There is no such thing as a “perfect” histogram

Yesterday I wrote a little bit about histograms and dynamic range. Histograms are a very useful tool for evaluating an exposure. You should activate the histogram display on your camera and learn to use it. But you must remember that a histogram does not, by itself, say anything about image quality. Histograms must be evaluated within the context of the image that they represent for them to have any value.

Continue reading There is no such thing as a “perfect” histogram

Managing dynamic range through better metering

Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake? — Leonardo da Vinci

Have you ever shot a photograph of someone with their back to a bright source of light such as the setting sun or sky? Was the person underexposed (too dark)? This is a direct consequence of what is called dynamic range and “compromise” metering being done by your digital camera. The human eye is an amazing thing. Modern cameras don’t even come close to touching the capabilities of your average, human optic system. One astounding feat is its ability to see detail in every part of a scene consisting of a huge range of dark and bright areas. You can see detail in shadow and in bright areas simultaneously. It’s something you take for granted — until you start taking photographs with a digital camera.

Continue reading Managing dynamic range through better metering

Zooming with your feet vs zooming with your lens

Conventional wisdom says that prime (non-zoom) lenses are the highest quality lenses money can buy. But that wisdom is being challenged by high quality zoom lenses that match or even rival the sharpness and contrast of the best primes. Make no mistake, the best zoom lenses aren’t cheap or small. But the convenience afforded by a zoom lens, even an inexpensive one, to crop with a twist of the wrist or the touch of a button is hard to resist.

The ubiquity of the zoom on compact cameras and as part of SLR kits may have led some to believe that zooming in on a subject is the same as getting physically closer. But there is a big difference between zooming with your lens and “zooming” with your feet.

Continue reading Zooming with your feet vs zooming with your lens

How to find out who is blogging your photos

One of the facts of life on the internet is that if you put something online, publicly, that is in the least bit interesting, someone is eventually going to link to it. This rule applies to everything, including photographs. [If that bothers you, well, you have one option: don’t put your photos online in a public location.] It would be nice if everyone who linked to one of your photographs told you about it, but that doesn’t happen too often. So, how do you know when someone links to one of your photos? Read on to find out.

Continue reading How to find out who is blogging your photos

How do you get good portrait lighting indoors?

Lighting is obviously an essential element of photography. Making photos, after all, is about catching those stray photons that bounce off of the world in a creative way.

Getting good lighting can be tough in any situation but indoor lighting can be especially tricky. Normal indoor light levels are fine for eyeballs but are usually pretty low for a camera. So what’s an indoor shutterbug to do?

Continue reading How do you get good portrait lighting indoors?

Learning composition: simplify, simplify, simplify

What’s really important is to simplify. The work of most photographers would be improved immensely if they could do one thing: get rid of the extraneous. If you strive for simplicity, you are more likely to reach the viewer. — William Albert Allard, National Geographic

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Albert Einstein, Smart Guy

Like a cluttered room in a house or an overstuffed closet, a photo with too much random stuff can make it difficult for a viewer to find the subject. How many times have you taken a photograph of something only to have something else completely unrelated (and unwanted) in the frame like a car or a telephone pole? This isn’t to say that all photos should be minimalist affairs with a single subject and a plain background ala Apple Macintosh ads. But you should strive to only include elements in a photo that add something to it rather than serve as distractions. One way to do this is to simplify your compositions.

Continue reading Learning composition: simplify, simplify, simplify

Abstract photography: something a little different

Many of you probably bought a camera with the intention of documenting something. Documenting the world around us is common among photographers—and wonderful! please keep it up!—whether it is a beautiful landscape, a family portrait, or a hectic street scene.

But there’s another kind of photography full of blurry lines, swirling colors, and indefinite forms that I encourage everyone to try your hand at.

Continue reading Abstract photography: something a little different

Clearing up depth of field

There seems to be a lot of confusion among beginners and experienced photographers alike about what “depth of field” really is. Most people seem to know it has something to do with focus. But beyond that, it seems like a bit of a magical beast. Like most photography concepts, this one is pretty simple to understand. Read on and we’ll demystify this important subject.

Continue reading Clearing up depth of field

Book review: How to Use Flickr, The Digital Photography Revolution by Richard Giles

How to Use FlickrFrom the outside, Flickr may appear to be a simple photo-sharing site. But new members are often quickly overwhelmed by the vastness of it and there are hundreds of features and hidden gems that are sometimes only discovered after weeks or months of poking around. Flickr itself doesn’t have much in the way of a user manual, preferring instead to let people learn how to use the service by providing an elegant and self-explaining user interface and through group discussions. Attempting to bridge the gap, How to Use Flickr by Richard Giles is both a reference and a how-to guide for using Flickr. It’s also something of a tour-guide, explaining Flickr’s origins and revealing, through interviews and stories, a bit about Flickr’s diverse culture.

Disclosure: I am mentioned in this book several times and it features my Flickr Toys collection but I don’t make any money from its sale and I bought my own review copy.

Continue reading Book review: How to Use Flickr, The Digital Photography Revolution by Richard Giles

10 ways to tell if you’re a photographer

Does this sound like anyone you know?

  • 1 GB of memory lasts most people a month but barely lasts you the afternoon.
  • You know what aperture-priority means.
  • You delete more photos in a week than most people make all year.
  • You need just one more lens.
  • You’ve crawled on the ground to get a shot of something rusty.
  • Your camera equipment is worth more than your car.
  • No one else brings a camera to an event if they know you’re coming.
  • Your family doesn’t recognize you without a camera covering your face.
  • You have thousands of pictures and you’re not in any of them.
  • You’ve been up before dawn or out in the freezing cold or even done something semi-dangerous… all for a photograph.

Continue reading 10 ways to tell if you’re a photographer