Sadly, many photographers take only horizontal pictures. They always lift their cameras and shoot. Their pictures are all landscape views, pictures that are wider than they are tall.
These photographers are missing some great opportunities.
Category: Photography Tips & Tricks
Getting the exposure right
By
John Watson
One of the most common problems people have when taking photos is that part of the photo (usually the part that they want to see) is too dark or too bright. For example, when taking a photograph of a friend in front of the sunset, the sunset will show perfectly but the friend is a dark, unrecognizable blob. The problem is that the range of brightness in the scene is too much for your camera to record. So it has to “decide” which parts of the photo it wants to keep (the sunset, in this case) and which parts aren’t as important. And it often gets it wrong.
Does the camera change the way we behave?
By
John Watson
Clip from This American Life (Showtime)
The clip above relates the story of a group of school children who pretend to film a schoolmate being beaten up rather than help him. Sure, young kids will do that sort of thing. But it reminded me of the story of Chinese pothole photographer Liu Tao, tabloid photography in general, and exploitive photo journalism.
Sadly, I think a lot of people today are more likely to take pictures first and help second. Now that cameras are ubiquitous the problem is worse than ever. Is it the camera changing the way people behave or is bad human behavior just finding a new outlet? Probably a little of both.
… Continue reading Does the camera change the way we behave?
The Zen of Letting the Image Find You
By
Blogger
[Please welcome Jim Crotty to Photodoto. Jim is a pro photographer with a studio in Dayton, Ohio, called Picture Ohio, LLC. He shoots using Canon EOS digital, both the 5D and 1D Mark II, as well as Canon L lenses. His personal and stock work involves nature, landscapes and wildlife. Like many photographers, he started young, developing prints in a black and white darkroom. His work can be viewed on his site at ohiophoto.org or on his Flickr account under username jimcrotty.com. — JW]
I have finally gotten around to writing my first article for photodoto.com. I’m thrilled to be part of such a talented online community of photographers.
Rather than starting-off with an article that has to do with the more technical aspects of photography, I thought I’d talk a little bit about artistic approach.
Nature and landscape photography is the type of work that I find most enjoyable and represents the foundation of my photographic career—a foundation that I still try to stay actively involved with while becoming more involved in commercial photography.
Silhouettes: An Old Art Form Made New
Silhouettes were a popular art form in the early 1800s. Film did not yet exist, but skilled artists could look at subjects and then cut out remarkable likenesses using black paper and sharp scissors. People had silhouettes made of loved ones and framed them like portraits. The fad declined in popularity after cameras became more universally available.
Still, silhouetted images can be striking. They are also remarkably easy to create with digital cameras and worth mastering. If overdone, they can be tiresome, but when well done they can be fun.
Favorite “everyday” camera settings
By
John Watson
For just about everything these days I shoot my Nikon at +0.7 exposure compensation, +1 tone, +1 saturation, +1 sharpening. I almost always use matrix metering (rather than spot or center-weighted) and dial in exposure compensation to adjust for different conditions. I change modes a lot but spend most of my time in aperture-priority, program, and manual. I shoot JPG almost exclusively except when I’m really paranoid about getting a shot.
Out of curiosity, how about you? What are your favorite “everyday” settings?
Vary Your Viewpoint
The term “viewpoint” describes the camera’s position in relation to its subject—near, far, above, below, for instance. Many photographers never change their viewpoint. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they hold their cameras at chest or eye level and shoot straight ahead. Doing so allows them to take clear pictures of buildings, animals, people, plants, cars, and landscapes, so it’s not a bad strategy.
Postal Pictures: Gifts by Mail
If you want to delight your friends and family, send them a picture by snail mail. While I am a great fan of online photosharing websites, especially flickr.com, I have discovered that people are thrilled to receive a nicely presented print. Yes, you can always stuff a snapshot into an envelope, but a frame makes it a gift. Frames also allow recipients to display pictures on a table or shelf.
How to crop a photo for better composition
In an ideal world, every photo you take would be perfectly composed. However, in real life, many pictures could use some improvement. Often, thoughtful cropping can make the difference between a mediocre image and a better one. Cropping a picture just means eliminating or trimming off edges.
… Continue reading How to crop a photo for better composition
Do you need a drawing tablet?
By
John Watson
I was cleaning out my office today when I ran across the most unlikely of items—an original Koala Pad drawing tablet! According to Wikipedia, the Koala Pad was the first graphics tablet available for home computers. (That makes me sound older than I’d like but I’m only 34!)
Click to enlarge
Today, I own a Wacom tablet and I love it. It offers a level of intuitive ease of use far beyond what a mouse can provide for certain operations. As a digital photographer, a graphics tablet might be an important piece of equipment but it depends a lot on your digital workflow.
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