The Importance of a Tripod!

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Jamie

I use to be one of those people that believed I would never need a tripod.  I avoided them.  I didn’t understand why anybody would want to carry around something so heavy.

Boy, back then, when I had those thoughts, I had no idea the importance of one, or even the benefits of what a tripod could do.

Below is my list of reasons as to why a tripod is essential to any photographer!

1) Night Photography

Because of the darker lighting, cameras need as little shake as possible.  The tripod eliminates the camera shake, and you can get clearer shots.  To eliminate camera shake even more, get yourself a remote release for your camera.  That way you can hit the camera button without touching the camera at all.

2) Long Exposures

In order to do long exposures, it involves going lower than 1/60 second on your shutter speed.  Again, going below that speed means camera shake, and your camera sensors become more sensitive.  That tripod balances out the shake so you can get photos such as the one below:

Last week a few of you asked how I captured the traffic shot as you wanted to try it on your own.  I will try to explain as best as I can now:

1) I had a tripod

2) I altered my shutter speed to 1/4 up to 2 second delay (long exposure)  You do this by making sure your camera function is set to the TV setting on your camera.  I give it up to a 2 second delay to eliminate the camera shake on my camera that I may have caused from touching my camera since I do not have a remote release for my camera.

Then I just take multiple shots until the shot I want comes out.  So I hope you can go out and try this one on your own now, and let me know how it goes.  If you have anymore photography questions you can always email me at demetrie1930 @ gmail . com

3) Self Portraits

A lot of the self portraits I take happen to be me holding my camera out and clicking the button.  With a tripod I can eliminate that hand reaching out by setting my camera up, and the scene around me by the use of the self timer.  Again, a remote release would really come in handy for self portraits 😉

4) HDR Photography

If you are curious to know what HDR photography is, please make sure to check out this post of mine.

Because HDR photography is combining 3 of the same shots,  there is an important need of making sure all 3 shots are balanced.  The only guarantee way to capture this is by the use of a tripod.  Again, eliminating the camera shake, and making your shot come out the way you want it to.

5) Eliminates that Camera Shake

And if you haven’t heard it enough in this post, utilizing a tripod gets rid of any blurring in your camera shot.  So it’s guaranteed to come out clear, and just the way you want it to.

For myself, I opt to utilize my camera without the tripod as much as possible, but on any night shoots, it’s an absolute must.  I now understand the importance of a tripod, and have been having even more fun with my shots especially at night because of it.

What are some of your favorite moments for utilizing a tripod?

 


Categories: Photography | Tags: , , , , | 18 Comments

Lets TALK Blogging!

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Jamie

I am no expert, but I’ve been blogging for about 8 months now! Wow, I can’t believe it’s been that long already. =)

I’ve been giving some tips to a couple of friends, and one of the things they’ve asked me is, “how do you build your audience?”

The truth is, your audience fluctuates, but I’d figured I write a blog post about it:

Some ways I have connected with other bloggers and readers:

1) If anyone leaves a comment on your blog, follow back on theirs.  It’s the polite thing to do, and you might connect with someone new.  This is how I found a few of my loyal readers!

2) Join Fellow Blogging Groups.  My favorite group is the So Cal Lady Bloggers, a group of women int he So Cal Region that are all bloggers.  We are a plethora of support to one another, not making this huge blogging world so lonely.

3) Look for twitter parties on twitter.  The next question I get is this, “how do you find them?”  If you see a similar #hashtag keep popping up, it’s a good sign something is happening online at the moment.

4) Stumbleupon: it has brought me in readers.  The cool thing is that a friend of mine from back home told me she was stumbling and my blog actually popped up, and it was a blog post where I even utilized one of her photos.  How even more cool is that?

5) Join Blog Commenting Groups!  This can be done by having discussions with other bloggers.  Through these groups, you commit to visiting each other’s blogs on a daily or every other day basis, and comment on each other’s posts.  It helps a lot!

6) Be Current in your Topics! 

Around the holidays, I notice my cool whip dessert post GETS a ton of hits.  I also noticed my Heart Awareness Eating Habits post blew up in February.  If you work around the trend schedule, you will notice a change in your readership in your blog, and the search engines will love you.  But, work to your own rhythm too 😉

7) Meet Other Bloggers in Person: I love this factor! One, I have a face behind the name, but also, I want to immediately check out their blog.  It is how I’ve found some of my favorites.  And plus,  you may make a new friend!

8) My favorite blogging groups: The Sits Girls, Blogger Comment Club, Blogger Effect, Bloggers.com, Blogfrog, all these sites have brought new people to my blog.  Be sure to check them out, and keep an eye out for other upcoming blogging groups.  The blogosphere is so big, it’s hard to know what to join and what  not to join, but sometimes it helps by trial and error 😉

9) Connect on Twitter: You don’t have to be shy on twitter, jump in on a conversation, talk, be yourself, and connections are bound to happen!

10) Stay true to your Blog: Be real, be yourself, and cover the topics you want to cover.  By this, people will connect to you.  Be personal, share yourself, but not too much, and your readers will come.  The last part is to just enjoy it!  =)

 

 

 

 


Categories: blogging | Tags: , , , , , , | 34 Comments

My SUMMER Wish List!

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Jamie

It has GOTTEN hot around here!!

And that’s only made me think of summer more.  It’s made me come up with a new list of places to explore in LA and surrounding cities, it’s made me think of areas I want to venture off to, and made me think of all the exciting trips I have planned this summer.

I have marked this SUMMER as “the best to be.”

I don’t know if I’m jinxing myself by calling this summer the best ever, but I feel it, I know it’s going to be, and there is going to be a ton of exploring happening in the process:

So, let me write it down: My hopes of accomplishments for this summer include:

The Beach (bonfire on the beach!)

Lake Havasu, Arizona (Girls Weekend Trip!)

Make Music Pasadena and Chalk Festival (June 16th)

Laguna Festival of Arts (I didn’t get to this last year, but it is a MUST this year!)

Trip to Visit my SO’s family in Sonoma, CA (yes, a wine tour is involved in this!)  There was no way I could pass this up while being in Wine Country!

A trip to the San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park

A trip to Knott’s Berry Farm

Partaking in  Hollywood Fringe Fest

A trip to Catalina Island

Movies on the beach

LobsterFest

PirateFest

 

and so much more.  Summer’s not even here, and I already feeling my schedule getting booked up!  I love summer, and I especially love summer out in LA.

Oh, and btw: if anyone knows of any awesome boat tours happening around town? Could you let me know?  I’m craving the water.

What are some of your favorite summertime activities?  I love the festivals, I love anything related to art, and of course anything to do with the water!  =) What are you most looking forward to?  What is something you’re going to try this summer that you haven’t in the past, or what are some things you just can’t pass up?

 

 


Categories: Life | Tags: , , , , , | 7 Comments