Places to Host and Share Your Photographs Online While Learning Photography

For the budding photographer yet to showcase their talents and abilities, it's best to choose hosting sites by comparing them for their features and drawbacks. There are many leading photography hosting sites that are widely popular among its users, and several have already shown great promise with additional plug-ins and applications designed for ease of use. Of course, the "right hosting site" is greatly dependent on your needs and requirements. Learning photography makes one want to explore and utilize one or more of the many options available.

PhotoBlogs

If you're a blogger-photographer who wants to share your stories, WordPress is the right venue for you since it can host many images through a blog interface. Share your thoughts, stories, and your stream of photos in a blog-like fashion. Other photography enthusiasts can comment on your posts as soon as you publish them.

Facebook

As a leading social networking site, Facebook has introduced its new timeline layout where you can upload a cover photo on your heading, and photo albums can be organized with tagging features, so friends and other contacts can view them within minutes after uploading. Sharing your favorite photos has been made easier through drag and drop album organization and enlarged photos on each timeline page. And because the number of users of Facebook is very large, it is also a great place to show off or advertise your photography services, if you offer them.

Photobucket

Snap happy people are known to have regular Photobucket accounts. To engage its photography community, regular competitions and cool prizes are made available by its administrators and from major sponsors. Photobucket is one of the leading image sharing sites which features top categories with unique perspectives for hobbyist and professionals. Group albums is a feature where members can upload images and videos in a safe and secure method. Photos have direct links which is easier for non-members to view your photographs without the need to create an account. Unlike other social networking platforms, photos can't be viewed once a user is logged out or if they do not have an account with the site.

Flicker

Flicker offers unlimited photo hosting, so you may wish to upload as many as you want in your account. However, it does not have many advanced features. It does have options for creating prints and personalizing them. It is a simple site which is made to be very easy to use. Its help and support system is reliable according to many regular users.

Picasa

A special feature for Picasa is that modifications, effects and other treatments can be made on your favorite photos and saved simultaneously as Picasa saves the original file for you. So if there are changes or effects you are unhappy about, the original photo is always there. Choose from posterized effect, charcoal, oil paints and more. Picasa enables you to play around and tickle your creative side.

Zen Folio

Zen Folio is a special photography hosting platform where you can upload and organize your photos in albums within your own site. It is particularly user friendly and fun to use. However, it lacks a special photo book application where you can print or publish your photos directly from your albums. This means you have to design a layout for your photos manually through a separate program.

Slick Pic

Slick Pic is making a name in the photo hosting roster because its editors are online and are ready to provide assistance for photo enhancement. As a plus, it offers unlimited photo and video sharing. You can create professional photo galleries in less than hour. Its privacy options are reputedly unequaled, that's what you get for paid service although you have the option to start for free.

Conclusion

Deciding on which photo sharing site best suites your needs, now that you have an overview on the top image hosting sites, still may not be an easy task. But have fun exploring! Plus in order to get noticed as a photography enthusiast, it's not really the site that matters but the creativity and perspective in your images.
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Careers in Photography

From exotic locales to magazine covers to newspapers, a career in photography will allow you to unleash your creativity and to choose exactly how you want to pursue it.

What Can Photography Schools Do For You?

These schools essentially help you to develop creative and artistic skills, along with the technical abilities that are necessary for you to become a professional photographer. Students can pursue lucrative and satisfying careers by blending photography and art to fit their specific interests. The courses provided are wide-ranging and technical, and provide training in the use and care of cameras, and in handling the intricacies of film development.

The training includes instructions on conventional cameras and other equipment, digital photos, types of lenses, length of exposures and the various techniques used for developing prints. Several universities and colleges award degrees in photography such as Associate of Arts (AA), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA). In addition, some schools provide graduate level courses for certificates in photography with advanced techniques. Students can select photography as either a major or a minor subject, or they can choose special photography classes simply to pursue their interests.

These schools encourage and develop originality, creativity, resourcefulness, personal expression and individual style through their training programs. The curriculum consists of digital and film techniques, lighting, camera basics, portraiture, fine arts, digital imaging software, and composition and darkroom printing techniques.

Many schools also offer courses in illustration, documentary film making techniques, designing, commercial advertising, presentation skills, business skills, photojournalism, and how to set up a studio for aspiring photographers. Photography school graduates can specialize in sports, marketing, news, portraiture and several other professions within the vast field of photography. Bachelor and Associate Degrees provide entry-level positions as artists, technicians, and assistants in commercial photography.

Careers in Photography If you acquire a comprehensive basic education from any school or college, then here are a few of the fields you can specialize in:

o Digital Photography

o Fashion Photography

o Editorial Photography

o Advertising Photography

o Wedding Photography

o Documentary Style Photography

o Photo Technician

For gifted people who are naturally talented, photography as a career can be very lucrative and bring fame. Indeed, many professional photographers have reached the top of this field, and are highly sought after for their services. Here are a few careers in photography that students can pursue:

o Newspaper and Magazine Photographer - Although freelance photography is more lucrative, photographers who are just getting started can make a name for themselves through newspapers and magazines.

o Advertising Agencies - In advertising agencies, photographers make ads for various campaigns. You can grow in this field and even become an art director or a supervisor for operations.

o Fashion Shooting - Working in fashion shoots involves hard work, but is a stimulating experience. Photographers conceptualize and direct the shoots. Many fashion houses employ photographers.

o Event Photographer - Events like weddings and concerts or debuts require photographers to document the function.

o Freelance Photographer - Freelance photography is a challenging but satisfying and exciting career. There are a number of international organizations like the UNICEF that hire professional photographers to make various documentaries in remote areas.

Photography careers are as artistically rewarding as they are profitable. For all those with a creative bent of mind and an artistic eye, a career in photography can open a wide vista of opportunities.
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What Is The Best Camera Phone For Point and Shoot Photography?

When it comes to the best point and shoot camera, there are many smartphones that could be called the best when the criteria are high-resolution images. For instance, there is an old saying that one takes a photo first in one's mind while the camera serves as a tool to convert that mind's eye image into reality. In turn, the standard smartphone uses a 10-megapixel camera that is comparable to a standard point and shoot camera.

However, the smartphone camera offers more advantages than a point and shoot camera because the phone can also send and save your images.

Another aspect of smartphone - serving as point and shoot camera - is linked to the phone's built-in fixed aperture that is also standard for most camera cell phones these days. Also, there are smartphones that act like point and shoot cameras with zoom in features that lets you digitally increase the resolution of the image you are taking.

What Is The Best Point and Shoot Camera?

While professional photographers say the best point and shoot camera is a classic Hasselblad 35mm that one simply points and shoots with the camera doing the work, there are many smartphone models that also offer special apertures and adjustable shutter speeds for selecting and evaluating the best setting to make the photograph.

Also, of the many smartphones tested for photography purposes, the photography experts commenting online said the iPhone 5 has great point and shoot features and a special high dynamic range (HDR) feature to help you compose the image you wish to take.

However, there are other cell phones with cameras that are comparable to the iPhone, add photographers who've rated the best phones that can be used for photography.

Getting Great Images With a Cell Phone Camera

The general photography rule for testing a phone camera is to check if the smartphone's user settings are similar to those on a standard 35 mm camera.

In turn, the photographer takes a variety of shots both indoors and outdoors in various lighting scenarios to see if the images are uniform and clear when the photographs are taken with a smartphone camera as compared to a regular camera.

Also, the results are surprisingly the same with phone point and shoot cameras producing similar quality photos, say top photographers commenting online about the difference between phone cameras and standard 35 mm models.

Another area of point and shoot photography is linked to the used of the flash when either indoors or outdoors in dimly lit areas. For instance, a longtime professional photographer commented online about testing his Droid, Nokia and BlackBerry camera phones and finding both people and landscape pictures looking super and even comparable to non-phone point and shoot cameras.

Image Quality With Point and Shoot Cameras

Image quality, as many photographers know, is all-important when taking a photo. However, there are old school shooters who still view smartphones as simply phones and not real cameras. Still, that view is changing almost daily as smartphone technology continues to amaze consumers with such things as portrait quality images taken by a cell phone camera.

In turn, top photographers are now singing the praises of smartphone cameras because these phone cameras - such as the Nokia Windows 8 phone and the BlackBerry Z10 - can do the job in all settings.

For example, a smartphone camera fan said she took action shots, portraits, photos during the evening hours and even pictures shot in a snowstorm and under the bright sun at the beach and all came out perfect.

Smartphone Cameras Have All the Features

A measure of how far point and shoot smartphone cameras have come is evident at a recent photography exhibit in San Francisco that was hosted by cell phone manufactures to demonstrate the power of these wee small cameras contained in smartphones.

In turn, a female teenager won a top prize in this smartphone point and shoot camera competition with her Nokia Windows 8 phone that captured a very cool image of the famed Golden Gate Bridge at dusk.

The teen pointed to the bright orange colors she was able to capture with her point and shoot camera phone at dusk while also bragging about her phone's ability to select the ISO up to 800. She also noted how her phone camera acts just like a standard point and shoot camera with the ability to change the exposure either up or down while also featuring handy presets that makes for almost error free photography.

Phone Cameras With Special Features

While most standard 35 mm cameras and point and shoot camera have lots of settings to help make picture taking more exact, today's smartphones that also offer point and shoot cameras are no slouch when it comes to special settings.

For example, there are many point and shoot phone cameras with both special presets and manual settings for taking photos at any time of the day and in all weather conditions. The smartphone cameras - such as the clever HTC Droid DNA model - allows the photographer or cell phone user to sort out such things as exposure, contrast, image saturation, image sharpness and even the age old photography term "white balance."

In addition, the white balance feature on most top of the line smartphone cameras allows removal of unrealistic color casts that are common with most standard film cameras.

Point and Shoot Is Better

The beauty of today's high-tech smartphones - for point and shoot photos - is proper camera white balance features that helps convert either the coolness or warmth of white light that our human eyes see during photography.

Moreover, the benefits of smartphone point and shoot photography is linked to the elimination of unsightly color casts that tend to appear in photos taken with either a standard film camera or a non-phone point and shoot camera.

At the end of the day, it has been proven that smartphone point and shoot cameras are much more efficient and dependable when it comes to white balance features that remove unrealistic colors such as harsh blues and green casts.

Thus, there are many longtime photographers today who point to their smartphone cameras understanding white balance better than they can when using standard point and shoot cameras. Also, the photographers point to such things as red-eye detection - that is standard with most cell phone cameras -as a real plus when it comes to taking photos during a child's birthday party or other event that requires shooting a lot of people inside.

Special Settings Make Smartphones Smart

Photographers often express frustration when taking photos with a standard point and shoot cameras because most do not have the same cool settings as their smartphone cameras.

For instance, a new iPhone features special photography scene modes that make for more powerful and fantastic images. The camera phone's settings include ones for taking portraits, skin smoothing, fireworks and snow scenes and even smile and eye-blink detection.

In turn, top photographers joke that many of today's high-tech smartphone cameras are not only making their job easier but possibly replacing them one day as photographers.

At the same time, today's point and shoot camera phones are creating a new trend in "street photography" where non-photographers have now taken this hobby up thanks to their smartphones.

For example, there are more and more everyday cell phone photographers who are capturing wonderful images that can be shared with family and friends. These rookie photographers are also breaking the glass ceiling on creating lasting images for posterity, and professional use online and in leading newspapers and magazines.

Also, the rise of the point and shoot cell phone photographer has created a new trend in sharing images online with the worldwide Internet community.

Cell Phone Photography Is All About Convenience

When it comes to the convenience of taking images almost anywhere and everywhere, there is a view that it has really changed the playing field for how most photographs are taken today.

For example, a cell phone user explained online how he started taking street photos after seeing all sorts of wonderful things from the viewfinder of his ever present smartphone. The cell phone fan also noted how he's taking photos all over town simply because he always carries his cell phone camera, and taking images has become a sort of hobby for him and his friends who also share their street images.

At the same time, another fan of point and shoot photograph said he never really took photos that much until he started to habitually carry his camera phone around with him. He said just having the camera phone handy offered him many more opportunities to take photos than with his standard point and shoot camera that he only uses for family event photography or when on a vacation.

Smartphone Cameras Are Very Convenient

First you have to know that for busy people today the smartphone camera is all about simple convenience. In turn, the camera phone serves users by offering both a device to make phone calls and a camera to take those photos that used to get away.

For some people, the camera phone is a way of proving something is true.

In addition, a longtime concert goer said he never took photos during concerts, but now that's all he does. He explained that during a show or concert there is always a dramatic moment with someone does a super guitar solo or something, and he just can't help but snapping that special moment in time with his point and shoot smartphone camera.

Also, the reason many cell phone users are sold on their phone's built-in camera is the process of taking a photo is very user friendly.

For instance, most of the popular point and shoot cameras on the market today are also smartphones. There is the iPhone 5, the BlackBerry Z10 and the Nokia Lumina 920 to name just a few of the many popular point and shoot smartphone camera models on the market today.

While each and every one of these cell phone cameras is marketed as the "best ones," the users of these camera phones are a bit more discerning when it comes to the best of the best.

Cell Phone Photos Have Come A Long Way

The smartphone point and shoot camera phone fans who are busy snapping images each and every day like to say that this unique form of technology has come a heck of a long way since the first iPhone camera phone. Also, it is not lost on professional photographers that yesterday's popular megapixel camera is now contained inside a smartphone.

The result for point and shoot smartphone fans is wonderful, professional quality images that are second to none in overall quality and clarity of image. Thus, it is for good reason that fans of these phone cameras are singing the praises of this unique technology that has taken away the usual washed-out and grainy photo images and replaced it with really professional quality photographs.

At the same time, this change in how many photos are taken today has evolved from the image being in the mind's eye to later when the cell phone is taken out of someone's pocket and put to work snapping great images.
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Specialized Types of Photography

This article is about various types of specialized photography.

Photography and camera is an indispensable part of modern living. The number of people who has never taken a photo or touch a camera before is very low. Camera has also evolved tremendously. It seems only not too long ago that digital SLR cameras are a luxury. During those days, there are only traditional film typed cameras. Nowadays, digital compact and SLR cameras are the norm. Now, traditional SLR and compact cameras are things and products of the past.

Photography is much more than just for shooting scenery when one is on vacation. It has many specialized usages and applications. Below listed are some of the more specialized applications of photography and cameras:

1. Underwater Photography. This is not only a specialized type of photography, it is also a highly demanding one. The photographer needs to be a good scuba diver, swimmer and photographer all at the same time. Such a person is very hard to come by. Special equipments are also required for this type of photography.

2. Dental Photography. This type of photography is used by dentists. Like underwater photography, special equipments is need for this type of photography.

3. Jewelry Photography. This is the photographing of jewelries in the most appealing and stylish manner. It is often a type of advertising photography. The photographs of jewelry are often used in advertising and promotional publications and materials. This is also a form of product photography.
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Forensic Photography - Possessing An Eye For Detail

Have you seen television images on crime scenes where the yellow tape has concealed an area and police officials are walking around busily behind it? It is just there that we see the guy with the camera bag and lighting walking around taking photographs of the scene of the crime. Although police try their best to get every bit of evidence from the scene of the crime, the photographs can play a vital role when the crime scene needs to be discussed or imagined later. They also prove as a great record to go with the files in the state department or sheriff's office. Photographs are of course a vital part of every investigation that takes place today, and they hold as valid evidence in the court of law.

There is no better tool to catalog the data of a scene of crime than the camera. The camera helps preserve the scene of the crime as it really was. Many a time when something is overlooked during investigation, the detective in charge refers to these images to look for clues, as that is all they have at a later date when the crime scene has been disturbed.

An eye for detail is the most important quality that a forensic photographer must have. There is no compromise on sharpness in any form of photography, but it is absolutely vital where forensics is concerned. There could be a small piece of glass in a shadow area for example that the detectives didn't notice. But they will, later when they see the enlarged view of the photographs of the crime scene, over a cup of coffee at the station. Nothing more needs to be said about why sharpness is critical here.

The forensic photographer is allowed to take the photographs at the scene of the crime before any of the other officials get to touch the place. The idea is the preserve the crime scene as close to how it was at the moment the crime occurred. Once he is done taking his pictures, the fingerprints are brushed and the murder weapon if any is removed, the body is removed and the investigation for other clues begins. But nothing is allowed to be touched until the photographer has completed his or her job. But they do continue to take photographs during the investigative procedures as well.

The forensic photographers are instructed to get a long range, mid range and an ultra close up of every angle. Using the wrong lens or the wrong angle can mislead the viewer to judge the wrong distance between the elements of the photograph. The forensic photographer also takes notes of every photo that is taken. A lot of thought goes behind the angle, the lighting and the lens - so as to give an image as close to reality as possible - nothing more and nothing less.
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