Fashion-Amarachi Igidimbah

                     

Amarachi Igidimbah

   Graces the cover page of the exclusive magazine 'EBOSS' which also has an online TV.

CoolMoney

The Latest Artist in the Town Ismaila Wakilu  popularly known as  CoolMoney was interview today and told Press 

that everybody should ANTICIPATE on his new hit track that is coming soon Titled SHAYAMILO.

Queen Esther Azubuike

Queen Esther Azubuike

Queen Esther Azubuike is one of the nollywood writer and entertainer

Queen Esther is a native of Abia State, Nigeria. born in lagos and raised in a family with love for entertainment. Growing into entertainment is way different from being born into it...you live it, think it, long for it, dream it and it affects every area of your life and no matter what you do, it is and would always be a part of you (From the music 

to dance, acting etc.)

 Writing  has been her hobby, a passion and a lifestyle. The reality

DAN IYKE

DAN IKECHUKWU

It is only in this part of the world that anyone can just wake up and desire to become a super star(actor/actress) without any proper knowledge of acting , no wonder the very annoying producers and directors , who do not know their left to the right in production , will desire to sleep with u before u get to star in their movie, now the big question is. Does the role worth your body ...No! If u are good in what u do ,your product will sale....film makers have succeeded in destroying our young adults instead of building their dreams ....Wake up call: look for a theater group that can train u. Do not be in a rush. Never give your body for roles ( Do u know

Queen Esther Azubuike

Queen Esther Azubuike

Queen Esther Azubuike is one of the nollywood writer and entertainer

Queen Esther is a native of Abia State, Nigeria. born in lagos and raised in a family with love for entertainment. Growing into entertainment is way different from being born into it...you live it, think it, long for it, dream it and it affects every area of your life and no matter what you do, it is and would always be a part of you (From the music 

to dance, acting etc.)

 Writing  has been her hobby, a passion and a lifestyle. The reality

Queen Esther Azubuike

Queen Esther Azubuike

Queen Esther Azubuike is one of the nollywood writer and entertainer

Queen Esther is a native of Abia State, Nigeria. born in lagos and raised in a family with love for entertainment. Growing into entertainment is way different from being born into it...you live it, think it, long for it, dream it and it affects every area of your life and no matter what you do, it is and would always be a part of you (From the music 

to dance, acting etc.)

 Writing  has been her hobby, a passion and a lifestyle. The reality

of life can all be written down, each and every word with a depth. Your ability to relate experiences, events (war, crime, affection, drama, etc.), ideas, dreams to written words with perfection comes with great understanding.

 When she writes, she brings fiction to reality. As a writer she believes in listening, to

BEGINNER’S DILEMMA #1: CHOOSING FIRST CAMERA

If the photography bug has bitten you and you want to get a little more serious about it, here is the camera to start with!

THE ANSWER IS…

Getting straight to the point the answer of which camera you should buy as you begin your photography journey is frustrating – IT DEPENDS!

Seriously.  A recommendation on which specific camera a beginner should buy is 100% not the same for everyone.  There are as many reasons to recommend a specific camera as there are choices.  There are more than 85 different manufacturers of camera equipment throughout the world today, each accompanied by very technical specifications that may be difficult for a beginner to understand.  Digital over film is pretty well a given today, but sifting through DSLR, MFT, full frame, crop, megapixels, noise performance, EVF, OVF, ISO, and a host of other technical choices is far from easy.  So how do you pick what is right for you?  Read on for how you should decide which is right for you.

MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR

Familiarity!  Wait, we are talking about a beginner trying to make sense of which camera is best for them and the most important factor is familiarity?  Let me explain.  I was in this exact position in December of 2011.  I had enjoyed taking photos for a while using various point-and-shoot cameras, but had decided I was ready for my first big-boy camera so that I could finally capture my kids being awesome at everything without getting dark and blurry shots.  I didn’t actually know what I was doing and fell into a choice that turned out to be good for me, but my advice for you would be to figure out who around you may be able and willing to help you get started, and get something similar to what they have.  Something your mentor is familiar with.  It will be a lot easier to follow a mentor, and for them to answer your questions, if you have something from the same manufacturer.  As a beginner you have a lot of technical elements to learn about the exposure triangle (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) and numerous other shooting techniques, it will be easier for you to do so if you are using a camera body similar to what your trainer has.

DSLR VS. MFT/MIRRORLESS

When you set out to get a “real” camera you probably already thought it should be a DSLR.  Digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras have been around for many years.  The name comes from a little mirror inside the camera body that flips up and down as you take pictures are what a huge portion of professional photographers use.  What you may have been surprised to find as you start researching cameras is the surging popularity of the “mirrorless” or micro-four-thirds (MFT) cameras.  This wasn’t really a choice I had to make when I was looking in 2011, but MFT and other mirrorless cameras are serious cameras in packages that look and feel a lot like those point-and-shoot cameras you have probably owned.  An MFT or mirrorless camera could very well be a good option for your first camera, but again make sure you have a mentor that is familiar with them to help you get going.  There are some technical disadvantages (as well as some technical advantages) to MFT / mirrorless cameras that you would need to learn and understand, but more importantly there is not quite as much help (free or paid) out there for them as there is for DSLR – yet (stay tuned).

CROP VS. FULL-FRAME

If you think DSLR is for you then you have a secondary choice in a “crop” sensor or a “full-frame” sensor.  There are some serious technical details that we could go over here, but basically the crop sensor is smaller than the full-frame sensor, which means it gathers less light and less data as you click that shutter button.  There is a very large price difference between the two as crop sensors are usually put into camera bodies with cheaper components, while full-frame is usually in a body that is built to better withstand weather and dust.  Not only is a full-frame DSLR usually quite a bit more expensive than a crop sensor DSLR, but full-frame bodies cannot use lenses built for crop sensor bodies.  If you have a full-frame body you have to buy full-frame lenses, which are quite a bit more expensive (and higher quality) than lenses made for crop sensor bodies.  On the other hand, crop sensor bodies can use the lenses built for full-frame.

Given the description so far you may be thinking that if you can afford it full-frame should be the choice for you, and it may be.  However, even if your budget allows going with a full-frame DSLR for your first camera there may be a good reason to start with a crop sensor.  A crop sensor will be a little more forgiving in something called depth-of-field, meaning it is easier to make sure all or most of the photo is in sharp focus.  Really, the biggest thing to help drive your decision for your first camera here will be your budget.  If you have the budget for a full-frame body and a couple of full-frame lenses, then go for it.  If not, crop sensor bodies and lenses are still very capable of producing professional results, and a great way to learn on a smaller budget.

CANON VS. NIKON

OK.  It should be apparent that you really can’t make a “bad” choice when it comes to your fist camera.  MFT or DSLR, crop or full-frame, if you invest in anything beyond that $200 point-and-shoot you are going to have what you need to learn about the triangle exposure elements of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.  You can do great with other DSLR manufacturers, but I think right now the best way to get started into photography is with a body from Nikon or Canon.  There is more help available and there are more lenses available for Nikon and Canon than there are for other manufacturers.  You have more flexibility to figure out what you want to do with photography as you learn more about it.  You can do great things with either manufacturer, but unfortunately you can’t mix them.  Meaning you can’t (easily) put a Canon lens on a Nikon camera body or vice-versa.  Interestingly, this is not the case with the MFT market where the lenses are more compatible across manufacturers, but you need to be aware of this as you are considering which to buy.

I already outlined that most important factor is to follow in the footsteps of a mentor to make it easier for them to help you.  Building a little more on that, if your mentor has a Canon body and you choose to get a Canon body as well, you will have the ability then to borrow a lens from them.  If you go out and shoot something together, they may be willing to let you use a lens out of their bag for a few shots so that you can see what it is like.  It is also very helpful with terminology.  The camera manufacturers call the same thing different names, so when your mentor uses a term it will be easier not to have translate what that term means between manufacturers.

Beyond following your mentor, being overly generic, I think there are two things to consider with Canon vs. Nikon.  In general, Nikon currently has better quality sensors.  The full frame sensor in the Nikon D810 is pretty well the undisputed world leader for image quality.  In general, Canon currently leads in speed (focus and shots per second) and lens quality (slightly).  But really, as you are starting out, either manufacturer is going to be significantly better than anything you have had so far.  Either would make a fine choice for learning the technical makeup of photography.  This is why following your mentor becomes the most important factor until you know enough about the technical details to decide on your own what you want.

If you have no idea which one to get and have no mentor to get you started, check out Jim’s guide here.

12/2014 Update: Jim and Darin have an AWESOME podcast with professional photographer Tony Northrop talking about some of the differences between Canon and Nikon camera bodies.  Give it a listen here.

3/2015 Update: Tony Northrop published a really good YouTube video going through in a good amount of detail the difference between the Nikon and Canon choice.  Well worth a few minutes to listen before you make this decision.  Still, I recommend that it is most important to find someone who will help you learn to use the camera and invest in the brand they are using.

USED / REFURBISHED MARKET

A very large used / refurbished market is another reason a beginning photographer should consider going with either Canon or Nikon for their first camera.  As photographers develop their skills, decide they want to specialize, or just upgrade their equipment they will frequently sell their old equipment to help finance moving on.  Much of this equipment has been cared for very well and is nearly as good now as it was when they purchased it new.  Look in your local classifieds and on sites like eBay to find deals on used equipment.  You may not want to purchase used gear without seeing it.  You may also want to enlist some help from an expert (maybe your mentor) who knows what to look for and validate (i.e. loose focus or zoom rings on lenses, dusty/moldy lenses, bad sensor pixels, high shutter actuations) the equipment is in good working order.

There are refurbish sites from Canon and Nikon that often will save you a least a couple hundred dollars vs. buying something new.  In fact, if you watch the refurbished sites for a few weeks they frequently have very short lived clearance sales that taken another couple of hundred dollars off.  They are so short lived that if you see a clearance on the refurbished site and take time to think about it, you are likely to miss it.

FINAL ADVICE

The last thing I wish I was told when I was getting started was the important of post-processing.  There will be an article written on this specifically, but you need to know that you cannot get the results you see from these professionals without spending some time on the computer.  In fact, unless you use an MFT body that has some very cool wireless features built-in, you won’t be able to do anything with your photos until you get them on the computer.  This is where training is really important and you should check out the classes from Improve Photography over at photoclasses.com.  You can also get some free help getting started through Jim’s Photo Basics guide here.

Tips for the Aspiring Cinematographer

Are you an aspiring Cinematographer? We here at How To Film School have talked to some local cinematographers and lighting technicians and have compiled a list of tips to help all you young aspiring cinematographers out there get started. Now, some of these might be a little obvious, but you would be surprised how many people don’t realize how much work they need to put into their careers if they want to be successful.

Many people starting off in the film industry think that they will become the next Roger Deakins or Wally Pfister over night, what they don’t realize is that someone like Pfister worked at and improved on his craft for almost two decades before even meeting Christopher Nolan and shooting Memento.

Things you need to know before Starting Photography

When you're first starting out with photography, growth seems to happen in leaps and bounds. You'll measure your growth by the changes that you see in your work 
and photos that you make. Today, I'll share some the things I've learned in my five years of shooting, and share some tips that I think can help you expedite your growth.

Here are ten things I wish I knew when starting photography:

1. Your Vision Changes

Types of Digital Cameras

Before choosing a camera many people will ask, what is the best camera to buy?,While those
are logical questions to ask, it is more important to first know what types of digital
cameras are on the market. Take a look at each of the categories below and you should be able
 to determine which is the best type of camera for you.

This tutorial will give you general information about the different  types of digital cameras on the
market  for  consumers. If you need a little more detailed information about each type of camera,
check the tutorial for that  specific camera category.

Digital Slr Cameras: (aka  Digital Single Lens Reflex Cameras or DSLR cameras):
 Digital SLR cameras are the most versatile and advanced type cameras available on the
consumer market.

The first thing you will notice about a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera is
that it is larger than any compact consumer camera and putting one in your
pocket is out of the question. The Canon EOS Rebel T5i  or the  Nikon D3300   are examples of
good quality affordable Digital Slr cameras.

When using a Digital Slr camera you can set the camera to the
automatic mode and just start taking pictures. However, you also have
the option of taking pictures in the full manual mode, Aperture Priority,
 Shutter Priority, orprogram modes.

The most important thing to remember about using a Digital Single
Lens Reflex camera is that you have more control over the way the
 picture will be taken as far as exposure settings.

Another important feature of Digital Slr cameras is that you can change
 the  camera lens to fit different situations.