Learn Digital Photography – Street Photography For Beginners

We all have to start somewhere with our photography and one of the big questions I get asked by students is where do we begin. There is just so much to learn and not enough subjects to shoot. That may or may not be true. My answer is street photography. Why? Let’s read on.Street photography for me is the most amazing way beginners can really get going with their photography. There is just so much to shoot and your choices are endless. It is great for photo outings in a group because there is something for everyone on the streets. It gives you freedom to shoot anything and everything within the limits of the law and human courtesy. If it moves shoot and if it doesn’t, shoot it.Street photography loosely describes a type of documentary photography that revolves around taking photos of everyday life and objects in the open urban environment of streets, lanes villages and towns. It provides a visual commentary on the world around us showcasing humour, routine and daily life on the streets. Here’s some advice on how to do it.1. PreparationAlthough it’s a free for all at times shooting anything, it is still necessary to be prepared. This not only improves the quality of your shoot but makes it easier and more enjoyable. Expect to see something different, new or intriguing. Anticipate the actions of people and the result will be a great image. So when it happens you are ready.2. FocusingKey to street photography is focusing, not only sharpness but depth of focus or depth of field. More than other types of photography, excluding landscape, you need as much of the image in focus. Not so for individual objects but rather for street scenes. Set you aperture to f11 or smaller and manually focus if necessary. The great thing about street photography is reviewing your images later and finding little scenes within scenes. If you have a good enough depth of focus you’ll find many smaller objects you hadn’t noticed while shooting.3. SubjectsChoice of a subject or subjects for your photo walk through the streets of a village can be an effort so think about it before you start. A great idea is to choose a theme or set yourself a little project like finding 26 subjects each beginning with a letter of the alphabet. Subjects don’t always need to include people and a series of images without a single person can be quite a challenge and have interesting results. Treat people with respect when shooting at market or sports events and you’ll have a lot more images than you thought possible.4. Mono or colourStreet photography lends itself to great monochrome images. The variety of subjects, the contrasting lighting as well as textures and patterns result in wonderful black and white images. A lot of street photography by the more reputable photographers is mainly in black and white but that doesn’t mean colour gives bad results. One little tip here about shooting in black and white with digital. Converting colour to black and white after the shoot using software most times results in a better monochrome image.5. EquipmentJust about any camera can be used in street photography. Of course, the better the camera the better the quality of the image. I prefer to have a camera or lens that is fairly wide-angled as this allows me to include more of the street scenes in the image.Telephoto zoom lenses are also handy as they allow you to isolate scenes, pick out detail and frame your subjects more tightly. A large aperture helps when shooting in shade or lower light inside markets or public buildings.Overall street photography should be fun and help you grow in your overall skills. It brings you back to reality and sometimes results in you viewing life differently. It’s full of characters and subjects that are almost endless. Don’t be afraid to try new things and experiment. Happy shooting!

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The Male Chastity Lifestyle – Relight the Fire of Romance in Your Relationship

All hype aside, the male chastity lifestyle is an extremely powerful and effective way to stave off and even reverse the inevitable cooling off in almost any relationship.You remember how it was when you were first together, I’m sure: you’d make love at every opportunity, lying together sharing secrets and soft pillow-talk until the first pink of dawn touched the sky… then falling asleep in each other’s arms.And you both swore it’d never change.Yet it does. It always does. Even the strongest, most loving and devoted relationships lose this initial passion and fire and settle down to the long haul. There’s nothing wrong with this – it’s just human nature. And we’ve evolved this way for a reason.But it being normal and seemingly inevitable doesn’t make it any less frustrating and annoying, since it would seem the only solutions are not to have relationships that last so long this happens… or to have lovers “on the side”, so to speak, so you’re getting the best of both worlds.And while these two options appeal to some people, they’re clearly not for everyone, including me.Fortunately, there is a third answer to this problem: the male chastity lifestyle. It’s not suitable for every couple, as I’ll share with you in a few moments, but for couples whose underlying relationship is strong and loving, and who both have a sense of adventure and fun and are not too sexually inhibited it offers a wonderful way to reignite the fires of lust and passion in your life.For me, it’s like having four honeymoons a year, and a hot, new lover always within reach (but really it’s still my beloved husband, the same man he’s always been).So, what is the male chastity lifestyle?Essentially it’s where your man gives you control of his orgasm, usually by agreeing to wear a chastity belt or other chastity device and giving you the key. While he’s wearing it he’s typically unable to touch himself or have an orgasm either with or without your help.In the meantime, his duty to you and your satisfaction remains, meaning he gets to serve your pleasure in any way you see fit.Now, reading this in the cold light of day, you might find it a bit strange, maybe feel a little nervous or otherwise think it’s far too weird even to entertain as an idea. But let me put it to you it’s perfectly natural and healthy, a lot of fun for both of you and… something you’ve already tried. Because if you’ve ever teased your man by going slowly when he was about to climax and kept him on the edge to make him squirm… then you’ve already experienced male chastity play. And you both absolutely loved it, didn’t you?Well, the male chastity lifestyle is very much the same game as this, only played out over a long period of time.As you can imagine, after a very short period of time your man is going to want to orgasm very, very badly. What this does is cause some dramatic changes in his brain chemistry, which has the ultimate effect of turning him back into that besotted, loving fool who can’t keep his hands off you or do enough for you… the same loving fool you fell for.What’s more, in case you’re worrying, this is not the same as making a “sissy” of him or making him any less masculine (some couples do play that game, but you don’t have to and you can embrace the male chastity lifestyle completely separately from that, as John and I have done).Oddly enough your man will almost certainly love the feeling of being constantly turned on. There will be times when he’ll beg you to let him orgasm, but if you do… afterwards he’ll tell you he wishes you’d been stronger and said “No!”.The male chastity lifestyle is real win-win. You both get a lot out of it and there’s no downside. You get your hot, attentive lover back with all the ardour you remember (and then some); and he gets the thrill of constant arousal and – to be blunt about it – the best sex he’s ever had.Because when (and if) you eventually do allow him to orgasm, it blows his mind. I allow my husband just four “weekends off” a year. That means he goes for three months at a time without having an orgasm (but while giving me plenty!).Finally, a note of caution. I mentioned hype earlier and also said the male chastity lifestyle is not suitable for every couple. Well, it’s not, despite what some people will try and tell you (most of what you read about male chastity is fantasy).If your relationship is poor, if you don’t love each other, and if you have no sex life not because you’re too busy or tired but because one of you simply can’t stand the other and your skin crawls at the thought of making love to them… then male chastity won’t help you.Because, paradoxically, male chastity tends to increase your sexual activity as a couple not reduce it – which is really the whole point! Your man is going to want more sexual contact with you, not less; and your woman is going to expect more personal attention and seemingly return none of her own.If you can’t stand the sight of each other and there’s no underlying love and attraction, then you can see the male chastity lifestyle is going to cause far more problems for you than it solves.Assuming this isn’t the case, though, and you’d like to spice up your relationship and rekindle that passion and desire, I strongly recommend you give the male chastity lifestyle a go.

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Group Health Insurance Is a Dead Man Walking – Part 1

The dramatic cost increases for group health insurance is not only breaking the bank for employers but employees as well. From 1999 until 2012, group health insurance costs have tripled. Business managers instigated a number of countermeasures to reduce their company’s health insurance costs. In spite of cost reduction maneuvers, the cost to employers doubled in ten years.Formerly, employers paid all or most of the premium for group health insurance. Companies covered employees and their families. Today it’s rare to find an employee that does not pay 25 to 50% of their own health insurance. Businessmen also switched from traditional insurance to PPOs and HMOs. Some companies took the drastic measure of self-insuring and becoming their own insurance company. Dropping the family and pushing that cost to employees reduced company costs as well. Additionally, deductibles were raised, while coverage and benefits were lowered. Today it’s difficult to find a company that has not taken some, if not all of these steps.Over 99% have changed to PPOs, HMOs or self-insurance plans. Only a fraction of companies’ pay 100% of their employees insurance and fewer still pay family coverage. The salient point here, in spite of all the countermeasures, the cost for business to offer group health insurance has doubled in 10 short years. As you can see many of the countermeasures pushed costs to the employees.Individual insurance in most cases runs 50 to 75% cheaper than group plans. We received an increasing number of calls from employees looking for competitive quotes on individual insurance. More often than not, an individual/family plan is more affordable and delivers better coverage than company provided insurance. This in spite of the fact that at least 50% of the group insurance cost is employer paid. We insure most of these prospects with individual policies, particularly if it’s family coverage they seek.In 2012, the cost for family group coverage is around $15,500 a year. We can insure that same family in for $5,000 – $8,500. So you see, even with employer contributions of 50% it is often cheaper to go individual. Most people are unaware coverage is less expensive on the open insurance market or a private health insurance exchange than their subsidized company group plans. However, the trend is gaining traction. In 2013, the price for group coverage will jump again to the $16,000 a year range.One of the factors pushing premiums for group coverage higher is the aging, overweight or unhealthy members of the group. As people age they cost more to insure. Group insurance coverage is underwritten with the company’s employees comprising the entire group. For companies with thousands of employees, costs are spread over a diverse and large group. However, one employee experiencing coronary disease or cancer can drive the cost for smaller groups through the roof. Additionally, healthy, non-smoking folks who work out and keep their weight under control pay high premiums to support the unhealthy, the overweight or the smokers with whom they work.Younger employees are usually the smallest wage earners and thus damaged more financially by the increasing contributions of group health plans. On the flipside of the coin, younger people are far cheaper to insure. This holds especially true for the individual market where costs are underwritten over wide and large geographies and populations. Many people in their 20s can buy policies for as little as $50 or $100 a month.The healthy, the non-smokers and the young are quickly tiring of supporting others in their group by paying extraordinarily high insurance premiums. As the trend catches hold, and it’s beginning to snowball, the healthy and young will flee group coverage. This reduces the group size further, making it more expensive to underwrite and of course driving costs higher still. Additionally, the insurance companies underwriting group health insurance mandate that certain percentages of the staff must purchase the coverage. As the healthy and young flee the high price of group coverage those percentages will become more difficult to maintain.Another important factor from the employe’s point of view is that of control. Everybody has different needs when it comes to health insurance. Even among a specific individual, needs change as their life changes. A young person with a family is probably more concerned with co-pays, office visits and low deductibles. That same person at age 55 will have more interest in quality dental, vision and catastrophic coverage for major illnesses. In the individual/family health insurance market, literally thousands of different types of policies are available.Another advantage of carrying your own insurance is that of changing jobs. It’s one thing to lose or change your job, it it’s quite another to lose your insurance in the process. With individual coverage, there is no loss of coverage as it travels with you from job to job. These are just a few of the many reasons that group health insurance is a dead man walking.Disclaimer: the figures quoted here are estimates your own experience will vary depending on how healthy you are, your age, the state in which you live and other factors. Please feel free to call us are your own insurance agent for a specific quote.

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