photosecrets

For today’s blog, I have found a fantastic site to share with you. The site is called PhotoSecrets and it is published by a man named Andrew Hudson. According to the site, he has been a professional photographer since 1996, the year that he founded PhotoSecrets Publishing (now called Photo Tour Books, Inc.) which has since published 14 books. For more information on Hudson and the company, you can check out the “About” section of the site.

The reason I really like this site is because it offers a wealth of information and tips for beginner, intermediate, and advanced photographers. Articles cover everything from what camera to buy, how to take better pictures of people, and how to photograph fireworks to equipment information to aerial photography. The format of the site is simple and clear.

Of all the articles on the site, there are a few really good ones I suggest you check out. First, the article titled “Time of Day”. In it, Hudson breaks down the hours of the day to point out the advantages of each section of time. This type of chart would be great for someone who is having trouble achieving the light affects they want to. Another article that I think anyone can benefit from is the one entitled “Favorite Filters”. Hudson briefly describes 15 different types of filters to put on your lens and also what brands he uses. Using filters is an incredible way to get different and varied affects in your photographs. The last article I found very interesting is actually written by an outside author, Bob Couey. I can’t prove his credibility to myself or to you, but I did really enjoy what he had to say. He recounts the best photo tip he ever heard:

"The subject you wish to photograph is the nucleus of an atom. You, the photographer, are the

electron spinning around the subject until you find just the right angle and distance. Not until then will you have successfully evaluated every aspect of that subject and its possibilities. Just the slightest move to the right or left, up or down has the potential to make or break the photo. Don't be in such a hurry to finish and leave."

So, if I have sparked any interest in this site, here’s the URL:
http://www.photosecrets.com/tips.html

Well, that’s all for now!
-Valerie

my humble introduction

Good morning/afternoon/evening, readers!
This is the first in a series of blogs I will be posting concerning photography.
My name is Valerie O'Shea. I'm a college student from New Jersey, majoring in Writing Arts, Elementary Education, and getting my certificate of Reading. In fact, creating and writing in this blog is actually an assignment for one of my classes- to make a research based blog about a chosen topic. Despite the fact that I am going to school for teaching, I am, at heart, an artist. My passions lie in writing, music, and especially photography. I decided to blog about photography because it is something I am very interested in, very passionate about, and very active with. My experience as an 'amateur photographer' began when I was in third grade and my family went on vacation to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. I saw such beauty there that I kept begging my father, an amateur photographer himself, to borrow his camera. That year for Christmas he bought me my first SLR camera and, as they say, the rest is history.
I've decided to focus this blog on sharing informative and useful resources for anyone interested in photography, as well as sharing tips that I have picked up over the years. I intend to learn a lot through my research and I hope that you (the reader) enjoy it as I present it to you!

Edit: When thinking more about how to organize my research, I realized that 'photography' was a much broader topic than I wanted to tackle. I felt almost complelled to write about the history of photography, descriptions and explanations of the many aspects of a camera, lenses, filters, etc. These are things that are of interest to photographers, but not things I particularly want to research. Thus, I have slightly narrowed my focus. I am very interested in the actual process of taking pictures and improving my own photography, so I've decided to research different sources to find all kinds of tips for novice and amateur photographers. I know that there is so much for me to learn, and I want to share that all with you.