Macro Photography

Exploring the world of miniature objects with a macro lens is a special and exciting area of photography, and once you start, you will quickly become addicted. The world of macro photography holds many delights and is an area that cannot be appreciated with the human eye.Macro photography is the name given to close-up photography, and is best explained as images that are taken at reproduction ratios of life-size and above. Ratios of between 1:7 and 1:1 fall into the macro photography category.Understanding Ratios: This is a term used to express the magnification of a macro lens or other macro equipment that relates the real life-size object to the reproduction size on a slide or negative. If you shoot an object that is 3cm in length and it measures 1.5cm on a 35mm slide or negative – the ratio is 1:2. When both are equal length the ratio is 1:1Choosing the right lens is the most important factor with macro photography. While a telephoto lens may be acceptable with some types of close-up photography, the macro lens is invaluable to get really close and really accurate focusing.There is an endless range of subjects that fall under the range of macro photography. The most common subject for macro photography is the natural world – all types of flowers, plants, and insects. For the more creative photographer, macro photography is used in abstract imagery.With many forms of macro photography, especially with insects, a lens with a long focal lens – minimum 200 mm is required for some nature subjects. You need to keep a working distance from the subject to get a successful image – you don’t want to frighten your subject away.When shooting close-ups you are limited with depth-of-field – to get an attractive image you must focus on the most important part of the subject. This will be achieved easier if you place your camera on a tripod or monopod.By using your tripod you will reduce the risk of camera shake. Subject movement is also an important factor to consider. Macro photography magnifies the subject, leaving more room for blur. A strobe unit can be used to freeze movement – even on the brightest of days you should consider using your strobe unit. Try bouncing light from your strobe unit off a reflector. This will give your image a softer illumination.Many amateur photographers stay away from macro photography because they feel that their technical ability is too inept – your personal ability should not turn you away from this exciting part of photography – macro photography is like all types of photography – practice makes perfect.

Home Insurance Companies & Home Insurance Quotes

Home insurance rates can vary greatly from one insurance company to another. A quick research will find that there are almost 1800 providers in which you could choose from, but now you can find low cost home insurance online more easily then making a hundred different phone calls. Insurance companies are based upon a sharing program in which the money or premiums are placed in a pool then distributed and used when that insurance company has losses and claims by its customers. Back in the 1970s and before, several insurance companies would send salesmen into areas and neighborhoods to knock on doors then signing up large numbers of new customers located in these areas.However, one year brought a string of tornadoes that devastated entire subdivisions and small towns where these insurance providers had signed up so many new customers. Because of such devastation in a concentrated area several of the smaller companies had to go out of business before fulfilling their obligations and responsibilities to their customers who had paid their premiums. Larger companies were simply overwhelmed by the amount of claims that had to be filled out and completed. Not only was it a loss to the customers when those companies went out of business, but it was also a long period of time before many of the others were able and capable of processing their claims and rebuilding their homes.In evaluating of this unfortunate incident Congress enacted new laws that limited the amount of customers that an insurance company could sign up in any given area. This helps to keep all our rates low and protect the insurance company as well as the customers. Getting a quote by getting a home comparison in this age of technology should be an easy chore for the person searching for home insurance companies.A Quote can be accomplished simply by providing a few basic details and allowing your computer to search hundreds of different insurance companies that fit your needs. If you’re one of those who owns a home which is your most prized asset then there is no doubt that you need from a quality company that will provide you with a decent home owners insurance policy. A good home policy not only covers the house itself, but also other buildings on the property and the contents of the home for replacement.Many insurance companies will also check your credit rating when getting insurance so you yourself need to know what your credit rating status is. You also should have a very good ideal of how much it would cost to replace all the contents in your home including furniture, appliances, clothing, and a place to stay while your home is being repaired. Don’t forget most insurance companies only offer flood insurance as an additional. So make sure you ask the company just what all they cover in their insurance quotes. Remember, getting an online home insurance quote can save you hundreds of dollars from one insurance company to another insurance company.Well known names are not always the cheapest and best.

Affiliate Marketing Tips For 2011 – Two Avenues of Traffic You Should Not Miss

Do you remember the dot com boom? If you have been around for a few years you will remember the huge surge of Internet millionaires that started to spring up out of nowhere.

A major part of this incredible period was the introduction of Google AdSense and the facility for Internet marketers and affiliates to gain massive traction with seemingly inexhaustible cheap advertising through the AdWords program.

If you are too young to actually have been there you will certainly have read about how easy it was to get cheap traffic to any website and make money. Aah, golden days!

However, that is all in the past and a seemingly never-ending string of new rules and guidelines have made AdWords a very risky business for the newbie internet entrepreneur.

But, there is a light in the tunnel, in fact two lights and strangely enough they both have a Google glow.

I have two affiliate marketing tips that I beg you to investigate if you are serious about you internet business. They are not free ways to make cash online but in my opinion they do have value. One of them is especially crucial to any future business.

Affiliate Marketing Tip 1: Google AdWords, yes it is the same routine as before but with a slight twist. We all know about writing the short little sales pitches based on our highly researched keywords and how some of those keywords are hugely expensive.

The tip is, Images. Image advertising is still relatively unused and the opportunity for some cheap traffic is still available. With a little creativity it is simple to knock up some graphics, format them to the required sizes and load them up into AdWords.

Affiliate Marketing Tip 2: This second tip is the crucial one and if you do at least investigate it you are making a huge blunder.

Mobile marketing is where the next wave of internet millionaires will be coming from, believe it. You can ignore this and I bet that in two years time you will be asking yourself, Why?

The costs involved are similar to image marketing on AdWords and the technology is a little more involved but the audience figures are huge and it is possible to buy traffic from around 3 cents a click.

Both Google and Apple have invested literally millions of dollars into this area in the past year or so, Apple have gone so far as to rebrand themselves a “mobile company”. Do you think they would be doing this on a whim?