New Years Party Tips

New Years Eve is almost here! If you are going out to celebrate and want to get some great shots, here are some tips!  

How to photograph your Christmas tree...with or without your family!

I just wanted to take a minute to wish you all a happy and safe holidays! I hope Santa Claus brings you some great photo goodies, and that 2013 brings you lots of great photo opportunities! I have a lot of to be thankful for, with the amount of support you have all given me with launch of my apps.  I hope I have been able to say thanks to you all in some way so you know that I appreciate all your help.
I’d also like to offer you some tips to get a nice photo of your tree as well as a nice family portrait with it over the holidays.

Tis the Season Again For Christmas Concerts!

 With the school Christmas concert season upon us, time to yet again recycle an oldie but a goodie blog post!! Here's some tips on getting the great concert photos!

The annual Leonid Meteor Shower is happening this weekend! Not the busiest shower, but still a good opportunity,  so get out your tripods, get a cup of coffee, and go shoot them with some friends! Here's some tips on how!

Photography Assignment Generator Apps NOW AVAILABLE ON THE APP STORE!

I am so excited to finally announce the launch of the Learnphoto.ca Photography Assignment Generator app for SLR Photographers and the iPhotography Assignment Generator App for iPhone/iPod touch shooters.  NOW AVAILABLE ON THE APP STORE FOR IPHONE AND IPOD TOUCH HERE.  If you have any problems or questions, email me.

Whether you are taking on a 365 day photo challenge or just looking for inspiration, these apps will be just perfect for you. While most apps on the app store let you DO things to the photographs you taken, like add text, borders, filters, or special effects, these app is about ideas for TAKING photographs.

Photography Assignment Generator For SLR Features:

OVER 100 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS AND THOUSANDS OF POTENTIAL RANDOM ONES! Everything from camera settings, rules of composition, creative shooting techniques, photographing people, landscape and nature, and more subjects! Random objects and places, combined with techniques, environments, offer you hundreds of thousands of possibilities! The scavenger hunt assignment gives you lists of terms to find with your camera…with MILLIONS of possible combinations! You can choose from the list, or have the app give you one at random!

OVER 700 EXAMPLE IMAGES
Each assignment has a series of example images to demonstrate the technique or inspire you!

iPhotography Assignment Generator for iPhone/iPod Touches:

OVER 75 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS AND THOUSANDS OF POTENTIAL RANDOM ONES!
Tailored to shooting with your iPhone/iPod, assignments range from the rules of composition, creative shooting techniques, photographing people, landscape and nature, and more subjects! Random objects and places, combined with techniques, environments, offer you hundreds of thousands of possibilities! The scavenger hunt assignment gives you lists of terms to find with your camera…with MILLIONS of possible combinations! You can choose from the list, or have the app give you one at random! Each assignment has a series of example images to demonstrate the technique or inspire you, with over 500 images in the app in total.

CAMERA TIPS/CAMERA+/INSTAGRAM TUTORIALS
The app includes tutorials on getting better photos with your iPhone/iPod touch, as well as popular apps 

FEATURES OF BOTH

DAILY REMINDER
Taking part in a 365 day challenge?  Get the app to send you a reminder each day to get your photo assignment to keep you on track.

NO NETWORK REQUIRED!
The app is completely self-contained and does not require a wifi or network connection.  No matter where you are, you can always get an assignment. NOTE: Due to the huge amount of content, the app must be downloaded over wi-fi or through iTunes on your computer.

VIDEO TOURS
Take a quick tour of the apps and their features by watching my online tour videos here: https://vimeo.com/channels/learnphoto

FREE VERSION
As a firm believe that people should be able to try before they buy, there is also a FREE version of the full app that contains just a fraction of the assignments available in the full paid version...but should be enough to make you want it all! It is from the full slr version, but is basically the same as the iPhone/iPod version, so it would work for both. 

IPAD USERS
Please note, the app with run on iPad, but not full screen(online at iPhone size). I am looking at creating a iPad version if there is interest.  Email me at app@learnphoto.ca to tell me you want it!
 
HOW YOU CAN HELP MAKE THIS A SUCCESS!

The only way this is going to be successful is to get on the popular/most downloaded list so users across the world see it...and for that I need your help!

I hope of course you download the full app!
But whether you download the full app or not, please download the free version as well. More downloads equals more popular! You can delete it after you’ve downloaded it, no worries.

Here are some other ways you can help out:

-Please forward this info on the app to anyone else you think may be interested! Make sure to cc me on the email!
-Post the info on any photographers forums, blogs, etc, that you take part in who may be interested.
-Like and share my app page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PhotographyAppsByLearnphotoca
-Like and share my posts on Facebook about the app launch.
-Like and share my app page on my website at http://www.learnphoto.ca/apps
-Tweet about the app, or retweet my posts at https://twitter.com/learnphotoca
-Share the videos on my channels https://vimeo.com/channels/learnphoto
-Rate and review it on the app store!

SAYING THANKS FOR THE HELP

Obviously I have to try to thank you for helping me out, so I’m going to offer some launch prizes.
Every time you do any of the above, you’re name will go in a draw.  So if you share and like a status, like my app page, and email the info(cc me!), that would be 4 entries.
Starting off, I’m going to be giving away 5-5$50 gift certificates towards courses(transferable if you don’t want to use them, would make a great Christmas gift!)...and will add more as sales increase. if the apps really take off, I’ll start adding some bigger prizes, like iPod touches!

Thank you for checking out the app, I’m really hoping this can give me the opportunity to just do what I love, teach photography!

Please contact me if you have any questions or problems!
Noel

----------------------
Photographer and teacher
LEARNPHOTO.CA, Noel’s online photography learning community!
http://www.learnphoto.ca
NEW!
Photography Assignment Generator Apps now available on the app store!
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/noel-chenier/id566645905
More info here: http://www.learnphoto.ca/apps
Portfolio http://www.noelchenier.ca
Noel’s Photo Tips Blog http://noelchenier.blogspot.com
Work Done by My Students! http://www.learnphoto.ca/gallery
Contact Email: nchenier@nbnet.nb.ca
Contact Phone: 608-6424

Oronid Meteor Shower THIS WEEKEND!

The annual Oronnid Meteor Shower is happening this weekend! Not the busiest shower, with usually 25 meteors an hour! But still a good opportunity,  so get out your tripods, get a cup of Tim's, and go shoot them! Here's some tips on how!

Some Thoughts On Critiquing....

A WORD ON CRITIQUING PHOTOGRAPHS
It's easy to say "That is a really nice/great/beautiful/bad/awful photograph", but it's even better to get a real critique of it where the person can explain what it is about the photograph that makes them like/dislike it. Here are some thoughts on how to discuss and evaluate photographs.

Assignment: A Photographic Alphabet

I give out the occasional assignment to my students, and here is one I particularly like.
For this assignment, you are trying to find elements in a scene that form letters. Not a sign that has letters on it, but pieces of wood that make a K shape, the side of a swing that forms an A, or metal bars on a firepit screen that make an X.

This kind of assignment is also good for taking a look through your archive of images to see what you may have already taken that contains letters!

To see some of the shots my students have come up with, check them out here:

August 2012 Picture of the Month Contest Winners are....

Get Great Shots At The Harvest Jazz And Blues Festival

Not only can you enjoy the sounds of a concert or festival, you can record the sights with you camera! Here are some tips on how to get some great shots if you will be taking in this year's Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival!

Annual Perseids Meteor Shower This Weekend!

The annual Perseids Meteor Showers is happening this weekend! So get out your tripods, get a cup of Tim's, and go shoot them! Here's some tips on how!

Pre-Shooting Preparation:
Charge your batteries fully before going out. It might be a bit colder at night, and that can affect battery life. Wear some warm clothes, a hat, and gloves. Bring some hot beverages, some friends, and make it a fun outing! At least you'll have someone to talk to between exposures.
Also bring a flashlight or LED keychain light so you can see what you are doing when changing your settings. A headlight looks dorky, but it let's you works with both hands.

Time to Go Out:
No moon this year, so they can be viewed any time after 10pm. There could be as many as 50-80 meteors per hour. The peak night will be Saturday.

Where to Go and Sky Conditions:
You want to be as far away from the City/Town as possible to reduce the amount of light pollution. Find a dark road out in the country somewhere far away from street lights.
Obviously it has to be a clear night that you can see the sky.
Finding the Meteors
You should be able to see lots of meteors looking to the northeast.

Do I Need A Tripod?
YES and the heavier the better!

ISO:
Start with 400 ISO and see how much detail you can pick up. If you aren't getting enough details, try 800 ISO.

Lens:
You want to use a wide(16-35mm) to normal lens(50mm) so you can get a wide range of sky area.

Shooting Mode: Has to be MANUAL as you need to set the shutter speed and aperture.

Shutter Speeds:
The longer the speed you use, the more meteors you will get. However, if you go too long, the stars will begin to form trails. To figure out how to long to shoot the stars without getting trails, divide 600 by the length of your lens, and that is how many seconds you should use. For example, if you are using a 17mm lens, 600/17mm= 35 seconds.
However, if you do long exposures like 30minutes to 1 hour(or longer), you will get star trails that look neat along with the straight lines of meteors. The photo above was done for three hours(although you can see the light pollution made the sky brownish instead of black!) Note you will need a cable release or remote, and use BULB mode to do this. No way you can hold the button down for 1-3 hours...

Aperture:
Use your widest aperture (smaller number, for example 3.5/4.5/5.6) to let in as much light as possible. If you find the meteors coming out a bit bright, you can stop down one setting. If you have a lens that has a really wide aperture(1.8/2.8) that is even better!

Focus:
You have to use MANUAL focus and focus on the stars or set the focus on the lens to Infinity.

Other Shooting Tips:
-If you want to include trees, mountains, the horizon, etc they will provide an interesting silhouette shape and scale.
-You could also try using a flash during the exposure to light up the trees!
-Have an old film camera kicking around? Haul her out, throw in some ISO 400 film, and take some long exposures!(You have to have to use a cable release)

So go out there, have some fun, and send me some great shots or post them in the online student galleries if you have a login!

Updated info On Grand Manan workshop!

Just an bit of an update on the Grand Manan Photography workshop scheduled for July 12-15th!  Getting lots of interest, I’m pumped and can’t wait!!!   Make sure you contact me asap if you are interested in attending as spots are filling up!  Please share with anyone you think may be interested as well! New details on MACHIAS SEAL ISLAND TRIP, PRICING, FLEXIBILITY, and TRANSPORTATION below!

GRAND MANAN PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP JULY 12-15 2012

Finally set the date for this summer’s Grand Manan Photography Workshop!
I had an amazing time last year, and it’s only going to get better!
Details are below, please forward them on to anyone you think may be interested.