Tattoos – Choose A Tattoo Design That Has Meaning

Most modern SLR cameras have automatic and program metering ‘modes’ that take care of speed and aperture settings. These work well for most situations but switching to manual can give you extra control of your images.
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rThe processor in an average digital camera is very powerful, but it can’t read your mind and may not record something in the way that you hoped. Scenes with a lot of light or dark tones, backlit portraits and shots at dusk are all examples of situations where manual controls may work better. Manufacturers have tried to improve automatic metering by adding extra ‘modes’ to cameras, normally on their lower to mid range models. These can include ‘landscape’, ‘portrait’, ‘night time’ and slightly more bizarre ones, like ‘pet’ modes. These are useful for people that don’t want to get too involved with the technical side of mountain photography. They will often do a very good job, but camera auto ‘modes’ are making educated guesses when, with a bit of knowledge, you can do better yourself.
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rUnderstanding basic light metering.
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rBasic metering systems assume that there will be a certain amount of light and dark tones in a scene, this averages out to an 18% grey tone. This means, when you point your camera, set on automatic, at an ‘average’ scene, the exposure will be correct. If there is any variation from this average your exposure may be less than perfect. For example, if you were taking a mountain photo of a landscape with a very bright sky in the background, an average meter reading won’t know which part of the scene is important to you. The automatic reading will probably underexpose the foreground, making it look dull and dark.
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rOne of the ‘mode’ settings might sort this out, or it might not, you won’t know until afterwards because it’s all programmed into your camera and you have limited control.
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rSituations where manual exposure settings may improve your image.
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rKnowing that the camera is looking at everything expecting a 18% grey tone means you can start to identify situations where auto settings may not work well: scenes with a lot of light or dark tones, scenes with a wide range of brightness, situations where subject and background have different levels of lighting, and many more. Look at your composition, decide which are the important areas, and try to take meter readings for these.
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rExample #1. Imagine taking a portrait mountain photo of someone with the sun shining behind them. Automatic metering is going to take an average reading, take the brighter background into account, and underexpose your subject.
rInstead of relying on auto, take a manual reading from your subject. Move in closer, or use the spot meter setting if you have one, so there is no bright background in the frame, and take your exposure reading. Set the aperture and shutter speed manually, then move back, re-compose and take your shot. Now your subject will be correctly exposed, while the background may be overexposed and lose some detail.
rUsing the same scene you might want to change the look of this image and expose for the background instead of the subject. Take your reading from the background, excluding the subject, and reset the aperture and shutter speed. This time the background will be correctly exposed and, depending on the range of brightness, your original subject may be underexposed or be silhouetted against the light.
rIn either case you have decided on the look that you want, instead of waiting to see what the automatic settings gave you.
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rExample #2. Ever tried taking a close up mountain photo of a bride in a white dress? If you did this with your camera on automatic you would probably find that the whole picture came out much darker than the original scene. This is because your camera was assuming that the white dress was an 18% grey. It underexposed the shot and made the whites look grey.
rIf you set the camera manually you can compensate for the white dress or any other large area of white or light tone in the picture. You could do this in a couple of ways; either take a reading from another area, near the subject, with the same lighting conditions but a more average range of tones, or, if that’s not possible, take a reading from the dress and make an adjustment to allow for the lighter tones. In this case I would probably open up another 1.5 to 2 stops to get a good result.
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Anyone considering getting a tattoo should realize this is a very important decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly.  For this reason, you need to look for the best tattoo artist.   You’ll want to look for someone whom you trust to do a good job and provide you with the services you require.   But exactly how can you find that person?   It’s not as hard as you might think but it can be a little time consuming.   It’s certainly worth the time that you’ll spend investing in your search.   Without the best tattoo artist, even the most perfect design will not end up being what you hoped for.   Your tattoo artist can be compared to finding the right dentist or doctor.   They should be a skilled professional and you should feel comfortable around them.  When it comes to choosing the best tattoo artist, your comfort level is actually one of the most important aspects.   If you’re not comfortable with the artist, it will affect both the experience and the outcome of your tattoo.   There are many factors to take into consideration when choosing the right artist besides finding someone that you like personally.   You must realize that each artist will focus on specific designs and you need one that specializes in the type of design that you want.   Therefore, the type of tattoo that you want will have a big impact on who would be the best choice for the job.   You can use the following steps to help you find the right tattoo artist:  Ask people you know with tattoos for references
Visit local tattoo shops and look for sample  You wouldn’t make a hasty decision when deciding to get a tattoo and choosing your tattoo artist should not be done on a moments notice either.  This will be something that you’ll have for the rest of your life so, take your time and plan everything out in advance.  If the artist makes a mistake, you will have to live with it for the rest of your life.   So you can see why choosing the artist is as important and deserves as much attention as choosing the design itself should receive.   Always take extra care when choosing your artist but this is especially important if you are getting your very first tattoo.   This will ensure the success of your tattoo design and guarantee you get the advice needed to properly care for your tattoo from a qualified artist with experience.   Usually, once a person finds the right tattoo artist, they will use them over and over again each time they want a new design.   If you have a regular tattoo artist but for some reason they can’t do a specific design for you, they can always refer you to someone they know and trust to get the job done right.    This is a great way to find the best tattoo artist for your specific needs.   By taking the time to choose carefully and searching for the right artist, you will feel better about your choice and you’ll most likely be pleased with the results.