In This Issue Intro Merry Christmas from the Wrights Read Your Camera Manual Organizing Your Photographs Winter - The Magical Time Of Year   Winter In Utah    [Back To Top]   You can visit our website at SceneramicPhoto.com

Dear Reader:    Visit CafePress.com/SceneramicPhoto for a large selection of mousepads, framed prints, calendars, postcards and coffee mugs. Images include landscape, seascape and cityscape of Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland and the USA. If you see an image you like in the Sceneramic Photography gallery that's not yet featured in our CafePress store, send an email telling us which image you like and what product you want it on and we'll be sure to add it for you. Read Your New Camera Manual    If you were lucky enough to get a camera for Christmas, you owe it to yourself to read the informative manual that came with it. I know, you hate to read manuals... especially if you're a typical male like me. We don't ask anyone for directions and we certainly don't admit to reading manuals. We live by the motto, "Break it first then read the manual later to see how to fix it." Well, take my advice. Your camera's manual is one you definitely should read. I know, I've harped on this subject in a few of my past issues, but, I always find myself answering questions like, "What does this button do?" Or, "How do I put the batteries in?" Surprisingly enough, these just happen to be two questions that are covered in the camera's manual. Today's cameras are capable of doing a lot more than you might imagine. If you don't read the manual you may find yourself missing out on some great shots because you thought to yourself, "I can't do that with my camera." Well, chances are you can. So read the manual then go experiment and see what fun things you can do with your camera.  [Back To Top] Organizing Your Photographs    How Many Boxes Of Photo's Do You Have? If you're like most most people, you have shoe boxes upon shoe boxes scattered all over the house stuffed with photographs of everything from your baby pictures of you on a sheepskin rug to last years Christmas photos. Doesn't it seem a shame to stash your memories away in boxes never to see them again or share them with others? The task of organizing your photos at first seems like a daunting task. But, once you have the binders and sleeves to organize them in and actually start the process it won't seem so bad. In fact you'll find it great entertainment because all of those unforgotten memories will come flooding back. What's really fun is to make it a family project and involve your kids, grandkids or nieces and nephews. It's a great way for them to learn about your past. You'll be surprised at how much fun they will have helping you. Don't be shocked when they burst out into fits of laughter over pictures of you when you were younger in your outdated clothes. Our nieces and nephews were in hysterics when they saw pictures of Linda and me in our ski outfits of some twenty years ago and my Starsky and Hutch style suits! So, if there's one New Year's resolution you should make and actually keep, it's to go through all your boxes of photographs and organize them.  [Back To Top] Winter - The Magical Time Of Year    Winter Wonderland I love winter. Well, I don't like the cold but I do love the way the fresh snow looks on the trees and ground. There's just something about a blanket of fresh snow with the sun shining and a deep blue sky. For those of us who are lucky enough to live in Northern Utah, you'll know exactly what I mean when I say it can snow like the dickens one day and be sunny and warm the next. Over the Christmas Holidays we were fortunate enough - or unfortunate depending on your point of view - to get 30 inches of snow in just three days here in Farmington. Besides the much needed water it brought us and the fact we had snow for Christmas, the glistening snow in the morning sunlight was spectacular. These series of shots were taken over those three days. The nighttime shot below was taken on the first night of the snow storm so you can judge for yourself how much snow we received. Grab Your Camera And Head For The Snow A lot of people put there cameras away for winter only to dust them off when the warm weather hits in spring. I say grab your camera and head outdoors because you're missing out on some great picture opportunities if you don't. Not only will it cure you of your cabin fever from being stuck indoors all winter long, but you'll get some great shots to put on your next year's Christmas cards. Night Shots In The Snow If you're really adventurous and you don't mind freezing your you-know-what off, grab your camera and tripod and try some snowy night shots. Street lights will provide some nice warm tones to your pictures giving them that old fashioned look. You'll need to experiment with the exposure times until you get the images just the way you want them. If you have a digital camera, that's easy because you can view your shots as soon as you take them so you can fine tune the next shots as needed. If you're using a film camera and are unsure of the exposure, a trick I use is to bracket a series of shots in 1/2 stop increments either side of what the camera tells me the exposure should be. That way I know at least one shot in the series will be exposed perfectly. Backlit Snow Shots Shooting into the sun to capture the glistening, snowy branches can be a little tricky to capture but very rewarding. Overexpose the shots and you'll lose the definition of the sun and wash everything else out. Underexpose the shots and your images will come out looking like a solar eclipse. Again, experiment with a few trial shots. If you're using a film camera, bracket your exposures to make sure you get the shot you want From the experiments I've run with newer cameras - both digital and film - most seem to do a pretty good job of figuring out the correct exposure for you. Go And Enjoy The Snow Well, hopefully I've sparkled a little enthusiasm in you to go out and brave the cold weather to take some winter pictures. Unfortunately for those of you in the southern hemisphere that's not an option with it being summer for you. So, I'd recommend you call your friends or relatives in the northern hemisphere and convince them to turn off their TV's and go take some snow pictures for you! Oh, and just an FYI to friends and relatives reading this newsletter, when you get your 2004 Christmas cards, the images on the front may look very familiar! Until next time...  [Back To Top]

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