21 Settings, Techniques and Rules All New Camera Owners Should Know

As so many new camera owners are starting out with photography in the new year I thought I'd compile a list of photography tips and techniques that new camera owners might like to work through in the coming weeks.

by Darren Rowse

Some are very basic while others go a little deeper – but all have been selected from our archives specifically for beginners and new camera owners. Enjoy.

Introductions to Useful Modes and Settings on Your Digital Camera

1. Digital Camera Modes Explained – I spoke with a family friend recently who had just bought a new point and shoot camera. She came up to me with her camera when no one was watching and embarrassedly asked me if I could tell her what all the little icons on the dial on top of her camera meant. This article explains what each of these most common digital camera modes means and does. Knowing them can take your shots to the next level.

2. Aperture and Shutter Priority Mode – this introduction talks you through these two very useful settings that can be found on many digital cameras. Aperture and Shutter Priority modes take you out of Automatic mode giving you more control over your images – but don't thrust you fully into manual mode – they are great settings to explore and master.

3. Introduction to White Balance – one of the most common problems that I see in beginner photographer images are shots with incorrect color. We've all seen them – portraits where your subjects teeth and eyeballs (and everything else) has a yellowish tinge. Learn what causes this and how to combat it with this tutorial on White Balance.

4. Understanding Histograms – 'histograms are scary' – this is what one reader said to me recently when they discovered that they could view these little graphs or charts on their camera. While they might seem a little technical it is amazing how simple a histogram is to interpret. Know what you're looking for and with just a glance you'll know if your image is under or over exposed. It's a useful tool to master.

5. Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) – this feature is another of those often unexplored settings that many cameras have built into them that will allow you to get well exposed shots in even the trickiest of lighting situations.

Other Basic Camera Techniques

6. How to Hold a Digital Camera – this beginner tutorial covers a topic that most camera owners skip over without realizing that it is a foundational lesson in photography. Get this wrong and it can impact the quality of your shots.

7. Shutter Release Technique – another 'basic' or 'beginner' type tip that many do intuitively – but which can drastically improve your photography if you don't do it.

8. How to Use Focal Lock – yet another beginner technique that many of us take for granted yet which is at the core of how all digital cameras focus automatically. Get this wrong and you'll take a lot of shots of out of focus subjects and in focus backgrounds!

9. How to Take Sharp Digital Images – 'my shots are fuzzy' – it's a common problem that we're asked about at DPS so we wrote this tutorial to refer people to to help them get the sharpest images that their camera can take.

10. Shooting with an In Camera Flash – flash photography with an in built flash can lead to some terribly blown out images – here are a few tips on how to avoid them. On a similar topic – here's 7 Strategies for Avoiding Flash Blow Out.

11. How to Get Shallow Depth of Field in Your Digital Photos – a great technique to learn if you're into many types of photography (portraits, macro etc) is how to control the depth of field in your shots and make your main subject 'pop' out by making your background nicely blurred – this tutorial talks you through how to do it.

12. Understanding Exposure – this post talks new camera owners through the three main elements of Exposure. Once you've read it also check out our introductions to ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed.

Camera Care and Maintenance

13. How to Avoid a Dirty DSLR Sensor – one of the fastest ways to ruin every single shot you take with your new DSLR is to end up with a dirty image sensor. This tutorial gives some basic tips on how to ensure it stays as clean as possible.

14. How to Clean a DSLR Lens – as much as you try to protect them – lenses tend to get a little grimy over time. This tutorial shares some basic tips on how to clean them up so that your shots will be as clear as possible.

15. 7 Digital Camera Predators and How to Keep them at Bay – this tutorial talks you through 7 of the most common ways that digital cameras get damaged – what to look out for and what preventative action to take to avoid them.

Composition Tips

16. The Rule of Thirds – whether you know it to follow it or break it – it's something you should at least know about.

17. Points of Interest – an image without some visual point of interest in it is unlikely to hold the eye of anyone viewing it.

18. Getting Horizons Horizontal – the perfect way to ruin that lovely sunset or landscape shot is to make it lean to one side. Get your Horizon Horizontal!

19. Fill Your Frame – this is not applicable to every shot you take but many photographers could drastically improve their photography by getting in close to their subject and filling their frame.

20. Getting Backgrounds Right – the background of your shot can make or break your image. This tutorial talks you through a number of things to look out for and techniques to use to get them just right.

21. Adding Randomness to Your Photos – learn how to set your images apart from everyone else's by injecting creativity, variety and a little randomness into your shots.

Of course the above 21 Settings, Techniques and Rules for beginner camera owners just scratch the surface of all there is to learn about the art of photography. Subscribe to our blog here (via email or RSS) to get more free daily tips to help you keep improving and learning.

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Daren Hardy - Now Explode Off the Starting Line

Now Explode Off the Starting Line

Last week I discussed the half-dozen ways people stumble on their New Year's resolutions and goals right at the starting line. It generated a healthy discussion and I appreciate everyone's contribution.

This week I'd like to offer you the half-dozen ways you can explode off the starting blocks and set yourself up to not only stay in the race (this time), but actually finish victorious!

1. Big 3

If you are using Living Your Best Year Ever, it guides you through making several goals in all 8 key areas of life. It then helps you reduce your plethora of goals down to your Big 3. I know you will want to accomplish ALL your goals, but it is critical you reduce it down to just 3 to supremely focus on.

Pick the 3 goals that are most important to you and would have the most dramatic impact on your life and lifestyle. Resist the urge to chase after other shiny objects that come into your field of vision.

2. One Thing

As Curly in City Slickers said, "Find your 'One Thing'." In this case, it is the one key behavior that is most important to you accomplishing each of your Big 3 goals.

Examples:

Goal: Liberate 20 pounds to become ideal weight of 180.
Key behavior: 45 minutes of exercise, 3 times per week at a sustained target heart rate of 175.

Goal: Earn $200,000 in sales income.
Key behavior: Collect 5 "no's" 5 days a week.

Goal: Deepen intimacy with spouse.
Key behavior: Say something appreciative or acknowledging 3 times per day, (at least) 6 days a week.

3. Installation

You can figure out your Big 3; you can even identify your One Thing that will be key to making it come true, but remember this very key point:

Goal achievement doesn't come down to dreaming, writing out and planning. It comes down to the day-to-day decisions and behaviors of DOING what you said you were going to do, long enough for you to make it to the end point.

In order to ensure, as best as possible, that you will actually do, and keep doing, you will need to install your One Thing into a routine that you can do, eventually without thinking about it.

In The Compound Effect (page 99) I talk about Routine Power and then how to Bookend Your Days. The key point is you need to find a place in your day that you can install your One Thing for each of the Big 3 that will be regular and as predictable as possible.

In the book I discuss how I needed to stretch more, but never found a way to do it consistently. Then I installed it into my routine (the 8 minutes while the coffee is brewing first thing in the morning) and now I get it done religiously, without any thought.

Figure out where it can be installed and what your "trigger" is. What are you already doing that when you do it now, will remind you to do your new behavior? For me it is when I put the coffee on; that is the trigger for my stretch routine.

4. Track

This is the key of these key points. As mentioned as one of the stumble points: You can't improve what you can't measure. Tracking your One Thing is the key to keeping your awareness on it and continuing to improve on it. If you have Living Your Best Year Ever,there is the Weekly Rhythm Register for each week of the year as part of the Achievement Management System. If you don't have the program (gasp!) you can download the WRR by itself here for free.

5. Reinforce

This is a big tip to staying on track past where your willpower normally wanes and fails: Find reinforcements. This can be a peak performance partner, a mentor, a mastermind group, public accountability (blog or post your goal and progress on website, blog or facebook) or join a group to stimulate competition and/or camaraderie.

6. Have Fun

Mike jumped the gun on me in the comments from last week's post. It's true—lighten up and be sure to celebrate your day-to-day victories. Bring joy to the journey. We are pleasure-seeking creatures. If you neglect yourself for too long you will crack. You have to let some steam out of the kettle.

No matter the goal I always have a lax or cheat day. Yes, even if it is positively acknowledging my wife. One day a week I am not going to track and monitor my behavior, and whatever flows, goes! 

This past weekend my wife and I completed our best year ever planning (yes, we just got our copy too!). We always go on a heart pumping hike before we begin. We like to find a quite and spiritually uplifting vista to do our designing process. Then after a couple hours of work we go to one of our favorite spots to complete the process and celebrate the beginning of our new journey into our new best year ever!

Which of these tips was the best for you? Which will make the biggest difference in helping you stay on track with your goals? Any other ideas, please share in the comments below.

An A-Z List of the Most Powerful Words You can use in a Sales Letter

by Jim Conway
SmallBusinessSalesSolutions.com

There are a number of things that a good sales letter will do: Generate interest, build rapport and confidence, inspire a reader to set and appointment.

But have you ever tried to write a sales letter and the words just didn't seem to have any pizzazz? They just didn't seem to jump off the page? It is a common enough problem. The following is a list of almost 300 words and phrases that will really snap up your sales letters and make them shine so that potential customers take notice.

A

Amazing, Announcing, Attention, Advice, Approved, Authentic, Attractive, Astonishing, Alert

B

Best, Breakthrough, Bargain, Big, Better, Beautiful, Bonanza

C

Cheap, Confidential, Challenge, Colorful, Colossal, Compare, Competitive, Complete, Chance, Compromise

D

Discover, Discount, Daring, Destiny, Download, Direct, Delighted, Delivered

E

Easy, Enhance, Excellent, Extraordinary, Exciting, Expert, Exclusive, Endorsed, Enormous, Exciting, Exploit, Emerging, Edge, Energy

F

Free, Fantastic, Fundamentals, Focus, Fortune, Full, Fascinating, Famous

G

Guaranteed, Genuine, Greatest, Gift, Growth, Greatest, Gigantic

H

Hidden, Hottest, Hurry, Huge, Highest, Hurry, Helpful

I

Incredible, Insider, Improved, Important, Imagine, Introducing, immediately, Interesting, Innovative, Imagination, Informative, Instructive

J

Jealous

K

King Sized

L

Learn, Love, Limited, Luscious, Lowest, Launching, Largest, Lifetime, Latest, Last, Lavishly, Luxury, Liberal

M

Master, Magic, Millionaire, Miracle, Modern, Money, Mammoth, Mainstream, Monumental

N

New, Notice, Now, Noted

O

Opportunity, Obsession, Offer, Odd, Outstanding

P

Powerful, Proven, Profits, Private, Profit, Perfect, Professional, Popular, Practical, Promising, Portfolio, Pioneering, Profitable, Personalized, Pizzazz

Q

Quality, Quickly, Quality, Quick, Quickly

R

Revealed, Results, Revolutionary, Rare, Reduced, Remarkable, Revealing, Revisited, Reliable, Rare, Reward, Refundable

S

Shocking, Scientific, Save, Special, Secrets, Startling, Strange, Success, Superior, Surprising, Safe, Scintillating, Secret, Security, Sex, Simple, Sale, simplistic, Suddenly, Shrewd, Skill, Survival, Spotlight, Soar, Sensational, Surging, Sampler, Security, Simple, Sturdy, Special, Strange, Startling, Successful, Selected, Simplified, Superior, Strong, Scarce, Sizable, Surprise

T

Tremendous, Tricks, Terrific, True, Tested, Timely, Technology, Tremendous

U

Uncovered, Unbelievable, Ultimate, Unconditional, Unusual, Unlimited, Unlock, Useful, Urgent, Unique, Unsurpassed, Unconditional, Unparalleled

V

Valuable, Value

W

Wanted, Wonderful, Willpower, Weird, Wealth, Wonderful

X

Xanadu

Y

You, Yes

Z

Zamboni...no, just checking to see if you were on your toes.

 

But don't forget that the sweetest word for anyone to hear is their own name. The more you can use a customer's name the more powerful the letter will be.

 

 

Jim Conway is a freelance journalist and business development professional who has worked in the Printing and High Tech Industries and has been involved in venture capital negotiations for entrepreneurial ventures. View his blog athttp://smallbusinesssalessolutions.blogspot.com/.He can be reached at smallbusinesssalessolutions@gmail.com

Originally published on SearchWarp.com for Jim Conway Saturday, December 08, 2007
Article Source: An A-Z List of the Most Powerful Words You can use in a Sales Letter 

Husn e Haqiqi – Beauty of Truth Poem Lyrics ...

Husn e Haqiqi – Beauty of Truth
Khwaja Ghulam Farid (1841 – 1901)	Translation by Arieb Azhar
Ai husne haqiqi noor e azal	O' Beauty of Truth, the Eternal Light!
Tenu waajib te imkaan kahun	Do I call you necessity and possibility,
Tenu khalik zaat qadeem kahun	Do I call you the ancient divinity,
Tenu haadis khalq jahan kahun	The One, creation and the world,
Tenu mutlaq mehez wajood kahun	Do I call you free and pure Being,
Tenu almiya ayaan kahun	Or the apparent lord of all,
Arvaah nafoos aqool kahun	Do I call you the souls, the egos and the intellects,
Ashbaa iyaan nehaan kahun	The imbued manifest, and the imbued hidden,
Tenu ain haqeeqat maahiyat	The actual reality, the substance,
Tenu arz sifat te shaan kahun	The word, the attribute and dignity,
Anvaah kahun auzaah kahun	Do I call you the variety, and the circumstance,
Atvaar kahun auzaan kahun	The demeanor, and the measure,
Tenu arsh kahun aflaak kahun	Do I call you the throne and the firmament,
Tenu naaz naeem janaan kahun	And the demurring delights of Paradise,
Tenu tat jamaad nabaat kahun	Do I call you mineral and vegetable,
Haivaan kahun insaan kahun	Animal and human,
Tenu masjid mandir dair kahun	Do I call you the mosque, the temple, the monastery,
Tenu pothi te quran kahun	The scriptures, the Quran,
Tasbeeh kahun zunnaar kahun	The rosary, the girdle,
Tenu kufr kahun imaan kahun	Godlessness, and faith,
Tenu baadal barkha gaaj kahun	Do I call you the clouds, the flash, the thunder,
Tenu bijli te baraan kahun	Lightning and the downpour,
Tenu aab kahun kahun tenu khaak kahun	Water and earth,
Tenu baad kahun neeraan kahun	The gust and the inferno,
Tenu dasrat lichman raam kahun	Do I call you Lakshmi, and Ram and lovely Sita,
Tenu sita ji janaan kahun	…. Continued
Baldev jasuda nand kahun	Baldev, Shiv, Nand, and Krishna,
Tenu kishan kanhaya kaan kahun	kishan, kanhaiyaa and kaan
Tenu barhma bishan ganesh kahun	Brahma, Vishnu and Ganesh,
Mahadev kahun bhagvaan kahun	Mahadev and Bhagvaan,
Teni geet granth te bed kahun	Do I call you the Gita, the Granth, and the Ved,
Tenu gyaan kahun agyaan kahun	Knowledge and the unknowable,
Tenu ibrahim hawa shees kahun	Do I call you Abraham, Eve and Seth,
Tenu nooh kahun tufaan kahun	Noah and the deluge,
Tenu ibrahim khaleel kahun	Abraham the friend, and Moses son of Amran,
Tenu musa bin imran kahun	…. Continued
Tenu har dil da dildaar kahun	darling of every heart
Tenu ahmad aalishaan kahun	And Ahmad the glorious
Tenu shaahid malk hijaaz kahun	Do I call you the witness, the Lord, or Hejaz,
Tenu baais kaun makaan kahun	The awakener, existence, or the point,
Tenu naaz kahun andaaz kahun	Do I call you admiration or prognosis,
Tenu hoor pari ghilmaan kahun	Nymph, fairy, and the young lad,
Tenu nouk kahun tenu ttouk kahun	The tip and the nip,
Tenu surkhi beerha paan kahun	And the redness of betel leaves,
Tenu tabla te tamboor kahun	The Tabla and Tanpura,
Tenu dholak surr te taan kahun	The drum, the notes and the improvisation,
Tenu husn te haar singhaar kahun	Do I call you beauty and the fragrant flower,
Tenu ashwa ghamza aan kahun	Coyness and that amorous glance,
Tenu ishq kahun tenu ilm kahun	Do I call you Love and knowledge,
Tenu vehem yaqeen gumaan kahun	Superstition, belief, and conjecture,
Tenu husn kavi idraak kahun	The beauty of power, and conception,
Tenu zauk kahun wajdaan kahun	Aptitude and ecstasy,
Tenu sakar kahun sakraan kahun	Do I call you intoxication and the drunk,
Tenu hairat te hairaan kahun	Amazement and the amazed,
Tasleem kahun talveen kahun	Submission and the connection,
Tamkeen kahun irfaan kahun	Compliance and Gnosticism,
Tenu sumbal sosan sarv kahun	Do I call you the Hyacinth, the Lilly, and the Cypress,
Tenu nargis nafarmaan kahun	And the rebellious Narcissus,
Tenu laale daagh te baagh kahun	The bereaved Tulip, the Rose garden, and the orchard,
Gulzaar kahun bustaan kahun	…. Continued
Tenu khanjar teer tufang kahun	Do I call you the dagger, the lance, and the rifle,
Tenu barcha bank sanaan kahun	The hail, the bullet, the spear,
Tenu teer khidang kamaan kahun	The arrows made of white poplar, and the bow,
Soofaar kahun peekaan kahun	The arrow-notch, and the arrowhead,
Berang kahun bemisal kahun	Do I call you colorless, and unparalleled,
Besoorat har har aan kahun	Formless in every instant,
Subooh kahun qudoos kahun	Glory and holiness,
Rehman kahun subhaan kahun	Most glorious and most compassionate,
Kar taubaa tart Fareed sada	Repent now Farid forever!
Har sheh nu par nuksaan kahun	For whatever I may say is less,
Tenu paak alakh be aib kahun	Do I call you the pure and the humane,
Tenu haq be naam nishaan kahun	The Truth without trace or name.

How To Prevent and Treat Eye Strain

How To Prevent and Treat Eye Strain

Eye strain is an extremely common eye disorder, each person has different symptoms when they experience eye strain but it can broadly be defined as anything that causes discomfort or pain to your eyes while viewing something. Eye strain is caused by your eye muscles becoming fatigued due to the overuse of your eye muscles during intense tasks such as driving a car, working on the computer or even reading a book.

You might have been out on a long drive, probably spanning many hours. Or, you might have just picked up an interesting novel at the library, and could not leave it aside until you came to the very end, even though this involved many hours of reading. Or, your job might involve hours of staring at a computer monitor. All the three scenarios mentioned above involve considerable effort on the part of your eyes and could easily result in eye strain. Your eyes become sore, tired, and even itch at times.

They might water and become sensitive to light. Worse still, you might experience sporadic headaches and a sore neck as the day progresses. Eye strain treatment is not complicated, and most of these symptoms can be eased by following a few simple tips that would take you a few minutes at the most. However, if there is a noticeable change in vision, extreme eye discomfort or prolonged double vision, you might need to visit an ophthalmologist to get your eyes thoroughly checked. Read on to explore tips on how to treat strain.

Symptoms of Eye Strain:

   1. Headache
   2. Neck/back pain
   3. Twitches/Spasms around the eyes
   4. Lightheadedness
   5. Dizziness
   6. Nausea
   7. Car sickness
   8. Blurred vision
   9. Sore or tired eyes
  10. Double vision
  11. Itchy eyes
  12. Dry eyes
  13. Watery eyes
  14. Burning eyes
  15. Heaviness on the forehead/eyelids
  16. Lack of concentration
  17. Fatigue
  18. Reading problems

Causes of Eye Strain:

   1. Excess use of computer
   2. Fluorescent lighting
   3. Low levels of light
   4. Brightness
   5. Glare
   6. Low levels of screen contrast.
   7. Bad viewing angle
   8. Fatigue
   9. Poor posture
  10. Tiredness
  11. Excessive intake of drug and alcohol
  12. Stress

Eye Strain Treatment:

    * Work the muscles that have become strained, by relaxing your eyes and allowing them to shift focus from the object on which you are concentrating.
    * Gently massage your eyes, around the eyeballs, for 5 minutes. Do this once every hour, especially if you are doing some work that requires a lot of reading or focusing on a computer monitor.
    * If you find that your eyes are susceptible to strain, make it a practice to splash your face with water as cold as you can stand, the first thing each morning. This will help soothe the eye muscles.
    * Soak two tea bags in water, for around 15 minutes. Remove the tea bags and wring out any excess water. Place them in the refrigerator to chill, for around 5 minutes, before taking them out again. Place the tea bags over your eyes and relax for 15 minutes.
    * Rest your eyes. Place slices of raw potato or cucumber on your eyes and relax for 15 minutes.
    * If raw potato or cucumber is not available, you can make do with a cool, wet cloth. Place this over your eyes and relax for 15 minutes.
    * Drink a lot of liquids. Dehydration can cause eye strain and is often associated with headaches as well. Increased intake of liquids will help flush out excess salt from your body and will reduce eye strain and puffiness.
    * Get sufficient sleep. This will help rest your eyes and ease eye strain.
    * Even the tiniest blood vessels are known to be affected positively by grape seed extract. In fact, it is used as a supplement to fight cataracts and macular degeneration. Studies have proven that if 300 milligrams of grape seed extract is taken for 60 days, there will be a long-term positive impact on eye strain and there will be improved contrast vision as well.

Advice:

If after trying these methods you still suffer from discomfort of your eyes, contact your eye Doctor and make an appointment for an eye examination.