Tips for Taking Great Photos

 
Tripod:
In order to successfully take a good photo, it is important you use a tripod. Tripods will result in sharp, clear pictures. Photographers who do not use a tripod will often experience blurred images.

Prepare:
Take plenty of batteries and film for your camera. Don't rely on finding stores, it might be difficult to locate supplies on location. Even worse, you may loose precious time or keep others waiting while looking for supplies.

Shoot:
Take multiple shots, so you can guarantee the outcome of your pictures. Experiment: Adjust your camera settings, different lighting, different camera angles. Try to find what works for you.

Groups:
If you are taking a picture of a group indoors, and conditions are fairly dark, there is danger that the people near you will be overexposed and the people further away will be a little in the dark. If you can arrange the group so that they are all equidistant from the camera. That way there will be an even spread of light.

Lighting:
Avoid direct sunlight, as this can alter natural coloring. A bright but overcast day is perfect. Get up early and shoot the sunrise in the best location. Scout the area the day before or during the dead time during the high noon sun. During midday if you have to shoot, try using a polarized on the lens. Use the filter only at a 90 degree angle from the sun. You must open up approximately 1 to 1 1/2 stops or more sometimes in order to compensate for the diminished light coming through the filter. Meter a gray card and open up from that reading.

Also use the polarized lens at sunset for some great effects on landscapes. The best time to take the majority of night shots is shortly after the sun has set. This allows a small amount of natural light to work with. Set your camera's resolution at or near its highest setting (largest file size). The last thing you want is a grainy photo. In the majority of instances it is usually best to have the sun behind you when you take a picture. But watch out for shadows your own and the subjects.

Framing:
Look for ways of naturally framing a shot. Framing accentuates the main subject. Fill your frame!

Closeups:
Move in close. When first starting out you will be surprised at the difference moving closer to the subject will make. Handheld close-ups are often blurry or overexposed. A tripod is essential for taking good close-up shots, especially smaller items. An image stabilizer in the lens is a huge bonus because it means you can handhold the camera in lower light conditions and not have blurring occur in the final picture.

Some Enchanted Autumn

 
Some Enchanted Autumn by Linda Andrews is an excellent gift idea for the Halloween season. Vampires, skeletons, spiders, witches… they are all here – but this is definitely not a children's book.

One town, founded by the same wagon train during the pioneering days of the North American continent, holds a secret that could destroy them all.
Divided by a bitter and ancient rift, it becomes two rival towns – Pumpkin and Holly. These folks take their holidays seriously, but none more so than Pumpkin's residents do.

Lonnie, who is running both from herself and from facing her pompous and boring boyfriend, returns to Pumpkin - her hometown. There she meets Nicholas who is both more wonderful than her wildest dreams and as frightening as her childhood nightmares. Together they are assigned the difficult task of discovering the "Prankster's" identity and the reason's why that person is set on keeping the ancient rift between the towns alive.

Nicholas and Lonnie harbor a steamy and slightly erotic passion for one another, which they do their best to keep in check. Their family ancestors, after all, were the main players in the rift that continues to tear the towns apart.

I would classify Some Enchanted Autumn as a fantasy-fiction, paranormal-romance novel with comedic elements. Although it begins with a bit of confusion, the story rises in pace until I felt unwilling to put the book aside. This 238-page book is not the author's first endeavor. In fact, Linda has written two other books, The Christmas Village and Ghost of a Chance.

Dose Reduction Improvements in Cardiac CT Scanning

  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Diminished Value - Get the Compensation You Deserve After an Auto Accident

 
The squeal of tires. The sickening sound of metal grinding against metal as you lurch forward in the driver's seat. As you climb out of the car, you're shaken - but thankfully you and the driver who hit you are not injured. Unfortunately, the same isn't true for your car. Even after you endure the hassle of dealing with insurance companies and the inconvenience of taking your car in for repair, the bottom line is that your car simply isn't worth as much. "The resale value of a vehicle with an accident history is considerably less than a comparable vehicle that's never been in an accident," says Omar Quddus, President and Co-Founder of Advocate Auto Claims LLC (www.advocateautoclaims.com).

This phenomenon is called "diminished value," and the at-fault or third party's insurance company has an obligation to compensate the driver who was not at fault for this difference in market price. "Insurance companies are required to restore a vehicle to its pre-loss condition and value," says Quddus. "Unfortunately, most consumers aren't aware that they are entitled to diminished value compensation - and insurance companies don't volunteer that information."

That's the reason Quddus is on a mission to educate consumers about their rights, and why Advocate Auto Claims pursues diminished value claims on behalf of drivers who weren't at fault in accidents. "Even when consumers are aware of the diminished value issue, they're often ill-equipped to handle the roadblocks that an insurance company will throw at them," he says. "Each insurance company has its own internal procedures, but those procedures can vary from region to region." Similarly, the laws and regulations governing diminished value differ greatly from state to state.

The maze of regulations and loopholes, as well as the harsh stance taken by auto insurance companies against diminished value claims leaves consumers with few options. "Consumers may be involved in an accident once or twice in a lifetime; they simply don't have the resources and knowledge to get the compensation they deserve," says Quddus.

This is precisely why the owners of Advocate Auto Claims, who have more than 10 years of experience working with diminished value claims on behalf of fleet owners and rental car agencies, have opened their doors to consumers. While drivers can pay out of pocket for a vehicle inspection or a report to substantiate their claim, and an attorney may pursue such a claim in conjunction with a personal injury case, Quddus' company handles every aspect of diminished value claims - and does so on a contingency basis. "The process of establishing diminished value and then negotiating the proper compensation is both an art and a science," Quddus says. "We pride ourselves on our ability to get results, and don't expect to be paid until you do."

Marketing Your Online Home Business

 
Home businesses, like other businesses, aren't successful just because they exist. If you want to work at home, you have to learn about marketing a home based business.

Marketing depends in large part on the type of business you have. Marketing on the internet works for most kinds of home business. Even if you plan the bulk of your business from your local area, a website adds professionalism. When sending emails, make sure you include information about your business in your signature file.

If you own a website or other business on the internet, you need customers. With all the competing websites, how do they find you?

You need to have some good strategies for marketing an online business. One of the most used strategies for marketing a home business is learning to get a high search engine ranking. If you don't rank highly you may have difficulty being found.

There are some key methods for high ranking. Start by keeping everything on your site relevant to the subject. This makes good sense anyway because once the customer has found you, you want him to stick around. Choose a domain name and website title that fit well with your business keywords. Your title should be easy to remember. Links to your website make a difference in search engine rankings, so contact sites that offer information complementing yours and ask for reciprocal links. Be aware that this information can change as search engines redesign their methods for relevant results.

Another strategy for marketing an online business is to use pay-per-click advertising. This can be a fast way to get listed high in the search engines. There are several providers of pay-per-click advertising. It pays to check out a variety to see which suits your needs the best.

Weblogs are a newer source for marketing an online business. They tend to rank well, and consumers like them. Use your blog to talk about your industry and provide links to your website. Blogs add a lot to your marketing program and can be fun to write.

An often overlooked tool for marketing a home based business is staying in touch with former clients. You can do this through the phone or through email. Email is often the preferred choice because potential clients look at email when they have time and are not interrupted to do it, as they are on the phone. When emailing former clients, let them know you enjoyed working with them and want them to remember you for future projects.

Look for ways to meet potential customers. Go to trade meetings or conventions. For example, if you are selling pet products, attend dog shows and county fairs.

The major ways to for marketing an online business are similar to other businesses. Find customers you can serve and find ways to let them know you exist. After they become clients, serve them well and ask for future business. This is how you keep your business running.

Marketing a home business is essential for success. Use all the marketing strategies at your disposal and watch your traffic grow.