Ghatahora Photography: SLR

Showing posts with label SLR. Show all posts

Thursday, 2 July 2015

How to photograph flowers

It is possible to take good flower photographs with a compact camera also and not just with a SLR.

Compact cameras often do not have interchangeable lenses like SLRs, but the macro and zoom facilities on most compact cameras will allow photographing subjects in close-up as well as distant.

The first step is to know your camera; it is your greatest tool in creating your master piece. It is also advisable to read the camera manual to familiarise yourself with its basic and advanced functions.

I have often been told by novice/beginner photographers that the manuals tend to be complicated with terminology that tends to be alien to them. My advice to them is to start with the basic controls such as ‘Program Mode’, then move to the advanced features as ‘Aperture/Shutter Priority’, bracketing and others that may be unique to their camera.

Every compact camera should enable you to have some control over the aperture, shutter speed, the ISO, exposure compensation (+/-) and finally focusing. Some compact cameras will allow the user to take full control over the focusing using the ‘manual’ mode.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when photographing flowers.

The main control on a compact camera for close-up photography is the “Macro” button (often with the symbol of a flower). This enables you to focus closer to the subject and also blurs the background, keeping the flower sharp. The camera automatically sets the aperture and the shutter for you, so you don’t have to worry about the exposure, allowing you to just focus and press the shutter release.

Now I will briefly touch on the Aperture Priority (AV) mode. When in this mode, the camera will set the shutter speed to give you the right exposure. This mode is very useful as it allows the user to determine what part of the subject and background to keep in focus and what to blur by choosing the desired aperture. In close-up photography, it if often advisable to blur the background, as it draws the eye on the main subject when viewing the final photograph, therefore having an out of focus background is not considered bad.

When the camera is set to Aperture Priority, if the lowest ‘f’ number is selected, then the area nearest to the focus point will be in focus and the remaining picture will be out of focus. When the highest ‘f’ number is selected, the focus point and the area before and after the point is all in focus. If ‘f’ numbers between the lowest and highest is selected, then through practice and experience you can determine what to keep in focus and what to blur.

As well as the aperture mode, the Shutter mode (TV) is also important. This mode can be used when you are unsure of what aperture to choose and its great for capturing movement in the flowers caused by any wind.

Selecting a slow shutter speed of 1/30 or 1/15 will capture the movement in the leaves on the trees and flowers creating a ‘ghostly’ effect, whilst shutter speed of 1/60 or above will freeze the movement without blur.

I hope this very brief insight into flower photography assists you in your photography.

Bhupinder Ghatahora

Ghatahora Photography

www.ghatahora.co.uk

info@ghatahora.co.uk

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Wednesday, 1 April 2015

Landscape Photography

Landscape Photography Part 1

This is a two part article on Landscape Photography.

Good landscape photography is not just achievable by high end cameras such as SLRs, but very good quality photos can also be taken with a standard compact camera. The key point here is that it is not the equipment that makes the photograph, it is the photographer.

Compact cameras often do not have interchangeable lenses like SLRs, but the Landscape mode and zoom facility on most compact cameras will allow you to take landscape photographs.

Most compact camera should enable you to have some control over the aperture, shutter speed, the ISO, exposure compensation (+/-) and focusing. Some compact cameras will also allow the user to take full control over the focusing using the ‘manual’ mode.

Taking photographs of landscapes is fairly easy if you keep the following few tips in mind. These tips can be applied to both point & shoot compact cameras and SLR’s.

1) Maximize Depth-of-Field

In landscape photography, Depth-of-Field plays an important role: the normal rule is to make sure that the fore and background of the scene is in focus as much as possible, which is often known as maximising the depth-of-field. However, there will be times when you will want to be creative and experiment with ‘shallow’ depth-of-field in your landscape photography.

Keep in mind that when using smaller apertures (i.e. f11, f22, etc.) less light is hitting the image sensor/film, you may have to compensate by increasing the ISO or adjusting the shutter speed, in some cases you may have to change both.

Some lower specification compact cameras may not have the facility to allow you to change any of the settings; in this case it is best to use the Landscape mode.

The photograph below is taken using a compact camera set on Landscape mode:

The photograph below is taken using a DSLR set on Aperture mode:

2) Use a Tripod

As you may be using longer shutter speed, a tripod is recommended which will minimise any camera shake

3) Include a Focal Point

All images need to have ‘point’ where the viewer’s attention is drawn into the photograph. Without the focal point, landscape photographs will look empty leaving your viewer’s eye wondering through the image without having the desired impact of the landscape.

Here are some examples of Focal points in landscapes and these can range from a building, structure, a tree, a boulder or rocks, a silhouette, etc. Using the ‘rule of thirds’ can be very useful here.

Place your points of interest on the either one of the green dots. Most cameras have the above grid; use the grid to frame your shot.

4) Include Foregrounds

Most landscapes images work well with a foreground; always think carefully about the foreground of your images and by placing points of interest in them. By including this element you give your viewer a way of looking into the image as well as creating a sense of depth in the photograph.

5) Change your View Point

It is always best to take a little more time with your photography, especially in finding the most interesting view. Look around and find a different spot to shoot from than the one just in front of you: take a walk down paths, look for new angles, this means getting down lower to the ground, finding a higher up vantage point to photograph from. Explore your scene and experiment with different viewpoints and you will find something magical.

6) Look out for Horizons

It’s best that before you take a landscape photograph always look at the horizon on two points:

a) Is the horizon straight? It is easier to have your horizon straight in the camera viewfinder before pressing the shutter release, saving time to straighten the image later in editing softwares.

b) Where to place the horizon? The ‘correct’ natural spot for a horizon is on either the top third line or the bottom line of the ‘rule of thirds’, rather than completely in the middle. In saying this, rules can be broken if you are completely sure that your image with the horizon is very striking.

(See diagram below for where to place the horizon)