A couple of years ago I came across a website which has an excellent article called How to make a Life Poster using Photoshop. The post includes comprehensive step-by-step instructions on how to turn your photographic collection into a wall-hanging masterpiece. Inspired by the results, I decided to create a poster for my mother for her 60th birthday.

I gathered together (with a 95% contribution from one sister) the 98 photos necessary to carry out this project. The photos included my mother at various ages, her wedding, my father, her kids, flowers, bushland, workmates, all sorts of things that were related to or sentimental to her … after all, who has 98 photos of their own mother? Then I set to making my Life Poster.

Living in Australia, I couldn’t follow Step 7 (order a print of your poster online), so I simply burned the file to disk and took it to my local camera store. It was the first Life Poster the shop had printed up and I think we were all a bit nervous about the outcome! The result was beautiful, colorful and detailed. A huge 20×30 inch poster (I also got it framed) that she pored over with a grin here and a surprised gasp there. It now lives on a wall in her office.

Making a Life Poster was my first serious foray into the wonderful world of post-production software and techniques. It was a fun, creative photographic project and I look forward to making the next one.

I have yet to experiment with all the settings on my camera, but I’d have to say the macro and super macros settings are my current favorites. I love getting in close to a subject and have spent many hours practicing macro photography on all manner of things.

The super macro setting on my camera goes as close as 60mm which produces some wonderfully detailed results. Bees buzzing around the lavender in my backyard make great subjects. I will usually also set the Continuous Shooting Mode to help capture their movements from stem to stem. And there’s an element of danger too – a fear of bee stings!

Insects, flowers, bees, handwriting…anything really. All it takes is a bit of time and a lot of fun experimenting.

If you are interested in learning more about macro photography you’ll find there are some great books available. Here a just a handful:

• Macro Photography Photo Workshop
• Closeup Shooting: A Guide to Closeup, Tabletop and Macro Photography
• Photographing Flowers: Inspiration*Equipment*Technique
• Digital Macro Photography

Someone once told me to always take two photos of a subject. It was good advice. You can’t always be sure you have captured ‘the moment’ taking just one photo. You may not have lined up the shot as you would have liked; your hands may have been shaking; or your subject may have been blinking. The differences between the two photos can be quite noticeable.

Digital cameras give you immediate results, but it’s wise to remember that the back-screen view on a camera is rather small compared to the actual image size and it can be difficult to determine if a photo is a winner until it has been downloaded to a computer (sometimes the photos that appear unsuccessful on a camera screen turn out to be the great ones ones, so don’t go deleting until you have downloaded!)

You can still follow the ‘two shot rule’ with your digital camera, but did you know you can go one step further and take more than two shots with just one click of the button?

Multiple photos with one click of a button?

Yep, that’s right. There is a setting on your camera which will take multiple photos. My camera calls it Continuous Shooting Mode and will shoot photos for as long as I hold down the shutter release button or until it uses up all the space on the memory card.

I’m always curious to see the results of the continuous shooting mode, especially if the subject was moving during the shoot. Do you remember drawing (or seeing) pictures on every page of a notepad and then flicking through to get a little moving cartoon? Well, it’s just the same when you take these multiple shots. And if you’re putting together a digital slide-show of your photos then the results of the CSM can really enhance the presentation with an impressive movie-type effect.

How does it work?

Find the setting on your camera – you might need to check your manual. The setting on my camera is near the timer settings. You’ll know it’s selected because your screen will display a small rectangle with with double/triple lines on a couple of sides so it looks like a rectangle on top of a rectangle etc. All you have to do now is pick a subject and simply point and shoot. You may feel a small delay between shots. It doesn’t matter if some of the photos are blurry as it will give you the impression of motion (Note: you will probably not be able to set your flash in this mode).

If you are after the perfect shot then this multiple technique may give you better odds than the ‘two shot rule’. And it doesn’t cost you anything, you can always delete the ones you don’t want, after downloading of course.

Example of the continuous shooting mode

One of my cats generously agreed to model for this CSM example. This is a fairly quick Photoshop mock-up of the result. I numbered the individual images 1-6 so you can imagine the effect of viewing them in quick succession (I hope to add in the movie-effect at some stage). The image link takes you to Flickr.

Give it a try yourself, I’d love to see the end product.

I started using a digital camera way back in 2005, when I bought a Pentax Optio S5i duty-free for a holiday to New Zealand. Digital photography became very exciting once I had acquired a digital camera of my own.

I admit I had initially resisted joining the digital world. My first impressions of digital cameras, which was basically watching tourists on their holidays, was not at all enticing. All I kept seeing were people quickly taking a photo, then staring at the screens of their digital cameras – viewing the photo they had just taken, deleting the photo they had just taken, taking another photo, viewing the photo… it was a seemingly never-ending action. All the while, the actual scenery/monument/painting was being ignored. Still, I bought one in the end.

Uses of the digital camera

Digital cameras have surprisingly practical uses these days. A friend of mine, who was re-arranging his living room, took a digital photo of the tangle of cables and leads coming out of his TV, video and stereo before he unplugged everything, just so he had a point of reference to set the whole mess back up again. Recently, I found myself taking a digital photo of that tiny, positively minuscule, writing on the back of a DVD cover and then zooming in so I could read the darn thing! Cheaper than a trip to the optometrist, I’m sure.

Do you find your digital camera comes in handy for things like this?

But, I digress…

…my camera. I love my little Pentax. It’s probably ancient now, but it takes great photos and I haven’t felt the need to upgrade it…although a DSLR would be fab. The Pentax Optio has 5 mega pixels and a 3x optical zoom. It was just under $500 when I purchased it and it now sells for just over $100.

Why have I held onto it for so long?

Well, it just works. I’ve never had a problem with it. And 5 mega pixels shoots a really good picture. Most of my Flickr photos are from the Pentax Optio S5i. The best thing, though, is that the camera is so slim I can put it in my pocket and take it everywhere I go.

Elbows in

Early on, I learned the best way to take a photo using a digital camera was to keep my elbows in tight. No doubt I look quite silly, but I find it helps to keep my hands steady. Digital is so much more sensitive than film.

The viewfinder

Do you remember when you got your first digital camera and how strange it felt trying to shoot a picture looking at the back-screen rather than through the viewfinder? And now, if you use a film-based camera, your instinct is to push the camera away from you to look through the back-screen only to find there isn’t one?

I tend to only use the viewfinder now if there is a glare and I can’t see the back-screen to line up the shot. Although, having said that, it can help to keep the camera steady if you use this “old-fashioned” method.

I know there are more advanced cameras out there and eventually I will upgrade. What sort of camera do you recommend?