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Tips for Project Photos

by Jamie Nicholson

Many people create projects and take photos of their progress as they move along capturing key points in the process.
When you are taking project photos for future reference or for a portfolio or what ever reason there are key elements that you need to watch for.
1. Check your lighting; you want a well lighted subject, without harsh shadows to distract from your subject. Many times I see real estate photos where the corners of the rooms are dark or you see light coming through the blinds. The bright areas in your photo will draw the views eyes to that area. So you want to make sure that you have even lighting over the entire subject area.
2. Check your angle; this is a time where you want to be straight on and level with our subject. If it is and item that is small a display stand is what will work best, I sometimes see shadows of people bending over an object that’s lying on a table, this not only blocks the lighting it can create unwanted shadows. If you are taking a picture of a room then you will want to stand in the door as you enter the room and take to shots or 3 shots pointing to your left, right, and straight ahead. I’ve seen real estate agents try and take a picture from the corner of the room to get the whole room in the view.
3. Check for main focal points that you want to emphasize. Step close to your subject and fill the frame. If you have a small object you do not want only the center of the photo to be the subject. A good rule of thumb if you are going to have to crop more than ¼ of the photo in your digital darkroom then you are not close enough. It in a fact you will have to edit your photo, but being as close as you can while still getting a good sharp image will show off more detail and be more pleasant to the viewer.
4. Take more than one shot. You’d be surprised comparing the side by side images of the differences they will actually have. Remember its digital and you can erase the unwanted ones later.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Government Bid Proposal Cover I did for an Engineering Firm.
As you can see by the photos on the cover the angle and content of the shots I took.
Camera was an HP 315 Point and shoot
I used Corel Draw 10 to create the Cover.
IM003985a.JPG
for client confidentiality I had to white out any identifing marks and logos.


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Digital shutters will attempt to make sense of the tech talk about digital cameras explaining the different terms used and what they really mean. Give tips on what you should do with all those pictures you take, and the newest releases from the manufactures.

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