Photographic Techniques

Flower Macro and Closeup Tips

2010-05-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Tip 1 - Don't get stuck in your comfort zone.

Don't cover the subject, smother it. What I mean by that is shoot it from many different angles and with varying distance from the flower. You would be surprised how many time your first choice for the shot does not turn out to be the best image. In this case the best image turned out to be a closeup rather than a macro. By the way, the "smother it" principle applies to everything you shoot, not just flowers.

Tip 2 - bring out the colors and don't blow the highlights.

When the opportunity permits, try shooting on an overcast day or when the flower is in the shadows. In that way you can create soft lighting which really brings out the color of the flower without those washed out highlights. If you want highlights and shadows without the highlights becoming blown out, try shooting in either the early morning before the light gets harsh or in the late evening. The above image is a morning shot.

Tip 3 Don't shoot straight down on the flower.

People often try to shoot flower macros from straight above the flower. This technique often causes a major problem because when shooting a macro the depth of focus (depth of field) is often very limited sue to how close you must get to the subject. So, I have a suggestion for you to try. Try shooting the flower from an oblique angle or at eye level rather than straight down. In that way you can get a very attractive composition and there will be more defining parts of the image in focus.

Conclusion:

Shooting macro and closeup images can be a real challenge, but the results are well worth the effort. There are a lot of additional tips I could supply, but I hope these few tips help you achieve the images you want. - Trone

Stalking the Wild Pelican

2008-10-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

Professional wildlife photographers routinely travel hundreds or even thousands of miles. They sometimes spend hours or days tracking their subject, or hours setting in a cold wet blind waiting for an opportunity to get just one good shot. Many wildlife photographers are very much like game hunters. Of course, they use cameras instead of rifles but nevertheless, the tracking skills and patience required are identical. Being a professional wildlife photographer takes a lot of work.

I admire that sort of determination and dedication, but that is just not my game. I am not specifically a wildlife photographer, however, occasionally I do have fun capturing some shots. The sort of wildlife shots I take are the easy ones, not the hard ones. As an example, near where I live Pelicans abound, so all I have to do is drive to the coast (about ten minutes) and start shooting. Obviously my title above was in jest, there is no stalking required where I live. Nevertheless, even though pelicans are relatively easy wildlife subjects, many of the techniques needed for good results are identical to those used by the pros.

For those of you who are interested in taking up wildlife photography, it isn't hard to get started, at least not at the entry level, but it can be expensive. The thing is, professional wildlife photographers use high quality telephoto lenses combined with top of the line cameras. Unfortunately, telephoto lenses that provide good sharp low light image quality as well as professional level cameras are pretty expensive.

However, by going with a few compromises, you can save a lot of money and still get good results. For example probably the shortest telephoto suitable for general wildlife work is a 300mm lens. Nikon produces one of the best 300's around and it is called the Nikon AF-S 300/2.8 ED-IF II, which is one very fine lens. F2.8 is a fast lens which will allow you to shoot in some pretty low light conditions while still maintaining a reasonably fast shutter speed, however, that lens currently sells for something like $4,500.00. I use a Nikon 300mm lens, but mine costs only about $1,250.00 and it is called the Nikon AF-S 300/4 ED-IF. My f4 lens gives up only one stop in speed and nothing in sharpness for less than one third of cost of its f2.8 brother. Now for me, that is a good compromise because I seldom if ever need a faster telephoto than f4 anyway. Another economical alternative is to purchase a zoom lens, as they can also produce good results. No matter which lens you want, make sure you read a review or two on it because not all lenses are created equal.

As for the camera,the professional grade Nikon D3x currently sells for approximately $5,500.00, while the D90, an exceptional camera in its own right sells for between $700 and $900 depending upon the lens option you get and it is actually more advanced technically in some areas than the professional version. In my case, I use the 300 f4 and an older Nikon D70 camera and I am perfectly happy with my results. As an additional advantage, because my D70 has a dx sensor, it effectively multiplies the focal length of my 300mm lens to 400mm, which gives me excellent long distance results. One day I am sure I will upgrade to something like the D90, but for now I have no complaints whatsoever with my D70.

One other necessity I should mention is a tripod. When you are shooting with a telephoto lens, especially in low light, you will need a tripod in order to eliminate the sort of blur induced by your movements while holding the camera. Therefore, a good solid tripod is a virtual necessity with long telephoto lenses.

Now go get out there and take some wildlife shots. - Trone

No Peppers

2008-10-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

I went back to shoot the pepper vendor's display, but he wasn't there. However, I am not giving up on getting that shot. I am going to be watchful for such a display in the future and when I find one I will get the picture.

In the meantime, I have some strawberries with no whip cream for you.

Unlike the pepper shot, these strawberries were in the shade, which made for much smoother lighting. So, while this shot is not stellar, it does demonstrate that shooting in the shade rather than direct sunlight is often the best way to go as far a lighting is concerned.

Back in the day, when I used to shoot film, this shot would have been a lot more difficult to get because things in the shade look relatively blue when photographed on daylight balanced film. However, now that I shoot digital, all I have to do is adjust the color balance once I load the image into my computer. I love digital!!!

Now go out and shoot something.

Trone

I'm Blocked!!!

2008-10-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

I went to a local farmer's market planning to takes lots of pictures. However, when I got there, I found little to inspire me. Oh, I'm sure there were plenty of good opportunities for interesting shots, but somehow, I just couldn't find any of those diamonds in the rough. The problem was not a lack of opportunity, the problem was me, I had the photographers equivalent of writers' block. Creative blocks happen to anyone, but they are still an enigma to me. I mean, on a creative day I can go out and find a virtually unlimited number of things to shoot, but on a blocked day, it's a different story entirely.

At the farmers market I decided, okay, no matter what it takes, I am going to come away from this market with at least one good image. So what I did was decide to shoot a cliche' shot of these peppers (see above). They were really extraordinary, so, I thought I could not fail at this one shot. As it turned out though, I still didn't get the shot. The sun was too bright and I had no diffuser with me to eliminate the burned out highlights. So, now it's personal. I am going back to that market next weekend and if that vendor is there I am going to get a good shot of those peppers if it kills me; cliche' or not!

So, please ignore my personal problem and go take some pictures. - Trone

Checking for Dust

2008-10-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

I was on a shoot a few days ago and managed to contaminate my sensor with moisture and dust. Below is an image of the contamination; pretty ugly. If you use a DSLR eventually you will end up with dust on your sensor too, hopefully not this sever though. If you want to check your sensor for dust, here is one way which is safe and simple.

Before cleaning my sensor, I decided to map the contamination, just to see how bad it is, and to my surprise it was pretty bad. After I did that check, it dawned on me that you may want to know how to check your sensor too, so here is the process I used.

It was a clear day, so I stopped my lens down to f=22, went out side and shot straight up at the clear blue field of the cloudless sky. Than I loaded the image into Photoshop and used "Auto Levels" to bring out whatever contamination was there and there was a lot. If you have Photoshop, you can do this check too. Just stop your lens down as far as it will go and shoot a picture of something which presents an even field of illumination without any detail. A piece of white board will work just fine. in fact, it will work better than the sky.

Good luck and don't be surprised if you find dust that you didn't know was there. I you do find dust, you will need to buy a sensor cleaning kit or have your sensor cleaned, which is the safest way to go. If you want to do it yourself, here is one site which has the kits and identifies which kit is appropriate for your camera.

http://www.copperhillimages.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=3

Have fun and keep shooting. :) Trone

Upgrading to a DSLR?

2008-10-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

Are you considering upgrading from a Point & Shoot (p&s) camera to a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR)? Well, if you are, then there are some things that you need to know before you proceed.

Back in 1964, when I first became involved with photography, I purchased a Richo Rangefinder camera, which was similar to our modern day p&s cameras, but without most of the modern day features. Within a few months of that purchase, I started wanting to upgrade to a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) in order to improve my photography. However, after upgrading I discovered my photography was not instantly improved. Rather, because I didn't understand how to properly operate the equipment, my work took a step backwards. Luckily for me, once I learned the equipment, my photography did improved over time. The lesson being, if you are not happy with your compositional skills or your basic shooting technique now, then buying a DSLR will not make those problems go away. However, buying a good DSLR will improve the technical quality of your images and it will afford you much more flexibility in sorts of photography you can pursue; those are certainly valid reasons to upgrade.

The above image was taken with my 5 year old Nikon p&s camera. The reason I posted it here is because many people believe their p&s cameras are a lot more limited than they really are. If you are shooting with a p&s and have not taken the time to fully understand its capabilities, then before you spend those hard earned bucks for a DSLR I suggest you read your manual in order to learn what your camera can do. You may be surprised.

If, after reading your p&s manual you are still planning to buy your first DSLR then here are a few tips. Once you buy a DSLR, it is likely you will also want to buy some additional lenses. Since each manufacturer uses their own unique lens mount system, as you buy more lenses, you will become somewhat locked into that brand. When you upgrade next time, you will need to stick with that brand of camera if you don't want the expense of buying lenses all over again. So, you want to make sure you buy a brand that has a large selection of lenses. Some manufacturers make sure their new cameras are compatible with their older lenses, which means you can buy used lenses for less money if you are on a budget. Some manufacturers are known for producing a good selection of high quality lenses. Whatever you do, if you are planning to get serious about photography, my recommendation is to focus on buying a brand that has a good selection of high quality lenses.

A couple of sites I can recommend that have good reviews of equipment are, DP Review and Ken Rockwell. DP Review covers virtually every camera in production today and many older cameras too, while Ken Rockwell primarily addresses Nikon and Canon equipment. I find both sites useful when wanting to learn about the various camera models.

Okay, one last piece of advice. Make sure you try before you buy. Go to a camera store and physically handle the models you think you might want. Learn how well they fit in your hand and how convenient the controls are for you to use. If you are going to buy from a brick and mortar store, don't buy the day you first visit unless you are really sure you know what you want, and do not allow the sales person to talk you into buying a camera that you have not researched regarding both technical issues as well as price.

Now, grab your camera and start shooting. :)

A Place to Start

2008-09-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

There is an old saying in photography, which goes something like this: If you don't like your results, get closer.

One of the things professional photographers do differently than many amateurs is get close to their subject. Getting close will draw the viewers eye to the subject by excluding unimportant background details. Another principle this image illustrates is strong photographic composition. Composition refers to the proper placement of the subject in the image. In the case of this image, the boy is not centered in the frame, which makes the image more dynamic and interesting. Also, he is looking toward the empty part of the frame, which creates another dynamic aspect to the composition. We will discuss composition in more detail later.

If you have children, pets, or flowers, grab your camera and do some experimenting. Try getting closer than you normally would for each shot and then compare your new images with ones you took in the past. Another good way to see how getting closer will improve your photography is to shoot a few shots the way you normally would, then after taking each shot move in closer or zoom in a bit and take the shot again. I believe you will be pleased with the results. If you practice this technique for a while, you will like the results. Also, as you continue to shoot this way, getting closer will become automatic, which is the ultimate goal of this lesson.

Snapshot or Image

2008-09-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

Photography means many things to many people. For some, photography means taking snapshots of family and friends while for others it is about recording images that tell stories, evoke emotions, or promote products. Please don’t view the above sentence in a negative light. I understand some people use the term snapshot in a negative way, but that is not my intent. To me, snapshot is merely a term used to describe a certain sort of picture.

For most people, snapshots are a way to record their precious memories and that is a wonderful thing. On the other hand, when one becomes serious about photography they must get past the snapshot stage in order to improve. This Blog is about improving your photography. If you want to go beyond taking snapshots, or if you are someone who has already gone beyond but wants to continue learning, then this Blog is for you.