Archive for Photography

Digital Camera Carrying Case: Change the way you take pictures

{ December 12, 2008 @ 3:36 am } · { Photography }
{ Tags: , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

A quality carrying case is an essential element for capturing good pictures. Digital cameras are highly susceptible to scratching and damage from transport. Not only does a digital camera carrying case protect digital cameras, but it makes photographers more efficient. Continue reading for the many advantages and options available for digital camera carrying cases.

Digital cameras have many delicate components that need to be protected. Protecting a digital camera will help your digital camera last longer and avoid expensive repair costs. A particular camera case manufacturer, M-Rock, has developed a camera case with a rigid, yet cushiony structure, that is protected from water, weather, and pressure. Using closed cell foam and plastic panels, the M-Rock camera case is very efficient at protecting cameras.

Carries Accessories and Supplies. A quality camera case makes photographers more efficient because they can effectively carry all the necessary supplies at all times. Camera cases made by M-Rock have at least two outside pockets for easy access, and plenty of interior room for extra lenses, batteries, or film.

Clings on for active photography. Quality digital camera cases, like those created by M-Rock, are modular, meaning they can attach to other camera cases, or onto the modular belt. All M-Rock camera cases have two large belt loops on the back for easy mounting. Any photographer can tell you how great it is to have the camera right there at your side when needed.

Visit M-Rock.com today and see why all types of photographers are choosing M-Rock camera cases over the leading competitors. They offer the many traditional advantages of quality camera cases, and have enhanced the case with many user friendly features. An M-Rock camera case can change the way you take pictures.

Make Your Vacation Photography Projects A Fantastic Conversation Piece

{ November 28, 2008 @ 3:09 am } · { Photography }
{ Tags: } · { Leave a Comment }

Who doesn’t take pictures while on vacation? We want pictures of family and friends and we want to capture the flavor of the landscape we are in. Some are interested in the architecture; some are interested in the flora and fauna. Whatever you’re interested in you can organize your pictures to really communicate what it was you were seeing at the time.

A good way to organize your pictures is to categorize them. If you take a look at pictures of past vacations you’ll see an album of everything you saw on that trip. While that is ok, you may find that when someone is looking at them that you are sitting there explaining every picture. After all, you want others to experience some of the flavor and excitement you experienced on your trip.

This is where some good organization comes in. It takes a bit of time but is well worth the effort.

When you have your pictures back, separate them into categories such as, all your pictures of gardens and flowers, pictures of family and friends or your favorite sunsets or interesting architecture you took. Buy albums that suit the categories they are in.

Make a little caption and date of each picture and insert into the correct album. Doing it this way makes it easier to look at and becomes self explanatory. Whether you have visited a particular place or several places, categories with captions make it a lot easier.

(How many times have you looked at photographs of past vacations and wondered for a second where this picture was taken?)

Here is an example of a fascinating category;

My husband used to work for a phone company that installed phones in jails. He took a picture of every jail up and down the east coast. This made for some of the most fascinating albums we have. The architecture of some of these buildings was spectacular ranging from very modern to castle like in nature. It never fails to create interest and conversation and it’s all in the same album, there is no question about what kind of buildings they are.

Whether you are a seasoned traveler or not and love sunrises and sunsets, you can create an album just for that. Labels and dates complete the picture.

The beauty of theme albums is you can continue to add to them over the years. They are beautiful and easily understood by all.

There are so many categories you can think of. The only limit is your imagination.

Theme albums are very organized and easily understood and are great conversation pieces! Give it a try!

Flower Pictures, Orchids in Tuscany

{ November 22, 2008 @ 6:34 am } · { Photography }
{ Tags: , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

It’s springtime in Tuscany, early May. Arriving at Pisa airport the air smells different, dryer, lighter, brighter with the alluring waft of some flower scent, even amid the concrete hustle and bustle of airports everywhere. I’m travelling light, or as light as you can get when your camera bag is your hand luggage and you couldn’t quite leave the tripod behind. Not when the mission is a whistle-stop orchid extravaganza, to try and photograph as many different sorts of orchid as we can find, in under a week.

Heading off in a hire car, we leave Pisa behind and take to the hills, a winding, twisting, and convoluted back road towards Siena. The air is fresher and the hint of flowers strengthens until we are overwhelmed by the honeyed scent of broom, pouring in through the car windows. Every which way you look, there is a picture postcard scene, comprising the essential props of a Tuscan photo – cypress trees, warm brick farmhouse and stone church, with gently curving green hills behind. Is it possible to take a bad photograph in Tuscany? Well yes it is. If I give in to temptation and snap every alluring vista, I’m going to find the bright midday light turns everything to dull monochrome, flattens the colours and wastes all my film before I’ve even started on the orchids. I’ll have to take note of the best views and try to come back in early morning or evening light, when it all magically turns golden and lucid.

We know where we are heading – south of Siena, where some friends have been walking through veritable meadows filled with orchids. The challenge will be to find those places by car, along the strada bianca (dirt roads) that crisscross the countryside. The other challenge is reaching our destination, when every few yards we spot a flower spike on the roadside and have to screech to a halt to identify it. Fresh from England any orchid at all is a rarity, but after an hour we are already blas้ and we no longer stop for ‘just another spotted orchid’.

The next day we are up bright and early at our first spot on the lower slopes of Monte Amiata. There is an open clearing surrounded by stunted oak trees and bingo – a lavish sprinkling of bee orchids, my favourites, with their furry lip that looks just like a bumble bee. Now the advantage of early morning light and sparkling dewdrops is offset by the fact that I’ll have to lie down in the damp grass to get a good angle. Remember to bring a waterproof next time. I should use a tripod, but first I’m looking through the camera to choose the finest specimens and best setting. In some cases I’ll need to trim the grass around the flower, either with nail scissors or by gentle flattening down. A wide aperture will take care of the background but I don’t want any blurring of grass waving in the foreground. Sort out tripod, get light reading and bracket, bracket, bracket.

These are pre-digital days, I’m using tranny and colour saturation has to be spot on, so to be safe I’ll do five half-stop brackets. I can’t reshoot from back home once I’ve processed it all and seen the results. This also means I have to be selective, I’ll only get six shots to a roll of film, so must just choose the best flowers and best angles.

Moving across the clearing, as the light strengthens, I find a fly orchid, this time impersonating a bluebottle fly, not as pretty as the bee orchid but striking, then setting up for that shot I nearly tread on a fragrant orchid, with its delicate pink flowers. I have to be quick now before the light gets too harsh and contrasty. Three in the bag and it’s off to a bar to get a second breakfast of cappuccino and brioche. The film is safe in a cool box – hot cars at midday don’t do much for it! The middle of the day is for scouting the evening’s shoot, then lunch and a siesta. The light won’t be good again until about 5 o’clock, but we have to be in the right place by then to make the most of it. So it’s driving the back roads again between Buonconvento and Casciano di Murlo.

Over the next few days we cross off our list the green-winged orchis, pyramidal orchid, lady orchid, the monkey orchid with its long tail, a man orchid – not so easy to spot with its greeny-yellow colouring, but now we’ve got our eye in, the orchid shape leaps at us from all sides. A lot of these orchids are also supposed to be common in Britain but I’ve never seen any of them there. Here in Italy they’re everywhere – must be something to do with farming methods, pesticides and all the rest. Here there are a lot of small-scale farmers, subsistence farming is dying out but huge commercial agricultural companies haven’t yet taken over. There are also a lot of wooded and unfarmable hilly slopes. Orchids carpeting the roadside verges though, that’s just showing off!

At the end of the week it’s back to Pisa, hand in the hire car, just slightly dented from overly-steep off-road experiences, and try to persuade the security people to hand search the film bag rather than X-ray it, which could fog the film. They promise that their machine is so modern and foolproof that you can put film through safely but I’m not taking any chances and eventually they agree. So only one more hurdle to go, the lab back home, processing and seeing what I’ve got – that heart-stopping moment before opening the envelope, the huge sigh of relief when you see images on the film, then examining each one carefully and remembering the scent of the Italian countryside in springtime.

Copyright 2006 Kit Heathcock

How to choose a camera with the right number of Mega Pixels?

{ November 20, 2008 @ 6:08 am } · { Photography }
{ Tags: , , , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

The race for mega pixels has started and there is no way to stop it. Every few months cameras with more pixels hit the market. The manufacturers want you to dump your old camera and buy the newest and greatest one after all aren’t 10 mega pixels better than just 8? Apparently the answer is not that simple.

As with many other things when it comes to mega pixels more is not necessarily better. There are many considerations when buying a camera and the number of mega pixels is just one of them.
One of the most important things to consider is usage. More mega pixels are good for people who plan to print photos (especially enlargements) or for people who need to zoom in and grab fine details from a big photo. If the main usage of the photos is watching them on your computer screen and maybe printing a few 4X6 prints than 2 mega pixels is more than enough (yes… just 2). Most screen resolutions are 1024X768 so even when viewing the photo in full screen mode you can only view 1024X768 < 1 mega pixels. A 2 mega pixels 4X6 photo print will have a DPI higher than 300 which is more than enough for a good quality print.

If you plan to use your photos for enlargements than a rule of thumb is to be able to print at least 300DPI resolution. The following is a table for different print sizes and the needed mega pixels for such print quality:

page 4X6 2MP
page 5X7 3MP
page 8X10 7MP
page 11X14 14MP
page 16X20 28MP
page 20X30 54MP

Another practical consideration is price and budget: Usually the more mega pixels the more expensive the camera is. Unless your budget is infinite when buying a camera you make a compromise between mega pixels and other features. For example is it better to spend money on more mega pixels or on better lenses? Or maybe instead of getting the latest number of mega pixels get an external flash for low light photography? When buying a camera try to predict what and how you will use it. In many cases a lower mega pixels sensor with better a lens will result in a much better photo than a high mega pixels with an inferior lens. Shop around and make sure that you get the best package in terms of mega pixels and other features.

To conclude when shopping for a camera it is best not to be a victim of the mega pixels race. Although it is generally a good thing to have a high number of pixels there are many other factors that influence the quality of the photos taken and the choice of the right camera for you. Lenses, battery life, light sensitivity, sensor technology used, external flash and many other features are not less important as the number of mega pixels. When shopping for a camera make sure that you consider the whole package and not use the number of mega pixels as a “quality” indicator for your buy.

Black And White Digital Photography

{ November 17, 2008 @ 9:53 am } · { Photography }
{ Tags: } · { Leave a Comment }

There are several ways to achieve black and white digital photography. With black and white digital photography, you are bringing the end user back into a period of time when life seemed a lot simpler. Many digital cameras come equipped with a function to take these types of photos. If your digital camera does not support this function, you can still change your photographs into black and white with software programs.

You’ll want your black and white digital photography to look its best when you are finished. A technique that can help you get the best image out of your digital photograph is through image manipulation. You may find it better to convert your eight-bit color images (which are usually jpegs) into 16-bit colors first. This is important because an 8-bit RGB can be the same as a 10-bit grayscale.

You can find information all over on the Internet to help you with your black and white digital photography. These resources can be found in everything from websites to magazines. Colored pictures can look truly beautiful as a black and white display. You will usually have to convert your graphics, because although there are options with digital cameras, there are no true black and white digital cameras.

Correct the Colorcasts

An important part of black and white digital photography is correcting the colorcasts. These are caused by bad lighting, but you can use software such as PhotoShop Elements to make the relevant changes by using their editing applications. The Imaging Factory is also software that can help you to easily convert and fix lighting areas in your graphics to get the best look with your black and white digital photography. If you want to turn your graphics into black and white digital photography, you can step into a completely new dimension in photography. You can do an endless array of projects right from your own computer.

How to Increase Your Chances of Winning a Photography Contest

{ November 14, 2008 @ 2:30 am } · { Photography }
{ Tags: , , , , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

These days, with the advancements in technology, more and more people are buying cameras. It’s very easy to own one because of the improvements in ease of use and maintenance. We don’t have to buy rolls of film just to use a camera. It’s also easier to take great pictures, because we can preview the image that’s going to be taken and if it’s not up to standard, it can be deleted in just a press of a button. No film is wasted, and the photos come out as we want them.

It’s normal practice to bring a camera everyday, especially those that are compact and lightweight. This is so that every important moment is captured and thus, preserved throughout time. With this in mind, more and more people are getting interested in photography and enjoying it. Even non-professional photographers can take very good pictures, and there shouldn’t be any surprise if there are more people who join photography contests, whether it’s for the prize, the recognition, or just for fun.

If you’re one of the many people who enjoy photography, and someday you hope to enter and win a contest, here are some photography contest tips and advice:

Follow all the rules of the contest
There is always a different set of rules for every contest, and you should be aware of them first and foremost. Familiarize yourself with them and follow them to the letter. You might not understand why some rules are there, but don’t assume you can just disregard them. They are there for a reason. It’s better to follow the rules rather than have your work returned to you because you did not follow the rules.

Research on past entries
Researching on past winning entries will help you learn more about the contest that you want to join and its standards. If you know more about the standards and the judges’ basis for a good photograph, you’ll have a better edge against the other contestants. You also might get inspired from studying the past entries.

Study the categories
There are different categories in every contest, and you must consider the requirements of each category before submitting an entry under the category that you’ve chosen. Your photograph should be focused on the category’s topic. Many entries get disqualified for not following the requirements, and it’s sad because the photographer may be talented, but the entry is not even seen by the judges because of a technicality. For example, there are categories that might require your picture to have a few items at the background of the photograph’s main focus. One missing item may hurt your chances in the contest.

Consider your work with a critical eye
You might have a photograph that you’re really fond of. You might even consider it as your best, because of its meaning to you. Remember, your contest entry will be judged by many different people who are strangers to you. They don’t know the story and circumstances behind your favorite work, and they don’t care. They are also given a set of guidelines in choosing entries, and each of them has unique standards. If you want a good chance of winning, better submit photographs that are good on all technical factors. For your entry to stand out, your subject should be doing some actions. A subject that is doing something is more noticeable and has more depth compared to a subject that is on a pose.

Send only your best work
There are contests that allow multiple entries, and if you plan on submitting more than one entry per category, it’s better to submit just a few of your best work, rather than submit a lot of entries that include a few decent, but lackluster, photographs. This is to protect how the judges think of your best photograph. If you include a few second-rate photographs, chances are the judges’ opinion on those photographs might dampen their opinion on your best entry. Instead of your best photograph standing out, it might get buried under the mediocre ones.

It’s easier now to take pictures, and it’s even easier to prepare for a contest if you only study how. Apply these photography contest tips and advice, and improve your chances of winning a photography contest.

To read more articles like this one visit: http://www.hobbyphotographytips.com

Why I’ve gone Digital – And Still Keep My Old Camera

{ November 11, 2008 @ 4:28 am } · { Photography }
{ Tags: , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

There has always been a debate about what is better. Traditional cameras using film, or the so called new technology, storing pictures in digital form on memory cards, in computers or on CD-Rom.

As being a photographer for more than half of my life, I stuck with traditional film for very long. About 7 years ago I started to supplement my work with photos taken the digital way. A point and shoot camera with just 640×480 pixel resolution was the most attractive gadget I had these days. Its lens was even capable of doing close-up work, using a macro switch.
That Fujifilm DX-7 was upgraded with a bigger Memory-Card and the camera served me well for several years.

Anyway, over time, I was still more satisfied with the possibilities my collection of Pentax SLR cameras gave me. It started with using the best lenses for each picture or just using a Zoom (which offers a range from wide angle to telephoto), changing the shutter speed to either stop or blur the motion of objects in the picture, use external flashlights, change the aperture openings to adjust the range of sharpness and lots more. Not forgetting the better picture quality I could get from a 35mm negative or slide. I was happy to use my heavy, solid metal camera.

The world changed for me when camera makers like Nikon and Canon introduced their Digital SLR Cameras. I went to my local camera shop every week and debated with the salesman about advantages and disadvantages of the models they had on sale. Also I checked with lots of users in online services to get first hand feedback on how these cameras performed. Finally, when Pentax introduced their Digital SLRs, I couldn’t wait much longer. I needed to have one of those.

With the Pentax 1st DS have a whole list of advantages over smaller Digital Cameras:

I can use the same lenses that fit my traditional camera
Have full control over speed and aperture
I can see the picture immediately after it is taken
I can shoot a series of pictures and choose the best (at no extra cost for film or paper)
A good resolution of 6 Megapixel which allows quite big prints
It weights more than a compact digital camera, so you can hold it steady more easily
Make use of all the filters, flashlights, lenses and accessories I have collected over the years.
Storing the pictures on the PC via a fast USB connection
Up to 1 GB storage on a SD Memory Card (about 380 jpg photos)
Selecting only the best photos for printing

With all these advantages of digital SLR Cameras, you may wonder why I still keep my old 35mm film cameras with me. First, it is emotional, and second, photographing the old fashioned way keeps me calm. You just need more time to produce an excellent, satisfying photograph (because you cannot see the result right after the shot).

Top Tips For Achieving Great Children’s Photographs

{ November 11, 2008 @ 4:28 am } · { Photography }
{ Tags: , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

In my work as a pro photographer I would guess that a good 70% of my images are of children. As a result I have discovered various methods of achieving the completely natural images that people love. There are many things to remember when trying to capture children’s images. There are some methods that work and some that don’t, here are a few hints that I have learned along the way.

Don’t rush into things.

Children can be very shy at first and it takes a real skill to get a child’s trust in a short period of time. I have an advantage over studio photographers in that I regularly shoot out doors (about 95% of the time). This means I can often meet the children at there home or a place familiar to them which makes it easier for the child to be relaxed. Having arrived at the location I set about gaining the child’s trust and breaking down the shy barriers. This is essential if I want to capture the completely natural images I have made my name on. I never take the camera equipment in to the house straight away. I’ll leave it in the car until I feel the child is ready. This also helps the parents to settle down. Its important to realise each little one is an individual and as such there is no hard and fast rule of how to treat any of them.

Timing

Not only is your timing of each shot vital but also the time of the day. Children normally run on a routine that involves sleep, food, drink and play. If you schedule the shoot to take place in anything other than a child’s natural play time you are asking for trouble.

It should be fun for all involved.

If you want to capture natural expressions of joy (and who wouldn’t) then the only way to achieve this is to make it fun. Depending on the age group the way this can be achieved differs but the basic guideline is, you play by their rules. Find something that would entertain them. For example for 0-4 year olds can be easily distracted with a bubble machine. For over 4’s perhaps a kite or remote control car something that is both colourful and enjoyable. What you are aiming to achieve is a happy child who soon forgets about the camera and really is having great fun.

Don’t force things

As any parent will tell you trying to get a child to do something they don’t want to do is as close to impossible as things get. You can guarantee tantrums and tears follow if a child is forced into doing something they’ve decided they don’t want too. The trick is to get them to want to do whatever it may be. Constant praise is all that should come from the photographer on how well they are doing. When I’m photographing children and for whatever reason they decide that they’re not going to lie down / kneel or even stand I try once and then move on to something else. Ten or twenty minutes later I’ll come back to the original pose and try it again, nine times out of ten this will succeed as the child has forgotten about not wanting to do whatever it was and we get the shot. As is mentioned before, you’re playing by their rules.

Be prepared

You never know what each second holds when photographing children especially when you’re outside. Many things can make fantastic photographs, throwing stones into a lake, patting a dog, throwing leaves all this and more. If you switch your camera off and put your lens cap on it’s a sure way to miss fantastic unscripted moments.

I hope these points have made sense and will help you next time you take on the challenge of photographing children. I wish you fantastic luck.

Thinking Of Changing To Digital Photography?

{ November 8, 2008 @ 3:25 am } · { Photography }
{ Tags: } · { Leave a Comment }

Digital photography strips the pain out of photography in several ways: No film means no mess and less expense. No lenses equals no clutter, and once you get used to using a digital camera, digital photography can even help you take better photos. . Took a photograph you didn’t like? A digital camera lets you review the shot on an LCD screen on the back of the camera right after you snapped it, and delete it.

Are you looking for a fun little camera to take pictures of family celebrations and get togethers? Or, are you more interested in developing your photography skills and becoming proficient at photo shooting and editing? No matter what your photography goal, you want good, clear pictures and a camera that is easy to use.

The four basic styles of digital camera are:

1) Ultra-compact- about the size of a credit card, and fits easily into the front pocket of your jeans.

2) Sub-compact- will fit easily into a shirt pocket.

3) Point and Shoot-normal size camera with more features, and needs a camera bag.

4) Single Lens Reflex (SLR) – high quality camera. It has the look and feel of a 35 mm, with a detachable lens.

Digital cameras give you photos that are extremely portable. You can download your shots to a computer to email or edit with programs like Adobe’s PhotoShop, print them out, or create slideshows – all without having to drop off film and pay for developing it. Some digital cameras even let you shoot quick videos.

Nowadays, even PDAs, cell phones and watches have entered the world of digital photography. Below we’ll talk about the fundamentals of how digital photography works. This will be important when choosing a camera.

Pixels

A digital image, or photo, is made up of millions of tiny dots. The number of pixels determines the quality – also called the resolution – of the image. With digital photography, when you click the camera’s button, a computer chip called the “charge couple device” (CCD) inside the camera instantly records the location, color, and brightness of each pixel. Put all those pixels together and you have the photograph!

Resolution is an important factor when buying a camera. Higher resolutions cost more, but also result in images that can be enlarged digitally without losing quality. When shopping for a ‘point and shoot’ digital camera to use for fun look for cameras with a resolution between three to five mega pixels will let you print nice quality 4” x 6” up to 8” x 10” prints.

Batteries

The decision about what type of battery your camera takes is an important one. Alkaline AA batteries don’t hold a charge as long as lithium batteries do, particularly if you are using your flash. However, the ability to purchase AA batteries anywhere can be important, especially if you travel.

Lithium batteries last a long time, but they are expensive to replace. Nickel Cadmium batteries are rechargeable. You must fully discharge them prior to recharging, or you will get very poor performance. Another type of rechargeable battery is the Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH). They come in all standard sizes, and last about 400 charges. These are probably your best buy. Lion (Lithium Ion) batteries last about twice as long as the others do, and are usually purchased as an ‘extra’. They are newer, not available in all sizes, and not as widely available as the others are.

Memory

Another important consideration for digital photography is the size of the memory card in the camera. The memory card is what stores your photo inside the camera – think of it as the camera’s hard drive. Digital images of high quality take up a lot of space. You can fit more low-resolution than high-resolution shots on to a single card.

You can carry multiple memory cards, but who wants to line up that perfect shot and realize the camera has suddenly run out of room? If your camera shoots between three to five mega pixels, a memory card with 128 MB to 512 MB should keep you shooting until your fingers get tired.

Some other great features to consider before deciding on your new camera include size and weight. A heavier camera is easier to hold steady, a lighter camera is easier to store and carry. Some cameras offer a multiple exposure option that will let you take a preset number of exposures when you press the button. A self-timer will allow you to automatically shoot a picture after a preset period. The remote control option will let you operate the camera from a distance. Other options include date and time indicators that stamp the image, and display the information when viewing the picture through the camera or software, and sound recording, which lets you add captions to your photos.

Most cameras come bundled with software that allows you to edit your photos. The type of software varies with each camera, and it should be a consideration when buying the camera.

There is no such thing as the ultimate camera. You have to consider your photography goals, your budget and your experience level to determine what camera options will be the best for you.

Scanning paper prints to digital photos on your hard disk

{ November 8, 2008 @ 3:24 am } · { Photography }
{ Tags: , , } · { Leave a Comment }

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation when you have to scan paper prints, negatives or slides and store them as digital photos on your computer. Although the reason for doing that can vary there are some common considerations to scanning paper prints. In this article we will go over some of them and try to make your scanning experience easier.

There are three types of prints that you might be scanning:

<li><strong>Paper prints:</strong> the most common, usually at sizes like 4X6 and 5X7.</li>
<li><strong>Negatives:</strong> also known simply as film. This is the processed film usually 35mm from which paper prints are made. </li>
<li><strong>Slides:</strong> very similar to negatives used for projecting photos on a large screen. </li>

<strong>Scanning paper photos prints.</strong>

Photo paper prints are easy to scan. You can choose to scan them yourself at home (purchasing a scanner that can do the job is usually cheap and costs less than a $100). You can also choose to mail them (or hand them) to a professional scanning service that will scan them for you and mail you back the originals and a DVD with the digital scans (such services include www.digmypics.com, www.digitalpickle.com, www.britepix.com and many more)

There are pros and cons to both scanning at home and using a professional service. If you have a small number of photos scanning at home is easier. If you have plenty of photos using a service might be easier but you can end up spending more money.
When scanning at home consider the following:

<li><strong>Resolution:</strong> the resolution of a scan is measured by the number of dots per inch that the scanner can produce. Most scanners can scan at 1200 DPI or more. Usually the scanner can be set to scan at different resolutions. The higher the resolution the slower the scan and the bigger the photo file size will be. For most paper prints scanning at 300 to 600 DPI is enough but you can experiment scanning at higher resolutions if you feel it provides better results.</li>
<li><strong>Speed:</strong> If you have a small number of photos speed is not an issue. If you have hundreds or more of photos scanning speed becomes important. To get fast scans you would have to scan at the lowest resolution possible that results in good enough scans – for most paper prints 300 to 600 DPI is enough.. Also if you’re going to buy a scanner check the scanning speed (usually measured in the number of scans per minute make sure that you check the speed at the DPI you’re going to use).</li>
<li><strong>Photo feeding:</strong> if you only have a small number of photos this is not an issue. If you have many photos make sure that the scanner you buy allows fast and easy loading of photos. Some higher-end scanners will let you load a stack of photos and will automatically feed and scan them for you. These scanners are the right choice if you are planning on scanning hundreds or more photos.</li>

<strong>Scanning negatives and slides</strong>

Scanning negatives and slides is harder than scanning paper prints. In most cases it is easier and maybe cheaper to use a professional scanning service (such services include www.slidescanning.com, www.myspecialphotos.com, www.pixmonix.com and many more). If you want to scan at home your standard flat scanner will not be good enough. In most cases you will need to spend money on purchasing a film/slides scanner. Those scanners are more expensive than the flat paper scanners. Negatives and slides are small high resolution sources and thus require scanning at higher DPI than paper prints. In most cases 2400DPI or higher should be used.

The considerations for scanning negatives and slides are similar to scanning paper prints. If you need to scan just a few negatives or slides speed and ease are not important but if you’re going to scan hundreds or more you should spend more money on scanners that can feed the negatives or slides automatically or can just load a roll of film and scan it.

« Previous entries