Free Calendar Wallpaper for September 09 (Desktop & iPhone)

I am giving away free desktop wallpaper with some nice nature photos.I plan to do this monthly so please check often. The photo was taken by me in Aspen Colorado

1. To set as wallpaper, simply click on the image,

2. The full size image will be displayed in the browser

3. Right click on the image and click save to disk or set as wallpaper directly.

• 1680x1050 Widescreen wallpaper

• 1024 x768 Wallpaper

 

• Wallpaper for iPhone

 

Let me know your thoughts on what you would like to see more in this section

Share this post :

Why you should not give your photo for free ?

With the popularity of digital photography and the number of amateurs joining in, its a common practice among the new entrants to give away photographs for free commercial use just for the thrill of viewing their photos published.

 

While its totally up to you to decide how to sell your photos, here are a few points you could consider before deciding to give away your photographs for free

• If you really know what your photograph is worth, chances are you might reconsider your decision of giving it away.
• When someone approaches you for a license to use a photograph you should ask the right questions like
  • What is the intended use ? say Corporate, Advertising or Editorial use?
  • If its for corporate use, What is the average circulation for the magazine or Annual report? Or in case of website, average visitors, feed subscribers etc?
  • Where will the photo be placed ? front cover, full page, spot etc
  • If its an advertisement, again the intended use, placement of the ad (billboard, magazine etc) and circulation numbers should be clear
• If you don't know how to price the photos based on the usage, you can go to an online stock price calculator, just enter the data you collected from the buyer and use the numbers you get as a base for negotiation.
• You may not need the money from your photos, but giving away photos for free will have long lasting impact the industry itself. This is really bad for fulltime photographers who earn their income from photography.
• Most of the companies that approach for free photos are large corporations . Its not that they cannot afford to pay, they just simply don't want to.
• While it may be good to give away photos for charity cause, or for non profit cause, please do the homework to see if your customer qualifies for this.
• What ever be the reason, you should not transfer the copyright of the photo and should always prefer to grand a per use license. For unlimited use, price accordingly.
• Never give away the RAW image and only provide the photo resized for the appropriate use i.e photos for web use need not have the resolution or size for photos intended for magazine print

 

This is a topic for debate so pen down you views.

A Great Book to Learn Photography - Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

After you have spent months researching for the best camera that suits you need, you finally bit the bullet and got yourself a nice new camera. But are you using your camera to the fullest potential ? When I got my first camera, I used to get decent results with only the automatic modes. I was not sure how to use any of the creative modes or what each of the dozen jargons like ISO, Aperture, Underexpose, Shutter Speed, Flash curtain mean. This review is based on my own experience with the book.

Here is a book that really helped me understand the basics and got me started into experimenting with the creative zone of my camera.  Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson . The book starts with explaining the basic concepts like what exposure is and what are the various factors that affect exposure. I recommend reading this initial section couple of time at least as understanding this is critical to use the camera in modes such as Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority etc. Going forward, the book explains importance of having the right light, the effect Aperture has on depth of field etc. The book does not go into digital processing or anything and deals with only how to shoot pictures. So if you happen to shoot film, this book is still 100% relevant for you. Whenever there is a difference in usage of a particular concept (eg say ISO) between film and digital, the author mentions it and explains both the techniques.

Of the many things I learnt in this book, some of the techniques worth mentioning are

1. Panning
2. Shooting snow photos
3. Shooting people with dark skin tones
4. Choosing the right light and time to shoot portraits
5. How to handle side lit, back lit situations
6. Night photography

This book is highly recommended if you would like to be creative with your camera.