Bhupinder Ghatahora ABIPP, ARPS, ASWPP
Ghatahora Photography
Saturday, 30 November 2019
Monday, 25 November 2019
How to take photographs in low light conditions
Lowlight photography
Photography during winter is fun, especially when the mornings are filled with mist and the light is golden. There are long shadows during sunset and frost throughout the day, beautifully formed on spider webs, plants and anything that touches the chill. Then there is snow, which creates its own unique atmosphere. But most importantly, the whole ambiance is a wonderland.
Even though it gets cold during these months, don’t let this put you off photography. Wear suitable clothing to keep warm and capture the beauty of nature in your photography.
In this article I will briefly explain how to take great photographs in different lighting conditions using the ISO, aperture, shutter, and manual mode of your camera.
Morning Photography
Before sunrise, the light reflected from the sky hitting the scene is very soft and diffused, which gives very weak shadows. The colour of the sky will be blue on a clear day and grey on a cloudy day, such lighting conditions can create very atmospheric photographs. This photograph was taken before the sunrise.
Use the Aperture Priority mode; set the aperture at f16 (the camera will automatically adjust the shutter speed).
For Manual mode, set the aperture at f16 and the shutter speed at 15 seconds. Use this shutter speed as a guide only, as your exposure time may vary depending on the available light. You may either have to increase or decrease the shutter speed depending on the image produced.
Cameras which do not have the Aperture Priority or Manual mode will often allow selecting different scene settings, such as ‘dusk/dawn’, ‘nightlight’ or ‘sunset’ modes. Please choose which suits you and your camera best.
If you don't have a SLR, it's still possible to get good photographs, just need to understand your camera and its modes. Read more on 'Understanding your Camera'.
Example of photograph using ‘Dawn/dusk’ mode on a compact camera
During the morning also try to photograph the morning fog, water droplets on spider webs and frost. To get maximum depth of field, set your compact camera on 'Landscape Mode' (set f16 on SLR - using Aperture mode ) and for minimum depth of field set the camera on 'Close-up Mode' (set f2.8 of f5.6 on SLR - using Aperture mode). The result of using these settings will be similar.
Morning fog (camera set on 'Fog Mode')
The photographs below are all taken with a compact camera.
Dew drops (camera set on 'Close-up Mode')
Night Photography
During total darkness, there is obviously no natural light available. These are perfect conditions to photograph trailing lights from cars, lit cityscapes, fireworks and light movement.
If using Shutter mode, set your SLR on a slow shutter speeds such as 1/8th, 1/4th to capture movement. If using Manual mode, set the camera at f16 and use the camera’s exposure indicator to set the value on 0 as this will give you the correct exposure.
An exposure indicator is visible through the viewfinder which looks like:
2||||1||||0||||1||||2+.
On compact cameras choose 'Nightlight', and the camera will adjust the aperture and shutter accordingly.
Photograph of snow at night using Manual Mode:
It's great to experiment and be creative with photography. Try changing the ISO to 1600 or higher to minimise camera shake and to achieve moody, atmospheric photographs. I also convert my images to black/white to add more drama to it.
On compact cameras choose ‘Nightlight’ and the camera will adjust aperture and shutter speed accordingly.
Example of photograph using ‘Nightlight’ on a compact camera:
Bhupinder Ghatahora ABIPP, ARPS, ASWPP
Ghatahora Photography
info@ghatahora.co.uk
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Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Before and After
The photograph is straight from the camera with no adjustments.
This photograph has been adjusted in lightroom, with just global adjustments.
These are the global adjustments that were applied to the whole of the image.
White balance: Daylight - 5500
Exposure: 0
Contrast: +14
Highlights: -71
Shadows: +14
Whites: -29
Blacks: +7
Clarity: +12
Vibrance: +19
Saturation: +7
A few local adjustments were made to brighten the people, foreground and background. These adjustments are to be used as guide, each image will be different.
Bhupinder Ghatahora
Ghatahora Photography
info@ghatahora.co.uk
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Wednesday, 6 November 2019
Monday, 4 November 2019
How to capture Autumn colours
Capture the Autumn Colours
Autumn is one of my favourite seasons for photography as it’s filled with cool nights, misty mornings, golden lighting, dew drops on spider webs, reflections of autumn colours in the water, long shadows and fallen leaves which all create a great atmosphere. But most importantly, the striking colours in the environment.
Move closer to concentrate on detail:
Instead of just photographing wider landscapes, create a much stronger composition by moving closer to the subject. Focus all the attention on a single subject, such as dew drops on leaves, spider webs, leaves, berries, long shadows, etc.
Visit the local park or the woodlands:
The main advantage of living around trees, parks and woodland areas, is that you don’t have to travel far to capture the autumn colours. Most of the woodland locations are easily accessed by public footpaths. Local parks provide plenty of opportunities for close-up nature photography.
The colours at the beginning of autumn can be disappointing, it is advisable to wait till they are rich and vibrant, which is usually at the end of October till end of November. However, keep an eye on your surroundings and keep your gear and equipment ready to capture the best lighting.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when taking autumn photographs:
Camera settings:
SLR: To photograph Landscapes, set the camera on Aperture Mode at f11 or f16, the camera will adjust the shutter speed accordingly. For Close-up Nature photography, use an aperture of f4 or f5.6. The use of a tripod is recommended as exposures will be long.
Compact Camera: Set the camera on Landscape Mode. For close-ups use mode. These modes are also available on SLRs.
I took the below photograph using my compact camera. The photograph has been changed to sepia using an editing software. Many compact cameras have an inbuilt facility which allows you to change the tone of your image. (This can be found in the menu settings of your camera). I always take two photographs of the same scene, one in colour and other in b/w or sepia.
Framing:
Trees make dominant focal points and create the finest displays, use ‘rule of third’ to frame the scene.
Catch the light:
The warm light at early morning or evening is perfect to capture some stunning autumn photographs, so get up early to photograph the ‘Golden Light’.
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| The Golden bench |
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| Bridge on River Thames |
Instead of just photographing wider landscapes, create a much stronger composition by moving closer to the subject. Focus all the attention on a single subject, such as dew drops on leaves, spider webs, leaves, berries, long shadows, etc.
 |
| Rain drop on leave |
 |
| Dried leave |
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| Grass |
Take photographs at a local park or the woodlands.
Photograph wildlife:
Photograph horses in a field or wildlife in your garden. Feed the birds - putting food and water out will encourage birds in your garden so you don’t have to travel far to photograph the wildlife.
Position the sun behind a tree trunk or branches to capture the vibrant colours of the leaves, long shadows and silhouettes
To capture mist, it is necessary to get up at dawn before sunrise or wait till it is just about to set. Rivers, lakes and open fields are the most likely locations to have mist. Exposures can be tricky, set the exposure at +1 stop to prevent the mist or fog being recorded as dull murky grey.
Photograph horses in a field or wildlife in your garden. Feed the birds - putting food and water out will encourage birds in your garden so you don’t have to travel far to photograph the wildlife.
Use backlighting:
Photograph the autumn mist:
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| Man in the mist |
To capture mist, it is necessary to get up at dawn before sunrise or wait till it is just about to set. Rivers, lakes and open fields are the most likely locations to have mist. Exposures can be tricky, set the exposure at +1 stop to prevent the mist or fog being recorded as dull murky grey.
Here is a small list of locations where you can take autumn photographs:
Local Parks;
New Forest - for both autumn colours and wildlife
Kew Gardens – autumn colours
Wakehurst Place – autumn colours
Westonbrit Arboretum (Tetbury, Gloucester, GL8 8QS) – autumn colours
Richmond Park (not far from Kew Gardens) – autumn colours and wildlife (herds of deer)
Bhupinder Ghatahora ABIPP, ARPS, ASWPP
Ghatahora Photography
info@ghatahora.co.uk
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Monday, 28 October 2019
Useful photography definitions - part 2
Exposure/light metre: is a device which is used to measure the amount of light falling or being reflected by the subject
f-stop / f-number: is a sequence of numbers showing the relative apertures, from which the light travels through to the sensor/film. By changing the aperture it halves or doubles the light
Focal plane: is a point (plane) on which a sharp image is formed
Focal length: is the distance between the lens and the sharp image, when the lens is focused for infinity
Focus: is when an image is clear and sharp
Format/frame: is a term given by a camera for the picture area; i.e.. full frame, two thirds
Flare: is the unwanted light which is scattered or reflected within the lens causing the flare
ISO: is short for 'International Standard Organisation' - it is an indication of how sensitive the film or the sensor is to light
Jpeg: is a file format for compressed digital colour image
Kelvin (K): is the measurement of the colour temperature
Manual focus: the camera may not a function to auto-focus the lens, the user has to manually focus the lens by hand to get the image sharp
Noise: is similar to the term 'gain' used for films. Digital noise produces random scattered pixels all over the final image, usually red and blue pixels
Overexposure: is when the too much light has gone through the lens producing a washed out image
Perspective: to give an image the 3-dimensional depth and show distance
Programme/auto mode: is a fully automatic function on the camera where the camera selects the aperture and shutter according to the light and the camera's built-in programme
RAW: image produced by the camera which is unprocessed. A RAW file is uncompressed and are larger files than JPEG files
Rule of thirds: horizontal and vertical lines used to compose a subject placing the horizon on the top/bottom line
Selective focusing: using a shallow depth of field to focus sharply on a selected object in the scene where the other parts of the image are out of focus
Shutter: thin metal/plastic curtains that are at the back of the camera that allows light reaching the film/sensor
Shutter speed: is the length of time for how long the film/sensor is exposed to light
Shutter mode / shutter priority / TV: is a semi-automatic mode where you choose the shutter speed and the camera metre sets the appropriate aperture
Telephoto lens: a lens made to create relatively large images with a focal length shorter than an ordinary lens
TTL: is referred to 'Through the lens' camera reading, i.e. the exposure reading of the light measured by the lens and the flash
Underexposure: is when not enough light has gone through the lens to expose the image, the final image is dark.
Viewfinder: a preview window that allows the user to frame and focus the final image before taking the photograph
Wide angle lens: are lens with short focal length and are used to give a wide angle view
Zoom lens: is when the focal length of the lens is altered by zooming in and out, it is a lens which goes from wide angle to telephoto
f-stop / f-number: is a sequence of numbers showing the relative apertures, from which the light travels through to the sensor/film. By changing the aperture it halves or doubles the light
Focal plane: is a point (plane) on which a sharp image is formed
Focal length: is the distance between the lens and the sharp image, when the lens is focused for infinity
Focus: is when an image is clear and sharp
Format/frame: is a term given by a camera for the picture area; i.e.. full frame, two thirds
Flare: is the unwanted light which is scattered or reflected within the lens causing the flare
ISO: is short for 'International Standard Organisation' - it is an indication of how sensitive the film or the sensor is to light
Kelvin (K): is the measurement of the colour temperature
Manual focus: the camera may not a function to auto-focus the lens, the user has to manually focus the lens by hand to get the image sharp
Noise: is similar to the term 'gain' used for films. Digital noise produces random scattered pixels all over the final image, usually red and blue pixels
Overexposure: is when the too much light has gone through the lens producing a washed out image
Perspective: to give an image the 3-dimensional depth and show distance
Programme/auto mode: is a fully automatic function on the camera where the camera selects the aperture and shutter according to the light and the camera's built-in programme
RAW: image produced by the camera which is unprocessed. A RAW file is uncompressed and are larger files than JPEG files
Rule of thirds: horizontal and vertical lines used to compose a subject placing the horizon on the top/bottom line
Selective focusing: using a shallow depth of field to focus sharply on a selected object in the scene where the other parts of the image are out of focus
Shutter: thin metal/plastic curtains that are at the back of the camera that allows light reaching the film/sensor
Shutter speed: is the length of time for how long the film/sensor is exposed to light
Shutter mode / shutter priority / TV: is a semi-automatic mode where you choose the shutter speed and the camera metre sets the appropriate aperture
Telephoto lens: a lens made to create relatively large images with a focal length shorter than an ordinary lens
TTL: is referred to 'Through the lens' camera reading, i.e. the exposure reading of the light measured by the lens and the flash
Underexposure: is when not enough light has gone through the lens to expose the image, the final image is dark.
Viewfinder: a preview window that allows the user to frame and focus the final image before taking the photograph
Wide angle lens: are lens with short focal length and are used to give a wide angle view
Zoom lens: is when the focal length of the lens is altered by zooming in and out, it is a lens which goes from wide angle to telephoto
Bhupinder Ghatahora ABIPP, ARPS, ASWPP
Ghatahora Photography
info@ghatahora.co.uk
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