Becoming A Graphic Designer

Graphic designers are artists in business. Graphic designers need to not only have an artistic inclination in life, they also need to have a knowledge base that includes art history, painting, typography, illustration, photography and computer design software.

To become a successful graphic designer, one must have excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to sell ideas to executives. Having a keen sense of color, type and composition, a graphic designer also has to know how to present and discuss ideas with corporate clients, understand market research and work under tight deadlines and budgets. It is preferable to take drawing courses while in high school, to develop a sense of art. It is possible to work as a graphic designer without a degree, but most companies do prefer graphic designers with a degree. So work for a degree in fine arts or advertising, with concentrations in graphic art and computer graphics. You could join any School of Art and Design for such a degree. Search for training in current graphics-related computer technology, with electives for business and finance courses.

You then contact your top school choices and, if required, send samples of your artwork along with your application. Some schools may also call you for an interview, so be ready for it. When in the school, try to get an internship in a design company or an advertising agency. This adds to your resume, and provides you with valuable career contacts for the future. While studying, try to do as much freelance work as possible. This will help you build a strong portfolio that you can show to your future employers upon graduation. Always make it a point to pay attention to packaging designs and advertising trends in all forms of media.

To learn about jobs for graphic designers, the best place to check is the Internet. There are many job openings for graphic designers here. Graphic designers are required in various fields of advertisement and printing, with openings also found on the Internet. And remember, the main thing that is required to become a successful graphic designer is to build an impressive design portfolio to present to your prospective employers so that they can get an idea of your capacity in graphic designing.

Learning the Art of Fashion Photography

There is a chance that whenever you buy different fashion magazines you look at some of the photos in awe and think how most of clothing and models can look so perfect. However, in life nothing is perfect. That is why fashion photography is essentially considered to be a mysterious world for people who are not familiar with it.

It all starts with a concept. For instance, a designer is promoting their latest summer fashion line, so the aim of fashion photography is to make the clothing line look as attractive and desirable as possible. The idea is to have the summer fashion in a beach, and it is up to the professionals in fashion photography to find a beach that looks justly scenic. Once the beach has been found, the next thing to do is to find models that can make the clothing line look gorgeous.

It is the job of the modeling agency to cast the models or perhaps the designer has a favorite model and asks that they be part of the photography session. The camera can add a few pounds to anybody, so you can only imagine how outrageously thin those models you think that are too skinny are in person.

The next essential step is to apply makeup by the time the models are on set. There are some designers who needs a particular look for their models and will see models with quite various makeup styles on their face. Then you have to focus on the lighting. Even if you can do a lot with your flash, but sometimes you have to wait until there is just the enough amount of sunlight to take that photograph.

Fashion photography shoot can be quite thorough and frequently last the whole day. A lot of pictures of the models are taken, then the best of these are selected for the magazine. You have to take note that even though the models can be gorgeous, however they do not have unblemished skin. This is why pictures are normally edited with editing software.

How To Succeed at Essay Writing

It's the moment every parent dreads: when your child sits there, glum-faced, looking at a blank piece of paper in front of them. They have a rapidly-approaching deadline for their essay, and nothing, but nothing you do as a parent seems to help them get any closer to completion. What can you do to help? The answer is: quite a lot.

Producing a successful essay can be one of the most arduous parts of the schooling process, and yet, the need to write an essay is everywhere: from English literature, to economics, to physics, geography, classical studies, music, and history. To succeed, at high school and in tertiary study you must master essay writing.

Getting students over this barrier was one of the reasons I put pen to paper four years ago and produced a book called Write That Essay! At that stage, I was a senior academic at Auckland University and a university examiner. For nearly 20 years, in both course work and examinations, I had counselled everyone from 17-year-old 'newbies' to 40-year-old career changers with their essay writing. Often, the difference between a student who might achieve a B-Grade and the A-Grade student was just some well-placed advice and direction.

I then visited over 50 New Zealand High Schools and spoke with over 8000 kiwi kids about essay writing. These students reported exactly the same challenges as I had previously encountered, and more. The result has been two books and a DVD that have helped kids achieve some of the potential that sits inside all of us.

In this article I am going to deal with some things you can do as a parent to help your child succeed at essay writing. Because writing great essays is well within every child's grasp.

Tips for essay writing success:

1. It's an argument

Remember that an essay is an argument: the task in an essay is not to write a story or to recount a plot. The teacher knows all of this information. In an essay your child's job is to present a compelling argument-using specific evidence-for the point they are trying to make.

2. Write a plan: you'll be pleased that you did

Get your child to write a brief list-plan of the topics that their essay needs to cover. Even a short plan is better than no plan at all, and will start to give the writer a feeling that completing an essay on that topic is well within their grasp.

If your child is a visual learner, move away from the desk and go to a neutral space. Grab a large sheet of blank A3 paper and some coloured pens, and brainstorm a mind map or sketch plan of what the essay should contain. Using pictures, lines, circles, and arrows will all help the visual learner grasp the task at hand and help them see what they have to do.

3. Getting Started

A challenge many kids (and adults) face writing essays is getting started. The person sits there waiting for inspiration to hit them like a lightening bolt and it never happens. What can you as a parent do to help?

Encourage them with the thought that great essays are never written the first time over. Get them to view essay writing as a three-part process. The first draft is only to get out the ideas and words in rough form. In the second and third effort, they will add to their essay where there are blanks, clarify ideas, and give it a final polish. Realising that an essay isn't supposed to be perfect the first time you write it, really helps some people.

4. Having enough to say

If your child is still stuck, find out if they have read up enough on the topic. Some inertia with writing can be due to lack of knowledge. They will find writing so much easier if they spend another day or two reading more on the topic and gleaning some additional ideas.

5. Try using a neutral sentence

Suggest starting the essay with a neutral sentence: a sentence that merely states an interesting fact on the topic being written about. Here's one: 'Mozart was one of the most important Austrian composers of the eighteenth century.' First sentences in essays don't need to be stellar - you just need to start!

Now, go write that essay!

Titles available in this series:

Write That Essay! (for tertiary students)

Write That Essay! High School Edition

Write That Essay! High School Edition Box Set (includes book, DVD and worksheets)

F Jay Haynes Yellowstone Park Hand Colored Photographs

While Wallace Nutting was busy photographing the relatively tame back roads of New England, F. Jay Haynes (1853-1921) was just as busy photographing the considerably less-tamed Western American Frontier. With a photographic career beginning in the mid-1870's, the Haynes photographic tradition was passed along to his son, Jack Ellis Haynes, who continued the Haynes family photography business until the 1950's. Both father and son probably contributed more to popularizing Yellowstone National Park than anyone else and the results of their work is being actively collected today by a growing number of collectors.

Born in Saline, Michigan, Frank Jay Haynes began his photographic career around 1874 in Michigan and Wisconsin, In 1876 he opened his own studio in Moorhead, Minnesota and in 1879, when it became obvious that Fargo, North Dakota was becoming a major city, the 26-year old Haynes shifted his main studio there. His earliest photographic commissions were primarily portrait views. This portion of his business proved to be an immediate success and at the height of his early career he had two employees in his Fargo establishment whose sole job was making portraits.

Up to the 1870's the Railroads usually employed skilled artists who painted or sketched the spectacular western views in order to glamorize the scenery offered by their respective railway routes. Wet plate photography was the standard photographic process at this time. This typically involved a bulky camera, heavy glass plate negatives, and portable darkrooms necessary for developing sensitized negatives almost immediately upon their initial photographic exposure and the difficulty of utilizing this process in the harsh western U.S. environments should be apparent.

Haynes career took a major turn in the late 1870's when the Northern Pacific Railroad hired him to become their "Official Photographer". In addition to a fair salary, Haynes was given a rebuilt Pullman railroad car that became his personal rolling photographic studio. His job was to thoroughly photograph the railroad's facilities such as stations, bridges, rail yards, rolling cars and stock, and company buildings. Haynes also photographed the beautiful countryside wherever the railroad's tracks went...horses, wild animals, stagecoaches, military forts, trading posts, Indians, tepees, river boats, etc. The Northern Pacific then used Haynes' photographs in their advertising and travel brochures, hoping to attract more commercial and passenger business for the railroad.

Haynes also promoted his personal photography business while traveling on railroad business. Recognizing the need for a professional photographer among the increasing volume of settlers moving west, Haynes would advertise in local papers along the Northern Pacific route that the Haynes Palace Studio Car would be in town on a particular day and that his photographic services would be available in towns having no permanent professional photographer. This advanced notice enabled families to travel to town in the family wagon, dressed in their Sunday best, for the annual family photogravure. Businesses, merchants, and anyone needing photographic services could take advantage of his availability. Haynes would then perform his developing and processing right there in his rolling studio car, thereby earning both private commissions and railroad pay. Haynes traveled through the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington for the Northern Pacific and to Yellowstone in the 1882-1883, taking a large number of views wherever he went.

He continued to operate the Haynes Studio railroad car gallery from 1885-1905. He moved his studio to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1889 and traveled throughout the West and Alaska earning the reputation as one of the West's finest early photographers.

F Jay Haynes also covered many special events during his career. For example, in 1883 President Chester A. Arthur, along with a party that included a Lt. General, the Secretary of War, and a US Senator, traveled by horse back touring Ft. Washakie, The Tetons, and Yellowstone Park. With fresh horses pre-positioned every 20 miles to provide the traveling party with communication with the outside world, F Jay Haynes traveled along with that party as its official photographer

Because of his familiarity with the photographic requirements needed to popularize a railroad Haynes was also hired by the Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1881 as their first official photographer as well. While working for the Canadian Pacific Haynes utilized a stereo camera and sold stereo cards glamorizing the Canadian Pacific route and was rewarded with a free unlimited-use railway pass in honor of his services.

But it was the beauty of Yellowstone Park that would capture most of Haynes' life. Haynes work at Yellowstone began in the early 1880's and in 1884 he became Yellowstone's first Official Photographer. Yellowstone was the first National Park ever designated by the Federal Government and F Jay Haynes obtained the first federally-issued license to operate a photographic concession in Yellowstone at Mammoth Hot Springs. Haynes opened The Log Cabin Studio, which served Yellowstone for many years selling photos to visiting tourists.

Photography wasn't Haynes only business venture at Yellowstone. The Northern Pacific used Haynes photography to lure tourists to visit Yellowstone and the Western U.S. but, once they arrived, someone had to transport them from the railroad station to their lodgings and throughout Yellowstone Park. Again enter F Jay Haynes. His short-lived Yellowstone National Park Transportation Company was later replaced by the Monida and Yellowstone Stage Line which became the principal carrier of passengers entering through Yellowstone's western park entrance. At its peak Haynes' stage line had 18 stagecoaches and surreys and was responsible for transporting nearly 40% of all of Yellowstone's annual visitors. However in 1916 control of the newly founded national park was turned over to the National Park Service which terminated Haynes transportation contract and replaced it with a motorized transportation company under their direct control.

Partly due to the closing of his transportation business, and partly due to his age, Haynes retired in 1916, turning control of the photography business to his son...Jack Ellis Haynes. F Jay Haynes died in 1921.

Although Jack Ellis Haynes continued to sell hand-colored photographs made from his father's negatives, most of his work consisted of machined-produced prints of his father's works, including postcards, travel brochures, Yellowstone Travel Books, etc. The pictures of Jack Ellis Haynes are generally not as collectible as those of his father. Jack ran the family business until the 1950's. He had hoped that his daughter would become the 3rd generation to carry on the family's Yellowstone Park business but his only child, Lida Haynes, died in an automobile accident in 1952 at the age of 20. Jack Ellis Haynes died in 1964.

The volume of Haynes work was tremendous. In addition to 2,400 Stereoviews, Haynes produced thousands of Cabinet Cards, thousands of individual and family portraits, and tens of thousands of hand-colored photographs. Today more than 24,000 glass and film negatives from the Haynes Collection reside at the Montana Historical Society. These include Haynes pictures from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, many of his Northern Pacific Railroad pictures, and of course, his Yellowstone Park images.

What types of Haynes Memorabilia are being collected today? Probably a lot more than you would think.

Views of Yellowstone Park: Probably the Holy Grail of F Jay Haynes collecting is a presentation portfolio of early Yellowstone pictures titled "Views of Yellowstone Park". Henry Vihlein (1844-1922), a nephew of Joseph Schlitz (founder & owner of Milwaukee's Schlitz Brewery) commissioned Haynes to take a series of 12 Yellowstone hand painted pictures which were then bound in a high quality leather-bound book and given to a very limited number of his friends and associates. We have only personally seen one of these complete books and they are considered extremely rare and desirable among Haynes collectors.

Photographs and Stereocards: Haynes Cabinet Cards, Carte-de-Visites, Portraits, and Stereo Cards are highly sought-after by photography collectors. Subject matter and condition will generally determine value.

Hand-Colored Photographs: Haynes hand tinted photographs are highly sought-after by collectors of early 20th c. hand-colored photography. Pretty much the only hand-colored Haynes views that you will find are from Yellowstone Park and usually include Old Faithful, other geysers, Animals, Great Falls, Lower Falls, and other magnificent views throughout the park. These pictures were hand colored in oils in the Haynes Studio and typically sold to Yellowstone visitors and tourists, with some being much rarer than others.

The most desirable are Haynes earliest hand-colored albumen prints which are often unsigned or unmarked in any way. Those earlier hand-colored pictures issued by F Jay Haynes himself are generally more desirable than those later pictures issued by his son.

More often than not Haynes pictures were impressed with the "Haynes" name rather than signed in pencil or pen. Usually "Haynes, Yellowstone Park" or "Haynes Studio, St Paul" will be impressed in small letters, either into the image itself, or into the matting. Usually no more than 30+ commercial Yellowstone titled were sold, yet these came in a multitude of sizes (2.5x5" to 24x36") and in several different formats (matted & close-framed; rectangular & round frames; etc). Round frames and larger sizes are fairly unusual.

Books: Although not an author himself several books have been written about F Jay Haynes including "Following the Frontier" (Freeman Tilden) and "F Jay Haynes, Photographer" (Montana Historical Society). Each of these books include significant Haynes biographical information and reproductions of many of his photographs.

Yellowstone Park Guides: The Haynes Guide was published and updated nearly every year between 1890-1966. These were widely regarded as the best Yellowstone Guidebooks in print and included facts and trivia about Yellowstone Park along with, of course, many Haynes Yellowstone pictures. Most Haynes' Guides were from the later Jack Ellis Haynes years.

Machine-Produced Prints: As time and technology progressed, Haynes' hand-colored pictures were replaced by less expensive machine-produced color litho prints. These prints were sold both individually and in packaged portfolios. Machine-produced prints are from the later Jack Ellis Haynes years and are not nearly as collectible as Haynes' hand-colored pictures.

Postcards, Postcard Folders & Photo Packs: Haynes Yellowstone pictures were widely sold through various individual postcards, souvenir postcard folders, and smaller photo packs. These were sold both by Haynes and through other Yellowstone vendors. Most were from the later Jack Ellis Haynes years.

Yellowstone Souvenir Booklets: Over the years the Haynes Studio either issued their own souvenir photo albums, or had some of their Haynes Yellowstone pictures appear in Yellowstone photo albums and booklets issued by others. We have seen at least six such albums and most likely there are many others. Most of these were from the later Jack Ellis Haynes years.

Miscellaneous Yellowstone Memorabilia: We have also seen other non-Haynes items sold with the "Haynes" name attached. For example we have seen an "Old Faithful" etching that carried both the original artist's name alongside the "Haynes" name. We have seen an R Atkinson Fox Yellowstone print that carried both the "Fox" name on the print and the "Haynes" name impressed into the matting. We have seen governmental Yellowstone publications that featured Haynes pictures. And we have even seen a hand-colored framed window glass designed to attract sunlight through Old Faithful.

So, the next time you hear the name "F Jay Haynes", Yellowstone Park and Western US should immediately come to mind.

Online Health Care Administration Degrees Made Easy

If you have been thinking about starting a career in the health care industry, then maybe you have considered getting your online health care administration degree online? If so you would be preparing yourself for an industry that has a high demand for educated professionals. Getting your online health care administration degree will give you the tools you need to succeed in this business, but where is one aspirant to start when picking a specific college or degree program?

It's not an easy decision to go back to school, especially when you're doing it online. With all of the different schools offering different degree programs it's an even harder choice. The fist thing one should find out is about the specific schools, such as the costs and tuition fees, financial aid opportunities, and credit requirements. Next you need to ask your self what exactly you want to study. There are several different things one can study such as medical coding, medical transcription, bio-medical photography, medical office management, and health information management just to name a few. Then once you have found out what degree will suit you best its time to choose the online school that fits you best.

There are a multitude of things once should take into consideration when choosing a school, for your online health care administration degree. For one is the school accredited? If so, by whom is this school accredited by and is there another school that offers a more qualified program? There are a lot of bogus schools giving out low quality diplomas these days, so it pays to lean as much as you can about a particular school and health care administration in general, before applying for their program.

Some of the best schools are obvious choices, such as DeVry University, The University of Phoenix, and Kaplan University. But now that you have narrowed you choice of schools down what are some of the questions you need to ask? Like, what computer programs are mainly used in the online modules? Will you lean Linux, Oracle, and Cisco skills? Do the course instructors have on job experience in the health care administration field? Do they offer both graduate, and post graduate degrees? And mainly, does the college's degree program help one meet the States licensing requirements? Questions like these will help you narrow down you list of accredited school to the school that is best for you.

Now that you know what school you will be attending, and what program to choose you might want to know a little about what to expect from the course as a whole. When getting a degree in health care administration you can almost guarantee that you will be taking courses, in finance, technology, economics, business administration, marketing, and maybe even policy. The structure of you course will vary depending on if you are studying for an Associates of Arts or Masters, in health administration.

As you can see preparing to get your health care administration degree can be a tough task, but with the right preparation and planning the right school and program can be found. So weather you choose to major in Health Management and Policy, Human Services, or any other specialty, you know that you will be enrolled in the right school to get you on track in one of the most high demand professions in the country.

Improve Your Life, Create Positive Change, Focus on the Things You Love

Are you looking to improve your life and bring about positive change? Do you feel like life sometimes runs away with itself before you get chance to enjoy things? You need to take time out to enjoy the things you love, here is a great way to create this extra time on a daily basis... read on...

What you need my friend is Golden Time! Golden time to enjoy the things you love the most in life. Now, I assume you are reading this because you currently feel that time is of the essence and don't often get chance to do the things you would really like to everyday. Maybe something simple like reading a book, working on your dreams and passions, starting up a new venture relating to the positive aspects in life, anything goes... Your Golden time is time you set aside every day to focus on the things you love.

You just need to make the choice to allocate time each day to focus on these things. It's that simple, I am sure there are times during your day which are wasted due to the speed of life. Maybe you just need to chill out and use the TV as your escape, maybe you get busy being busy when you could actually just allocate a little time each day to do what you love. Make a pact with yourself to get up a little earlier on a morning, even just 15 minutes to start with will make a huge difference to your life. Trust me on this one...

When you can start to spend time each day however small to start with focusing on doing the things you love, you will start to become more positive about your life. You will adapt a habit of checking in with yourself each day and start to feel lighter and happier.

I speak from personal experience here, I used to work a stressful corporate job prior to running my own business, at that time life felt rushed and very busy. I made the choice to dedicate a little time each day towards my passions, what I love to do, Personal Development. Over time this snowballed into my own Personal Development Business which in turn led into the opportunity for me to escape the rat race and live a happy and chilled life on a permanent basis.

Start small ~ the time is now. Follow your dreams and passions, you are the most important thing in your life!

Thank you for reading ~ If you feel you would like to make a positive change in your life and spread your wings and start to fly feel free to visit my website listed below ♥

What Should You Do to Become an Artist?

I get asked this question a lot by friends and colleagues who know I'm a self-taught painter.

Most people assume that to become an artist you need to go to art college. And that is one route, but it's not the only route. In fact, for some people, art college is the worst possible choice. Why? Because that process of teaching can dull the creative fire. I honestly believe if I had gone to art college I would have been expelled! Why? Because I don't conform, and the best artists don't, they create their own path.

Do you know which famous artist didn't go to art college? It was Vincent van Gogh, and look what he created? Not bad.

My route to being a painter was by 'accident'. I was looking for a way to express myself when I discovered I couldn't write during my cancer treatment. When I picked up my first paintbrush, an inner door opened for me, and I fell in love with the whole process of painting. For me, it was and still is a way for me to express my voice.

There are almost certainly clues in your life right now about your artistry. Think back to your childhood - what did you love doing? Who encouraged you the most? Follow those clues as they will give you important information about your next steps.

When you have found your medium, set about educating yourself. Leave no stone unturned, and be conventional and unconventional in your approach.

I found practising artists who tutored me, and I educated myself. I found those tutors by following my nose, not because I had great contacts. I just 'interviewed' several until I knew I'd found the one who I clicked with. That's really important. I asked a lot of questions, and became the apprentice artist while I discovered my path, and I'm still learning. Since I began painting in 2002, I've had joint exhibitions, sold my work, and been commissioned by private and corporate clients to create artworks. Not too shabby.

Start by looking within your networks - who do you know who can advise you? If you draw a blank, expand your search, and get creative with this until you find your tutor.

So if you are asking yourself, 'what should I do to become an artist', here is my formula:

Allow your creativity free reign, and then follow the signs. It's that simple.

Book yourself into that pottery class you've been checking out, sign up for that photography class, or better still, grab your camera, drive to the beach or wilds, and start clicking.

And ask yourself: what do I see? what do I feel? And listen to your answers. You'll know what to do next.

Explore your wild side!

Digital Infrared Ghost Photography - Do Ghosts Really Exist?

Now there's good news for you who believe in ghosts or any mystical beings. Digital infrared ghost photography can help you prove the presence of such superstitious things. Of course, digital infrared photography itself can be used in a professional sense, nevertheless there are lots of things you can do with it for your hobby. All you require to do is preparing the equipment, imagination and the willingness to suspend belief.

A Certain Kind of Camera

You are able to capture the presence of ghosts by using ghost photography with digital infrared. You are able to actually use different kinds of cameras; however this specially designed camera will be best to record and view supernatural activity. Other cameras have this ability too; however using this digital ghost photography will make it easier for you to take photographs of ghosts without having to give too much extra effort.

Digital infrared ghost photography also facilitates you to check the photo right away once you taking it. It is much different with the past, when manual point and shoot cameras needed guesswork when it came to taking pictures of mystical activity. Of course, you never knew if you had been successful in your endeavors until you developed your film. But now, this digital ghost photography can make you can find out whether or not you have captured the ghost image within minutes of taking the picture.

Some people may say that the chances of actually capturing a ghost with digital infrared photography are slim to none. You are able to go to cemeteries and haunted spots as the best places to capture mystical activity-and of course, the camera will work best late at night.

If you finally succeed in taking a picture of a ghost using digital photography, the result might not be what you are expecting. Typically, people will see an orb of light, or maybe several orbs.

A Debatable Hobby

On the other hand, some people may regard the use of digital infrared ghost photography in capturing ghostly images as something that does not make sense.

Why You Need Photography Courses

Photography is not only one of most popular hobby in world today; it is also the most glamorous profession with high-end fashion, models, and nature photography to explore too. Most of us have taken a few great photographs but what is it that makes a professional photograph and an armature photo, not just one thing to answer. The Photography course is the answer to this perhaps.

There are many photography schools offering their courses online and in your area too, the first step is to find them get the information about their style, achievements, fee, and timings. Select the one which suits you and enroll. There are many Universities that offer the Photography in-depth with AA, BFA, BA, MA, MFA, and M Arch with more than 20 specialized research also.

There are different areas in Photography with each having their own set of rules and intricacies, only an in-depth study at the course can sharp the eye with practical to differentiate the Fine art, Landscape, Architectural, Fashion, Event, Wedding, Portrait and studio, Photo-journalism, Advertising, Magazine, Popular, and Digital photography. The Photography courses and teachers in university can really transform the novice photographer into a professional in short time. The great thing about the digital photography is that the results are faster and you can really play with it, this edge can however be much better utilized with sound knowledge and theoretical understanding of the medium.

One of leading photography courses are being offered in San Francisco, by California Academy of Art University. This is largest University in US and has more than 16000 students enrolled. The courses here are created to emphasize the design and academic side of photography along side practices and techniques improvement with practical too. The online courses can also be taken from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. There are more than 17 academic areas at degree level here. Boca Raton, Florida Digital Media Arts College is yet another choice institute with its 24 hours facilities, the photography here is emphasized with animation and incredible graphic design department too.

What Is a Business Lead?

That is the question that you need to consider before you start an online business. Generally, this term pertains to a potential consumer or customer whom you will try to convert into a patron of your site, product, or offered service. A lead is very important, almost critical to your business. The lack of it can hurt your online business, and its abundance can turn you into an instant millionaire or even billionaire. The key to a successful online business then is to draw in as much lead as possible. And you can only do that if you have a good understanding as to what a business lead is, an accurate plan as to the type of business you want to venture in, and which potential market you are trying to take a shot at.

What are the business opportunities you can embark at online? There are a lot. For writers, you can do some freelance writing or if you don't want to concern yourself with deadlines, you can make your own niche and blog away. Techies can find themselves rewarding careers in developing applications for world-class gadget manufacturers, creating websites, and designing jobs, both as freelancer or resident work-from-home employee. Social media people can choose to get a promotion job where they can do what they do best: spreading the word around social networks, forums, and message boards. Posing as middle person in a shipping transaction is also quickly becoming a famous online job; you might find your luck here. There are still so many online opportunities you can look forward to. All you need to do is surf the web.

All the above mentioned opportunities are going to be your basis in finding out what is a business lead as you launch your site online. Try to identify what your business or service-for-hire will be, and start making contacts to get as much sales leads as possible. To do that, you need to start sending out information and details about your soon-to-open business. Be creative on this as this is where the strength of your site and market will depend on. Make an auto responder for your potential leads apart from your personal message addresses. By doing so, you will easily sort things out, especially in the process of generating customers in the future. This will also keep you organized when your online business starts to pick up attention and sales. As you know it, you may lack time to do so in the future. In the end, it will be very beneficial that you have tried to learn so much than what you need to learn as to what is a business lead is and its importance to your online business.

Professional Wedding Photography

The steady, ongoing work produced from wedding photography generates the majority of new clients for most photography studios and freelance photographers. A wedding photographer will need to comfortable with the following activities & skills:

• Candid shots (photojournalistic) and posed shots


• Making slides, prints, and slideshows (digital or otherwise)


• Traditional albums


• Taking shots in the outdoors at a party, beach, or rustic locale


• Snapping shots indoors at a temple or church

In the late 1860's in America, couples started hiring photographers and posing at the wedding. The art form of photography for the wedding was created by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826. However, the idea of live action shots and of capturing the event itself came up after the Second World War. Often, the photographers would just show up inconspicuously at a wedding, snap the photos, and venture to sell them later on to the family. This forced studios to start covering the events, lest they be booted out by freelance photographers.

After the wedding is over, a small time lapse is incurred, and, thereafter the photographer shows "proofs" to the couple. The proofs can be in the form of prints, thumbnail galleries, or all of the images on CD-ROM. They may also make separate galleries or slideshows, and they're sometimes themed.

Photographers may sell additional prints to the couple through a web site with thumbnail galleries and an e-commerce back-end, often in conjunction with a vendor or broker website that charges a commission for each print purchase.

The common types of wedding photography include the photojournalistic realism and spontaneous photographer behavior of some, the classic or traditional posed method, and a hybrid of the two called fashion-based wedding photography.

In big cities, there are often studios devoted to wedding photography because photography for the wedding is such a mammoth market in metropolitan areas. People are always moving in and out and getting married. Take a look at a portfolio of the photographer's former work for assurance.

The Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI), the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), and, especially, the Wedding Photojournalists Association (WPA) offer training, professional support, and tips to member photographers.

The Use of Observation in Research

Observation involves looking at a particular setting, and can be done in various ways, from informally watching what is going on to structuring the looking process in some way, such as by noting what is observed at particular times or counting the number of people, vehicles, or behavior at a particular site. In some cases, the observer can watch unobtrusively, like a bystander, without identifying him or herself to the people being observed. In other cases, the observer can participate in the behavior being observed, either with the knowledge of the other participants or without their knowledge, where they think the observer is just another member of the group. Such observation can also occur with the observer noting only what he or she can with the naked eye; in other cases, the observer can use special equipment, such as time-lapse photography, video, or aerial photography to take pictures of the behavior.

The major situations where observation is more appropriate than other methods include the following:

- Observing child's play, such as to determine what type of play activities or equipment children prefer, and the differences in play of different types of children, such as boys and girls or children from different ethnic groups. Such activity is best observed, since it can be difficult to interview and get answers about their play from children, especially those who are very young, and therefore don't have the verbal ability or may not feel comfortable talking to an adult interviewer.

- Assessing the usage patterns in informal recreation areas, where there is no entrance charge, so there is no way to control access or obtain a count, such as by collecting tickets. Also, this approach might be useful if most visitors arrive by car, even if there is a charge for each vehicle, since the number of people using the site can vary for each vehicle.

- Determining the way people use the site based on where they locate themselves in the site or what activities they engage in there;

- Determining the demographic characteristics or user profile of users, since a brief questionnaire might not provide this information or show how different types of people use the facility differently;

- Describing deviant behavior, since people may not want to talk to an interviewer or answer a questionnaire about the behavior they engage in that is considered deviant, because it is unacceptable or against the rules;

- Observing consumer behavior or observing the kind of experience consumers have in a store or leisure facility, such as through mystery shopping; such observation might be used to assess the quality of the services consumers receive or look at the way consumers respond to leisure displays and make purchases;

- Conducting observations as complementary research to counteract the effects of different sampling patterns, such as when there are more individuals who are interviewed or respond to a questionnaire at one time of day and much fewer individuals at another time, or when the type of individuals are different at these different times - such as when there are more families with kids during the day and more single adults later in the early evening.

- Observing the way people behave and interact in everyday life, such as when Erving Goffman distinguished between the way people behave differently in public and private spaces.

- Making observations to develop theories about how people behave in different social environments using induction from one's observations to build theories.

For example, say you wanted to do a study of the attitudes, motivation, perception of value, race, ethnicity, culture, and gender in a new start-up recreation and entertainment business, you might do the following.

- You could observe the demographic characteristics or user profile of the users by being present when consumers come to use the service or by training the employees providing the service to note these characteristics for each customer. It would be best to make such observations with the naked eye, since it would probably not be a good idea to use camera or video equipment to observe, since consumers might not feel comfortable being photographed using the service and it seems unethical and a violation of the privacy expected in using such a service to have hidden cameras. It would be helpful to know such demographic information about the age, gender, race, and ethnicity of the consumers and note any differences in their usage on different times and days, since this could help in marketing and promoting the service to these target markets.

- You could use an observation of consumer behavior or of the kind of experience that consumers have in a store or leisure facility to see what the actual experience is for the consumer and to see the kind of interaction that occurs between the consumer and the service provider. Such observation might be useful as a form of quality control to assess whether the consumer fully enjoys the experience and whether the employees are effective in providing this service. Then, this observation might be related to whether the customer uses the service again or the customer's rating of the service on a questionnaire.

- You could use an observation of the way people behave and interact in everyday life to look at how people go to the facility to use the service, much like Ervin Goffman and other researchers in sociology and anthropology have observed people participating in activities in bars and restaurants. It might be helpful to observe how people learn about the service, sign up for, and experience the activity, say at a trade show or business fair, which might help to improve the methods of attracting people to the service and improving the service provided.

- Finally, you could make observations to develop theories about how people behave in different social environments, such as by looking at how different types of people participate in the experience in different settings. For example, businessmen experiencing the service at a conference or trade show might differ from women experiencing the service at a shopping mall, and teenagers experiencing the service at a party or community center might differ from older adults experiencing it at a restaurant, bar, or massage therapy center. It might be helpful to observe the different behaviors and use induction to develop some theories about different motivations and perceptions of value of different types of consumers in different settings.

What Type of Photo Should I Choose to Print on Canvas?

The short answer is whatever you want! You have that special photograph of a person, a place, a pet, etc. that you want to have printed on canvas for all the elegance canvas lends to an image. But, you wonder if it will work.

Most companies printing photos on canvas use the gallery-wrap method for stretching. This means that the image will wrap completely around the stretcher bars and the canvas will be stapled to the back. This leaves clean, staple-free sides of continued image, precluding the need for a frame - ready to hang! In order to gallery wrap, the subject of the photo needs to be enough in the center of the image so there is unimportant area on each side (top, bottom, right, left) to wrap around the stretcher bars. A photo of a person or group of people where faces,heads and the like are right to the edges will create some problems.

There are different size stretcher bars but the two most common sizes are.75 inches wide and 1.5 inches wide. The width of these bars determines how far the canvas sits off the wall. Whatever size bars are used, the printing company will need at least that much extra image on each side to facilitate a successful wrap.

If a photo is deficient of this extra image surrounding the subject of the photo, there are a couple of choices to fix the problem. Depending on the nature of the image, it may be possible to extend the extra image area to accommodate the needs for wrapping by cloning the image or by mirroring the areas in question. Again, the nature of the area must be suitable for either of these methods.

Another way to get around the lack of extra image is to print the image only to the face of the canvas. This method still allows the canvas to be wrapped to the back for clean, staple-free sides but the image will not. You would have a choice to leave the sides white or have a color added. There is a bit of a down side to this method due to the fact that canvas does stretch and there will inevitably be some bleed over to one or more sides, however, this bleed over is usually negligible. The canvas print company will make every effort to keep the image aligned to the edges but, as it is imperative that the canvas be very taut, that need will supersede alignment and there will nearly always be some degree of bleed over.

Of course, beyond the placement of the photograph, there are considerations for resolution and image quality that will effect the outcome of the canvas. But that is a whole other subject. Suffice it to say that you would want a photo that has high resolution and least compressed image quality. Printing your photo on canvas not only extends the life of the image (typically for 100 years!) but gives it a life that paper just does not come close to, frequently making it look like a fine oil painting.

You will want your canvas print company to not just print your photo as received, rather, you want one that will see all that your photo is and can be and will do all it can to make the transfer successful. So choose your cherished photo and enter the classy, elegant world of photos on canvas. You will be very glad you did!

Check Out Different Photo Albums And Gift Wonderful Memories

Photo albums are the best way of wrapping up memories and gifting them to people you love. So, one should try to find the right type of albums that are suited for different celebrations and enjoy their times.

Photographs are one of the best ways of remembering the good old times that you have spent together. There are a lot of different types of photo albums that you can find in the market. The amount of variety which you can find in these albums is whopping.

People play with their creative imagination while designing albums and thus you can find photo albums that have been customized for different occasions. You can spot albums for birthday or even other occasions like success party, friendships day, parents day and so on.

So, based upon the moment and occasions which you want to celebrate, you can buy photo albums in accordance with the theme. Not only this, there are a lot of sites which can guide you in the process of making the albums. If you like to design the albums yourself, you can simply follow the instructions, customize the layouts and design the albums as per your own needs and demands.

Photograph albums are generally treasured a great deal because they are a gateway to the euphoric memories of the past. When you scroll through the pages of an album, you are bound to be lost in the powerful memories that you have. Every photograph tells a different story and you would be revisiting those glorious days of the past.

So, you should carefully explore the possible options and check out the different layouts and designs of photo albums and keep an eye out for the price factor as well. If you have a budget constraint, you should buy the albums accordingly because there is no point in overshooting your budget.

So, try to find those sites that can give you the best quality of albums that have a rich creative and fresh look to it and can be bought at justified prices as well. Make it a point not to compromise on quality because they are one of the most prized possessions which people are likely to keep with them since time immemorial. So, either design the albums yourself and give it a personalized touch or you can buy the albums and then customize it leaving your own mark and making it even more beautiful.

Once you are done with the layout of the albums, you should then insert pictures in between as it will enhance the look and appeal significantly. So, if you are thinking of the best present that you can give to your parents, the right thing to do is to get a good photograph album and fill it with pictures of the most beautiful days of your past. No doubt, people love to relive their happy moments and thus albums are still one of the most amazing gifts.

Ten Out of the Box Fund Raising Ideas For Artists and Musicians

Times are tough and holding on to a job means more now than ever. Still, there's a little voice in your head that's getting louder. It's your creativity talking. Your gut tells you to venture out on your own, but you're afraid of taking money away from paying the bills, so you hold back and don't take a risk. There's no time to get that second or third job to raise the funds you need to develop and brand your creative talent. So you have to think about alternatives that will support your quest toward a creative career.

The typical artist and musician spends most of their creative hours working for someone else. When you finally get home, your responsibilities are waiting for you -- and all the while, you're thinking ... if I only had ... $$. You can put in your own dollar figure and match it to whatever project burns inside you. Would you like your own art show? Are you itching to record that catalog of songs you've been writing all your life? Do you have a book in a drawer somewhere collecting dust? How about a two month leave of absence to get out on the road?

Today is a great day to start building that financial nest egg you need to further your arts career. So cut loose any negative thoughts and dump the treasure chest that holds your excuses when you're afraid of getting out of your comfort zone!

Here's a plan you can follow that will do the job, if you're ready to commit to yourself and take the plunge!

• Set up realistic goal and milestones. For example, by August 15Th, I want to raise $5,000. That's your goal. Along the way you'll need milestones to track your progress. Set up a log book, calendar, napkin list - whatever you're comfortable with - and pencil in the time to commit to your plan so you'll reach your goal. Here's an example of how the process flows:


• Week 1 - Research funding ideas. Find volunteers to help you (your mom, kids, spouse, friend, etc) and figure out what tasks you need get done. Prepare something to say, so you won't stumble or sound awkward before you pitch the idea to them. Examples of tasks to get done are things like designing/printing flyers, passing out business cards, baking cookies, or whatever talent lies in your social group. Next, create a time table. If your volunteers are like my family, put up your "To Do" list and see who wants to pick which task. You can communicate via email or on Google docs. Not everyone has to be in the same town to help you. You must train your volunteers. You don't want them to send mixed messages about you as a brand. Make sure they understand your vision and equip them to answer questions. Have a contingency plan in place if you lose a volunteer or two along the way.


• Week 2 - Mark specific dates and times you will set aside for your project in a calendar. (Sundays from 7am-9am, Tuesdays from 6pm-8pm, etc). It doesn't have to be fancy. You can use conference calls, SKYPE (free to download, free calls), or have a living room board meeting to train and reward your volunteer staff. Open a small business bank account to keep those funds clearly separate. Whenever you want to sell something on line, it's a good idea to get a Pay Pal account to make collecting fees easy, inexpensive and pain free.


• Week 3 - Check-in on volunteer progress and hold them (and yourself) accountable. Give pep talks when needed. Remember these are volunteers. Share progress reports, "Hey friends, our flyer is ready to hit the streets", or "we sold our first product", or "we have made the first $100 toward our goal." Success breeds success. Come up with little incentives and broadcast the winners to your volunteer support community. You get the idea.


• Week 4 - Check-in, adjust the plan, track and share progress, take photos of making deposits at the bank. MAKE IT FUN!

Now for the fund raising ideas. As you read them, you'll probably be inspired and come up with some ideas of your own. If you do have a great idea that is tried and true, please share with my readers by using the contact page at the fund-raising forum at Rising Star Artists. We'll publish the best ideas and give you credit for your work, and give you advertising space on our website for 30 days. Rising Star will also feature your idea in our newsletter! (check for details and terms on the website)

1. Book Sale - Get book donations from your friends and neighbors and host a sale. Many people are happy to clear off a space from an overflowing bookshelf. Used college text books are especially sought after. You can donate left-overs to libraries or look for book dealers that may want to snatch up what you couldn't sell. You could post the book sale in a publication like the Penny Saver, Craigslist or any other free outlet. Sometimes for a small fee, a local newspaper lets you put up an add in the classifieds where they list yard sales and estate sales. If you plan on a yard-sale type event, remember to pass out flyers to your neighbors and homes within a 1/2 mile radius of where you live, at LEAST two days before the event. Come up with a theme for the sale (everyone wears black t-shirts and a white cap). You can even buy a side-door car magnet for about $15 (VistaPrint does a great job with these) so you'll be advertising wherever your car is parked. If you only have funds for one side-door magnet, pass it around each day to a different volunteer and get more people to see it.


2. T-Shirt Advertising - Many companies offer T-shirts printed with a message and even have templates you can use to design your shirt. Ask your volunteers to pay for their own shirt and ask them to wear it whenever possible - make sure the design is hip enough for people to WANT to wear it. Everyone needs clothes right? This is another way to advertise your art/music and get your volunteers involved. Reactee has a great product where people see your message on a T-shirt and text you. The system sends back an automated message so you don't have to worry about spending all day on your cell phone. It's a good way to advertise, you can even change the auto-response message.


3. GO GREEN - Collect recyclables! This is a great way to get your kids involved or anyone else on your volunteer team. Set a day of the week for scavenging and give kudos to the best team. You may want to give each team a color, like the green team, red team, so you'll know who wins the day. Give away a small prize. It could be a coupon book from McDonald's and if you can afford a gift card - go for it! You don't have to look too hard to find discarded plastic bottles and cans. Collect them and sell to recycle companies that pay you. Look up local recycling centers in your area and find the one that pays the best!


4. eBay - Your own home is a treasure trove for unwanted items. Did you stop playing that clarinet from high school? Auctions like eBay are a good place to sell collectible and small items. You don't want to have to figure out how to ship a large piece of furniture or a TV. But, if you have some great trinkets or don't use Grandma's dishes, this could be the way to go. Look around your house (and/or ask your volunteers for donations) and see what you can come up with that would have some value and would be easy to ship.


5. CD/DVD/Game collections - Are you completely in love with your MP3 player? When was the last time you listened to those Cd's you have stored away? If there are some Cd's you still love, just upload them and store on your hard drive to put on a play list. You can sell gently used Cd's/DVDs and Games either on eBay or at Second Spin. I like Second Spin because you know what your getting and don't have to wait for an auction to close. Again, you can ask for CD/DVD or game donations from your resource pool.


6. Farmer's Market - It may sound corny, but I know many people who use this method all the time. Some families are blessed with bakers who don't mind donating their time if you donate the ingredients. You can advertise your Farmer's market though some of the ways mentioned earlier like flyers or maybe an ad on Craigslist. Plan to hold one say every Sunday morning from 7am-9am and do this for a month. If your family baker is really good, people will come back each week to pick up that loaf of bread, favorite pie or big slice of chocolate cake. In some cases, you can take orders in advance with a deposit (so you can buy the ingredients) and then the item will be ready for the buyer when your Farmer's market opens again. Make sure you check with your town to find out if you need a permit or special license.


7. Karaoke or Talent Show - Do you belong to a club or know of a place that rents space inexpensively? If so, have a karaoke contest or talent show and charge admission. You can make it a fun event and take 10% of the proceeds to offer a cash prize to the winner or ask local merchants to donate a free service or product. (TV, DVD player, grocery gift card, gas gift card, etc). Remember to give yourself enough time to advertise and get those volunteers to work passing out flyers and offering a discount for advance sale tickets. Charge a higher price at the door.


8. Yard Sale - Tried and true. Help a family member clean out their attic or garage and in return ask if you can keep 50% of the proceeds from the sale. You'd be surprised how many women would jump at the chance to have someone help clear out their garage or attic and help with a yard sale. Husband's can be let off the hook and come home to a clean garage.


9. Portrait Photography - If you're a photographer, here's a win-win type of fund raising event that can help promote yourself and help a fellow artist/musician at the same time. The idea is this. You'll need a place to take photos. Check community centers, halls, sometimes even restaurants will rent or give you space. The photographer gives away a free portrait, say an 8x10, the individual just pays a session fee. The photographer will be able to show off their talent and expand their potential repeat client base or up sell a bigger package and the organizer will get a percentage of the session fees. Many artists and musicians need photos, and families love portraits, so you may be able to draw a large crowd. The session photographer needs to recoup expenses, so keep that in mind when negotiating and factor in the cost of the space rental to decide on a session fee. If you don't know any photographers, look for new shops opening or advertising on line and see if you can come up with a working partnership.


10. On line Fund Raising - When someone comes to your door with a list of magazines, don't you just groan? Here's a twist that should help you raise the funds you need by putting your volunteers to use (especially those that LOVE the Internet). Join blogs for about any subject (sports, politics, parenting, etc) and target your magazine sales just to that one group. One way to do this is to let people know a magazine subscription is a gift that gives all year. The subscriber (or gift giver) can save up to 85% off newsstand prices! Fundraiser.com has a good deal going, so you may want to check there. Subscriptions are great for nieces and nephews and they look forward to getting their own mail - it's a great add-on to a holiday or birthday gift. A co-worker may want to buy a subscription for a spouse as a surprise to support their hobby (wood-working, crafting, writing, etc). I'm sure you can think of other ideas to match a product to a buyer.

Now you're ready to get started and make your project a success. Remember, the key is to start with a realistic goal, solicit volunteers, and stick to your plan!!

Study at Home Digital Photography Classes

For anyone interested in study at home digital photography classes, there are a wealth of options available on the Internet. From professional online photography schools to free online photography lessons, there are truly more study at home digital photography classes available now than ever. Given that digital photographs are so widely distributed on the Internet, it makes sense that so many online resources are available.

This article will guide you through the three most common options for study at home digital photography classes.

Online Digital Photography Schools

For the serious student of digital photography, there are accredited universities that now offer entire photography degree programs online. The Academy of Art University, founded and based in San Francisco, CA, is one such school that offers a completely online photography degree program.

The major curriculum is heavily focused on digital photography techniques and includes such classes as:

- Digital Photography
- Photo shop for Photographers
- Digital Production for Photographers
- Advanced Digital Printing

In addition to accredited schools that have a diploma program, there are also independent companies that offer certificates and instruction in digital photography. It is important to do some research to see if the company you are considering taking lessons from is an accredited institution that can offer a valid diploma or a private company offering instruction and certificates of completion.

Online Digital Photography Classes

If you are not looking to earn a degree in digital photography but still want to take a course taught by college-level professors, local community colleges and vocational-technical schools generally offer study at home digital photography classes either online or through other distance learning arrangements. Most four year universities also offer adult learning, noncredit courses available on the Internet or by correspondence.

Free Online Digital Photography Lessons, Tips and Articles

There are also a sizable number of free study at home digital photography classes and lessons available on the Internet. Another great thing about these free offerings is that you can pick and choose from many different classes and take the courses or read the articles on your own time.

One especially fantastic free online resource is the site http://www.shortcourses.com. Some of the lessons include:

- Using Your Digital Camera
- Digital Photography
- Displaying & Sharing Your Digital Photos

About.com also has many articles available on their site; you can either search for "digital photography" using their site search tool, or visit http://photography.about.com for general and digital-specific photography lessons, tips and articles. A Google search for "digital photography lessons" will also yield many different results for you to read and learn from.

Conclusion

Thanks to the far reach and convenience of the Internet, study at home digital photography classes and lessons are easily available for you to pursue on your own time. In addition to the resources listed above, you will find that there are many wonderful communities out there that will also guide you in your quest to learn and master the art of digital photography.

Opening Your Mind to Creative Photo Shoots

Family Photography Options

If you're into the field of family photography and creativity, you should open yourself up to many great ideas. Sure, studio photographs look neat and classy, but if you're going to limit yourself to that, there's a likely chance that your shoots will become a boring venture in the long run since there isn't anything new about it anymore.

Exploring options is a chance for you to improve your skills and knowledge, and also to make yourself a more interesting photographer in the eyes of potential clients. One option that you have is to try and explore outdoor locations, since it can provide you with various setups to work on. Here are some ideas that you can try out:

1. Shooting in the beach- one good thing about beach locations is that it is bathed in natural light, most especially if it's the summer season. Take advantage of this natural light by doing shoots at different times of the day. If you want some drama in your shoot, do it during the sunrise or sunset, since the sky's colors are at its most vibrant during these times.


2. Shooting during a fireworks display - shooting with fireworks in the background adds flair to an ordinary nighttime photograph. However, since there is very minimal source of natural light during the night, there's a chance that your subjects will get washed away in the photograph, most especially if you're newbie who doesn't know yet how to tweak default camera settings. Do not let this good chance to get great pictures and great memories go to waste: experiment with nighttime photography prior to your fireworks shoot.


3. Shooting in a garden - gardens provide the most colorful backdrop in just about any season (except perhaps during winter time). And just like the beach, gardens are usually expose to natural light, which aids in enhancing its colors. Have your shoot in the midday to take advantage of these lush and vibrant colors. However, just like in nighttime photography, take care not to let your subjects drown in the background. However beautiful the setting might be, the family should still be the focus of the photograph.

These are just some family photography suggestions offered by more seasoned photographers. You can still come up with your own ideas if you wish: As long as you know how to make your ideas work, you shouldn't be afraid to use them.

Graduation Gown's History And Attire For Your Graduation

Each formal occasion has its own rules and conventions to follow and a graduation ceremony is no exception. The graduation traditions that we follow now were started since the middle ages.

The tradition of graduations started in the 12th and 13th centuries, when universities were taking shape. They didn't have central heating then. Most classes were conducted in a church or nearby buildings. Historians suggest that universities were started by clerics themselves. Back in those days any scholar be it be a student or a teacher wore the dress of a cleric. There were very few exceptions. A medieval scholar normally would belong to at least some orders, made certain vows and may have been tonsured - so they wear long gowns with hoods to cover their bald heads. That got replaced only by the skull cap.

It wasn't until 1321 that a statue of University of Coimbra that all "Doctors, Licentiates, and Bachelors" wear gowns. By the second half of the 14th century in England there were statues of a couple of colleges that restricted 'excess in apparel' and decreed that the long gown be worn. In the late 15th and 16th centuries under the reign of Henry VIII, Oxford and Cambridge Universities started decreeing a definite academic dress. The universities even had control down to the minor details of clothing.

Later on, the graduation gown color was standardized largely because of contributions by Gardner Cotrell Leonard of Albany, New York in the late 19th century. Mr. Leonard designed graduation gowns for his class at Williams College in 1887 - they were made by Cotrell and Leonard - his family firm in Albany. He wrote an article about the academic dress in 1893 which got him invited to work with Intercollegiate Commission and led to having a standardized system of academic attire. This Commission met at Columbia University in 1895 and adopted the code for academic dress. They not only regulated the cut and style and materials of the graduation gowns, they also assigned the colors to each of the various academic disciplines.

That's how the traditions of graduation gowns got started. But what are YOU supposed to wear to your graduation ceremony apart from the graduation gown? The first thing to do is to check with your school or college for specific rules. A lot of colleges would already have rules and guide lines for the graduation or commencement ceremony.

Remember that your graduation would most likely fall between May and June so think light clothing. You can't get rid of the graduation gown but you can wear light and airy fabrics like cotton and linen.
Ladies should wear something easy and elegant like a simple dress or a skirt and blouse. If your graduation gown is white or yellow, make sure you wear a light color underneath - not only will it be cooler the outline won't show up in your graduation pictures!

The gentlemen might need to wear a tie depending on school customs. Even if your school is not forcing you to wear it, get one anyway - it just looks nice and formal. You can get a rep tie or a foulard and wear with with a neatly pressed shirt in white, blue or any other pale color. Either a spread collar or button down are fine. As far as the pants go, wear a neatly pressed casual khaki or olive drab trousers - dress trousers are not a necessity.

Your graduation shoes should be moderately dressy, either flats or pumps are fine but nothing that you'd go into the mosh pit to. Gentlemen graduates should wear either a loafer or dress shoe. At any time, please do not wear jeans or shorts, flip-flops, sandals, tennis shoes or bunny slippers - keep them in your bed room or dorm.

At your graduation ceremony do not affix a message out of masking tape letters to the top of the mortarboard or the back of the gowns. Now that you know the history of your gown and what you're supposed to wear, the only thing left is to enjoy your graduation because it is something that you've earned.

This article on graduation attire may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Starting a Business in Wedding Photography

Becoming a Professional Wedding Photographer

Creating a successful wedding photography business is a lot of hard work but doesn't come without its rewards. Just because you can take a good picture doesn't mean that you are ready to start your own wedding photography business. There are many stages involved in building a successful wedding photography business. Believing in yourself and your abilities as a photographer is essential in starting your new business in wedding photography.

Some things to consider when starting out. What makes your images unique, for example, are your images more of a photojournalistic style capturing candid moments, and working in all natural light? or do you enjoy working with off camera flash in a studio like setting. Always be true to yourself, find your own creative style. If you perfect your skills in a certain style of photography you're passionate about this is the best way to building confidence in yourself. Practice on friends and family, but don't take their word for how good your work is as naturally they are going to be bias. The average customer you will get as a wedding photographer is going to be more critical about your work.

You might be wondering how to get exposure out in the field? You currently have no portfolio to show potential clients, and no experience dealing with new clients. From my experience, one of the best ways to start out in the Wedding Photography business and start building your portfolio is to find work as an assistant or second shooter for an already established photographer or studio. This is the best way gain confidence, and get first hand experience not just for producing some great images, but also customer service and learn how to direct a shoot. Even at this early stage you should always carry a backup camera.

I wouldn't recommend taking on a friends wedding as the main photographer, this is way too much of a responsibility, even if you think you are well prepared. Its their special day and shouldn't be time for you to practice wedding photography.

You need to also be critical of your photography. Know that you're good, but also know where there is room for improvement. Rather than trying to compete with a million other wedding photographers out there, set yourself a personal high standard. If your not at the level you need to be at, find a photographers work that you admire, research what makes them successful, understand the quality of work they have to offer and know whats involved in producing it. Forget about the rest, there are a lot of ordinary photographers out there too. Remember you need to aim high. Research what you need to get to that high level. You can never spend enough time researching new photographic methods and the latest equipment on the market. Always use your camera in manual mode, know your equipment like the back of your hand. This will give you the confidence and practical skill that you will need as a professional.

It is also of great importance to be proficient in post processing, spend plenty of time using Lightroom and photoshop, buy photography magazines, watch tutorials online, you can educate yourself, as everything you need for honing your photographic skills is online. I've always thought that if you do a course in photography, you are only ever going to be as good as the person that teaches you, their technique is not necessarily the best, teaching yourself builds more confidence, you are learning your own style not someone else's!

After gaining some experience as a second shooter, and you have your own portfolio, you might be thinking that your ready to begin your own business, remember not to don't rush into it. Try to save as much money as you can from your assisting work to go towards advertising your business. If you have enough work on as a paid second shooter you can think about advertising your business locally and online, and see what kind of response you get. If you have a good contact that you are assisting for that has plenty of work, I wouldn't recommend moving on to your own business until you are close to fully booked for a year.

When setting your prices an important factor is knowing your value. don't set your prices too low, people will second guess your quality, even if you do great work, they will perceive it differently. Of course don't charge too much either if you are just starting out, you don't want to lose clients because you're too expensive! I find smack bang in the middle is a good option. That way clients won't second guess your prices. If they like your work enough they normally have a set budget for their wedding photography, and they'll hire you. The average for photographic coverage with all images in high-resolution on a disk is $2500, this doesn't include an album, but with the disk they can print as many photos as they like for their own personal use, and perhaps create their own album.

Establish a relationship with a local print lab learn about the proper conversion of files from digital to print, get some test prints done and figure out what type of finish best displays your work. Make sure you have a logo, and business email, its these finishing touches that make a big difference in how you present your business.

Look into wedding album suppliers, and have some ideas for when a client requests an album, getting a sample album made up is a good option, you can take this or an iPad with you to show clients your portfolio.

When running your own wedding photography business, start locally. Pick an area and start advertising with local business linked to weddings. That includes:

Dress makers

Cake makers

limo drivers

wedding planners

wedding venues etc.

Get some quality business cards and brochures made up to give to them. A good idea is to offer a finders fee for any referrals. 10-20% is a good amount. This will mean that they will be actively promoting you by passing on your business cards, and brochures and recommending your work to new customers looking for photographers.

After registering your business, you should be promoting your own website online. A great way is doing some SEO - search engine optimisation, again, this takes a lot of time and research, but you will reap the rewards if you put the hard work in. There are great tools online that will scan your website for keywords, meta titles and tags, this is how people find your website. If you don't promote it online, you will not have a presence. People will never see your work. Pick only your best images to display online. Photomerchant.net offers some great web templates specific to a professional photographers needs with pages in HTML format which you need for optimising your site. Make sure you monitor your site online using Google analytics and web master tools. If its not performing as well as you'd hoped, you can do tweak as necessary by doing more SEO.

There are plenty of wedding photography business listings online that are worthwhile to sign upto, a lot are free, and some can charge $100 or more per month, most of the time their reasoning behind charging that much money is because they get so many views per month. Check compete.com, this shows how popular their site is and then maybe you can possibly trial them for a month and see if you get any leads.

A very important aspect of being a wedding photographer is your customer service skill, always be on the ball and be very clear with your clients, don't wait to long to reply to their emails, and keep them unto date with whats happening by confirming their payments, and delivering contracts to them.

Its very fulfilling when you start your business from scratch. Your images should speak for themselves when it comes to marketing yourself, but with wedding photography producing great images is 50% and the other 50% is great customer service. If they loved working with you they are going to pass on the good word to their friends and family. Do your job well, and you will find most of your work is in referrals.

Mom-and-Son Dates

Our lives can get a little crazy sometimes and juggling multiple tasks and obligations can get exhausting, leaving us very little energy to spend quality time with loved ones. Mom and son dates are a great way to for mothers to reconnect with her special little guy and to ensure quality bonding time because you are out of the house, having one-on-one interaction. Plan something special for him: lunch and movie, an afternoon in the arcade, a picnic in the park, or even just a short visit to a coffee shop for hot chocolate and donuts, to let him know that he's your little Valentine. Please, don't be put off by the eye-rolling or bashful "nooOOOooo"s, you will both have oodles of fun and it's such a great way for the both of you to just enjoy each others company.

Other than being a great way to bond and spend time together, mom-son dates can do a lot for your son's development emotionally and socially. Children who are quiet, especially those with older, chatty siblings, will have the chance to try out their own words and expressing themselves (without the eager help of their big sis or bro to finish their sentences). Talking becomes much less intimidating when you're one-on-one with mom, making it much easier to come out of a shell. And if you have more than one kiddo, it's also a rare opportunity for you to have this one-on-one time. Mothers with more than one children can at times feel guilty about not having enough time or attention to go around all the time, and setting aside the time and getting out of the house for this date is a nice way to get back in touch with your kids. Plan a date with each kid, and include him in the planning to get him excited!

If you find the stress and frustration level rising at home, with your son being crabbier than usual, take him out on a date. Mom-son dates are also a great stress and anxiety-reliever, for both you and your son. He gets an opportunity to express or explore what is troubling him with you outside of the usual environment and you get to re-assure him it's not the end of the world and shower him with your affections. You will both come home more relaxed and happy. These dates are a great habit to develop because it reminds you to take time out for your loved ones in your busy life. I know grown men who still go on these mom-son dates (my boyfriend is one and he goes out for coffee or lunch with his mom at least once a month) and I think it's wonderful. Call me crazy, but I find these men to be more communicative with, and less intimidated by, women, and they will absolutely hold the door and pull out chairs.

With boys that are a little older and are surrounded and pummeled with the "boy culture" at school and with friends, mom-son dates can help him balance that out. Taking time with him, talking and listening, on these outings will allow him a space to express his feelings and sensitive side. Who knows - maybe your tween guy will remember how to use words again and venture beyond the usual monosyllable grunts. Little humans always grow up too fast, and you might learn something new about each other every time you go on a mom-son date.

Wedding Photography Etiquette Of a Professional Photographer

Everything done in the world has some etiquette and ethics. A person who is professional is considered professional not only because of the expertise in his work but also for his etiquettes. If you are a new photographer or becoming one, you should know the wedding photography etiquette so your success as a photographer is unhindered. There is no rocket science involved in being well-mannered during wedding photography however these small things must be in knowledge of a photographer so his personality and behavior during photography is a self-marketing campaign.

Just Stay Professional

The word professional is overused these days especially when you search online for expert services but only a few people know about its strict meaning. One of the most essential traits of a professional of any field is patience and wedding photography etiquette require the same from you. Whatever promises you have made and committed to the families must be met on the wedding day. You must make sure to reach the occasion on time and leave on the specified time not before or after, unless some changes are made on the spot. Stay very patient and polite because you will be bumping in a lot of guests during the party.

Don't Be The Hero Of The Party

Remember, you have to let the groom be the hero of this party and reflect this in photographs as well. You wouldn't want to come in front and dominate the guests during various rituals and rites. You must make sure to be flowing like silent stream in the party and your presence should not even be felt. Just imagine a director's presence in the movie who is present in all the scenes but you never see him on the screen. Avoid interference with the guests as much as possible.

Proper Dress Code

This is probably the most important wedding photography etiquette. You must remember yourself as a photographer not as a part of the family unless you are given some special instructions about the dress code. Regardless of whether they wear formal or informal dresses on the wedding, you must make sure to be formal and presentable. If you are confused about your dressing, just consult with the wedding parties i.e. bride or groom, about the right dress code for you.

Untying The Knots

This could be an extra job for the photographer but that's where your true skills come into play. Several people will be having several wishes for their pictures. Everyone will request some new pose in the picture. There could be a conflict of opinions between the bride and groom on how to or how not to pose in the picture. This is the time when your knowledge of photography will allow you to find a middle way that solves the problem then and there.

Let The Humor Be Humorous

This is one of the most difficult parts of wedding photography etiquette. If you find something funny happening in the venue you have to make sure to capture it in the most professional way. Not too close and not too far, just enough distance to catch that funny moment without making it look horrendous.

Photographing Sedona Arizona - A Shooter's Paradise

One of my favorite places on earth to take pictures is Sedona, Arizona. My wife and I have been going up to Sedona for vacations for the last eleven years. From the red rocks to Oak Creek Canyon and Slide Rock a photographer will find hundreds of locations to shoot. Whether it is winter, fall or spring the beauty is everywhere. Not in the summer though, it is just too stinking hot.

Getting to Sedona is easy. Heading out of Phoenix up I-17 toward Flagstaff and take SR 179 to Sedona. You will need to stop at the The Forest Service Administration Offices just south of the Village of Oak Creek on highway 179 to purchase a Red Rock Pass parking permit (required almost everywhere in the region). If you are coming from Flagstaff, you can head down I-17 to SR 179 or you can take the scenic route and when you leave Flagstaff, take the Airport road down Highway 89 through Oak Creek Canyon (as I describe below).

You can then backtrack into the Village of Oak Creek and take Verde Valley School Road South to its end to see the "backside" of Red Rock Crossing. Great pictures of the most famous of Sedona photo scenes at Cathedral Rock can be taken there, especially if it is wet or raining. Look for standing pools of water for great foreground shots.

After photographing that area you can backtrack to SR 179 and head East toward Sedona and then take any one of the numerous scenic pull outs to trails or other spots to photograph Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte. This is where you will see the best of the red rocks. A real treat will be found when the rocks get wet with the red colors shining through all their shades. These scenic pull outs are not just for tourists. Many have the start of a hiking trail head that will lead to very good locations to photograph. Try to catch these areas in the hour around sunrise and sunset, the so-called "Golden Hour". This is the time of day that the sun is lowest on the horizon that imparts a golden glow to your images.

After the scenic drive into Sedona you will want to check out the world famous Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts shopping district will be on your left before you get to the "Y". Great urban shots of classic Southwestern architecture abound. After time shooting (or shopping) you can head North at the "Y" and travel up Oak Creek Canyon.

There are hundreds of photo spots in the Canyon from Midgley Bridge to Slide Rock, and all around Oak Creek. Once you have your fill of shooting in a pure mountain forest you can head back toward town, staying on Highway 89-A to upper Red Rock Loop Road. Take the loop and you will come to the Crescent Moon Picnic Area at Red Rock Crossing where the iconic shots of Sedona have been made of Cathedral Rock. Fees do apply at this area.

At this point you will be on the opposite side of Oak Creek where I started you out on this photographic journey. Continue around the Red Rock Loop Road to Highway 89-A and go into Sedona for a frosty beverage and dinner or to take in an art gallery.

Facts on the White Tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer are fairly common in the United States. They are beautiful and timid creatures. I hope to give you some interesting facts about these amazing animals so you can learn more about them and come to appreciate their beauty as well as their gracefulness.

The white-tailed deer are the smallest members of the North American deer family. They get their name from the white underside of their tail, which they will raise and "wag" as a warning to other deer of impending danger. They are found from southern Canada to as far south as South America.

The white-tailed deer live in woods and forest where they have lots of trees and thickets for protection from predators. White-tailed deer are primarily nocturnal. They use the cover of darkness to wander out of the woods to eat. You can see them more in the dawn and dusk hours than during the day. Whitetail's will sleep in thickets and come out in the early evening to drink water and forage for food. They will return after the sun rises to bed for the day. They prefer to live near stream bottoms, ponds or swamps. They like to come out of the hardwoods to the field edges and graze. Very rarely do they venture out to the middle of the field. Their hearing is exceptional as well as their sight.

A fully grown adult male white-tailed deer, usually weighs up to 300 pounds. The females will usually weigh up to about 125 pounds. The average height of a white-tailed deer is about 3 ½ feet high at the shoulders.

Female deer, are called does, have a reddish-brown coat in spring and summer, which will fade to grayish brown in fall. In spring, usually around May, you can see does with their new fawns. White-tailed does will usually have between 1 and 3 fawns each spring. The fawns will have a reddish-brown coat with white spots. These spots help them blend in with their surroundings and protect them from predators. The does will become very protective after they have had their fawns and will chase off anything that comes near, such as dogs, coyotes, bob cats and other deer. Once the fawns become a little older, the doe may let other does travel with them, but still do not let them get close to the fawns.

Male deer, are called bucks, also have a reddish-brown coat in spring, which will fade to grayish brown in the fall. However, white-tailed bucks will also have antlers during certain months of the year. Normally the bucks will start growing their antler in early spring and the antlers will continue to grow until the winter months, at which time they will fall off. Their antlers will grow approximately 1 -2 inches per week. The buck's antlers are actually made of bone rather than keratin, which horns are made of. The antlers are covered with a skin called velvet while they are growing. The velvet actually proved the blood supply which makes the antlers grow. As the antlers mature and stop growing, the deer will rub the velvet off of their antlers by rubbing them against trees. Many hunters track deer by looking for their rubs on trees. The buck's use their antlers to spar with other bucks during their mating season, or rut, in fall.

White-tailed deer are herbivores. They live on a diet of leaves, grass, twigs, fruit, nuts, corn, alfalfa and your vegetable and flower garden. They are very fond of acorns and you will see many white-tails near oak trees in the fall. Many people have put up fences to keep the deer out of their gardens, but usually to no avail. The white-tailed deer can jump a fence "in a single bound". They can actually jump to a height of approximately 10 feet and leap outwards about 30 feet at a time. They use their agility and speed to out maneuver their predators. Natural predators of the white-tailed deer in Oklahoma are bobcats, bears, coyotes, and the occasional mountain lion. Their natural life span of a white-tailed deer is about 6 years. In captivity they can live up to 15 years.

Photography For Beginners - Telephoto and Wide Angle Lenses

A new digital camera comes with a multitude of features, but one of the first things we consider is the quality and power of the lens. But how many of us really understand what can be achieved by creative use of lenses?

The difference between a wide angle lens and a telephoto lens is about more than just magnification. To get the most out of your lenses, you also need to understand how they affect depth of field and perspective.

You already know that the telephoto lens enlarges everything in the picture. But did you also know that when you zoom in, or attach your large telephoto lens, you also reduce the depth of field around the subject? This is a great method for eliminating a distracting background from your photo. The result is twofold: the narrow field of view minimizes how much of the background we can see, and the small depth of field ensures it will be completely out of focus.

So when photographing subjects like people and animals, using your telephoto lens (or zooming in with your zoom lens) is often the best approach. The result will be a very three dimensional effect, with the subject appearing to emerge sharp and clear from the blurry background.

On the other hand, your wide-angle lens does just the opposite. It certainly does a lot more than just make everything appear smaller. The wide angle lens takes in (as the name suggests) a much wider angle of view, and it has a much stronger depth of field than a standard or telephoto lens. That means that not only will you see a lot more of the background in your photo, but it will also be much more focused.

Consequently the wide-angle lens is not so good for portrait style photos, because the background is too distracting. On the other hand, it is excellent for landscape pictures, especially when you have objects both in the foreground and background that you need to keep in focus.

The other aspect of your choice of lens is perspective, which is a lot harder to explain without pictures, but I will give it a go.

Have you ever watched a cricket match on television? (If you are from the United States substitute baseball here). When you see a close-up image of the batsman, you may notice that the wicket keeper (shortstop) seems to be standing right behind him, and the crowd is only a short distance further back. When you see a side-on view, you may be surprised to see that the wicket-keeper is standing about ten meters behind the batsman, and of course we know that the grandstand is a good 60 meters or so further back. So what's going on?

The answer is simple. The very large telephoto lens used for the close-up shot tends to make objects at different distances seem much closer to each other than they really are. In short, it compresses the natural perspective, making people separated by some distance appear to be quite close to each other.

This principle also applies to landscape photography. Imagine a scene with a tree in the foreground and a mountain range in the distance. By standing a long way from the tree and shooting it with a telephoto lens, you will also enlarge the mountains in the background. As a result, they will appear much closer to the tree than they really are.

Now imagine taking the same scene with a wide-angle lens. By standing a lot closer to the tree, you can photograph it in such a way that it takes up the same amount of space in the composition. However, by reducing the scene to fit the tree in the frame, you also reduce the background...making it appear much further away than it really is.

In this way, the wide-angle lens does the opposite of the telephoto lens. It exaggerates the perspective, making objects at different distances appear much further apart than they really are.

Put simply, the end result of these two approaches is this; the telephoto lens adds prominence to the background, which will appear relatively large in your photos (albeit with depth of field issues in some cases). The wide-angle lens adds prominence to the foreground, making the background appear much smaller and more distant.

Thus by simply changing your choice of lenses, you can dramatically alter the impact of your photos. Imagine the creative possibilities; you have the power to control how the viewer sees not only your subject, but how it relates to the surroundings at the same time.

This is a tough subject to explain without pictures, but hey - you have a digital camera. Why not step outside right now and try out a few of these ideas. Or if you are feeling lazy, sit down and watch some sport on telly. It may actually teach you something about photography.

Photography Jobs in California - Four Ways to Get Ahead

If you believe everything you read then California is just teeming with photographers looking for the one picture that will make them enough money to retire. If you look a little deeper into the reality of photography in California then you will soon realize that real life is a little different. There are not as many photographers as you think, and they are not all paparazzi! And taking one shot of a celebrity will not necessarily get you anywhere. It takes much more hard work and effort than that.

Photography Opportunities

Whilst taking photographs of celebrities may not be as fun or as fulfilling as most serious photographers would like, it is an option. However, the majority of photography jobs available in California are with large corporations and companies that have their own in house team for commercial purposes. They tell you what they want and need and you then go and photograph it.

There are some magazines and publishing houses that employ in house photographers as well but if you plan on being a freelancer then opportunities are harder to come by. You really have to stand out from the crowd and make an impression. In house photographers earn an average of $34,000, but a freelancer's annual income can be as little as a third of that amount if he or she does not market him or herself correctly.

Standing Out

There are several ways that any freelancer can stand out from the crowd, and four of them happen to be the same ways that individuals looking to work in house get their break in the field of photography:

1. Complete an educational qualification in photography - There are so many schools, community colleges, art centres and colleges that offer workshops, basic courses and advanced qualifications in California that it is easy to fit a photography course into even the most hectic of schedules. A little formal training will give you a foundation to work from. It will also indicate to employers that you are keen to forge a career in photography.

2. Showcase your work - Art centres are always looking for work from new artists to display. They will often set up exhibitions free of charge, but there are galleries that will also display your work if you pay the set up costs. This can be a wise investment. Enquire about this possibility with California galleries. It may also be very wise to set up a website because potential employers then have easy access to your portfolio.

3. Apply for an internship - An internship at a magazine, newspaper or commercial company will give you on the job experience that could make you stand out head and shoulders above the rest.

4. Make contacts - Sometimes it's not what you know but who you know, and this does apply in the photography industry. If you are well known then people are more likely to hire you, but if your name is not out there then it may well be a struggle. Send out business cards, make a few calls and market yourself to the hilt. All of your effort will pay off eventually.

Photography jobs are harder to come by in California than the majority of other states in America because there are so many potential photographers looking to make it there. The market is saturated but the work is there. Work harder than the next person and you may just get to here you want to go.