Protecting Your Images Online

It's a great feeling to have a blog on display to the world showcasing some of your best work.  But what's this?? One lazy afternoon while casually surfing the net, you find your most prized possessions being used on another website!! For the most part, this isn't a big deal, but the site posting your photo is making money from it, and basically claiming it as their own, now you're pissed!
And you have every right to be! Luckily, there are ways to protect your images, and methods you can use to search for photos that have already been stolen! Take a peek at this beautiful, in depth article on protecting the work you post online from Cambridge in Colour!
Photo courtesy of vegsdsl/FreeDigitalPhotos

Inner Workings Of Your Camera

This is a post that should have seen the light of day a long time ago! Knowing the mechanics of the camera you are using makes taking and properly exposing great photos child's play!  Understanding how and why to adjust things like aperture and ISO levels can mean the difference between Yay and Nay!!!  I guarantee that you will find this article by Fredrik Silverglimth at Tutorial9 to be extremely useful and full of great information!
Photo courtesy of twobee at freedigitalphotos 

Flash Photography Fun Facts!

Using flash in your photography is an important and sometimes essential element to getting your images properly exposed.  The type of flash that you choose is just as important!  If you are using an SLR type camera, a mounted flash is the best choice.  Here is a fantastic article on understanding your flash by Diana Eftaiha at PhotoTuts+!

5 Great Wildlife Photography Tips

 Do you love to grab your camera, hop in your car and head for the hills? If so, here are some great wildlife photography tips by Jeremiah Tolbert from Tutorial9 that I know you'll be able to put to use right away!

Holding a Camera: Do's and Don'ts

Everyone wants to improve the quality of their photos. How you hold your camera has alot to do with how your finished product will look! Here is a great tutorial by Geoff Lawrence that sheds some light on this subject!

Pinterest Can Be A Fantastic Source of Inspiration

I love taking pictures of new and interesting things....I mean, who doesn't, right?!  It gives me a great feeling, a sense of anticipation of the artistic greatness to come!!:)  I can't wait to get home and to dig into Photoshop for some serious post processing.
The problem is, sometimes I just can't think of anything decent to photograph.  I know what you're thinking... WWAAAAAAAAAT??? I know, I know...it seems impossible, incomprehensible, IN-CON-CEIV-ABLE!  But sometimes....

I need some inspiration.

This is where a new social networking site called Pinterest comes in.  I was referred to this website by an acquaintance on Twitter.  I checked the site out and at first glance it proved interesting enough.  It's a website where people can 'pin' anything that they find on the Internet to a set of customizable boards attached to your profile.  It seemed to me that most of the site was visually based, so I figured I'd give it a try.

I had to request an invite, which is a little unusual for a social networking site, but whatever.  It took about a day and a half to get an invite emailed to me, which wasn't too bad.  Maybe by getting people to request an invite makes the site appear more appealing...possibly creating a sense of exclusivity...or a 'gotta have it' feeling.

Anyway, the set up was quick and easy, and there is a fantastic photography section that you can peruse.  Pinterest allows you to 'repin' items from other users to your boards, or directly from the Internet using a 'pin' button that is easily installed on the bookmarks bar of your browser. Some websites, like mine, have a 'pin' button built right in for easy sharing! (good thinking, me!)

I have officially found my new inspiration!  There are great photos and articles posted from every genre in an easy to navigate interface for simple sorting and browsing...love it!
If you have ever found yourself starving for new ideas, this is the place to be!  The sheer volume of material posted on the site is amazing!  I found myself spending maybe a little too much time browsing...but time well spent I think, because I always come away with a ton of new ideas!

Unfortunately, this could be seen as a way for people and companies to unabashedly promote themselves, but I guess this type of behaviour is frowned upon. Probably a good thing too, because it seems that too many people are taking advantage of social media and using it as a means to constantly catapult their spam at us!
If a user thinks your material is good enough to repin, you can bet that they will!

After a little digging, I found out that Pinterest has developed quite a bit of buzz in a very short period of time..I have included a link to an infographic from Mashable with some quick stats that is worth a look!

So if you are ever starved for for ideas, or are looking for something new to get those creative juices flowing, Pinterest might be just the place for you!

Are you already on Pinterest? Tell me what you think!