We all can learn more about photography & our equipment, no matter how much experience we have. Although there are many websites that provide free tutorials for many aspects of digital photography (I have links to some at JV’s Useful Photo Tutorial Internet Links), a stand alone package will let you learn even when the internet isn’t available. There are a number of packages available; one of my favorites is 123di by Vincent Bockaert. At $49.95 for the basic version, it is designed for the beginner, the intermediate & the advanced photographer, is available for either Macintosh or PCs, can be downloaded or purchased as a “Boxed CD” version. For an extra $10.00 a more flexible version that includes searching capabilities, bookmarking, etc. is available, and, if you use Nikon Capture software, a version is available that provides additional coverage. Demo versions for Windows or Macintosh are available here.
The software package is very comprehensive – over 4000 pages of information starting with the basics of how your camera works, and ending with printing your images. The table of contents is available at the web site – take a look to see what it covers.
One of the reasons I like this package is where I suspect its name comes from – it offers three selectable levels (1 – Starter, 2 – Essential, and 3 – Advanced) for most of the interactive learning sections. It also gives specific instructions for almost every menu item available on the most popular commercial editing software – The various versions of Photoshop Elements, Photoshop & Lightroom, and, if you purchase the Nikon version, Nikon Capture 4.4 & NX. Although it takes a bit of getting used to when working your way through the application page by page, following the levels through each section works well.
A DVD video based tutorial I like is Ron Reznick’s SureShot System. The collection consists of 5 DVDs – 8 1/2 hours of tutorials. Although it can get a bit technical at times, Ron talks the viewer through the process he & other photographers use when taking photographs, post processing, and printing. Lots of useful information on dealing with color temperature & exposure as well as composition techniques. The system is designed for both beginners & advanced users; for those working with point & shoot as well as DSLRs. The format of the DVDs is a mix of on location discussion as well as Ron at a work station describing the process he & others used to make an image. You can purchase individual sections of the system for around $20.00 per disk, or the entire series for $60.00. I think disks 1 & 2 are the most useful, but the entire series is well worth the $60.00. You can see some of Ron’s work at his web site.
Shelley
Thanks Jon,
You just saved me from spending money needlessly.
Shelley
Jon Vermilye
The honest answer is no. A UV filter can be helpful if you are at high altitudes where the UV levels are higher than normal, but most of the haze you are dealing with is water vapor or pollution, neither of which will be much improved with a UV filter. A polarizing filter can sometimes help since it reduces scattered light but it may also over blue the sky, etc. The best solution is to look for a time of day, week, or even year that the haze is minimal. Of course that is tough to do when traveling…
Shelley
John,
This is a little off topic but I need help. I take quite a few landscape type pictures in our travels. Haze in the distance is a huge pain in the you know what. I use a Canon S3 IS and it has a HOYA HMC UV (0) filiter on it.
Trying to get rid of haze just takes so much post processing that I’m about to give up. Is there a filter that will help with this situation?
Thanks,
Shelley
Jon Vermilye
One thing all wildlife photographers is a longer lens. I have a 50mm – 500mm zoom I use with a Nikon D200 DSLR for bird photos & I still wish it had more reach. If you are going to use a Point & shoot camera, look for the longest actual (not digital) zoom range you can find with image stabilization. A good place to start looking is at dp review’s camera Feature Search web page – http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp.
None of the long zoom cameras are all that compact – the Canon S5 is a good example: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=15207
John
My wife and I have been using a small pocket-size digital camera for years. We are wild-life (especially birds) watching enthusisasts and would like to be able to take good digital pictures of the wildlife we see. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good ditial SLR camera with appropriate zooms??