Photofunia

a great site where you can put your face on alot of effects easily..
just give it a try

www.photofunia.com
sorry for being late on posting but... it's summer i'm not in home most of the time, the only reason i go home is to sleep..lol

great topics coming

Carrefour New Camera Offers

Have you seen the new offers made by Carrefour.. if not here is it

i'm metioning only the camera related offers

Kodak C613 599
Kodak under water 55
Kodak KV260 99
Benq c840 699
Ricoh RR 770 749
Canon A470 849
Sony S730 999
Casio EX-Z9 1099 (free 1GB card and Camera Case)
Fujifilm S5800 1199 (free 1GB card )
Nikon L18 1249 (free 1GB card and Camera Case)
Fujifilm F50 1499 (free 1GB card and Camera Case)
Canon IXUS 82IS 1699
Canon EOS 400D 5555
Fujifilm A920 799 (free 1GB card and Camera Case)


Lightweight tripod and large camera bag for 199

Kodak Digital picture frame 7" for 665

How to Shoot Commercial Quality Images

I'm sure all of the people reading this article are familiar with stock photography (for those who dont,, i'll cover it in other post). this is some tips from PhotoShelter: School of Stock.
very handy to use and have great effect on the pictures.

Stock photography is not fashion photography. Choose models that are comfortable and natural in front of the camera, avoid models that pose too much or give "sexy looks". Trendy hairstyles and facial hair will date your images quickly. Choose models that have a more classic look.

Again, stock is not fashion! Never dress your models like they're going for a strut down the catwalk. When styling your subjects avoid busy patterns and over accessorizing. Jewelry tends to overpower the look, and can get dated fast. Never dress all your models in the same color. Stick to simple, varied lighter colored classic clothing that all works together as an ensemble.

When propping a set, try to create an environment that looks real, but not sloppy or overdone. Keep it simple, but not too sparse or under propped. Propping is a fine line and much thought should go into this when setting up a shoot. The idea is that the environment appears like that of a real home, patio, bedroom, picnic table, etc. Pay close attention to the details and placement of props in the frame

Food should always look freshly prepared and delicious! Simple and clean styling is better when it comes to most food. Avoid the over use of garnishes and elaborate plating. It is a good idea to reference food magazines for ideas.

Avoid busy locations without a background to place your model. When shooting indoors, it is imperative that the surroundings are free of clutter. The viewer's eye should focus on what is happening with your model, not the clumsy furniture in the background. Choose locations that are open and airy and give you several set up options. Pay attention to the quality of light in each location and plan accordingly when deciding on your lighting set up. The location should look real and lived-in, but not cluttered.

Keep in mind the feeling of intimacy in most lifestyle photography, that the viewer should feel like they're part of the moment (and want to be!). Don't be afraid to get right in the action. But remember to leave some space in your images. Art directors like to have areas that aren't too busy to lay down their copy. It is important for the imagery to feel loose and not posed or set up even though it may be. All the elements need to come together to create a real moment.

Photomerge

This time we are going to descus a new technique for me (Maybe you know it from before ) that i find very cool and can produce great images like this one

PhotoMerge (A.K.A Image stitching) is the ability to combine more than one picture together so that a wide bigger picture is formed (like using a wide angel lens...but for the ppl who can't aford it) like a panorama.

to produce such images you have to follow the follwing steps:

1. take a couple of shots for the view you want, make sure that they form a sequence and try to maintain the same horizone in all of them
2. Now go to photoshop>File>Atomate>Photomerge>Browse>.. then open all the pictures that you want to be included in the merge process.
3. tick the Blend images together, and select the best way you want it to be from the options on the left and press OK
4. now just wait till it's finished and corp the size you want (also make further editing).

and here we go.... it's that easy

see more panorama images and photomerge in the Flickr Photomerge group

Photo Site: Photojojo

I'm gonna start a weekly post about photography websites, to "Spread the knowledge".
"Congratulations. It's your lucky day! You just found one damn fine photo newsletter. "
this what would you find on the first page when you go to the site, then it will ask you to subscribe to the this .. this what i've done and i'm receving now a weekly newsletter full of great photography tips, it's short direct and creative.. keep on learning cuz the world never stops.
htt://photojojo.com
have a look and let me know how do you find it!!?

PhotoShop Express

There was a great issue when you are traviling for photography and you are taking pictures with great idea for editing. but you can't edit it now, you have to waite till you go back home to be able to use your photshop.
Adobe solved this problem by allowing you to edite your pictures online. Also store th edited ones in a 2 GB database for every user. with a site that can enteract with Facebook, Flickr, Photopucket and Picassa. you can import and export iimages between them all.
even if your not familiar with photoshop, this is a user friendly version that anyone can use, to make photo art or just play around with friends face.

The Link Is : http://www.photoshop.com/express
Need Help getting started !! check this video toturials : http://photoshopexpresstechniques.com/
also Check my Account : http://eslambro.photoshop.com/ (it has only one picture)

BlogRush

BlogRush is a "Cooperative Syndication Network।" It's a network of blogs that run a small "widget" on their pages. Each time this widget is loaded it will contain 5 clickable headlines which are the blog post titles to other users' posts. Clicking on any of these links will open a new browser window and load the blog and full post. Users earn "syndication credits" based on each time their blog loads the widget as well as each time any of their referrals (users that signup after clicking the "add your blog posts" link on the widget) loads the widget. They also earn additional credit based on all the activity through 10 generations of referrals. 1 Syndication Credit = having one of their recent blog post titles served inside the widget on another member's blog.

If you wonna increase your blog traffic in a cool easy way, just click the link and folow the video tutorial,

BlogRush

Photo Walk Around Alexandria.

Photo Walk around Alexandria Pt.1

"Stating all good photographing locations"

This is a programe for a quick trip around the beatiful morning of Alexandria

-As we start from the far west first you'll find

The citadel (el qal3a) of qaiet bay: a great location for having a capture of the enourmace islamic archticture, from inside and out. also you can have a look at the marina and whole cost of alexandria from up there.

-as you go east you'll find

Area Of The Mosques (Masajeed): four great mosquea facing each other where a huge amount of muslims pray every day. you are allowed to picture all over the place, and this area at night become on of the busyiest areas of all alexandri, where micro moulid is held up everyday.

-hump back in the car and go more east..

Raml Station (ma7atet el raml): One of the oldest areas in alexnadeia, there you can find alot of great old buildings built by foreign engeneers in the occupatoin ears. and the true spirit of alex citizins. while you are you can have a look at the Roman theater. one of the remaining monuments from the roman empire era.

-now for the great closing...

Bibliotecha alexandria: The famous library that was built at the place of the old library (was built by the roman empire, and was destroid after that), have a look around this enourmance place from the inside at out.

-This is enought for one morning, just enjoy the sea and sun while your going Back home. and be ready for the next Photo walk.

Life is a Moulid

"2850 Moulid in egypt, attended by 37 million egyptians"
This was one of the titles of the Police (el-shourta) magazine issue no 40 released May 2008.

and here is the scan of the real article.(the translation will be posted next week)

Click on any page for a fullsize image

DIY Macro Lab

This is my edition of DIY table-top studio.

Materials:
1- Box with any size (how big do you want it?!!)
2- Sheets of posterboard, a white page with the same size of the box

Ready to Go...!

1- Cut lines parallel to the box edge, (notice leaving 1 cm. to keep a firm foramtion of the box, so it wont break down like mine)

2- Continue cutting as directed by the blue lines.

"as you can see, i've used my blender box"

3- Glue the posterboard in the box (make sure you faroce a curve, not a right angel. so pictures would have smother looks)

4- you can add extra windows from the sides to allow more light to the subject.

Share your edition with us in the comments.

Photography Gudget in alexandria, Egypt

If you are in alexandria Egypt. and your are looking for a Camera Gudget shop, Just go to El-Shinnawy.

It's one of the oldest electronics shop every existed in egypt, he has a lot of branches but every one is specialized in one thing. the one for photography is the one located in Saad zagloul street in the raml station area (ma7atet el raml). it's my first time to go there today and i was stunned, this small shop has alot of stuff inside.



In there i was able to find:

Tripods ranging from 65 L.E and up

PC cords from 10 L.E

and flashes from 25 L.E

Nikon D80 for 6300 L.E



alot of sheap stuff huh!!
For more info contact them on phone: 03-4846324
Or visit the shop on : 57 Safeya Zagloul st. mahatet el raml, Alexandria, Egypt.

any way if you want any thing just have a visit or contact me ;-)

and if you know any other photography specialest shop in alex pleasepost it in as a comment

Zenit ET Original Manual Scan

As a bignner photographer 2 years ago i bought my first camera a Sony point and shoot, and this is how any one in this era start his photographic hobby or profission. when my father knw that i'm taking my hobby for real he gave me his old Zenit ET with full kit including : Manual, Zoom Lens, Leather Bag, Tripod, and a set of tow flashes. so to help me learning all bout manual exposure.

Zenit-ET camera

"These cameras were produced by factory "KMZ" (Krasnogorsk) since 1981 up to 1982 and by factory "BeLOMO" (Belarus) since 1982. About 3,000,000 copies were made Frame size 24X36mm"

And i Decided to share it with all my fellow Zenit users, specially "Jolita" from Flickr, as she is the one who enthusiaste me to reuploading again.

you can download the manual from this link:
http://www.uploading.com/files/FWW3UU77/Zenit_ET_Manual.zip.html