Every photographer, from amateur to professional, will take pictures of Christmas Decorations because these are beautiful, eye catching, and most of all, memorable.
From the view of the entire Christmas tree, to close-ups on simple and sophisticated decorations, it’s all sparkle and lovely. For the shots, remember to have a tripod and a remote controller.
For the first Christmas tree picture, my friend Tudor used flash (with -2 exposure) in rear mode, in low light. Picture was taken in “Program” mode.
The second Christmas tree picture has +3 exposure, no flash, and low light environment. Longer exposure time in this case: 20 sec.. Picture was taken in “Shutter Mode”.

The white balance in case of such photographs is better set to “auto” since the colors from the lights differ from the environmental light and other lights coming from nearby. After all, the multitude of colorful lights is what makes Christmas beautiful.
Now let’s see the close-ups: the most simple setting scheme is: “Program” Mode, rear flash, adjusted exposure (differs from scene to scene), tripod and remote control or 2 seconds shutter delay. For brighter scenes you can put the flash off and increase ISO.

On most of the photos, on post-processing, I added a warm filter to make the tree have a yellowish green, and to make the red color stronger.

During these summer months, I’ve been traveling to various caves in Romania. First, I will show you the pictures I took with Nikon D40x, 18mm lens, and then I will tell you how to obtain something similar yourself.

Doing cave photography is an exercise in frustration. The biggest problem is that you are working in near total darkness. Trying to photograph large formations, especially when they are beyond the limits of your headlamp, can be nearly impossible. (It’s best to have your own lamp with you, however, in my case, the cave was illuminated for tourists since many years).

Composition is based on everything you already know about landscape photography as much as it is on your headlamp. Focusing can be similarly difficult. Lighting placement may seem easy at first until you get your processed images back and discover the glaringly over or underexposed portions of the photograph. By this time, you’re probably miles away from the cave with no intention of returning to it anytime soon. This can be very frustrating.

As for composition, you can make landscapes, covering the entire cave, you can focus on details – certain interesting formations, or, you can have a person standing there, adding the human factor to the natural environment of the cave. But, to be more specific, a good photograph does not have a person “standing” in the picture, but actually “doing” something: climbing or other action inside the cave.

The camera settings I used are:

1. shutter speed mode: around 1/30sec (longer exposure time will likely cause motion blur and overexposed areas near the lighting source)
2. ISO 1600 (Slower speeds limit your capability with the light sources you carry, faster speeds give you more of a problem with contrast and graininess)
3. exposure +3,+4, +5 (depending on how illuminated the scene was) – if your camera supports bracketing, do so – it’s very hard to get the right exposure from the first shot
4. flash on: rear mode (this is what creates a different light color in the pictures – the blue one, for near objects)
5. manual white balance (I played a bit with this one in the ice cave)

Now let’s talk about lighting - illuminating the scene. Using the flash is not necessary if you want to create a mystery scene in which all is black but the lamp illuminated formation. But, I do believe that lighting is the most effective tool of a great cave picture (and, after all, you are providing all the lighting for the image), so I’m going to point out some tips from ephotozine:

Cave photographers mostly use flashguns as their primary light, followed by bulbs as their second main source. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Bulbs of all shapes and sizes are still used a lot by cave photographers. There are several reasons why they have not been totally replaced by the use of flashguns – they have a higher light output than many strobes. When photographing a large room, nothing beats the output of a flashbulb. They also give off a wider arc of light than a strobe.

Slaves are remote electronic switches that you attach to each of the different flash units distributed around your cave photo area. The flash on your camera sends out the message to all the slaves to fire when your camera shutter opens. In this way, they are all synchronized and give you the perfect exposure. This also helps to eliminate the need for tripod.

A dramatic effect can be created by strongly backlighting a subject (along with a properly lit foreground) such that the backlight creates a slightly burned edge to offset it from the darker background. Try putting a light on either side of a subject with the lights aimed at one another.

In close-up shots, the use of a softened light (soft box or even just a piece of tissue over the flash tube) is frequently better than a hard light. Sometimes the cave passage itself, if it is reflective, can serve as a bit of soft box on its own.

As a last word, I remember you to do not touch or walk on formations or clean areas that are off trail – protect the nature or else you will only picture the past and not the eternity.

Fourth of July celebrations often end with a firework extravaganza that captivates us all with its awesome beauty. So be prepared to “ooh” and “ah” along with the crowd. And, if you’re like many of us, plan to have your camera ready to capture the “rockets red glare.”

What’s the best way to take “great” firework photos? According to Chuck DeLaney, Dean of the New York Institute of Photography (NYI), the world’s largest photography school, it’s easy if you do a couple of simple things. “Most of all you need a steady camera, a long exposure, and medium speed ISO setting,” DeLaney explains.

First, you’ll want to take a time-exposure. If you have an SLR camera, this should be no problem. Many point-and-shoot cameras have a special Fireworks setting, but if the camera you are using doesn’t, try to “fool” the camera into keeping the shutter open. Here’s how: When you see a rocket shoot skyward, press the shutter-button. The darkness of the sky should cause your camera to keep the shutter open for a time-exposure, and you can end up with a splendid picture.
What about using a single-use “cardboard” disposable camera? NYI says, forget it! These cameras usually have a fixed shutter speed, and you can’t “fool” them into doing the right thing no matter what you do.

Second, and equally important, since you are taking a time-exposure, your camera should be on a solid, unmoving base throughout the exposure. A tripod is best. If you don’t have a tripod, try bracing your camera against some solid structure – for example, a wall, a post, or a railing. They’re not as good as a tripod, but they’re better than hand-holding your camera. And hand-holding is the road to disaster – no one likes blurry fireworks photos.

Third, to add an extra-special touch to your picture, try to include something on the ground to give a sense of location to the firework display in the sky. For example, across the bottom of your frame you might show silhouettes of the crowd, or a statue (George Washington on horseback?), or the skyline of thecity. This one trick will do more to make your fireworks pictures stand out than any other single thing you can do. “There are some special do’s and don’ts that will help digital photographers get the best results,” notes DeLaney. “We
written a special article just to address those issues.”

For lots more advice on how to take “great” fireworks pictures, and some great fireworks photos, visit http://www.nyip.com/ezine/holidays/firewksintro.html or read the other photo tips on the New York Institute of Photography (NYI) Web site at http://www.nyip.com.

Reprinted with permission from the New York Institute of Photography
Photos by Lau

I had the idea to inform myself (and you) about this camera accessories because I felt the need of a remote control while shooting night Christmas scenes. To explain better, my Nikon D40x, like many other cameras, can not make an exposure longer than 30 seconds without a remote – at least that’s what the manual says. I did managed to get to “bulb” option on manul mode, but, for that, I needed to keep my finger on the sutter, fact which causes the camera to shake and the picture gets blurry. Therefor, I’ll start with pointing out the advantages of a remote control and then I’ll give you a list of remote controls to choose from according to your camera.
A remote switch is a cable with a switch on the end – just as simple as that. It duplicates the action of the shutter button − half pressure activates the exposure metering and focus while full pressure fires the shutter. The units differ simply in the length of the cable and the type of connecter plug used to attach the cable to the camera.
A remote switch will allow you to fire your camera without the need to touch it. This is very useful when the camera is fixed to a tripod or supported on a wall. It eliminates the movement that can be transmitted to the camera as the shutter button is pressed.
One of the question you might have is “why are some cables longer than others? why is lenght important?”.
The answer is that when you are further away from the camera, you have more chances to remain unnoticed by the photographed subject – speaking of wildlife photography. Extension cables are suitable for such situations.
So let’s go back to the situation I mentioned at the begining: I want to make a long exposure using a remote controler. With a remote release, once you have pressed the button you can lock it down by sliding the button forward. Now the shutter will stay open without you having to keep pressure on the button. This ‘running lock’ means you are free to work with very long exposures, limited only by your camera’s battery life. To close the camera shutter, simply slide the remote switch button back and let go.
So war I’ve been talking about the traditional way of remote picturing, but, the’s a new and more effective way these days: A wireless controller not only acts like your television remote controller, but it also works in the same way − by infrared. More than that, a friend of mine has an universal remote controller which is his TV controller and camera controller in the same device. A wireless controller has a transmitter and a receiver. The receiver is connected to the remote plug on the camera, and an extension cable can be attached if you need to be even further away.

Question: How long can this exposure be?
Answer: Digital cameras need power when the shutter is open to keep the CMOS sensor active. This means their maximum exposure time is likely to be shorter than that for film cameras.
IMPORTANT TIP FOR LONG EXPOSURES: If you are interested in shooting star trails, you will reduce the noise levels in the images by shooting on cold winter nights rather than warm summer evenings.

For Canon users:

RS-80N3: 80mm cable with N3 connector for professional and mid-range digital EOS cameras
RS-60E3: 60mm cable with E3 connector for entry-level digital EOS cameras
RS-60T3: 60cm cable with T3 connector for early EOS models
TC-80N3
Wireless Controller LC-5

More complex remote controler like the TC-80N3 have a few extra features over and above other remote switches: a built-in self-timer, interval timer and long exposure timer, which can all be set in one second increments from one second to 99 hours. It also features an exposure count setting.
As for the connectors, take a look at E3 and N3 in the firts place, but note that there is no adaptor that allows you to use a N3 remote switch with an E3-compatible camera. This means that it not possible to use a TC-80N3 with any of the E3-compatible cameras, such as the EOS 350D or 400D.

For Nikon users:

NIKON MC30 and MC-36 Remotes (designed for use with Nikon SLR cameras equipped with a 10-pin remote terminal) are compatible with Nikon D300, D200, D100 (with MB-D100 grip attached), D3, D2H, D2Hs, D2x, D1, D1H, D1x, F100, F6, F5, F90X and F90.
Nikon MC-DC1 Remote Cord is for Nikon D70S & D80 Digital SLR Cameras.
Nikon ML-3 Compact Modulite Remote Control is mostly useful for wildlife photography up to 8m. Can Also Fire The Camera Remotely When A Subject Moves Between The Transmitter And Receiver
Opteka Wireless Radio Remote Release for Nikon D300, D200, D100, & D2x SLR Digital Cameras – 100m range, and it can activate auto focus, release shutter, activate continuous drive mode or keep the shutter open for bulb photography as well.

If you have just purchased your Nikon D80, the controls on the outside of the camera coupled with all the menus and custom settings can be … all » downright overwhelming. We give you a structure for looking at the controls as well as a repeatable ritual for taking great photos with your new camera. You spent a bundle on this camera. Let it be an extension of your hands rather than a struggle. The Nikon D80 is a powerful piece of equipment. A solid understanding of its features and controls can really unleash its potential. Once you learn how the camera’s components work together, you’ll have all the tools you need to capture the best image under all conditions.
Understanding AF Area Selections Topics include:
• Be Prepared (To Get the Shot)
• Shutter Priority
• Aperture Priority/Depth of Field
• Focus Alternatives
• Metering and Bracketing
• White Balance/Color Temperature
• ISO
• Playback Options / Image Review
• Understanding Histograms
• Exposure Compensation
• Flash Overview
• Custom Settings
• Tripods and Telephoto Lenses
• Programmable Buttons
• RAW (NEF) Files
• Composition
• My Menus
• Bracketing versus Post Processing
• Shutter Priority to Achieve the Effect You Want
• Self Timer and Delay for Rock Solid Results
Take great pictures with your Nikon D80! All you need is this training DVD and about 93 minutes, and you’ll have the knowledge and the confidence to create the images you want. The topics are arranged in chapters, so you can move at your own pace, and return later to individual subjects.

Nikon Understanding Digital Photography DVD You are ready to take your digital SLR photography beyond the automatic settings on your … all » Nikon digital SLR camera, this 45 minute Nikon School© DVD is the perfect guide. Join Bob Krist, award-winning National Geographic Traveler Photographer, on a day of shooting and instruction. Along the way, Bob will offer valuable insights on choices you can make to begin composing and shooting breathtaking photographs.

While on a variety of locations, Bob will share his vast knowledge of photography and Nikon digital SLRs to educate you on:

· Camera settings for best quality in various situations
· Lens choice for creative and practical shooting
· Utilizing the Retouch Menu for in-camera editing
· Exposure fundamentals and shooting options

During the day’s shooting, Bob takes us to familiar situations around the home and demonstrates a variety of creative photographic opportunities. Understanding Digital Photography covers the use of the Nikon Creative Lighting System, using Nikon Speedlights for portraits and small groups. Bob continues removing the mystery of overcoming photographic challenges in a variety of environments including the difficulties encountered with twilight portraits and landscapes.

This DVD offers valuable instruction to anyone interested in digital SLR photography, particularly those who have some familiarity with a digital SLR’s basic functions. For those unfamiliar with basic digital SLR operation, I recommend beginning with the Nikon School© DVD, Fast, Fun& Easy: Great Digital Pictures.

This is a complete guide to what can be done with long exposure and tripod in the late hours of the day or in the mid hours of the night anywhere around from nature to city. Credit goes to Richard Brian. Good examples, dude.

Enjoy the music also!

Tags: night photos, night photography, long exposure photography, long exposure

Step 1:
Get a tripod with you. A cable release can also be helpful if you can get that attached to the camera.

Step 2:
Try finding a high place for observing and shooting the sky show, with no unwanted obstacles.

Step 3:
Adjust your camera settings like this:
- continuous mode active with the maximum number of shots and about 1s delay between
- some cameras have a preset “fireworks mode” that automatically adjusts shutter speed and aperture (like most of the Canon models), but if your camera doesn’t have it, here’s a hint: Shutter Speed: 2 , Aperture: 8.0
- if you done the first step, don’t worry to much about the ISO so let it as low as possible for low noise; also don’t set the flash on
- if the camera has a sharpening adjustment control, set it to very sharp

Step 4:
When actually pressing the shutter button, wait for the burst to explode, but, until that moment, keep the button half-pressed (focused ready). Then, with the 1s delay set up, the rest should become easily synchronized. Get creative by framing your fireworks with the surrounding buildings or capturing the city lights below the fireworks. Some places allow a nice effect of the fireworks reflections on the water.

Step 5:
Your final image can be processed on the computer in order to obtain more fireworks in one single picture: a merging process of more shots with no blending. (This is called double exposure technique)

Some in-deep readings I recommend:
Digital Photography School Fireworks Tips Very creative images to illustrate
Photojojo Fireworks Photography Tips
An advanced reading
Fireworks Picture Gallery

Tags: Fireworks Photography, 4th July, Independence Day, photographing fireworks, fireworks, fireworks pictures

Shooting against the light has always been a tricky thing in photography: if you choose to set a longer exposure or just to increase the exposure compensation in order to have plenty of light over the near subject, the background will appear burned (overexposed). The other way around, if you choose the right exposure for the background (the usual auto or program mode will do that), then your subject will appear too dark (underexposed).

The solutions I will present depends on the situation in which you will find yourself. Let’s look at them.

Solution 1 – Use Flash Even in a Sunny Day

If you are close enough to your subject, like for instance in portrait photography, using the flash even if it is a very sunny day will fix the problem in a very simple and effective way.

Solution 2 – D-light Function

But what if your subject is too far away (like far buildings) and you can’t or just don’t want to try a different angle with the sun behind you? Or what if it is night and a lamp illuminates the place? Will you be pleased with the overexposed lamp due to the long exposure needed in night conditions? Some new cameras (HP Photosmart R727, R827, R927, Nikon D80, Nikon Coolpix S50 and S50c, S200, S500, P5000, the Nikon L series, ) come with a function called D-Lighting (or adaptive lighting). This function will solve the problem automatically.

Solution 3 – Photoshop Manipulation

But what if your camera does not have this function? The salvation in this case is a Photoshop manipulation.
When shooting, make several frames with different exposures. In my example (with Canon PowerShot A520), the dark photo was made with: aperture F 3.2, exposure time 0.100 sec; and the light one with: aperture F 3.2, exposure time 0.400 sec. It’s much recommended to have a tripod and take the pictures using it because of 2 reasons: a brighter picture may require a longer exposure time (if you don’t want to deal with a lot of noise you will prefer a longer time instead of higher ISO and aperture) so you need to avoid camera shake (no matter how steady your hands are, night condition will always require a tripod), and the second reason: the frames should be taken from the same angle and viewpoint. Unfortunately, at the time I shot the images in this example, I did not have a tripod so the bright image is blured due to camera shake, but I somehow managed to take quite similar frames.
In a Photoshop document, place the 2 frames as different layers in such way that the darker one will be under the lighter one.
Choose the eraser with a size bigger than the lamp (or whatever your overexposed object is), low hardness and low opacity as shown in the figure. This will softly erase the area around the lamp in the lighter frame revealing the darker frame behind in such way that the 2 images will come together graduated, not suddenly. But the inner portion of the lamp from the darker image is not yet fully revealed. Change the eraser option like this: smaller size to fit only the interior of the lamp, full 100% opacity and 100% hardness.

Once you erase the red marked area, you will notice that even if the pictures come together softly, the colors are not the same. You can adjust the gradient by moving onto the dark image layer, in the menu “Image” -> “Adjustments” select Selective Color. Play around with the “neutrals” until you are satisfied with the color gradient around the lamp. When all this is done, go to the menu “Layer” and select “Merge Visible” (or press Shift + Ctrl+E). This step will merge the 2 images and now, if you are still not satisfied with this result, you can play around with blur tool and healing brush before saving the final image.

If you are interested in digital cameras with D-light function check them on Amazon. They are quite amazing and useful.

- HP PhotoSmart R727
– HP Photosmart R827
– HP Photosmart R927
– Nikon D80 Kit
– Nikon Coolpix with Vibration Reduction Zoom
– Nikon Coolpix S50c 7 is Wifi Capable
– Nikon Coolpix S200
– Nikon Coolpix S500, Vibration Reduction Zoom
– Nikon Coolpix P5000, Vibration Reduction Zoom
– Nikon Coolpix from 74$

When you go out shooting, be sure to take one of your Izod shirts, my favorite brand.

Tags: D-Lighting, Adaptative Lighting, Photoshop, Exposure Correction, Shooting Against the Light

What do you have in mind when taking pictures on a highway? Maybe the road signs. Yes, it’s a good idea but here I’m not talking about that.
Road construction requires the creation of a continuous right-of-way, overcoming geographic obstacles and having grades low enough to permit vehicle or foot travel. This means you will find interesting sinuous shapes of roads.

Notice that in most of the cases the road should be free of cars and walkers. Two exceptions are noticeable: the pictures depicting intense city traffic and the night roads when a car leaves behind a rail of light.

As for the composition, it’s always a good idea to start the road from a corner of the picture up to the middle or the other corner. In most of the cases it will appear larger in the starting corner and thinner at the end. However, sometimes, when symmetry allows, you can start and end your road line in the middle of the picture.

As I said many times before, following the weather helps a lot: fog or rain give special effects, and, in the case of train rails, sunrise is also creating a mystical atmosphere.

Tip 1 Forest Road

Tip 2 City Road

Tip 3 Mountain Road

Tip 4 Desert Road

Tip 5 Night Road

Tip 6 Train Rails