Wildlife Photography

Wildlife photography attracts many people, primarily due to the attraction to wildlife and for those who want to pursue a career as a wildlife photographer - courses are the best choice to grasp some knowledge.

Wildlife photography uses lenses, filters and tools that are very different from an advertising or fashion photography assignment. You need to learn a lot about animal behavior and how to deal with them before making it a serious profession.

Shooting wildlife usually cover topics such as:

Where to Begin- Have you ever thought Amazon forest is the best place to start your career as a wildlife photographer? If you head to the Amazons expecting some great photos, you will be disappointed because in dense tropical forests, it is very hard to spot animals or birds as you can do in a savannah. A national park close to your home is the best place to begin photography. With a good course, you will learn hotspots in your location where you can click great pictures.

Techniques - Camouflages are widely on your equipment and clothing to hide your presence from wildlife but this is just one technique. Wildlife photographers also use foods and other items to attract animals and birds. You usually use faster shutter speeds and higher ASA settings to capture wildlife, and a good course will cover in detail about aperture and shutter settings.

Learn About Lenses- Arguably, a large range of telephoto lenses are used in wildlife photography. Each manufacturer will have multiple models with same focal length but the results and features for each lens vary. Professional help is a must for every wildlife photography student to pick the right photography lens.

Animal Psychology- A wildlife photographer who wants to shoot pictures of a Cheetah or a Bengal Tiger spends most of his/her time on learning about the particular animal's behavior because spotting the animal and being safe in the animal's presence is more important. When you head to the wilderness, there will be other animals, snakes and venomous insects that you will come in contact with so you can't limit your knowledge to one animal but must expand to every possible animal and plant that you will find. This is why professional lessons are required to empower yourself with sufficient knowledge.

Surviving In The Wild- There are many newcomers who are attracted to wildlife photography due to the fancy side it seems to show. However, wilderness survival and photography are not that easy without adequate knowledge and tools to survive. With professional courses, you will learn how to survive in the wild, stay for days or even weeks to capture the subject you intend to etc. These courses also cover information about the necessary tools and equipment that a wildlife photographer must carry.

Photography Workshops

Photography workshops are some of the most interesting in the training sessions and all students long for the time they will finally get into the field to use the skills they have learned from the courses. The workshops are suitable for all including photography beginners, amateur photographers who are serious in improving their skills and even the experienced fine arts photographers.

Most of the workshops are made possible by the training school that you have enrolled in but there are some which are externally organized to offer all interested photographers the chance to learn much more from the professionals attending the workshops. This means therefore that the workshops come in different packaging but are all important and quite helpful in sharpening photography skills.

The photography workshops are very interesting and take the students to selected areas thereby giving them the chance to take photos of different subjects whether selected or those they find most interesting in the setting. It is during the workshops that the students get to put to use the different techniques they have learnt in class hence the reason as to why the workshops are the best treats in any photography course.

Photography Vacations

Photography vacations are a one-of-a-kind experience for those who already consider themselves advanced photographers as well as for those that are amateurs, just beginning their photographic journey. This type of a photo vacation is a wonderful experience for both photographers and non-photographers alike. Some of the best photography vacations combine leaders who are not only highly skilled in the technical and artistic areas of photography but also have an intimate knowledge of the local landscapes, towns, and villages. The photo guides have to be skilled in making your photography tour in Italy memorable on a cultural level as well. They have the knowledge of the comfortable and charming places to stay for the night as well as fine restaurants for evening dining and those out of the way little cafes for the mid day Italian panini.

The best part about taking photography vacations is that you will be given expert guidance by an experienced photographer who has first-hand and extensive knowledge of the best locations and landscapes of the region that you will be visiting. These types of travel photo tours allow you to enjoy your time away from your routine life and also learn to take fantastic pictures like you have never done before.

Wedding Photography Ideas

If you want everlasting wedding photos then finding creative wedding photography ideas are your starting point. The more creative these ideas the more exceptional and unique your wedding photos will be. As a wedding planner, I have seen that these photography ideas are without any doubt one of the most essential wedding arrangement choices you will ever make. Although the gathering of these ideas is time-consuming I can tell you that you should see your time and efforts spent as a real investment. After all, photographs and memories are all that you will have left after the wedding day. So I urge you to put in some extra time and effort and you will see better results at the end.

When planning the wedding photos, the couple will soon discover they face two major challenges within the wedding photo topic. They are; first getting the right wedding photography ideas that will represent the desired look and feel, and the second challenge is finding the right photographer to create this desired look and feel.

Always keep in mind that this is a wedding. It is supposed to be a joyous occasion, so keep a smile on your face, be upbeat and jovial with all around you, and your photographs will reflect that. Hopefully these wedding photography ideas will help you toward a successful day, and promising career. I'll see you in part three where we will look at ideas for delivering the final product.

Modern Wedding Photography

Modern wedding photography has shunned the traditional wedding photography style. Most photographers of weddings today concentrate on presenting a more artistic way of documenting important and memorable moments of a wedding.

Glamour Photography Models

No director of glamour photography models need be given a list of reasons why a head is invaluable in a picture. Some directors do, however, welcome ideas on how to bring the model's best face forward - whether it is one of beauty, character and/or expression.

Before we come to our views of the subject, however, we would like to acknowledge the presence of the controversy existing over the candid versus the controlled pose. Some directors contend they never direct their subject. 'To place a head or a mouth in a pre-determined position,' they say, 'would destroy all of the spontaneity and naturalness of the picture.'

Others, just as vehemently, contend that 'In a business that calls for consistent results, lucky mood and coincidence are not enough. They are not reliable and cannot be depended upon.'

We feel that when both director and model have a working knowledge of technique, each individual job will determine whether the pose requires controlled, candid or controlled-candid treatment.

Experienced directors practice many ways of getting a glamour photography model to act and react realistically before the camera. Each has developed ways of controlling a model without having literally to push her into position. Adroit use of words, exemplary action, strategic suggestion and psychological motivation all bring forth expression that is dependable as well as spontaneous. At the same time most directors have found in actual practice, that with intelligent direction from behind the camera, any capable model can accept correction and rearrange parts naturally without showing strain and losing spontaneity!

In photography we lean heavily upon the model's capabilities, yes, and in many instances even upon her ability to inspire us by doing something her way from which we can select or perfect a pose.

So, part of a director's success lies in his ability to keep a model suggesting ideas within the scope of the camera's ability to record them.

Many models feel they have exhausted the possibilities for different head positions when they have turned their head slowly from the left of the camera to the right of the camera! This can be most exasperating to a director (especially if you believe that you get the fullest creative contribution from a model by allowing her to move freely instead of placing her). Try a suggestion that will take her into several other positions from which you might select a pose.

You might ask her to repeat the horizontal turn - this time with her chin up a little higher. This gives you at least six additional positions to choose from. Then ask her to lower her chin and repeat the horizontal turn - six more positions! By repeating each of these eighteen positions with her head tilted right and then with her head tilted left, you've added another thirty-six possibilities without yet putting her in any exact position.

If your model has trouble with the tilt, which is the most difficult direction to understand, you might try this. Hold a pencil vertically in front of your model's face. Let the tip of her nose touch the pencil and divide it equally lengthwise. Ask her to put her chin on one side of the pencil and her forehead on the other as you repeat the word tilt.

With encouragement, let her try a few combined movements such as, 'Turn your head slightly to the right... that's good ... now tilt the top of your head right (or tilt your chin left).' If she loses her conception of tilt, hold the pencil before her again and she will usually remember it for the remainder of the sitting.