If you happen to be a person who is on active duty right now or are considered a qualified veteran you could have a valuable resource available to you in order for you to get a loan for a home. VA loans are for those who qualify to get a home loan from the Department of Veterans Affairs. They are a department of the government that actually will keep your interests at heart when they are processing your loan. So it’s a good idea to research your VA loan possibility before you go looking for other lenders.You can do a self screening to see if you are a qualified veteran or if you are on active duty. However, if you are a veteran you need to have received an honorable discharge or you may not be considered eligible. So you should take whatever military identification that you have, down to your local Veteran’s Administration office to see if you are truly eligible before you get your hopes up.You will need some sort of proof that you serviced in the military. This would be your DD214, Military ID Card, Military Record and any awards you might have for proof that you served in the U.S. Military. Even though your local VA may already have any of these items you still should make sure that you have your own copies.You can also, if you wish, go to the website for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs if you would rather try to apply online. You will click on the “Veteran Services” option on the website where you will then click on “Home Loans”. Then you can click on the “Certificate of Eligibility Veteran Registration Instructions” this way you can register for the site. You will need to do this in order to be able to apply for a loan online.After you have done this you then go back and login. Go back to the “Veteran Services” and click on that, go to “Home Loans” and click on that. Once back to the options page for home loans you can then click on the “VA Loan Electronic Reporting Interface.” Once you are there you will need to follow all of the directions they require for you to apply for the loan.You will then need to go to your VA Office when the site directs you to. This is so that you can complete the entire loan processing. You will give the rep all of the paperwork that they are going to need like proof that your served, your real estate agent’s contact information (understand that you already need to have a house in mind so that if they need to ask questions your real estate agent can answer them for you) and any other information that they might require. It’s probably a very good idea for you to call them ahead of time to see exactly what they need from you to continue processing the loan.After that, you will just need to wait for your loan to be processed and while you are waiting make sure to continue to update your agent about how far along the process is. They need to know that it’s still in process so that they don’t think that you’ve decided to not go through with it.

Whoever decided to put the flash of a camera facing directly forward was not a portrait photographer. The following portrait photography tips are meant to put some perspective on lighting.The Harshness of Direct FlashThe reason it is not a good idea to have a flash pointed directly at the subject in portrait photography is that the intense burst of light tends to wash out any curvature or shadow in the face and makes the subject appear to be flatter than they are. This gives an unnatural look.If you are using a boot shaped flash, the mount should allow you to adjust the direction of the flash. Angle the flash upwards and bounce the light off of the ceiling. This will diffuse the light and result in a more natural and appealing looking portrait.If your flash direction is not adjustable, you may have to use a physical object to diffuse the light in the same way that a lampshade diffuses the light coming from a lamp. There are many mountable diffusers on the market. If you are at a get together and do not have a diffuser, a semi-transparent plastic cup can work in a pinch.Soft BoxIf you have time to prepare the area that you will be shooting the portrait in, you may want to bring along a standing light source such as a soft box. A soft box is simply a white box, often framed with wood with either thin muslin or rice paper stretched over it. There are quick collapsible ones on the market but they are pretty easy to make.This box acts as a diffuser for a permanent or flash/strobe light that can be moved to different positions in order to get rid of or accent shadows while still resulting in a more natural look.MobilityUnless you are shooting in a studio where you just have the subject sit and smile after the lighting has been preset, you will want to be able to move your light sources around. Many boot flashes offer remote capability so they can be removed from the camera and held to the side. This capability is great for shooting semi-candid portraits.When shooting outdoors, your light source may be the sun. Though they often require assistance, light reflectors work great for manipulating the lighting here and softening the harsh shadows that direct sunlight often creates. Again, there are many of these on the market; I actually use a collapsible light reflector that is intended for car windshields.I hope these portrait photography tips have helped explain the effects of direct lighting and how it can be easily manipulated for more natural looking results.