Professional Photography in Cape Town

Last time I mentioned some of the image editing software options available to you for free download or bundled with certain digital cameras you purchase. So you’ve all installed yours on the computer, right ? Editing technique number one to know is how to crop effectively. It is the ideal fix for photos that were badly composed (shot in a hurry!) or contained unwanted distracting objects. The cropping tool in the software is normally denoted by a boxy looking icon depicting scissors. An effective photograph is like a good essay that puts across one story, or an idea. Think abou t that when you crop. Dismiss the notion that your subject needs to be at the centre of the photograph. Think about what story you are trying to tell, or what looks interesting. Consider how you would like the eye of the viewer to travel. Experiment. Remember first to save your original image from the camera, and always work on copies only. The beauty of modern high resolution cameras is that y...

I'm available to do some group or individual training on the ins and outs of digital cameras. What I had in mind would be personal training of small groups of about 3 individuals. The Basics course would consist of 3 x 1.5 hour modules over 3 days as follows: First session: Your camera - how to find the right buttons and ask your questions. (1.5 hours) Second session: Practical photography session in the field. (2 hours) Third session: Processing your images on the computer and optimising for prints. (1.5 hours) The 3 sessions would not necessarily be on consecutive days and would be arranged to fit in with everyone's schedules as best possible. Bring some cash for tea / coffee. And of course bring your cameras and your questions! More advanced training would include use of camera under difficult lighting conditions, understanding "magapixels", sizing of images for publishing or for the internet, etc. Cost: R xxx for the full set of three. Contact me via e...

Published in the Peoples' Post - 27 September Having a digital camera without a computer is like being in an or orchestra without a violinist. Although it is possible to get photos printed directly from your camera’s memory card at the photo shop, you miss out on a world of opportunities by not having a computer with some basic image editing software installed. Most digital cameras come with some type of image editing software, but there are also a number of great free packages available via the internet. All you need to do is download them, assuming you have a reasonable internet connection. There is a big difference between comprehensive image editing software suites such as Photoshop CS and simple image manipulation software such as Irfanview. The most basic programme should allow you to make minor adjustments to the light levels in the photo, convert to grey tones, crop the image, rotate it, resize it and save it to a new filename. You can download Irfanview free at ...