Mar14

Under Water Photography Tips and Techniques

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Under Water Photography Tips and Techniques

The general purpose of under water photography is to bring sea life to the surface. Most people are curious about what lives underwater and what actually goes on beneath the ocean surface. Underwater photographers make it their mission to capture this hidden world on camera and bring to those people who will never get a chance to see it firsthand. The under water world requires a specific skills and techniques that are different from general photography skills.The underwater world needs to be captured up close unlike wildlife photography for example. Since the water refracts and distorts images, the closer you are to your photography subject, the less distortion you will have. A great deal of patience is required for under water photography. You may be trying to take a photo a fish or dolphin, but than they suddenly swim away before you get a chance to. Also, water contains many particles like plankton that can cause the image to lose contrast and sharpness.Using an underwater flash, or strobe, will help provide the proper lighting necessary for taking a great picture. Therefore, it is essential to use an underwater camera with a flash. This will help to bring in other colors and contrast them with the colors of the subject. A medium sized strobe is all that is necessary as a large strobe can end up getting in the way.Composition is extremely important. The same basic rules apply as in regular photography, but you should shoot at an upward angle towards the subject. Because of the camouflage technique of most sea life, they tend to blend into their habitats. Since they do not stand out like this, they do not make good photographs. The key is to always try to get a clear shot whenever the subject blends into the ocean background.If you are looking to improve your under water photography skills, you will first need to work on your photography on land. When you get to the point where you are taking great photos on land, than you can move into the more advanced world of underwater photography, where taking great pictures takes more patience and skill. Photography under water brings sea life to the surface which gives us more information about the mysterious marine world. If you are just beginning to have an interest in under water photography you should consider taking an underwater photography course to learn proper technique.

Mar13

Photography Courses Online

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Photography Courses Online

There are also some excellent online courses available and some of them are free, just type “Photography free online courses” into your search engine. Morguefile is an example they offer sound technical advice on a variety of subjects, as well as aspects of types of photography, it is a good point to start with, showing the resources Jodie Coston, a freelance photographer, has made available online, after a series of classes she gave. The New York Institute of Photography offers an online course over a period of about eight months, with a few hours work a day at your own pace, they offer courses in Photography and digital photography.Whilst they state they have been teaching photography for a hundred years, they do not quote their prices online, you have to contact them direct. They offer the information that most of their students are mature. Photo seminars offer a free workshop and a free lesson, so that you may you may evaluate the course before you buy. The enrolment cost is 39.00. U.S. dollars. They also offer links and resources. Better Photos, also offer a wide range of courses at different prices, with differing lengths, the subjects are either technical or cover “How to take more dramatic photographs”. For these courses you need to transfer the photographic assignment you were given to a web page on their site, so you need access to a computer.There are times when the free courses cannot teach you any more and you have to pay for further knowledge. There are excellent resources in the forms of e books that give you invaluable practical information.If you are just starting digital photography, you will find that you need skills that are not covered in analog photography. You will need to learn how to use an editor Adobe Photoshop, which is the industry standard for desktop imaging. Whilst Adobe produce their own official training manual’s, they are not the easiest resource for total beginner’s (my apologies to the author, but they are hard), there are on line courses available at Beren Patterson is a professional photographer who offers free online courses at his Sister site tribalcog, most of his work is in the travel area, but he has interesting tips about telling a story with your photographs.There are excellent resources for the committed photographer, as well as the passionate hobbyist offered by the Kansas public Library, they offer galleries, informative articles, history resources, and general photographic resources. It is a very easy place to lose yourself for a couple of days; it is certainly worth more than a cursory glance. As well as on- line courses there are excellent resources available to the photographer.There are several sites for the professional photographer. The American Society of picture professionals is an association of professional who sell photographs overseas and at home. They have four types of members, and their fees range from 25.00 to 100 U.S. dollars. The American site of Media Photographers, have three aims. To protect and promote the interests of photographers whose work is for publication, to promote professional standards and ethics, as well as the promotion of friendship between photographers. They also have several classes of membership, as well as buying and selling photographs. The National Press Photographers Association has available some interesting free reports, and you do not have to be a member to read them.There are an assortment of lessons both free, and paid for and also those available only to member’s at the Web Photoschool, they offer a tour around their site, so you can familiarise yourself with its feel. The lessons cover all levels of experience from beginner’s to professionals.The Epsom Online Experience offers a unique and innovative course, for the digital photographer. For $29.95 you will receive five new video lessons per week for 12 weeks. It is run by professional photographers, Greg Gorman, Jay Maisel, and Bruce Dale.They are available to teach you how the techniques, that they utilised to get their award winning shots. There is a library of ยท”how to” that you have access to, as well as tutorials on how to use the scanner and printer to the best effects. Previews of the video are available on their site.For those of you that feel you learn better under tutorial guidance, the School of photography offers courses 24/7 for you to work at your own pace. The courses are from beginner to the professional with a course on “how to freelance”. They have a free course available on aspects of night photography, which is in three parts.Exposure 36 specialise in photographic education, most of their courses are in centres in Canada and the U.S.A. but they offer CD’s and also offer training on a one to one basis, or for yourself and a group of friend to set up a photographic workshop. They also have a series of articles aimed at all levels that are available for purchase.For the nature lover in the U.S.A. there are online newsletters available that cover all aspects of photography in America, they are an invaluable introduction to the photographer who wants to explore new areas. The newsletters have been published for fifteen years, and back issues are available.Not only are their online courses available, but also for those who need to brush on specific techniques, such as marketing – there are electronic books (e-books) available, most of these are written by professional photographer’s already making money in a competitive market. These books cover how to market a small business, photographic techniques, and photographic markets.Better Photos offer a wide range of courses aimed at all levels; they offer courses on techniques such as lighting, as well as courses on marketing aspects. Each week you are sent a lesson via electronic mail. Contained in this lesson is a practical assignment, which has to be completed within a fortnight.

Mar11

Fashion Industry: Ready To Face The Future

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Fashion Industry: Ready To Face The Future

The fashion industry is very complicated. There are no standard fashion companies. They come from a wide spectrum of enterprises working in the apparel, footwear, home textiles and accessories markets.
The industry is made up of various kinds of companies like retailers, design source and selling companies, companies with their own manufacturing facilities and other companies who outsource production but retain control over parts of the production process.Moreover, companies functioning in the high fashion segment often face a different kind of pressure as compared to those functioning with commodity fashion goods.All of these aspects combine to make the fashion industry one of the most complicated industry. Yet, various issues can be noticeably recognized as common across the industry.. Consumers have the power. Supply chains are complicated. Product launching and delivery takes time. Companies must be able to manage a product mix. Inventory control maintenance is important. Impact of the latest technology on the fashion industry. Copyright issues for fashion designs
Consumers have more powerToday’s buyers have more purchasing power then ever before and are less tolerant due to increased time pressure in today’s lifestyles.They are more aware about environmental and human rights issues and have superior quality demands. They demand a huge variety and more frequent changes in the choices available to them. Moreover, they also expect immediate availability of perfect matching set of garments and accessories in their preferred color and size combinations in the same store.In terms of satisfying the consumer’s needs, retailers are the first in line, but all companies in the supply chain are driven by the prerequisite to anticipate the expectations and requirements of their customers. From design to production and to the final sale, all members of the supply chain need to check that stores are stocked with the correct requirements when the consumer needs to buy!The companies that are quick to respond to the consumer requirements are those that will remain profitable in an environment of rapid global competition and increasing material and operational costs.
Supply chains are complicatedThe fashion industry is distinguished by global supply chains and complicated logistics. Labor and transportation costs often determine where production takes place and outsourcing of all or part of production is common. Companies throughout the industry have to deal with global sourcing problems and need to regularly evaluate their sourcing strategies.Production work is often done across multiple places, which may be also located in different countries. Setting up of cutting, sewing, subcontracting and transportation, and the synchronization with raw material supply, is a very tedious process.Product launching and delivery takes timeWhile working through the many pre production steps, including yarn or fabric selection, garment development, specification and sampling, the industry takes a long time to introduce a new product in the market.Both, the complex nature of the supply chain and the global nature of production add to the industry’s long lead times. This arrangement of long time-to-market and long lead times does not correlate with the need to react immediately to changes in customers requirements.The ever changing seasonal and trend driven nature of the industry depicts that the product life cycles are too short. Even for cyclic demands where the life cycle may continue further, there are often small changes to design, and color or size combinations may be changed. The logistics of managing the large number of styles and maintaining stock keeping units is a difficult practice.
Companies must manage a product mixBesides long lead times, fashion producers are stressed to constantly design and develop new product lines to maintain retailers’ interest and increase consumer sales. Producers have noted that in order to maintain this speed, raised flexibility and quickness to satisfy changing customer demand, which is quicker than ever before, it is very challenging for them to judge or come out with such types of products. Gone are the days when a perfect fashion trend direction decided what consumers wore. At present, many styles are available, and with rising globalization, consumers can approach fashion news through latest media tools.Fashion products change frequently, from hosiery and basic underwear through medium-priced high street brands, to exclusive high fashion brands. Managing brand awareness and brand loyalty is a serious task in retaining the position in the market. Margins in repetitive basic products are low, so neither a retailer nor a manufacturer can ever afford being out of stock.Shifting to the high-end fashion sector, margins increase and sales volumes are lower, but consumers demand an ever changing range of choices, forcing the companies to produce multiple collections per year.Many companies have to put in efforts to overcome the added challenge of arranging a mix of repetitive lines and collection-driven products, and a requirement to segment their product range and arrange the different segments in a suitable way. From design to demand planning, sourcing, production, distribution and sale, the demand of various product segments must be separately tackled if companies need to perform well.Companies require clarity about the sector of the market they are targeting, and they have to direct their business in that way.Inventory control management is importantCompanies try to keep inventory levels at a minimum in all industries. In the fashion industry the requirement to maintain inventory levels under control is worst due to less product life cycle. In this industry, there is only one solution to sell the goods.For collection-driven brands, the entire floor sets must be in the retail stores when these products are introduced, otherwise the chance to sell the goods is missed and obsolescence exposure is a high risk.For the products that are frequently in demand, it is crucial that retailers and suppliers do not undergo stockouts. This part of the market does not possess the same level of brand loyalty, and customers may well be attracted to shift brands if the color and size they required is not immediately available in the stores when they need to buy.For all companies, the balancing action of keeping inventory at the necessary level to fulfill demand, while ensuring that they are not left out with obsolete inventory, is a main problem.
Latest technological impact on fashion industryRecently, the Burton Amp jacket, what is depicted as “the world’s first and only wearable electronic jacket with an integrated Apple iPod” was introduced.According to some fashion experts the clothes will soon turn into accessories for your gadgets. Today new technologies are much involved with clothing and apparels that you can not judge whether you are wearing technology or whether technology is wearing you?
Besides, electronics will keep decreasing in size to such an extent where we would no longer considerably need the objects to hold them. Hence, today the fashion industry is experiencing new challenges: “intelligent textiles”, “smart clothes”, “i-wear” and “fashion engineering” and are only a few of the trends which will transform the entire fashion industry within the next decade.Nowadays, many new materials and technologies are applied in textiles and accessories when they are still too costly or primitive for other applications. A wide variety of electronic devices can already be made into clothes and this will rise. New fabrics are already being developed to offer power generation – by using solar power, electromagnetic, thermal and mechanical means.The combination of high-technology into textiles, e.g. modern communication or monitoring systems or the development of new materials with new applications, has just begun, but the branch has already moved in a gigantic expansion for this sector. Particular applications for the health and security sector, e.g. clothes with extern monitoring systems, already today exist in a large quantity.Within the coming few years, we’ll see a lot more new applications in garments with latest technology. Hence, there are many designing challenges for fashion designers and engineers for making most demanding fashionable wears.Copyright issues for fashion designsFashion apparel is a multi-billion dollar business that has no national boundaries due to its global existence. Designers, retailers and consumers decide their statements according to international fashion trends. In the last decade, consumer awareness of particular designers has also raised dramatically. Magazines and newspapers also cover the fashion industry as a part of their national news coverage, concentrating on the dynamic world of creative designer expressions.The common man is very much aware about names and faces of fashion models and the designers for which they model. At present many television channels and feature films involve the fashion industry. Consumers can now identify the various types of designers and designs.Today, many designers find inspiration from street fashion, celebrities, vintage styles and other designers’ work. Even though there are possibilities of duplication in products and designs due to easy accessibility of the latest printing and computer technology, and due to appearance of the regional or traditional designs in apparels worldwide, it can not be ignored easily. It is really a challenging task to cope with this issue globally.

Mar9

Digital Photography Classes – 3 Best Ways to Take Digital Photography Classes

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Digital Photography Classes – 3 Best Ways to Take Digital Photography Classes

If you’re thinking about taking digital photography classes to help you become a better photographer, but aren’t sure where to begin, here are the most common ways to take an affordable photography class.1. Online Digital Photography ClassesOnline photography classes are one of the quickest and easiest ways to get started. Unlike real world (as opposed to the internet world) photography classes, you don’t need to wait for the class to begin, worry if there will be room, or if it meets your schedule. Instead, with online classes you can start right away and set your own pace and schedule. Another great benefit of online classes is that you usually get to participate in forums and online galleries with other students where you can receive constructive critiques on your photographs. And there is usually an instructor who you can email with and get guidance from (the best online courses will offer this). There are some great online courses out there for between $100-$200 that include everything.2. eBook Digital Photography ClasseseBook digital photography classes are also a great way to learn photography. Like online classes, the benefits of an eBook class is that you start when you want and go at your own pace. eBook learning is a one person experience, if you prefer to learn on your own, this is the way to go. The drawbacks: no instructor to offer guidance, and no other students to interact with. eBooks usually offer much more instruction and assignments then real world classes or some online digital classes. This is because there is no overhead expenses like class room space or website/forum hosting costs. You can find eBook photography courses for anywhere between $29 – $99.3.Local Real World Digital Photography ClassesThe benefits of real world photography classes are that you meet your instructor and other students face to face, and work side by side during the class. It also means you can team up to go out on shoots together. If you’re a people person who learns best when around others, this might be the way for you to go. The drawbacks are that usually these classes are very focused on one part of photography, and don’t give you as much information and instruction as online or eBook classes can. If you decide to go this route, supplementing it with a good eBook course would fill in the gaps. And of course, you are on their time schedule.There are also digital photography classes offered at Universities but you generally need to be an enrolled student to get into one. And there are photo workshops that take you to some wonderful spot for 5-7 days, and teach you how to shoot a specific type of photography (ie. landscape photography). But these are generally very expensive as you have to pay for travel, hotel, and meals. These types of photography workshops should be done only if you already know a lot about photography and/or earn an income from photography.

Mar7

Famous Fashion Designers

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Famous Fashion Designers

Fashion designers use flair and know-how to create everything from hospital uniforms to the eye-popping outfits worn by rock stars and models. Jobs for fashion designers are expected to grow more slowly than the average for all careers through 2014, according to government economists. A study of the work of several other fashion designers records how fashion changed throughout the decade.FashionFashion design is also a labor of love, requiring long hours and little chance of superstardom — but for many, the work itself is the reward. Fashion designers, in fact, are some of the most creative and eclectic people that you will ever meet. Men’s fashions during the 19th and 20th centuries have been conservative and dull in comparison to women’s. The fashion industry is a big part of our economy. Here is a short list: Chanel Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (1883-1971) created feminine fashion that provided the feeling of luxury and combined traditional women’s clothing with styles, fabrics, and articles of clothing used by men. Her fashion revolution liberated women to express their femininity with elegance and grace.The Hollywood film “The Devil Wears Prada”, starring Meryl Streep, has brought a lot of attention to the world of fashion. More information about Prada Versace Gianni Versace (1946-1997) became interested in fashion working in his mother’s small dress shop. By 1978 he had become a design leader of women’s and men’s fashions. More information about Giorgio Armani Jean-Paul Gaultier (1952- ) is a French fashion designer who never received formal design training. In 1967 he purchased the Polo label and launched a world-wide fashion empire that includes clothing lines for men and women.FashionThe high prices commanded by the fashionable Fendi purses have created a large market for fake goods from Asia bearing logos that are eerily similar to the inverted FF. In 1985, they took part in a fashion show featuring “New Talent”, and the following year, they presented their first independent women’s ready-to-wear show. You’d have to be walking around with a shopping bag over your head to not realize that fashion is everywhere. In order to succeed in the often cutthroat–and frequently debt-ridden–world of fashion, designers can no longer hide behind their model’s skirts.Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions for the mass market. Employment growth for fashion designers will be slowed, however, by declines in the apparel manufacturing industries Designers in most fields are expected to face strong competition for available positions.Most women of means had a dressmaker who would create garments according to the latest fashions. Instead of catering strictly to a few wealthy clients, coveted fashion designers now create product lines ranging from perfumes to pantyhose that can reach consumers at every price point. “Consumers at the middle and lower level have realized they can get just as good a fashion direction with clothing at disposable prices that they can wear once and throw away–or if it falls apart, who cares.