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How to take better pictures

5 Simple Photo Tips from a Camera Dummy

I am not a photographer. I don’t play one on TV or pretend to be one on the internet. I’m an old fashioned camera shooter- the kind that used to have a Brownie for taking family shots and couldn’t be bothered to carry a bulky SLR with multiple lenses. I point and shoot. Sometimes I get lucky but most of the time my pictures are bad. Times change and with some effort I change with it. These days pictures have value for bloggers and marketers and technology has improved. The new digital pocket cameras make photography easier. It’ doesn’t mean, however, that just because it is easy, your photos will be any good.

Photographer of Shooter?

Photographer or Shooter? Which are you?

These days, any fool can buy a camera smarter than they are. Getting good pictures, however, requires that you study the manual. It is true that the camera will automatically make many adjustments but unless you have a basic understanding of the settings and use some judgment you won’t take the pictures your want.

As I said, I am no photographer. But now that I understand the value of photos. Digital images are useful on websites and blogs and having my own photos in digital form ensures that I had the pictures I want under my control. I started taking pictures with a small Canon that my wife had bought for some reason and seldom used (she is a real photographer with the high end Nikon’s and lenses to prove it.). The Canon was small enough that I could carry it easily and simple enough that I could point and shoot.

I was happy. [continue reading…]

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Outrageous Travel Lesson 9

Take a day off – after all it is a vacation.

Have you ever been on vacation and wished you could take a day off? The vacation is great. You are glad you did it. Still the schedule is hectic. You feel rushed and pressured. If only you could stop, savor the moment and catch your breath. Unfortunately there are too many things to see and not enough time. It’s a marathon. You have to push on or loose out.

That was my wife and me before we implemented the outrageous travel concepts of One Month Travel . Our vacations were frantic. We were focused on getting the most value from the time and money we invested. Time was precious. After the airfare, hotel and food costs we could only afford to stay a few days and we didn’t want to waste one minute.

Take the Day Off!

Take the Day Off!

Our last conventional vacation was a five day trip to New York City. We could only afford five days so we took the red eye on Saturday night and started sightseeing Sunday morning at 8:00. New York hotels aren’t cheap. We got the best deal we could find on Priceline- a tiny room in a great location. We ate two meals a day and mostly patronized average restaurants but we were still spending big on food. We rationalized the expense since we were only taking five days. New York is a fantastic place to visit and five days only scratche the surface. Time and money constraints created fantastic pressure not to waste a second. We didn’t want any downtime. We got up early, went to bed late and as a result were tired. Like the Energizer Bunny, we kept on going but I remember thinking that it would be so nice if we could take a day off to rest. Back then I dismissed that idea as craziness.

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