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Rockefeller Center has announced that they will light the Christmas Tree on Wednesday December 4th. Whether or not you will be there for the actual tree lighting we do suggest you drop by the tree for some great photos. Get there early or late. Crowds tend to be heaviest later in the day and also closer to Christmas. If you wait until after Christmas the crowds will have dwindled considerably as well. The tree will be on from December 4 - January 7th.

If you have started shopping for a monopod or a tripod you’re probably feeling a little bit dazed and confused aren’t you? If you are, you

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Tip #2: Pan tilt or Ball head? Choosing a Tripod.

Often times, good tripods come with the option to change the “head” (that’s the thing that attaches your camera to the legs). So the big dilemma is which type of head should you buy? The first question is should you

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NYC Photo Workshop Tips

To understand what the depth of field preview button does on your camera you must first understand what depth

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There are lots of photo tips on the Web, some good, some interesting, some completely bogus, some dubious and some that should

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Photo Tip #25: What's Wrong With Photoshop?

Even before the word Photoshop became a verb in the English vernacular, the debate stirred about whether using Photoshop was somehow "cheating" or destroyed the integrity of the photograph. To answer this question, let's go back to the days before Photoshop. What did photographers do? Before Photoshop, there was the darkroom - a place filled with odd objects and bottles of strange chemicals; a place where many thought "magic" happened. In those days if you wanted make the sky darker or lighter, you had to wave your hands in the air and do a dance above your print. A skilled darkroom technician was able to do this dance and get the same results over and over again. The bottom line is that it was possible to change a photograph significantly, even combine images from different negatives, without a computer.

Here is a manipulated image by Jerry Uelsmann, a master in the darkroom.Photoshop image classes (view his work at http://www.uelsmann.net/_img/works/ju_36.jpg)

Even if you didn't personally manipulate your photos to this extreme, your negatives were always manipulated. When we dropped off our film at the lab, someone had to decide which chemistry to use and at which temperature. After the film was processed, it had to be printed to paper and a machine or a person made a decision on the color, contrast and density of your pictures. If you were having your pictures professionally printed, then the lab technician made more decisions. The bottom line is there has always been some level of manipulation.

Take a look at this famous photograph. New York city photo safari Its authenticity has often been debated. There is now proof beyond a reasonable doubt that this is a real photograph and those men were indeed sitting 800 feet above NYC. But this is not to say that there was no manipulation of the picture. If you back away from your monitor and look at the photo again you will notice that there is a glow above and below the men. The question is why? The answer is simple, the background was very blown out and, if printed without any darkroom work, it would be difficult to make out the city behind the men. What makes the photograph stand out is that you can see the city below. If photographed today you would be able to achieve the same affect in Photoshop, but without the glow.

The question when viewing a photograph should not be "Did they use Photoshop?" but rather, "Do I enjoy looking at this photograph? " if the answer is, "No" then walk away. If the answer is "Yes" then enjoy!

Want to learn how to use Photoshop better? NYC Photo Safari offers private Photoshop tutoring .

What's a 5.11 Drop Pouch? It's a little pouch you can attach to your camera bag to carry the extra things you need every now and then, like a water bottle. The reason we are recommend this particular bag is because it is built to fold up when not in use and the attachments to your belt or bag is pretty strong. There is also a velcro flap and draw string at the top so you can close the top.

If you like to carry a monopod but don't know what to do with it when it's not in use, try adding a flashlight holder to your bag. A D cell battery flashlight belt holster is the perfect holder for your monopod. You can either attach it to your belt or your bag, depending on the configuration of your bag.

Now that's a cheap trick!!

It really is true that the best time of day to take photographs is at sunrise and sunset. (see post about Golden Hour and Magic Hour) But the question begs, what about the rest of the day? Although it certainly is true that the light and colors available early and late in the day can look amazing, it is a very narrow window of opportunity. So even if the light isn't very good during the rest of the day it's up to you to find the opportunities for that great photo!