Categories
How To

Beginners Guide & Tips For Shooting With DSLRs

Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras are mostly used by professional photographers. They offer more sophisticated features than point and shoot digital cameras. DSLR is a dream for aspiring as well as amateur photographers. While some are not in a position to afford a DSLR many novice users find it hard to get going with their brand new DSLR cameras. If you have just bought a new DSLR and wondering how to start shooting with it then here are some simple tips to guide you.

Handling

When you start shooting with a brand new DSLR and find the pictures are getting blurred, switch to a fast shutter speed. Faster you take a photograph lesser is its chance of getting affected by shake of hand. If you can hold the camera close to your body you can minimize the chance of shaking. Lean against a tree or strong support when you are taking nature shots.

Go with manual

Your DSLR comes with a manual. Consult it whenever you are confused. Learn about different settings of your camera. Practice changing settings like shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Try them in different situations to get accustomed. You should know the settings like back of your hand. A photographic opportunity won’t wait or give you time to adjust your DSLR.

Avoid presets

Try to shoot in manual mode as far as possible. Let different modes and programs be set aside for compact digital cameras. Now you are grown up! Manual and aperture priority are most powerful settings that you should explore and expertise.

Buy necessary accessories

If you are serious about photography then you need to buy some accessories for your DSLR camera. It is desirable to buy a UV filter for each lens. It not only improves picture quality but protect your valuable lenses from scratches. A sturdy tripod and remote release would be great for taking photographs that require long shutter speed like night photography. Make sure to buy a camera bag. Depending on the extent of your involvement, you may need separate bags for carrying the camera and lenses.

Experiment

Learning is fun when you experiment with your device. While taking picture of a waterfall or running water try different shutter speeds and note down the changes. Similarly, while shooting a landscape explore different settings of aperture. You may be surprised to view the results.
Press the shutter button half way down to pre-focus before you take any final shot. This will stabilize the focus and give you a clearer picture. If you are anticipating any subject on a spot then pre focus on the spot by half pressing the shutter. When the anticipated view comes, press the shutter all way down.

File format

As a beginner of DSLR camera it may be useful to shoot in RAW file format. A digital RAW file contains unprocessed RAW data that must be processed with special software in order to become a finished image. There is no loss of image quality in this format. While converting raw files to images, you can adjust the white balance. You can also preserve the image from RAW file as high quality 16 bit file (TIFF or PSD format).

Finally

DSLR cameras are very sensitive and costly. It is desirable to follow best practices and preserve the device for superior performance and long life of camera. If you are serious about photography and want to pursue it with passion then these tips may help you in get started with a DSLR camera.

Author Bio:

Emily Steves is associated with various internet security related companies as their freelance and staff writer. She has been linked with some of the best web media companies and offers various ways for internet solutions. She excels in writing articles related to AT&T internet, internet security, internet plans, comcast deals etc

Categories
android How To

Low Battery On Android Phone? Tips To Increase Android Battery Life

People who have an Android phone and are suffering from some serious battery issues, here are some simple manual as well as automatic tweaks that will help you keep your phone charged for a longer time and make the best possible use of your battery life.

There are end number of things that eat up your battery power and most of the times they are things that most mobile users are not aware of at all. This article contains all the possible solutions to safeguard your battery life, so i highly recommend that you go through each of these features, settings and customizations that are mentioned ahead in this article.

List of battery power consuming features :

Your phone contains end number of features and settings that consume your battery power without you even realizing it or you were maybe aware of certain features but didn’t realize they used battery power to a great extent.

To get an idea about this navigate to Settings > About > Phone > Battery >Battery Use, which will tell you the entire story.

Settings that are most likely draining your battery power :

The Screen :

Your screen consumes the most battery life especially if its the new Super Amoled or Super LCD display. To minimise the screens battery usage, turn down the brightness. Although your phone is on “Auto” brightness mode which works in most cases, but still might be using more battery than you expect.

You can go to Settings > Display > Brightness, uncheck the “Automatic Brightness” option and manually enter approximately 10%. It may become a little harder for you to see under direct sunlight, but this wont be the case elsewhere.

Another option is to put the power control widget on your home screen which will help you toggling between low and high brightness modes in a much convenient manner. To do so, press and hold an empty section on the screen, select Widgets and select the Power Control option.

Alternatively, you could also lower down the screen timeout from 1 minute to around 15  – 30 seconds by going to Settings > Display. This will aid you in saving battery life as well.

Cellular and Data Connection :

It doesnt matter whether your using a high end 4G phone or a regular 3G device, your cellular and battery connections will eat up your battery big time even if your phone is in a dormant state.

Your data connection can be turned on and off by making use of APNDroid 2.0 or by making use of these Quick Settings. If you just intend to talk, text and send mails then EDGE or 1x is more than required. Data can be turned back on when you are browsing and require extra speed.

Wi-Fi :

When there are Wi-Fi networks in your surroundings, use them. It will automatically turn off your data connection and use Wi-Fi instead which will be a battery life saviour.

However, when you don’t have any Wi-Fi networks in your area, your battery will be drained by constantly making search for available networks to connect to, so its better to turn Wi-Fi off from your Power Control widget when your not in such locations.

Bluetooth :

Keeping bluetooth on when not required again consumes a lot of battery like Wi-Fi does, so just turn off bluetooth entirely when your not using any bluetooth headset or transferring any files to and fro from your computer. You can do this from the Power Control widget.

GPS :

GPS again drains a lot of battery when your using it for Google maps or turn-by-turn navigation and if you make use of location services provided by Twitter, Facebook or other social applications then GPS will be used on a more regular basis. GPS controls can also be toggled through the Power Control widget.

Automation of these Settings :

All the above mentioned settings can be toggled through the Power Control widget as per the requirements but that would be too irritating and difficult at times.

Fortunately, all these settings can be automated through an application called the Tasker. With this application you can automate pretty much everything that you desire like GPS, Bluetooth and Data settings.

Use of Juice Defender to scale back data usage :

Juice Defender again automates all the work for you, although you can change some of its settings if you wish to do so. It manages your data connection in a very smart way by turning it off and reconnecting it after every 15 – 30 minutes to check if there are any new mails, Twitter notifications and other alerts to download.

Other Alternatives :

Tweak and Uninstall Data intensive applications :

If you have any applications that you are not making use of, then please uninstall them as there are many applications that try to connect to the internet without even you realizing it and so its best to remove them completely. Also get rid of widgets that grab data constantly like the Facebook widgets or the weather widgets to name a few or change their settings so that they update their data every half an hour or on an hourly basis.

Turn Off the Eye Candy :

Eye candy features like screen animations and live wallpapers can be pretty CPU intensive. If you look forward to save your battery then turning them off is a wise choice although you may loose the flashy and animated look but this solution is ideal if nothing works for you even after performing other tweaks.

Save the phone from getting heated up :

Extreme heat will always kill your battery so don’t leave it in a hot place, get it out of your pocket whenever you can and keep it as cool as possible during the summer.

Stop using a Task Killer :

Task killers are more harmful then helpful and affect you battery to a great extent. You don’t need task killers if you have uninstalled your applications correctly or are not using them when not required. So my advise will be not to use a task killer as its not required at all.

Underclock / Undervolt your device :

You don’t really need all the CPU power always, you can reduce the clock speed or even create custom profiles using the SetCPU application that will turn it away when your phone is sleeping. You can create profiles that underclock your phone as and when the battery keeps going down.

You can also make use of the Kernel Manager application that will help in reducing the voltage thus giving you a better battery life.

Getting a Secondary Battery :

The last option is to get another battery for your phone. Most high end phones now a days have a pretty much useless battery life so you can just get yourself a second battery and keep it safe in any place till your current battery gets exhausted.

Having an extended battery is another option which is heavier then the standard battery but will guarantee you a better battery life. Lastly, make sure that you are buying original OEM battery as the cheap ones will cause a lot of problems, so make sure that you buy a high quality battery for your phone.

Categories
How To iOS iPhone

iPhone 3GS Unlock Tutorial For iOS 4.3.1

Here is another short tutorial for unlocking the iPhone 3GS 4.3.1 with Ultrasn0w 1.2.1 for the iOS 4.3.1.Please keep in mind that this not a new unlock but just a compatibility fix for the iOS 4.3.1 so that those who have been following baseband can unlock their device on the iOS 4.3.1.

Please make a note of the following supported iPhone 3GS basebands :

  • 04.26.08
  • 05.11.07
  • 05.12.01
  • 04.13.04
  • 06.15.00

Note :

Please do not upgrade to iOS 4.3.1 without preserving the basbenad. Use the PwnageTool 4.3 or Sn0wbreeze 2.5 to jailbreak the iOS 4.3.1 in untethered mode with the preserve baseband option.

Now here are the unlock instructions :

Step 1 :

Jailbreak the iOS 4.3.1 on the iPhone 3GS with PwnageTool 4.3

or

Jailbreak the iOS 4.3.1 on the iPhone 3GS with Sn0wbreeze 2.5

Step 2 :

Start Cydia from the springboard.

Step 3 :

Now you should be able to see two options, Packages and Source.

Step 4 :

Navigate to Packages -> Edit -> Add and then enter the following :

repo666.ultrasn0w.com as the repository URL (ultrasn0w has a zero and not an o).

Step 5 :

Now go back to the Sources menu under Cydia and you will see the Ultrasn0w package.

Step 6 :

Click on the Ultrasn0w package and then select Ultrasn0w 1.2.1.

Step 7 :

Tap the Install button and let Ultrasn0w 1.2.1 finish up with the installation procedure.

Step 8 :

Your iPhone 3GS will reboot now and get unlocked on the iOS 4.3.1.

Happy jailbreaking once again… !!!

Categories
How To iOS iPhone

How To Unlock iPhone 4 On iOS 4.3.1 With UltraSn0w

Snw0breeze 2.4 now supports ultraSn0w unlock for the iPhone 4 and 3GS users (for old basebands only). Those of you who have jailbroken your iPhone 4 and 3GS (old basebands only) on the iOS 4.3.1 using Sn0wbreeze 2.4 and are dependent on an unlock can now use ultraSn0w to unlock their device on this latest firmware thus being able to use any desired carrier.

Follow the below mentioned instructions in order to unlock and jailbreak your iPhone 4 and 3GS running on the iOS 4.3.1

Points to be noted before proceeding further with the guide :

  • Sn0wbreeze 2.4 supports ultraSn0w unlock for basebands (01.59.00 / 04.26.08 / 05.11.07 / 05.12.01 / 05.13.04 / 06.15.00).
  • ultraSnow has no compatibility with the following bands (02.10.04 / 03.10.01 / 04.10.01 / 05.14.02 / 05.15.04).
  • iPhone 3GS users will now be able to upgrade to 06.15.00 under the Unlocks section in Expert.
  • You may loose your GPS if you upgrade your iPhone 3GS baseband to the 06.15.00 iPad basband.
  • If your iPhone relies on an unlock then please do not update to the stock iOS 4.3.1 yet as there is no unlock available for it.
  • Sn0wbreeze is a tethered iOS 4.3.1 jailbreak for the iPhone, iPad and the iPod Touch.

How to update iPhone 3GS to 06.15.00 baseband for unlock :

Unlocking your iPhone 3GS using ultraSn0w 1.2 requires it to be jailbroken with 06.15.00 baseband. A complete guide is available here (with PwnageTool) and here (for Redsn0w) to upgrade your iPhone 3GS baseband to 06.15.00 and jailbreak it on the iOS 4.1 or 4.2.1 before you begin following the below mentioned steps.

Step 1 :

  • Jailbreak your iPhone 4 / 3GS using Sn0wbreeze  2.4 .
  • Detailed step by step instructions are available here in order to jailbreak the iPhone 4, 3GS, iPod Touch 4G / 3G and the iPad running the latest iOS 4.3.1 firmware.

Step 2 :

On completion of the jailbreak process, you can now unlock your device on supported basebands using ultraSn0w 1.2 from Cydia :

  • Start Cydia on your iPhone.
  • Now touch on Manage tab located at the bottom.
  • Next, touch on Sources.
  • Touch on Edit and then Add.
  • On being prompted to enter a url source, enter the following : http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com
  • Now touch on Add Source.
  • Cydia will automatically update all your sources by performing a series of automated steps.
  • Once the installation is over, search for ultraSn0w 1.2 in Cydia and install the application.
  • The application works automatically to unlock your iPhone so that you can use it on any carrier of your choice.

Step 3 :

Just perform a restart on your iPhone and that’s it. You now have a fully unlocked iPhone 4 / 3GS.

Categories
How To Windows Phone 7

How To Fix Windows Phone 7 Update Bricking Problem

Microsoft recently released their first ever update for the Windows Phone 7 which was small in size and was especially meant to make the device ready for a larger update that will be bringing in some added functionalities to the device such as the copy / paste feature, but this tiny little update seems to wreak havoc for the devices especially Samsung.

The update causes the phone to stop working thus bricking it completely and it is being reported that the phones facing the most number of problems are running Samsung manufactured hardware especially the Focus and the Omnia 7 devices. Well, whom to blame for this issue, Microsoft or Samsung is highly debatable but Microsoft has been quick enough to address this issue.

The company promises to deliver a fix for this issue within 3 days, but you surely aren’t going to like being stuck with a device that isn`t working even for a 3 day period, so what should one exactly do? A Neowin forum – goer Norseman has provided an effective solution to help getting things back on track for your device till Microsoft comes up with a fix.

Just follow this simple guide to get your device back into working condition :

  • Connect your handset to a power source other than your computer.
  • Now switch off your phone.
  • Switch it on once again by holding the power, camera and volume  up / down rocker and continue holding even when you are asked if you want to format the SD card.
  • Now release all the 3 buttons once you see your device enter into “download mode”.
  • Your phone will re-download the OS now.
  • Wait for around 15 minutes for the phone to restart and if it has not then perform a force restart.
  • Now setup your phone as if your doing it for the first time, perform a re-sync as well as a re-update.

Several users report this guide to be working perfectly, so please try this method at least once if your phone has stopped responding completely.

Categories
How To iPad

How To Jailbreak iPad On iOS 4.2.1 [Mac]

The jailbreaking season continues with yet another new tutorial this time for jailbreaking your iPad using the PwnageTool. Just follow these 12 step by step instructions precisely and you`ll get the job done.

Step 1 : Download these softwares first.

  • The PwnageTool for the Mac can be found here.
  • The iPad 4.2.1 firmware that can be downloaded from here.
  • It is recommended to download the firmware using Firefox since Safari will often auto extract it.

Step 2 :

  • Mount the PwnageTool by double clicking it and then drag it to your Pwnage folder.
  • Once it is dragged into the folder, double click it to launch the application and click on OK if a warning window pops up.

Step 3 :

  • Now select Expert Mode by clicking it from the top menu bar.

Step 4 :

  • From the list of devices, select your iPad.
  • A check-mark appears over the image indicating your selection.
  • Now click on the blue arrow button to continue.

Step 5 :

  • A new menu for selecting the IPSW comes. Click on the “Browse for IPSW….” button.
  • Now select your firmware from the Pwnage folder and click on Open.

Step 6 :

  • Select General from the multiple choice menu followed by clicking the blue arrow button.
  • These general settings will allow you to decide the partition size.
  • Next, is the Cydia settings menu which allows you to create custom packages so as to avoid the hassles of manual installation later.
  • Click on the Download packages tab followed by the refresh button to display the list of available packages.
  • Double clicking the packages you want will download them and add them to the Select packages tab.
  • Put a check-mark on the packages you want and click on the blue arrow button.
  • The Custom Packages Settings menu displays the listed package settings for your custom IPSW. Please leave these settings uninterrupted for now and proceed further by clicking the blue arrow button.

Step 7 :

  • The Pwnage process is ready to start.
  • Click to select the Build button followed by the blue arrow button to begin the procedure.

Step 8 :

  • Save your custom .ipsw file to the Pwnage folder you created on your desktop.
  • Your IPSW is now building so please allow up to 10 minutes to get complete.
  • You are later on prompted to enter your administrator password, so do it and click on the OK button.

Step 9 :

  • Now you will be asked to connect your iPad to the computer once the building procedure is complete.
  • On detecting your device, the Pwnage tool will be guiding you through the rest of the procedure to put your iPad into DFU mode.
  • Press and hold the Home and Power buttons for 10 seconds.
  • Next, release the power button but continue holding the Home button for another 10 seconds.
  • On entering in DFU mode, the PwnageTool prompts you to launch the iTunes.

Step 10 :

  • On launching iTunes, hold the Alt/Options key and click on Restore.

Step 11 :

  • Now navigate to your Pwnage desktop folder from the dialog window and select the custom IPSW that was created followed by clicking the Choose button.

Step 12 :

  • iTunes now restores the firmware on your iPad which might consume up to 10 minutes.
  • Once this is done, you will be rebooted into the jailbroken iPad OS 4.2.1

Happy jailbreaking once again fellows…!!!

Categories
How To iPhone

How To Jailbreak iPhone 3GS On iOS 4.2.1 Using PwnageTool For Mac.

Jailbreaking has become a sensation now a days right from the Play Station 3 to the Apple TV 2G and now the iPhone 3GS.

Here is one more jailbreaking tutorial for the iPhone 3Gs on the iOS 4.2.1. Please follow the below mentioned instructions in a step by step way to achieve jailbreaking success for your iPhone 3GS. The tool used in the entire procedure is the PwnageTool for the MAC system.

Step 1 :

Categories
How To Mobile

Dropped Cell Phone In Water – What Do I Do?

Oops, did you just drop your cell phone accidentally in water? This can prove to be a real disaster at times for many people as getting your cell phone wet usually makes you replace it with a new one with possible loss of critical data. But this is not the case if you are quick enough to take a suitable action in time.

Listed here are some of the most common steps to follow when a such a situation occurs :

Step 1 : The Phone Battery and Sim Card.

Always save the battery first, immediately remove it from your phone followed by the sim card. You can use a soft cloth or a paper towel to carefully remove it. If your phone does not show any signs of recovery, you can still use the battery and sim card in a new phone as well as any data present on your sim (contacts, messages) will still remain untouched.

Step 2 : Try blowing in some air.

A hairdryer can come to the rescue helping you speed up the drying process, but please be very careful as bringing the dryer close to your phone will cause severe damage.

“Don’t press the hairdryer [to the phone] or it will melt, keep it on low and cool, not hot,”

says John Gallie, owner of Ontario based JTG systems, that repair damaged cellphones. You can also use in a can of compressed air as an alternative if your not comfortable with the hairdryer method.

Step 3 : Use Rice.

A bowl-full of uncooked rice with your phone fully submerged in it will help it become fully dry but this process may consume only a day or last one whole week depending on the amount of moisture present inside. To speed up the moisture removal process, one can keep it near a heater or a dehumidifier.

Step 4 : Other Alternatives.

Never throw away those small little packets that come with the electronics that you buy as they contain silica gel which is a moisture absorbing substance and can be used very effectively instead of the lengthy rice soaking process. Just put your phone in a plastic bag along with the silica gel sachets.

Some Points to be noted :

  • Avoid getting tempted to use extreme heating using a hairdryer or microwave with hopes that the cellphone may get well soon as this will melt the inner parts of your cell phone thus making it completely irrecoverable.
  • Unless and until your phone gets completely dry, please don’t switch it on as water even in its minutest form proves to be a big enemy of electronics.
Categories
Apple Apple TV How To

How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2G With iOS 4.2.1 Greenpois0n RC6

Have you recently purchased an Apple TV 2G and would like to learn how to jailbreak it using greenpoisOn? If so, then follow these instructions step by step that will guide you through the entire procedure to jailbreak the Apple TV 2G on the iOS 4.2.1.

Firslty, the things that you will require :

1. You will need to download GreenpoisOn :

GreenpoisOn is a jailbreak tool that supports almost every major Apple device running the iOS. A new RC6 version has been released which jailbreaks the Apple TV 2G running the iOS 4.2.1. GreenpoisOn is available for the mac as well as the Windows platform. You can download it from here.

2. Download the iOS 4.2.1 for the Apple TV 2G using anyone of the links below :

3. A microusb cable that will connect your Apple TV 2G to the mac.

Now lets get started with the jailbreaking procedure :

Step 1 :

Firstly you have to make sure that you have updated your Apple TV to iOS 4.2.1 via iTunes and, if not then please check for the updates through the software update section in the Apple menu.

Step 2 :

Now launch GreenpoisOn RC6 and click on Yes when prompted for Apple TV 2G jailbreak.

Step 3 :

Next, follow the onscreen instructions to put the Apple TV 2G in DFU mode.

Connect your Apple TV via the micro-USB cable leaving the power disconnected, then simultaneously hold the MENU and PLAY/PAUSE buttons for 7 seconds to put it in DFU mode.

Step 4 :

Once in DFU mode, click on the Jailbreak Button on GreenpoisOn RC6 and sit back and relax till it completes the entire jailbreaking process.

This is it. You have now jailbroken Apple TV 2G on iOS 4.2.1.

Categories
How To iPhone

How to Transfer Address Book Contacts To Verizon iPhone 4

We all know how irritating and frustrating it is when it comes to transferring your contacts to a new phone. This post is for all those who have purchased a new Verizon iPhone and are looking for a hassle free method to transfer their phone book from the old phone to the new Verizon iPhone 4.

Here is a short 10 minute tutorial briefing you with instructions on obtaining your address book. This guide is applicable for phones that are supported by 4 American carriers namely AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon and are having an active service on their present phone along with a gmail account (not required for Verizon wireless subscribers.)

Verizon Wireless Phones :

Transferring from an existing Verizon to a Verizon iPhone 4 is almost effortless. Verizon has a free program called Backup Assistant, so just register on Verzion`s website, install and run the application on your old phone first followed by the iPhone 4

Step 1 :

Register for the Backup Assistant application.

Step 2 :

Install it on your phone through the Get It Now store which is for feature phones or the App store for smartphones.

Step 3 :

Now load the software, log in and start backing up your contacts.

Step 4 :

Next, turn off the Wi-Fi radio on your iPhone 4 first as the application works only over a cell connection. Open the app store and install VZ Contact Manager. Now run this program and keep following the onscreen instructions.

Sprint Phones:

To transfer contacts from a Sprint feature phone, you will require a Sprint Mobile Sync and a gmail account. For a Sprint smartphone, only Google Sync is enough.

For Sprint Feature Phones :

Step 1 :

Register for Sprint Mobile Sync.

Step 2 :

Activate the software on your phone by navigating to Main Menu>Settings>Contacts>Mobile Sync>Activate.

Step 3 :

Now log in to Sprint Mobile Sync from your desktop computer and export all your contacts as .CSV file

Step 4 :

Log in to your gmail account and import the .CSV file

Step 5 :

Now install and run Google Sync on your iPhone 4.

For Sprint Smartphones :

All you need to do is just install and run Google Sync on your old phone first followed by installing and running it later on your iPhone 4.

AT&T  Phones :

For phones serviced by AT&T, if its a smartphone, the entire transfer process is free whereas a feature phone will be costing you around $1.99 for AT&T Mobile Backup.

For AT&T Feature Phones :

Step 1 :

Navigate to AT&T`s Mobile Backup Web Site which will be sending a link to your phone for installing the software.

Step 2 :

Load Mobile Backup from your phone and backup all your contacts.

Step 3 :

Log on to AT&T Mobile Backup from your desktop computer and export the contacts as  a .CSV file.

Step 4 :

Now log in to your gmail account and import the .CSV file.

Step 5 :

Lastly, install and run Google Sync on your iPhone 4.

For AT&T Smartphones :

Step 1 :

Install and run Google Sync on your old phone followed by the iPhone 4.

T – Mobile Phones :

Once again, transferring contacts from a smartphone is simpler whereas the same procedure becomes a bit more complex for a feature phone. The companies free contact backing software restricts you from exporting your contacts, but there is still a way to tackle this situation.

For T – Mobile Feature Phones :

Step 1 :

There is a preloaded application called Mobile Backup. Just load it and select “One Time Sync”.

Step 2 :

From your desktop computer, log on to the Mobile Backup Website and follow these instructions for exporting your contacts to a .CSV file.

Step 3 :

Log in to your gmail account and import the .CSV file.

Step 4 :

Now install and run Google Sync on your iPhone 4.

For T – Mobile Smartphones :

Just install and run Google Sync on your smartphone followed by the iPhone 4.