as ‘fill flash.’ Sometimes even a perfectly exposed picture can be improved with fill flash. Other times turning off the flash leaving the subject underexposed can add an element of drama.

Try taking the same photo three different ways, with three different exposure options. The result can be three very different pictures from each other, but all will look good. You never know if you don’t try.

If at all possible, bracket your shots, with one shot slightly underexposed, one slightly overexposed, and one “just right.” Some digital cameras will do this automatically, but even then you need to practice. If you are expecting the camera to shoot one frame and it shoots three, there is an excellent chance the last two will look like they were taken by a very surprised photographer.

Special features Many digital cameras have some interesting in-camera special features. Some will allow you to take short QuickTime clips, some will allow you to record sound annotations, and some will allow you to experiment with special effects, such as shooting black and white or sepia-tone images. Ignore the special features until you learn the basics.

Keep in mind that some of these tricks, such as black and white or sepia-toned images, can be done without the camera. Just load up a normal color image in Photoshop and, in a few minutes, you can have perfect black and white or sepia-toned photos. In other words, if you can do it easily in Photoshop, you might be better off concentrating on taking a good color photo, and worrying about special effects later on at your leisure.

But still try out other special effects. One example is to pan you camera to track a fast moving car, the car will be in sharp focus while the background will be blurred for an interesting photo. Or try out the opposite by focusing on a stationary object such as a group of bright flowers or a child reading on the front steps and allow a speeding car to enter the frame. The result will be a sharply focused center of attention with the added feature of motion.

Silhouettes are another nice special effect. Try taking a photo with your subject in shadow, eclipsing a brightly-exposed object in the background. The reverse — a brightly exposed subject against a dark background — can be just as interesting. Getting a good silhouette with film is expensive: you shoot a lot of frames with little or no reward. With a digital camera, however, the only cost is your time and patience, and your patience will be rewarded.

Landscapes are one of the most continually photographed subjects. Impressed by an attractive scene, most people quickly pick up the camera and snap. Unfortunately, the results are all to often disappointing. The real scene has the direct experience of the sun’s warmth, the breeze and general atmosphere. The photograph obviously misses these features. The real scene also has a depth and the eye moves around the landscape, seeing objects close by and far away, and so deliberately putting some depth into the photograph can make a great difference to the effectiveness of the picture. A few moments used to select the right viewpoint can be well spent so it’s best to avoid shooting too quickly. Look for ways to give the picture depth with a foreground, mid-ground and distance. This can often be achieved simply by moving one’s position just a few feet.

The next thing you have to do is get all the equipment that you’re going to need. This is going to vary depending on what kind of field you want to get into. For example, if you’re planning to become a photographer who specializes in stock car racing, then you are going to need a lot of equipment for taking high speed photos. The good news is that you’re not going to have to spend a lot of money on lighting since these photos will be taken outdoors. Conversely, if you’re planning to photograph fashion models, lighting is going to be critical to your photos and your lighting equipment expense is going to be quite high. The next thing you’re going to need to do is advertise. You’ll have to print out business cards, take out ads in magazines and newspapers and more or less get the word out that you exist. If you’re hoping to break into the field taking photos for a magazine like Playboy, then you’re going to have to first get some private work photographing models in order to submit these photos to the magazine itself. Before you do that though, you’re going to have to write to the magazine for permission to send photos. Most publications do not accept unsolicited material.

A digital photography camera is a tricky choice for some. Many people are more concerned with price than they are with how much memory the camera will have. The cameras range in price from a hundred dollars all the way to thousands of dollars. Depending on what is needed, the choice can seem overwhelming. One photography site that can help determine just what is right is Short courses. This site helps the consumer decide from the four major types of cameras as to which one fits their lifestyle. Digital photography is a great way to capture the images of an individual that will be seen for generations to come. By using digital photography instead of regular film, those memories will be perfect the first time. The choices of cameras are endless, and with the help of the internet, a person can make sure and choose the right camera that best fits their lifestyle and price range.

Education is something you can never get enough of even as you get older. The curriculum is there. All the individual has to do is acquire knowledge from some of the best then apply it after finishing the course. The rewards of becoming a photographer are endless. It is up to the you whether or not you have the potential to win the Pulitzer Prize or be one of many who do this as a profession. Photography school can be a lot of fun. You should just submit the requirements then enroll in the course.

The first thing you need to make sure of is that the school/community college you’re attending is an accredited school. This means that the school is legitimate. I have seen WAY too many advertisements on the Internet and in local newspapers for Digital Photography classes only to find out that this is just some guy or girl teaching out of their apartments. C’mon! By going to an accredited university you are ensured that you will be getting your money’s worth, and that the class will be taught be someone competent and who went through an enormous amount of education that they are now passing along to you!

Computer skills: A good photography school needs to have courses regarding the use of computers. The field of photography is a very competitive one and you could really use some knowledge of computers. With the advent of digital photography, the need for computer literacy is more evident than ever. Scholarships It would be best if the photography school is offering some kind of financial assistance for their students. Some of the equipments in photography are not that cheap. These are just some tips on how to choose a photography school. Choosing the right school is as important as having a good view of where you want to go. The right school is the best way to get there.

Are you a budding travel photographer with all the required skills but not the time to travel to the locations to take those one in a million shots you’ve been dreaming of? You feel you are ready to take the leap and launch your photography career but can’t afford to give up the 9 to 5 just yet? Odd as it may sound, shooting travel photography doesn’t necessarily mean going anywhere. I remember leaving regional Australia to live in London for a few years in my early twenties thinking I was finally moving to somewhere picturesque, somewhere interesting. Returning home a few years later I realized what I had left behind. My point is this: Every corner of the world is unique, even yours. Each country, state, or region carries its own set of characters, notable figures, culture and landscape. The challenge for the photographer is to find them to present to others.