Wedding Pic Tips
By Ash Jamieson, Vizzisign Digital

We’ve all taken snaps at friends’ and family weddings with the resulting photos falling far short of those the professional photographer. So how can you do better than having your photos looking like offhand snaps?
The secret is in positioning – either yourself or the subjects.
Of course the professional has the benefit of prime position, top class gear and control over positioning of the happy couple. But there’s plenty of scope for the keen amateur with dramatically improved photos achieved by applying just a few simple tips and putting in a little extra thought and effort.
As most wedding photography is of groups of people (i.e. the wedding party) and of the bride and groom showing off their outfits the requirement is to take full body shots. To achieve the best result when taking full body shots of 1 – 4 people:- (i) turn your camera on its side into the portrait position and either zoom the lens or move yourself to a point where the viewfinder is filled with the subjects – stay within 4 metres of the subjects 
(ii) make sure the in-camera flash is turned on 
(iii) kneel or bend down to bring the camera level with the mid area of the subjects body and focus on the midriff region 
(iv) take your pic. 
This process will give the most natural perspective of the subjects in the final print and avoid deep shadows.
Inevitably the primary opportunities for photos is outdoors before or after the formal ceremony, where light and shadow can be detrimental to getting a great shot.
Try to take your shot with the sun slightly to the side and rear of the couple to avoid squinting and deep shadow. 
(i) choose an angle where the subjects are not looking into bright lights or reflections as they will cause squinting and washout the detail in light fabrics such as wedding dresses.  
(ii) once again, make sure to use the camera’s flash to light up any shadowed areas. (iii) watch for mottled shade from trees as they will take away from the detail in your shot.
Something different in perspective or character makes for great shots.
The best shots are those unique angles and opportunities nobody else has captured. 
(i) look for a position where you gain a unique perspective – higher or lower or from further back. 
(ii) look for something different as a background 
(iii) frame the subject in an archway or garden setting (iv) if you get a chance ask the couple to pose just for you for a minute.

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the process of getting a great image.

Viewfinder Ghosts
By Ash Jamieson, Vizzisign Digital

A problem unique to SLR cameras mounted on a tripod where the photographer triggers a shot remotely without the viewfinder covered by either their eye or a cover and is exhibited as ‘ghost artifacts’ on images.
What occurs is image transmission to the film or digital sensor via the viewfinder of bright objects located directly behind the camera as the viewfinder is really a second lens sharing the image path to the sensor (thus the name SLR – Single Lens Reflex camera).
Avoiding the problem is quite simple really. If you’ve recently purchased an SLR you might have wondered about the small rubber rectangle included in the accessories, well, wonder no more! This is a cover to fit over the viewfinder window to prevent this ghost problem, if you no longer have this accessory it’s just as effective to drape a small piece of dark cloth over the viewfinder.

Formatting Photos for proportional display on Digital Photo Frames
By Ash Jamieson, Vizzisign Digital

As digital photos are typically in a 4:3 ratio from the camera they almost always ‘blow out’ in width when displayed on wide screen digital screens.
Digital photo frames display images in a wide screen format – most in a 14:9 ratio - and the integral display software attempts to fill the screen by expanding/compressing the images disproportionately until either of the height or width image edges touch the screen perimeter. Usually, in the case of landscape images, it is the height of the image that reaches its maximum extent first and the longer edge (width) simply stretched within the physical constraint of the display at the cost of losing its aspect ratio to the height. The resulting image appears squashed and stretched.
In order to achieve a screen filling image in proper proportions requires a little trickery with the image file in a photo editing program. It is easy to accomplish with a minimum of software skills.

Adjustment Steps
Place a copy of your images into a new working folder away from the originals so as not to overwrite your master image files.
Open your copy image in an editing program (e.g. Photoshop)
Select the ‘image size’ function  which usually allows images to be resized by % or by measures such as pixels or mm. Resizing can be done either with ‘constrained proportions’ or not. (Constrained proportions applies the same ratio adjustments to both height and width at the same time)
For this project the image height and width will be changed independently using the % adjustment. Once % is selected the image dimensions will both be displayed as 100%
At this point to achieve a 14:9 aspect ratio the width (top) measurement is changed to 140% and the height (side) is changed to 90%
The image will now look very wide and squat.
When loaded into the digital photo frame the frames software will force the image to fit the screen causing the image to be displayed with a near normal aspect ratio.
The aspect ratio of your screen can easily be determined with a quick calculation – divide the screen longest edge by shortest, the result closely denotes the screen aspect ratio i.e. 1.78 = 16:9, 1.75 = 14:8, 1.56 = 14:9.

Note: Due to slight variations in screen sizes and display software minor tweeks in the image size percentages might deliver better results.

Getting the best from your telephoto lens
By Ash Jamieson, Vizzisign Digital

Though telephoto lenses are all the rage with digital camera users it seems many don’t really get the best results from their equipment.
A few easy to apply rules can make the difference between good and terrific shots.
Of course the most advised precaution when using a lens with a long focal length (greater than 100mm) is to mount the camera on a tripod or rest it on a firm surface when taking the shot. Very sound advice indeed.
There is a key aspect in the behavior of telephoto lenses which once understood can be adjusted for quite easily with various settings and features of the camera itself. It is the ‘speed’ of the lens (telephoto lenses are much slower than a standard lens). Lens speed is expressed with a ratio number something like 1:1.4 which essentially denotes how much light the lens will allow to pass through it at its optimum. The lower the second number the greater amount of light can pass and so the ‘faster’ the lens. A good quality 100mm telephoto lens will be typically rated at 1:2.8, a 200mm at 1:4. (zoom lenses complicate this somewhat as the speed of the lens varies according to the amount of zoom being applied at the time – the greater the zoom being used, the ‘slower’ the lens)
Lens speed (slower) causes one of the most common issues experienced, loss of depth of field*, usually caused by operating the camera in AUTO or PROGRAM mode. These modes are designed to capture the ‘best’ image every time by compensating for camera movement. The camera automatically sets the highest possible shutter speed / aperture combination for each shot which usually results in a shallow depth of field. Retaining a greater depth of field in your images can be accomplished in two ways:
Increase the ISO setting of the camera – ISO400 will still yield very good images and enable use of a higher shutter speed/aperture combination. 
Change to MANUAL mode and set the aperture to f8 or higher and adjust the shutter speed to accommodate

* Depth of field is exhibited as loss of focus beyond the subject and is governed by the size of aperture used – the lower the ‘f’ setting the shallower the depth of field. The challenge is to balance shutter speed and aperture for the desired effect. Any increase in aperture number has to be compensated with a slower shutter.

Be aware of JPEG
By Ash Jamieson, Vizzisign Digital

JPEG is a most wonderful file compression format for digital photography however there are some underlying limitations which are not obvious to the novice.
The most insidious is the tendancy for JPEG files to progressively degrade after each file edit/save action.
For the first one or two edit/saves the change is barely perceptible, though after many the image visibly deteriorates, clarity is lost and areas of solid colour in the image take on what is termed 'noise', exhibited as scaly looking paterns.
TIP - save your original images separately and work only on copies.

Shooting nature using a compact digital camera
By Ash Jamieson, Vizzisign Digital

The compact digital camera has become as common as the mobile phone (even built into most modern phones) with most people able to lay hands on one within arms length at all times.
While primarily designed to take great snap shots, the recent crop of cameras are quite capable of taking detailed photos of small things in the natural world that surround us all the time.
There are a few little tricks I'd like to share with you to help make the process of capturing good shots a pleasurable pastime. Typically your camera will include a `macro' function which is denoted with a `tulip' symbol on the main control button. This setting is excellent for capturing small objects the like of artworks, trinkets, flowers and insects. However, for outdoor use, capturing unpredictable subjects, such as insects, animals or flowers affected by breeze there are a few easy rules.

1.  Put the camera into MACRO mode. This ensures the greatest range of focus when close to your subject.
2.  Zoom to full optical zoom (digital zoom may cause graininess). This allows you to be as far back from your subject as possible while still filling the viewfinder.
3.  Make sure the flash is set to manual so it fires for evey shot and `freezes' any action or movement caused by breeze or camera movement.
4.  Move back from the subject to ensure it is large enough in the viewfinder to be clearly seen.
5.  Make sure you hold the camera as still as possible by resting it on a firm surface or by bracing your elbows tightly against your body.
6. Shoot!

The result should be a beautifully sharp image.

10 handy photography tips
By Ash Jamieson, Vizzisign Digital
1. In cold weather allow your camera to adjust to the ambient temperature for a few minutes before taking photos to avoid fogging of the lens.
2. Store your camera away from direct sunlight and hot areas. Electronics can be damaged when exposed to high temperatures - 40 degrees is considered high.
3. Lens cleaning is best done using a silk cleaning cloth as sold for cleaning eyeglasses. Make sure the cloth is kept clean and use only gentle pressure on the lens with the cloth on your finger tip.
4. Batteries should always be removed from your camera if it's not being used for more than a couple of weeks.
5. Formatting memory cards periodically helps maintain a clean file system on the card, reducing the potential for corruption of image files.
6. The optimum distance for shooting with a flash is about 3 metres. Closer washes out faces and futher away makes for dark photos.
7. Regularly download your photos and save them on to CD or memory sticks and store them in a safe place.
8. When not in use keep your camera in a padded bag to avoid damage and stop dust and sand from getting inside.
9. Don't place your camera or memory cards close to a mobile phone in your bag or pocket as the files can be corrupted.
10. Take care to keep your fingers from covering the flash.

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