A 15 Minute Exercise To Help You Improve Your Photography in 2012. A Post By: Darren Rowse Here’s a little exercise for you to do today. It will only take 15 minutes. It’s all about slowing down and thinking about the shots that you’re taking. Grab your camera – what ever one you have handy (I used my iPhone last time I did this) and head out into your backyard (or if you’re in the middle of winter you can choose an indoor location – perhaps your living room – really anywhere will do). Now find somewhere to sit – somewhere in the middle of whatever place you’ve selected. Now for the next 10 minutes just sit there. Observe Soak in your location.Look at the light and how it hits your surroundings.Pay attention to what your setting makes you feel.Look at the details that perhaps you’d not have noticed if you’d rushed through the setting.
During this ‘observation’ phase you may like to move around your environment to look at it from different angles – but don’t use your camera yet. Plan What will you shoot? Shoot For Example. 10 Things I Learnt from Daily Shooting. A Guest Post by David Powell from Shoot Tokyo Here are a few lessons I have learnt from daily shooting… I hope you enjoy. 1. “Do or Do Not…. There is no Try” A lot of people shoot daily as they are lucky enough to have a career in photography.
Shooting daily isn’t hard. 2. To capture great images you need to have your camera with you. Having my camera with me allowed me to capture the events of the March 11th Earthquake in Japan as I was experiencing it and share it with my family, friends and ultimately strangers worried about their loved ones in Tokyo. Having a camera allowed me to capture this woman checking the news about the earthquakes while on a break. 3. One of the most interesting pictures you can take is of people. I have learnt to not be shy about asking if I can take someone’s photo and I am so pleased with the results I can get now… Check out this hip chick at Shibuya’s Hachiko… This beautiful girl passing through Shibuya Station… and dogs… 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Like light trails… 10. 10 Ways to Develop Yourself Photographically. What Separates Great Photographers from Good Ones? 5 Ideas to Kick Start Your Photography Again. Image by Eric May Last week I was speaking with an amateur photographer who told me that he’s been struggling for photographic inspiration and ideas lately.
He reflected that he felt like he’d become something of a lazy photographer and was in a bit of a rut – always photographing the same things in the same ways. I shared a number of ideas from my own experiences of seeking photographic inspiration (some of which I’ll share below) but it struck me halfway through the conversation that a lot of the ideas I was suggesting was actually about him limiting himself in his photography in some way – in order to find inspiration. Let me explain by looking at 5 photography ideas that I shared with him. Note: by no means am I suggesting that these are the only ways to get inspired – they’ve just helped me at times. 1. Fixed Focal Length Shoots I wrote about this recently in a challenge here on dPS. Variation: another option for this is to choose a lens that you may not have used much before. 2. 3. 4.
5 Key Skills for the Modern Photographer. A Guest post by Saul Molloy from Shotslot. 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. 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. 2. 3. 4. 5. See more of Saul Molloy’s work at Shotslot. 6 Ways to Enhance Your Creativity. 5 ways to stop being a luck photographer {and start taking pictures on purpose} How to Take Photos that Stand Out from the Crowd. I think this is a valuable piece of information to pass along to both newcomers to photography and the more experienced crowd… Perhaps the best piece of advice I can provide which will immediately improve one’s photography and cause it to stand out from the countless other photos on the web, is to act unusual while taking the photos. By Ryan Pendleton If you’re standing upright, pointing your camera at obvious subjects, from obvious perspectives, at obvious times the day, the resulting photographs will be nothing more than…obvious.
Your photos will not differentiate themselves, as is the intentions of so many photographers. Everyone wants ‘different’ images that catch the public’s eye. Many of my best photos were taken with at least one (and sometimes several) person staring at me as if I were a closed-head injury patient who happened to find a DSLR lying on the side of the road. The next time you’re out with your camera, try the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. A Simple Exercise to Train your Photographic Eye. A Post By: Valerie Jardin Park Bench Here is a simple exercise you can do anywhere that will help develop your photographic eye. Take your camera with just one lens and go for a walk (of course any point and shoot camera will do the trick too). While walking down the street, at the park or even in the wilderness, make a point to stop randomly and find something to photograph within 10 or 15 feet (3 to 5 m) from where you are standing.
Better yet, if you are walking with a non photographer, ask him or her to tell you when to stop. Look up and down, look all around you and take your time to find something interesting to photograph. Another idea is to get children involved in this exercise. Here are a few examples of pictures taken during this simple exercise. The possibilities are endless, just remember to have fun.
Rusty wall Back alley Peeling paint on old park bench Detail of dead tree stump Moss on tree stump. 3 Stupidly Simple Reasons Why Most Peoples Photography Does Not Improve. I’m presuming that this article will not apply to some readers of dPS… but after 3 conversations in the last week which revealed the same photography problems in 3 different people – I thought I’d better jot them down.
Warning: none of this is rocket science sometimes the basics need to be said! 1. You don’t Take Your Camera With You If you don’t practice using your camera you’re unlikely to ever grow in your understanding of and skill in photography and if you rarely have it with you – you’ll not get that practice. Does that mean you need to lug your DSLR and all your cumbersome gear around with you all the time?
Maybe – I have friends who are never without their main camera – but if that’s just not practical, at least make sure you have a smaller point and shoot or even a decent camera phone with you at all times. Further Reading: 5 Reasons to Take Your Camera Everywhere 2. Further Reading: A great Exercise to help you to Slow Down and Take Better Photos 3. What do You Think? 3 Workouts to Improve your Photography.
A Guest post by Jim Harmer of ImprovePhotography.com Athletes would never consider showing up to a game without having practiced, so why is it that most photographers shoot for the “wall-hanger” photo every time they go out without ever practicing new techniques? Consider applying these new workouts in your photography routine and you will improve your skills and creativity. 1. The EXIF Drilldown In my photography workshops, I often show my portfolio to introduce myself before the class begins. After showing a few pictures, someone will inevitably raise their hand and ask, “How did you shoot that one?”
The very best way to shoot like a pro is to analyse the work of the pros, and Flickr is just the place to look. To view this information on Flickr, find a photo and click the small text link on the top right of the screen that reads the name of the camera that shot the picture. When this photography exercise is implemented, the question, “How did he take that picture?” 2. 3. 7 Tips For Great Low Angle Shots. Adding Emotion and Feeling To Photographs. A Post By: Peter West Carey One thing that makes a great photo is its ability to convey emotion. Emotion in a photograph, or any work of art, is what helps a viewer connect with a piece if that emotion is prevalent in the viewer. Happiness and joy, sorrow and despair, these are some of the easier emotions as they are universally felt, at one time or another, by all on this planet.
Emotion, or a feeling, is what can bring a snapshot out of obscurity and make it shine. Think of a normal sunset picture from the shores of Hawaii with just the horizon and a bright orange sun dipping low. It’s beautiful for sure and even better when viewed in person. Now pull the zoom back to a wider angle and show a couple in silhouette, sitting on lounge chairs facing the waves and reaching to each other to hold hands.
My point here is you can’t guess which mood people will be in when they view your work. Realize What Type Of Mood You’re In While Shooting Tighten The Shot Focus On Faces Return If You Can. An Introduction to Tilt-Shift Photography. A Guest Post by Patrick Ashley Some photographers enjoy portraiture, capturing the essence of a person; others enjoy capturing a fast moment in a football game, or a delicate moment of a newly wed couple. I like to shrink things. Tilt-shift photography (or “miniature faking”) is a photographic genre that seems to have been gaining popularity in the last few years.
Essentially, it’s taking a photograph of a real-world scene and making it look like a miniature scene, such as you’d find in a model railroader’s setup. Highly detailed miniatures have always fascinated me, so tilt shift photography was a natural draw. Tilt-shift effects are done either optically, via a special (and expensive) lens, or more usually, in Photoshop. Like anything in photography, it can be done, but can it be done well? At tiltshiftable.com (site no longer live), I’ve got a post up about what constitutes a good candidate photo for a tilt shift treatment: Focusing Quick Tip: Single Point AF Methods. A Post By: James Brandon One of the biggest leaps towards tack sharp images you can take is using single point auto focus to hone in on your subject and nail the shot.
Using the automatic grid focus system can sometimes be like throwing a handful of darts and hoping to hit the bullseye, especially when shooting at an extremely shallow depth of field like f/1.4. In fact at f/1.4, if you’re subject is 5 feet away and you’re shooting with a 50mm prime, your depth of field is only 0.09 feet! Do you want to leave .09 feet up to a handfull of focus points? If nailing focus is important (and it always is) then you need to start using single point auto focus. NOTE: The camera used in the examples below is a Canon 5D Mark II. Single Point AF Method 1 (Old School): A lot of photographers don’t even know there’s a way to use a single AF point rather than the entire grid.
Single Point AF Method 2 (New School, what the cool kids are doing): Setting Up Method 2. How to Shoot the Night Sky (Introduction to Astrophotography) The following post on photographing the night sky is by jgomez65 – one of dPS’s forum members. Several people asked me to post a simple tutorial on how I took some night sky pictures. I am not an astrophotographer in any way, shape or form, nor do I have any expensive equipment. I simply read several tutorials, picked a dark spot on the beach and tried to do my best. Anyway, here is how I did it. 1. What you need: You need a camera that has manual exposure mode. You will also need a remote control or a shutter release cable in order to minimize shaking the camera when taking the pictures. You will definitely need a tripod 2.
The darker the place, the better it is. 3. First, try to use a lens with a large aperture. Next, set your camera at a high ISO. Finally, in order to avoid the star trail (that is avoiding capturing the movement of the stars as the earth rotates) you have to use the RULE of 600 which is very easy: Divide 600 by the focal length of the lens you are using. 4. 5. That’s it. Knowing My Limits Why I Dont Do HDR. The Only Tip Youll Need for Creating a More Interesting and Well-Rounded Set of Images of Any Destination or Subject. What Every Photographer Needs to Know About Facebook. A Post By: Darren Rowse A Guest Post by Alison Zarrella – co-author of The Facebook Marketing Book. 2011 is shaping up to be a big year for photography on Facebook.
Their New Profile highlights images above practically all else, and allows for some pretty creative customization with images. Facebook has also added the option to upload high resolution photos, and expanded the maximum number of photos in one album from 60 to 200. Photography has historically been an area where Facebook excels, and for good reason. They are constantly making tweaks to photo album display settings, creating a simple interface for users to upload and friends to browse.
In fact, they’ve been held up as an example as what more traditional photo sites should look to emulate. Maximize Your Reach As a person, you’re allowed a Facebook Profile. Optimize For Search Photography websites are almost always beautiful, shining examples of work. Post Media-Rich Status Updates Create the Perfect Page Icon Customize Your Page. 10 Tips for Mastering Instagram. A Post By: Christina N Dickson I have a confession. Yes. I love taking photos.
Yes. I am a professional photographer. But no. This is why I am absolutely in. love. with Instagram. Available for Droid or iPhone, Instagram allows you to manipulate the photos that come from your phone, and create masterpieces. And don’t worry – I am going to show you just how to do that. A few general basic tips: 1. I created this shot at a lodge where I was photographing a wedding. 2. Over lunch with my friend Mish, I was in awe of the stunning light that fell through the window and onto her face. 3. I was enjoying this particularly good cup of chai and reading when I looked down and saw this shot. 4. During a morning run I found this shot while taking a breather at one of my favorite neighborhood ponds. 5. This is another shot I took during a long roadtrip from Denver, CO to Portland OR. Some Specific Considerations: 6. 7. 8. I actually captured this while driving with a bride to our portrait location. 9. 10. Minimalism: Using Negative Space In Your Photographs.
A Post By: James Brandon Sometimes it’s nice and refreshing to just strip a photo or scene down to it’s absolute bare essentials. Often times, I get too caught up in trying to fill every part of the frame with something interesting. The problem is, sometimes when we try to fill up the entire frame with objects, lines, people, shapes, etc, we actually overcomplicate things and leave the viewer wanting a place to rest their eyes. The trick/secret is this: Negative space can be just as interesting in a photograph as anything else, if done right. I encourage you to consider this the next time you go out shooting. Image by Brian Matiash In the above image, Brian Matiash actually set out to create a series of minimalistic, black and white images around Staten Island. Image by Mike Olbinski I love this image by Mike Olbinski. Image by James Brandon (that's me!) Finally, here’s an image from my own portfolio. Conclusion If you have examples of minimalism in your work, we want to see it!
How to Take Long Exposure Shots in Daylight. Strobist. Digital Photography Tips: Digital Photography School. Digital Photography Tips from the Top Floor - Free MP3 Audio and Video, Learn Photography, Photo Workshop! Home - PhotoWalkthrough. Photodoto. CS 178 - Digital Photography.
4 Steps To Mastering Creative Night Photography | Expert Photography. Your Complete Guide For Photographing Star Trails. Top 10 Photography Hacks. How Can I Take Better Photos in Low Light? Take Better Photographs by Studying an Egg. How To Create An Image Map Using GIMP. Get Real, Useful Photography Critiques at 1x.com. Digital photography HOWTO roundup. Learn Photography. Graphy tips and techniques: articles and guides from Photo.net.