Monday, January 31, 2005

Campground Website Weekly

Each week a new url for a campground will be posted

and you will have the opportunity to give your insights

and comments if you been there.



Blackhawk Lake Recreation Area

Acres of Wildlife

Cedar Cove Campground




Sports & Outdoors Its just a matter of time!


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Saturday, January 29, 2005

Digital Camera Macro Mode

by: Jakob Jelling

The digital camera is a wonderful device that allows a diverse variety of applications with its even diverse spectral collection of utilities. As technology progresses it brings along with it those intense pleasures that human beings have only thought of. Now the digital camera has opened up the dimensions for the people and the photographers in providing with the liberty of capturing whatever they wish and of whatever type they prefer! Well the magic words are macro mode. Although the words might seem to be a bit deceiving they have really a great application in the field of digital photography and digital camera as a device. In general the digital camera macro mode allows a digital camera to photograph close-up pictures of petite objects like flowers, insects, coins, etc. Macro mode potentiality vary from camera to camera but almost all digital cameras offer this exclusive feature to enable the users to widen up their imaginations and their weirdest fantasies in creating art.

Extending the discussion further we can state that just about most of the digital cameras has a macro mode. Each of these digital cameras can be verified of having the macro mode because for each of them one of the menu buttons will have an icon of a flower on it. This is the macro mode button invariably. And thus has the specific technology built in. The macro mode button, when pressed, switches the camera into a special close focus mode and many allow the photographer to shoot less than 10cm from the picture subject. Many cameras of reputed companies like Nikon and Ricoh allows the users to be as close as 3cm from the picture subject that permits barely credible close ups of tiny objects such as little insects. The macro mode has a greater variety of applications in security measurements too. At times macro mode may be also useful for making photographic records of priced jewels for insurance purposes in order to prevent theft and fraudulent activities.

The macro mode is more often than not present on the menu button that as well has an icon of two triangles symbolizing mountains (or rather landscape mode) and sometimes MF (manual focus) too. This button has to be pressed several times until the flower icon appears on the viewing LCD. A number of digital cameras then subsequently by design shift into a particular precinct on the zoom lens making a mechanical sound as the zoom reset. While using a digital camera macro mode it must be noted that it is harder to focus for the digital camera instantly, so it takes a bit of time for adjustment. Thus the users need not hurry while using the digital camera macro mode. As the subject comes in focus the depth-of-field also increases. On the other hand, the depth-of-field is controlled by the camera's aperture. Most digital cameras are full automatic and this setting cannot be changed. Thus patience becomes a virtue while using the digital camera in their macro mode.

Much has already been discussed about the digital camera macro mode. It can be stated here that the digital camera macro mode is a really intricate feature. And every delicate object or subject needs to be handled with care. To really cherish the beauty of the digital camera macro modes the users require developing the expertise and also building a kind of patience that is necessary to cerate beauty in art and object.

About The Author


Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com. Visit his digital camera guide and learn how to take better pictures with your digicam.

Sports & Outdoors Its just a matter of time!


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Exposure Compensation

by: Jakob Jelling

The digital camera is in reality a great possession with many facets of its utilities and not only that knowing these utilities makes the understanding the digital camera complete. The utilities are also so very diverse that they too offer further introspection of details in their varying applications. Such an area is digital camera exposure compensation. Only knowledge of digital camera exposure is not enough, so the digital camera exposure compensation requires some amount of exposure in itself! This discussion is focused towards that cause itself.

Looking at different digital cameras, even temperately costing digital cameras have arrangements for exposure compensation settings. To explain in a bit detail, the exposure compensation allows the users to control the amount of light entering the lens. And thereby the illumination of the photograph is decided. Exposure compensation can be altered manually or by the help of a digital camera's exposure compensation setting that lets one override the metered exposure set inside the digital camera itself. Strictly speaking, the exposure values provide an expedient line of attack to put a figure on the available light intensity and therefore exposure.

As per general norms of the users of digital cameras, certain standards exist for selecting such values. These values are specifically known as Exposure Values (EV). Selecting an up to standard Exposure Values (EV) helps maintain the details contained in dark areas of a photo, or diminish the more than usually bright areas. Again, looking from technical point of view, the Exposure Values are numbers that refer to an assortment of combinations of apertures of lenses and shutter speed respectively. They have a selective range of values, ranging between -2 to +2 Exposure Values (EV). As a general rule positive exposure settings are used for cases where bulky areas of a scene are especially bright such as taking pictures of a snow scene and also during times of photographing when the background is a good deal brighter than the focal area under consideration. Also, negative exposure settings are used for cases where bulky areas of a scene are especially dark and also during times of photographing when the background is a good deal darker than the fore area under consideration.

One point that is worth noting is that light meters cannot see color. They deliver every scene as 18% middle gray and become accustomed to the exposure accordingly. And most digital cameras will allows a photographer to compensate the exposure by 1 to 2 EV plus or minus in 1/3 or 1/2 stop increments. A very important realization for any photographer is that the right exposure is only "correct" in the eye of the photographer; Exposure Value compensation can also be used as a creative tool.

With this information available to the users of the digital camera, the knowledge of digital camera exposure as well as digital camera exposure compensation becomes. But it is only knowledge, the proper acquiring of the whole feel comes only from personal experience.

About The Author


Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com/. Visit his digital camera guide and learn how to take better pictures with your digicam.

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Friday, January 28, 2005

How To Avoid Or Reduce Red-Eye

by: Jakob Jelling

Photography with the aid of a digital camera is beyond doubt very fascinating. However, it also has many a nooks that the users of the digital camera must be aware of and also must be well educated to deal with in order to produce good photographs worth the most prized digital camera. Such a concept is that of the red eye! In order to understand what this red eye actually is, a little detailed introspection is necessary. Basically speaking red-eye is a function of at least three things, they are firstly, ambient level of light because stumpy light level causes the retina of the person to be photographed to open wider to admit more light thereby divulging open the iris, which is the primary part that reflects the red light hence giving the appearance of red eyes for the subjects. Also secondly the younger the person being photographed the wider remains the retina and hence the greater the effect of red eye in the picture. Thirdly, the reflection angle of the flash plays a vital role, as the light is recoiled back to the digital camera and the closer the incident light beam is to this reflected light beam, the greater becomes the red eye effect. To prevent this instruments such as flash brackets are useful to make the flash a bit removed from the propinquity of the lens. Thus the red eye effect is somewhat revealed till this part of this discussion. Now is the time to look into a greater detail in order to analyze the various aspects of the red eye effect and also find out ways of reducing the problem as far as possible.

It can be noted here that the only important thing is that the users must ensure that the proper fixing of the angle between the flash beam and the lens axis. The general rule here is that the photographer must keep the angle wide enough that the light beam from the flash does not reflect off the retina of the person being photographed and comes right back into the digital camera lens. A good idea is to make the red-eye reduction work by making the flash shine a light into the eyes of the person being photographed just before the flash is incident and the shutter is pressed. This causes the irises in the eyes of the person being photographed to narrow down or shrink. As a result of this the eye develops a smaller opening for the eye view of the digital camera and does not show off the blood filled retina. This light is called pre light! And very importantly this process works only if the person to be photographed is in point of fact looking directly at the flash for the pre-light to come.

Other factors influencing the red eye are the level of ambient light during the time when the photograph is being taken and how near the flash light is to the lens. The rule of thumb comes out that the brighter the ambient light; the lesser is the effect of red eyes, everything else being one and the same. As the flashlight goes farther from the lens, the fewer becomes the effect of red eyes, everything else being one and the same again. Thus the key idea is that red eye is not caused if the ambient light is comparatively high. And it does have a significant effect if the shooting area is dark. Many digital cameras have built in features for anti red eye that is used to reduce red eye when taking a picture of a person looking straight at the camera also. But manually, the best red eye reduction can be obtained with the help of an external flash as described.

The above discussion has dealt with the most important ideas regarding the red eye effect. The discussion has analyzed the inherent facts about the digital camera red eye effect, their causes as well as remedies. The only thing that remains is that the users must implement these ideas while shooting under circumstances discussed here so that the red eye effect cannot harm the beauties of art created with the aid of the fantastic device, the digital camera!

About The Author


Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com/ . Visit his digital camera guide and learn how to take better pictures with your digicam.

Sports & Outdoors Its just a matter of time!


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Digital Camera Auto Exposure and Auto Focus

by: Jakob Jelling

The digital camera being a fantastic and technologically advanced device contains many different applications of its own. Many users of this fabulous device are unaware of quite a few of these functions which can actually do wonders. And it is the duty and right of every person possessing the digital camera to intervene into the depths of knowledge to understand their prized possession and their varying qualities in order to foster the true respect that this device deserves. This article deals with providing information regarding one those qualities - Auto focus and auto exposure!

Exploring the information in slight more details it can be stated that auto exposure cameras are provided with a fixed focus lens or manual focus lens. These cameras are the simplest to set exposure. To obtain the correct exposure for a particular subject of photography, the only thing that needs to be done is to simply lock the exposure by pressing the shutter down halfway on the digital cameras upon a reference object that is about one fifth gray and also illuminated by the aid of the same source of light as subject of photography. After locking the exposure, the photographer has to recompose the frame and shoot the picture. Auto exposure and auto focus cameras are to some degree harder for setting the exposure, because they contain the exposure lock that is generally tied to focus-lock. However, the users or photographers using these auto exposure and auto focus cameras can still make adjustments for the correct exposure and correct focus using the digital cameras and make the photographs perfect! Again, the exposure can be adjusted by locking on an 18% reference that is illuminated by the aid of the same source of light as subject of photography. The users have to only ensure that the distance to this so-called reference is the same as the distance to the subject of photography that actually sets the focus.

Now discussing the auto focus and auto exposure lock (AE/AF) a bit more in detail. The shutter release button on a digital camera has more function than just snap a cool picture. The users have to grab a technique where he or she has to depress this shutter release button half way down thereby locking both the auto exposure and auto focus. This enables the users or photographers to have more control on exposure in difficult lighting situations while using the digital camera. Moreover, this entire process also helps him or her to determine where the camera focuses. Like if the photographer intends to set the exposure before composing the final shot of the photograph then he or she can move the digital camera slightly so that only the subject to be photographed is visible prominently in the auto focus frame in the viewfinder. As a next step he or she can depress the shutter-release button down half way to set focus and exposure and then recompose the picture and finally completely depress the button in order to capture and freeze the moment of time! It is to be noted here that the auto focus and auto exposure lock (AE/AF) is available in all photography modes of the digital cameras that are nowadays available for the general people.

Not much remains to be discussed about this particular topic of auto focus/auto exposure and a brief discussion as above is enough to reveal a bounty of information regarding this fantastic feature of the digital cameras. At the end of this discussion it can be expected that both the novice and expert photographers and user of the digital camera would benefit from whatever has been revealed and the effort to bring out the human mind from the dark oblivion about auto focus and auto exposure lock would be a success in the magic light of the digital camera!

About The Author


Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com/ . Visit his digital camera guide and learn how to take better pictures with your digicam.

Sports & Outdoors Its just a matter of time!


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Saturday, January 01, 2005

Make Your New Year A Great One

I hope you had a wonderful New Years Eve.

My house hold had a good time at home
watching movies. We had a flu bud going
through the house the past couple of
weeks.

It was an eventful year and all. We got
some camping and fishing in and had a
really good year.

If you have a good story to tell about
camping or the outdoors just go a head
and post it.

If there is anything you would like to
see on this blog drop me a line.

For now I'll continue to post good
outdoor articles and links to others.

I hope you and your family have a great
New Years Day and fun and prosperous
2005.

Robin and Val Shortt