Mike Lee, Author at - Page 3 of 3 Archives

What is Photography | Its meaning and use

Filed in:
28
2009
November

Photography isn’t so much about capturing a subject as it is about capturing the light that falls off of a subject. “Um, sure – big deal…” you might say. The word ‘photography’ translates literally to “painting with light,” and capturing light is what’s occurring when you press the shutter button. Dramatic light is what brings about…

What is Composition and Why is it Important?

Filed in:
08
2009
August

Once you’ve metered the shot, determined the right combination of shutter speed & aperture, you then create the composition.

The term “create” is intentional. My own philosophy when capturing a photo is not to focus on a subject, but to focus on the image. The image includes the background elements that complement the subject in focus. And it’s these elements that you arrange to create a composition.

Using Watermarks to Your Advantage

Filed in:
08
2009
July

These days companies grab every opportunity possible to promote a widget.

Coffee-cup sleeves, garbage cans… soon we’ll probably see LCD screens at intersections while we wait for the light to turn green. (Could be interesting, actually…)

If you own of manage a website with proprietary images, and you are considering protecting your images from download by using Flash or some other means to prevent easy-copying of your photos, consider not protecting them at all from download. To understand this idea, you have to realize that: 1.) images are never fully protected from download on the ‘net, and 2.) your site can benefit from increased traffic via watermarks.

A Concise Guide to Essential Photography Accessories

Filed in:
10
2009
June

So, maybe you have a telephoto, a standard, and a wide angle lens in your bag? Maybe your camera body is top-notch, and you also have a great flash? Well, what else can you spend good money on?

Joking aside, accessories aren’t simply ways to spend money, they’re tools that’ll help you create the image you want to show and share. “Accessories” as a term makes them seem ‘extra’, but those that I’ll list are in fact essential to how I construct photos.

Why Digital Photography?

Filed in:
08
2009
June

Once you’ve metered the shot, determined the right combination of shutter speed & aperture, you then create the composition.

If you’re one of those delayed-gratification people, digital may not be for you.

The fact of the matter is, digital photography is immediately rewarding. That is its asset.

Is digital photography fundamentally different from film? No, it really isn’t. Both types of systems work via the same principles; capture light via shutter speed, aperture, and sensitivity (ISO) controls.

Are Websites Designed Entirely in Flash Good or Bad?

The short answer leans closer and closer to “bad” as the years move on. But I’ll explain…

From the perspective of a photographer and graphic designer, there are a number things to be said about HTML vs. Flash.

The Pros: dynamic aesthetics are under full control by the programmer (with HTML, you’re limited to static pages, for the most part).
The Cons: Google (or Yahoo, MSN, Ask.com, etc.) doesn’t recognize anything inside Flash, it simply recognizes the Flash object itself. With HTML pages, Google will recognize all the jpegs and text, and index it that way.