Photography: Finding the light
Photography: Finding the light
I've been so inspired by the various photographers at seminars and magazine articles, telling everyone to just look for the light and to find the light. So many photographers just use available light, and make the rest of us who aren't blessed with perfect light like they have in la-la-land, feel so inadequate. It is our failing as photographers if we can't find the light and use it properly. I felt I had to rise up to this and push myself as a photographer, and just look for the light. It is there to be found! Inspired like that, I approached Read more inside...Using the histogram to determine exposure
How to use the camera's histogram for exposure metering
Histograms display the relative levels of the darker to brighter tones. As the histogram stands, it isn't of much direct use to us, since the tonality of the scene that was captured will dictate what the histogram shows us .. without a direct indication of whether exposure is correct. Some will say that a histogram should have an even bell-shaped curve, but this is too simplistic. A light toned subject against a white wall will show a much different histogram that a dark toned subject against a dark wall .. even though the Read more inside...Flash photography & Fireworks
Photographing fireworks, using flash
Generally, you wouldn't use flash to photography fireworks. But when you have someone in the foreground, then it becomes useful to have your subject lit up with flash, to balance them with the background (the fireworks display.) Photographing people with fireworks in the background, is just an application of the technique known as dragging the shutter. I had the couple in an area where there wasn't much ambient light, so that I could light them mostly with flash. The strobe was a Quantum T2 with an umbrella, used in manual. My flash exposure Read more inside...Using filters to protect your lenses
Using filters to protect your lenses
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why using a UV filter on your lens is a good idea. Usually. Some times. The strange thing is, I have NO idea when this happened during a shoot at a reception venue where I was doing room shots and detail shots. Most of the times I was using two cameras, with the other one slung over my shoulder. At some point I lifted the camera to my eye and noticed rainbow colored diffraction patterns across the image. My immediate reaction was .. huh? My lens is THAT dirty? And then I checked and saw the actual Read more inside...Photographic composition – Tilted compositions / Dutch angle
Tilted compositions / Dutch angle
I am not a huge fan of tilted images, and I see it as an unfortunate visual 'tic' when I notice entire wedding galleries by other photographers where pretty much all the images are tilted at a very specific angle. That just means that little thought went into composition, and that composition and holding the camera has become a reflex action .. which just happens to include a 30' tilt to the camera. There is a rationale though behind tilted compositions / the Dutch angle - the balance of the photo. I tend to keep horizontal and vertical lines Read more inside...Photographic composition – Rules & guidelines
"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs." - Ansel Adams
Guidelines to great composition in photography
Most or all beginners tend to 'shoot' pictures - the camera is aimed at the subject and then the shutter is fired. The result is one of most common errors in photographic composition - the feet of the person being photographed are cut off and lots of empty sky or dead branches or irrelevant whatever in the top half of the picture. Also, the placement of focusing sensors in the camera tend to be clustered around the center. Especially Read more inside...Photography basics you need to know
Photography basics you need to know
I would say that 90% of emails that I get where people are unhappy with their cameras, have to do with not understanding the basics of exposure metering. This also means they don't quite understand how shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings inter-relate. "What general words of advice do you have for new photographers ?" The first steps in getting to understand photography would be: Know how to use your camera's light-meter more effectively. Your camera's meter is accurate, but do need to be interpreted some times. Get Read more inside...Bounce flash photography: Problem-solving by improvising
Bounce flash photography: Problem solving with improvised lighting
I received an email from Dr. Joel Studin in April '06, where he asked for help in setting up photographic lighting in his examination room at his offices. Dr. Studin is a renowned cosmetic surgeon based in Long Island, NY and he needs to do specific 'before' and 'after' photographs of his patients for his records. But there was a problem - despite guidelines from the plastic surgery society on standardizing photography, the results weren't consistent, and just didn't look good. Fortunately, I was able to help Read more inside...- « Previous Page
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