Posts Tagged ‘Photography tips’ (Page 9)

Filling the frame with your subject is a tip I've shared quite few times before, but in this article I want to look at doing the complete opposite. In some circumstances leaving a large area around your subject can result in a stronger image than cropping the subject closely.

Lampost sky by The Big Quack on flickr (licensed CC-BY)

Abandoned or forgotten farm trucks and other old equipment are a huge draw to photographers, both amateur and professional alike. These vehicles are often found sitting forlornly in a field or by an old rickety barn and they tell a story, sometimes an emotional one, that just begs to be explored and photographed. By using these fifteen helpful tips almost any photographer can guarantee themselves good (no, great) results when shooting the subject mentioned here.

Photograms are very different images to standard photos. Traditionally they were created by placing objects on a sheet of photographic (light sensitive) paper. The paper is then exposed, which turns the paper black, except for where the objects are blocking the light.

Photogram by aresauburn™ on flickr (licensed CC-BY-SA)

Objects that are translucent let through some light, and so appear in shades of grey, while objects that are opaque appear as solid white.

The effect of a photogram image can be replicated using a digital camera to capture the image, with no photographic paper needed. You will need:

Abstract photography can be used to create an image that conveys some combination of shape, lines, form, and color, without conveying a specific object or scene. A good way to find interesting abstract compositions can be to focus in tightly on detail of an object, rather than photographing the object itself.

With a close-up or macro lens, virtually any subject can be used to create an abstract composition. You just need to look at it closely, in a way that you wouldn't normally.

Close-up photo of a grater

In this article I'll share some ideas of good subjects for abstract macro photography, along with some photographic tips.

Photographing a family, particularly when young children are involved, can be a daunting task. The most important thing you can do to make things go smoothly is to plan as much as possible before the actual shoot.

Pre-planned shots can be executed quickly, which is important with young children, who can get bored easily. By planning everything in advance you can make sure the shoot happens quickly, and you won't have too many photos with the kids looking bored or distracted.

IMG_0064 by thebaphotography on flickr (licensed CC-BY)

In the previous article we looked at examples of when you might want to use manual focus instead of autofocus. In this article we'll cover how you can focus manually, with some tips to help you make sure that your focus is accurate.

The autofocus systems in modern cameras can usually focus a lot faster than we can focus the camera / lens manually. But there are some situations where using manual focus may be preferable. In this article we'll look at some examples of where using manual focus can give better results than autofocus. (Tips on the actual process of focusing manually will be covered in a separate upcoming article).

cannon ball by fRandi-Shooters on flickr (licensed CC-BY)

The most obvious situation when you'd want to use manual focus is when autofocus isn't working. When the camera can't autofocus correctly, or is finding it difficult to autofocus, you'll often find that the autofocus will 'hunt'. This is where the focus is racked back and forth between infinity and the closest focus of the camera, in an effort by the camera to try and find the point where the subject is in focus.

Most cameras will flash the active focus area in the viewfinder or on the LCD and beep when focus has been successfully achieved. If your camera is having trouble autofocusing, then switching to manual focusing would be advisable.

Exposure in photography refers to how bright or dark an image is. An under-exposed photo is one that is dark, while an over-exposed photo is one that is bright.

Most people tend to use an auto exposure mode on the camera, where the camera works out the exposure for us. For example, the Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Program, Intelligent, and Scene modes. But even if you rely on an auto exposure mode, it is still helpful to have a good grounding in how exposure works, and how the different exposure settings work together.

With today's modern cameras and image editing software, there is a lot we can do to rescue a poor photo. Images can be brightened considerably without ruining the image if the exposure was wrong. If we didn't pay attention to a messy background, we can fix it in software using the clone tool or content-aware fill.

But we mustn't let ourselves become "lazy photographers. Fixing a photo in software can take a lot longer than just spending a little more time to make sure we get it right in-camera. In this article I'll share a few points that you should consider when taking the photo, rather than trying to fix them later.

Auto bracketing is a feature found on most cameras that allows you to take multiple photos in quick succession with a single parameter changed between each shot. Normally auto bracketing refers to exposure bracketing, but it can also be used for white balance bracketing.

In this article we'll look at both exposure bracketing and white balance, what they do, and when they can be useful.