Digital Photography Tutorials For Beginners.
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Depth of Field (DOF) is a very debated subject in the photography classes. However, from all the available tutorials, this video appears to me as the best for explaining the importance and the effect of DOF. Not to mention that the images which serve as examples are extremely good, made by professionals.
Tags: dof, depth of field, dof tutorial, photography tutorial
– one of the most commonly chromatic aberration in photography
Try not to shoot against the sky if the below portion of the frame is much darker, decrease the exposure one step, use a polarizer and, if possible, shoot in RAW format.
– too much light enters the camera in a given time
If this happens, adjust the exposure setting with -. (This can only be done in Program, Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority Modes.)
– too less light enters the camera in a given time
If this happens, adjust the exposure setting with +.
– very low number on pixels on a fairly large area due to the use of high digital zoom
Never use the digital zoom. (Normally it can be turned off in the camera menu)
– caused by shaky hands
Use a tripod in low light conditions and shutter speeds longer than 0.5 sec.
– when the flash light is close to the lens (compact cameras)
This can only be avoided by in-camera software red-eye remove – sometimes it might not even be effective.
– It happens when shooting against the sun and it is more visible with SLR cameras due to the lens construction
This can be avoided by using a hens hood.
– usually this happens when digital noise reduction is used and the subject is out of focus
Be careful when focusing (like don’t shoot landscape in macro mode and vice-versa). Usually, SLR cameras create sharper images than compact cameras do.
– too much sharpness creates unrealistic edges
When sharpening an image taken with a compact camera, try not to push the sharpening over the aesthetic limits: keep the edges without a light hallow.
– high sensitivity used in low light causes chromatic not uniform noise which should not be compared to the uniform black and white grain that appears on film photos or added as an effect in Photoshop
If you’re shooting a night scene, use a tripod and longer shutter speed instead of high ISO. When shooting portraits in low light use the flash instead of very high ISO.
Note: I’m not including here vignetting and distortion (caused by using some wide lenses at the limit), even uniform noise (grain), since these, if used rationally, can produce creative images.
Tags: red eye, red eye removal, purple fringing, oversharped, underexposed, overexposed, lens flare, noise, photo issues
Let’s start with the definition of one pixel is the smallest picture unit in a computer image or display. Now you noticed that every camera specification refers to the number of megapixels that the camera posses – this means million of pixels. All these million of pixels are arranged in a grid. This grid has rows and columns – maybe now the image size makes more sens: 800×600, 1600×1200, 2400×1800, and so on. The camera’s resolution is calculated by multiplying the number of pixels along the length and width of the sensor, however, you must understand that only the effective megapixels matter when working with the pictures.
Each pixel contains data of only one color which is why a bigger number of pixels on a given area will result in more data, more color variations on the same area. As a result, an image with lots of pixels is often called a “high resolution” image with better quality. If the image size is 1600×1200, for example (by the way, this is the postcard standard), and the dpi 72 (dots per inch), the image quality will be lower than the same size at 200 dpi. Some cameras offer the option to shoot jpeg at standard quality (the 72 dpi), and fine quality (180 dpi). The 180 dpi image will require more space on your memory card, but it’s worth. Don’t forget that you can always reduce your image later, but enlarging a picture will only decrease the image quality.
Printers (and scanners – the other way around) also use the therm of resolution and it comes easy to understand that a high resolution image will give a high resolution print, but, things are not that simple. A given resolution can be OK on a monitor, for web publishing (72 dpi), but for paper not (at least 300 dpi). If you choose to print a small image at a large size, the pixels in your image are stretched to fill the requested print area and your eye perceives this as a “pixelated” effect. Below you have some guiding lines in case you want to print your photos:
For a 2″ x 3″ print, the image dimensions should be 400 x 600 pixels minimum
For a 4″ x 6″ print, the image dimensions should be 800 x 600 pixels minimum
For a 5″ x 7″ print, the image dimensions should be 1000 x 1400 pixels minimum
For an 8″ x 10″ print, the image dimensions should be 1600 x 2000 pixels minimum
For stock photography, 1600×1200 is the minimum accepted.
Tags: pixel, megapixels, image size, resolution, dpi, pixels, image quality, compression
This summer I had the chance to go on a trip at the seaside, the Black See Romanian Coast. I had all the needed gear with me: camera, extra memory cards, extra rechargeable batteries, tripod and a laptop. Every experienced photographer developed a certain shooting style of his own (for example photographers who shoot the sea only at long exposure times), but the below examples are kind of a mixture of what one can do in order to give you the chance to see that you like most.
-I- The Shooting
Tip 1:
Sunrise is at around 5:30 am. No matter of the weather, a sunrise shot is always impressive. Between 5 and 6 am I was up sad because the fog completely covered the sun, however, some lonely people were walking on the beach inside the fog and that made a great shot. Later on, the fog and the few clouds at the horizon rise and below you have my see-sunrise picture with the sun rays in the above side and the sun reflexion in the watter at the bottom side of the shot. Don’t forget to use a tripod or otherwise you risk having a blurred sunrise.
Tip 2:
During the day, it’s important to think “what is there interesting to shoot?” – finding a subject. Just shooting around where plenty of people lie down will result into busy images with no precise subject. A girl playing with a ball, a boy running under a natural umbrella, a surfer behind an umbrella, a lady trying to teach her dog how to swim, and so on. Now that you saw something you want to shoot, let’s see how to get the best out of it:
Tip 3:
Being somewhere in a nice place, most people tend to take pictures to distant subject in order to capture the so called environment. This is wrong. Fill your frame, don’t worry about the environment: landscape / seascape can make the subject of another picture, but now don’t miss your chance. As an example for this look at the picture with the lady and the dog: there is nothing else, no other people, no horizon line – your attention can only be at the given situation.
Tip 4:
Use a telephoto lens (like 200mm) if you want to better capture situations and people on the beach. In this situation, it’s like you are a photojournalist and the subject will pop out from the busy background as a result of the narrow DOF. As an example look again at the pictures of the girls with the ball. The are many people far from the girl but in the same area, and, if I didn’t have used the right lens, the group of people would have been disturbing the attention on her.
Tip 5:
In some other tutorials I once told you about perspective. There are several images here that I toked by standing at the see level: I wanted to capture the girl with the ball and the beauty of the waves. By combing the two elements in different parts of the picture in order to balance the composition, I managed to give the viewer the unique feeling about how great is to feel that ball moved by the waves, splashing and floating. Also, this is a way of avoiding to capture the horizon at the middle of the picture.
Tip 6:
Look down. You may see footprints, seashells, sea crabs, jellyfish… really, I did! Take a macro shot of these creatures if you can. And speaking of creatures and macro shots: you can order sea fruits at lunch 
Tip 7:
Like I said at the beginning, some photographers do the long exposure trick. At sunrise or sunset, put your camera on the tripod, get into Aperture Priority mode and set the aperture so that in the camera will enter only the lowest amount of light (the camera will automatically increase the exposure time). In the Shutter Priority mode, put a longer exposure setting, as longer as better, and don’t forget to adjust the exposure compensation to the lowest number (underexpose), otherwise your picture will be a white rectangle and nothing more.
Tip 8:
Night shots also requires long exposure time, but, besides from that, you also need to increase the ISO number (sensitivity). The picture will result grainy but at least you won’t be worrying about it being too dark. Even at night the beach can still be interesting in matter of objects enlighten by a soft back light like those umbrellas.
-II- The Post-Edit
Step 1:
Add contrast and saturate the colors by using curves on each channel (R – G – B) in different adjustment layers.
Step 2:
Sharpen the images that were taken with fast shutter speed: the watter droplets will pop out even more.
Step 3:
If there are objects in the frame that ruin the composition but at the shooting point you could not avoid them, you can still use clone tool and healing brush to remove them. I did so at the picture with the running boy: behind him, there were other people laying down on the beach.
Step 4:
Black&White or Duo-tone will make your images look even more expressive and artistic.
Step 5:
Is there a need for cropping? If yes, now it’s the moment. Maybe after you toked the shot, when you saw the image on the computer you realized that by cropping vertically you can obtain a better composition.
Step 6:
Resize the image for web and/or printing. Why not making a photo album of the great photo vacation and show them to others? Make a good selection from the hundred of pictures.
Step 7:
For a better presentation, before pressing the print button or submit picture button, add a simple border to each of them. This way your images will pop out from the plenty of other see images around the world.
In the end, I hope these tips will help you get better creative vacation pictures next summer… unless you live on the oceans shore and the sea is always at your feet.
Tags: seaside photos, seaside, photo tips, summer photography
Probably the oldest trick in photography, but most people forget about it so take a look.
Tags: fill flash, flash, photo tips
Time for a lesson again. 
The weekend comes and before you take your camera and go out to find something to shoot, take a look at this video to remember you at what tips should you think when being out there shooting.
The 3 techniques described in this article are part of the techniques used to isolate the subject from the background – an essential rule in photography.
You may already know that a longer exposure time will create motion blur if the subject moves. See the example below. The other way around: steady subject but movement of the camera, will result in the same effect, except that this time the entire image will be blurred not just the subject.
Since an entire blurred image is not a good one, the latest cameras developed a function called anti-shake or image stabilization to avoid obtaining such images if you don’t have steady hands. If you don’t have this function or shooting mode, increase the ISO setting and put the camera on a tripod or some steady ground.
Now Panning refers to shooting a moving subject by moving the camera in the same direction as well. This is not exactly easy but you might get it right from the first try. In this case, it is not the subject that looks blurred, but the background. You need to have your camera focused on the subject and try having the same speed as the subject.
Zooming during a picture is easier than panning in my opinion. That because the subject is not moving: you are the one creating an effect just by rotating the rings. Whether you zoom in or out, the final effect is the same. This effect can also be obtained in post-proccesing the picture with a filter effect in a software like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom – about this later.
(zooming trick image by http://www.pixel-magik.co.uk)
Note: the panning picture above was made with Canon Powershot A520, Program Shooting Mode, so if you are wondering that only a SLR camera can do these tricks, stay calm: any compact camera can do the panning trick. What matters is to teach yourself how to listen to your senses and practice your reaction timing.
Tags: panning, zooming, photo tips, photo tricks, motion blur
The 3 basic metering styles (Spot Metering, Center-Weight Metering and Multi-zone Metering) are explained in part I of How to use the Metering System of Digital Cameras. In this Video you get a better approach of how to use the metering system on both compact and slr digital cameras.
Tags: spot metering, center-weight metering, matrix metering, evaluative metering, metering sistem, metering modes, multi-zone metering, manual metering, exposure metering
Before looking at the following video, take a read of this article: Focal Length and Aperture Explained for the Photography Novice – Part I.
Tags: lens, focal length, aperture, f number, f stop, depth of field, dof, angle of view, perspective, wide, tele, exposure time
