A Guide to Safety in Scaffolding
Basic checks that you could make to minimise any risks include:
* Checking the ground conditions. E.g. Is the foundation firm, and never soft? If london scaffolding is erected on frozen ground, this might melt and begin to sink.
Could be the scaffold level and supported on proper adjustable stands.
* If it is a rolling scaffold, include the castors locked?
Just about any scaffolding will be able to support approximately four times its intended load.
* The platform will likely need to be complete front to back and sideways. Any planking or decking should never have gaps above 25mm (1%u201D).
* Toe boards and guardrails must be positioned on all open sides.
* All sections of scaffolding must be secured or pinned appropriately.
* Safe access to the scaffolding should be provided which pun intended , the have to climb over cross bracing. This may be a properly secured ladder.
Your * front face of any scaffolding should be 350mm (14%u201D) in the workface.
* Electrical wires have to be given the proper electrical safety clearance.
* All scaffolding should be inspected with a competent person before used.
* When the scaffolding has ended 3m (10%u2019) high, personal fall protection must be provided or the scaffold must have handrails over 950mm (38%u201D) high.
* Anyone working in the vicinity of the scaffolding or about the scaffolding must wear a hard hat (in the UK it really is compulsory to offer head protection/ hard hats on any site).
Brought to you by Golf Waterproofs and Used Fishing Tackle
Earache Treatments at Home
An earache is a common condition that many people suffer from. Earaches in children is quite comment these days. It can be caused by many things. Some of these earache causes include prolonged exposure to loud music, polluted water getting into the ears from swimming in dirty water, or unusually high levels of bacteria buildup in the ears. In any one of these cases, the earaches seem to last for indefinite periods of time. That is why it is important that you know an earache home remedy.
One quick fix that you could take is Tylenol. You should use Tylenol especially if your child is the one who has an infected ear. There are other pain medications that you can use but some of them, like Advil, could aggravate your earache. You want to use a medicine that contains acetaminophen, not ibuprofen.
If you do not have any Tylenol in the house, you can heat up some garlic cloves in sesame oil. Do not heat this mixture up to boiling point, you only want it warm to the touch. When it gets warm, lie on your side and place a few drops of the oil into your ear. Lie still for about ten minutes, then do the same thing on the opposite side.
Aside from the two home remedies above, onions could also be used a treatment for earache. Bake a whole onion until it is hot. You can then let the onion cool and then get a piece of cloth to wrap it with. Take the wrapped onion and set it against your ear for a few minutes. This could help you get rid of any bacteria that has taken root in the aching ear since onions are known for its natural antibiotic properties like garlic.
Another medication that you can take is Sudafed, an effective decongestant. The decongestant properties in Sudafed and other similar medicines can help drain any mucus or fluid build up from your ear.
When you find that an earache home remedy that you have tried does not help you get rid of your earache, you have to immediately consult with your doctor for the right diagnosis and treatment of your earache.
Outdoor Wood Furnace and Boiler and Tube Heat Exchanger(s)
Alternative Heating and Supplies carries a variety of wood furnaces and parts. The price ranges on these wood furnaces, wood boilers and parts are also very low. Have you considered an out of doors wood boiler? An outdoor wood furnace can be the resolution to higher electricity prices.
What if there were a way to provide heat for your home, a way to give you all the hot water you and your family would need for showers, baths, laundry and more – all your family would need to heat your pool, spa, and anything else you wanted to keep warm with a truly efficient, completely renewable resource? What if you were able to help the environment while you were heating your home? What if you could do all this for FREE?
Certainly, there is without doubt the initial expense of the equipment in the beginning, but I’ll ask you to show me a heating system that doesn’t require a considerable initial purchase price. Being able, then, to do everything in the preceding paragraph really seems great, does it not? Wood is the resource that fits all of these needs. It is right down the road or within your backyard. Yes, we are talking about wood.
Of course, you might be saying that that is old-fashioned and inefficient. Hey, and it takes a lot of labor. And it is unclean also!
That’s not the way it is, anymore. Wood heating has finally come of age. The modern outdoor wood furnaces Alternative Heating & Supply offers take advantage of the latest developments in heating technology. Once one is installed outside your home, and using water and heat exchangers, our furnace burns cleanly and efficiently. Normally it can be attached to your existing system to distribute the warm air wherever your home needs it.
Because all of your fuel, the wood, is kept outdoors, you will not have the mess associated with interior stoves. The unit will burn all sizes and types of wood, too, even those unsplittable knotty pieces. And, the cool thing is you only have to feed it once or twice a day, even in the coldest weather. That’s awesome, isn’t it? Load it up in the morning and again in the evening, and the unit will do the rest. Normal water heated to 185 to 200 degrees encompases the firebox, after which it courses through tubing to your house when heat exchangers transform it to hot air and that is dispersed by your existing system.
Gas, oil and coal are fossil-based, resources that are nonrenewable. And in the last 12 months, costs for these commodities have soared toward the sky. You know this to be the case. Electricity prices are rising, too.
The effect on the environment of these fuels is significant and must be thought about. The methods used to extract fossil fuels are damaging to the ecosystem. Home systems, unless they are constantly and professionally maintained, are not really efficient burners. And electricity is often produced by coal-fueled plants or by hydroelectric dams that affect our fragile ecosystems.
So, as you look at the big picture, there is no additional source of warming your home providing you with you all the benefits of a timber-fueled system. Wood is environmentally friendly, efficient and cost-effective. And with a little extra labour, you can get all this free of charge. This is an energy resource that grows practically everywhere. Areas are constantly being cleared and the remnants are ideal for one’s use. Drive it home and you and your loved ones can certainly stay warm all wintertime for the money necessary for one or two tanks of gasoline.
Our firm prides itself on bringing to you the latest innovations in this technology, along with outstanding service as well as parts and accessories. We have many years of experience and can help you find the right equipment for your home.
Alternative Heating and Supply is where you can get an outdoor wood furnace, a tube heat exchanger, a wood boiler or a plate heat exchanger.
Why put it off any longer? These days we talk a lot about heating our residences with alternative fuels. Is it not time for YOUR HOUSEHOLD to do more than merely speak about it? Pay a visit to the AltHeatSupply.com website in order to find out more. and also, call up 1-888-881-1602.
You and Mother Nature will surely be thankful you did!
Acoustic Guitars – Picking Out Your First One
Understanding how to choose the perfect acoustic guitar for you and how to identify a bad one, will save you lots of heartache, not to mention finger aches.
Acoustic guitar bodies come in basically the same hourglass shape, with some variations, but they do vary in size, color, wood-type, style, and extra features. You can even buy an acoustic guitar so small that fits into a hiking backpack.
Guitars come in a very wide range of prices, but when it comes to instruments, in general, you get what you pay for, especially when you buy new. There’s a real difference between getting a bargain and buying cheap.
But whether you buy new or used may be determined by many personal factors including your budget, and each has their own pros and cons.
Buying new, gives you a warranty and, hopefully, a return period, if for some reason you’re not totally satisfied with your purchase, or something goes wrong.
Under ‘usual’ circumstances, a used guitar can usually be purchased cheaper and has already gone through its “break-in” period.
Commercially built guitars, such as a Epiphone acoustic guitar are usually mass manufactured. “Custom-made” guitars are exactly that. They are custom built and tailored to your specifications by a highly skilled guitar maker.
Prices for a custom-built guitar vary considerably, depending on the skill level of the craftsperson you contract the job to, but, as a rule, they are generally quite higher than a commercially built guitar of “similar” quality. Each custom built guitar is unique and therefore hard to compare in price to a commercially built guitar.
FOR THE “TECHIES”
Understanding some of the parts of a guitar will definitely help you when it comes to the Pre-Purchase Checklist.
BODY: This is the part with the sound hole in the front. It is where the strumming is done, and it can vary in size. The actual size, shape, type of wood, coating, and general build of the body also affects how the guitar will “sound”, whether it’s a rich and warm sound, or a thin and ‘twangy’ sound. The body tends to be the part that also gets scratched, damaged, and generally banged-up the most.
NECK: This is the long piece extending from the body and ends at the ‘head’ of the guitar where the ‘Tuning Heads’ are, also known as ‘machine heads’. The strings travel from the ‘Bridge’ on the body, across the sound hole, along the ‘Fret Board’, which is attached to the front-side of the neck, and finally arriving at the tuning heads where they are wrapped around tuning posts. The tuning heads are then turned by hand, which then turns the posts, making the strings tighter or looser, thus affecting their ‘tuning’. Necks tend to warp and twist if not looked after, or if the guitar is left propped against a heat source.
BRIDGE: The Bridge is normally located on the front of the body, by the sound hole, and on the side of the hole opposite to the neck. The strings are usually fed through the bridge first before they cross the hole and travel up the neck to the tuning heads. The bridge is like an anchor-point for the strings. Metal bridges are best, but on most acoustics they are either hard plastic or wood. Bridges have a tendency to crack and split over a long period of time.
FRET BOARD: The fret board is glued to the front of the neck. This is the part you press the strings onto to make chords or play individual notes. Because it’s glued on separately, a fret board can be made of a wood that’s different from the neck.
The strings travel over the fret board and the distance they are above the fret board makes a difference to the playability of the guitar. If the strings are too far above the fret board, then they will be hard to press down, making the guitar hard to play.
When a beginner plays a guitar, initially his or her fingertips are very soft and need to be hardened. A guitar with the strings too far above the fret board, also known as having a ‘high action’, will cause the player’s fingers to hurt so much that they are likely to put the guitar away in discouragement and possibly stop playing altogether.
STRINGS: Acoustic guitar strings, come in a wide variety of ‘flavors’. They can be made out of nylon, brass, steel, or a combination. Nylon strings are usually only found on Classical guitars and Student guitars, because they’re easier on the fingertips. They have a rich, warm sound to them.
Strings sets come in different ‘weights’, or sizes. Strings that come from a package marked ‘Heavy’ are usually quite thick in size and sound “beefy”. Strings that are light, or extra light, are very thin and usually have a brighter sound to them, but are also quieter sounding than heavy strings.
String choices are purely personal taste. Light strings are easier to press than heavy strings but also sound quite different. The more often strings are played, the dirtier they get. If a cloth isn’t run over and under them, from time to time, the sound becomes very dull
THE PRE-PURCHASE CHECKLIST
- Before you buy a used guitar, cost-compare against the price of a new one, unless the guitar is quite old. You could also compare its used price to other used prices by going to an online auction and either searching for the same or a similar guitar.
- Check the overall condition of the wood for cracks, scratches, splits, dents, chips, etc.
- Also check the lacquer finish for cracks and splits.
- Check the neck/fret board for warping and twisting. You can do this by holding the guitar flat on its back, with the sound hole facing upward. Bring the guitar up to eye-level, with the neck running away from you and the edge of the body almost touching your face. Let your eyesight skim across the front of the body and down the fret board. You should be able to see if the neck is twisted or bowing.
- Tune the guitar, or have the seller tune it for you.
- If you know how to play about five or six chords then play them. If you don’t know how to play, ask the seller to play them for you. This check ensures that the neck of the guitar is not warped, even though you couldn’t physically see it. If the neck is warped, and the guitar is properly tuned, then some of the chords will sound good, but others will sound as though the guitar is not tuned. If this happens, check the tuning again. If it persists, then don’t buy the guitar.
- Check the bridge of the guitar. If it’s made out of wood or plastic, make sure it’s not cracked or splitting. The bridge needs to be rock-solid, as a lot of pressure is exerted on the bridge by the strings.
- Check the tuning heads. Do they turn easily, or are they very stiff and hard to turn. Even with the high tension of the strings, a quality guitar will have tuning heads that are fairly easy to turn.
- Check the ‘action’ of the guitar. Are the strings a fair distance from the fret board? Are they easy or hard to press down at various points on the fret board?
- If you are buying the guitar for yourself, and you know how to play, even if you’re a beginner, then play the guitar.
- How does it feel?
- Is it easy or hard to play?
- Can you fit your hand around the neck/fret board comfortably to play chords?
- Is the guitar a comfortable size and shape for your body? Is it easy to hold?
- If you plan to play standing up, ask for a guitar strap.
- Do you like the sound, the color, etc?
- If you don’t play, have someone else play it for you so that you can judge what it sounds like.
PLACES TO BUY
Buying a guitar from a physical retail music store allows you to ‘test drive’ the guitar and ask more questions up front. Buying online from places like the Guitar Center or from a catalog may bring you more cash savings.
No matter where you buy your guitar, if you know what to look for, and spend a little extra effort in your search for that ‘perfect’ guitar, not only will your fingers thank you, but also your ears, and all those who will come to join you around the campfire, or even go to see you in concert. Who knows?
Cannondale Bikes
Cannodale has secured its position as a leading bike manufacturer because of a solid 25 years of experience. It has worked with top athletes and also with teams worldwide. If you have a passion for cycling you probably already know about the extensive Cannondale range.
When you’re looking for a quality bike it’s important to look for a product range that has something for most types of rider. Even the most experienced bike rider was a beginner at some point and for beginners, buying cheap is a false economy.
It’s true that buying cheap is a false economy, but what is even worse, it can ruin your enjoyment of your new hobby. Of course you can buy a Cannondale bike online and save, these days. If you do buy Cannondale road bike, be sure to check that your guarantee is a good one.
Cannondale put each bicycle through a strict Product Creation Process. The process is pretty intense and covers such things as your needs, the bike design, developmental issues as well as such obvious things as testing and quality control.
If you buy a bike that meets such high standards you can be sure that you’ll get the maximum enjoyment from your hobby and have the longest life of your bike. Cannondale even have sufficient confidence to offer a lifetime frame warranty on the full carbon bikes they feature in their range.
And if you should need new Cannondale frames, spare parts are readily available. Cannondale frames are available at a reasonable price from many suppliers.
Don’t overlook the lifetime value of owning a quality engineered bike. A cheaper product may cost you, in the long term, more than you bargained for in terms of repairs, downtime, inconvenience and personal safety. When it comes to the hobby of bicycling, the old saying is true – You get what you pay for. But don’t think that quality costs over the odds. With the advent of online shopping, bargains are out there.
Managing Drug Addiction Readily
Finding the right cocaine remedy system will make all the difference in rehabilitating your addict with no relapse.
The phrase ‘cocaine’ describes the substance in a powder structure as well as a crystal form, which is smoked. It emanates from the cocoa plant and, next to methamphetamine, produces the greatest mental dependancy of any kind of narcotic.
In the short term, cocaine leads to a short lived extreme high that is right away accompanied by intense thoughts of sadness, edginess along with a yerning for more of the drug. Addicts often do not eat or even get to sleep adequately and can encounter significantly elevated heart rate, muscle jerks and also withdrawal leading to convulsions. Cocaine addicts could get paranoid, angry, aggressive and anxious, even when they’re not “on a high”.
Most of the long term effects, as well as those listed above, may cause irritability, mood disturbances, uneasyness, paranoia and even hallucinations. Building up a tolerance to cocaine evolves so the addict requires more to create the same degree of “high”, so the person progressively “feels like he must have” to use ever more to succeed in the feeling they are after.
Becoming embroiled in the throes of cocaine dependancy can be quite distressing because the user feels the lows that derive from the “come down”. Such lows advance increasingly more, having the user separate out more and more from friends and family as he withdraws more and more into themself and plots the best way his upcoming “fix”.
Whether a person is a cocaine abuser or having alcohol or most medications or some other street drug, he experiences the same thoughts of woodenness, lonliness, agitation and, most severe of all, depression.
Even if they in some way manage to get them off their drug of choice, they cannot perform normally as the poisonous derivatives of cocaine and other toxic compounds fasten up in the fatty cells of their body and and this leads to the continued thoughts of woodenness, lack of energy levels, misery and any other bad feeling you are able to list.
Not merely will your loved one truly feel as described earlier but any moment they may be confused, under stress at work, tired, or maybe working out the stored cocaine elements get free together with the old thoughts and desires, which can lead to deterioration and , sometimes do.
This could help to make anybody possess feelings of despair regarding their loved one yet do not give up hope, there is something which can be done about this.
Undergoing the best cocaine remedy system will resolve this.
When looking for a program helping put the sufferer through, there is only four criteria that have to be looked for. It just isn’t necessary to become overpowered by every one of the “remedies” out there. For those who ask these 4 questions and when they provide you with the correct answers, you will have the proper one.
Initial question, what results do they get and what percent success do they historically get.
Second question, are medications employed for withdrawal and, if they are not, just how do they help the addict over the distress of withdrawal.
3rd question, does the individual proceed through a cleanse program by which the toxins are sweated away and are also they given the correct nutritional vitamins, especially one referred to as niacin (vitamin B3), minerals and also the correct natural oils to aid replace the poisonous fatty tissue using brand new clean fats.
4th question, will they do the final and most crucial step of their rehabilitation and that’s to aid them learn for themselves why they “desired” the cocaine to begin with. This particular query is essential and a critical portion of it is that the person is assisted to obtain the answer for themselves without any evaluation or insight from anyone else.
In this fourth stage of their cocaine remedy program, the individual after that must undertake a proper training which will provide them the knowhow he would need to solve their own individual scenario so they can complete the final step as an intern which might incorporate mending any deterioration done and to train him to go into the principal stream of life solidly and enjoyably with a bright and happy future that he can make for himself.
For additonal guidance on drug and alcohol rehab please contact us. We offer drug rehab treatment including ecstasy addiction. We are a full service drug recovery center. Visit our site www.HawaiiIslandRecovery.com for more information.
How Reversible Air Conditioning can Improve Your Offices
Enterprise and company managers generally think of office maintenance as an avoidable price tag, or a minimum of a necessary overhead. How do you turn that price tag into a advantage? This can be continually the way entrepreneurial men and women should look at their expenses.
The first thing to do is to find out what you happen to be spending, and what would take place if you ever did not do so. For example, if one or two of the fluorescent lamps in every office was blinking all of the time, what would that cost within the effect it had on the morale and productivity of your office staff? A great deal, if you ask me.
Things like this are a particular problem where you are in an aged business office which has been refurbished to give it a new look, in a significant city like Leeds or Manchester. These aged buildings are usually cool in winter and have major windows which while not like those inside a modern place of work can let a great deal of heat in during the summer. So, in Leeds you may locate quite a few company buildings are perhaps not comfortable in winter and summer, but pretty agreeable in spring and autumn. That’s not good enough, so you should upgrade your building with office refurbishment in Leeds so it is as comfy as it can be. In the long run, this will pay off.
Nonetheless, even should you do this, you might be astonished to uncover how hot it can get in summer, now that the earth is getting warmer, or at any rate seems to be. Therefore, you should take into account cooling. Nowadays, you’ll be able to get excellent air conditioning in Leeds and anywhere else, which can function as coolers and heaters. These do cost a bit to run as they drive a compressor, but as they heat the offices as well, you’ll be able to do away with the old heating method. Naturally you need to evaluate the true fees of these alternative devices, not forgetting that both heating and air conditioning devices must be maintained.
These reversible air conditioning systems have been in use for quite a few years now, so they are pretty reliable. However, you need to be careful where they are mounted because it is better for the cool air to be distributed high up, and the hot air to be directed along the floor.
Whatever Happened To The Stomach Vacuum?
How about a stomach exercise you can do while watching TV or sitting in front of a computer at work. This is an exercise that will tighten your abs in a dramatic way in just a few short weeks. It’s not uncommon for people to lose 2 to 3 inches in that time. The stomach vacuum is just that exercise. It’s a long forgotten stomach flattening exercise that can be done just about at any time and anywhere.
The main muscle that is engaged by this exercise is the transverse abdominal muscle which runs horizontally underneath you oblique muscles. The transverse abdominis muscle is basically what holds everything in, so by doing this one simple exercise you are tightening the abs and shrinking the waistline at the same time. Another reason to strengthen the transverse ab muscle is that it helps to eliminate lower back pain by stabilizing the spine and pelvis areas.
So what is the stomach vacuum? It’s pretty much what it sounds like. If you have ever sucked your stomach in for any reason, then you were basically doing the stomach vacuum. Now to actually do this stomach exercise correctly you need to suck your tummy in and picture pulling your belly button up and to the back toward your spine. Try to pull it in just as far as you can go and remember to breathe. It doesn’t matter if your sitting, kneeling or standing on your head. The stomach vacuum can be done in any position.
To start with try and hold it for 15 seconds then relax for about a minute. Now repeat it 2 more times. Over time you will want to increase the length of time you hold the vacuum position and increase the number of sets you do as well. Another option with this particular tummy flattening exercise is just to do it through out the day. Since you are not noticeably moving around you can sneak a set or two in at any time.
Do these everyday over the next couple of weeks and you will be absolutely amazed by the results.
Say goodbye to the city Heat and Travel on to your End point
The heat wave is probably driving you crazy in the city. If you need to escape it all and just embrace the heat as opposed to fighting it, nicely, why not go on a vacation? An excellent vacation might involve you, the sea and several suntan lotion. But before you actually get to go on vacation, you usually have to go through the hassle of choosing the best deals offered. If you want to save on time and funds, why not check out comparebookings? This cool web page gives all the best deals when it comes to traveling, vacations and so on. Whether or not you need to spend a few days on board a luxury cruise ship or a seaside hotel, properly, this website has it all.
If that however doesn’t sound good adequate, well, picture being able to find cheap hotels in rome or perhaps an cheap hotels in puerto plata? Properly, that is a reality which you shouldn’t dare toss aside. With comparebookings, you won’t need to overspend or cash out your precious funds. You will be able to expend a nice vacation that just expenses about half the original cost. If that isn’t adequate to convince you properly, you ought to check out the web site for yourself. This web page won’t bother you with useless marketing or other things that may lure you into spending over you originally planned. This web page is straight to the point and takes care of your number one priority this time, which can be getting the best vacation that has a reasonable price tag.
A Guide to Big Cat Photography Part One
Introduction
The purpose of this guide is to give you some top tips for getting great pictures. Big cats have a personality all of their own and each breed is quite different. This will affect how you photograph each species of cat. For instance some are quick and move rapidly, others will sit and take a more leisurely approach. This guide is set out into sections so you can dip into the bits most relevant to you.
So what do we mean by Big Cats, lets begin with the rarest cats in the world, The Russian Amur Leopard, around 150 in captivity and only 30 in the wild, then we have the Snow Leopard, now only found in the inaccessible hills in Pakistan. On the Tiger front you have the Sumatran Tiger, then the Amur Tiger as it now know but better known as the Siberian Tiger. Then there are Lynx, Lion, Cheetah, Serval and Puma also known as the Mountain Lion or Cougar – they are all the same cat.
First of all don’t be confused into thinking that you need a top of the range film or digital SLR camera and lenses to get great pictures. You don’t. Both compact and the intermediate bridge cameras are more than adequate of capturing great images. Many people that have come on Big Cat Photo Experience Day have started with a compact camera and found that they can get amazing images. They have returned and some have even found that they got so much more from photography than they ever thought they could. Others just come and enjoy the close contact with such magical animals.
This guide is based upon many years as a professional photographer capturing some of the rarest cats on the planet, all kept within a private collection for breeding purposes with the aim that they are returned to the wild, so long as the human race hasn’t destroyed the original habitat. For the Sumatran Tiger, that I fear is a rare hope, but with new cubs born late 2008 there is a glimmer of hope.
Compacts and Bridge Cameras
The real advantage of these cameras is their size. Being small and compact they fit through the wire of the enclosure so that’s one less thing to worry about. All you do need to do is watch what the cats are doing so they don’t take your camera off you! And trust me if they get hold of it they will win – no negotiation!
Captive animals are quite nosey so you will find they get too close. Key settings would be either close up / macro or a sports mode if you are using pre-set shooting modes. More advanced cameras have Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Full Manual. If you are more comfortable with these settings then please read the sections below Film and Digital SLRs as the same rules apply.
One main drawback of these cameras is what is called “shutter lag”. This is the time the camera takes to fire the shutter and capture the image after you press the shutter release . On static subjects this won’t be so much of a problem, but on fast moving or erratic moving subjects this is where this will be noticed. You aim at the head and the camera takes a picture of the tail!
ISO – Film Speed or Sensor Sensitivity
The speed of your film or sensor sensitivity as it’s really called on a DSLR will affect the camera settings in a given light. A typical sunny day will let you shoot on ISO 100 or 200, being the base setting of your camera depending upon the make of camera or film you’re using. With a DSLR you have the ability to change your ISO or sensor sensitivity as the light changes, so you can go up and down from 100 to 200 or 400 (or more) as the light changes. With film you are fixed per roll. OK you can “bump it” up or down but only if your film developer knows what they are doing, automated developing just won’t hack it and will leave you with a messed up roll of film. As a commercial photographer I shoot digital and enjoy it – when all the technology works of course!
Using an additional body is an option if you can afford it as it gives you another lens to shoot from or another roll of film different from the first body. Lenses or course are interchangeable.
With speed or sensitivity comes a compromise – noticeable pixels . The higher the ISO the more noise or grain there will be. But, and a big but, under exposure will create more noise than high ISO – so make sure the shot is exposed correctly. Being a commercial photographer amongst other things, I shoot using Nikon cameras and with these I have to shoot slightly over exposed to get the shot right – Nikon metering seems to be slightly on the safe side in my experience.
White Balance
This is not an easy function to explain but it comes down to the colour of light. What I hear you say, but all light looks the same to me, yes it will, the human eye and brain is very clever, it shows you a white subject as white in any light so you can’t actually see what your camera sees.
Until that is you take a picture indoors, ever had a picture on a digital or film camera come out green ? Light is measured as a temperature similar to that of heating a metal rod in a flame. The colour moves from orange to white and finally blue. Now this isn’t measured in degrees C or F but in the wider scientific range called Kelvin. Digital cameras use this Kelvin number to determine the colour of light.
For example Orange is at the warmer end or 3400K the same as a household bulb with a tungsten filament, also known as incandescent- day light and studio flash is around 5200K to 5600K and fluorescent light is a real nightmare depending upon the type of tube and colour temperatures vary from 2700K up to 7200K – so pretty much the whole spectrum.
Tip – on a dull grey day use the pre set white balance of Flash – it gives a slightly warmer shot.
Tip – don’t use Auto white balance for two reasons. While it might be fairly accurate light is not a fixed entity it changes all the time and so too will your cameras setting for White Balance when on Auto. Secondly if you then go on and edit your images you have the potential for having to manually correct each image if you’re not happy with the setting. And on a Big Cat Day guests regularly shoot 400 to 600 images – now that’s a lot of time chained to your computer.
Tip – pick a pre-set value, even if its not correct , some cameras allow fine tuning warmer or cooler. If then you want to edit the images at least you can batch process all the images in one go as the White Balance value will be the same – so too will be the adjustment. Just shoot RAW, then you can correct it, Jpeg gives you less control.
Tip – try taking a custom white balance measurement if your camera has this setting .
Tip – remember a Snow leopard is Grey and White – it should not be cream.
Film and Digital SLRs
Camera bodies vary in design and my view is that megapixels aren’t the be all and end all of good images. As an example a 6 mega pixel camera will get a more than an acceptable image, in fact many press photographers still use a high quality, robust 4 mega pixel digital camera body. Why, because other functions are come into play.
Whereas the norm for many companies is now, at the time of writing this Big Cats guide, is to offer 10 – 12 mega pixel camera bodies, other key features come into play.
Autofocus – General
AF-S , AF-C or Manual, Single point, Multipoint Dynamic or Closest Subject? AF-S will give you a function that shoots only when the cat is in focus. AF-C gives you a continuous mode where by the AF systems tracks the subject adjusting focus all the time you have the shutter release pressed half way down and the focus point on the moving subject. This is good for fast / moving subjects, the shutter will however fire even if the shot is not in focus. 3D tracking found on Nikon cameras is good for some subjects as it tries to work out where the subject will be if it leaves the focus area or frame – try it and see how you get on, you may find you come back to a dynamic – movable – focus point chosen by the photographer – you!
Manual focus gives you total control but chasing a moving subject is difficult and takes time to practice.
Metering
Spot, centre weighted or matrix or average? The main difficulty with Matrix is that it takes an average setting across the whole frame so you can end up with a dark image especially if you catch some sky in the frame. This being brighter, normally, makes the camera close down the settings, leading to an under exposed subject.
For better results with cats I find centre weighted works best as the camera metres from the centre of the frame and this is normally where the subject matter will be.
Spot metering would be best used for a close head shot where the cat is stationary being sat or lying down, as you’d find with the Lions in the afternoon after they are fed.
Part two continues with more settings and equipment discussions as well as common mistakes.