Hi,

Welcome to our seventh edition of Mount Kinabalu Borneo.com Newsletter. Wow… It’s the end of the year again. Holiday season is coming and everyone are busy shopping for their beloved ones. In conjunction of these festive season, I would like to share with you the things that you can do during this time - digital photography! For those who live far from their family, I think this is the perfect time to capture your memories with them. I have concluded all in one perfect “personal photography package”, so that it wont burn another hole in you pocket this season.

What digital camera should I use?

Of course, you need a digital compact camera. It is getting cheaper and cheaper and you can easily get a digital camera almost anywhere. I have been using Sony Cybershot DSC-S40 for the past 2 years, and I like it very much. It’s a point and shoot camera, very lightweight, easy to operate and it gives a decent family photos instantly. It’s a value for money kind of camera. I would recommend this camera to you if budget is your main concern. Otherwise, you can shop for other entry level digital compact camera from Canon, Nikon or Fujifilm. They all have a very good reputation among the digital camera community.

How to take a good photo?

I have a book from Scott Kelby called “The Digital Photography Book”. It is a book for beginner photographer, teaching how to take a good photo and improve their photography technique. The book is written very nicely and it does not have any technical jargon to confuse you. I get it from Barnes & Noble for only $19.99. It’s a pocket book, one tip per page and very lightweight, so that you can bring it anywhere during your holiday.

The Digital Photography Book

However, if you don’t like to fork out your money for the book, you can always Google for “good photography technique”. To make your life easier, I have selected some of the best website that I learned good photography from. Don’t be surprised if your Uncle Sam asked you, “When did you start being a pro photographer?”, after you use the technique given on these website.

http://cp.c-ij.com/english/photoshooting/ http://www.morguefile.com/archive/classroom.php
http://www.camerahobby.com/EBook-TOC.htm
http://www.diyphotography.net/

Free photo editing software

After buying a digital camera and shoot thousands of picture in your grandparents house with their pets around, it’s time to do some editing. Photo editing is necessary as your photo that you took might turn out to be underexpose, overexpose or just “doesn’t look right” (like your grandma’s pet ears was cut off in the photo). A fairly good and free photo editing software would be a good option to correct your photos. I suggest either these two programs: Irfanview or GIMP. How to choose which one? If you are a newbie and beginner in photo editing, Irfanview is a good program to start. If you have been using Adobe Photoshop (either original or illegal copy), GIMP might be a good experiment for you. I have been using both program for the past few years, and I like it very much. Irfanview is small, simple, not bloated with unnecessary toolbar and very easy to work around. GIMP is a bit large, (but still a gaziilion byte smaller than Adobe Photoshop) and although it is not as good as Photoshop, I must say that it comes really close to being one. Oh, by the way, did I mentioned both of the programs are free?

http://www.gimp.org/
http://www.irfanview.com/

Free photo sharing program

After the festive season, we will all be back to our own place to continue our living, and our grandparents in the other part of the world will be home alone again. Apart from the classical printed out 3R or 4R photos to be shared with them, in this new digital age, we could easily share our family photo together on the internet for free. flickr is one of the most popular website for us to share our photo. It’s very easy to apply (even more , nice graphical user interface and you can even create your own group (in this case your family) and share your photos among the family members. I use flickr too!

http://flickr.com/

So, what are you waiting for? If you don’t think that you will NOT be shooting any photo this holiday season, just buy the digital camera, wrap it nicely and put it under your Christmas tree!

Have a nice holiday everyone and Happy New Year!

Regards,

Ruhaizad Daud