Yahoo!7 Answers Blog Australia

I had some family time over the weekend and hung out with my little niece and nephew. They’re both at that age where they’re just old enough to play without worrying where Mum and Dad are. The older one is going through the ‘why’ phase and the younger one just wants to follow in her big brother’s footsteps.

I don’t see them very often so whenever I do, I like to take some good pictures of them. Getting good shots of kids (particularly toddlers) is quite the challenge. They pull some cute little face and by the time you’ve turned on the camera, zoomed in little and pressed the button, they’ve run off and all you’ve got is a blurred back in your photo.

I’ve got a fairly decent camera but it’s still an automatic one. I’ve had a bit of a look around Answers, and apparently if I really want to get good shots of the littles, I need a better camera. When Shannonwi14 asked which Sony camera was best for taking shots of kids, Elbert recommended choosing a camera with a small amount of shutter lag. He also said: “If you want almost instant shot to photo times, you should seriously look at DSLRs”. More

Hmm that advice seems to resonate around in other answers too. Internet dictionary says “SLR cameras are best for moving objects because with digital cameras u can adjust the shutter speed, iso and apperture hole for lighting purposes” More

I’ve always thought DSLRs might be too cumbersome for relaxed family photography although apparently if you can get one that is light and compact like the new Sony Alpha range, it’s just as easy to take family shots and you get a much better quality than with automatics.

Travel & Portrait photographer Ghada O Khunji has got some great tips for how us amateurs can take some great professional looking shots:

1. Don’t try to “steal” the image, befriend your subjects first and that’s when you get a true emotion from them
2. Don’t keep clicking away hoping to get the shot, be specific, look at the whole viewfinder and compose like you are painting on a canvas, a picture should not come out of a quantity of shots, but rather, from the quality of the few. More
   

To get some more photography tips check out the Yahoo!7 Photography page or visit the Photography sub-category on Answers.

Caitlin
Community Manager

With companies encouraging us to reduce our annual leave and all these cheap travel deals around, it seems everyone is taking advantage and going off on a holiday.

I’m particularly interested in getting away from it all – leaving the city and seeing the natural wildlife in all its glory. One of the most beautiful, natural areas of Australia is the Northern Territory and currently the Tourism Northern Territory is doing a big push on getting people to visit this area. I’d love to capture one of those wonderful moments you see pictures of – a sunset over Uluru, the raw naked landscape, a crocodile jumping out of the water to be fed. Doing a driving trip like from Cairns to Darwin or Perth to Darwin would be intriguing – what a way to see our country!

One of my favourite holiday moments

Bargain flights to exotic locations aren’t just limited to domestic carriers. It’s getting very cheap fly to the USA and having watched Stephen Fry’s current ABC documentary where he travels through each of the 52 states, I’ve been very inspired to take a trip across the Pacific. I’m not interested in seeing the smog of LA or the sky scrapers of NYC though, I’d love to see some of the scenery in the centre of the continent. I’ve visited The Rockies in Canada before and jumping into a glacier lake was one of my all-time favourite holiday moments (I even captured it on camera). Apparently the Rockies on the US side is just as spectacular – particularly near the continental divide in Wyoming. Although if you really want to get back to nature, Alaska is your state. Whitewater rafting, fishing, hiking and cruises around the glaciers, it sounds like a perfect holiday.

Have you had a holiday like these above? Perhaps you’d like to tell us about it? Sony Alpha wants to know: What’s the most memorable holiday moment you’ve captured on camera?

I think it’s about time that I head to Yahoo!7 Travel to start researching my next adventure!

Caitlin
Community Manager

Anyone who has ever watched television shows such as America’s Next Top Model and films such as The September Issue will know how important photography is to show off great fashion. The way the model wears the clothes and how the photographer captures the mood can make the difference between the outfits flying off the shelves and what’s in the bargain bin at the end of the season.

Fashion photography is a bit different to artistic photography, although many feel that it blurs the line. When chookie asked What is the difference between a commercial and an artistic photograph?, mike1942f responded with a very interesting answer:

A commercial photo is expected to show the product or the business in crisp detail and well lighted, etc. Usually.  An artistic photograph may be crisp or blurry, have an off centre focus, be a colour study. If very crisp and clear, it is expected to show some story or narrative or reveal something (”barrenness”) about the place. Some commercial fashion photos in recent times have been artistic. (excessively to my mind) Usually this means you have to hunt down in the corner to find the brand unless you know clothes to the point of recognising them. More

But maybe that is the point? As fivetoze says: “a picture is worth a thousand words… it sells you the idea before you see the pricetag” More. Therefore the more romantic and beautiful the picture, the more desirable the product will be to you, particularly when it comes to high end clothing.

So if you want to get into fashion photography, how do you get your break? Abe H recommends starting out by getting some schooling in fashion.

You need a art photography degree. and maybe a minor in fashion. You need to build you portfolio with great fashion shots. You need to spend every dime you can get your hands on and maybe money you’ll have to borrow on a camera and equipment. More

Teknodogg recommends putting your ideas into action:

Set up a photoshoot and snap away … you’ll find your direction through your view-finder. Plus it’ll build up your profolio and it’d be super fun to do especially with your friends as models. More

Paul Green is a Sydney based photographer who has worked with Sony, Vogue, GQ, Good Weekend, Disney, Saatchi and Saatchi, and Fairfax & Roberts Jewelers. When getting together a portfolio, he recommends:

1.  Preparation is key. Understand what you are shooting and what results you want to achieve.
2. Know your equipment. Experiment with your camera and find out what all the functions do. You may discover something very cool that you can apply to different situations you photograph.
3. Have fun. Let yourself be loose when you shoot and watch what is going on around you. This is when you find that interesting light or can capture that amazing look.

For more great tips from Paul Green and other photographers, visit our specialist Yahoo!7 Photography site thanks to Sony.

Caitlin
Community Manager

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmgramse/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

There’s something so special about being able to capture a moment in time. I love capturing the instant when the sun dips below the horizon and the whole world is bathed in a bright orange glow or being able to get that cheeky grin on someone’s face. Photography is definitely my favourite form of visual art and one that I’d love to learn more about.

Personally I love taking travel shots. I’ve got thousands of photographs from my travels, ranging from blurry shots of my travel companions to rather startling images that capture the atmosphere of the location. I’m no award winning photographer, but I think the most important thing about art is the enjoyment you get from it. I love the process of setting up the photo and the satisfaction of it turning out the way you imagined it. Most of all, I love framing the special ones so I can be reminded of that moment in time every time I look at it.

Last week Sony Alpha asked you, the Answers community, What do you most like to take photographs of and why? There were some great responses and I thought I’d share a few with you:

Baby’s got blue eyes has a lovely idea for her photography:

I love to take photos of sunrise and sunset. Its the most beautiful and spectacular time of the day. My current hobby is to take a photo of the sunset every single day for 1 year, from my birthday this year to next year. Once finished, Im going to choose one favourite from each day and make a giant collage of sunset photos and frame it.

Regwah’s photography is slightly less traditional:

Well there is this one osprey that I can’t get enough of, he is my friend & allows me to get really close. I only have an 17-85mm lens so I have to get close.
Here I am in a tree with me old mate the osprey.

Stevo doesn’t like photography to be too easy:

Opals. Because it’s a challenge capturing their colour.

Pamela likes to consider the meaning behind her subjects:

I like to shoot bridges, stairways, and railroad tracks because they represent transition to me. I also like to shoot black and white photos that show light and dark contrasts. I like to take photos of people who love each other, whether it be a couple, family, friends. I like candid shots in public of people or of architectural statements.

For Ali, just getting her subjects to pose is the real challenge:

I absolutely love taking photos of people. Unfortunately this is hard to do, as there are not many people around me that enjoy having their photo taken

I can relate to Ali’s problem. I love portrait travel photographs like the one on the left by Wanderself that demonstrate culture of a country but I’ve never been able to capture it just right. Either the light is wrong or the person moves, or my camera just isn’t good enough. Whatever it is, I’ve never been able to get a photo I’ve been happy with.

What about you? What sort of photography is your archilles heel? Can’t master night time shots or are you never able to get the lighting right in sunset pics? Maybe you’ll get some hints from Sony Alpha’s Photography page!

One of the things I love about Answers is the fact that you never know where you might be getting advice from. It could be your neighbour, it could be an Oxford university professor, it could be a retiree from Nebraska. It’s exciting that so many people in the world have weird and wonderful expertises.

However there is a type of Answers user that you know exactly who they are. They’re a part or our Knowledge Partner program. You may have noticed them  – they’re the users with the little pink badges next to their name. Knowledge Partners are organisations that have expertise in a certain area and want to share their knowledge. We wanted to feature one of our Knowledge Partners – Ph.Art Gallery.

Ph.Art Gallery have been pretty active in the Photography sub category in the last few months. They’ve already got a Best Answer rating of 59% and almost every day they’re in the category answering questions about all sorts of photographic conundrums.

So who are these guys? In their own words…

Ph.Art Gallery, (www.photoartgallery.com) is the ultimate photographic destination it’s where you can Create your own Gallery, to store, print and share your photos with family, friends or the entire world.  If you have ever wondered… “Great Shot, Now What?” . . .  Well why not show off those photos and unlock the artist within. Get those great photos off the hard drive to a place where they’ll be recognised, admired and where you can even earn some money by selling your photographic art around the world. It’s also a place where you can appreciate, create and buy amazing photographic wall art for your very own.

Do you have to be a professional photographer to show your work on the website?

Absolutely not we have created gallery spaces that accommodate all levels of photographer so don’t be shy. It does not matter if it’s your full time career or merely a hobby, if you think it’s a great image then submit it to a gallery and see how you go…

We hope there is a place here for anyone who is passionate and loves photography!

How much is it to buy photos?

At this point we only allow the sale of a photo as a wall print of some sort there is no digital delivery of images and the minimum cost is $50 plus the print costs. Over time we will consider digital delivery, similar to a stock library but this decision will be based around the quantity of images we get in the coming months.

So how are your photography skills? Need to learn techniques like how to shoot lightning or how to highlight one colour in your photo and have black and white everywhere else? Or perhaps you’re more interested in learning about editing techniques like how to lighten and darken photos or need to find a good place to edit pictures? Maybe you’re more interested in buying good photography and need to know where to look? Visit the photography section and ask a question then email Ph.art Gallery to let them know!

Caitlin
Community Manager