Houston Area Groups

Book Review: National Geographic Ultimate Field Guide to Photography

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NatGeoPhotoFG

The National Geographic Ultimate Field Guide to Photography is an all-encompassing intro to everything photography. It touches on just about every topic in photography that I, as an amateur, can think of. Things that range from Buying your digital camera to scanning and archiving your photos. Some other topics covered include the digital darkroom, film photography and doing projects.

The basics of Aperture, Shutter Speed, etc are also covered.

The book also goes into detail on the different types of lenses and photography.

Types of Lenses

Wide Angle Telephoto Fisheye
Zoom Macro Tilt/Shift
Standard Split field  


Types of Photography

Portrait Landscape Wedding
Wildlife Macro  

The book even goes into how to shoot better with your mobile phone/device.

In closing, I enjoyed reading this book and reviewing the photos with awe. I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you are a beginner wanting to learn photography.

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“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” ~ Dorothea Lange

Texas Photo Festival - 2010

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Last weekend, I attended the Texas Photo Festival in Smithville, Texas. It is a yearly event that offers numerous photographic opportunities such as a marching band, skate park, dog park, dragsters and "small-town" sites in general. There was also a train ride through the historic district that provided even more photo ops.

TXPhotoFest2010

There was also a PhotoShop class instructed by Suzette Allen that I was not able to attend.

My [Texas Photo Festival] Photo Set on Picasa

My [Texas Photo Festival - Smithville] Photo Set on Flickr

League City Photography Group [Texas Photo Festival in Smithville] Photo Set

From Houston, this was an easy day-trip. I will definitely make an effort to attend this event each year.

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When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.  When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.  ~Ansel Adams

Photography Assignment #1

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I am taking Photography for the Non-Art Major at the University of Houston to satisfy an Art credit. I spent this passed Saturday morning taking shots for my first assignment.

The assignment was to make 50+ images to thoroughly examine an area around the size of a city block. For example, swimming pool, railroad station, ship yard, library, etc. Select 10 of the best and print them. The area that I chose was my brother's automotive shop and the property surrounding it.

Assignment1-1 Assignment1-2

Flickr Assignment #1 Set -- Flickr Photo Stream

I thought there was a great deal of industrial-related subject matter both in and around the shop.

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Great Series - Becoming a Photographic Magician

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I ran across a great blog series titled Becoming a Photographic Magician from Trevor Dean Photography.

If you are just starting out in Photography, I highly recommend giving this series a read.

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League City Photography Meet up – 08.05.10

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I attended my first photography meet up Thursday night. I have to say, the League City Photography Meet up Group is a very welcoming and mentoring group with a passion for taking photos. I learned a lot and hope to participate in more events in the future with this group.

The Third-Annual Worldwide PhotoWalk took place on July 24th.

World-wide Photo Walk – Main site

World-wide Photo Walk – Kemah site

Below is the photo submitted to the next level from the Kemah PhotoWalk

KemahWinner  Photo by John Bielick

David Paulissen demonstrated a nice tip on using Powerpoint 2007 to create a PDF slideshow of your photos. This makes for an easy way to email photo galleries to friends and family.

Start Powerpoint and Select Insert > Photo Album > New Photo Album

pptTopdf1

Find the folder on your hard-drive containing the photos you want to share and click [Create]

pptTopdf2

Select a color scheme and add any necessary text to the slides

pptTopdf3

Select Save As > PDF or XPS

pptTopdf4

Name your PDF and click [Publish]

pptTopdf5

The end result is a nicely formatted PDF that anyone can open and enjoy your photos.

Great tip David!

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Software Suggestions

DeNoise – by Topaz Labs

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Links recommended by the group

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Happy shooting!

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Nikon School

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I attended a Nikon D90/D300/D700 seminar sponsored by the Houston Camera Exchange.

Paul Van Allen with Nikon was the speaker. He is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to Nikon cameras and accessories.

Some of the topics covered

  • Metering - Matrix/Spot
  • Exposure Mode Dial
  • How to reset camera to factory specs (very useful) - find two green dots and hold buttons down for 3 seconds.
  • Input dial
  • FX versus DX lenses -
    • DX image lens circle is smaller than FX
    • DX lens does not magnify
  • Lens types
    • Portrait Lens (85mm)
    • Macro Lens
  • Menus
    • Setup Menu
      • Format Memory Card
      • Battery Life
      • Clean Camera Sensor
      • HDMI Capable
    • Custom Menu
      • AF Area Mode
      • Pinpoint Focus
      • Dynamic Focus - Best on moving objects
      • Timer
      • Function Button
    • Shooting Menu
  • Image Size - JPEG Fine / Large is recommended if you don't use NEF Raw files (NEF = Nikon Electronic File)
  • Software
  • Color Groupings - Standard, Vivid, Pastel, Monochrome

Links

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My First Photography Post

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I have loved taking pictures for a very long time, so I have decided to dedicate time in my life to learn as much about photography as I can.

I have purchased a Nikon D90 with a couple of lenses.

Lenses include - 

  • 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
  • Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens

 

As soon as the package arrived on Friday I had my husband open it and start charging the battery, so it would be ready for me to play with once I arrived home from work.

My dog Jake makes an excellent subject.

  

The Houston Camera Exchange provides classes that will teach you how to work different models of Nikon cameras. I have registered for the class on the Nikon D90 and can't wait to go.

Houston Camera Exchange - Nikon Classes

Also, thanks to a GREAT friend, I have registered for a really cool seminar that takes place at the University of Houston coming up in May.

The Versatile Travel Photographer Seminar

If that is not enough, I need an Art credit to continue my Computer Information Systems degree, so guess what I'm taking...yep. Photography for the Non-Photography Major.

So, I should have plenty of information, experiments and findings to keep this blog going for some time.

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