Performing and visual arts articles

How To Capture Existing Light Portraits (04/30/2012)
... It's very convenient, and you do get a recognizable picture. But when you have the luxury of setting up an artistic portrait in a window-lit room, try existing light only. First, position the model near a window and study the scene. You can't depend solely on your visual perception, because your eyes and brain will read the lighting a little differently than the camera will, especially in the shadow areas—you will see detail in the dark areas that the camera can't record. This is why you'll probably want to use a reflector to "bounce" some light into the shadow areas....

The Basic Rules To Create Powerful Landscape Images (04/28/2012)
... Keep your compositions simple. Clutter is the bane of powerful landscape imagery. Look for simple, powerful compositions, and skip the rest. Don't put the horizon line in the middle of the frame. Landscapes become more powerful when the horizon line is in the lower or upper third of the composition....

General Rules And Tips On Taking Pictures at Weddings (04/21/2012)
... Elevating the flash eliminates red eye and moves distracting shadows out of the frame. When you're taking group shots, remember to position your subjects as close together as possible. Generally speaking, people stand too far apart. Tightening up the spacing will make for better shots. Make sure everyone in the group has a clear view of the camera....

Understanding the role of mega pixel in digital camera (04/09/2012)
... It then converts it to electrical signals which are processed to make a picture. An array of 2048*1536 generates a pixel count of 31,45,728 pixel which is total to 3.1 megapixels.What affects the quality of pictures then?The quality of the lens, the algorithms used to make the photo from raw data composed by the sensor and the focusing mechanism are some of the other factors that affect the final result.It should also be well thought-out, how large is the sensor in the camera....

Image parameters in digital photography (04/07/2012)
... You could also reduce the saturation and increase contrast to give a grunge feel to the picture image. This is useful for portraits or the pictures of pets. You can also use some filters along with digital camera lenses. These increase the saturation of a particular color. For SLR and dSLR camera, offered filters are green, red and blue....

Role Models (03/07/2012)
... Having the words in front of you may help you to identify just what the actor is adding to the scene. That could be the emphases, tone and pacing of their verbal delivery. It could be the way they marry gesture and movement to the spoken word or the way they use the performance space. If you can get a sense of how different actors amplify and add texture to the roles they play you can use that insight to analyse and enhance your own technique. Of course you can't see an actor's approach to the role and the way he or she prepares....

How Not To Be a One Trick Pony (03/07/2012)
... If you've specialised in something and have only a couple of acting outings to boast of, and perhaps long gaps between jobs, your CV can look unimpressive. It might even look as if you lack commitment. It's a gamble and it's down to you. There are no rules for sure-fire success. But there is another reason to aim for a spread of acting experience....

Tips For Actors: Understanding the Industry (03/07/2012)
... You'll probably get some hands-on experience of the terrain of the theatre even if you only have a part-time job manning the box office, for example. Members of all professions indulge in 'shop talk'. If people are talking about something, maybe you need to know about it. You never know when snippets of information about the workings of the industry will come in handy. From casual conversations you can pick up tips to help avoid the pitfalls as well as identify the opportunities for you as an actor....

Are You a Team Player (03/07/2012)
... Most of us think of ourselves as team players, even when we're not. Team players are able to put their own interests second to those of the group in order to achieve a common goal. Being late for rehearsals is the sign of a poor team player. So is not learning your lines properly, because that affects the whole cast. In fact, if any of your actions have a negative impact on the team effort, then you're falling short as a team player....

PICTURE CONTEST (03/05/2012)
... Expenses Most of the time to participate in a picture contest, there is an entry fee and the only equipment you need is a camera even an ordinary old one will do the job. But to organize this contest there are certain expenses linked with it like placing adverts in newspapers and other communications media so that many people can participate. And there are prizes which are offered to reward the participants. Benefits At the same time a picture contest can generate good income for those organizing. It will obtain free publicity from the media, sponsorship fees, copyrights on the pictures entering the contest and other such money related matters....

Interpreting Roles (03/04/2012)
... Your first step is to have a thorough understanding of the play or film. Then you can figure out how best to use your voice and body to give your character a physical presence, personality and inner life. The best actors find ways to bring out new dimensions of a character or to breathe new life into a familiar one. You may have a gut feeling about how to proceed but it takes effort too. It's an exercise in imagination and lateral thinking - plus good judgement and taking feedback on board....

Corpsing: What You Probably Will not Learn in Your Acting Courses (03/04/2012)
... The audience is jolted out of the world of drama, reminded only too forcefully that these are actors behaving badly - even if they truly can't help themselves. What makes an actor corpse? Psychologically, it seems to be related to anxiety. Freud argued that laughter provides a release of psychic tension. Support for this comes from the fact that the altar is a popular place for brides and grooms to start giggling uncontrollably. Or consider the much-viewed YouTube clip of MP Keith Hill in the House of Commons: every time he encounters the challenging tongue twister 'short sea shipping' in his speech he cracks up....

Empathy and Why Actors Need Some (03/04/2012)
... You won't have empathy instruction in your acting courses, but it is still relevant to you as an actor, in two principal areas. First, it helps you to understand the characters you are called upon to play: their dilemmas, emotions, personality and motivation. Second, it is relevant to how you, as an actor, relate to your audience. Being an actor is about creating dramatic personae that are not like you. But research shows that it's easier to empathise with people who are like us....

Choosing the Right Photographer for Your Youth Sports Picture Day :: Part I (02/26/2012)
... Many traditional photographers have the mindset that they are in an elite club of artists (they very well may be) and all new comers must bow down to them. The problem with that mindset is those days have changed with digital technology. With the new DSLR cameras, almost anyone can take a "decent" photograph. However, this has caused an influx of what I call "new school" photographers. I really should be calling them "no school" photographers, because they have convinced themselves that technology will take care of everything and they do not need to take the time to learn....

Choosing the Right Photographer for Your Youth Sports Picture Day :: Part II :: Innovation (02/26/2012)
... With youth sports picture days you are not just dealing with a few orders, rather, you are dealing with hundreds or even thousands of orders from a single shoot. A sure sign you are dealing with a one person operation is a limited number of products. The best youth sports photographers will have a large product selection available for parents to buy. Parents get bored with just another picture day. Look for someone with a variety of innovative products from which to choose and you will see parents get excited about picture day again....

CONTEST PHOTO (02/26/2012)
... One of the main benefits will be the copyright on the participants' photos which are very valuable because they can be used for photo exhibition or even sold to photography lovers. More-over, the entry fee paid by the candidates is another source of revenue. Cost To participate in a contest photo, one needs to have some good equipment like camera bodies, lenses and photographic films. Otherwise, one can invest in a good digital camera which is less expensive compared to a traditional one. The organizers also have many expenses to do in terms of finding money for all the different prizes they offer so as to attract as many participants possible....

Why Including Pictures in League Registration Fees is bad for Your League (02/24/2012)
... However, he certainly didn't realize what would happen over time with this option. As in any competitive business, a price war began. Youth sports photographers all started to beat the other photographer's prices and many of the high-quality photographers were driven out of business. This drastically reduced the quality of photography in California as companies popped up all over the place that were focused completely on price and quality was not an issue. Southern California has more youth sports leagues than anywhere else in the country....

How to avoid wearing parents out with school fundraisers (02/24/2012)
... Talk to your school photographer to see if they will donate a percentage of their sales back to support the school. Many school photographers will offer other unique fundraising ideas that will not compete with school fundraisers you are doing. Don't do too many fundraisers. Many schools do not even keep track of the fundraisers that are going on. There could be a school wide fundraiser and multiple class fundraisers going on at the same time....

Digital Picture Frames :: Look at a Thousand Pictures and Hear a Million Words (02/24/2012)
... A beautifully crafted photo frame has the power to adorn a wall where it is hanged or the place where it is kept. It can be a treat for the eyes of the beholder. The materials that make up for stunning picture frames are as diverse as anything. Think of it, just as a picture can be breathtaking, the frame can also be like that and pry away our attention. With everything going digitalized, how could picture frames be left out? Picture frames also made their way to digitalization and as a result, you can now look at a single digital frame with hundreds of photos scrolling over as if in a way to let you muse over your memories in retrospect....

Basic Photography Tutorial Part I (02/23/2012)
... Exposure: Here is a bit of science. Exposure is when you expose the sensor of your camera to light which is what allows the image to be recorded. Composure: This is the overall look of your photograph. Have you filled the frame? More on this later. This is the artistic side of what your image will look like....