Nikon D5200 Digital SLR

The Nikon D5200 Digital SLR Camera is the ideal companion for unleashing your creative potential. With a 24.1 megapixel CMOS DX-format image sensor, full 1080p HD movies, precise 39-point AF system, EXPEED 3 image processing, and standard ISO up to 6400, it offers superior performance in a compact, lightweight body.

The Nikon D5200 Digital SLR enables flexible shooting with a vari-angle LCD monitor, making even self-portraits possible. Additional features include: 2,016-pixel RGB sensor with built-in Scene Recognition System; 5 FPS continuous shooting; 7 Special Effects; Support for the optional WU-1a Wireless Adapter; new graphical user interface; and much more! Includes a razor-sharp NIKKOR 18-55mm VR, 3x zoom lens with built-in image stabilization.

If you want a great camera, the Nikon D5200 Digital SLR is a great choice. Unleash your creative self with this wonderful instrument!

Check out more details on the Nikon D5200 Digital SLR HERE.

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Great Tips for Better Pictures

Whether you consider yourself an amateur photographer, or you just want to create better family photos, there are many things you can do to get better photos. Here are some easy tips to use the next time you head out with your digital camera.

Be Prepared

Keep all your photography equipment ready for use. Collect everything you’ll need into one place. A camera bag is ideal, because it keeps all your stuff together and lets you carry it all with you. A good camera bag will let you organize a miniature tripod, extra batteries, memory cards, etc.

Hold your Camera Steady

Blurry photos are almost always the result of camera movement. Just your own unsteadiness, causes your camera to shake enough to blur your pictures. So steady yourself and your camera before you take the shot. Plant your feet firmly on the ground and tuck your elbows in close to your sides. Instead of using the LCD viewer, steady your camera against your forehead and frame the shot using your camera’s viewfinder. You can also steady your upper body by leaning against a wall or a tree. Or totally eliminate any camera movement by using a tripod. Once you’re all set, gently press the shutter release in one motion. Pressing the shutter release too hard could jerk the camera downward.

Get Closer

One difference in “snapshots” and really great photos is the composition of the shot. Unless you’re shooting an outdoor landscape, you can improve most photos just by getting closer to your subject. Depending on the situation, you can physically move closer to your subject, or use the zoom feature on your camera for the same effect. Try to get within a few feet of your subject so you eliminate most of the background. You’ll like the results.

Take more Pictures

Even professionals take loads of shots of the same subject – to get just a few that they will use. With a digital camera, you can delete the images you don’t like, and only print the winners – so don’t hesitate to take several shots of the same subject. Change the angle of the shot. Get a little closer. Adjust the lighting. Why not fill the entire memory card with pictures of your kid at the pool, or your daughter in her cap and gown? The more pictures you take, the better the odds that you’ll get a few shots that will really thrill you.

Vary the Lighting

Using natural light will give better skin tones when photographing people, so try not to use the flash if you don’t have to. Outdoor daylight shots are easy, but you’ll have to be a little more creative when shooting indoors. Try using the light coming in from a window for warmer tones than you would get using the flash. Experiment with natural lighting. You can get stronger shadows by moving your subject closer to a window, and turning your subject can create more dramatic shadows.

Eliminate Red-Eye

Red-eye is the result of light passing through your subject’s eye and reflecting back. You’ll get it more often when using your flash, just because the light from the flash isn’t as diffused as natural light. So the first tip for eliminating red-eye is simply to avoid using your flash when you don’t absolutely have to. Another way to reduce red-eye is to have your subject look anywhere but at the camera. This reduces red-eye because any reflection isn’t directed back at your camera lens. If you have to use the flash, some digital cameras have a built-in feature to automatically remove red-eye. Use it.

Go for Candid

Instead of posing two (or more) people looking directly at the camera, get a shot of them interacting with one another. Even two people having a conversation is more interesting than having them stand next to each other facing the camera. Some of the best professional portraits have the subject captured deep in thought, with their attention focused inward, rather than on the camera lens. It makes a more interesting shot. Your portrait will look more natural – less posed.

Create a Scene

Putting your subject in the center of a photo is just boring. You’ll get a much more pleasing result if you place your subject off center when you frame the shot. This is a truly professional technique. Place your subject so that they occupy 1/3 to 1/2 of the total composition, but NOT at the exact center of the frame. Capture an interesting background object in the rest of the frame.

Anybody can practice these techniques. They’re easy and you’ll get better, more professional photos.

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Shooting wildlife

Technology has made digital cameras more affordable and lightweight and digicams are becoming as common as mobile phones these days. In the world of digital photography, one item that is gaining in popularity is the DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera.

Back in the days when digicams were still mere figments of imagination of most photography enthusiasts, SLR film cameras were only used by professionals. These cameras are built in such a way that allows the photographer to see exactly how the final picture will appear.

With the regular camera, you only see what the viewing window shows you but this is not the exact image that the camera sees. For example, you might see a clear background through the lens but when printed, the background will be blurry because the depth of field used for the shot was shallow. With a DSLR, what you see through the lens is the blurred background because this is how the final picture will be displayed.

This is also the case with Digital SLR photography. The only difference is that DSLRs use digital memory cards and light sensor chips instead of using films. The advantage that digital SLR cameras have over the regular ones is that they are faster at focusing; capable of higher ISO speeds so there is no graininess even at low light; and provide more control over exposure and depth of field. They are also more expensive and bulkier to carry.

Since you have invested in a more expensive piece of equipment, you have to make the most out of it by creating amazing photos. These digital SLR photography tips will help, especially when you are shooting wildlife.

Before shooting nature with your DSLR camera, expose it first to a green part in the scenery and then underexpose it by two thirds. Refocus on your subject and then take a shot. This results in a more detailed photograph.

When you take of wildlife, focus on the eyes instead of the bodies, because this will provide more impact to the image. Since your subject will be moving, the resulting photograph will show a blurry body. This is not a problem as long as the eyes are sharp.

Do not tightly crop pictures of moving animals but leave enough space on the photograph to show the viewer where the creature is heading. Else, it would appear as if the animal is trapped in a cage and your photo will look static instead of conveying movement.

Flying insects make wonderful subjects but because of their tiny sizes, you have to attach a macro lens to your DSLR camera. Insects move at high speeds so if you try to capture them while moving, you might get several blurred images. A good trick for better focus is to wait until they alight on a flower or a surface and then taking a shot.

Nature is full of colors so take advantage of these colors to make your images more alive. Some photographers even believe that an image with bold colors, even when it is technically inferior, will always be more interesting than a well-focused one with dull colors. For best results, shoot one with good focus and vivid colors.

Wildlife presents a challenge to hobbyists, even when following these digital SLR photography tips to the letter. However, there is nothing more rewarding that capturing an image of nature at its best.

Though digital photography is all the rage, never take film photography for granted, especially black and white photos. Film photos have a special quality to them that only real digital photography experts can mimic. Try the basics of this by learning digital black and white photography today!

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Moon photography tips

Cameras will need to be held steady and have a way to enlarge the image of the moon as it moves across the sky. For observers on the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii, photographing a lunar eclipse early Wednesday, Nov. 28, is pretty straightforward: You’ll need to use basically the same camera gear and technique as when shooting an un-eclipsed full moon.

Wednesday’s lunar eclipse will be a relatively minor event as eclipses go. The full moon will pass through the outer edge of Earth’s shadow, called the penumbra, to create a so-called penumbral lunar eclipse. The entire eclipse will be visible from East Asia, Australia, Hawaii and Alaska, and begins at 7:15 a.m. EST (4:15 a.m. PST, 1200 GMT). From start to finish, it will last just under five hours.

For complete story, click HERE.

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Top 10 tips for taking good farm photos

Jean Macdonald, winner of the 2011 Farmers Weekly photo competition, gives us her top 10 tips below.

You can have a look at some of the entries in our photo competition 2012 gallery.

1. Read your manual
This may sound obvious but a lot of people don’t do it and getting to know how your camera works is essential.

2. Get the right setting
Start off by setting your camera to one of its automatic modes. Most useful is “Program” or “P” mode on digital SLRs.

3. Get closer
Move in as close to the subject(s) as possible. Unless you’re taking a scenic shot, a lot of background in the picture is not important.

For complete story, click HERE

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