Step 1: Triple Check Your Equipment Before You Go Shooting

It always happened to me to forget something. The last “mini photo trip” had the impact on me to always check my equipment on every single and last detail.

We’ve taken with us two Nikon cameras, four lenses and one point and shoot digital camera (canon a640). We wanted to make a test. The most important test was to compare Nikon 70-300mm Vibrate Reduction lenses with Tamron AF-S 70-300mm lenses for Nikon. For this test we needed the tripod that we’ve taken with us. BUT I’ve forgot the head of the tripod. So there I was, with lot of equipment but with out that little piece I’ve need it. Mission Failed!

So check:
- batteries (back up batteries)
- tripod and the head of the tripod
- lenses
- filters
- settings of the camera (why would you shoot the first picture with the settings left from home?)
- camera and lens hoods

Step 2: Travel

Now you are prepared. The next step is to travel. Go to places where you never been before. It’s true that a good photographer can make from one scene thousands of good photos but a smart photographer will travel. Traveling will help discover the world and always have interesting and new pictures.

You can’t go to the same park and expect to always have killer photos. Change places!

Step 3: Try to Avoid the Mid of the Day

A definition of photography says: paint with the light. In photography it’s all about the light. In the mid of the day most of the time you’ll have a white sky and the objects will have no shades, these means: no story to tell (in most of the cases).

Step 4: Always Shoot a Scene from Different Angles

Don’t get satisfied with just one angle. Try more angles and different settings.

Step 5: For Snapshots on Moving Targets Try to Avoid Manual Settings

If you shoot birds, children, moving objects you should use the auto mode or pre-programmed modes. Try to avoid manual settings, because the object is moving so you will have different light, shutter speed and aperture.

Step 6: A Good Photographer Knows that Not All Photos Are Astonishing: Be Very Selective

If you want to be considered a good photographer be very selective, edit your photos and include in your portfolio only the killer photographs.

You could go in a trip and make 1000 photos where would you get only three astonishing photos and 50 OK photos. Include in your portfolio only the best ones.

The photos are from one of my trip around the country. 2 days – 600 photos.

I always recommend to buy a dslr.

Written by Tudor Mateescu.

If you want to write an unique guest post to my blog shoot me an e-mail at laurentia.fr [at] gmail.com

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

Soft Focus: this simple technique can take much time to master, but can be experimented with simply and cheaply, either with photo excising software or using standard fi1m techniques; and can lead to impressive results.
But let’s start by clearing what I mean by soft focus: Soft focus is the effect by which the edges of the subject(S) in an Image appear III be slightly blurred, or as tile name suggests, softer. A “soft focus” Image is normally composed of a slightly out of focus Image combined with a sharp normally focused Image. It is the combination of these two Images which gives the soft focus effect.
This combination can be obtained both while taking the picture, or as I digital after effect.

The analog technique

I called the technique that does not use a computer “the analog technique” because It is performed on the picture as It Is taken, in the analog world so to speak. This being the case, it allows the technique to be used for both digital and film cameras.
The three pictures below, Figures 1-3 are crude examples of a homemade soft focus filter. Commercial soft focus filters (such as the Cokin A-091 and A-092 filters) are available and their prices range from the very cheap to the very expensive. Whilst they are perfect if they are set to produce the exact effect you want, they are often static, meaning that their properties cannot be changed.
But let’s continue with this basic: homemade Soft focus filter:
A piece of cling film, which whilst not having the mast fantastic optical properties, will do for our purposes, was stretched across a Card frame and then a small amount of washing up liquid was smeared onto the center. The first example, fig 1, was taken without the homemade filter in front of the lens. The second shot, fig 2, was taken by smearing the washing up liquid in a circular motion. While the last photo, fig 3, was taken by smearing the liquid in straight lines across the cling film.
As you can see the effects are quite different.



Please note that when using the filter I am only creating the blurred Image. To create the composite Image manually, you would simply leave a small hole in the middle of the cling film, without any liquid on it. By varying the size or the hole, the balance between soft and hard Images can be controlled and therefore the overall effect can be adjusted. This balance is rather tricky to perfect and even more so when using house hold Items but a wide range of effects as possible.
How did the washing up liquid affect the Image entering the camera? The answer is that the filter “diffused” the light in different directions, much as a light diffuser for lighting equipment does. The liquid that was added on the cling film changed its optical properties making it react slightly differently to the incoming light. The digram below, fig 4, shows how this occurs.

With the first filtered example, the Image is softened in all directions. Take a closer look at the door handles and notice the glow surrounding them. As the diffusing liquid was smeared in a circular fashion, the light was bent in all directions.
In the second filtered Image, the diffusing liquid was smeared only in one direction, horizontally. This had the effect of bending light in the vertical direction, but largely unaffecting light in the horizontal direction. Again, look at the door handles to see the effect.
By varying things Ike tile liquid used, the amount used, smear directions and central hole diameter, you can create a wide range of filters to suit your needs. It is worth trying out this technique if only to satisfy your own curiosity. It takes only half an hour to create the filter and start taking some shots with it.

I received (from Mark via email) a nice video tutorial on the workflow and editing that can be used to create moody and melodramatic monochromes well suited to architectural and urban photography.

Clcik here to watch the tutorial

Tools used by Mark in this video:
* RAW conversion software,(Pixmantec’s Rawshooter Essentials 2006)
* High Dynamic Range imaging software (DynamicPhoto HDR)
* Photoshop CS3
Also, the pictures were made with Canon 350D Digital SLR with Canon EFS 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM lens + sky filter (mainly for protection) + hood to cut down stray light. Look at the pictures.
Mark’s work is also exhibited at Masa Fine Art Galllery, Royal William Yard.
Thank you Mark for this brilliant tutorial and magnificent photos!

Mark about the world in he’s photography:
“The back streets and the docks, this is where people have lived and worked through Plymouth’s history. Once these have been razed and redeveloped, part of the our heritage will be gone.
The pretty places and views will be recorded, but to many people this is the real Plymouth, and deserves to be remembered. My aim is to show things as people may not see them, to give a different viewpoint. I like secret spaces, lost spaces, which are in the middle of communities but which people just pass by and don’t really notice.”

I got a few tutorials for you that will help improve your portraits in the post-processing. There is something to learn from each of them. One shows that the eye can be multi-colored, other shows that the white space of the eye must also be taken under consideration, and, not as the last thing, you can do adjustments in order to lighen and sharpen the eye to draw the attention to it.

I finally found an article with very good examples of infrared photography.

When these infrared filters are used together with infrared-sensitive film or sensors, very interesting “in-camera effects” can be obtained; false-color or black-and-white images with a dreamlike or sometimes lurid appearance known as the “Wood Effect.”

The effect is mainly caused by foliage (such as tree leaves and grass) strongly reflecting in the same way visible light is reflected from snow. Chlorophyll is transparent at these wavelengths and so does not block this reflectance (see Red edge). There is a small contribution from chlorophyll fluorescence, but this is extremely small and is not the real cause of the brightness seen in infrared photographs.

Source

Panning Setup

Here is a fact: results will be better if you use a tripod. However, if you don’t have one or if an opportunity that does not allow you to set it up presets itself, you can still make a very decent panorama by following a few simple tips.

If you have a tripod:

Set up your tripod so that your camera is perfectly horizontal. You can do this by hand, or use a spirit level if you have one. Top geek stuff: you can buy a mini spirit level that will adapt to the external flash slot (hot shoe) of your camera if it has one.
It is quite important that your camera is horizontal. If it is not you will get some unrecoverable distortions on the horizon line (if shooting outside), and you will loose some height on the final picture.
If you want to fine tune the setup, you can take an extra step to make sure your camera will rotate along the nodal point of this lens, or at least around the symmetry axis of the lens.
What is the nodal point of a lens you say? It’s the point, on the symmetry axis of the lens, that all the incoming light rays cross being sent to the focal plane. Rotating around this point will give you zero distortion. Rotating around a different point will create distortion – due to the parallax phenomenon.
If the tripod mount crew on the camera is not even aligned with the lens axis you’ll need to buy a specialized tripod extension that will allow you to slide the camera horizontally so that the rotating axis of the tripod is in line with the nodal point.
Such devices are often called Panoramic Tripod Heads.
The nodal point of your lens change when you zoom in and out. Finding it is a matter of trials and adjustments: try to locate two vertical objects, such as poles or light posts, one being close from the camera and the other being far away from it. Take two different shots by rotating the camera and compare the position of each object relative to the other. If the objects have moved away or toward each other from one shot to the other, you are not yet rotating around the nodal point.
Finding the precise nodal point even with most regular lenses is often a matter of millimeter, but with a few tries you should get close enough.

Note that this step is optional. You will get perfectly decent results even if you skip it and rotate around a different point, especially if you are shooting outdoor landscape panorama. More distortion will show if you are shooting indoors, where the perspective lines may appear quite different from one shot to the other.

If you don’t have a tripod:

Hold the camera at the eye level and tuck your elbows close to your body to avoid moving the camera too much when you rotate. Try to keep the camera at the same level when rotating (the horizon line is a good marquee when you shoot outside). Rotate using your shoulders and waist, and try to rotate around the camera rather than rotating the camera itself. You’ll be closer from the nodal point this way.

Continue reading part III

Introduction

A panorama – or panoramic photo – is usually made by stitching several pictures, taken with the same camera, into one. Although you can also achieve a panoramic effect with only one photo by simply cropping it aggressively – especially if you are using a wide angle lens – I will stick to the “multiple photos” approach in this article as it offers more possibilities.
A panorama can in general be horizontal, vertical or even be a mosaic of pictures taken in both orientations. For this article I will assume you want to do a horizontal panorama, which means the final photo will have a width much greater than its height and photos will be taken from right to left (or left to right if you prefer but my camera only takes ine way). The technique can, as you will see, easily be adapted to do vertical panoramas.
Making a panoramic photo really only takes a couple of important steps.

The first step is taking the pictures;
The second is stitching them using your computer.

The more effort and attention you put in the first step, the easier the second step will be and the more realistic your final photo will look.

Taking the pictures

Whether you are shooting inside or outside, and especially if you are planning to shoot a particular event such as a sunset, it is a good idea to arrive early at the location of you shot as a proper setup can take some time.
Camera Setup:
What follows is the most important tip of the whole article: Put your camera in all manual mode, including manual focus.
This will ensure all the sub pictures making up the final panorama will have the same exposure level (hence the same brightness/contrast) and the same depth of field. This will make the stitching a lot easier since you will not have to adjust the individual pictures for exposure and focus.
A few extra tips will get you the best results out of this:
Do not use a polarizing filter unless you really have to. When you are going to rotate the camera in order to take the pictures, the incidence of the light on the filter will change and this will result in different colors hues on each picture. This can make the stitching very painful.
Try to use a focal lens of 50mm or greater. This means “zooming in” a little bit. Of course it also means you will have to take more pictures to cover the panorama, but it will result in more details in the end.
It is better to do this because, if you use a wide angle lens (or short focal length), there are changes that objects in the foreground will suffer from distortion, and you will be in trouble to stitch the pictures.

Continue reading about this in part II

This tutorial shows how to whiten teeth using a Curves adjustment layer in Photoshop CS3. In Portrait Photography, no matter how pretty the model is, how well lighting is and how good your white balance setting is adjusted, teeth may still not be as white and pretty as they should in order to make a picture become a magazine cover.
However, this video also teaches that the teeth should have a natural white, which is not pure white. The change is subtile.
Before making the change to teeth, do this in order to avoid any other changes of the rest of the image:
Duplicate the background layer.
Fill the background layer with a gradient that looks like fire.
On the duplicated layer, use the Extract filter to remove the girl from the background.

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.