Beginning Photography Tips – Fill the Frame
September 3, 2008
In one of my college photography courses, one of the most helpful (and simple) tips I learned was from my black and white photography professor when he said, “If you’re having trouble with your photography, try getting closer.”
After thinking on this for awhile I looked back over my shots and saw that, for any given subject, I was backing up or zooming out so that I was sure to get the most content within the frame (frame, here, meaning the confines of your camera’s sensor, not the big wooden square hanging on your wall). To many beginning photographers, the concept of “filling the frame” means “fill the picture with as much extraneous content as humanly possible,” which is exactly what I was trying to do. The subject of my pictures was unclear because I had included a lot of its surrounding environment.
Digital Photography Workflow – High Contrast Effect from Start to Finish
August 25, 2008
Your digital photography workflow is important because it’s the process that you employ to create an image. Each step in the workflow is important as it makes each sub-sequent step easier and makes the overall workflow more efficient, allowing you to devote more time and energy to creating great images.
One key to creating great images is starting with a great photo and then enhancing the photo further in Photoshop. In this tutorial, I’ll explain how I setup the lighting and composition for the photo and then used Lightroom and Photoshop to end up with the final image.
No Flash Photography
August 22, 2008
Often times when you are at a public event, you will hear someone announce, “no flash photography, please.” A lot of people assume that they just can’t use their cameras because their flashes usually fire automatically. This is especially true when you’re indoors with low light.
Last weekend, I enjoyed an acrobatics show on the General Jackson. Before the show began, we were reminded that flash photography was not allowed. I grinned to myself, picked up my camera, and made a few adjustments that I knew would allow me to take great photos without using a flash.
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Beginning Photography Tips – Intro to ISO
August 20, 2008
ISO, otherwise known as film speed, is the foundation of the key elements of exposure. Your ISO setting determines how fast your digital sensor reacts to the light that hits it. The settings for both aperture and shutter speed are based on your sensor’s sensitivity to light.
ISO stands for–yep, you guessed it; International Organization for Standardization. Fortunately, we don’t need to remember this. For our purposes, “ISO” is just a short way of referring to film speed.
Off Camera Flash Photography Tips – Quality of Light
August 15, 2008
As we continue learning more about off-camera lighting, we need to examine the beam of light coming from the light source. How big is it? How close it is? Which angle is it coming from? How much did I pay for it, again?
Let’s first tackle the size of your light. It’s important to keep in mind that you should judge the size of light as it relates to your subject. If you’re shooting full-length portraits of someone, there’s going to be a difference between a “big” light source for that person versus what you’d need if you were taking product shots of cell phones, for example. This boils down to apparent light size; that is, the size of light from the perspective of your subject.
Photography Advice – From Beginner to Novice
August 13, 2008
Earlier this year, two separate things happened in my life that made me want to learn more about photography. First, my wife dropped the handy point and shoot camera that we’d had for a few years which rendered it useless. Second, this very same wife became pregnant with our first child.
So there I was, camera-less with our first child on the way. I couldn’t stand it. I talked it over with my good friend Bo (the guy who writes all the great photography and Photoshop articles for this site) and decided that I should get a nice digital SLR, a Canon XTi to be exact. That is how it all began; I had a nice camera, a strong motive, and practically no photography experience. I knew that I wanted to take nice photos of our baby girl (it’s a girl!), not to mention all the upcoming family gatherings, but I didn’t really know where to begin. The following is a brief overview of the steps I took to go from an absolute beginner to a novice photographer.
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Off-Camera Flash Photography Tips – Where to Mount the Flash
August 11, 2008
This article is a continuation of the previously discussed how to trigger your flash article. Once you have your flash and are able to trigger it remotely, now you have to figure out where to put the darn thing! This is a great question and you have many different options here. The method you choose will depend on the type of photography you’re wanting to pursue…oh, and how fat your wallet is.
Lightroom 2 – Better External Hard Drive Support
August 1, 2008
The release of Adobe Lightroom 2 is packed with tons of useful new features and capabilities. One note-worthy addition is the extended support for external hard drives.
If you’re like me, you probably have at least one external hard drive used as a back-up device or for additional photo storage. In Lightroom 1, all imported photos were visually clumped together in a often-confusing folder list. Version 2 of Lightroom gives us a much more meaningful and informative view of our photo folders and attached devices.
What is Focal Length Multiplier
July 28, 2008
If you spend any time reading through photography forums or blogs, or if you actually cracked open the manual that came with your camera, you may have come across the term Focal Length Multiplier. While this term does sound intimidating, the concept is fairly straight-forward.
Before digital cameras came along, 35mm film was a popular format. The majority of consumer-grade digital cameras available today have sensors that are smaller than 35mm film. The majority of these smaller sensors align themselves with the Advanced Photo System type-“Classic” (APS-C) image format, which measures smaller than traditional 35mm film (36×24mm). Therefore, by nature, these digital sensors are only capable of capturing a portion of the image that 35mm film is capable of. This is where the term focal length multiplier (FLM) comes into play.
Capturing Catchlights in Photography
July 18, 2008
Catchlights in photography are simply the specular highlight (reflection) of the light source in the subject’s eyes. This highlight helps give life and that extra spark to a portrait.
Catchlights can be achieved using any light source, even ambient light; though, you will have more control when using a flash or strobe. In these cases, the size and shape of the catchlights will depend on your light source and light modifiers.
