HDR Photography (an introduction)

By Christopher Rainville
HDR photography, or High Dynamic Range photography, has become quite popular in recent time.  By definition, HDR photography is combining different exposure values to one finished photograph. To understand why we do HDR photography it’s important to know how your camera works and more importantly, how it compares to the human eye.

Sneak Peek at Country Bear Jamboree

Looking for an Inexpensive Photo Editor? Review of Snapseed for Desktop

By Christopher Rainville
Post processing is a very important step in digital photography. However, post processing editors like Photoshop, Lightroom and even Adobe’s less-expensive Photoshop version, Photoshop Elements, can be considered too expensive for a hobbyist photographer. Aside from the cost, their complexity can be overwhelming for a lot of users especially those just starting out. Snapseed from Nik Software offers a simple to use, and inexpensive entry-level post processing program for about 20 bucks and works on Mac and Windows machines.

The power behind this editor is Nik’s patented U Point® technology that allows users to pinpoint specific areas of the photograph to enhance or make adjustments without complicated selections or masking.  Nik Software makes powerful photo editing programs that are designed to simplify even the most complex enhancements and adjustments.  But I would consider the price of these products to be expensive for the average hobbyist.  Snapseed was a product originally developed for the mobile phone market but has recently been released as a desktop version. The software gives you basic post processing controls for enhancements and corrections yet delivers them in an easy-to-use workflow format.

How To Get More Photos With Less People In Them, at Walt Disney World

by Christopher Rainville

One of the challenges of taking great photos of Walt Disney World’s resorts and theme parks is getting “clean” shots. The term clean refers to photographing only the intended subject without the clutter of people. Over the years I have always strived to get photos with little or no people in them. Here are a few tips to try to increase your chances of getting cleaner shots.

Patience: No matter what time of the year you go to Walt Disney World there is going to be a lot of people there. The first thing you have to remember is to have patience. Often times the difference between a shot with 100 people in it or no people in it is waiting a few minutes. If you take a look and notice, people often travel in groups or maybe a better way to describe it would be waves. Sometimes if you just stop and wait for your shot the wave of people will pass and you can then take the shot before the next wave of people walk in front of your subject. When the park is really crowded the waves of people are often too tight but if you are in a park and it is an average attendance day try to notice how small groups of people travel and take advantage of that by waiting for them to pass.