Posts Tagged ‘Photography tips’ (Page 10)

A good way to create a strong photo is to make sure that the photo has focus. I don't mean 'focus' as in the photo should be in focus (though that is normally a good idea!), but rather that there is a clear message or theme to the photo.

A good photo should convey a concept or feeling that ideally can be summed up in one word. Though an image may have several different single words that can be used to describe it. For example, the photo below could be described as 'relaxing', 'serene', 'calm'.

Chillin' in Mono Lake by *~Dawn~* on flickr (licensed CC-BY)

Different light sources produce light with different colors. For example, fluorescent lighting often has a green tinge, while tungsten lighting is a warm amber. Our eyes don't tend to notice the color of light too much, as they automatically correct for any color casts to a certain degree.

But a camera records what it sees, and this is where setting the correct white balance becomes important. If your camera is set to daylight color white balance, then you shoot under tungsten lighting, you'll find the resulting images have a strong orange color cast.

Photo lit with a standard indoor energy saving CFL bulb and white balance set to daylight

When you set the correct white balance setting on the camera, it modifies the camera's color response. It works in much the same way as using the curves tool in Photoshop to adjust color. The white balance setting determines the overall balance of colors in an image, to result in an image with a neutral color cast.

There are many 'rules' of photography (I prefer to think of them as guidelines) that we can follow in the effort for outstanding photos. But sometimes not following the rules can result in a more interesting and engaging photograph.

Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't bother learning the 'rules' of photography, or that you should ignore them completely. Rather, once you have learned the rules, and how they work, you will then know when to make a conscious decision to break a rule.

• Bad: Breaking a rule because you don't know any better.
• Good: Breaking a rule because you want (or don't want) to achieve a certain effect.

With that out of the way, let's look at some examples of where breaking the rules can work well.

It happens to even the best of us, sometimes we just lack the motivation to photograph. Or maybe you still take photos every now and then, but they just don't seem to work.

Thankfully photographer's block can be cured quite easily. Here are a few tips to help you get out of your photographic rut and back to taking great photos.

A Physiogram is a photo of the light pattern captured during a long exposure photograph of a swinging light or lights. The effect creates beautiful abstract patterns.

Physiogram by Sylviane Moss on flickr (licensed CC-BY-ND)

Photographing a child's birthday party can be quite difficult, with the subjects being quite noisy and animated. However, it is well worth the effort to record those important memories for you (and your child) to look back on later, as well as great photos you can share today.

In this article I'll cover some tips to help you get some great birthday photos.

When we're going away on vacation, we like to get some great photos to remember the great time we had and interesting things we saw. However, sometimes we can't remember why we took a certain shot. Other times we can remember, but the photo doesn't really show what it was meant to.

Here are ten tips to help you avoid these problems, and get some great vacation photos.

In photography, it is important that the subject you are photographing is clearly conveyed to the viewer. In a portrait photo, you want the viewer to concentrate on the person, not the background. Going further, you probably want the focus to be on the face, and going further still, probably the eyes, or maybe the lips.

This is true not just for portrait photography, but for most types of photography. With landscape photography, there is normally a main point of focus in the image, for example a tree, the sunset, or maybe a river.

You can help focus your viewer's attention on the important part(s) of the photo by assigning the most important a higher visual weight. There are a number of different factors that are likely to affect how much attention a viewer pays to a particular part of an image.

Taking excellent photographs is far more dependent on the skill of the photographer than on the type of gear used. Just because you have a good camera doesn't mean you'll get good photographs as some professional photographers have been known to shoot with disposable cameras.

One of the best things you can do to become a great photographer is to get a solid understanding of the technical elements and how they interact with each other. Composition, contrast, color balance, depth of field – all of these things combined are what make a photograph unique, and without an understanding of each you may find that your work suffers.

Froozen leaves by mpcevat on flickr (licensed CC-BY)

With that in mind, here is a comprehensive breakdown of one of these elements – Contrast.