Minimalist Photography refers to the process of creating an image with a very simplistic composition. The photo is carefully framed to remove all distracting elements. Often the extraneous aspects of the scene are abstracted away, resulting in a photo capturing shape or form rather than a specific subject.
Improving the results of your photography is much easier if you have a plan. Sure, you can grab your camera and get lots of practice without a real plan and you'll no doubt learn some things from the experience.
But if you know where to focus your efforts and the specific types of things that you can work on, your progress can happen much faster. In this article we'll take a look at 10 things you can do if you're interested in improving your own photography skills.
A term that you might come across when reading photography articles or forums is that of Lens speed. This relates to all cameras, but you are particularly likely to see it used when lenses for interchangeable lens cameras are discussed.
Sometimes it may be mentioned that you need a fast lens, or that a certain lens is too slow. In this article we'll look at what lens speed means, and what makes a lens fast or slow.
One of the phrases you hear quite often in photography, particularly from a landscape photography perspective, is the Golden hour. This refers to the period around sunrise or sunset. Slightly less common is the phrase Blue hour, which means the period shortly before sunrise or after sunset.
Neither of these periods are precisely an hour, and their length varies with the seasons. But both periods are important to many photographers in the terms of the natural lighting found at these times of day.
Read the rest of this entry »Although most professional photographers use interchangeable lens cameras, many also carry a compact camera with them. Why would they do this if they already have a much more expensive, and presumably better camera?
When you understand how to use your camera, you can get professional results whether with a compact camera or a DSLR. Sure, there are some shots that would be very difficult to get with a compact, and easy with a DSLR, but there are also some shots that are easier to get with a compact.
IMG_0340 by Ole1981 on flickr (licensed CC-BY-SA) - compact cameras are small and quiet making them great for street photography
The camera can be a limiting factor, but with a bit of work you can turn out excellent shots from a compact camera (or even a phone camera).
Read the rest of this entry »Most of us don't live in areas surrounded by beautiful vistas. We don't have a list of models (or willing friends / family) that are happy to pose for use whenever we feel like some portrait photography. And you might feel that you don't really have anything interesting around you worth photographing at all.
While a beautiful location or model can make getting a great photo easier, they're certainly not essential. In this article we'll look at taking great photos of boring subjects.
Read the rest of this entry »Program mode is available on most digital cameras, and is often indicated by a 'P' symbol. It is a mostly automatic shooting mode, but allows more control over the camera's functions than fully automatic or simple modes.
I've already written a similar article to this before, covering 5 Mistakes Photographers Make, in this article I want to cover a few more common mistakes.
Of course, if you do these things on purpose (which you may have good reason to do - there are always exceptions to the rule), then it's not a mistake. But if you're doing these things without really thinking about it, then hopefully this article will make you open your eyes a bit and consider if the way you currently do things is really the best way.
Read the rest of this entry »Vignetting describes an effect where the edges of an image are darker than the center.
The main reason that vignetting occurs is that light beams at oblique angles are blocked at the edges of the lens. The blocking of these light beams could be due to usage of a lens hood, or it may be inherent to the lens.
Read the rest of this entry »Lens distortion is something that is common across the vast majority of lenses. This applies to both cameras with integrated lenses, and interchangeable lenses for DSLRs, MILCs, etc. Where a lens should capture a flat view, instead the view is slightly bent or warped in some way.
