With the shorter days and colder weather (well, for me here in the States, at least), it’s getting harder to get outside for the beautiful landscape and urban shots. I’m the type of person that always likes to have a new project (or two) to work on, so here’s some things I plan on working on – maybe it will spark some ideas for you!
I love to cook, and I’m always sharing new recipes with family and friends, and it’s nice to have a photo to go along with them, but I have a bit to learn when it comes to making my food look as good in photos as it tastes. Now is the perfect time to start learning, though! Not only am I stuck indoors more, but I also make a lot of warm, hearty dinners in the winter that should hopefully make for some good subjects – including holiday dinners, of course! To get me started, a quick search of DPS has shown me an introduction to food photography, some food photography tutorial videos, and food photography techniques and tips.
Light painting is something that I’ve played with in the past, and it’s one of those things that seems to be a popular phase that a lot of photographers go through, but I’ve recently got re-inspired to play around some more after a series of posts on DIYPhotography.net on light painting, tools used in light painting, and how to create an orb. And, of course, by the recently posted 25 spectacular light painting images here on DPS.
Is it sad that it’s not family, friends, or friendly neighborhood competitions that get me excited about decorating for the Holidays? It’s getting fun photos! There are just so many great decorations up around town and in houses that it’s hard to resist. I don’t put up many decorations myself, so I’m sure to take my camera wherever I go this holiday season. For instance, this cute snowman is sitting in front of my parent’s Christmas tree.
I don’t have an off-camera flash. To be honest, I’m a bit intimidated trying to figure out what I should look for in a flash and how I would use it once I got it (or them). So I plan on taking some time this winter and reading through Strobist’s Lighting 101. Will some of it be over my head? Definitely. Will it make me wish I had an off-camera flash? Well, I already do, but it will probably make me want one more. Will it help me make an educated purchase of what lighting equipment I actually need? I sure hope so!
I’m really excited about this one – and I hate the snow! Once again, I’m starting to appreciate things more now that I have a camera to photograph them with. Last winter I had my DSLR for less than a year, and was unsure of myself in many areas of photography – snow being one of those. I found it’s really hard to get a good photo with snow it. For one, there are footprints in the snow, or dirt in the snow, or various other things that change the snow from soft and beautiful to dirty and gross. Even a bigger issue, though, is that exposing snow can be a difficult thing and I would end up with half my snow photos being a dull gray and the other half being bright white. I was able to get a few photos that I was semi-happy with (like the one you see here), but I’m looking forward to taking the things I’ve read online, and the things I’ve learned with another year of experience under my belt to really start getting some good snow photos. Let it snow! I’m ready!
If you’re staying inside trying to keep warm, it’s a perfect time to start looking through some of your old photos. There’s a few reasons why I like to do this. When I first transfer a big batch of photos from my memory card to my computer, I’m often overwhelmed by them all and pick out just a few to edit and post online – there might be some other gems in there just waiting to be discovered and edited. Another reason I like to look through them is because I’d like to think that I’m constantly learning and improving, so maybe there’s some photo out there that I could edit better this time around. Finally, looking through my photos often gives me inspiration and new ideas – I can try redoing an old photo that didn’t come out exactly how I wanted it to, for example.
So, what projects are you planning on tackling with these shorter, colder days?
About the Author: Jennifer Jacobs is an amateur photographer who runs iffles.com – a site for photography beginners. She’s also addicted to flickr and you can follow her stream here.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
The greatest skill of a talented photographer is not how accurate he or she can be with exposure; it’s not being spot on with all of the tech details, or putting out thousands of images a week.
The greatest skill any photographer can hope to possess is that of observation.
Observation will define your work. It will give life and breath to the stories you capture and the beauty you create. Observation will be the difference between an average photo and a captivating photo; between an image that is a visual picture, and one that speaks to it’s audience in the most audible ways.
Developing observation – specifically in your photography – takes deliberate and practical efforts. It takes time and effort, and an unwillingness to take what is at face value.
Practice with some of the following techniques, adapted specifically for photographers:
Take one inanimate object and place in on a table in front of you. Look at it for five minutes and take note of everything You notice about it. If it is an apple, notice the shape; is it round, is it bumpy, does it have many grooves? Notice the size; is it large, small, medium – and in comparison to what? Notice texture, color, shine and polish. Does it look old? Why? Does it look freshly picked? Why? Is it mouthwatering? Then what makes it so? Ask every question you can about your object until you can think of absolutely nothing else. What kind of stories were you making up in your head about this object? Why?
Take another inanimate object and set it in a window. Take your camera, and with one lens, take as many pictures with as many different perspectives and focal distances as you can over 15 minutes. What are you trying to communicate? What makes different angles express different moods or feelings? Use the light in as many ways possible. Does the overall look and feeling of your communication change based on the way you use your techniques and combine your options? This stretching exercise will challenge your capacity and cause you to begin looking outside your box for perspectives you have never seen before.
When you go on a shoot, take a few minutes prior to evaluate the location. Ask yourself which location communicates different feelings and emotions. Then, ask yourself why. Is the lighting streaming through the trees above, creating soft and diffused sun rays that give warmth and drama. Is the placement of the flowers asymmetrical, creating a feeling of artistic dynamic? Don’t take anything you see at face value.
The first few months of dedicating photography often cause individuals to “see” frames everywhere – even when there is no camera in hand. This joy and wonder in photography causes a heightened sense of observation. Force yourself to create images in your mind before they happen; notice the pieces of images all around you and develop your mental sharpness for visual elements.
The skills of observation will enable you to combine all elements that are at your disposal, and arrange them to reinforce the storytelling strength of your image. And that is a powerful thing.
About the Photo Above: I noticed this young married Indian girl walking in the middle of the others. She looked up at me with a shy wonder, and her eyes were filled with expectation. As she walked, I noticed that she didn’t assert herself as many of the others did. She rather hung back. The rough texture of her skin, the cut on her lip, the dirtiness of her hair all spoke to me – that her life had not been easy. And yet her eyes spoke something else entirely. Her eyes spoke with a soft and quiet confidence, almost as though she didn’t have to have the easiest life to know that she was beautiful. When I asked if I could take her picture, I discovered my intuitions were correct. For a brief moment she didn’t meet my eyes, but when she looked up, she nodded a permission and met the gaze of the camera unflinchingly.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
4 Practice Techniques to Develop Photographic Observation
A Guest Post by Simon Davidson.
As all photographers know, there are two times of day when the light is most ideal for capturing breathtaking images, sunrise and sunset. The reason being is because at these times the angle between the sun and the earth’s surface is small which allows for the sunlight to flow over the landscape in a way that intensifies the colours of nature and also creates spectacular shadows. All in all, it is a photographers dream land!
Below are a couple of pointers that will help you effectively plan for your upcoming sunrise shoot so that you don’t miss that perfect shot. (NB: these steps should all be done the day before you plan on shooting the sunrise)
But the most important tip of all is to WAKE UP when your alarm goes off!
This is a very important point and is one that many people often overlook. Knowing the location that you will be shooting in is just as important as bringing your camera on a shoot. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation (I admit, I have fallen victim to this myself) where you are frantically running around trying to find the best location to start shooting.
All you need to do is just spend about 20 minutes to half an hour a day or two before you plan on shooting the sunrise, have a look around the location so that you can get a good idea of the prime spots to photograph which will save you the pain of missing that ideal photo.
You may be a professional photographer, or someone working their way up to that level, or maybe even just a hobbyist photographer, but no matter what level you’re at or what kind of photography you are doing I truly believe that the most important thing is that you enjoy yourself because at the end of the day that is most likely one of the reasons you took up photography in the first place.
So make sure to plan your shoot in advance, know the location you’ll be shooting and ENJOY IT!
Photographing at sunrise requires a little bit of planning and the ability to wake up to your alarm clock at 5:00am… In this video you will get an inside look at a sunrise shoot which takes place on the Knysna Lagoon in Southern Africa.
See more of Simon Davidson’s Photography at www.simondavo.com.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
Tips on Early Morning Photography