Proud parents (or grandparents, god-parents or simply someone who loves babies) or crave photographing babies the way Anne Geddes manages to capture their various moods to make them look anything from cutesy to absolutely angelic to positively precious and innocently mischievous? You sure are in the right place to pick up some cues from professionals right here! Continue reading »
Tags: Auto Focus, Baby photos
John Wood asked:
An unabridged version of this article and others can be found at: John’s Blog on ‘One Light’
Portrait photography? No problem! Just find a pretty girl, buy a flashgun, take her picture and hey presto you have a portrait. Butis it any good?
So what makes the difference. Well, a number of things do; the model, the background, the pose, the camera, the space, the camera, the lens and the light. But take away light and you have NOTHING!
So whatis it about light?
There is: hard and soft, bright and dim, small and big, white and white (yes white and white) as well as white and coloured, direct and reflected, fast and slow, front and side and back and high key and low key and last but not least, invisible!
One Light?: The truth is that there is usually more than one light because where there is light there usually is reflected light.
You can use this reflected light if it helps or insert gobos (black go between boards or flags) to stop this. You can increase the reflected light by using reflectors, expensive ones or shirts and white boards.
Hard and Soft: Simply the difference between the light on a sunny day and a cloudy day. Hard light gives dark well-defined shadows. Soft light comes from many different places.
Bright and Dim: A dim light to us can be made to look like daylight, simply by leaving the shutter open for longer. So in this respect there is no such thing as bright or dim light. That is defined by the camera settings. The camera can make the brightest of scenes look like it was taken during an eclipse!
Small and Big: The sun is the biggest light that we can use, however it is called a small light because it is so far away. But put the clouds in between us and the sun and it becomes the biggest light we can use.
Soft boxes turn small lights into big lights and are often 2-3ft across. Alternatives are to shoot through a white sheet or bounce off a wall. An umbrella can achieve a similar effect because it spreads the light all over the place and reflected light can soften the shadows.
White and White: To the human eye, white is clearly white; that is because the eyes is constantly adjusting and interpreting what it sees. Cameras are not able to do that to the same extent. Collect different sheets of white paper and take a close look at them - you will probably find quite a range of whites. The same variations apply to light. We would call them all white (non coloured) but in reality they are coloured or tinted in some small way.
Different lights produce different tints - fluorescent give a greenish light, incandescent give a orange tint, flash guns and strobes will tend not to have a tint; so whites look white to our eyes but some appear coloured to a camera.
White and Coloured: Taking a photograph indoors with flash and incandescent bulbs will give a mixture of white and orange tints.
I was taking an outdoor photo during the day with a deeply overcast day. I place two flashguns with orange gels and the photograph turned from a dull picture to one that looked as though it had been taken late in the evening with a lovely warm glow.
Placing coloured gels overa flashgun colours thelight and will produce different effects. Quality street sweets are famous for providing different colour wrappers that can be used for different effects.
Direct and Reflected: Direct light comes from your source light and usually has an obvious effect. Reflected light will come from any other surface that is not totally black. A coloured wall will give the light a colour tint. A shiny surface will give a hard strong light. A textured surface will give a soft weak light.
The distance from the source to the reflecting surface and then to the subject, compared to the distance from the source light to the subject, will greatly affect the strength of the reflected light.
Fast and Slow: What I am really referring to is the duration of the light, ie how long the light is shining while the photograph is being taken.
Daylight shines 100% of the time the shutter is open and a flashgun can shine for 1% of the time. In most cases though, you will get a combination of two lights; one shining 100% and the other a fraction of the time.
Front, Side and Rear: Choose the position of the main light. Each position will create a very different effect, from fully lit to silhouette. Reflected light can be used to fill in shadows.
Low and High Key: This is were the tones of the photograph are primarily dark or bright. The details of the subject are either blown out or in deepest shadow. Often the form comes from the outline of the subject. This is achieved by under or over exposing the subject.
Invisible: Infra Red is not visible to the ***** eye, but filters can be attached to a camera which allows that light to be picked up on the sensor or film. This can produce a surreal effect. Different surfaces reflect different amounts of infra-red.
So there we have it, a lightening, fast pass over variations with just one light.
All this with just one light; just think of the variations with two or more lights.
Explore my website to see some of these effects in practice in the Galleries. Explore making your own photographs with just one light.Explore, discover and understand.
Nikon DSLR Bargains
Below is a mix of some of my photographs ranging from Istanbul travel pics to cars,landscapes and abstracts.
Kiz Kulesi
We can get a glimpse of fashion photography almost everywhere we look on TV, newspapers, internet and all media. Dazzling women with long legs and tanned skin scream for attention on news stands all over the place. It is the fashion photographer who is primarily responsible to bring those photographers to us, the everyday people. Unlike what one often imagines, there is more to fashion photography than a glitzy life style, fun and happening models. In fact there is a lot of planning involved behind every single fashion photograph that we see. Continue reading »
Tags: Fashion, Photographic Style
Just the mere mention of “boudoir” photography and you immediately get the vision of sensual, elegant photos that leave much to the viewer’s imagination, and accomplishing the task of making him want more.
In the 1700’s, the term “boudoir” referred to the dressing and bathing room of a woman, complete with romantic furniture, floral arrangements and beautiful fragrances; the boudoir was a place for women to pamper themselves and indulge in feminine luxuries. Today, boudoir, a term derived from a French verb, meaning, “to pout,” has become one of the most popular forms of personal glamour photography. Continue reading »
Tags: Nudity, Wearing Lingerie
Landscape photography is essentially all about ones ability to see. No matter what camera you might have, unless the photographer has the ability to see the essence of a landscape, he or she will never end up with any images out of the ordinary. This ability to see, distinguish, and isolate the extraordinary from the ordinary, and then have the technical knowledge to be able to capture it photographically, is what separates the best photographers from the crowd. Too many people get obsessed with the equipment, and it tends to distract them away from what photography is really all about, which is seeing. Continue reading »
Tags: Landscape, Magic Hour, Panorama
Your wedding day is a day that will live in your memory for a lifetime; but it will also live in the pictures captured throughout your wedding ceremony and reception. Choosing a photographer for your wedding is more than deciding who you want to be with you throughout the day; it’s choosing the style in which you want your wedding pictures to be presented. And many modern brides are choosing contemporary wedding photography. Continue reading »
Ever wondered how a photographer is able to get blown up pictures of a frog that is less than an inch long? What about a close up picture of living tissue or a postage stamp?
There is no magic to how this is done. An ordinary 35mm. camera can do this but if the hobbyist wants to get down on things, using something that is 100mm. or higher is better. This art is known as called macro photography or “photomacrography.” Continue reading »
Tags: Macro
One of the most satisfying forms of photography, and one of the easiest to master is macro photography.
A practical way for defining macro photography is by the strength of the lens, or how nearby it can focus. For true macro photography, you’ll want to have a lens that focuses down to a 1:1 range. For example,for 35mm film,your camera has to have the ability to focus on an area at least as small as 2436mm ,because this is the size of the image on the film.After having the film developed,the picture of the subject on the negative or slide will be exactly the same size as the subject photographed. Continue reading »
Tags: DSLR, Macro, Macro Lens
Depth of field is one of the most important aspects of photography you can learn. Use depth of field well in your photography and you can gain immense control over the look and impact of your photos. Unfortunately, depth of field also seems to be one of the toughest aspects for beginners to learn and master. Continue reading »
Tags: Depth of Field
There are many photographers in this world who seem to favor landscape photography more over any of the other types of photography. Personally speaking I like it when my photographs have some element of life in it be it human or not, but I can see where sweeping shots of rolling hills, toiling seas and endless skies does have an impact on the viewer.
To my mind there are two distinctly different types of landscape photography around. That of the natural landscape photography, and that of the urban landscape photography. Both have their pros and both have their cons, and its really up to the photographer and their sense of imagination to get across to us a grand scene.
Be that as it may though, to get a decent landscape photography shot you dont need to travel to far and distant lands, in fact you dont even need to leave your home.
To start your landscape photography you can just take a ride on out to your back, or front yard, and have a quick go there to see how well you can make this everyday setting into something extraordinary.
Of course the fun with traveling to far and distant lands to get your landscape photography shots is that most of the hard work has already been done for you.
The scenes have already been set to perfection and theres always going to be some really great vantage point that you can go to, to take your pictures.
The trouble with going it at home is that you need to set the shot up for yourself. You need to see the good in your yard and you need to be able to translate that into something that doesnt look like your back yard.
Landscape photography is not an easy task, but it is well worth the try as you open yourself up to the vast array of possibilities and you learn to think outside of the box. So the next time you go to far and distant lands you wont just be taking the same old boring shot that everyone before you has, instead youll be looking at the various possibilities to be had from different angles and how you can possibly accomplish landscape photography.
Like I said earlier there are two types of landscape photography and natural landscape photography is one of them. Landscape photography of this variety is what you see most of the time. Shots of lightning streaking down from the sky, tumbling waterfalls, roiling seas and densely packed green foliage from the middle of a rainforest, weve seen them all and yet we keep coming back for more. We never tire of seeing these glorious photographs, just as we never tire of seeing the more mundane landscape shots either.
The ones taken of the more tranquil scenes, of ponds filled with lily pads, of gardens filled with riotous flowers, and of mile upon mile of rolling farmland stretching out into the distance as far as the eye can see. These all appeal to us and what appeals to us most is what we will also try to photograph.
The urban jungle on the other hand is not something that appeals to everybody. Some find it to be too stark and prefer instead the landscape photography view of nature.
But the urban jungle is a truly magnificent place in which you can get lost and take the most amazing pictures. You just need to know where and how to look. There are so many interesting sights that we take for granted and pass by everyday without thinking twice about it.
Its only when the truly inspired landscape photographer takes a look into this little world of ours and sees it for what it is and shoots it, that we also see the beauty in it. As you can see, and as you have seen in the past, landscape photography doesnt need to be only about Natures landscapes, it can also be about the magnificence of man-made landscapes as well.
Tags: Landscape
The growth of digital photography had made it feasible for everyone to capture the perfect moments of their lives better than ever. The big improvement in shutter speed and photo resolution, make it convenient and easy for both beginners and professional photographers to take good pictures. In addition, photo editing can now be done to create a more creative and artistic photos. Continue reading »
Tags: Fashion
They are the most expressive subjects. They grab attention like no other. They can make a picture look simply stunning. But…they are unpredictable, ask for immense tolerance and can make you feel frustrated. I am referring to Baby photography. Continue reading »
Tags: child photography, Children
All the major camera manufactures produce SLR cameras that can be built into complete landscape photography systems and the build quality is excellent. However, there is often a temptation to stock up on equipment; this particular lens, that particular filter in the belief that it will produce better images or make you better photographer. To a degree this is true but I would only advocate buying when necessary and buying the very best equipment that your budget will allow, this is particularly true of lenses. For me landscape photography covers everything from grand sweeping views to smaller details so a camera system that offers a range of lenses is important. Add a few filters, namely polariser and 1 stop, 2 stop and 3 stop neutral density graduated and we are able to cover most of the photographic opportunities the landscape offers. Continue reading »
Tags: Landscape
Lighting quality can make or break a photograph. Proper lighting not only provides the camera with the necessary visibility to capture a photograph, but can be strategically utilized to portray moods and effects representing a sentiment more profound than the image itself. Photography lighting is an inexact art, lending its eminence to the vision and experience of individual photographers. Here we will examine some common portrait lighting terminology and outline a basic lighting configuration for taking stunning indoor portraits. Continue reading »
Tags: Flash, Lighting Basics, Portrait Lighting, Studio
Tutorial on how to cut out an image in Photoshop and stack layers to create image effects.
Tags: Image Effects, Photoshop Effects, Photoshop Tutorial, Stack
Don’t you feel a little jealous when you look at photos taken by someone else and they look incredibly good, while yours are almost always bad? Some amateur photographers feel that everyone can take a great picture except for them. The fact is that taking good photos is not something you just have, but something you learn. Even a basic digital camera can take beautiful portraits if you learn a few simple techniques and keep them in mind each time you take a new photo. Here are some of the most common techniques you can use. Continue reading »
Tags: Portrait
