Basic Video Editing - Uploading Video Footage Into Your Home Computer

What is video editing? Video Editing is the process of taking your home video, webcam video or a video from YouTube or the web, putting it into your home computer and making it shorter or longer, adding music or adding graphics or extra video. Unfortunately, if your computer is fairly old, it probably won't be able to handle video. Video clips take up a huge amount of space. But if you have a relatively new computer with plenty of hard drive space, your computer should handle video just fine.

First you have to upload your video clips into your computer. If you have a firewire port on your computer you can hook your camcorder to your computer with a firewire cable. Most camcorders - Hi8, digital 8, mini DV or Disk cameras have a firewire or a DV (digital Video) port somewhere on the outside of the case. Open all the compartments on your camcorder to find it, as there are a lot of different connector possibilities. If your camcorder didn't come with an A/V cable with a USB on the other end, you will have to buy a firewire cable. Most camcorder manufacturers don't include a firewire cable when you buy the camera.

What if your camcorder is an older model and only has the typical red/white/yellow A/V cable? Then you will need a video converter, like the Dazzle DVD Recorder, made by Pinnacle. This converter has a USB connector on one end and a video and audio receptacle for you to plug in you're A/V cable from your camcorder. The video converter converts your video clips into an AVI (audio video information) and that's what you will use for your editing.

You can upload your video clips or your webcam video onto your hard drive OR upload them directly into your video editing software. If you are brand new to video editing, I highly recommend Windows Movie Maker and if you are ready to edit your footage you might as well upload it right to that program. There are also many very reasonably priced video editing programs available: Adobe Premiere Elements, Pinnacle Studio, Sony Vegas, and Muvee just to name a few. But for the beginner, there's nothing better than Windows Movie Maker, and you should try that program first to make sure you like video editing.

If you can't find Movie Maker in your computer, search for it by hitting the start button and then search. I would suggest leaving off the word Windows from your search so it doesn't bring up all the rest of the Windows related files. If you can't find it do a Google search for Windows Movie Maker and download the latest version because it's free!

Once you have opened the Windows Movie Maker program, go to File, and then select Capture Video. When you plugged in the Dazzle converter you should also have used the Dazzle Software CD that activated it. If not, you can go to the Pinnacle site and download the appropriate software for your version of the converter. So when you select file capture you should see the Dazzle box as a capture device option.

You will also need to test the audio coming from the Dazzle box. There is an audio meter that measures the audio level of your video so record just a few seconds before you do a lot of capturing just to make sure you are getting audio. You can also see that the Dazzle device has an S Video and composite selection. S Video is a little better quality than composite so if you happen to have an SVideo cable connection available out of your camcorder or VHS machine, you should use it.

There will be several screens in the Capture Video process that ask you what you want to label your clip and where you want to file it. Be specific because once you start uploading you'll probably put a lot of video onto your hard drive, and being specific will help you find it in search later on. The My videos folder works fine as a filing spot, but as you have more projects you may want to begin to create specific files for each project.

The last screen in the video capture process asks you what format you want to use to capture your video. There are a lot of choices but the two most important are DV AVI and WMV. The default is WMV and it is labeled, "Best quality for playback on my computer" because it saves space, but it isn't the best quality. It's the WMV file format and although it doesn't take up as much hard drive space it's just not the quality you want if you are going to go to all the trouble to edit this video. You will have to judge whether you have enough hard drive space to be able to handle the best quality video, but in the long run you will be happier with your final product. So choose the DV AVI option if it's available. Then hit Start Capture and begin to upload your video clips into your computer.

When you have uploaded all your video, click stop capture and Windows Movie Maker will load the clip into collections. Play it back to make sure you are seeing and hearing what you meant to upload. Now drag the video clip down to the timeline and you are ready to get started editing. There are many free Windows Movie Maker tutorials on the web, and one of the best is on the Microsoft website.

One more thing about video clips on your hard drive. They are very easy to lose! Here is the easiest way to find your video clips. Double click My Computer on your desktop. Then go to My Documents and find My Videos. Double click My Videos, go up to the top menu bar and click Views. Select details and click Date Modified twice. That will show you the last video clips you saved on your hard drive. I hope this helped you learn how to start the video editing process by uploading video clips into your computer. Yes, it's a little technical but stick with it because once you edit a video and amaze your friends and family, it will all have been worth it!

Nancy Sutton Smith is a 6x regional emmy winner, broadcast professional, high school, college and adult educator, webmaster and owner of Sutton Bay Media Company, a video production facility creating marketing and fundraising videos. For tutorials, help and advice about video editing, software and making home movies go to http://www.edithomevideo.com

The Must-Know Basics of Digital Camera Repairing

Possessing a high-end and sophisticated gadget like digital camera can be a pride in itself, but repairing it can be daunting. A digital camera is a 100% electronic device with many delicate circuits inside it. Adequate knowledge about the delicate device is essential for the technician for repairing who must handle the device with extra care. It needs specialized testing equipments to diagnosis the very problem. That is, perhaps, the reason why repairing digital camera is expensive.

There are some minor defects in your digital camera that you can fix yourself. Of course, that depends on the type or the model of camera that you are using. Here, another noteworthy thing is you should have precise idea about what exactly is wrong with it.

Things You Can Fix Yourself:

The common problem that can be detected and fixed without much hassle is the digital camera lens. Most of the time it is due to careless handling or improper setting that the lens ceases to function leaving you baffled over the matter. Most of the time, it is due to the improper alignment of the lens. You will encounter system error messages on the LCD. In such circumstances the camera is not able to focus and the result is worse pictures. You can simply realign the lens or reset the zoom barrel guide pins and you will find your digital camera working as usual.

There are some other minor and common problems such as broken battery cover, broken hinges on memory card doors, cracked LCDs, etc. But if you are not sure about the problem, it is wise not to handle it. Rather you can take your digital camera to an authorized repairing center.

However, before visiting any repairing center or technician you must take check certain common things. There may be some minor problems that you can identify yourself such as:

1 - Sometimes, it is very likely that you might have hit the wrong button or have changed the menu for which the device does not work properly.

2 - If the battery of your digital camera is running out of power, it is most likely that the digital cameras will not work. Ensure if thing improves when a fully charged cell is inserted into the digital camera.

3 - Sometimes, it is necessary to reset the camera through the menu or by removing the battery for 24 hours.

4 - The camera may not turn on if the memory card is full.

These common problems can not be really considered as a serious problem for the digital camera. But a novice user of the gadget may find it difficult them troubleshoot.

Selecting Repairing Service Station:

If the small efforts are not enough to fix your camera, visit an authorized service station in stead of asking any ordinary technician. The technician in the service station should have experience of fixing several brands and models of digital camera.

Moreover, both the user and the technician should have the ability to distinguish between marginal repair and quality repair. A little bit of confusion in this regard may cause damage to your precious digital camera.

Each model of digital cameras requires special tools to fix the errors and reliable service centers have these specialized tools and skilled technicians to properly service and safeguard the digital camera. Efficient diagnosis and repairing of digital camera depends largely upon specialized tests, appropriate equipments and expert technician.

The high-end and sophisticated device like digital camera requires a lot of concern and careful handling which is of paramount importance for longevity of the digital camera. However, the repair process of digital camera also needs the same amount of care and attention. You need to have adequate knowledge of handling digital camera to avoid any kind of trouble.

If possible gather information from the Internet about handling and repairing. A digital camera is a valuable possession and worth caring.

Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil

Setting Up a Surveillance Camera For the Technically Challenged

With crime on the rise and troublesome people a part of life, it pays to have home surveillance at times. If you suspect that you are being cheated on by a spouse, stalked, harassed or worry about babysitters with your children, here are some tips on setting up a simple mini spy camera to give you a little peace of mind. It's not being paranoid but taking care of yourself when you feel uneasy about a security related situation. Only set up cameras where it is legal to do so check your local law enforcement if you have any questions about legalities. It's always a good idea to make a quick call to the police and ask what the law in your area permits. My suggestions are for law abiding purposes only.

There are many types of surveillance cameras on the market, from the cheap to the incredibly expensive. The more money it costs, the more features and options you'll have to work with, but for basic purposes, a simple pinhole or mini spy security camera with wireless receiver and an AC adapter should do a pretty good job. Sure, you can buy a teddy bear, clock radio or tissue holder with a camera tucked discreetly inside of it (for a few hundred bucks), but buying a mini spy camera alone is drastically much less expensive and you can disguise it any way you want.

In my situation, my home is wired against intrusion due to an overzealous person in my midst who has been looking into my windows and invading my privacy in multiple ways. To remedy this situation, I first contacted law enforcement and got their opinions, who told me that it was ok to set up a camera if I wanted to. So, never having done this before, I jumped on eBay and educated myself about surveillance systems. Being on a budget, it was important that this equipment was quality but not pricey. I found and bought a new wireless camera kit for around $40.

The discreet box was mailed to me, and it contained a receiver, two AC adapters, a cable and the tiny little camera. Assembling it all meant plugging everything together, an adapter into the camera and separately, another adapter into the receiver. Then, each adapter was plugged into the wall. It was as simple as that. The kit came with a battery hookup if I wanted a totally wireless camera, but in this case it isn't necessary, the adapters were better for me. The tricky part for me was figuring out how to make the camera and receiver communicate with my television but in the end it wasn't as intimidating as I first thought.

The receiver on my surveillance receiver has color coded video input plugs, one yellow and one white. I plugged the cable into those then hooked the other end of it to the TV, which has corresponding plugs of the same colors. Then, there's a knob on the side of the receiver to adjust the picture. "What picture?", you may ask. All you see is tv programs.

The trick to it is to set the TV through the "Video Source" button on your cable remote, which may go by other names on other peoples' systems. This button controls your TV to switch over to VCR, DVD or others on channels (not the ones used to go to your programs but frequency channels). My camera is on video (or frequency) 3. My DVD player is on video (or frequency) 2. Just hit the "Video source" button a few times to get to the right channel. You'll know you have the right one when you can see the (plugged in) camera picture (make sure the camera is connected and on) or a blank screen (this means you need to adjust the frequency of the receiver to see a picture). Then, adjust the knob on the pinhole camera receiver until you see a focused picture, and voila, there's the closed circuit live picture you've been waiting to see.

The next trick is to angle the camera in a way so it is not seen, but is monitoring the area clearly with no interference of any kind. This is best done with a friend; otherwise you have to run back and forth to see if the picture is what you want, on the TV screen. To secure the little camera into place, I used heavy duty, double sided tape. I stuck a blank tape into my VCR (yes, VCRs still have a purpose in this high tech world) and now I can record what the camera sees anytime I want by hitting "record" on the VCR or my tv remote control. That's it; my space is now being watched by a closed circuit camera, in color, with sound for only a fraction of what it would cost to buy a camera in a clock radio.

Using surveillance equipment isn't for everyone but is a good idea for anyone who is being victimized, picked on, or stolen from. Don't let the offenders get away with their bad behavior. If you plan to take a case to court, there is nothing better than to be able to visually show proof of your allegations against another person, otherwise it's a "he said/she said" deal. Security doesn't have to be expensive. Just take installing slow and easy, doing one step at a time. Think of it as a puzzle to figure out. Once it's done, there's a sense of mastery for those of us who aren't technically inclined. Now, I think I'll go tackle re-wiring my rented condo (just kidding), the world is my oyster. And, my place is secure.

Carolyn McFann is a scientific and nature illustrator, who owns Two Purring Cats Design Studio Clothing & Gifts, a store for pet, wildlife and garden lovers, which can be seen at: http://www.zazzle.com/twopurringcats Educated at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, Carolyn is a seasoned, well-traveled artist, writer and photographer. Clients include nature parks, museums, scientists, corporations and private owners. She has been the subject of tv interviews, articles for newspapers and other popular media venues.

How To Teach Fitness Classes In Schools

The government has issued new PE objectives to schools indicating that they must increase their structured PE during school time to every child by 2010. They also have to provide an additional 2 hours of out of school PE by 2014. By using real life case studies from successful instructors who are leading the field in developing regular ETM classes and strategies for schools this article explains how to present yourself as an expert, understanding all school ‘s love for acronyms and coding systems and pinpoint who to approach within schools .

Diversification has to be the buzz word in the fitness industry right now. There are so many avenues for the discerning fitness professional to go down within group fitness. These niche markets are in desperate need of the qualified Group Fitness Instructors skills, expertise and knowledge. No longer is teaching in a health club or sports centre the only option. Classes in the community, GP referrals, corporate venues, children, teens and the plus sized market are all MASSIVE opportunities and are relatively untapped areas. We need to start making significant steps towards finding solutions and creating specific programmes for these target groups.

Teaching fitness to children is not the same as teaching to adults so you will need to do a specialist teaching qualification (see the end of this article for course information) as an add onto your existing qualification. Remember you will not be insured to teach under 16’s unless you have a separate specialist qualification. You will also be required to be CRB checked but I am sure your school will be able to help you with this.

But how do you approach schools? who do you approach in schools? and how does it all work?

Liz Hindley owns a highly successful business in Preston, Lancashire called Physikidz (www.physikidz.com) After completing the CAFitness qualification Liz ( who is a mum of 3) began approaching schools with her unique ideas for getting children into exercise. “Leaping Liz” as Liz is known by the children , has developed C.A.T.S (Classroom Aerobics Training System). She identified that children at key stage level 1 and 2 would benefit from doing short simple exercise sessions every day. These sessions are taught in the classroom, without the need to get changed. Leaping Liz visits the participating schools periodically but in the meantime has designed and created all her C.A.T.S routines on a DVD which the teachers play every day for the children.

“The programme I run is operating in Preston (the UKs newest city!) and surrounding areas. I have run INSET days for teachers in Liverpool and Chorley, and spoke about my programme at a conference for SScos at the JJB Stadium in Wigan, which covered the whole of the Northwest. On the back of that and the website, I have sold C.A.T.S (Classroom-based Aerobic Training System) Dvds to schools all around the country.”

Liz is a fully qualified group fitness teacher and I asked her what motivated her to make the push into schools:

“A family friend, a local PDM, was concerned that schools in his partnership were falling short of the 2 hours structured PE that is a Government requirement for 2010, particularly at Key Stage 1. I offered to work with a school in his area to see whether there was a solution to the problem. My simple, short routines were such a hit, that other schools in the area asked me to visit. My alter ego “Leaping Liz” quickly became a local celebrity among teachers and the requests for school visits came flooding in. More than that, I found that I really enjoyed working with these little bundles of energy. I feel that I am really making a difference to the fitness levels of children in our area. They all feel inspired to tell me about their activities – swimming, judo, gymnastics, ballet – between my visits. I am also helping teachers to achieve a simple solution to the problem of fitting more PE into an already packed curriculum. No two schools are the same; no two children are the same. It is challenging, but enormous fun “ Says Liz
But how do you break into the schools system?

Liz offered to run half-hour aerobics sessions to three key stage one classes over six weeks at no cost to the school. Since going into that school, they have asked her back to work with key stage two, to work for a whole day during Health Week, to run after school sessions for the staff, to do a step taster session with Year 6 and to do a sponsored aerobics charity event. They also passed Liz’s contact details onto the primary school across the road, who booked her for six weeks, and so it continued.

Decide which age group you want to aim at to begin with. Better to approach a school and offer to teach Junior Yoga for 3 weeks in half hour sessions to Key Stage one, than to try to offer all your skills to the whole school. It makes you look more professional, and once you are in the school, they inevitably want you to try different things with different groups. Getting your foot in the door is the number one aim.

Getting into schools can be quite challenging. It is not a question of just writing to the head of PE or Head Teacher you need to understand how the school framework operates when using outside Instructors.

Caroline Oliver is a fully qualified PE teacher and is Exercise to Music /Fitness Pilates trained. She runs a website called http://www.kidzactive.co.uk. Caroline is also a School Sports Coordinator who along with the schools Professional Development Manager are the key people you need to contact if you are looking for work within schools. But what is a SSCO and a PDM. Caroline explains who they are and how these people can help you in your quest to teach in the school system.

PDM – Partnership Development Manager – your most important contact. The PDM looks after a cluster of secondary schools and primary schools in the area. They are based usually within one of the secondary schools, this role is to co-ordinate all the partnership schools and get the structured PE time up to 2 hours in every school, which is a Government target for 2010. They have a pot of centralized money which is designated for PE.

You can find your local PDMs contact by doing a search on GOOGLE. Your local authority will have these details on a website or contact Youth Sport Trust in your region
SSCo – School Sports Co-ordinator. This is a role in Secondary School, and is where a PE teacher looks after 6 or so primary feeder schools. The SSco also has access to additional PE designated funds. Contact your local secondary schools to get the contact details of the SSco.

“Teachers are buried under mountains of paperwork and are very busy so an email to the SSCO and the PDM would be your first port of call. Introduce yourself and explain what you can offer the school, your qualifications and availability. Offer to pop in for a chat and discuss your ideas”

I emailed all the PDMs in my area offering my Street Dance Programme and Fitness Pilates for teenage girls. It took a few weeks for the PDMs to get back to me so by this time I contacted the SSCos in each school via email. I also let all my local community classes members know that I was aiming to offer classes in school, as many of my regular’s have children in schools are class room assistants and many pupils attend my evening classes so they helped to spread the word. I now teach Street Dance in 3 schools during PE Lessons and run 2 afterschool clubs. Once you get into one school word spreads like wildfire! My phone now rings constantly with other schools wanting to offer the sessions.
Donna Podesta of White Feathers Fitness has also been making headway within teaching in schools.

“I am in my 3rd year of running the Dance Club at my local High School and last year decided to take my video camera into the class to film the dance we had been working on. I then made this into a DVD (inspiration from [http://www.choreographytogo.com!]) and passed it on to the SSco at the school. I only really did this to show them how well the students were doing and the progress they had made with dance. Lucky for me he passed this on to the PDM for my area and I now have a contract, funded by the lottery to deliver a KS1 Dance Development Programme to 31 Primary Schools in my area. I have 2 girls working for my company now 'White Feather Fitness & Inch Loss' as I can't deliver all the dance classes myself, we have just finished our first week and the children were so enthusiastic and excited they have been a pleasure to teach. Dance is such a fun way for children to become more active and improve balance, co-ordination and build confidence. Hopefully this positive introduction to exercise for these little ones will encourage them to continue to be active in later years” says Donna Podesta (www.whitefeatherfitness.co.uk)
By providing children and teens with safe, effective and FUN ETM classes we can encourage a lifelong habit of exercise and show the next generation the joys of exercising together in a group with friends to music. By forging partnerships with schools and the local community we can make a difference to the health of children and also provide ourselves with a rewarding way to take our services forward in new directions.

Rachel Holmes is the an international presenter and owner of http://www.Choreographytogo.com . An instructor focused website containing choreography downloads, business ideas, PR, Marketing, a FREE weekly ezine and Instructor forum. For more ideas on teaching children please go to http://www.choreographytogo.com Rachel teaches Street Dance & Fitness Pilates in Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire secondary schools to years 10 and 11.

How Safe is Your Home?

When I think about my home security, my theory is "my home is my castle" I want my home to be like a castle in that castles were constructed to keep enemies out and that's what home security is all about. We want to take measures that will keep criminals from entering our house and stealing our property or harming our family. Today, we have amazing technology that enables us to protect our homes and families like never before.

The first step is for you to conduct a home security survey of your home. Some Police Departments will send out a specially trained Police Officer to conduct a home security evaluation of your home. Call your local Police Dept and see if they offer this service. If not, you will have to do the evaluation yourself and it is easily accomplished.

Take a look at your house from the street in front of your home and see if there are any bushes or trees that would afford a criminal a good hiding spot at night. A bedroom window what is concealed behind an overgrown bush or hedge would be a great place for a burglar to break into your home. Criminals actively wander around neighborhoods looking for homes that are easy targets. Cut down or trim back any bushes, trees, or hedges that are overgrown near doors and windows.

Next you will want to check the exterior lighting around your house. A burglar who operates at night will not want to try and break into your house if every side of your home is illuminated with security lights. You can use motion activated lights or security flood lights that come at dark. I also like to use landscape lighting around the front and rear of my house because it is an attractive way to add extra lighting to your property. Make sure you have some type of lighting on all 4 side of your property.

I truly believe that security video cameras are an awesome crime prevention tool for the average home owner. Security camera systems are inexpensive and can be installed by the home owner very easily. I would place a camera near my front door, garage, rear door and sides of my home. The camera on the front door is ideal because you can use your tv or computer as the security monitor and you can see who is knocking on your door before you open it. There are companies out there that will host your security video feed on the internet so you can check on your home while you are at work or on vacation.

Next you will want to check your exterior doors and replace those that are old and weak. I spent 7 years on a tactical team and often we had to break down doors when executing search warrants and the newer designed doors are hard to break down. A heavy-duty dead bolt is a must and it's not a bad idea to have 2 deadbolts on your doors. Imagine a criminal creeping up to your door with the intent of breaking down the door and he sees that your door is heavy and has 1-2 serious deadbolt locks. That criminal will quickly move onto another house that offers him easier access.

I don't mean to insult your intelligence but lock your doors when you are home and when you are not at home. You would not believe the high number of homes that are broken into during the day and night because of an unlocked door. Many rapes are also committed when the rapist finds a door unlocked. There was a well known rape/murder case in California where the rapist/murderer would follow his female victims home from a local gym and he would enter their homes through unlocked doors. This rapist/murderer killed several women before he was caught and he confessed that he would walk right into the women's homes after he followed them from the gym. Remeber, your home is your castle and you keep your castle fortified by locking your doors.

While we are on the subject of doors I want to hit on the subject of people knocking on your front door when you are home. When you hear a knock on the front door or the door bell is ringing, do you open the door without looking though the peephole? Never open your door without looking through the peephole or window to ascertain who is outside your door. Many home invasion robberies and rapes are committed by criminals who simply knock on a front door and wait for the home owner to open. Look out your peephole and if you don't recognize the person, don't open the door. Doors with very small windows are great because you can crack the window and speak with the person knocking without having to open the door. When I am home and I hear someone knocking on my door I look through the peephole and if I don't recognize the person I watch the person until he/she walks away. I have recently attached a "No Soliciting" sign to my front door and it has cut down on solicitors.

I have a home security alarm system and I you do as well. My home security alarm gives me peace of mind when I am asleep at night and when I am away from my home. I have every window and door alarmed and I do have motion sensors that I disengage due to my frisky cats. My system is newer and I was pleased to learn that it has a cellular phone setup that keeps it working in the event a criminal thinks hs is slick and cuts the phone line. My system also has a battery backup in the event I lose power. I live in Florida where we have hurricanes and fierce storms and I lose power to my home several times a year. The battery backup is important because there are criminals who target areas where there has been a power outage.

Windows are important for obvious reasons. Criminals love to enter a home by simply opening an unlocked window or break the glass of a locked window. If you have an alarm system your windows should be alarmed so that your audible alarm will sound if someone breaks the window glass. Don't sleep with your windows open and don't ever leave your windows unlocked. If you start researching creep in rape cases you will find that many of these criminals found an unlocked window that allowed them to creep inside the victim's home. You have probably read about some high profile child abductions/murders where the suspect entered the house through an unlocked bedroom window. stay safe at night and keep your windows locked and shut.

Dogs make great home security devices but don't get one unless you are prepared to care for the animal as a member of your family. Over the past 19+ years I have been to countless homes where I have found dogs tied up to fences or trees with no food and water. I work closely with Animal Services and we seize dogs that we find in these conditions. I do not have a dog because I know that I do not have the time to properly care for one. If I was to consider adding a dog to my family I would consider a wide variety of small dogs because of their barking abilities. I would want a small dog inside my home while I was away so that he/she would bark if he/she heard someone trying to get into my home. My neighbor has 4 small dogs that are no bigger than a rabbit but they bark and seem to go crazy the minute they hear me making the slightest noise in my backyard. If I was to choose a large dog I would go with a German Shepard because they can be trained so easily and they are loyal.

You must constantly evaluate your home security for weaknesses that could enable a criminal to get into your home. Home break-ins are extremely popular with criminals and home invasion robberies are on the rise. Spare no expense when upgrading the security of your home because you cannot put price tag on the safety of your family.

Author is a current Police Officer with 19 years of experience & webmaster [http://www.personalsafetyheadquarters.com] a blog with articles and information on how to keep you and your family safe.

Digital Photography Secrets - The Direction of Light

One of the main digital photography secrets that elude most photographers is the direction of light. Where is the light coming from and how will it affect my subject? This is a question that most photographers never even consider.

The direction of light:

When you look at your subject through the viewfinder or in live view on the camera's LCD, identify where the light is coming from. Is it coming from the side? Above? Below? Or even behind? To truly begin to master seeing light, you must first begin with a basic. Try this exercise:

Look for a room in your home that has a window where direct light is not streaming through the window. This is called ambient light. It is diffused and soft, but it always has a direction. It is almost always the photographer's friend.

Get to know it.

Place something on a chair or table by the window. Maybe a small vase or statue. Stand with the window on your left or right side and with the object (let's say the vase) directly in front of you. The light will be coming from the side.

Notice how it wraps around the vase creating a modeling effect. This is normally beautiful light and places nice shadows on subjects. Especially when the light is diffused and not direct. Again, this is called ambient light or open shade might be an easier term to get our minds around.

Now let's walk around the vase until we are in between the window and the vase. The window is at your back and the vase is in front of you. This is front lighting (don't let your shadow fall onto the vase or you will be a science project, how an eclipse is formed). There shouldn't be many shadows on your vase and if this were a person there wouldn't be any shadows either. This is a flattering lighting setup for people who don't want their wrinkles to be accentuated.

Again, using this type of lighting, open shade or ambient light, combined with front lighting is a very nice combination to photograph people.

Let us move again so that the vase is in between the window and us.

This is classic back lighting and produces silhouettes.

Most beginning and some seasoned veterans are fooled by this type of lighting since when you look at it, your eyes compensate for the lack of light on your subject and don't really see the bright background. Your camera unfortunately doesn't realize that your subject doesn't want to be in the witness protection program and exposes for the background (or the lightest area in the viewfinder) because that is how they are programmed.

How do we fix this?

In a DSLR we switch to manual and overexpose by a stop or two. Or set our camera to overexpose in the automatic mode. In a point-and-shoot camera, it's a little tougher but it can be done.

You just have to be smarter that your camera!

Point your camera at your subject and depress the shutter halfway, now hold it there. On the newer models, the camera will do the work for you realizing that your point of focus is the main subject and it will overexpose like its big brother the DSLR. Sometimes you may have to go into your menu and request an overexposure.

Either way you subject will receive more light and be clearly exposed. One more trick is to turn on your built in flash and hit your subject with a little electronic fill light and voila, correctly exposed subjects!

Continue to practice seeing the directionality of light and identifying it many different settings. Become a master of seeing the light and your photography will soar to the next level. Digital photography secrets can unlock your potential and help you become a better photographer.

Michael Kitada is a professional photographer with more than 20 years experience. His work has appeared in People Magazine, Forbes, TV Guide and the cover of Newsweek magazine. To learn more digital photography secrets visit: http://www.takebetterphotosnow.com/

The Secrets of Making Video Editing Professional

A professional video editing is a subject which needs a lot of practice on behalf of a photographer. It is difficult to define the term 'professional video editing' as it can be understood when you notice a lack of it in a video. Once mastered the art, you will find the editing of a film easy, interesting, creative and innovative.

A person can add a slew of visual effects and transitions in many ways to portray the impression of a script-writer or story teller vividly and effectively. There are many types of video editing software available that help a user to jazz up films, documentaries or video presentations and projects. These tools provide an array of different set of features to the user. All these features make your films appear noteworthy and remarkable. You can apply multitude of effects in the film and leave a desirable impression on the minds of the viewers.

Choose an easy to use and state-of-art editing tool to apply desirable visual effects and transitions. You can give an 'Old Movie' effect to the film that adds shake, noise and dust to the video. This can be applied to portray the nostalgic state of mind of the characters. The 'Black and White' effect is the one that can add nostalgia or drama to the movie. You can blend two video clips together when you combine two scenes together in a film. This leaves a sense of synchronization in the film. Many news channels also use 'Split Screen' where they place news anchor on one side and the reporter on the other side. This enables you to show two scenes together at the same time. You can add fast motion effect in a scene to give a sense of passing away of time speedily. Slow motion effect is for giving a dramatic touch to the movie. Transform your world of fantasy into the world of reality by applying green screen technology. A person can place the subject against green or blue background and digitally replace the background screen by any other desirable image. You can clone a subject, make him fly high in the sky make the fingertips burst into flames. All these effects render a sense of professionalism to your movies.

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Can Your Digital Video Camera Lens Rival Hollywood?

Rarely is the perfect art created on the first try. Before they can be considered a masterpiece works of art often go through many changes. The same holds true for a recorded sound. A sound engineer can modify it until it is the perfect sound for the song, movie or special effect. The same holds true for the images you capture through your digital video camera lens. With a little editing the standard wedding or birthday video can look like it was filmed through the digital video camera lens of a skilled professional.

Despite claims made in advertisements, articles and commercials you cannot simply pick up a digital camera and capture a Hollywood ready materpiece through your digital video camera lens. Specialized tools and software actually help create todays high quality films. This software ranges from basic to extremely complex.

However before jumping into video editing the consumer should be aware of what is needed to capture high quality video through you video camera lens. Besides the basic computer editing software a digital video camera with a clean digital video camera lens. The vast majority of digital camcorders sold today are the MiniDV variety, DV stands for Digital Video. Almost all of these unit offer a fire-wire port on the side of the camera. If you intend to edit your video it must have a fire-wire pot i the camera. This will allow you to transfer your video to your PC. From there you can allow your editing software to work its magic.

Even with editing software the odds of the average person filming a Hollywood hit through their digital video camera lens is quite slim, however the possibilities are endless with todays high quality cameras and video editing software.

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