A man using a metal detector in a rural English field has uncovered the largest Anglo-Saxon gold hoard ever found — an “unprecedented” treasure that sheds new light on history, archaeologists said Thursday. – credits CNN.
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Find Hidden Treasures with Metal Detectors
If this is your first metal detector purchase, consider getting some professional and expert advice to make sure that you have making the right choice. Metal detectors usually come with a complete control box containing the controls, circuitry, batteries, microprocessor, and the speaker.
Metal detectors also include a search shaft that connects it to the coil and the control box. A search coil senses the metal and the stabilizer is responsible for keeping the unit steady when it is moved.
Tesoro Metal Detector
There are two types of Tesoro metal detectors. The Tesoro Golden Max is a metal detector that enables you to control what you want to find. It has features such as the four tone audio ID with an adjustable Notch Filter Discriminate, great sensitivity, and comes with a full depth design. The other type is the Tesoro DeLeon, a metal detector designed for the Target Identification Detector (TID).
Whites Metal Detectors
There are different types of Whites metal detectors to choose from such as: the DFX™, a great model that ultimately combines the turn-on-and-go simplicity with the sophisticated microprocessor technology. This contains an operational frequency of 3 kHz and 15 kHz which is amazingly recommendable. The XLT® Metal Detector, is a detector which provides high performance with the best flexibility.
You can choose from five different programs that come with 20 Pr Options and 1o Basic Adjustments. The MXT has three separate operating modules which include jewelry/coin, relic, and gold processing. There is also the Prizm Series. This series includes all types of Prizm from II,III, IV and V. All of these contain a pinpoint mode that turns zero when in a target location.
The Fisher Metal Detectors
The 1266-X model is from Dr. Gerhard Fisher who obtained the first aircraft radio direction finders during the late 1920’s. This detector allows you to dig and search at a great depth. Although this is a good detector, it does not function clearly on saltwater surfaces. It comes with a manual and a 5 year warranty.
Garrett Metal Detectors
There are three models to choose from: The Garrett Super Scanner, a hand-held metal detector that allows you to detect from a medium-sized pistol down to the tiniest piece of jewelry. Its simplicity is unmatched. The Garett SuperWand Security, this is one of the most famous detectors.
This detector has extreme accuracy in detecting metal objects and weapons with its uniform sensitivity that covers a 360° scan area. And lastly, the Garett Magna Scanner PD Walk Through, which has its own unique features in scanning the exact location like multi-coil detection and ultra-enhanced field pinpoints. The amazing feature is that it can tell the exact location of a metal object within the 33 distinct areas.
Bounty Hunter Metal Detectors
Tracker IV, this model includes a built-in Automatic Ground Tracker which is capable of maintaining ground balance. The good thing about this detector is not only is it offered at a very reasonable price, but also it is user friendly and can deliver an effective and efficient performance in different applications.
These are the well-known detectors offered in the market. Choosing the right metal detectors will depend upon your range of use and study.
See the story of how an unemployed man who discovers HUGE treasures!!!
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The first time I picked up a guitar my whole life changed. I think I slept with it the night I brought my first new guitar home. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but it is true.
I remember the feel of the guitar in my hands and the shape, which reminded me of a girl I once dated. But seriously it was love, pure love.
Then I plugged it in and hit those first magic notes….. Wow did it sound awful, maybe the worst noise I ever heard in my life. So started my journey in the world of music some 23 years ago, I found my one and only mistress, the guitar.
Today I am happily married with 3 kids, a real job, and my guitars. The only thing my wife has ever been jealous over is my guitars. I told her once I could have girlfriends or guitars, she said she’d settle for the guitars. Thus is the secret to a happy marriage.
Oh more importantly, the guitars. No two are the same, even the same model, made in the same year, with sequential serial numbers, are going to play and sound different. They have their own personalities, their own feel and their own mood swings.
I have Fender’s, Gibson’s, Washburn’s, Parker’s, solid bodies, hollow bodies and semi-hollow body guitars.
Every week I go to a friend’s house, or a local store and just pickup every guitar I can and play it for a few minutes. It really is an obsession. I think, dream and dwell on playing guitar 24 Hours a day.
Is this story the same as your’s. As humorous as this may sound, many of my playing friends say the same thing. You can never have enough guitars, or spend enough time playing your guitar.
Gone are the times when someone who wanted to learn the guitar had to adjust their schedule and travel to a class.
Today the internet has taken over as the most reliable source of learning guitar from the comforts of one’s home. The lessons start with the basics of playing guitar and one can gradually start at their own pace with these lessons.
The basic lessons include a step by step guide on different chords, holding the guitar, strings, etc. The lessons then gradually continue with the advanced techniques of playing the guitar in all levels and styles.
One can learn to play either an acoustic guitar or electric guitar or both techniques of playing either style is slightly different. In a space of just two weeks one can start playing the guitar confidently in front of a small family gathering or even a party.
One can even imitate the style of their favorite guitar players by learning from the internets top instructors such as the ones we reviewed here!
All the lessons are placed in a continuous flow so that you don’t get lost in the mix. The sites are unlike any other free guitar lessons site where guitar lessons are just posted without caring about the order.
The sites also share the secrets of the Pro’s which have made them what they are today. One can follow in their footsteps and become a professional guitar playing artist himself by learning through the lessons provided.
During a career spanning twenty-five years of novel, film, and television work, there are two major tools most valuable: the yogic “chakras” for characterization, and Joseph Campbell’s model of the Hero’s Journey for plot structure.
These are not random choices, nor were they selected because of the many intelligent and thoughtful essays on their relationship to successful film or world myth.
Rather, they are important because they create a connection between the inner world of the writer, and the external world of the finished work—and the reader.
A plot structure is nothing more than a tool for organizing events in temporal sequence. While there are more such structures than there are professional writers, few of them meet what thousands of students consider a critical test: are they actually easy to use and apply?
A simple tool, however limited, can be of greater use than a complicated tool that requires years to master. Remember: you will achieve real quality in your writing only by mastering your basics.
The Hero’s Journey, extracted from thousands of years of world mythology, has the advantage of actually mimicking the path of life itself. The “three act structure” does not. After all…life isn’t divided into three, or five, or eight acts.
Such divisions can be useful tools, but they should never be mistaken for some kind of “truth” about existence. In comparison, note this interpretation (there are others) of the steps of the Hero’s Journey, and to explain them, we’ll look at the first Star Wars movie, “Episode IV, A New Hope”:
1) Hero Confronted With A Challenge. “Come with me, Luke, learn the ways of the Force.” This is pretty clear, right? There has to be a challenge, or a beckoning, or the character won’t begin to change—and all great writing is about change.
2) Hero Initially rejects the challenge, :I promised Uncle Owen I’d work on the moisture evaporators.” A real challenge, one that can provoke real change, will be frightening and exciting. A character will usually have some reservations.
3) Hero accepts the challenge. Luke’s aunt and uncle are killed, freeing him from his oath. If your character doesn’t accept the challenge, there is no story—unless the story is about the consequences of not accepting responsibility.
4) The Road of trials. Traveling to the desert town and cantina, getting on Han Solo’s spaceship, traveling to other planets, etc. This is the section where locations and sequence interact. The character travels, learns, commits actions that force inter-action with the environment, and the environment responds positively or negatively, with greater and greater stakes as the story proceeds.
5) Gaining Allies and Powers. Luke meets Han Solo, and Chewbacca, and Obi-Wan, and Princess Leia. He learns of the Force, and the use of Light Sabers, and how to fly and fight and rescue princesses. If your character doesn’t have to grow in order to resolve the problem, you may have chosen the wrong problem or character!
6) Initial Confrontation with Evil, and defeat. Obi-Wan’s death. Or possibly the disastrous attack on the Death Star. One is private and emotional, the other spectacular and physical.
7) Dark Night of the Soul. The moment of greatest weakness. Luke begins to believe he cannot win, and everything he loves will die.
Leap of Faith. “Trust your Feelings, Luke.” The leap of Faith is always faith in one of three things: faith in self, faith in your companions, or faith in a higher power. In “Star Wars” it is all three! This may be the only time in the history of cinema that this was true, and helps to explain why George Lucas is a billionaire.
9) Confront Evil—victorious. The Death Star blows up.
10) Student Becomes the Teacher. Luke is presented with medals, which establish him as a role model.
====
The above ten steps are not some cookie-cutter pattern. They are the combined world wisdom about the path of life itself, the process we go through in achieving any worthwhile goal.
There will be fear. There will be defeat. We will need to gain new skills and friends and partners. We must be clear on our acceptance of goals and responsibility. We must have faith. And ultimately, if we have struggled, and learned, and sacrificed, and moved through our fear…we learn and grow and succeed.
And then we teach others. This is the pattern of life, and any time you organize information and events into a pattern even vaguely reminiscent of this, the human nervous system, worldwide, will recognize it as story.
It is NOT some kind of cure-all for bad story tellers. What these ten steps are is something analogous to the eighty-eight keys of a piano. Understand the emotional and life significance of each step, and then “play them” as your developed instincts dictate.
Make your own kind of music. The pattern has worked for about thirty thousand years. It will work for you, too.
Maybe you’re one of those lucky writers whose head is bursting with ideas.
Or perhaps you have one idea that’s been nagging you for weeks, always at the edge of your thoughts. Either way, you’re itching to begin writing.
That’s good.
But before you rush headlong into your story, stop and ask yourself one question: Is this just an idea, or is it a book?
Ideas, of course, are the seeds of any work of fiction or nonfiction. But until an idea is fully developed, until you can envision its beginning, middle and end, that one idea might not be enough.
The experience of writing for pages about an idea and ultimately getting nowhere (or getting a pile of rejections) has taught many writers to outline their books before they begin. But if the thought of an outline sends shivers up your spine, at least thinking your idea through and making sure it merits months of writing can save you future frustration.
Ideas for Fiction
A lot of writers, especially when they’re beginners, get ideas for fiction from their own lives. This can be useful for several reasons: you’re emotionally invested in the topic, you can relate directly to the main character, and if the situation actually happened to you, you’re less likely to be unconsciously basing the story on a book you’ve read.
But remember, just because you find this thing that happened to you or your child fascinating, it doesn’t mean it will be fascinating to thousands of potential readers. Very often, a real-life event is just that–an event. It’s a vivid scene you recall with pleasure, or a family joke that’s repeated over and over. It evokes strong emotions when you remember it, perhaps you even look back on an event as a turning point in your life. But only rarely does reality provide a plot.
When writers stick too closely to what really happened they fail to develop the elements necessary for a good story: a believable main character who is faced with a problem or conflict, mounting tension as that character tries to solve her problem and experiences setbacks, and a tension- filled climax followed by a resolution that’s satisfying to the character and the reader.
If your main character is really your son, you might not want to get him in trouble or throw rocks in his path. But you have to. It’s the only way you’ll create a story that will keep readers hooked and wondering how it will end.
Speaking of endings, if the resolution of your story comes too easily, it’s probably obvious and predictable. Try mixing up real life and have the situation evolve in a different direction. Surprise yourself, and you’ll surprise an editor.
However you get your idea, focus first on whether it’s a plot or a theme. Many times, an initial idea is really the underlying meaning of the story, what the author wants to convey to the reader. Themes should be universal in their appeal– such as friendship, appreciating one’s own strengths, not judging others too quickly.
Then play around with the sequence of events until you develop a plot (what actually happens in the book) that makes this theme clear to the reader. And remember; if you’re using a childhood incident as the foundation of your story, tell it from your childhood viewpoint, not how it feels to you now as an adult.
Ideas for Nonfiction
Your nonfiction book should be based on something you’re truly interested in and passionate about. After all, you’ll be living with this idea for many months. The key to successful nonfiction is to take your idea and approach it in a way that no one else has ever done before.
This means doing most of your research before you begin to write. Don’t settle for the most easily-found information on your topic–your readers have probably read the same information. Keep digging until you find an aspect to your subject that strikes you as unique. Then search through the library and book stores to make sure no one else has already beat you to it.
For a nonfiction idea to become a book, you need enough information to fill the number of pages necessary, depending on the age group for which you plan to write.
Younger children need a foundation of basic facts, but you can also get fairly detailed within the scope of the approach you’ve chosen as long as you explain concepts in a simple and straightforward manner (how animals hibernate, why insects are different colors).
Older readers can draw on a broader foundation of knowledge, and infer connections between your topic and related subjects. A detailed outline of any nonfiction book is essential to help you see if your idea has enough substance and originality, or if you need further research before you begin writing.
Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, your idea should mean something to you, but also have the potential to mean a lot to your readers. Think it through, add to it, take the nonessential elements away, and make sure it has a beginning, middle and end. Only then will your “idea” turn into “an idea for a book.”
Want to become a storyteller? Questions you can ask yourself!
. Who am I and why would someone hire me?
· Can I work a crowd?
· Can I work in any weather environment?
· What do I have to offer a festival or event?
· Can I be flexible enough to fit the needs of the audience?
· Can I be a team player? Will I be our partner to the producer?
· Will I promote the festival or event?
· Do I have any “non negotiable” points?
· Am I fun and enjoyable to be around?
· Am I comfortable around kids, animals, the elderly, etc.?
· Am you available for picture taking with audience? Autographs?
· Above all, can I be at the festival or event on time!!!?
Asking yourself these 12 simple questions can help you to decide if you want to perform at certain events or if you are what someone is looking for.
To make these questions work, first answer them in writing.
Don’t worry about the way it is laid out, just put the words down. Most of them are simple yes or no answers.
Sure there will be some that you need to explain for example: Can you work in any weather environment? You might answer no with an explanation; I’ m allergic to the sun. I can only do indoor or shaded events.
Some of the questions can be hard to answer. Am I fun and enjoyable to be around? Some folks might answer that one differently than you would! Be honest and once you’ve answered these questions you will be able to offer a quality program.
Remember if you don’t ask yourself these questions event producers will!
=> Learn how you can get people to say YES, any time, any where! Check this out!
Mountain biking is a great way to explore the great outdoors, exercising and having fun. Racing down a mountainside is exhilarating; however, it can also be dangerous.
Although it is consider a dangerous sport, if done with utmost caution, mountain biking can be enjoyed by the whole family.
As with any outdoor sport, selecting the right equipment and an understanding of the sport will be the key to a great adventure.
Styles of Mountain Biking
Mountain biking can be categorized into three different styles. There is downhill, free riding, and cross-country. Although the styles are similar in some respect, they all require different skills. The style you select will determine the type of bike.
Mountain Biking Locations
Typically, this sport is known as biking on an unpaved surface. Most regions have areas specifically designed for this grand sport. State and federal parks are a good place to mountain bike.
However, you should check with your local parks to get the routes and other regulations or rules they may have. In addition, if you venture off to some state or federal land or any wilderness type area, it is best to know about the surroundings should there be any unexpected accidents.
There are also groups that have mountain bike rides and competitions. You could search the internet or local newspaper to see what is available in your area. There may be groups for the advanced rider as well as the novice.
Criteria to be a Great Mountain Biker
A prerequisite for a great mountain biker is endurance and stamina. In addition, it takes discipline to practice and the ambition to succeed and conquer the course. A novice mountain biker will have to overcome the bumps and bruises from falling of the bike. Like all sports, it takes practice and the constitution to keep trying.
Selecting Your Bike
Selecting your bike is a personal choice and contingent on the type of riding you will do. Bikes come in all different styles, shapes, and prices, therefore selecting the perfect one for you can be difficult. Again, do some internet research or venture out to do some comparison-shopping before you get ready to make a purchase.
Ask to try out a bike before you buy. A good mountain biker becomes one with his or her bike. Check for comfort, fit, and how it is geared, all these factors need to be considered.
Staying Safe
As mentioned earlier, mountain bike riding on unpaved roads can be hazardous. The typical safety gear is a helmet, knee and elbow pads. You should also consider goggles if riding in a very dense wooded area or if following a group of bikers. Safety should be your top priority and not taken lightly when riding no matter what the terrain.
In a culture where art and life are often inextricable, Magical Secrets about Thinking Creatively: The Art of Etching and the Truth of Life comes as the latest in a series of books, sites and magazines that keep them entwined.
In the last few years, the number of magazines and websites devoted to art criticism, art projects and found art, has ballooned, a sign of rising enthusiasm about art among people from all walks of life.
There is an abundance of new books, on one hand (the hand of cultural criticism), Michael Kimmelman’s The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa, John Updike’s Still Looking: Essays on American Art; on the other hand (the hand of pure pop culture) an insurgence of immensely successful novels based as much on art as on life: Girl with a Pearl Earring, Jonathan Harr’s The Lost Painting, last but not least, The Da Vinci Code.
And then there are plenty of examples of pop cultural criticism, such as Hal Niedzvieki’s Hello, I’m Special: How Individuality Became the New Conformity, along with countless books and products on the market designed to help everyone from businessmen to babies to bus drivers embrace their own creative genius.
Magical Secrets, which is at once a book, a DVD, and a website (http://www.magical-secrets.com), is one of the smartest of these forays into exploring creativity.
The book is formulaic without being predictable: Author Kathan Brown has organized it into thirteen chapters, one for each “magical secret,” (my favorites are chapters five and six, “Don’t Know What You Want” and “Know What You Don’t Want,” a very Zen-like juxtaposition). Magical Secrets manages to pack a lot in, from stories about artists to musings on the creative thought process.
Yet Brown spends no more than a handful of pages on any one Secret, and addresses her reader clearly and concisely, not as an entertainer or an academic but as a confidant, pupil and friend.
She guides her audience confidently on a path that leads inward, but still somehow ends up outside the self.
It is a feat in itself simply that Magical Secrets conveys a lot of information. Etching, one finds, is a centuries-old technique of incising an image into metal with acid.
The artist begins by covering the surface of a copper plate with a hard, waxy ground. He cuts the image he wants into the ground with an etching needle or other sharp tool, then submerges the plate in acid.
The acid bites into the grooves and crevices, the waxy ground is rubbed off, and the image is left engrained in the smooth surface of the plate.
The resulting incisions are filled with ink, a piece of paper is placed on the plate, and the whole thing is run through the printing press. Scraping and burnishing the copper, rubbing the ink into the grooves, and pulling the plate through the press are highly physical, labor-intensive processes that involve a lot of painstaking, detailed work, yet the resulting lines an artist can get are often the most delicate you’ve ever seen, and the textures the most subtle.
Though etching is appreciated by many art lovers, the number of master etchers in the United States might be comparable to the number of virtuoso organists or rare orchid cultivators.
It is not the first thing most people think of when faced with something as huge as Life.
But etching has been Kathan Brown’s life. Despite the beauty of etching, it was not taken seriously in the United States contemporary art market until Brown made it her mission to revive it.
Since Crown Point Press’s inception in 1962, artists from all over the world who work in different mediums—from San Francisco conceptual sculptor Tom Marioni to New York composer John Cage; from Australian Aboriginal artist Dorothy Napangardi to Pakistani-born miniature painter Shahzia Sikander—have been drawn there for a unique experience in art making.
Magical Secrets about Thinking Creatively marks the forty-fourth year in Brown’s highly energetic and passionate career.
The variety of art represented at Crown Point speaks to the depth of Brown’s understanding of it; while her technique is narrow, her scope is broad, and that is what makes Magical Secrets a compelling read.
Brown offers a broad understanding of the etching process, and ultimately steps back to examine creativity itself. “Many artists have told me that after working with etching they have a new awareness of what they are doing in their painting or sculpture,” she writes in the preface. “You can share their awareness through this book, which is for artists and people who have – or would like to have – the spirit of an artist.”
Indeed, Brown’s style makes it difficult not to share this awareness: like good art, her writing makes her subject seem both obvious and somehow profound.
I just received this from a friend. These people are such genius. I really respect their passions for what they love to do!
– Before photo - Typical concrete & stucco facade
The wall starts to take on a 3-dimensionalappearance. Eric in hiselement,30′ off the ground.Hedoes most of theartworkbyhimself&researches,paints anddesignseachProject from scratch.
His wifeKathy, also an artist, Serves asproject manager.
– After photo -Finished product MOREBELOW!
Here are some more examplesofEric’s projects…
LibertyRemembers
Before photo
After photo… Hard to believe you’re looking At a flat 2-dimensional wall. How to dress up a Drab Shopping Mall
- Niagara , New York
Before photo…
After photo…
Also look at the close-upof
Left sideand middle
Before - Miller Fermenting Rooms
After photos… - Past meets Present in the Miller
Brewery Fermenting Rooms.
Hooks, clipboards and aprons were
Added To the
Surface of the murals to enhance
The illusion… You’re looking at flat walls!
Detail view looking down The illusional hallway in the previous mural. Simply Amazing, Isn’t it?
I wonder how many people walk into the walls…while trying to go down a hallway that does not exit!
What was the last music you listened to today? How did that music, song or melody make you feel? Or more importantly, how did it make you think?
There is a study that is out to discover whether brains that have been trained musically are more stronger and able to resist the degenerative effects of dementia brought about by old age compared to those brains that are not in any way exposed or trained musically.
This Canadian-made study wants to discover if kids who are given early training in music has a more cognitive edge – in terms of writing, reading and over-all verbal skills – as compared to other kids who have no training in music in any way whatsoever.
The study has been given a grant of more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars by an organization based in California that is related to any and all kinds of research in music.
The researchers who want to conduct the study believe that the human brain is extremely moldable and extremely malleable especially when one is in his childhood and until one reaches full-fledged adulthood.
The researchers hope that once it has been proven that early training in music has a positive effect on how the brain functions – and this functioning goes beyond anything that is musically related – it is therefore essential that music be involved in a child’s early education.
Music could also be well utilized as an effective strategy to rehabilitate a brain that has been, in any way, damaged due to disease or stroke.
Previous work done that is related with this study has been conducted in Germany wherein the brains of musicians were studied and wired in order to know how they process music and how music is actually able to trigger any changes – especially physical changes – in the hard wire of the brain.
This study was able to prove that musicians, believe it or not, have an enhanced auditory as well as sensory parts in the brain better than those who are not musicians.
It was also seen that musicians who started early training have large areas in the brain, specifically the cortical, than those who started late.
The Canadian-made study will study children and the way their brains function as well as adults who are older and have prior training in music.
The ages of the children range between four years old and six years old. The ages of the older group range between fifty to sixty five.
The children will be introduced to violin lessons as well as the piano. Both groups will be going through a battery of tests that will measure the degree of their perception and cognition skills.
These groups will then be compared to those groups that are aged the same but have no training in music in any way whatsoever.
The EEG will be used to measure any electrical change in the rain. The MEG will also be used to measure any magnetic change. The MRI will also be utilized to obtain necessary information about the complex structures of the brain.
But basically, the goal of the study is to be able to find various ways and means to utilize music as an effective form of rehabilitation for human brains whose functions have been unintentionally hampered by degenerative diseases like stroke, heart disease, Alzheimers, accident or cancer, to name a few.
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The sight of early morning snow, the shimmering frost in the trees, your sister falling off in your snow filled front yard and your stunning snow angel, don’t you ever wish you could just capture that moment right away and place them in your computer desktop?
Right, sounds easy but for an amateur photographer this may sound too challenging and laborious.
But thanks to the dawn of digital photography and winter photography need not be exclusive to the professional anymore.
You have to remember a few pointers though. Winter shooting can be tricky as majority of the landscape is white and the background is bright.
When shooting a snow filled area, the brightness of the snow may often cause your digital camera to somewhat underexpose the scene, thus making the snow to look gray.
To correct this, you might have to increase your exposure compensation so the whiteness of the snow can be appropriately captured.
The time of the day you took the picture can also have an effect in your image. So if you want cooler shots shoot closer to midday but if you want warmer shoots, shoot early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
Although traditional photography belief tells us that using flash outdoor is not necessary but if you are shooting a winter photograph, using a flash can bring out details and highlights that might not be captured without it.
However, if you are shooting close shots avoid using flash as much as possible as the reflection can greatly reduce any detail in your photo.
With the flexibility of processing available with digital cameras, you have better choices when in comes to choosing the finished format of your photograph. There is really nothing to lose to trying winter photography.
You might even be surprised with the images that you captured. Once you have become accustomed to winter photography and have been familiar with the different techniques, you will find that winter is one of the best times of the year to go out there, take photos and make use of your digital camera.
You will be surprised to see that the final results are worth the hassle. Want more tips? Here are 15 useful tips for you to take even better photos!
1. Keep an eye on the weather
Weather conditions can play a big part in setting the mood of your shot. Rather than waiting for the bright light of the midday sun, a misty morning in a forest can be the perfect time of day for that mood-shot.
2. Take your time to choose the subject
Take your time to choose the subject, then spend time walking around the subject looking for the best angle and lighting.
3. Take your time to set up the shot
Don’t be afraid to take your time to set up your shot. Although it can get a bit frustrating if you have your loved ones tagging along and they’re sitting and waiting impatiently for 20 minutes for you to take a single shot of a piece of driftwood on the beach!
4. Don’t always choose brightly-coloured subjects
Subjects with muted colours can sometimes produce excellent results. A field of wheat of similar yellow-brown colour can produce striking results when accompanied by a low-sun and long shadows.
5. Movement diffusion
If you have a camera that allows you to shoot with a manual shutter speed – try slowing the speed and increasing the F-stop. Then move your camera when taking the shot. Some very effective arty-type images can be produced with blur effects.
6. Overexpose your subject
Not too good to do all the time, but experiment with results by over-exposing the subject.
7. Try macro photography
Grab a magnifying glass and see if you can focus your camera through the glass onto a small subject. It just may work! And may open up a whole new range of subjects for you!
8. Shoot through wet glass
Try spraying water onto a window, then take a shot through the window to a subject outside. (wet the outside of the window – not the inside of your home!)
9. Colour balance
Try balancing colour by having subject and the surrounding detail in similar colours.
10. Silhouettes
Silhouettes usually have a small range of colours, but can produce some of the most beautiful images. Shooting a silhouette involves having the background brighter then the subject in the foreground.
11. Experiment with patterns
We’ve all seen those amazing images of the red and orange leaves of maple trees in the fall or autumn. Thousands of leaves – all of a similar shape and colour – but very awe-inspiring and beautiful.
12. Compliment colours
Two strikingly-different colours can be beautiful too. Picture an image of your girlfriend or wife in a red dress sitting on a field of green grass. Or your boyfriend or husband in a red shirt walking through a field of waist-high wheat stalks. Complimentary colours that will bring more attention to the subject.
13. Use a colour filter
If your camera can be fitted with coloured filters – try your hand. Although this effect can be made quite easily these days with photo and image-editing software.
14. Sunrise is better than sunset
Wake up before sunrise one day and go on a photography expedition. If you’ve not done it before you’ll be pleasantly-surprised by the contrasting light and shadows. But remember you’ll only have a very short window of time in which to shoot (usually less than an hour) before the sun rises too high and you lose the light.
15. Use a flash in daylight
Use your flash during the daytime to fill a close subject with light. This will produce better results where the background is brighter than your subject and the automatic shutter speed on your camera shoots too fast to effectively show the detail of your subject.
Leap of Faith. “Trust your Feelings, Luke.” The leap of Faith is always faith in one of three things: faith in self, faith in your companions, or faith in a higher power. In “Star Wars” it is all three! This may be the only time in the history of cinema that this was true, and helps to explain why George Lucas is a billionaire.
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