Don't forget your camera flash

Play around with the background

The advantages of taking online courses for most people are tremendous. First of all, they are usually considerably cheaper than a course at a local art school or college. You can also choose to take your courses whenever you want, wherever you are in the world, and if you want to stop for a while, you can always pick up where you left off later. This wouldn't be a problem at all because you can learn at your own pace.

One of the first thing you should do when preparing to take light painting photography is to set the camera to manual mode. Since all the preparations are done in a dark environment the camera cannot automatically set the right focus, exposure, aperture, ISO, white balance, and others.

If you have been taking photographs for years only to learn nothing much from it, then you might think that an online digital photography course has nothing for you. But the truth is, more and more "expert" photographers are finding that there are certain things about the digital camera world that mystify them. This is not surprising, however. Digital cameras are far more complicated and powerful than we give them credit for. There is so much they can do, and it would be very unfortunate indeed if you were to miss out on the many cool tricks and effects your camera is capable of just because you do not know which buttons to push-or how.

There are free substitute to Photoshop if you want to process your RAWs for free. One of those programs is GIMP. However, if you are not a mac user, then you will need to download UFRaw to support GIMP. For mac users, GIMP already comes with it so it's not necessary. Even though Photoshop and GIMP are very cool programs, there are other free software that can process RAW better.

Here's another cool one that you'll like. Have you ever considered taking photos outdoors and using your flash? You can do this. Yeah, I know, most cameras are defaulted to using flash only when you need it. But this can be overridden in many cameras. If you manually take control over using your flash, you can use it any time you like, even outdoors. This can produce some really cool effects, either by placing your subject out in the glaring sun or in the shade. You will notice a kind of a shine to your photos. Try it sometime.

<u>Is There an Easier Way to Process Your RAWS?</u>

Make sure your camera is on a tripod because you are going to take photos in low light conditions. Increased exposure time and high ISO guarantees blurring and noise if your camera isn't on a stable platform. It also mean you get to do the painting yourself!

<u>Is Processing RAW Difficult?</u>