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Photography Weekly Header created by ~TouchedD
"Let your words be few - and your exposures many"
-Unknown
Earlier this week I was stalking a photography forum (because it's where all the cool kids are) and I noticed somebody claiming to be a fairly professional photographer angling for information on the best mega-pixels D-SLR camera they could get in order to stabilise their images. Well anybody who knows even a tiny inkling about Photography will very quickly jump on that as most of us know full well that no matter how many megapixels you've got, they aren't worth a thing without a steady hand or more importantly a good sturdy tripod. I never was a firm believer in a tripod and even now, I rarely use it. However I use any number of things to stabilise myself when shooting whether that involves lying in a bed of flowers, resting against a wall or indeed using the nearest person (which I don't recommend - people sway!) However it's not difficult to get a tripod, to get that support and to thus cut out the camera shake to the best of your ability. There are many options nowadays including tripods, monopods, gorllias (which wrap around trees - see how far we've come as innovative humans?) and mini-pods. There are camera rests, even camera bean bags that are meant to hold a compact quite steady. There's also the old faithful make your own tripod. But if you've not got any of this to hand there are a few things you can do. This is my personal stance, and I'm sharing it not because I think it works, but because my lovely partner ~TouchedD seems quite amazed at my steadiness when shooting tripod-less. (Really I'm not!).
Find out which is your more dominant eye. I'm right handed but my left eye is my stronger eye and the one I use to look through a view-finder. I revert to this eye as much as possible. There's no denying that if you use a weaker, untrained eye for some reason, you're going to have a bit of sway even if you think you're fine. Bring your elbows into your body and use your self as a strong, steady support. Stand properly - none of this floating on the balls of your feet business, ground yourself Use two hands - it sounds like a really obvious thing, but seriously I have to coach myself a lot to remember to use two hands on my camera Don't use another person - I know I said I do it, but really it's not worth it. If you spend all this time setting yourself up then lean on someone else who isn't even prepared what kind of results do you think you're going to get? So here's the question this week - how do you reduce camera shake and blur in your images? What sort of tripod do you use? What do and don't you recommend? (That was three questions, but I'm sure nobody minds!). Some answers will be selected and used for the next article of Photography Troubleshooting!
Community Relations News
This week we've said goodbye to `Hardrockangel and `fritsvandersloot which also means that there are a few more vacancies on the Community Volunteers team which you can have a browse of here. Drop by our ex-volunteers pages and show them some appreciation for their hard work.
Contests
Firstly, we want your feedback on getting a Photography Contest going through #communityrelations Drop your ideas for contest themes in this article and myself and ^3wyl will go through them and figure out what exactly we can launch! It could be seasonal, Autumn themed, objects, specific genres and so on. The list is pretty much endless!
dA related Monthly Themed Contest Monthly Recipe Challenge ends on Oct 1st. Still Life Blue Contest ends on Oct 1st. Upcoming Chat Events
There's a chat event tonight in #PhotoHunt at 2 PM EST / 11AM Pacific /7PM London. Pop along to join in with the fun and games, there's a chance to win some deviantART related prizes including subscriptions, key chains and lanyards! Keep an eye on the Chat Events Calendar for more information on upcoming events. We've also announced our next Photography Games Night. All information is listed on the calendar! Hope to see you there.
Don't forget to pop along today and sunday to play Rock, Paper, Scissors!
Spotlight Deviant
*StefanHefele has a series of wonderful captures in his gallery that will not only amaze you but also make you crave for adventure, vistas and beauty! Stefan, based in Germany, has a gallery that spans the world with particular focus on the beauty of Iceland.
Deviants to Check Out This Week
Project Educate
It's street art week over at #projecteducate and the chance is there to learn a lot about the galleries here on deviantART and enter the contest being hosted by ^kiwi-pdd!
Intro and Contest! Language of the Streets Interviewing Pahnl Interviewing Opek-one Interviewing Mr Greed Interviewing Swel Brief History: Drawing on Walls Interview with Sneak3218Stop by for more articles the rest of this week and hang around because on Monday Photo-journalism launches with `xbastex!! Check out the Full Project Educate Schedule.
Art History
This month literature still continues over at #ArtHistoryProject with lots of insightful, informative and wonderful articles being brought your way from the community and CV team. Check out the group for constant updates and standby for Digital Month - October!
Journalism from a staff reporters experience! Writing a pantomime History of Children's Literature An interview with a zebra...of sorts Week One Roundup! Six word stories and other flash fiction! An interview with a very scary dessert Modern Meter An interview with a CanuckGeneral Photography
Community Volunteers ^Kaz-D | ^3wyl |
^3wyl and myself are now accepting suggestions for Urban and Rural Photography so if you have anything you'd like to see featured please send it our way. As usual this will be the case until a CV is appointed to take over the galleries fully. Check out ^3wyl's latest article All snapped up! Each month we're inviting you to share your work for critique in our Monthly Critique Thread. Check out the rules and drop a thumb of the piece you'd like feedback on and we'll work on it for you! Additionally feel free to provide critique too. Photography Troubleshooting this week focused on watermarking and the best ways in which to protect your work. Also we explored the interesting topic of whether or not you really could protect your work properly and completely. Join in the discussion on the article! Within Still Life Photography our Photographer of the week over at #Still-Life-Stills has been announced. Check it out here and show some support to the artist! Check out the contest section above for our current challenges where you can join in and win prizes too. Abstract & Surreal Photography
Community Volunteer `DpressedSoul
Using the lyrics from Muse - Madness, `DpressedSoul has put together another Abstract and Surreal feature which you can see here. Also an additional feature explores a piece by Katatonia - How could this go so very wrong... Over at #Abstract-and-Surreal =AFineWar has published another edition of The Surrealist. Additionally from *KizukiTamura is another Abstract and Surreal photography feature. Enjoy!
Animals, Plants & Nature
Community Volunteer `IsacGoulart
Isac has now stepped up to take on Animals, Plants and Nature (commonly known as APN) fully which makes complete sense given his absolutely breath-taking gallery that features exemplar images from the genre. All Daily Deviation suggestions must now be directed to `IsacGoulart and he will deal with them. I have passed on or redirected all current APN suggestions that I have, so don't feel you have to send them again to him - he has them! We look forward to seeing some exciting things from Isac.
Darkroom Photography
Community Volunteer `RockstarVanity
Darkroom Exposed is out once more and helps showcase some artists within the darkroom community. 
Fashion Photography
Community Volunteer ^Pixel-Spotlight
The exciting news this week - especially as it's the beginning of London Fashion Week - is that ^Pixel-Spotlight has published an interview on deviantART with the fabulous Corrie Nielsen! Check it out - leave your thoughts and feedback and thanks to Merry for bringing such a rising star to the community!
Pin-Up & Glamour Photography
Community Volunteer ^DistortedSmile
Lush! is out again and explores some of the daily deviation suggestions that :devdisortedsmile: gets but cannot feature. Enjoy! 
Street Photography
Community Volunteer `StamatisGR
There are more Free Street Ebooks shared on dA by `StamatisGR Check out the article for full information and links. Really useful stuff! Over at #projecteducate we've done a Street Photography Recap which includes a few pesky articles that previously got away! 
Photography Resources
From the Forums
Photography Critique and Feedback Thread: September What's your favourite lens? Why isn't the photographer allowed to "edit" like the painter? Professional cameras Bad experiences with models (or others) Ideas for photography at home? Photography Tips Anyone? Photoshopping your photos Tips or tricks for cleaning lenses? Your workspace set up Tips & Tricks for a learner! Buying gear: bright lens or a flash? Free photo editing software? How do I make money off photo prints? Panoramic Bridge at Night Shot - Any tips/advice?Photography Books
There's a fantastic book on tips and tricks to use in lightroom which is available for FREE! Check it out here and nab it whilst it's available. Lighting 101 and How to use external flash are both very useful articles as well. If you have a book suggestion - note me!
Weekly Features to keep an eye on!
There's so much going on around the community especially for Volunteers that sometimes the awesome news can be missed out. I hope to share any weekly or monthly features that are ongoing here so that you can browse them at your leisure. If you know of something that needs to be listed let me know!
Project Comment's Under appreciated Feature from ^3wyl Making a Difference from ^3wyl dA Love for Everyone from `lintu47 Project Porkchop from ^Astralseed Under 1,000 Views from *L0NE-W0lf Gifts of Nature from ~LawraRandala Pure Beauty from `dragonfly-oli Photography Discovered from `ScENeYmE The Community Volunteer Team - Photography
The Community Volunteer Team - Photography
General Photography: ^Kaz-D | ^3wyl |
Architecture `anmari
Abstract and Surreal: `DpressedSoul
Animals, Plants and Nature: `IsacGoulart
Darkroom: `RockstarVanity
Urban and Rural: `fritsvandersloot
Artistic Nude and Fetish: ^Nyx-Valentine
Conceptual: `DemonMathiel
Fashion: ^Pixel-Spotlight
Horror & Macabre & Cosplay: ^pullingcandy
Pinup and Glamour: ^DistortedSmile
Photo-journalism: `xbastex
Street: `StamatisGR
Groups to check out
Get Involved...
You can get yourself into Photography Weekly just by sending me a note! Each week I look for:
Spotlight Deviants Underappreciated Deviants Spotlight Groups Photography related news Themes & Topics Featured Tutorials
the article if you enjoyed it!
For the record a tripod is essential for my night sky shots and I use them all the time. I was going to suggest you look at that video showing the bit of string and bolt method, but then I saw that you already had it.
There are also types of photography where using a tripod, even a small one, would border on the ridiculous, like Street or much PJ, and moments (in Street, but also e.g. at wedding shootings) were there may be no time even to ground yourself - you have to be prepared with the right settings on the right camera to do a flick-of-the-wrist shot.
I enjoy shooting with a tripod when I use one - rarely - for architecture and/or night shots, but like you, most of the time I use some parapet, a lamppost or pillar when support's needed, with varying results. It can be done though. I hate to walk through cities while decked out like an x-mas tree ("Are you working for a newspaper?"). On a number of places tripods aren't allowed (museums, churches) or will draw the wrong kind of attention (not just criminals, but also over-eager and often legally-analphabetic "security" staff).
Sound advice!
Yes that's the other thing, tripods are an unfortunate beacon
Then I also have a mini tripod that fits easily into my camera bag, and that's just useful when I don't have my main tripod and need to have some stability. Pretty easy to put the mini tripod on and then prop it against buildings or the ground or trees or wherever.