Aerial Maps: How To Get Training In Aerial Mapping

There are no training institutes that teach aerial mapping in isolation as a subject, but those interested in this area of study have many options depending on what aspect of the field they are interested in. Aerial mapping can be broken down into three areas:

· The photographer who takes the aerial pictures that will be used to make the maps

· The pilot who flies the plane or helicopter

· The cartographer (mapmaker) who translates the aerial photographs into maps

There are certain requirements to consider if you want to explore career options in cartography. With technology playing such an important role in mapmaking, especially aerial mapping, you will need to have a background in computer science. Understanding and knowing about earth and geographical features also mean that an understanding and appreciation of geography is compulsory.

To become a professional cartographer, a college or university degree in the discipline is necessary. Most degree programs are for a period of two to three years. College programs in cartography include courses in related disciplines, such as, computer science, mathematics (for computation of distances and other computations depending on the use of the maps), photography, and mapmaking related areas: geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and surveying.

You can find many colleges and universities worldwide that offer training in cartography; many also teach the subject as a stream in another program such as civil engineering and architectural engineering.

There are also those who opt to learn on the job, and for those who choose this option, there are many companies that take on interns. Also, for continuous upgrading of the skills learnt, cartographers join professional organizations and or subscribe to trade journals in the cartography field, so they can keep abreast of changes in a very dynamic career field.

Digital Wedding Photo Album Software Free Download - Photographer's Top Secrets Revealed

If you're looking for digital wedding photo album software that is free to download and that allows you to make high-quality, professional photo albums then this article is a must-read for you. Not only is this program very easy to use even for people who have never created a single photo book before, but it produces amazing photo books printed on top-quality award-winning photo paper, professionally bounded with numerous cover options. Cover options for your photo book choices range from a very budget-friendly linen hardcover to luxurious handcrafted genuine leather. These photo books are meticulously finished and crafted to last for years and years.

If you think that you have to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get that expensive, one-of-a-kind look for your photography book, think again! Despite the fact that many professional photographers are charging top dollar for handcrafted photo albums, you can achieve the same results for a bargain price, if you know where to order your photo books and what digital photo album software (free is always a plus) to use. In fact, many professional photographers are using this exact program and would hate to share this information with you.

This digital wedding photo album software (free to download and use) is packed with great features that no other software program offers on the market today. You can fully customize your album pages, add personalized captions, make custom cover pages with your own photos and text. The software program has powerful photo editing tools, if you need to spruce up your pictures before putting them in the photography book.

But it doesn't stop there! You can also share your digital photo books online with anybody who has an e-mail address for free. Once your friends receive an e-mail with a link to your photo album, all what they have to do is just click the link in your e-mail, and the smiles begin. Your friends can view your photo book without downloading those bulky attachments. Your digital photo album will look like an online magazine, so your friends will be able to turn the pages, zoom in and out, etc.

If you would like to send a printed photo book as a gift to your friends, you can do so with just a click of your mouse. In fact, your friends can order as many prints of your photo books as they like themselves without downloading this digital photo album software.

You can customize your photo album for each recipient by adding a separate cover page and cover title to make a truly unique and personalized gift for any occasion. Who doesn't love receiving gifts with a nice personal touch? Now you can make yours! And no, these gifts won't come with a huge price tag. You will be shocked how inexpensive they are!

Better Guide to Digital Photography For a Wedding - More Clients For Your Business

When you are looking for a better guide to digital photography for wedding, there are some criteria that you need to follow. This is because; there are numerous digital wedding photography guides out there that only focusing on certain technical topic.

It is important for wedding photographer to apply latest techniques in digital photography to get outstanding pictures. However it is more important to keep your business grow and maintain. Thus, whenever you are looking for digital wedding photography guide, you should also do not forget to learn how to increase your business profit.

So, how are you going to get more clients for your business? Let's find out the answer.

1. Do your business professionally

Not many wedding photographers prepare complete agreements between them and their clients. Usually they will only prepare payment agreement and think it is enough. If you want to run a successful wedding photography business, you should prepare at least:

a. Wedding photography contract your clients should signed. This is so crucial that determine smooth flow of you business while working with your clients.

b. Extended time agreement. Seriously, this agreement will save you from a lot of hassles.

c. Deposit reminder. This agreement will ensure you get your payment on time

The guide should not only teach you the technical skills behind digital photography but also covers other important aspect for your business. The success of your business depends solely on how well you market and handle your wedding photography business.

2. Marketing your business effectively.

The success of every business depend on two things namely good quality of product or service and marketing. Marketing plays a major role since this is how you expose your business and get more clients. how should you market your wedding photography business?

Joint venture is one of the powerful ways to improve your business. There are many business and people involve in wedding event. Make up artist, catering, wedding cake business and many more. Take an action to do joint venture with them and see how your business sell.

Photography Depth of Field Explained

Over my nearly twenty years of teaching university photography classes, I've come to discover that one area that students often have the hardest time mastering is depth of field. Whereas beginning students usually manage pretty well to work with their cameras in manual mode which forces them to make their own selections of apertures and shutter speeds, they often seem to overlook creating images with a limited area of focus as the valuable tool it is for creating striking images.

Actually, I think one explanation for why this approach isn't explored more by many students is that they aren't active enough when they're out shooting. They see something in the distance that interests them and I fear too often they just take the shot from that point and don't investigate much further.

What, then, is "depth of field" (or DoF, for short)? Basically, it's the term we use to describe the area in the photograph which is in acceptable focus from the point nearest to the camera to the point furthest from the camera. What's interesting about this concept is precisely that this distance can change radically according to different settings and choices made by the photographer.

What Creates Different Ranges of Focus?

1. Aperture size. Large aperture openings like f 2, f 2.8 will have among the shortest or shallowest of range of focus. Smaller openings like f 11, f 16 and f 22 will have a progressively bigger depth of field as the opening is smaller (bigger numbers = smaller openings)

2. Lens type. Wide angle lenses will tend to have a greater range of focus than will longer telephoto lenses. The same will be true even with zoom lenses-when you're set to a more wide angle setting such as 35 mm or smaller, you'll have a bigger depth of field than if the lens is set at 100 mm or higher.

3. Focal distance. This may actually be the most important setting to impact whether you have a very narrow or very wide range of focus. If the absolute focus point is set on a point less than a meter (a few feet) from the camera you will have a much shallower depth of field than if your focal point is 10 meters or more from the camera.

Consequently, although an f 2.8 setting where you focus on a subject less than a meter from the camera will have a shallower range of focus than if you take the same picture with a smaller aperture (f 8, 11, 16, etc.), they will all be relatively shallow DoF precisely because the camera is focused very close.

Therefore, one is likely to find that the DoF will become narrower as one moves into tighter quarters which prevent focusing on objects at a greater distance. Now, why is all this important? Clearly, when something is in focus it draws the attention of the viewer more than something which is out of focus. In this way, a shallow range of focus can help direct the viewer toward parts of the picture which seem more important. Likewise, to take a portrait against a background that is a bit distracting, a shallow DoF which limits the area in focus primarily to the subject would allow the background to become softer and therefore less distracting.

Michael McCarthy
Atelier Vagabond Photo Tours & Workshops

5 Career Options for Fashion Design Degree Holders

Society and parents in general tend to be wary towards encouraging people to work in Fashion for good reason. Firstly, they are right about the industry's highly selective employment. They're also right when they say that Fashion is "not what it seems" even though they probably have no idea what they really talking about. But before you decide to throw in the towel and take up accounting courses, or look for a no-brainer 9-5 job, here are a few fashion design careers to consider!

The Popular Path

A fashion designer's job seems to be surrounded by the glitz and glamour of having your works appearing on glossy magazines and the season's hottest celebrities. It's a no-brainer that people want to be fashion designers just like how some covet to be millionaires. To take this career path, you need a strong design portfolio. Prior work experience in fashion will be an advantage. So this is where being an intern during your holidays pay off.

There are two kinds of Fashion Designers:

The In-house Designer:

You will work with a fashion company and design clothes according to their guidelines. The company will own the rights to your designs while you draw a monthly salary from them. Depending on the scale of the company, you may work alone or with a team. Be an in-house designer if you have plans to join the big wigs like Fendi, Gucci, Prada or Louis Vuitton.

The Freelancer:

Freelancers work for themselves and sell their designs to fashion houses, directly to shops or to manufacturers. After building a good name, you'll probably start getting people commissioning you for design work. Freelance Designers have the flexibility of work hours and tend to command higher wages, but keep in mind that financial stability is at high risk. If you're just starting out, it's best to work as an in-house designer for some experience first before attempting a freelance career.

Other Possible Paths

Most people don't study fashion design specifically to join these ranks, but if you found that designing isn't your cup of tea somewhere through your course; these are jobs in the industry that you can consider:

Fashion Buyer:

You will be responsible for travelling around and buying suitable fashions for shops or departmental stores. Your knowledge in Fashion Design will help you to predict trends or identify quality, giving you an edge for this job.

Fashion Journalist:

You will write articles about fashion and source for newsworthy stories in your field. With in-depth fashion know-how and garment composition, you'll make a perfect critic and can dish out fantastic fashion advice.

Wedding photography:

You will plan locations and carry out photoshoots with newly weds or bridal studios. By knowing the ins and outs of a fashion shoot, you can make a couple look awesome in their matrimony garb.

Verdict

If you find yourself jobless long after you've graduated with your fashion design degree, all is not lost. It just means that your portfolio needs a revamp. Read up fashion magazines for inspiration and start sketching for a variety of genres. Employers judge designers by their portfolio because it's the most accurate representation of the owner that no r矇sum矇, job experience or testimonial can replace. It portrays your education, experience and personal style. With the right attitude, the possibilities are endless! If the world is not providing you with any shortcuts, the best solution is to make one yourself.

Learn Digital Photography - Is Digital Photography Dead?

Yes, digital photography is dead in the water IF 'photography' is taken out of digital photography. As Kodak's brownie box camera and their Instamatic brought photography to the masses in the 20th century, so the digital camera has done the same in the 21st. But, once the 'ability to take photos novelty' wears off, the lack of skills will relegate the digital camera to the hobby drawer.

There is a principle in management science that says in business a person is promoted to the level of their own incompetence and no further. It's called the 'Peter Principle' formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in his book of the same name. After that they stagnate and can only move sideways. This is true for photography also. Once you reach your level of incompetence or maximum ability, there you sit. It's at this point the interest wanes and your camera outings become more and more infrequent. In other words, another death of digital photography.

There will always be the hardliners in any field who will continue to practise to the level of their incompetence, but, the average Joe who was once excited by digital photography is no more. The enthusiast has lost his enthusiasm.

So what's the answer to the problem? The focus, as in any hobby or pastime, is a continual learning process. In the business world we call it upskilling. Adding competency and qualifications to your existing tool bag will keep you moving up the ladder of promotion. It is the same with photography. Learning is imperative.

Most of us are at some stage dissatisfied with our photos. They don't quite look like those in the glossy magazines and daily newspapers. What is it that they have that rest don't? They've learnt the techniques and disciplines of photography and have applied them on a continual learning journey to great photos.

A hobby, as with any plant or animal, has to be nurtured if it is to show any signs of growth. Buying a digital camera with the sole purpose of just snapping away without the high costs of film, will on most occasions result in the death of digital photography. If your digital photography is going to flourish it will need three key ingredients:

1. Time

As with anything of value in life time is a key ingredient to its success. Unless you take the time to invest in any venture you will probably reap an equivalent reward. Garbage in garbage out. No pain no gain as the old adage goes.  There is no instant photography.

2. Passion

Unless you are enthusiastic about a hobby or pastime it is inevitable that it will gradually diminish with time and eventually fizzle out. I speak from experience. Developing your passion is essential to growth. Passion is the fuel that fires your hobby.

3. Ability

Some are born with natural ability but for most of us we have to work at it. Practise makes perfect. If you don't have ability then acquire it in whatever way you legally can. Acquiring ability is a process and for many of us a journey of discovery. Something we have to work at.

Take any of these three points out of digital photography and its demise is well on the way. But, the key point is photography. Learning photography and acquiring creative photography skills will nurture digital photography and keep it alive.

Photography is not governed by the medium it uses, digital, film, pinhole or Polaroid. Photography stands alone and independent of the tools or media. As with beauty it's in the eye of the beholder. It is not contained in a box, a camera or digital sensor. Its results can be seen on a computer, t-shirt or magazine.

Digital photography is the answer to photography because of its ease of use, methods of distribution and costs. But take photography out of digital and it will result in the death of digital photography.

Top 10 Qualities of a Great Photographer

What are the top 10 qualities of a great photographer? It takes more than just a nice camera and a desire to take pretty pictures in order to be successful in this creative yet technical professional field. Whether you want to work for newspapers, magazines, portrait studios or as a freelance event photographer, there are a few qualities that you should try to cultivate as soon as possible.

1. Ambitious Nature
Photography, like many other creative professions, is a highly competitive field. You'll need the ambition to keep going and striving for the best if you're going to make it.

2. Detail Oriented
A big part of great photography is the ability to focus on the tiny details as well as the big picture. This means capturing the tiniest details when it's necessary, and knowing when to edit the tiniest details out when they're not adding to the picture.

3. Coordination
If you don't have good hand-eye coordination and a steady hand, you better start doing as many exercises as possible to help develop these skills now. This is vital to photography careers.

4. Creativity
This one should be obvious. You either have it, or you don't. However, photography school can often help to cultivate what you have if you feel your creative skills are somewhat lacking.

5. Legal Knowledge
This may not seem so obvious. Photographers do, however, need to be knowledgeable of certain laws, particularly those related to copyright issues and contracts.

6. Knack for Marketing
You can't just expect to sit back and let the work come to you. You need to get your name out there and have a professional looking portfolio to let people know what you can do.

7. Networking Know-How
Yes, you will need to network and "schmooze" to make it in the photography biz, regardless of whatever professional level you have your sights set on.

8. Mind for Business
This is a profession first and foremost, so it's necessary to have the business skills to manage your career and make the decisions that will benefit your bottom line.

9. "People Person"
You've got to have people skills to make it in a competitive, creative field like photography. Being personable will get you far in this profession.

10. Technical Skills
This is a no brainer. Photography is all about using the best equipment, tools and software and knowing how to use them all correctly.