Digital Photography Tips

Successfully selected songs organizes all images, allows you to emphasize important in the scene or convey a sense of space. A very important element is the choice of location shooting. But also for building high-quality images, no less important is successfully obtained coverage.

When choosing the place of recording, the image is conventionally divided into three plan: front, rear and middle. Changing the position of the horizon line, and without compromising the scope, you can create different versions of songs. In every shot is important to select one or more composite centers. Most often these centers are the figures of people. Attract attention as a bright color or an unusual shape of objects. Sometimes the tracks converge in the long term use lines of different forms. Resorted to shooting against the light, or pick a contrasting background. Options are many and they all depend entirely on your preferences and ideas. Let us consider the most well-known techniques for constructing them.

Shooting against the light – the main tool for identifying the shape of objects. Often, by the light and the selection of successful color solutions photographer creates his own unique shape. The light is directional, diffused or mixed. Directional light often makes an image plane, so you should never neglect the shadows. To get the correct exposure, it is useful to make some shots, some changing point shooting. You can use the reflected light, but not necessarily from shiny surfaces, and from the subject. When you select this object, remember that many of the items reflect light, such as plant leaves, or clothing.

Scattered light reduces the contrast. It basically reveals the details with the whole or a dark subject.

Let us consider the peculiarities of light at different times of day.

The morning associated with freshness. This state of nature successfully transmitted sharp transitions from light to shadow. Mood improves, if dominated by shades of blue – from light haze on the horizon to the shadows. Original drawings can create the sun’s rays.

Noon – is most often the sun over his head and sharp transitions from light to shadow. If you select a good point shooting, then when you want you can make sense of summer heat, heat, and even lust. Shoot in the afternoon, evening and at dusk is technically much easier for small contrasts.

By evening, first appear yellow tone, and after sunset blue. Lighting changes and the presence of clouds. Shadows are made transparent and take many forms, increases dramatically and the brightness of the sky. In general, in this time of day lighting is spectacular, we just have to be able to see it.

At night, the human eye can not perceive the full range of colors. Fortunately, modern digital camera is quite accurately convey shades even in low light. Try to use all possible sources of light – from the glare of the moon before the fire, as well as the reflection of the sky in the water. Images will become more interesting and colorful. Spectacular results when shooting makes lighting the fire, kerosene lamps, candles or matches. Moreover, unexpected results may be obtained by taking Bengal lights and fireworks.

Its features is an artificial light flashes. Its best used to illuminate the deep shadows, as well as portraits. Flash can achieve much lower contrast, and to shoot against the sun. In addition, since the flash makes short light pulses, then it is convenient to use to get sharp images of fast moving objects.

Along with light and shadow, a critical component of good photography are the colors and contrast. For contrast and bright image, usually allocate one main color or background with any spectacular spot, which can serve as a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the table, bright color car or even a significant portion of the sky. On the contrary, to take the picture more easily, do not usually include a large number of frame colors, and use one or two shades. Flashy colors can be avoided if the right to choose a shooting point of the incident light. If possible, use a shaded filter or change the shooting mode.

Incidentally, a few words about the choice of the regime. In operation, do not forget to set the correct mode and resolution of your camera. But digital cameras are different in quality and function. Therefore, the best way – to do more pictures. Learn, experiment, gain experience and … everything!
< Source: www.digitalfreephoto.com >

Preface
Online meeting text about the concert photos, I am struck by the number of “water” and a minimum of practical advice in these articles. And these “tips” are reduced to the obvious things:
* “In concert, there is bad light”
* “Catch the moment – objects are moving”
* “Look for interesting angles”
All this and so it is understandable. All this follows logically from the concept – “live picture.”
That’s why I decided to write this article. I want to tell you about the practice of recording concerts and how to really become a concert photographer, namely:
* How to get accredited photographer.
* How to remove musical performances.
* How to Handle concert photos.
How to get accredited photographer.
If you want to do some really interesting photos of musicians – accreditation as a photographer at the concert needed. In small clubs, and you may be able to get close to the stage, but on large sites without accreditation do not succeed. Yes, and a serious photographic equipment for the concert, as a rule, no accreditation will be carried by.
In fact, to get official accreditation to the concert is not difficult. There are many ways to do this, I will tell you about the most simple and accessible to anyone who has a desire to withdraw.
On the Internet there are a lot of “music news agencies,” or more simply just sites that publish reviews of albums, reports from the concerts and so forth okolomuzykalnuyu information. And very few of them – it is really the edition in the fullest sense of the word, ie paying decent fees journalists and photographers who have a permanent staff, etc. Typically, these publications – the famous “brands” in the media market and the website for them only an appendage to the paper version of the magazine.
Most online music publications work on the “enthusiasts”. Photographers and journalists working there either gratuitously or for a very meager royalties. But that’s why these sites are interesting to us and, in fact begin to cooperate with the publication of any person who really wants to shoot and has at least a small portfolio reportage shots.
How to do it?
I will not name names of Internet publications. Just because I know that many editors tend not to advertise how to build work in their publications. And if you really want – a simple search on Yandex you easily find a dozen such sites.
To begin write letters to the editors of several similar publications to offer cooperation. Of course, if you attach a letter to the examples of your work is a chance that you will respond immediately increase a lot. Then, most likely, they’ll give you a couple of test “targets” and if you coped with them, then more will have a normal partnership, you are able to “calling” to shoot musicians that you find interesting or editor will occasionally offer you shoot yourself. Accreditation for the concert itself, usually engaged in editor, you’re gonna be just informed when and where to visit and how you recorded in the lists of the press.
Such cooperation has its pluses and minuses.
The main positive point – is that all rights to the photograph remain with you. For publication on the site most often need only “thumbnails” of small size, original photos and all rights remain with you. That means you can sell these photos in a “serious” newspapers and, if lucky, get a good fee. Also the case that particularly great shot of fans want to buy.
The main disadvantage of such cooperation (except for the fact that you do not pay) is that at some concerts do not get accreditation. For example, at the concerts of world-class obscure publications give accreditation is extremely rare.
But in any case, cooperation with the Internet edition is a very good option for a young photographer. In addition to experience shooting pictures in the portfolio, you get a lot of new acquaintances and, over time, the dating will bring you new clients and employers.
How to remove musical performances
Of course, the very subject matter of “how to shoot” is very broad and deserves a separate article. But so far try to tell about the key moment of capture.
Arrangement
One of the most simple and effective compositional techniques with live footage – it is working with diagonals. Ie kopozitsionno when the object is located along the diagonal lines in the frame. When shooting rock concerts this song very often help to build two things:
Guitar fretboard stretching into the upper corner of the frame – a classic concert photography, which will never cease to be relevant.
To the delight of photographers, many singers have been actively moving on stage, giving the opportunity to build an interesting picture.
Removing the rock-punk-metal music is very important to convey the dynamics in the frame. You can use this compositional device:
Compositionally musician “coming out” of the frame. And it creates a sense of dynamic action.
But what happens when an artist is not “drive” music? Actions on the scene a little, the actor stands in one position. Then we can try to build the track, not only on the artist, but also placing in the frame stage lighting, as part of the composition:
In some cases, this technique works well:
Frame is built precisely on the artist, it is desirable to see more in the shot there was nothing distracting attention – other musicians or mottled background. While certainly all depends on the particular situation and the actor. For example sometimes in the frame can include an element that stands out from the usual concert merchandise – it may just make the frame more interesting. As in this case with “skull”.
Working with light
It is sad, but it was on the stage of light depends largely on what frame you get. No matter how well you do not “catch the moment” and build the track – a bad stage lighting will ruin it all. If a musician performs at major venues (such as the Olympic), and especially when working with them a good light directors – the problems usually do not happen. But when the band performs in a small club or work light directors is not as such … then a chance of making an interesting photograph is nearing zero. In my memory was a case where the presentation of one group in the club B-2 musicians performed without any stage light. The lighting was just the usual lamps illuminating room … But it is rather an exception, usually it’s not that bad.
The biggest problem of small clubs in that light there is not just weak, but the “monochrome” (I’m not expert in light of the terms, if anyone knows the name of such a light – albeit correct me). It turns out that the whole scene is filled with, for example, faint red light. As a result, make an interesting color or black and white photography is very difficult – picture is boring. There is one trick that may help you “paint” the picture. Try while shooting “dress” to the outbreak of a small plate of translucent color film or plastic, that is, do in fact an ordinary color filter. And then the light from your flash to add color to the dull lighting.
Note on the flash
Many concert photographers do not work with flash. In my opinion this is not correct. The flash is a working tool the photographer. And they should just be able to use. Of course, if the “peel” flash in the forehead with no good will come. But often, the flash can work well as an additional source of fill light. Try to reduce the flash output to step two and send it a bit at an angle to the stage – sometimes a simple trick can make the picture much more interesting.
Try it, experiment and I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the result.
Total points shooting
I think, to talk about shutter speed and aperture settings, a few pointless – you know which settings are suitable in each case, making a couple of test shots. Let me just say a few things:
* Often the concerts there is a choice between the noise and “blur” the image. Here of two evils to choose a smaller – noise. Since them, you can then partially removed during processing, but the blurred picture is much more difficult to fix. Therefore it is always better to put more ISO, rather than increase the shutter speed. Of course you need only raise the ISO if you’re already shooting at a maximum exposure for himself, at which the picture is not blurred.
* If your camera does not always equal to adequately work with the auto white balance, it’s wise to clearly define the mode, for example, «cloudy» – then color all the photographs will be obtained about the same.
* A very useful thing in the concert photos – monopod. A tripod is too cumbersome and highly constrains your actions. Monopod – a light and simultaneously provides good support while shooting. This is especially true when shooting large festivals, where after several hours of continuous operation appears banal physical fatigue. Although the monopod – a thing “for the amateur, there are photos, which is important total freedom camera in hand. At this point everyone chooses for themselves.
* Try to catch the moment when a musician comes close to the edge of the scene and photograph it with a lower angle. This will add “power” musician in the frame, such as in this photo:
How to Handle concert photos
Treatment in concert photography is especially important. At the concert, all photographers are working under the same conditions and the only way to make their work really stands out from hundreds of frames of other photographers – this is an interesting and high-quality treatment.
The main rule – always shoot only in RAW. About the programs for processing RAW files can be read in my article ‘Professional Processing RAW ». Here I will tell you about the main features of the concert is processed.
There are two types of processing concert photos – fiction and reportage. From reportage processing all clear – it is often batch processing, when the important qualitative result when a large amount of training. The essence of treatment is usually reduced to a simple paper with the colors (saturation, white balance), exposure, sharpness and noise. Quite a standard set of simple steps. Write about them here, in my opinion, does not make sense – this is already written not one article.
From an artistic treatment is much more interesting. Its essence is in the artistic presentation of the material when the task – to make a beautiful and interesting picture, but the work is individually on each frame.
Relatively speaking, the entire treatment process can be divided into three main parts:
* Color
* Light
* Details
Working with Color
The main problem when working with flowers – to make them “tasty”. That is, the colors should be harmonious, pleasing to the eye. In concert photography is especially important because very often in concert lighting is ruining all the colors. I’ll try to give you an example:
At this concert spotlights “thrashed” the yellow-orange teries, in fact just killing the color.
Most of the work carried out over the color in Adobe Lightroom, after a little fine-tuning in Photoshop. The main stages of work in Lightroom:
* To partially get rid of the orange-yellow flowers – reduces the color temperature of images, making it colder. Then reduce the color saturation.
* Slightly raise the contrast and brightness. Greatly raise the setting Fill Light – thus lightening the background in the photo.
* Then comes the individual work with the colors: deep red and orange to raise the maximum, and the saturation of yellow on the contrary – reduces to a minimum.
Working with the configuration of Luminance colors: red and yellow lift to maximum lift orange half the red and yellow.
That’s it.
We got the colors that they wanted. Then they can be slightly refined in Photoshop, but the basic process colors, we did it in Lightroom.
Here is another very telling example of working with flowers.
When competent work with flowers “delicious” image can be made from almost any photo, even when shooting conditions were far from ideal.
Sorry to tell in detail about all the ways of working with flowers in this article, the place is not enough … And it’s not about this article … The main advice I can give you – this experiment. Just change the color settings, shadows, saturation in Lightroom, and eventually you learn to do these colors, what you need. But Lightroom is good because it allows relatively simple to carry out such experiments.
Working with light
The biggest scope for working with light and shadow, of course, gives a B / W photo. Simply because when you change the settings of light and shadow, we can not follow the changing colors in the picture. This gives us a big advantage – we can make a strong contrast, individually darken or brighten up any area of the picture. To work with B / W I also encourage you to do basic processing in Lightroom, and Photoshop is individually brighten or darken the image.
But to start experimenting with simple things – such as the contrast B / W images, with proper treatment can get a very interesting result:
It is a detailed treatment of photographers often pay little attention. But through working with the details you can significantly improve picture and make it more interesting. Machining is most conveniently done in Photoshop, here are a few examples of what can be done simply and quickly:
* Try to focus on the eyes. This is a very effective method, and if you took a close-up musician can, for example, just a little lightening eyes and eye area, if it be in the shade. The main thing – do not overdo it. The best treatment – which is not visible, it must be completely harmonious with the whole picture. If done correctly – something simple to work with the Dodge tool immediately focuses the viewer’s attention to the eyes of a musician and will add photos of expression.
* Increase focus. There are two simple techniques that give very good results
o Increase the sharpness of the working Lightness channel color space Lab. This allows you to sharpen with a minimal amount of color noise. A detailed guide how to do it, you can easily find on the Internet.
o Not necessarily add sharpening to the entire picture. To avoid unnecessary “noise” can sharpen only the “key” places the frame – eyes, hands on the fretboard guitar, strings, visible items of clothing. Make it very simple – there is such a tool History brush, you can ask her to “draw” any processing time, which is in your History working on a photograph. What does this leave us? We can apply sharpening to the entire image, specify the History Brush work from this point on History (when we applied a filter sharpening), return to the History ago (that is, when has not yet been applied sharpening) and just paint with a brush on the sharpness of the picture!
* If you increase the sharpness of the most notable places the frame – it will create in the viewer the illusion of sharpness throughout kartinki.Esli you need to remove the noise, do it through a special plug-ins. The most popular of them – Neat Image and Noise Ninja. Quality of their work at times exceed built-in noise removal in Photoshop.
Unfortunately, in this article, I do not have the opportunity to write in detail about the processing of photographs – it would require too much space … Yes, and article received quite a different story. But most important is to understand how important treatment. If you want a really beautiful and interesting concert photography – the ability to handle you need.
Shooting Press Conference
Separately, I want to say a few words about the press conferences. Periodically removing the concerts, you’ll get at the press conference of musicians. Photographers often pay little attention to shooting pressuh, making the usual reportage, photography protocol. In my opinion this is not correct, since it is at the press conference you have the option to make an interesting portrait of the artist. Here are some examples of portraits made by me in press conferences:
The most difficult thing when shooting portraits at the press conference – to make interesting art photography in color. Since lighting pressuhah usually leaves much to be desired and get beautiful color in the photo (which is art photography), it is very difficult.
But successfully filmed a portrait of the artist can be a very high demand. So portrait Grebenshchikova magazine “The Bear” bought on the cover of facilities, and more recently publisher ACT has offered to buy a photo for the cover of Vassiliev his books (at the time of writing, negotiations with publishers).
Therefore, remove, process, and maybe you get a very interesting result. You should not get hung up on “protocol” shooting …
A few words on the downside
Unfortunately in Russia concert photography earn nearly impossible. I’m talking about the stable high income, rather than ad hoc fees. The fact there are lots of reasons, ranging from trace amounts of printed music to the lack of the very music industry itself. So what if you think you earn big money concert photos – most likely you are very disappointed.
But if you just like music, live performances by musicians and you are interested in trying to shoot concerts – then go ahead, most importantly the desire and will succeed.
< Source: www.digitalfreephoto.com >

Completely updated to cover the latest digital cameras and their functions

The field of digital photography is steadily becoming an increasingly popular and exciting hobby and profession. These days, just about anyone can take beautiful photographs after having learned the right techniques and gaining a solid editing know-how. This latest edition of the digital photography standard is completely updated with photos and coverage of the newest cameras and their features.

Packed with inspiring images and helpful tasks, you'll learn time-saving tips, surprising secrets, and invaluable instructions for creating stunning images with your digital camera. Indispensible techniques show you how to create better digital photos, prints, and photo projects.

* Shares full-color screen shots and numbered, step-by-step instructions for creating gorgeous images with your digital cameras
* Includes updated information on the latest image editing software and new cameras
* Provides you with useful and surprising techniques that can be used to make better digital photos, prints, and photo-based projects
* Features inspiring images and tasks that provide time-saving tips, cool secrets, and productivity tricks
* Takes your knowledge of digital photography beyond the basics

Go beyond the basics with these tips and tricks and take your digital photo skills to the next level!

http://hotfile.com/dl/57887978/1ba1192/DigPhoto100Simp.rar.html

Have you ever wanted to turn your photos into a nice looking calendar for display?


Or perhaps to give to friends and family as a gift? Well, this is all possibly with some simple steps.


Read on and find out how you can do this. It's really quite a simple procedure - anyone can do it within one or two hours.


All you need is to take some good candidate photos, clean them up properly in a photo editing program, then upload them into a photo sharing site for printing the photos into calendars.


1. Select Good Photos

The first step in turning your photos into a calendar format is to select some good candidate photos. The trick is to select your favorite 12 to 15 photos and place them into a suitable folder. Usually, for such a selection you can go by themes, e.g. children, famous landmarks or even seasonal photos like winter or summer landscapes.


2. Clean Up Pictures

Once you've selected the photos, the next step is to have them cleaned up. Remove any dirt or noise from the photos using your favorite paint program. If need be, you can also apply special effects to the photos using filters like sepia for a more interesting look.


3. Ensure Photos Are Large Enough

You then need to make sure that the photos you selected are large enough. Typically, if you intend to produce 8x10 inch photos, you need to have 1600 x 1200 pixels of resolution. I'd say that a 3 megapixel camera or above will be more than enough to produce such shots.


4. Upload To Photo Sharing Site

The next step is to then upload those selected and cleaned up photos into a good photo sharing site. A good one is Picassa which has options for printing photos into calendars. Usually the price of the calendar is not much, and you can choose to have it shipped to an address of your choice.


Conclusion

And that's it! Now you know how to select photos and create a calendar for sharing with friends and family. A calendar with nice, memorable photos makes a perfect gift. So do try this idea out the next time you're out of gift ideas. Good luck!


Learn to Take Beautiful Photos

If you want to improve your digital photography skills, you may want to take a look at Digital Photography Success. This ebook package comes with step-by-step instructions on how to take pictures of beautiful landscapes, people, nature, fireworks, night scenes, etc. Learn how to shoot professional photos - just like those you see in glossy magazine covers.

Every day we get emails from readers asking for tips on how to improve their digital photography and wanting information on how to make money from their photos. So we’ve assembled this list of five Digital Photography Resources/Courses to show some of the options available for online learning in these areas. Most are pitched at the beginner to intermediate level.
1. Digital Photography Secrets – a Free email course with tips on improving your Digital Photography technique from the people behind the excellent Digital Photography Secrets Book
2. Digital Photography Success – an introductory course on improving your digital camera technique and skills.
3. Profitable Photography – a very popular e-book on how to make money using your digital or film camera. Many readers of this site have purchased this one.
4. Pro Photo Secrets – Resources on how to use Photoshop – excellent quality and highly recommended as I’ve been taught a lot from these myself.
5. Landscape Photography – An Introductory Course in How To Take Great Landscape Photos – good for beginners.
Books

• Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera
• Mastering Digital SLR Photography
• Complete Digital Photography, Third Edition
• Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography

I hope you find them helpful.

Image by Romain Ballez

All the whistles and bells of the modern camera should, at least in theory, make crafting great images an easier and more straightforward process than it used to be – with all these exposure modes, focussing tools, picture styles and the like, camera manufacturers would like you to believe that it’s just a matter of squeezing the shutter and hey presto you’re Bailey. Certainly getting the tricky business of exposure right has become more straightforward for the technologically challenged – you really don’t need to know much to get some passable snapshots but what about if you want to take your photography further?

Photography is so very different an activity from that of even ten years ago. Good modern photographers need to be able to do so much more than compose and frame a shot, and whilst the traditional skills required for messing around with chemicals in a darkroom are waning, a whole set of new techniques are needed if you want to develop your photography to a really high standard. Here’s what I think are five key ways to make your photography shine:
1. Know Your Software

Hone your ‘developing’ skills to where you can take an image and get the very best out of it in your digital darkroom. This is a vital capability whether you want to be primarily a ‘photographer’ or an ‘image-maker’ and allows you to take greater control over your work so it’s the very best that it can be. This means choosing a solid piece of editing software and learning how to use it to its full potential. It doesn’t mean buy the most expensive thing and learn that – you have to choose something that best suits your interests and needs. Be prepared to change your mind.
2. Get the Basics Right

You need to know composition, exposure and how to utilise your camera to get the most out of it. It doesn’t matter much what camera you’re using, if you don’t really know how to point it then you’re going to struggle to get anything good out of it. Know your manual and what your camera can (and can’t) do. Study and understand phenomena like depth of field, focal planes and shutter speeds. This stuff can get geeky and bit dull at times but it will help you to understand how to produce a particular effect or look when you start to frame in your mind what you want an image to look like in its final form.
3. Be Flexible

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut taking the same kind of shots and processing them in the same way over and over again. Or just adopting one set of tools and failing to implement new ones as and when they become available. Developing your work means that you do need to develop the way you work. This means being conscious of issues such as workflow and how they impact on your ability to produce good images. Just like the dodo, if you fail to evolve you fail to survive in that will you fail to keep your interest in photography in general but you also need to be able to innovate and change if you’re really going to produce some impressive images.
4. Study Others’ Work

Art rarely develops in isolation, the work of other people can be key in helping you to develop your style, hone your skills and increase your knowledge. Spend time every day looking at the work of others, thinking about how they created a specific look or effect and work out how you could replicate it. An important tool for the modern photographer is networking with other photographers on-line or in real life. On-line communities such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr are a great way to get your work ‘out there’ but are an even better resource for inspiration and discussion. They even allow you to engage in collaborative projects which will boost your skills and experience substantially. In real life, you should check out your local camera club or photo-walk group. Interacting with other photographers in the flesh is a great way to learn new things and increase your engagement with photography overall, it might give you access to new shooting opportunities and equipment and will certainly challenge the way you see your own photography.
5. Practice

You can read all the books, internet sites or magazine articles you like but there’s no substitute for actually picking up your camera and using it. Passion for photography comes from the feeling of having created something unique and interesting with your camera – be that a single image, a small portfolio or an entire body of work. There is just no substitute for picking your camera up and pointing it at things in earnest and ideally, you should be using your camera as a portal to show others something you yourself passionate about. Having the ability to show something you love in a new and visually exciting way onlycomes with practice and thus practice is the thing that more that anything else will make your photographs stand out from the crowd. Go do that now!
< Source: Digital photography school >

Black and white photography is sometimes treated as the "poor relation" of colour photography. After all, why limit yourself to shades of gray when you can use the entire spectrum of colours?

In reality a black and white photo can often look even more stunning and captivating than the colour equivalent. Colour can sometimes act as a distraction in a photo, and removing it can help to re-focus the viewer's attention on the intended subject.

Black and white photography can be largely boiled down to five key concepts. Developing your familiarity with them will help you take more informed black and white shots, and the same concepts can also be used to improve your colour photos.

Shape and Form

When you remove colour from an image you can no longer rely on it to provide interest or a focal point in a scene. This may seem obvious but it can be easy to forget. By doing away with colour we also remove one of the most potentially distracting elements in a photo.

Shape and form become more obvious in the absence of colour. Image by Diego.

Form and shape are all-important in black and white photography. When looking for a good shot, look beyond the colours in a scene and instead focus you attention on the shapes. Arrange them in a way that emphasises the most interesting aspect of the shape, or creates an intriguing composition of different shapes.

Contrast

Without differences in colour to separate elements in your scene, you must instead introduce contrasting shades into your black and white photos.

Use contrast to help separate and define the objects in your scene. Image by gualtiero.

You can use contrast to help your main subject stand out - for example by photographing a light subject against a dark background - and also to add depth by including a variety of tones and shades in your photo.

Pattern

Many patterns, particularly subtle ones, often go unnoticed in colour photos, because the colours draw attention away from the pattern itself. Black and white photography gives you a much better chance of capturing interesting patterns because it focuses the viewer's attention on the shapes formed by the elements in a scene.

Patterns stand out much more when photographed in black and white. Image by Rishi Menon.

Texture

In the same way that patterns can be lost in colour photography, textures can be too. When we see a colour photo, our mind immediately begins to identify and label the elements in the scene, meaning that we often do not really 'see' the photo, but instead see our mind's interpretation of it.

Textures add a real depth to a photo, drawing the viewer into it. Image by Ronn Aldaman.

When we photograph in black and white, the mind no longer has that colour information to work with, and so pays more attention to elements such as texture, making them appear much more prominent.

Lighting

Lighting is absolutely key to a good black and white photograph because it affects all of the above elements - shape, contrast, pattern and texture.

When thinking about your lighting, consider how it will influence all of these factors, and choose a setup that enhances as many as possible.

Good lighting is essential in bringing out all of the above qualities. Image by Sean McGrath.

Side lighting often produces the most dramatic black and white photos. It picks out the edges of shapes and increases contrast by adding highlights, and the shadows it creates add interest to the scene as well as enhancing textures and patterns.

Source:  Photography Mad

Painting with light is a fantastic photography technique where you illuminate parts of your scene with a torch or other light, to add emphasis and colour to certain objects during a long exposure.

It is a very cheap and simple photography technique to try out, although it does take a certain amount of forethought and experimentation to get your shots just right. This trial and error is half of the fun though, and you will learn a lot just by playing around.

There are two different types of light painting, each of which produces a very different effect. They can both be used to create some striking abstract effects, and are a great way to exercise your creativity.

What You'll Need

• Camera - one which allows you to take long exposures, preferably with a 'bulb mode' setting. Set it to its lowest ISO setting and use manual focusing.
• Tripod - essential for shake-free images.
• Light source - either a normal torch or a small bulb depending on which type of painting with light you want to try. If you don't have a small bulb, try unscrewing the top of your torch to reveal the bulb.

Exposure Time

This is difficult to judge, so needs some experimentation. A good starting point is to carry out a 'trial run', where you start behind your camera and then run around your scene, illuminating the objects as you go. Time how long it takes you to do this, and then use that as a starting point for your exposure time.

It may take a while to perfect the exposure time. Image by rafoto.

If you have a lot of light painting to do, you may find that the illuminated areas come out too faint to make an impact. To get around this you'll need to split your scene up into logical areas and take multiple shorter exposures. These can later be combined in a software package like Photoshop or GIMP. To combine your exposures, stack them on top of each other in separate layers and select 'screen' as the blend mode for each.

Painting with Light - 'Illumination' Technique

This technique works well when there's very little natural light available, and involves using a torch with a wide beam to illuminate large areas of your scene at a time.

Use a torch to illuminate areas of your scene. Image by William Cho.

Open your shutter and then run around your scene, stopping to shine your torch on the objects or areas that you want illuminated for a few seconds at a time. You might need to take a few exposures to help you judge exactly how long to shine the torch for, but try to give each object in the scene roughly the same illumination time so that they all show up well.

Also remember to stay out of the line of sight of the camera when you've got the torch on or you'll leave a silhouette in front of the object you're illuminating.

Painting with Light - 'Light Streaks' Technique

For this type of painting with light you'll need a small bulb such as an LED torch or exposed torch bulb.

Image by Toby Keller.

This time, rather than shining your light at objects, you want to keep it angled so that it is always visible by the camera. Keep it moving through your scene and be careful with the speed you move at because that will affect the light's brightness in the final image.

You can either run randomly through your scene, weaving an interesting trail as you go, or you can use the light to trace the outline of an object in your scene, which produces a really interesting 'neon sign' type effect.

Experimentation is the Key

Whichever painting with light technique you try, it's very hard to nail settings such as exposure time at the first attempt, so be prepared to experiment. Digital cameras have made this exceptionally easy because you can review your results within seconds of taking the photo.

As well as experimenting with settings, why not play around in other ways, for example:

• Try using a combination of the illumination and light streak techniques in one photo.
• Use a different light source, such as a candle, match or sparkler.
• Use coloured bulbs and filters to give your light a different glow, perhaps changing colours for different parts of the scene.

by Derrick Story, author of Digital Photography Pocket Guide, 3rd Edition

You've heard this before: Digital cameras do all the work. You just push the button and great pictures magically appear. The better the camera, the better the photos. Isn't that right? Heck no!

The truth is that you can make great photos with a simple consumer point-and-shoot camera, or take lousy shots with the most expensive Nikon. It's not the camera that makes beautiful images; it's the photographer. With a little knowledge and a willingness to make an adjustment here and there, you can squeeze big time photos out of the smallest digicam.

To help you down the road to great image making, here are ten tips that will enable you shoot like a pro (without maxing out your credit card on all that expensive equipment).

1. Warm Up Those Tones

Have you ever noticed that your shots sometimes have a cool, clammy feel to them? If so, you're not alone. The default white balance setting for digital cameras is auto, which is fine for most snapshots, but tends to be a bit on the "cool" side.

When shooting outdoor portraits and sunny landscapes, try changing your white balance setting from auto to cloudy. That's right, cloudy. Why? This adjustment is like putting a mild warming filter on your camera. It increases the reds and yellows resulting in richer, warmer pictures.

Figure 1a.

Figure 1b.

 Figure 1a is shot outdoors in a mountain environment with the white balance set to auto. Figure 1b shows warmer tones thanks to using the "cloudy" setting and a pair of Costa Del Mar sunglasses over the front lens. (Canon PowerShot S200, Program mode)

If you don't believe me, then do a test. Take a few outdoor shots with the white balance on auto, then take the same picture again with the setting on cloudy. Upload the images to your computer and look at them side by side. My guess is that you'll like the warmer image better.

2: Sunglasses Polarizer

If you really want to add some punch to your images, then get your hands on a polarizing filter. A polarizer is the one filter every photographer should have handy for landscapes and general outdoor shooting. By reducing glare and unwanted reflections, polarized shots have richer, more saturated colors, especially in the sky.

What's that you say? Your digital camera can't accommodate filters. Don't despair. I've been using this trick for years with my point-and-shoot cameras. If you have a pair of quality sunglasses, then simply take them off and use them as your polarizing filter. Place the glasses as close to the camera lens as possible, then check their position in the LCD viewfinder to make sure you don't have the rims in the shot.

Figure 2a.

Figure 2b.

If your camera doesn't accept filters, then you can still achieve the effects of a polarizer by placing your sunglasses over the lens. Figure 2a is shot normally without any filtration. Figure 2b is shot during the same session, but with sunglasses placed over the lens. Notice the enhanced colors and deeper sky tones. (Canon PowerShot S200, Program mode)

For the best effect, position yourself so the sun is over either your right or left shoulder. The polarizing effect is strongest when the light source is at a 90-degree angle from the subject.

3. Outdoor Portraits That Shine

One of the great hidden features on digital cameras is the fill flash or flash on mode. By taking control of the flash so it goes on when you want it to, not when the camera deems it appropriate, you've just taken an important step toward capturing great outdoor portraits.

In flash on mode, the camera exposes for the background first, then adds just enough flash to illuminate your portrait subject. The result is a professional looking picture where everything in the composition looks good. Wedding photographers have been using this technique for years.

Figure 3. By placing the subjects in the open shade beneath a tree and turning on the fill flash, both the boys and the background are properly exposed. (Canon PowerShot G2, 1/250th at f-4, flash on)

After you get the hang of using the flash outdoors, try a couple variations on this theme by positioning the subject so the sun illuminates the hair from the side or the back, often referred to as rim lighting. Another good technique is to put the model in the shade under a tree, then use the flash to illuminate the subject. This keeps the model comfortable and cool with no squinty eyes from the harsh sun, and this often results in a more relaxed looking portrait.

Remember, though, that most built-in camera flashes only have a range of 10 feet (or even less!), so make sure you don't stand too far away when using fill flash outdoors.

4. Macro Mode Madness

Remember as a kid discovering the whole new world beneath your feet while playing on the grass? When you got very close to the ground, you could see an entire community of creatures that you never knew existed.

These days, you might not want to lie on your belly in the backyard, but if you activate the close up mode on your digital camera and begin to explore your world in finer detail, you'll be rewarded with fresh new images unlike anything you've ever shot before.

Even the simplest object takes on new fascination in macro mode. And the best part is that it's so easy to do with digital cameras.

Figure 4. Nature looks much different, and sometimes more compelling, at close range. (Canon PowerShot G2, Programmed exposure, spot meter, Close Up mode, flash off)

Just look for the close up or macro mode icon, which is usually a flower symbol, turn it on, and get as close to an object as your camera will allow. Once you've found something to your liking, hold the shutter button down halfway to allow the camera to focus. When the confirmation light gives you the go ahead, press the shutter down the rest of the way to record the image.

Keep in mind that you have very shallow depth of field when using the close up mode, so focus on the part of the subject that's most important to you, and let the rest of the image go soft.

5. Horizon Line Mayhem

For some mysterious reason, most human beings have a hard time holding the camera level when using the LCD monitors on their digicams. The result can be cockeyed sunsets, lopsided landscapes, and tilted towers.

Part of the problem is that your camera's optics introduce distortion when rendering broad panoramas on tiny, two-inch screens. Those trees may be standing straight when you look at them with the naked eye, but they seem to be bowing inward on your camera's monitor. No wonder photographers become disoriented when lining up their shots.

Figure 5. How do you square up an image in the LCD viewfinder so it appears "level" when you view it later on the computer? Look for nature's horizontal lines and use them as guides. Sometimes you can use the line where the sky meets the ocean, other times you can use a strip of land as your level. In this case I used the shoreline of a mountain lake to help me align this composition. (Canon PowerShot G2, Aperture Priority exposure set to f-8, polarizer filter)

What can you do? Well, there's no silver bullet to solve all of your horizon line problems, but you can make improvements by keeping a few things in mind.

First of all, be aware that it's important to capture your images as level as possible. If you're having difficulty framing the scene to your liking, then take your best shot at a straight picture, reposition the camera slightly, take another picture, and then maybe one more with another adjustment. Chances are very good that one of the images will "feel right" when you review them on the computer. Simply discard the others once you find the perfectly aligned image.

If you practice level framing of your shots, over time the process will become more natural, and your percentage of level horizon lines will increase dramatically.

6: Massive Media Card

When you're figuring out the budget for your next digital camera, make sure you factor in the purchase of an additional memory card. Why? Because the cards included with your new high-tech wonder toy are about as satisfying as an airline bag of peanuts when you're dying of hunger.

If you have a 3 megapixel camera, get at least a 256MB card, 512MBs for 4 megapixel models, and 1GB for for 6 megapixels and up.

That way you'll never miss another shot because your memory card is full.

7: High Rez All the Way

One of the most important reasons for packing a massive memory card is to enable you to shoot at your camera's highest resolution. If you paid a premium price for a 6 megapixel digicam, then get your money's worth and shoot at 6 megapixels. And while you're at it, shoot at your camera's highest quality compression setting too.

Why not squeeze more images on your memory card by shooting a lower resolution and low quality compression settings? Because you never know when you're going to capture the next great image of the 21st century. And if you take a beautiful picture at the low 640 x 480 resolution, that means you can only make a print about the size of a credit card, not exactly the right dimensions for hanging in the museum.

On the other hand, if you recorded the image at 2272 x 1704 (4 megapixels) or larger, then you can make a lovely 8- x 10-inch photo-quality print suitable for framing or even for gracing the cover of Time magazine. And just in case you were able to get as close to the action as you had liked, having those extra pixels enables you to crop your image and still have enough resolution to make a decent sized print.

The point is, if you have enough memory (and you know you should), then there's no reason to shoot at lower resolution and risk missing the opportunity to show off your work in a big way.

8: Tolerable Tripod

I once overheard someone say, "He must be a real photographer because he's using a tripod." Well, whether or not you use a tripod has nothing to do with you being a true photographer. For certain types of shots though, these three-legged supports can be very useful.

The problem is tripods are a pain in the butt to carry around. They are bulky, unwieldily, and sometimes downright frustrating. Does the phrase "necessary evil" come to mind?

For digital shooters there's good news: the UltraPod II by Pedco. This compact, versatile, ingenious device fits in your back pocket and enables you to steady your camera in a variety of situations. You can open the legs and set it on any reasonable flat surface such as a tabletop or a boulder in the middle of nowhere. But you can also employ its Velcro strap and attach your camera to an available pole or tree limb.

Figure 6. The UltraPod II is lightweight and affordable (less than $20 typically).

You might not need a tripod that often, but when you do, nothing else will work. Save yourself the pain and money of a big heavy lug of a pod, and check out the svelte UltraPod. Yes, then you too can be a real photographer.

9: Self Timer Fun

Now that you have your UltraPod in hand, you can explore another under-used feature found on almost every digital camera: the self timer. This function delays the firing of the shutter (after the button has been pushed) for up to 10 seconds, fixing one of the age old problems in photography: the missing photographer.

Hey, just because you've been donned as the creative historian in your clan, that doesn't mean that your shining face should be absent from every frame of the family's pictorial accounting. You could hand your trusty digicam over to strangers while you jump in the shot, but then you take the chance of them dropping, or even worse, running off with your camera.

Instead, attach your UltraPod, line up the shot, activate the self timer, and get in the picture. This is usually a good time to turn on the flash to ensure even exposure of everyone in the composition (but remember that 10 foot flash range limit!). Also, make sure the focusing sensor is aimed at a person in the group and not the distant background, or you'll get very sharp trees and fuzzy family members.

Self timers are good for other situations, too. Are you interested in making long exposures of cars driving over the Golden Gate Bridge at dusk? Once again, secure your camera on a tripod, then trip the shutter using the self timer. By doing so, you prevent accidental jarring of the camera as you initiate the exposure.

10. Slow Motion Water

I come from a family where it's darn hard to impress them with my artsy pictures. One of the few exceptions happened recently when my sister commented that a series of water shots I had shown her looked like paintings. That was close enough to a compliment for me.

What she was responding to was one of my favorite types of photographs: slow motion water. These images are created by finding a nice composition with running water, then forcing the camera's shutter to stay open for a second or two, creating a soft, flowing effect of the water while all the other elements in the scene stay nice and sharp.

Figure 7a.

Figure 7b.

You can create a painterly effect with moving water by mounting your camera on a tripod and slowing the shutter to an exposure of 1 second or longer. (Canon PowerShot G2, Aperture priority set to f-8, shutter speed 1 second, polarizer filter, UltraPod II tripod)

You'll need a tripod to steady the camera during the long exposure, and you probably should use the self timer to trip the shutter. If you camera has an aperture priority setting, use it and set the aperture to f-8, f-11, or f-16 if possible. This will give you greater depth of field and cause the shutter to slow down.

Ideally, you'll want an exposure of one second or longer to create the flowing effect of the water. That means you probably will want to look for streams and waterfalls that are in the shade instead of the bright sunlight.

Another trick is to use your sunglasses over the lens to darken the scene and create even a longer exposure. Plus you get the added bonus of eliminating distracting reflections from your composition.

Final Thoughts

Most digital cameras, even the consumer point-and-shoot models, have a tremendous amount of functionality built into them. By applying a little ingenuity and creativity, you can take shots that will make viewers ask, "So what kind of camera do you have?"

You can tell them the answer, but inside, you'll know it's not the camera responsible for those great pictures. It's the photographer.