You have just purchased your first digital camera, or first camera for that matter and you know that there is more to photography than just pushing the shutter button and hoping for the best. Your big question is how to start and an even bigger question is, where do I go to find the material? Let me answer your questions and hopefully send you off in the right direction as you learn digital photography.

In the days prior to the internet there were limited options if you wanted to learn photography, but, now with the internet it can be quite overwhelming. When doing a Google search, the sites that come up tops aren’t necessarily the best sites for what you are looking for so it can take some time. Let’s take a look at keys to getting you onto the right track.

1. Find a photography school near to you

For many people, good old bricks and mortar is the best route to follow. A local college, adult education programme or a local business specialising in training are the options for you to try. You can speak face to face with people, have a look at their material and see what their results are. Most of them will have a websites for you to gain more information. The great thing about this route is that you can ask questions and then compare the various options and make your final decision. It is the most user friendly option and you aren’t going it alone.

2. Find a correspondence college

This is similar in many ways in that you study with paper materials and have a lecturer or tutor assigned to you who grades your work and corresponds with you. There is an active physical interaction with material and a person at the other end of the email or telephone. It’s very user friendly and allows regular contact with a person. People who aren’t ready for the automated internet interaction may prefer this route.

3. Find an online course

This is one step along the electronic path of learning photography. It is very similar to the correspondence college route with the only difference being that all your material is electronic. You still interact with a live person via email or a live chat service. You submit your work electronically via email or upload to a forum. For the modern electronic person this is great and paperless.

4.  Self-study

This can be the most difficult route for any budding photographer. Where to start is the big question. So, there are two routes:

• The paper route If you are still part of the old school and like to feel paper between your fingers then the bookshop and library route is for you. Many bookshops allow you to sit and have a cup of coffee while you browse their books. In this way you can look for books that are tutorial based with a focus on structured teaching. There are many out there but this method does require personal discipline as there is nobody to check up on you and your assignments. You can also look at books in libraries but remember that the latest books take time time to appear on their shelves. As I have said, you need self-discipline to follow this route.
• The electronic routeThere is just so much material available on the internet which means that this is the most difficult way to find the right content to follow the self-study route. But, amongst the many free courses available you are sure to find something that will suite you. Research here is key and you will need to do a lot of it in order to come up with something that you like. Be careful though, many of these courses give you some information and then expect you to pay for the rest.

Whatever route you decide to follow as you learn digital photography it needs to focus on your personal knowledge and needs. What level you are at in your photographic journey will help determine which route you choose. Happy shooting!

It takes a significant investment of time on the part of the photographer to get to know his or her clients personally, to understand their unique style and how they want their work presented to the world, but to do the best job you can requires a commitment to the designer commensurate with the designers commitment to the photographer. The time invested will result in better photographs as well as  a more enjoyable and profitable relationship for both the photographer and the interior designer.

Getting to know a designer personally requires taking time to chat when you deliver the prints, or to ask why a designer selected these particular colors or inquire about what they were thinking when they selected that particular light fixture and that is beyond the scope of this article. The deepest insights I have ever had regarding the style of my client’s, the inspirations that have allowed me to create the perfect photograph of a project for a particular client have been the result an off hand comment made during a conversation about the design or discussing the degree of success of an image, or lack thereof. So, I strongly advocate that photographers and designers take the time to talk about design theory and style in terms other than furniture arrangement, lighting and styling for the photographs.

A understanding of the general background of interior designers will help the photographer to make use of the vast array of talents, skills and experience the designer brings to a photo shoot to create better photographs and also give them a better understanding of the interior design profession.

Education:
Interior design requires a high degree of education because it is a very demanding profession that requires intelligence, discipline and commitment. Designers will generally have a bachelors degree in interior design. This constitutes four years of specialized education focused entirely on the different aspects of design covering subjects such as psychology, ergonomic, ethics, furniture design, color theory, art history, floral design, architecture, construction, computer aided design, business management and even portfolio construction and presentation.

Training:
Interior designers will have  several years experience as an “apprentice,” or assistant to an established interior designer before they  become licensed as interior designers. During this stage of the designers career they have the opportunity to begin to develop their own style and translate their theoretical education into real world experience.

Continuing Education:
Almost all designers will be members of specialized professional associations such as the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA),  or the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) all of these organizations require the interior designer to acquire a set number of hours of continuing professional education annually.

You can see that the interior designer has knowledge, skills and experience, not to mention artistic talents of a surprising depth and breath that can contribute to the successful completion of any photo shoot whether the project is residential, commercial, hospitality of institutional. This is why you should collaborate  with your clients, actively seeking their input and ideas and always keep an open mind when a client asks a question, or makes a suggestion or a specific request. You can never tell when a simple hand gesture or the turn of a phrase can provide the inspiration you need to turn a good image into the perfect photograph.

These types of cameras are not to be confused with a normal camera that is used every day on land. An underwater camera is specially made to be able to be completely submerged underwater and able to take the pressure surrounding it and has a waterproof casing. The underwater camera also takes the same great quality pictures on dry land in rough and rugged conditions, but it has advanced features for a water setting.

Underwater cameras come in all shapes, sizes and film format. Many digital cameras that are made for the underwater environment come with a viewfinder so you can see exactly what you are taking a picture of and what your camera sees. There are still a great line of underwater cameras that use film that needs to be developed and they work just as well as a digital camera and take the same great picture. The smaller underwater cameras are normally very good for up to two hundred feet to four hundred feet while the bigger cameras are made for deeper regions of the waters.