www.clickherephotographytips.com The correct camera exposure is vital in providing an image that is well balanced using the correct shutter speed, aperture (f-stop) and ISO ASA rating. There are essentially three factors that will ensure that an image is recorded correctly within your camera either on film / digital sensor and able to be viewed without manipulation. Regardless of the digital or film camera that you use with a combination of a variety of different lenses your photography will improve if you follow a few simple steps. If you have a Pentax, Nikon, Canon, Olympus or other 35mm camera, or; an easy to use point and shoot digital camera or another top of the range digital SLR Camera, I think you will benefit from what I have to show you in my videos. I hope that you enjoy watching them as much as I have enjoyed making them for you.

There are many ways of making money using a digital camera. But, because a digital camera is so easy to use and the resulting photos so easy to process, it does not mean that it is easy to produce images good enough for the photo buyers. The implication is if you have a digital camera, you can make money from it. This is most definitely not true. The only people making money are the professionals and the authors of cash from camera ebook authors. The one author made $720 000 in a single year, not from his photography, but by selling to people who want to make money.

It’s sad to see the associated forums where people beg information as to why their stock photos taken on 4 megapixel point n shoots aren’t selling like the ebooks tell them. There are two factors that come into play in order to make this happen:

1. The quality of equipment used

It is nigh impossible to make the amounts of money claimed by using a low-res point n shoot digital camera. This is not emphasised in the books. But, unfortunately the bulk of digital camera owners fall into this category. If they did communicate this then the market for their ebooks shrinks dramatically. Of course their are the odd occasions where this works. The right lighting conditions, aperture and shutter speed that produce the one in a thousand shot using budget equipment. In order for any photo sales business to work the equipment needs to meet minimum standards as seen on the large stock photo library sites.

2. Photographic ability

This is absolutely essential for anyone to stand the remotest chance of selling any photo. The idea of scanning through your years of family snapshots and finding shots that will sell is, for most people, pure luck. Again it’s the one in a thousand shot being at the right time and the right place. If you are happy to sell one shot in a thousand then it’ll work for you. So what’s the answer? If you’re to stand the remotest chance of making any money from your camera you need to be skilled. The wrong impression is created that digital cameras are the answer to the question. It seems that the digital revolution has given the impression that photographic ability is not the key to making money.

Let me make it very clear! The title of any ebook should be, “Make Money from Your Photographic Ability”. This is where the focus should be. When you get the idea that you want to make money from your photography, you have reached the correct point of departure. The key here is learn.

Learning is easy. The underlying key is passion. A real desire to use something that enthuses you to make money. There are many multi millionaires who have made money from their passions. If you are going to get up in the morning and say, “oh no I have to take photos today that are good enough to sell”, then you won’t make money. If you get up and say, “today I going to take more fantastic images and become and even better photographer”, then you’re are path of success in photo sales.

So what route do you take? All the cash from your camera books will tell is how and where to sell your fabulous shots. They have minimal focus on making you a great photographer and maximum focus on money making. If you focus on the results of your craft rather than on the process of refining your craft you’ve lost the race. The route to take is developing your passion to the point of perfection.

Your key to success is a desire to learn to perfect your passion. When you look at an image do you ask the question, “can I improve on it” or “can I sell it”?

In part two we’ll look at how to start this journey of perfecting your passion.

Should I Throw This Computer Out or Upgrade

Part 1 – Cleaning / Optimizing

Ok.  So your computer is getting on your very last nerve. It’s slow, it takes forever to boot up, your programs are sluggish, it crashes frequently and for no reason, video and audio playback are slow and seem to “skip”, the internet seems lethargic…. So you say to yourself “Maybe it’s time for a new computer!”

Not so fast. A new computer may not be the only answer to your problems. Your computer may just need some cleaning and optimizing or it may be in need of an upgrade. Most people don’t realize that your computer takes on added duties and responsibilities as you use it or “it grows older.”  Every time you load a new program, or surf the web certain files are added to the registry or saved to your computer. The larger the registry gets and the more files that are on your computer directly affect how fast your computer is. There are several things that you can do to clean and/or optimize your machine. Doing this will enhance your performance. Here are some examples of things you can do to “Clean up” your computer. If you are not familiar with these procedures or don’t feel comfortable performing them, call or contact one of the vendors listed at the end of the article and they can do this for you for a very feasible fee.

1.       Uninstall unused programs  –  If you go to your Control Panel and click on the Add/Remove programs icon, a list will come up that shows most of the programs installed on your machine. If you click on the name of a particular program, it will become highlighted and you can then choose to uninstall it. Uninstall anything that you really don’t use… for instance, if you used to use AOL as you internet provider and now have cable or a phone providers internet service, then the AOL program and all of it’s features are no longer needed (unless you prefer using the aol interface instead of using a standalone browser, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, etc.)

2.       Check for and uninstall “stealth” programs  –  I call them “stealth” programs because a lot of times they are installed unbeknownst to the user. For example when you download the free Acrobat Reader from Adobe, there is a little checkmark that is displayed that says “install the free Google Toolbar.” If you don’t carefully read through all the screens, this program is installed even if you may not have particularly wanted it. Many programs that we install from the internet have “add-ons” that may sneak by you if you are not careful…. So check for those and remove them.

3.       Delete your Temporary Internet Files  – Every single time that you get onto the internet and visit a website, files are saved to your computer. The purpose of these files is to store some of the images and other portions of the page so that when you visit the site again, it loads faster because the files can be pulled from your machine. Periodically, these files should be deleted. Depending on the amount of surfing you do, these files can take up a lot of space and will thus, slow your computer down.

4.       Delete unwanted/unneeded files  –  In order to perform the processes that you ask your computer to perform, it uses three main components; the processor, the memory and the hard drive. The three components work in conjunction to perform any process or function that you ask the computer to perform.  Deleting old, outdated, unwanted files from your computer frees up disk space which in turn allows your hard drive to perform better and will allow your computer to perform better.

5.       Perform a “defrag” – A “defrag” or disk cleanup goes through the sectors of your hard drive and frees up unused space and streamlines how the files that are on your computer are stored. The hard drive is checked for files that are fragmented (parts of a file in one place and parts in another) and repositions them so that they are streamlined and clustered together. This process allows your hard drive to perform better and will allow your computer to perform better.

6.       Run “MsConfig” – Running MsConfig our computer will allow you to determine what programs and features are being started when you boot up your computer. Most times, you will find that not all of the programs that are listed are wanted or needed and, as I mentioned before, every little thing that is run or started when you turn on your computer contributes to the degradation of speed.

Perform these small steps and you will see an improvement in your machines performance. Is it enough to make you want to hang on to that old machine? Well, that’s for you to decide. If so, great! If not, maybe you need to upgrade. Check out part 2 of this article where we discuss the benefits of upgrading. In the meantime, for more great answers to your computing problems…. Check out the blog and maybe we’ll write an article that addresses your particular need !