Zoo Photography through a Wire Fence

It has been reported that our local zoo has introduced several alpacas, which has arouse great attention. During the weekend, many parents will take their child to take a visit to those special guests. Of course, photographing this happy moment is hard to be missed. But trying to shoot an interesting subject behind a wire fence can be a challenge. So how do you minimize the impact of the fence in your shots? Here are a few quick tips:

Lion photographed by John Hodgkin

Switch to Manual Focusing. Your camera may not know what to focus on – the fence or the object behind it. Switch to manual focus mode and you’ll be in complete control of what is in and out of focus.

Get close to the Fence. Try to make the fence so out of focus. To do this one strategy is to get up very close to the fence – so close your lens has no chance of focusing on it. It may not be possible to be right up against a fence but the closer the better.

Use a Large Aperture. Choose a large aperture will help to narrow the depth of focus and will hopefully through the lens even further out of focus.

Wait until Your Subject is away from the Fence. If your subject is moving around behind the fence, wait until they are a little further back from the fence to take the shot. The closer they are to the fence the more the fence will be in focus.

A mandrill, photographed by John Hodgkin

Position Your Lens to Shoot Through Larger Gaps. This one isn’t rocket science but if the fence has largish openings you’ll do better to position these gaps in the middle of your frame.

Avoid Reflections. If there are reflections from the sun or other lights coming off the fence you’ll find the fence becomes even more noticeable. Try to find a part of the fence that is shaded – or get someone to stand in a way that casts a shadow on the fence.

Incorporate the fence into your composition. Consider breaking all the above rules to try that out!

Great Angles for Food Photography

Food Photography is very similar to photographing people in a sense that each person has her best side. Considering the variety of food out there, diverse cooking and presentation styles, the final results are endless. Here are top 10 angles for Food Photography from digital photography school.

Angle 1: Head-on Zen:

The camera is completely centered to the subject. This created a very clean contemporary look and feel.

Angle 2: From Above:

Camera is positioned directly above the subject and perfectly centered.

Angle 3: Lost in Space:

For this shot, food was placed directly onto the white plexiglass surface; a soft box was positioned below the plexi.


Angle 4: Tilt Towards:

Camera is tilted right, so the subject tilts counterclockwise and the dish is welcoming you in, motivating the spectator to indulge in image.

Angle 5: Tilt Away:

Camera is tilted left, so the subject tilts clockwise, pulling away from you, engaging the viewer the desire to follow.

Angle 6: Close up and personal

Don’t be afraid to get close to your subject. When you are shooting close ups, the point of reference loses its importance, so any camera angle will produce an appetizing image.

Angle 7: Above with Perspective:

The camera is positioned above the front of the subject and then tilted up until the subject fills the frame. The photograph will engage the eye to scan the image from the foreground to the background.

Angle 8: Diagonal:

Turn you camera so the subject starts in one corner and ends in the opposite corner, breaking the space diagonally.

Angle 9: With respect to the Line:

Align parallel lines to the vertical edge of the frame. This created a very monumental and unusual composition, granting unprecedented importance to this slice of a regular cheese cake.

Angle 10: Gentle tilt:

If the camera had been leveled, then the middle wedge would create a horizontal line that would divide the composition in two sections and forcing the eye to travel away from the center.

Conclusion:

Try to forget about the rule of thirds and everything you just learned, just move around your subject and really try to see it and when you see it, draw the camera to your eye and start framing. 

Shooting in the Rain

Weather is getting much colder these days. And the continuous rain plays as a role of “accomplice”. Many people hate rainy days for it means wet clothes, crowded traffic. But it reminds me of one classic movie, Singing in the Rain. If we change our perspective, the annoying rainy day can also turn into lovely one. Now, let’s learn some preparation before shooting in the rain. With some proper planning you can have a great time outside.

Soumya

Be prepared. A large ziploc bag takes up no room in your bag and can be used in a pinch to cover your camera. You can shoot through a ziploc bag as a last ditch effort to get the shot.

Invest in rain gear. Many companies make specific bags for different DSLR models that are designed to use most of the functions on the camera and offer a better shoot-through plastic protector. They are cut generously enough to cover you and your backpack or messenger style bag and help protect it from the elements.

Look for the reflections.  Rain collecting in streets can cause some beautiful reflections. Point your lens down and look for reflections in the water of surrounding scenery and frame accordingly.

Artem Tschaikowsky

Increase your ISO. With the rain come clouds which block the sun – these darker shooting situations are similar to shooting near dusk, so a higher ISO sensitivity is needed.

Take a friend along. Take a friend with you to help hold an umbrella, and to be a second set of eyes to help look for reflections, patterns and subject matter.

Rinse it off. If you take camera gear, waterproof point and shoot or bagged DSLRs to the beach or in salt water, rinse them off with clean fresh water before they dry.  The salt in the water can cause corrosion and dry-rot the rubber gaskets that help seal the memory card door.

Photography in Golden Hour

If there's one thing that can make or break a photograph more than any other, it's lighting. You might have the most incredible landscape or stunning portrait model, but without the right quality of light you can still be left with a flat, dull, and uninspiring photo. To take a stunning photo, it is important to take advantages of "golden hour”- the first hour of light after sunrise and the last hour of light before sunset.

Rim Lighting

A huge benefit to having portraits backlit with the sun is achieving that wonderful rim lighting – where the edges of your model are outlined by a thin thread of light. When photographed at the right angle, you have an incredibly powerful portrait.

Use a Wide Aperture

For a truly artistic approach to shooting these golden hour portraits, you can open your aperture wide up which will give you a fantastic shallow depth of field and the setting sun can provide a huge amount of light that can turn into beautiful Bokeh.

Foreground Interest

A great layering technique that you’ll find often with these portraits is to shoot with a wide aperture and place something in the foreground – usually some type of foliage. Lock the focus on your model and the foreground will become blurred – giving a natural, soft layering effect that adds depth and interest to your image.

Colors in Autumn Photography

Photo by Christopher O’Donnell

There is no doubt that the golden and red leaves on a background of lush green grass and beautiful blue skies are wonderful things. So how do you capture it? Darren from digital photography school offers us a few starting points to boost the colors in your autumn photography.

Use a Polarizing Filter

The saturation of colors that you get with one of these is fantastic. It is particularly useful in getting lovely blue skies but you’ll find that it decreases some of the haze that you often get at this time of year also.

Shoot in the Golden hours

While you can get great results at any time of the day – shoot autumn colors at the end of the day just before sunset when the light is golden. This accentuates the reds and golds even more than normal.

Photo by Christopher O’Donnell

Don’t ignore the Overcast days

Some people keep their cameras in their bags on days where the sun isn’t shining – but they can actually be the best days, for they help create a mood that you can’t get on a sunny day.

Look for contrasts

One way to accentuate the colors in your shots is to think about framing your shots in such a way that the different colors contrast with one another.

Photo by Zitona

Avoid shooting into the Sun

Shooting into the sun will result in shadows, lower saturation of colors and lens flare (which further reduces the impact of colors. If you do have to shoot into the sun use a lens hood or shield your lens with something to avoid lens flare.

Play with White Balance

Sometimes Auto mode with White Balance won’t give you the most vibrant results. Warm up your colors by increasing the color temperature a touch (not too much).

Underexpose your shots

Pull back the exposure on your shots a touch and you’ll find that it gives your colors a slightly deeper saturation.

Photography Tips to Keep in Mind for Halloween

The keys to capturing them are not that different from the normal keys to good composition in photography. As you photograph Halloween this year keep in mind some of the basics of good digital photography from digital camera school.

Find Points of Interest

Photo by Maharepa

Before hitting the shutter ask yourself ‘what is the focal point in this image?’ All good images have something that holds the attention of those who view them.

Rule of Thirds

One way of enhancing the composition of your shots is to place your points of interest in smart positions. While the rule of thirds can be broken with great effect it’s a useful principle to keep in mind.

Fill Your Frame

Halloween is a time of drama and you can add to this in your images by getting in nice and close and filling the frame with your subjects. Whether it’s people or objects – getting in nice and tight will usually add punch to your shots.

Give Subjects Space to Look into

When photographing people one of the most effective compositional techniques is to use the space around their faces effectively by giving more room on the side of their face that they’re looking into.

Find Fresh Angles

Photo jen clix

Make your images stand out by finding fresh perspectives to shoot from rather than pumpkins.

Photograph the Details

When you step back, take a look around and notice the smaller details, you will find the ‘money shots’. Times like Halloween are filled with all kinds of smaller details including decorations, carved pumpkin, people dressed in costumes, bags full of treats, etc.

Shooting in Low Light

To really capture the mood of these situations you’ll want to avoid the stark and bright light of flash photography and so you’ll need to switch off your flash and do one (or all) of three things to some extent:

Increase your ISO – the larger your number the more sensitive your image sensor is to light and the darker conditions you can shoot in without having to slow down shutter speed. On the downside you’ll get more grainy/noisy shots.

Slow down shutter speed – choosing a longer shutter speed lets more light into your camera. On the downside you’ll see any movement in your shots blur. Consider using a tripod if you lengthen your shutter speed.

Use a larger Aperture – this widens the hole in your lens and lets more available light in. It will also lessen the depth of field in your shots. If you have a DSLR with a few different lenses is to use the ‘fastest’ lens you own as it will let you choose larger apertures. 

Creative Ideas for Photograph in Night

Low light levels make night photography a challenging yet rewarding subject. The best results require specialized equipment, like SLR cameras, tripods, cable releases and flashguns. After sunset, the everyday world is magically transformed, and city buildings, fireworks, thunderstorms and the northern lights all become popular subjects.

 

But you may try many different ways to photograph the gorgeous night. Don’t be upset, below are some creative ideas courtesy from DigicamGuides. Stop hesitating, pick up your camera and freeze the beautiful night.

John Mueller

Light Streaks

Find a moving source of light. Cars are good for this — as they move past the camera, their head and tail lights create streaks of light. This is fun if you can find a lot of moving cars all in the same spot.

Troy Paiva

You can also create artificial streaks of light by using your zoom lens with a slow shutter speed. Set the zoom to a wide angle view, depress the shutter and zoom to telephoto. Any light in the photo will streak toward the camera, which creates a sense of speed and motion.

Painting with Light

Add artificial light to your photograph. You can use flashlights and other light sources to create unique lighting on your primary subject or use colored lights to make things look interesting. You can either use the light source off-camera to illuminate the subject, or include the light source in the photo itself to create additional patterns, or even write your name in lights.

Terri Beitzel

Apparitions

Get a human subject to stand in front of the camera for roughly half the time the shutter is open. For example, if you have a shutter speed of 10 seconds, have your friend stand in front of the camera for 5 seconds, and move out of the way for the other 5. This results in an optical illusion: your friend will appear transparent. 

Good Way to Understand Aperture

Aperture is one of the three pillars of photography, the other two being ISO and Shutter Speed. Without a doubt, it is the most talked about subject, because aperture either adds a dimension to a photograph by blurring the background, or magically brings everything in focus.

1) What is Aperture?

Aperture is a hole within a lens, through which light travels into the camera body. Take our eyes as example. The cornea in our eyes is like the front element of a lens – it gathers all external light, then bends it and passes it to the iris. Depending on the amount of light, the iris can either expand or shrink, controlling the size of the pupil, which is a hole that lets the light pass further into the eye. The pupil is essentially what we refer to as aperture in photography. The amount of light that enters the retina (which works just like the camera sensor), is limited to the size of the pupil – the larger the pupil, the more light enters the retina.

2) Size of Aperture – Large vs Small Aperture

In photography, aperture is expressed in f-numbers (for example f/5.6). These f-numbers that are known as “f-stops” are a way of describing the size of the aperture, or how open or closed the aperture is. A smaller f-stop means a larger aperture, while a larger f-stop means a smaller aperture. Most people find this awkward, since we are used to having larger numbers represent larger values, but not in this case. For example, f/1.4 is larger than f/2.0.

Take a look at this chart: The larger the f-number, the smaller the aperture.

3) What is Depth of Field?

The size of the aperture has a direct impact on the depth of field, which is the area of the image that appears sharp. A large f-number such as f/32, (which means a smaller aperture) will bring all foreground and background objects in focus, while a small f-number such as f/1.4 will isolate the foreground from the background by making the foreground objects sharp and the background blurry.

How to Take Photos with the Zoom Blur Effect

The first time I saw this photo, I was shocked. I used to think only masters and professional image-processing software can achieve this. However, photography, like many things in life, is easy once you know how. Tips from digital camera school will help you create impressive blur effect photos. It is easy to fail, but with a little practice, you will soon get the hang of things.

1. Control the Zoom

Once you have set your camera to a slow shutter speed, you press the shutter release button whilst simultaneously zooming either in or out and this will automatically distort your pictures.
One of the best things to do is to play around with different zoom techniques as you will discover the best ways to dramatically change the effect of your photographs.

2. Watch out for the Light

When the sun is out, you might well find creating these types of photographs with a slow shutter speed is impossible to achieve due to over exposure. To an extent, it can be solved by increasing the aperture value to as high as it will go.

3. Keep the Camera Still

 This is easier said than done. Try twisting the zoom smoothly and not snatch at the controls. This might take a bit of practice but it will definitely pay off. Get in a comfy position and try to support yourself and your camera using whatever is available. This will enable you to get the best possible results.

4. Shutter Priority Mode

Putting your camera in shutter priority is a good place to start with your ISO set to a low value, just turn the dial down to increase the shutter time until you get the results you are looking for. If the light is changing because of the clouds then you will have to tweak shutter speed for the current light levels.

5. Let’s go Full Manual

If you are shooting on an overcast day you might have a very small aperture, which is a similar set-up to the shutter priority mode. Set your shutter speed to 1 second and then you can tweak the shutter speed setting to get the results by increasing or decreasing the shutter speed time.

Why Not Use a White Wall as Background

Identification photos are largely needed in our daily life. When I was in university, I often take photos by myself and develop them at print shop. It is simple to realize; just stand before a white wall and ask your friend to press the shutter. Both time and money are saved. And for product shots for a catalog, it looks better that way.

It seems extremely easy in theory while it takes a lot of experience or a lot of slow and tedious work. First, you need to understand what doesn’t work and why. You can’t put something in front of a white wall, take the shot, and expect the background to be white. It won’t be. Instead it will be some shade of gray. But it is possible to make this work with just two lights – one for the subject and one for the background. If the subject is very large, you will need at least two lights on the background. The main thing is you have to pour a lot more light on the background than you do on the subject.

Next, turn on your background light or lights. You want it to fill the visible area of the background that will show in the image. Take a picture again and look at the image in your LCD panel. If your camera has something called highlight warnings (commonly “blinkies”), turn that on. If the background is properly exposed, then the entire background will be blinking and the subject will look well exposed. Once you get to that point, you are done and you have a perfectly lit subject on a white background.

Although you may face plenty of light and trial and error before accomplishing the same thing, it is a worthwhile exercise to learn how to do it right before spending more money. Just take a trial!

Traveling Photography – What to take in your Kit

During the traveling, you may want to photography the beautiful scenery. Once searching your kit, you may find something were lost at home. Therefore, to ensure you have a nice trip with fantastic shots, you need to arrange your kit in order. Below is a list of equipment quoted from the digital camera school.

• Extra Batteries – depending upon how many shots you tend to take in a day.

• Recharger – of course when you have a rechargeable battery you’ll want to remember a way to charge it up.

• Power Adapter – if you’re traveling overseas always do a little research before you leave on what power sources they have and what type of adapter plugs you’ll need.

• Cleaning Gear –some basic cleaning gear including a lens cloth, a cloth for wiping down the outside of the camera and a bulb blower.

• Filters –These are great for cutting out flare and have a considerable impact when photographing water, glass or sky.

• Flash – external flash units can be very handy to have while you travel although can add significantly to the weight of your kit (and you’ll need more batteries for them of course).

• Memory Cards –One might just get the largest size available but consider below scenarios. What if your card becomes damaged, what if it’s stolen, what if you lose it? Whatever your strategy, you’ll need to pack the equipment concerned.

• Camera Bag –If you are traveling with plentiful equipments, you’ll need something sizable. Another option is to take two bags – one to transport your gear with on travel days and the other which you use on a day to day basis for taking what you’ll need that day

• Tripod –Some use the mini tripods that are all the rage these days, but they tend to be best with lighter point and shoot cameras than larger and heavier DSLRs.

• Point and Shoot – some DSLR users back a compact point and shoot camera as well.

PS: Don’t forget to make sure your travel insurance covers your equipment!

Festival Photograph Tips: Never Stopped by the Crowd

quoted from national geographic

For Chinese national day is coming, an 8-day holiday is right here under our noses. As to most of office staff, it’s a good chance to travel around and relax them. Beautiful scenery definitely can’t be missed. Therefore, besides of keeping security of yourself and personal effects in the crowd, you may also need some useful tips on how to take clear photos in the crowd, which is more than avoiding shaking!

Keep your camera at the ready

When you're squashed in a crowd of people, trying to pull a camera out of your bag is really hard work so it's best to have it in your hands ready before the crush begins. If you want to make sure you're not going to lose it put a smaller strap on it and place it over your wrist.

Compose your shots

As you won't be able to move very far, the ways you can compose your shots will be limited and you'll just have to rely on the band getting into poses/positions you think are worth photographing.

Get decent shots as the light fades

quoted from national geographic

As most compacts try and use flash when it gets dark make sure you turn it off. If you don't turn your flash off you'll probably end up with a shot that shows a few rows of heads and nothing behind them. You can increase the ISO manually but just keep an eye out for noise as some compact cameras struggle with this when you start to use higher ISO settings.

Try and stand still

It can be hard to do when you're in a crowd but by doing so you'll reduce the amount of shake in your shot, particularly when the sun's set and your camera's having to use longer shutter speeds when any movement can be easily picked up in your final photograph.

Remember the crowd

Try turning around and photographing the mass of people around you. It's not as easy if you're standing low down but get up higher on a slight hill/banking and it's easy to capture a sweeping shot of the festivities.

How to Photograph the Moon

Photo by penguinbush

The Chinese Mid-autumn Festival is around the corner. And for the Chinese, it is a time for family members and loved ones to congregate and enjoy the full moon - an auspicious symbol of abundance, harmony and luck. Most of time, we will take out a camera and photograph the sweet moment. And being the brightest object in the night sky, it’s something photographers of all levels can shoot, however it does take planning and preparation to accomplish.

Tripod. A secure base for your camera is essential to capture the moon and avoid camera shake.

Long zoom lens. In order to help fill the frame and properly show off the moon, the longer your zoom lens the better. It’s best to use anything 300mm or longer.

Photo by Flowery *L*u*z*a*

Shutter release cable. This is not an essential piece, but it’s nice to have and helps avoid camera shake. If you don’t have one, you can use the self timer function on your camera.

Camera. While almost any camera will work but rarely produce decent photos, mostly due to the small size of the sensor and it over-heating during longer exposures resulting in digital noise. A DSLR is preferred here, or film SLR, again with a long lens on it. No preset or auto function of your camera will be able to properly meter the moon, so you are best off shooting in full manual mode. 

ISO. Digital cameras should be set to 100 or lower, film shooters should shoot film of 100 ISO or slower to eliminate noise and grain.

Aperture. Because you’re after crisp, clean shots shooting at f/11 to f/16 will be the best place to start.

Photo by jurvetson

Shutter speed. This will be the point at which you will need to adjust on a number of shots.  The variables include the phase the moon is in, geographical location and desired shot, but on a clear night starting at about 1/60th should be a great middle ground.

Picking a spot to shoot the moon is one of the most important factors in achieving a quality shot. If you want to showcase the moon itself you want to avoid any other ambient light, including street lights and traffic. On the contrary, if you are trying to include a city skyline under your moon shot, you’ll need to find a lookout that allows for the twinkling lights.

How to Use Color Effectively to Enhance Your Digital Photography

Pink Sherbet Photography

When I feel blue, I always want to look for some colorful things to brighten my mood. And if I photograph it into photos, I can share it with my friends. Therefore, let’s learn from Amy Renfrey’ advices, who is the author of the Digital Photography Success ebook.

The first thing I recommend to start with if you are a serious digital photography enthusiast is to understand how color works. When you understand how color works in digital photography you can then use different colors to create very different feelings and emotions in the photo itself.

Colors such as blues, greens, mauves, etc are introverted colors and can often give your photo different feel to reds and yellows. For example think of a field of green with a tree that has purple flowers. It tends to represent, and even induce, feelings of tranquility and calm. These, in digital photography, are regarded as introverted colors.

Color such as yellows, red, oranges and pinks can often instill an energetic feeling. If you want to create a sense of stillness and calm in your digital photography then aim for subjects that have cold colors. And the same goes the other way too. If you want to have a bright energetic feeling, then go for colors that are warm

Pink Sherbet Photography

Contrasting colors in digital photography work very well too. Primary colors together such as blue and yellow seem to look great side by side, or one as a back ground and the other as a main subject. When doing digital photography, think about the colors you are creating in your photo. Try to aim for digital photos that have colors that look good together, and do not clash like hot pink and bright red next to each other for example. If you want extrovert bold color in your digital photo, don’t overcrowd the viewer with too many bold colors. In digital photography it works best if you have the main subject having the bold color, rather than multiple points of bold color in the background for example.

Choosing good digital photography subjects with simple composition makes colors work well to compliment each other. And remember digital photography is all about creating a feeling. And working your colors together well will enhance your digital photography images tenfold.

Small Tips to Control White Balance

Yesterday, I have talked about the basic knowledge about the white balance. Learning from their icons, you will figure out their functions and make the most of them. And today let’s study deep for more information about the white balance. And I hope the following tips will help you to shoot excellent photos.

1.       Find the white balance control on your camera

On your compacts, it's generally buried fairly deep in the menus, because they really don't want you messing with it, but you can get there. Hit the menu and it's generally in the camera or shooting mode, you'll find the setting white balance or WB and once again, press the button and choose which white balance you want to use.

2.       Try your "Auto", "Daylight", "Cloud" and "Shady" white balance settings under daylight.

Most of the time the colors will be too cool in "Auto” and you'll also find that things will look much nicer in the other settings. This differs from camera to camera; some cameras (specifically camera phones) have terrible white balance algorithms in some settings.

3.       Try using your "cloudy" and "shade" settings to get warm colors, even in daylight!

As said, these settings are intended to compensate for bluer light, but you can use them to warm your colors, too. Cameras have built-in color correction algorithms, not built-in artists; they don't know that your photograph should be warm.

4.       Use white balance trims to get your colors perfect.

You might find, for example, that under certain kinds of indoor lighting your camera almost gets the white balance perfect in its "Auto" setting, but could do with being a little cooler, or that your sunsets would be perfect if they were a little bit warmer. This is where white balance trims come in: it allows you to take one of the camera's white balance presets, and adjust them slightly warmer or cooler to get perfect results. 

Five Photographic Tricks to Freeze Moving Subjects

For me, it is very hard to photograph those rapidly moving subjects, especially on some fierce competition. Those athletes’ quickness and agility impress me a lot while my blur photos disappoint me a lot. Therefore I try to figure out some effective solutions to better capture those fast moving subjects. And I find below tricks on ehow.com, hoping you can learn something from here. And more importantly, never miss to capture those exciting moments.

photo by Mr. Physics

1.       Pick a fast shutter speed to freeze the action

The faster the object is moving, the higher the required shutter speed. However, with fast shutter speeds, images can appear dark. Use a flash if the object is close enough to illuminate.

2.       Pan your camera to capture the moving object while blurring the background

Turn on your camera’s auto focus and, with your finger on the shutter release, move the camera, keeping the object in the viewfinder and taking the photograph when you’re ready.

photo by longristra

3.       Set up a tripod with a slow shutter speed and focus on the background

The moving object in the foreground will become a motion blur. Experiment with various shutter speeds in order to capture the essence of the object, yet blur it beyond recognition.

4.       Increase the focal length to prevent blurring

Back away from the moving object and use the camera’s zoom feature so that the camera has time to focus and freeze the motion.

5.       Adjust your shutter speed when the object is moving

Fewer pixels in the camera’s sensor are involved with an object that is moving closer or father away, whereas a horizontally moving object involves more pixels, slowing down the reaction time of the sensor.