One of the most creative techniques to make money from freelance photography is to turn your images into gifts that people will love to buy. The possibilities are staggering- from canvas prints to photography books to customizing photo tshirts and other clothes. But there are some unusual photo products too. In this article I discuss five photo products that you might not normally expect to be able to customize with your photos.

Bean Bags

You can have bean bags customized with a montage of your photographs. They are great for relaxing on, offer plenty of support, and they’re designed from your very own photos. Your visitors will love checking out all your photos while sitting on one of these! And your customers will love a beanbag designed around images of their favorite place or interest.

Candles

How would you like to design your own candles with your photograph on the sides? And don’t worry about losing half your photograph when the candle burns down… technology has given us special “everlasting” candles that can be re-used again and again and still look good.

Car Seat Covers

Photo seat back covers not only decorate your vehicle seats with good designs, they make them more comfortable at the same time! Here is a customized photo product that you can take with you wherever you go! You can customize baby seat covers with your photographs too. Perhaps you can sell some of these through your local automotive accessories store.

Mouse Wrist Pads

 I think everyone must have seen photo mouse pads but how about a photo mouse wrist pad? These extra comfortable ergonomic wrist pads support your wrist and can help to alleviate RSI. These are one of my favorite kinds of photo product because not only are they very attractive once your photo is added, but this is something that people really need!

Money Boxes

With personalized photo money boxes your friends can save money and their memories at the same time. Or you can sell money boxes decorated with your photography through your local bookstores or toy stores.

These are only several of the photo products you can personalize with your photos. There are many more and we have identified hundreds of photo products you can easily design and order through reputable suppliers here.

When I meet a stranger and tell them that I am a professional wedding photographer near Brighton Sussex, I can often see in their eyes that they imagine “that’s an easy job – anybody can just take a photograph!” – if they only knew …

For a start the job the wedding photographer is a very responsible one. In a way we are entrusted with the preservation of people’s most treasured memories. And sometimes it can be a huge responsibility, especially on days and in places where the light is very challenging.

Weddings in winter and in dark churches are the two main problem areas. The lighting in the winter time can be very gloomy even outside and as professional wedding photographers we sometimes struggle even with sophisticated lighting rigs, fast lenses and sensitive cameras.

Frequently the photographs are improved to high level using photo manipulation software in the post photo shoot phase. But that still doesn’t mean you can be lax in collecting as many photos as possible. Dark churches, unhelpful and unsympathetic priests and vicars are a problem all year round.

Unfortunately though it’s easy to blame the clerics, it is probably overly noisy and demanding photographers who caused most of the problems. I can well sympathise with the church vicar who having had an abrasive and uncompromising wedding photographer decides that in future he will not allow any photography during the ceremony itself. Sadly this makes it very difficult for photographers like myself who believe in minimising the impact on the ceremony and general atmosphere in the church.

Even more common than not being allowed to take photographs at all, is being restricted in our use of flash photograhy. It is sometimes all right if the church is reasonably lit and the ceremony takes place in a part of the church where natural daylight illuminates the scene. But unfortunately as I found at Lewes, Sussex, church last year, quite often especially if the church is having any renovations it can be unbelievably dark. This was made even worse by the fact that the ceremony was held in the centre of the church away from the large window above the altar. The fact that we couldn’t use flash in this situation made taking quality photographs almost impossible!

And worse still the customer was unsympathetic to our plight and try as we may we couldn’t make them see the difficulties. So my tip of the day is: if you are getting married in church particularly in the winter, check first that the vicar presiding will allow at least some form of flash photography during the ceremony. And if you particularly need photographs of the ceremony check your vicar will allow you to take them at all.

by Patrick Gold of i-Clic photographers, Brighton, Sussex.

I get these deals via email. Just thought I would pass them along to the Internet photography audience.

Happy Shooting!


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“OK,” you may well demand, “what’s up with the report concerning a Nikon D90?”

“Extremely good question,” I might answer. It’s in essence in regard to an admiration I have for Nikon and Canon in general.

The fact of the matter is, both Canon and Nikon are fabulous DSLR camera makers, and it does not matter which one you have, I’m sure you are extremely happy with it. Both camera producers are very much into improving technology and providing photographers with an undeniably great experience.

The desire of camera manufacturers to capture the DSLR market have resulted in some great new features and technology in their newer released cameras.

So, enough with the double-speak. Just about all photographers are true to their brand. If they own one model of camera, they will support the virtues of that corporation and often times degrade the other. In my case, I have used both, and I love them both.

Here is my question of the day:

“What is it that qualifies a digital SLR as great? Specifically, what makes a Nikon D90 great?”

The answer to this burning question will come in due time, but let me give you a little perception into why I think the way I do about this subject.

Part of my responsibility where I work is as the Yearbook advisor (it is a private school). It’s my first year as the advisor, and I am becoming enlightened as the year progresses. One of the important key points I am having to compensate for is that there are not adequate enough photographers at my school. I have struggled getting photos of functions.. actually, no, that is not true.. I have had difficulty getting photos that are “good enough” to print in the yearbook.

I can’t go to each and every function myself, so I have requested many students, parents, and other teachers to help out. The results are disappointing. Mostly there is no photo coverage because the people are just not serious in getting them. And when they do take pictures they are not of sufficient quality.

That is until this week. I encountered a student in the hall who said, “Hey, I have some images of the track meet. Would you care to use some of them in the Yearbook?”

Needless to say, I said I did. Having said that, I was not all that excited about getting them contemplating what I had seen in the past from other students.

Wow, was I surprised when I downloaded those 210 photos to my computer. They were superb! And some were just downright amazing.

So I went to find this budding young photographer to find out how she did this. “Oh, I really like taking pictures with my Digtial SLR,” she replied. “It’s a Nikon D90, and I have been getting a lot of pictures with it. The more I use it the more I like photography.”

I was so satisfied with her that I recruited her as a “Certified Yearbook Photographer.”

She was delighted, but not as much as I am.

Now, the answer to the burning question of the day: What makes the Nikon D90 a great camera? It’s user passion. Pretty simple, huh?

If that young lady leaves her camera at home, it’s not worth a plug nickel. But, armed with her beloved Digital SLR and a passion for the results she knows are sure to come when she views her photos on the computer, she IS a Certified Yearbook Photographer.

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most looked for features of the Nikon D90

• 12.9 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor (effective pixels: 12.3 million)
• 3.0-inch 920,000 pixel (VGA x 3 colors) TFT-LCD (same as D3 and D300)
• Live View with contrast-detect AF, face detection
• Image sensor cleaning (sensor shake)
• Illuminated focus points
• Movie capture at up to 1280 x 720 (720p) 24 fps with mono sound
• IS0 200-3200 range (100-6400 expanded)
• 4.5 frames per second continuous shooting
• Expeed image processing engine
• 3D tracking AF (11 point)
• Short startup time, viewfinder blackout and shutter lag
• Extensive in-camera retouching including raw development and straightening

There is a lineup of mid-range Digital SLR cameras at http://digital-photographic-resources.com/cameras/mid-dslr.html.

Most of these were taken with my trusty Canon 70-200mm L lens, mine happens to be the f/4.0 lens. It is one of the most useful lenses Canon has ever manufactured. More recently, I have been using my new Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Lens
to compare the image quality with the Canon lens. It does pretty well.

Don't waste your money, check out the online backup comparison

Unfortunately I have learned this way too late. But you can learn from my mistakes. Backup your files now!.

File backup is much simpler now than it was back in the day. You needed to burn your photos and important files to CD, then later it was DVD. Or, if you had enough stuff, you could purchase an external hard drive to do the job.

Now all that is still possible. You can never be too safe. But there is another option. You can keep your files at an online storage facility. These things are totally secure. Most have your files backed up on more than one server in the event of server problems. And considering that it costs only a few bucks a month, it is the easiest and cheapest way to fly. Take a look at this online backup comparison to see if one of these suits your needs.

As I mentioned, I have had experience with this. Even now I sit here looking at an external hard drive that has some of my best photos on it… literally thousands of digital photos from about 2 years of my life… unavailable

What happened is that I was in the process of replacing a computer. I had this hard drive attached to my old computer and on it (as well as on the old computer) are ALL my photos from the first two years of owning a DSLR. Of course, no online backup was available then, or, if it was, it was not common knowledge.

I disconnected the hard drive in order to connect it to the new computer, which I did. What I did not do was make sure the photos were transferred to the new computer. And because I was giving the old computer away, I deleted the information on the hard drive… poof… gone.

A couple of weeks later, I heard this clicking sound from the external hard drive. It was the “click of death,” as I have now found out. I could not access the hard drive.

I called around only to find out that I could pay someone to retrieve my photos – for a price – and the price was not cheap. It seems that you need a totally sterile lab environment to do this, and the companies that do it would not give me a hard estimate. Each one said the same thing: “It could cost anywhere from $500 to $2500 to get your files off the hard drive.” The estimators said that it would more likely be toward the upper end of the estimates. Waah!

So, my advice to you is to get a backup strategy. Whether you continue to keep your files on personal disc or an external hard drive, or online… just do it.
Check out this online backup comparison. It could save you much heartache.

Black Swallowtail on Zinnia

With digital cameras at their most affordable, anybody can be a photographer these days. Problem is, it takes more than a camera to take good pictures. But with the right training, you can learn to take better pictures.

It takes a certain eye, a way of seeing things, to take pictures that make people go “Wow!”. Fortunately, it can be learned. And the more you practice, the better you’ll get.

If you’re interested in becoming a good digital photographer, I recommend the “Shoot Digital Pics Like the Pros,” a free report.

Start by taking a look at these most common mistakes people make when taking digital pictures:

1. Not knowing your camera – If you never read your digital camera’s manual and learn its features and how to use them, you won’t be able to make the most of it.
2. Not using a tripod – Tripods allow you to take the sharpest pictures even in low light. Use one as often as possible.
3. Not giving the camera time to focus – Digital cameras need time to properly focus and get the right exposure. It can take a fraction of a second or a couple of seconds. Account for this when taking pictures.
4. Relying too much on zoom – Using the camera’s zoom feature makes the picture grainier. Get as close to the subject as possible.
5. Taking pictures against the light – This makes the subject dark and the background too bright.
6. Relying too much on the flash -Natural light gives the best pictures, so use it as much as possible. Flash tends to make images look harsh.
7. Not taking enough pictures – It’s almost impossible to take the perfect shot at one try, so take many pictures. With digital photography, this doesn’t cost you extra. Try different angles and compositions.
8. Always putting the subject dead center – Learn the rule of thirds in composition, and you’ll have more interesting pictures.
9. Forgetting to check the horizon – When taking pictures with the horizon showing, make sure it’s level.
10. Selecting a low-resolution setting – Your camera will allow you to select different resolutions. Don’t be tempted to choose a low resolution just to save on memory space. Instead, buy additional memory for your camera and always take your pictures in high resolution.
11. Trying to take too much – Don’t try to include too many things in one picture, such as people and scenery. A picture is more effective when it’s focused on a single subject.
12. Not using the camera – You’ll never know when a good photo op will come up, so have your camera with you at all times.

It may seem like a lot to think about, but with practice, these things will become second nature.

For those who want to learn even more digital photography techniques, check out the free report, “Shoot Digital Pics Like the Pros.” It’s a short but info-filled guide that will have you shooting digital pictures like a pro in no time.

Find out more about “Shoot Digital Pics Like the Pros” here:
www.learndigitalphotographynow.com. Or, if you are still in search of the best camera for YOU, go to www.digital-photographic-resources.com.

Happy Shooting!

• Image quality is always the top consideration.
• Must have good wide angle range – 18mm preferred
• Must have good long range – 200mm minimum
• Image stabilization is preferred
• Wide aperture for good shutter speed – 2.8 would be ideal, but that is quite costly
• Fast focus
• Not so expensive I have to take out a second mortgage on my house

The Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 satisfies every one except the f/2.8, but that one feature would raise the price to over $1000, so I will have to forgo

the 2.8 aperture.I have been using the Tamron 28-75 lens as my walk around lens for about 4 years now – no complaints from it – it has served me well, and I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. But I am a gearnut, right. It’s a cross I must bear. It’s how I am put together. So I search for good cameras and lenses.

I was considering the Tamron 18-270 because it has some very good press and user reviews. And, of course, my trusty Tamron 28-75 has been absolutely awesome. But when I started reading the user reviews about the Sigma 18-250, I could not disregard it as the next possible walk around lens for my Canon 30D.

Here are a few of the comments from the folks that bought this lens at Amazon.com and B&H Photo that have helped me come to my decision that the Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 lens is the right walk around lens for me:

“The cost of the Sigma lens was more than $300 less than the Nikon lens while the quality of the pictures is comparable to that of the pictures taken by the Nikon lens.”

“Overall: Images sharp, great all-in-one lens, just as good as Nikon’s 18-200 if not better in image quality, focus speed and of course, zoom-range! I’ve replaced my Nikon all-in-one with this one, and I have no regrets…”

“I recently bought it to replace my Sigma 17-70mm and Canon 55-250mm IS lenses. This 18-250mm is very much like the 17-70mm in overall quality. It is of high quality! I’ve used it mostly so far for night photography and also for fast action, and wildlife (crocodiles in Jamaica; can’t trust that ear to ear smile of theirs). All the pictures I shot with it were hand held and the OS system performed flawlessly…Also, I’ve checked its macro ability, and found it to be approx. 1:2.5, far better than Sigma’s very conservative spec. Very highly recommended!!!!”

There are actually a few lenses I have found that have very good user ratings as “all purpose” or “walk around” lenses. You can see them at www.digital-photographic-resources.com.

Happy Shooting!

I wish I had thought of this. It is a totally AWESOME service. A 10 to 12 megapixel photo would print great on an 8 x 10 canvas without any help from the techno-wizards, but Canvas on Demand can take any ordinary snapshot and turn it into a piece of art.

My job is to review and present the best photo equipment and resources available, and I’m telling you that this one is good, real good. They take your ordinary snapshot and make it a memory that your loved one will cherish forever. CanvasOnDemand.com-Your Photo on Canvas as Art! Click here!