Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
Long exposure photography has many uses. Besides the fact that we begin to see it more often now in advertising (so it can make you more money) it also allows us to do many more things while unleashing our creative side by painting with the light. Here are a few reasons to make the world your canvas through shooting long exposures. [Read more…]
Shooting sunsets is something that isn’t as easy as one would think. Keep in mind that you can’t always be in the right spot at the right time to consistently be able to get those dreamy, beautiful shots. Also remember that sunsets only last for a little while at a time and that the sun continues to go down into the horizon until it isn’t visible anymore. With all this going against you, here are some tips for photographing those beautiful sunsets.
Shooting wide allows you to get a view of the entire sky. Depending on the timing, it can also show how the light is hitting the surrounding areas. If you shoot wide first, you’ll be able to fix the shot later in post-production where you can recompose how to wanted it to look. Most consumer zoom lenses close the aperture up as you zoom in. This can create an unbalanced shot depending on how you are metering what’s in front of you. In my experience, primes do the best in this situation.
Part of this also depends on your own positioning to take the shot. Similarly in shooting fireworks, your position to accomplish the type of shot that you want is critical because the sunset happens quicker than you’d think.
While shooting your picture, keep in mind your vision. Do you want the entire sky in focus such as in the picture above? Or perhaps you’d like the sunset to be nothing else but blurry and beautiful bokeh like the first shot in this posting. Either way, figure that all out is worth it in order to save time and getting your shot perfect.
Additionally, you may want to try a neutral density filter. ND filters allow for a shallower depth of field. If the sunset is above water, the ND filter will allow for a slower shutter speed in order to achieve a really slow and milky water effect. Other ideas could be perhaps setting your camera to take the picture at different temperature or exposure brackets. When it’s all done with, you can combine the photos in Photoshop to look exactly the way you want it to. While ND filters will slow down your shutter-speed, generally try to keep it fast enough to not get an overexposed picture or the sun trailing. Additionally, shoot at the widest aperture that you can.
Yes, despite the fact that you are shooting a sunset your viewers can know that you are doing it without shooting the sun. In the above two shots you don’t see the sun at all but you can easily tell that the sun is going down. Instead, the focusing is on different areas that work for the shot because of positioning and saturation of colors. Everyone that looks at those shots always says, “Nice sunset.” or something else along the lines.
A great example of this is what you may have seen in the news recently with the clouds. Every now and then, the sky will literally turn into a pinkish color that is very saturated and almost orangish-red. We get this every now and then in New York City and it’s quite lovely but also very scary too because you sometimes don’t know what is really going on. But if you just shoot the sky with buildings in front or trees of some sort you can achieve a very lovely shot.
Do you have some sunset tips to add? Let us know in the comments or feel free to share your shots in the forum.
For the dog lovers out there, you’ve got to be able to appreciate some of the expressions your dog makes and just how much dog photos make you smile. I consider my friend Geoff Fox, the meteorologist over at WNTH-TV to be an expert on the subject. Here are some tips from Geoff that I’ve learned and some tips that I’ve incorporated in from my own experience. [Read more…]
In my last posting on street photography, I talked about photographing the effects of the recession. This one will focus on shooting interesting and unusual moments that one can catch on camera: they’re usually called candids. The unusual is something that you’re taught to capture and search for in photojournalism. The streets provide lots of opportunities to do such things. [Read more…]
The streets provide photographers with some of the best places to take photos. The reason for this is because the streets are filled with the real people that we all care to pay attention to or just walk right past. Shooting these provide your viewers with the opportunity to slow down and see a moment captured forever. The streets provide chances for almost every type of photography there is: be it sports, documentary, photojournalism, events, portraits, etc. [Read more…]
Not long ago, Angela Datre wrote about concert photography and how to capture the essence of it all. These days, with the usage of the web and the distribution of photos so easily many bands also want videos of their concerts/shows to be shot. As photojournalists are taught, you should be able to use the skills that you’ve honed as a photographer to pull this off very well in addition to using and learning some new tricks of the trade. Here are a couple of tried and true things to remember when shooting performances that have been learned from making mistakes and to continue getting business from the clients. [Read more…]
Motion blur results from a shutter speed that is slower than would otherwise be used to “freeze” action or movement. Often times, a slower shutter speed is used when panning a camera with a moving subject and, as a result, the background is blurred because it is stationary. In other events, the camera may be affixed to the moving object (e.g., inside a car), which also blurs a portion of the scene (e.g., the roadway and lights). In some cases, it is the subject of the photo that is blurred due to movement – this works great with well lit subjects at night.
Motion blur, through the variety of techniques used to achieve this effect, is commonly used to convey a sense of speed, which is well-demonstrated in the following 7 photos.
Motion Blur Frozen by Mariono Kamp
Urbis-Deep Blue manchester by Manky Maxblack
November dreaming by mpclemens
whirling people machine by joiseyshowaa
“Going nowhere fast”, or my $800 picture by NathanFromDeVryEET
Do you have some examples of motion blur worth sharing? Feel free to join in on the forum thread for Motion Blur Photos or share your advice or thoughts on this effect and technique in the comments below.
“I’m not photogenic,” is what you hear from people sometimes, even if they know you’re a great photographer. There are people that are timid about their photographs being taken and sometimes we forget how to get around those problems. Here are a couple of methods that you can use to make people get over their self-consciousness and bring out the best in them. [Read more…]
No matter how excited we get, there are certain things we need to remember when photographing wildlife. This is especially true when you are looking for animals that are notoriously hard to capture on camera. Whatever you do though, you need to keep in mind that practice makes perfect and that perseverance will eventually get you that shot. Here are a couple of reminders for your reference. [Read more…]
Recently, I’ve been shooting all my shots without autofocusing and only relying on the manual focus wheel on my Olympus E-510. What I’ve discovered is that it’s making me think more about my shots, framing, and forcing me to concentrate more on achieving the perfect photo that I have set in my mind already.
In contrast, the world of commercial and event shooting has called for the “spray and pray” method of shooting. On top of this, your camera’s autofocusing may not always be up to par with your expectations and standards; especially in low light as is the case with the above photo. It was achieved with manual focus. [Read more…]