Beginning Photography Tips and Tricks

Most people assume that beautiful pictures are taken by great photographers with very good, very expensive photography equipment. While that may be true most of the time, it is not true all of the time. Beautiful pictures can be turned out by nearly anyone with a camera, expensive or not, with a little forethought. In fact, thinking before you snap might be the main key to creating that master piece to hang on the wall.

Here are some things to remember when taking pictures:

1. Move in Closer - Once you see the shot, before you hit the shutter, move in closer. Cut out the background distractions. In other words, if you're looking at a sleeping puppy, for instance, fill your viewfinder with the puppy. Cut out what's behind it or next to it. Move in until the sleeping puppy fills your view from side to side.

2. Be Quick - This may take some practice, but learn to be quick, in case your subject moves or flies away or gets tired waiting for you to snap the shutter. Take the picture. Don't worry about shooting too many shots. In this digital age, wasting film has become a thing of the past. Remember... see it... compose it... shoot it...

3. Composition is Important - A well composed picture is much more pleasing to the eye, so take a little time to balance your shot. Keep the horizon of the shot level. Crop out the extra stuff in the viewfinder. Move the subject around the frame. In other words, just because the vase is in the middle, doesn't mean it has to be there in your photo. Move it off center for a more interesting shot.

4. Be Selective in Subject Matter - In order to take interesting and arresting shots it will be necessary to determine what really tickles your fancy. This will require shooting all kinds of subject matter until you figure this out about yourself. Once you find your passion, your art will follow. Finding ways to document the different aspects of your passion will take a lifetime. You will never run out of sunsets or cars, or people or landscapes, if that is what you are passionate about. Again, fill your viewfinder with your passion and leave the rest out.

5. Focus on Your Subject - Pay attention to your subject matter. Learn to blot out or to blur the background. You want to move the subject forward so that it dominates attention of those looking at the picture. Just like some artists paint the same subject over and over, it will be necessary to shoot the same subject over and over with different, shutter speeds, through different apertures or in different light. The subject might look better centered in the frame, or it might look better to one side or the other. Play around until you're satisfied.

6. Playing Around with Shutter Speed - One of the greatest opportunities with photography, which is sometimes left out of beginning photography tips, is experimenting with shutter speed. Shutter speed allows you t speed up time or to slow down time. Using the shutter speed effectively is what controls the freeze frame moment. Using a slow shutter speed and a tripod can capture a time lapse event. While using a fast shutter can capture that split second event that the eye might miss. The important thing is to experiment and or play around. This is the way to learn what can happen.

7. Pay Attention to the Light - Now don't go looking at the sun, but do look at how the light is playing around your subject. Is it an overcast day or is it blindingly bright. How to the shadows fall over your subject or are there any shadows at all? Is your subject squinting? Can you see your subject; meaning is the sun in front of or behind? Harsh light can bring out bold colors, while indirect light can make your focus soft. Paying attention to your light source is probably the number one for success when passing on beginning photography tips.

8. Watch the Weather - The sky can affect how your pictures come out. An overcast sky will mute your picture tones and wash out your sky and background. Sometimes black and white photography works better on an overcast day. If it's sunny outside, then the sky is the limit. If your camera allows you to shoot through filters, then get a polarizer lens. This is the lens that pops out fluffy white clouds against deep blue skies.

9. Keep Settings Simple - In the beginning, it is best to stay with simple camera settings. Don't just leave it in automatic and shoot. That can be sometimes frustrating while attempting to achieve a certain effect. Put your camera is semi automatic to allow for some adjustment and after you get better, put it in manual program to allow you total freedom over your settings. So start slow and grow, learning as you go along.

10. Go for It, Be Bold - Don't worry about whether or not you've got the camera set on the correct settings. Take the shot and keep taking the shot until you're satisfied with the picture. Don't be afraid, timid or paralyzed by indecision. There is no such thing as politically incorrect in taking pictures.

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Digital Wedding Photography Tips

Wedding day, without any doubt, is among the most conspicuous and joyous day of one's life. This day is marked by frenzied activities involving guests, arrangements etc and, of course, happiness in the air. This day involves memories which are meant to be remembered till eternity. The immortalizing of these priceless moments can only be achieved by freezing these moments against the tides of time through photographs.

Digital photography has a visible edge over the standard one but at the same time due attention has to be paid to some points for obtaining optimal results. Following these simple key points and techniques will result in memorable photographs to cherish the memories forever. This article will guide you through these techniques so that you can capture digital photographs without any professional help.

Tip #1: Getting Natural and Undisturbed shots

This is the foremost rule which should be followed at all times and is mandatory for getting the most unforgettable and unparalleled shots of the people. For this reason the sound of the camera should be turned off. In addition to this always be ready and predict the movement of people so as not to obstruct the ceremony.

Tip#2: Being equipped and organized

Digital photography would lose all its merits and would rather prove to be a nuisance if you are not properly prepared and geared up. Extra batteries must always be kept at hand or else running out of power during the ceremony would not only make you a laughing stock but would make irreparable damage. Same saying goes for memory cards. Better quality photos consume more space and, hence, additional memory cards should also be kept.

Tip #3: Selection of your equipment

Being equipped with proper and necessary equipment is as important as carrying extra batteries and memory cards. For instance a tripod stand would be extremely handy and helpful for shooting during the ceremony as it will allow you pristine photos eliminating the jerk of hand which would otherwise blur the photo.

Tip #4: Editing

Digital photography puts you in a position to correct the photos up to some extent after being shot. The correction includes cropping of un-wanted elements, red-eye removal, brightness, color and contrast management, etc. All this is possible due to the availability of latest picture–editing software.

Tip #5: Saving of photo and different file formats

There are various file formats available for saving the photos. These formats will vary the picture quality and will also affect it being manipulated for different purposes like correction etc. JPG (also known jpeg) is capable of saving very high quality images and has its merits over other formats like GIF.

The problem with the digital wedding photography like other types of photography is that you won’t get another chance to shoot the same photo again. An error of even the slightest sort would be a blemish over the otherwise memorable photo. Take your time and use the previously mentioned tips, and you should be able to take great photographs and save money in the process.

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People Photography : 10 Tips

The photographs of people that usually get the best reaction from family and friends.So without further ado - 10 tips for better people photography or portrait photography.

1.Focus Points – One is better than many.
Modern digital cameras have a number of focus points that helps the autofocus lock on to the subject. For portrait photography, having a large number of points can be more a hindrance than a help. When using all the points, the camera will make a guesstimate based on the average of all the points. Sometimes this will work well, sometimes it won’t and you’ll be left with your subject out of focus and something in the background/foreground in focus. Not what you want. Instead, select one focus point only – usually done with a dial on the camera, check your manual for how to set it. The center point is the strongest, so use that one to lock your focus on what you want, not what the camera thinks you want.

2.Focus On The Eyes
I’ve mentioned this before – the eyes are the most important part of a portrait. If they are sharp and in focus, the rest of the picture can be out of focus and it’ll still look good. Point the center focus point from 1. at the eyes, lock the focus and then recompose as necessary.

3. Shoot At Large Apertures
The aperture or f-stop is what controls the amount of light reaching the sensor. A large aperture is, sometimes confusingly, the smallest f-number. F2.8 is a larger f-stop than f16. It lets more light in, and has a shallower depth-of-field. When we set the aperture to its widest (eg f2.8), it’s known as shooting wide open. It gives a pleasing out-of-focus effect (bokeh) in the background away from the critical point, which results in pleasing portraits. The viewers’ eye is directed to the subject not the background.

4. Shoot At 70mm or Longer
At shorter focal lengths than 70mm, distortion starts to occur. It’s not really noticeable until you are below 50mm so you have a bit of leeway. If you shoot a frame-filling portrait with a wide-angle lens, your subject’s head is going to look strangely large due to the distortion. The classic portrait lengths are between 80mm and 135mm but anything from 70mm to 200mm will look good.

5. Shoot RAW
There’s really no point buying a DSLR or high-end digicam if you then go and do all your shooting in JPG. Shooting in RAW captures all the image data. Shooting in JPG means you are throwing away all but the basic data. If you make any kind of error while shooting, you can often still get usable images out of a RAW file. If you try and edit a JPG, you’ll just make things worse. If your white balance is off (or you want to creatively change it), you can with RAW. You can’t with JPG. A RAW file will be 12 or 14 bit. JPG is 8 bit. And so on.

6. Shoot In The Shade
The last place you want to be shooting is in direct sunlight. It’s harsh, it creates hard, directional shadows and it’s not at all flattering to your subject. Move into the shade and you’ll get smooth, even shadows and softer light.

7. Cloudy Days Are Your Best Friend
Professional studio photography spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on softboxes, umbrellas and other light modifiers in an effort to create soft, even light. Nature also provides soft light and best of all, it’s free. Cloudy, overcast days are the people photographers best friend. Cloud cover can help enrich the colors and create smooth, flattering shadows.

8. Learn Sunny 16
Sunny 16 is a rule of thumb for determining exposure. It’ll give you a baseline to work with. Sunny 16 simply says that on a sunny day, with your aperture value set to ƒ16, your

shutter speed will be the inverse of the current ISO speed. For example, if your camera is set to ISO 100, and your aperture value is ƒ16, your shutter speed will be 1/100th of a second. On a cloudy day (or when in the shade) you simply use ƒ8 instead.

9. Watch Your Background
Pay attention to what’s going on around the edges of the frame. The last thing you want is trees or power poles appearing to grow out of your subjects head, or power lines coming from their ears. The internet is full of funny picture websites that show people in the background making funny faces, mooning or giving the finger behind the subject. Don’t let your photo turn into something like that.

10. Never, Ever Use On-Camera Flash
Probably the worst possible thing you can do when taking a photo of a person (or anything for that matter) is to use on-camera flash. This can not be repeated enough. National Geographic photographer Joe McNally says it best, “Straight flash is disaster light. Use it at 3:00am, with bodies on the highway and nothing to bounce off”. It is the most unflattering light – you are literally throwing light at the subject and instead of making a photograph, you’re making a copy. Doing something as simple as holding the flash at arms length in your left hand while holding the camera in your right hand can make all the difference.

So there we have it. Ten simple tips for improving your people shots while you are traveling. Get out there and give these tips a go and you’ll see a marked improvement in your pictures in no time at all. Happy shooting.

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Basic Photography Tips - Rule of Thirds in Composition

The rule of thirds is one of the most basic composition inphotography. The rule of thirds makes use of a natural phenomena of thehuman eye to be more strongly drawn towards some parts of an image. 

What is the Rule of Thirds?

 

The rule of thirds is an imaginary tic-tac-toe board is drawn acrossan image to break it into nine equal squares. The four points wherethese lines intersect are strongest focal points. The lines themselvesare the second strongest focal points.

 
How Do I Use It?

To use the rule of thirds you need to imagine the grid on all of yourimages as you compose them in the viewfinder. If you have an autofocuscamera You can use the autofocus points as references to help youimaging the grid. If you use an LCD screen to compose your images youcan make a rule of thirds grid out of a clear sheet of window clingmaterial. Another option is to draw the grid on your viewfinder (notlens) although this may not be easily removed and should be avoided ifat all possible. With a little practice you will be able toeffectively imagine the grid placement as you shoot.

Does it Matter Which Point I Us?

 

Which point or line you place your subject on does matter. While anyof the points/lines will add emphasis to your subject, some arestronger than others.

When an object is alone in an image, the strongest position is theleft hand line. An exception to this is for cultures where informationis read right to left, in those cases the right hand line will bes trongest.

When a subject is not alone there is a hierarchy of image strength.The subject in the foreground will naturally have more strength thanthe subject in the background. However, the rule of thirds placementcan emphasize or reduce this strength. The bottom right point is thestrongest for multiple subjects and the upper left point is theweakest. This theory is often used in movies to convey the emotionaldominance of one character over another. Placing a background subjecton the right and the foreground subject on the left will confuse theeye and lead to confusion in the viewer about which subject isdominant. This technique is very useful for emotionally-chargedimages.

Another general rule (although this rule can be broken in certaincircumstances) is that your subject should be placed on the oppositeline of the direction your subject is looking towards. For example, aportrait where the subject is looking to the left should place thesubject body on the right.

How Does the Rule of Thirds Work in Portraits?

While most good portraits appear to be simply a centered torso theyare following the rule of thirds. In the case of single portraits, thesubject's eyes are placed along the top rule of third line. Inmultiple subject portraits the subject faces are placed on the rule ofthirds lines. This is why a multiple-row posing generally works betterthan a one-row posing.

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Portrait Photographt : Tips Do & Don't

DO reserve a session with your photographer early in the season since their schedules can be booked months in advance.

DON'T wait too long...many high school yearbook deadlines are as early as October, so consider scheduling a session during late summer, before the school year begins.

DO pick a myriad of scenic backgrounds for your senior portraits - think wooded areas, old buildings with intricate architecture, railroad tracks, lush greenery, etc. DON'T choose locations that have busy and really detailed backdrops that can detract from you as the focus.

DO opt to wear a variety of different outfits, both casual and dressy, especially if you will be shooting photos outdoor. If you are involved in school sports or activities, consider wearing your uniform (i.e. letter jacket or cheerleading uniform). You'll get a wide variety of photos to choose from.

DON'T clash with your surroundings. Avoid wearing loud, busy patterns and wording on your clothing - it distracts from you. Stick with solid, flattering hues such as neutrals, blues, and reds.

DO stick with your own, natural look to achieve the best photographs.

DON'T try out a new look! You'll end up with photos that look nothing like you! Boys should avoid getting a new haircut right before the shoot and girls should not try new hairstyles or makeup for the pictures.

DO relax! If you are comfortable, relaxed, and enjoying yourself, your personality and happiness will show beautifully in the portraits.

DON'T stress over blemishes, tan lines, and other minor imperfections - most studios can easily erase flaws during the touch-up process.

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UNDERSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHY : F-STOPS

Are you having trouble understanding the whole concept of f-stops? If you are, then you are not alone. When you buy a shinynew SLR for the .rst time, there is a bombardment of technical information for you to get your head around. In this article I willexplain what you need to know in order to get an understanding of f-stops. It takes time and practice to get to grips with whichf-stop to use for the type of image you want to create.

First of all, before I begin, I will define some termswhich I will be using in this article, to give you abetter understanding of their meaning:
Diaphragm: The device in the lens which controls theamount of light entering the lens.
F-stop: The size of the opening in the diaphragm ofthe lens, each different f-stop allows a certain amount of light to enter the lens.
Depth of Field (DOF): The amount of area in or out of focus in an image.
Aperture: The opening in the diaphragm which allows the light to enter.
Shutter Speed: The length of time the shutter remains open in your camera.
Exposure: The aperture and shutter speed combined.

So now, once you understand the different terms, on your camera each f-stop will be represented as a number, depending on your lens, and they can vary greatly.

The smaller the number the larger the aperture, or opening. Each f-stop increases or decreases the amount of light entering the lens by a magnitude two times. These f numbers increase by the followingincrements:
f1.0, f1.4, f2.0, f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, f22, f32,f45, f64, f90
For this tutorial, let’s begin at f5.6 and go up as far as f45.

Remember that as the size of the number increases the smaller the aperture in the diaphragm is, and therefor, the less light is being let into the camera. So, f5.6 allows x2 as much light enter the lens as f8, this means that f8 allows x2 as much light in as f11, and so on.
Each f-stop (if your camera/lens allows) can be divided into 1/3 or ½ stop increments, which are as follows:
(1/3 stops): f5.6, f6.3, f7.1, f8, f9, f10, f11, f13, f14, f16, f18, f19, f22
(1/2 stops) f5.6, f6.7, f8.0, f9.5, f11, f13, f16, f19, f22

The largest f-stop on your lens (in this example) f5.6, will be allowing the most light into the camera (since the apateure opening will be larger), and you will also have the shallowest depth of field. This means that when you are focused on the main subject you want to photograph, the objects on front or behind it will remain out of focus, dependingon how far they are from the main subject. As the f-stops decrease (remember, the f numbers get bigger but the aperture size decreases), the surrounding objects become sharper.

Let’s have a look at a real-world practical example to get a better understanding of this. Take two similar objects place them on a table, one being about 12" on front of the other, making sure that they are both visible in your viewfinder. Mounting your camera on a tripod would be of great benefit to keep the camera still and in the same position throughout. Once you have all the preparations complete, focus on the front subject for each shot. Set your camera to an aperture of f5.6 and do a light reading to determine the shutter speed (the built in light meter in the camera will be able to do this for you). If there is not enough light at this point, you can increase the shutter speed time; conversely if there is too much light, you can decrease the shutter speed time.

To demonstrate the effect of fstops affecting the depth of field (DOF) you will need to take about 5 photographs of the subjects. The first image should be taken at f5.6, the second at f8.0, the third at f11, fourth at f16, and fifth photo at f22.

You will notice that as you decrease the f-stops the shutter speed will double, for instance if you photographed the first image at 1/500th/sec. f5.6, for your second image (f8.0) the shutter speed will have doubled to 1/250th/sec, this is because the size of the aperture has decreased by half, f11 would end up
1/125th/sec, f8 1/60th/sec.

A camera (held by hand) at 1/60th will be shaky, unless you have a steady hand, so if you can avail of a tripod I would recommend you use it for more clear and sharp images. For each of the photographs, note the f-stop used and the shutter speed. Once you have photographed the subjects at the 5 different exposures, load the images up onto your PC or Mac, or if you used film, use up the roll before you get them printed.

Once you are able to view the images and identify which image goes with which exposure (which you noted earlier in the project!), you will notice a slight difference between the first image (f5.6) and the second image (f8) having the background subject more sharp than that in the first image. Then compare images where both the subject in the foreground and the background are sharp.

To get the full benefit of f-stops and DOF (Depth of Field) you will need to
understand the basics of the built in light meter in your camera.

In most digital and film SLR’s, the lightmeter is represented as the following
on both the LCD screen and whenyou look into the viewfinder:
-2..-1..{ }..+1..+2
•

The ‘•’ represents the current lightreading. If it is positioned in the centre ‘{ }’ it means that the camera is set to the correct exposure for the given amount of light. Should the ‘•’ be positioned under the -2, -1, +1, +2 this means that the camera is set one or two f-stops under or over, for the ideal exposure. So when you are out photographing, for instance if you have your camera set to f11 and the light meter marker is at -1, change the f-stop to f8 to open up the aperture, likewise if the marker is at +1, change the f-stop to f16.

Additionally, it is also good practice to take photographs one stop under, one stop over, and one at the correct exposure This way, you can view the results and see which image has the best exposure on screen or when printed; this is called bracketing. Bracketing gives you some lee-way if the lighting conditions are tricky or you are using the flash. Some camera models have an "auto-bracketing" mode, which automatically takes 3 (or sometimes even 5) photos at various f-stop intervals, so that you can later choose the photo with the most pleasing exposure.

It should also be noted that the built in light meter in your SLR is not accurate 100% of the time, as it generally just takes an average light reading. Hand held light meters are much more accurate as you can do readings on various areas on your subject.

To get more in depth on the subject of light readings, the two small dots between each number ( -2..- 1..{}..+1..+2) represent 1/3 stops. If there was only one dot between each number, this would mean that they were representing ½ stops.

I hope that this article has shed some light (no pun intended!) on the subject of f-stops and exposures. It takes time and practice to fully come to grips with lighting, shutter speeds, depth of field etc... Many people might think that it is not very important to know these things (since your camera may have a full-auto setting). However, in the long run, as you get more and more accustomed to using the manual settings in your camera, the more you will enjoy the wonderful art of photography. The results won’t come immediately, but keep your mind on the task at hand and you might just be impressed with what you come up with!

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Portrait Photography Tips and Tricks

Portrait Lesson 1
When shooting professional portraits of people, always take three different photographs - a head shot, a head-and-shoulders shot and a full-length shot.

Focus on the eyes, pay attention to the pose and body language, and compose with care.

Also, shoot both horizontal and vertical frames. This way you will have several options to choose from, and you can decide at leisure which frame works best.

Photographs are taken by Nikon D700, no Strobe, no Flash. Portraits are taken in natural day light.

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Portrait Photography Tips and Tricks

Lesson 2 : Include the Surroundings
Portraits need not be resticted to closeups and mid-level shot.You can shoot the person in a space that reflects his or her personality.

Alternatively, instead of shooting people at their workplace, you can also shoot them in an environment they love. It could be their favourite park, promenade or a particular corner of their house.

Use a wider frame so that the surroundings are included in the frame.It is advisable to use a narrow aperture like f/8 or f/11 increase the depth of field.

all photographs are taken by Nikon D700

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