The controversy about whether photography is art is one that has been raging in the art world for a long time and we are not likely to totally solve it here. But it can be an important decision you have to make if you are considering a career in photography with the goal of producing quality art works. If that is where you are, the idea that someone would say "That's not art, you just took a picture" is pretty disturbing. So it's worth looking at the question from several different angles before we pick which side to weigh in on.

The camera consumer trend over the past five years has been to go digital. The development and use of Single Lens Reflex [SLR] digital cameras has grown dramatically. The marked drop in use of large format film cameras and enlarging lenses reflects the decreasing market demand for those historically traditional film cameras. While one reputable manufacturer is still producing their flagship film cameras, most have discontinued a large number of their film lenses. While many remain faithful to the advantages of film technology, it is obvious that digital photography is going to capture the mainstream market. The increased quality in digital capture and memory capacity has been one alluring factor. For the first generation digital cameras, there was the challenging question of whether to store the digital data files in RAW or in JPEG or TIFF. Now many companies provide instant storage of a RAW image at the same time a full-color JPEG is displayed for the photographer's immediate use.

Lighting effects - a change in the lighting can dramatically alter the mood of a photograph. In the past, photographers either had to wait for the sun to be just perfect or make use of special lighting in order to achieve the effect that they need. With lighting Photo Shop effects tutorials, you can adjust the lighting of a photograph even after it is taken. Think of the possibilities! You can take the picture of a sunset even in the middle of a cloudy day. You can light up the subject of a photograph even without using a flash. Photo Shop effects tutorials will even teach you how to make it look like you are living on an alien planet, by adding 2 different colored suns to your picture. The great thing about this is that, unlike other image editors which just paste a sun into the background, Adobe Photo Shop can really make it seem as if the addition does affect the lighting within the image.

The dog has traditionally been "man's best friend" but one must admit, the cow is the most fun, not to mention the most edible. And as a cow item collector, I feel the cow is possibly the funniest animal on the planet. Though this may be hard for some city-dwellers to fathom, I can assure you Mississippians and other inhabitants of the southeastern states were laughing at cows years before The Far Side.

So you got fascinated with hovercrafts and how it works. Next thing you knew you're into designing a plan of your own. The only thing is that you don't know how or where to begin. Building a hovercraft is a neat project to do. Not only is it fun, it's a learning process too. Especially if you plan to do this at home, you must start with a nicely prepared homemade hovercraft plan.

Do you know how F Stops, Shutter Speeds and ISO relate?

Prototyping is the word used to describe the use of scaling real-life objects down and typically for Model Railroading different names are given to differing 'scales' to represent the percentage of the original. For instance the 'HO' scale means 3.5mm represents 1 foot, with a ratio of 1:87.086 ... needless to say this can get difficult.

What's great about woodworking is that there are so many woodworking ideas you can try. It's fun, challenging and rewarding. Below are some ideas you can try yourself!

Tools are the most important part of the building process. Being in possession of the correct craftsman tools is vital for all woodworking professionals and amateurs. No matter where you stand in the building world, pro or beginner, you have to have the right tools. There are no exceptions to this rule. If you are building, you better know what tools you are going to use before you start. Having the correct tools in the workshop before you begin you project can make all of the difference in the world. Make sure that you have the right equipment before you begin building anything.

If you've just bought a camcorder or are considering a purchase, chances are you'll want to produce some video for the web. Learning to shoot video for the web isn't difficult, but there are a few key points to consider. One of the first things you'll want to understand is how video works on the web.