Several years ago, I met a fellow photographer - albeit, he was an amateur, a very
good one (the difference is not the quality of the work . the difference is that one
does it for love, the other does it for money). He is now a new friend and fellow
photographer named Marco, an Italian. His day job is as a top children’s heart
surgeon. His passion for photographing people takes him all over the world,
seeking out that special face, interesting enough to be captured on film/file.
During our brief encounter in my brother’s hairdressing salon, we had found
common ground and a need to explore each other’s pictures. He asked me if I would
visit his photographic society to meet the other members and discuss the possibility
of me giving a talk about my fashion photography. I said to Marco, “Whatever will I
talk about?”
Well, first off, he said, there is something very magical in the expressions of my
models and in the atmosphere of my pictures that he would love to have in his. He
asked me how do you achieve this. Shocked at his remark, I said, “No, I can’t,
because I don’t know myself.” You have to find out he said because this is what you
should talk about. We spent the next couple of hours disgussing photography and
the feelings and techniques of managing your subjects whilst shooting.
During my visit to his camera club, we arranged for my talk to be done nearly 9
months later, so I had time to think about my talk and to get myself prepared.
For days, I looked at my work and examined myself whilst shooting assignments. It
was maybe 6 months later whilst photographing a bridal-wear collection for one of
my clients that something clicked. (No pun intended!)
I had decided that I would like to start shooting with wider lenses to change the
style of my bridal-wear pictures. I shoot for so many bridal-wear designers, so I
have to make them look and feel different to the each other. It also helps to use a
short zoom, because during most of my shoots, I can take a variety of images from
full length to portrait shots from the same distance, so my client gets much more
usage out of the shots.
While moving in closer to my model, I noticed a big difference in the expressions in
her face and her body language - they changed, as I got closer. I experimented
more and began to play with this for the rest of this shoot. Not only could I see
better, it also created a much better flow of the energy and communication between
my model and myself. For years, I have been shooting fashion pictures using
medium-length telephotos, at times so far away that my models could not hear me
directing them. An amazing thing had happened. I could see and control so much
more in my pictures. Not to say that I will never use long lenses, just that I prefer
the new results that I am getting with wide lenses. In fact, most of my recent
projects I have shot with a wide zoom.
I find that by doing the poses and expressions in my face that I want, my models
seem to mirror mine. If I act daft, they act daft. If I laugh, they laugh. If I pull a sad
face, they pull a sad face - which always makes them smile 
Since this experiment, I have been adapting my directions to my models in much the
same way, obviously changing my energy levels to match the levels I want in my
pictures. If I want a nice soft and gentle feel, I express this in my voice and my
manor and my body. If I want high energy, I do high energy. If I want my model to
leap, I will leap.
Think about this as if you were a conductor. The next time you attend a concert,
watch him or her, and watch the orchestra. They mirror him - fast tempo, slow
tempo, and medium tempo. You can do the same with your models.
Fashion pictures for me have RHYTHM and TEMPO. If you want to express high
energy or tempo in a picture, the shoot has to be high energy or tempo, or visa-
versa.
I look at pictures and sometimes wonder how boring the shoot must have been. I
love to change the tempo up and down whilst I’m shooting, I would hate it if anyone
viewing my pictures did not feel this energy. This is why I strive to make my shoots
exciting for myself, my model, the other members of my team, and, most important,
for my clients.
As a photographer, you are the conductor, your models are your orchestra, and your
clients or viewers of the pictures are the audience. So you have to direct and
entertain. Your performance will reflect in your pictures.
I want you to try a little experiment. The next time you have people over to your
house or you get a moment with some people at work, pick a volunteer. Face each
other, one or two feet apart, don’t speak, and don’t look at each other. In fact, do
your best to imagine they are not there. Stay like this for 30 seconds and remember
how this feels. Stay in this position but hold each other’s hands, look into each
other’s eyes, smile at each other, don’t speak. Instead of imagining they are not
there, do the opposite. Try and send them all of your good energy. Stay like this for
30 seconds. Remember how this feels, and compare the feelings. Ask your friend or
colleague and the others to explain how it felt for them. The next time you are
shooting pictures, remember all of these feelings.
Bruce runs courses, master classes and workshops that give students an insight
into the fascinating world of fashion photography. Instructor and photographer
Bruce Smith teaches the fundamentals of preparing for a fashion shoot and
setting up and photographing a shoot. “Introduction to Fashion
Photography” is intended for anyone who wishes to shoot fashion images for fun in
order to impress family and friends or for those who have a burning desire to
become a professional fashion photographer.
Bruce’s objective is to helps young photographers, initially to produce single fashion
shots and eventually to produce fashion stories that would not look out of place in
today’s fashion magazines.
With a fashion photography career spanning 30 years, Bruce has shot projects in
many parts of the world from Alaska to Thailand. For the past 3 years he has been
giving workshops, lectures and talks in various parts of the UK as well as abroad,
teaching hands-on the skills and techniques he has learned during his professional
career.
There are several variations to the courses that photographers can take, from an
online 8 week intense practical asignments course to 5 day master classes in
beautiful settings in the South of France and Italy. Bruce teaches studio photography
on his fashion and beauty or Glamour and Fine Artistic Figure and Nude
photography workshops, held every month in fabulous studios in South West
London. Students can expect to learn a lot of the secrets behind Bruces amazing
fashion, beauty, glamour and fine artistic figure and nude photographs.
His work can be seen on his web sites:
http://www.brucesmithphoto.com
http://brucesmithphotoworkshops.bravehost.com/online.html
You can read the many letters of thanks from his former students. There is also a
students gallery where you can see the standard of photography his students are
achieving in a short period of time whilst attending his photography master
classes and workshops.
Compact cameras get bad press. Not from the manufacturers or the users but from those photographers that think their equipment is far superior.
OK, so I made that up. But there is a tendency to think that to take great photographs means that you have to have the latest and most expensive gear. And it’s true that a professional photographer would get caught short using lesser equipment. There is no dispute there.
But I always hear the sniggers of SLR users when someone next to them whips out their compact to record the scene in front of them. “What, no interchangeable lenses?”, “what, only 5 megapixels?”, “what, an offset viewfinder?”
Recently I went abroad to Spain. I took my SLR and my compact (2MP) camera. I had no intention of using the compact until, my SLR battery ran out and, of course, my spare and charger were at home. The SLR was useless.
Out came the trusty compact - and for the next 7 days I recorded the scenes in front of me whether they be family snapshots or something a bit more creative. The results were superb. Colours and sharpness were indistinguishable from the SLR. I could see no visible image imperfection over and above that which I was used to. And I got the shots I wanted without lugging a load of bulky equipment around.
I missed a bit of flexibility and perhaps lost a bit of creative flair. But I got some great images which take pride of place against those of my digital SLR.
Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com
When choosing a digital camera, you need to decide what type of photographs you want to take with it. This article will assist in choosing a camera to meet your quality requirements.
Cameras are generally rated by “Pixels”, this term describes the tiniest dot on a monitor that a video card can set to an individual colour. Monitors when set to high resolutions, have small pixels which are more detailed. At lower resolutions they appear larger and more visible. This give the display the appearance of lacking in detail.
For a good quality appearance when printed a photo needs to be 300 DPI (Dots per Inch). You can work out the number of mega pixels you need in a camera for the appropriate size of photograph.
For example supposing we wanted to print a photo that is 4″ x 6″ the calculation is as follows:
4 inches multiplied by 300 DPI = 1200 pixels
6 Inches multiplied by 300 DPI = 1800 pixels
1200 x 1800 = 216000 which is 2.1 mega pixels.
You can now work out the best sized photographs you can take from the camera you are interested in.
A key factor in choosing a camera is the amount you can afford to spend. So set a budget first, and then see how powerful a camera you can get for the money.
Make sure you read the specifications and preferably handle the camera before you buy it. This way you can be sure that you are comfortable with the size and weight.
How many photos can you store in the camera at one time? You can store more at a lower quality, it is best to use the quoted total number for photos of highest quality as a guide. This total is before photos are copied to your PC. When downloaded onto a PC you can take the same number of photos all over again. If you are running out of space whilst out using the camera, you can always review the photos on the screen on the back of the camera and delete some to make more room. Most modern cameras will also allow you to swap the cameras memory card.
Can you plug the camera into your PC and use it as a web cam for video conferencing? This might not seem essential, but if there’s any possibility that it may be used as a web cam in the future, make sure that the camera has this function.
Make sure it has a built in flash unit. Without it, you will be unable to photograph in low light conditions, or you will have to artificially lighten every photo once copied to your PC.
You should choose a camera with a built in LCD screen and an optical viewfinder. The built in screen is at the back of the camera and allows you to immediately view the photo that you have just taken.
Preferably choose a camera that takes batteries that are easy to source, such as AA size. Rechargeable batteries can be expensive when they do need replacing. A couple of quick tips, first always carry spare batteries and second, use the optical viewfinder where possible as using the LCD screen as a viewfinder soon runs down your batteries.
Believe it or not, digital cameras don’t necessarily come with a case. Obviously handy for carrying the camera around and keeping it protected from the elements, especially rain! So you may need to budget additionally for a case if one is not supplied.
Don’t misunderstand the term “Digital Zoom”. This simply means that you can closely examine a photo that you have already taken. It is nothing to do with zooming in to an object some distance away before you take the photograph. For that you need to look at the “Optical zoom”, this being the real zoom value of the camera lens.
Finally, see how it connects to your PC. Most cameras come with a lead that has a USB plug for your PC. This may not be a standard USB lead, and the plug into the camera might have a unique fitting. Find out if the camera will be recognised by the PC as a mass storage device. This is preferable, because you can immediately connect it to most computers, without the need for custom software from the camera manufacturer.
Make sure your version of windows is supported whatever connection the camera takes to the PC.
Happy Snapping!!
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Copyright Mike Morris 2005
Your grandma just left you an oil painting and you need a few copies; one for appraisal purposes and two for your siblings who would love to have a copy, too. A trip to the professional photographer involves a set up fee, print cost, and a negative that is unavailable for sale. The painting is too big for a flat bed scanner so digital copies are not feasible. One solution is to copy it yourself.
A good 35mm SLR camera with a normal lens will probably focus to two and one half feet. Even better is a six or eight megapixel DSLR or EVF camera. Use an ISO setting of 100 or slower. Critical is the correct use of lighting. Allowing the surface texture to show in your copies prevents displaying the true color and values of the picture. Ideally, two identical incandescent lamps in reflectors angled at forty-five degrees will minimize surface reflections. Place the painting vertically and line up the camera on a tripod exactly perpendicular to the painting. An alternative is to use the sun at a forty to fifty degree angle. Any other unbalanced source (single) is to be avoided.
Fill the view finder to about 80% of the viewfinder and check to see that all edges are parallel. The circle of light cast by the lamps determines the distance from the lights to the picture. Make sure all of the painting surface is evenly lit. Use an 80B filter with outdoor film or set your digital white balance at incandescent. A filter is not needed if electronic flash is the source of light. Electronic flash must be metered with a flash meter or calculated using the guide on the back of the flash. Equalize the distance from each flash to the center of the painting and aim the center of the cone of light at the furthest edge of the painting. Bracket your exposure one stop over and under the recommended F stop. F8 or F11 are the sharpest F stops.
The resulting proofs are NOT a good guide to choosing the negative with the best quality. If a digital camera was used then print a small test picture before making the enlargement. When viewed over a well lit white surface, it is not too difficult to choose the negative with the best color and contrast. A slight increase in contrast is generally considered a plus. When done properly, it is difficult for the average person to tell the difference between the copy and the original when viewed from a normal distance.
The digital world changed only the tools.
Picture the scene: a beautiful summer’s day. In front of you is a field awash with greens and yellows and oranges and a wonderful blue sky. And there are sheep in the fields, grazing contentedly.
Or a beach scene, with boats floating serenely on the water, waves gently lapping their hulls as the sun shines down its splendour.
You take pictures but somehow the final images don’t look quite right. The sheep are walking downhill and the boats seem to be sliding out of the frame!
What is the problem? The horizon!
Wherever you go, whether it be Arizona or Adelaide, there is one indisputable fact. Horizons are level. Even though your brain can make mental adjustments when you see the scene before you, when it is captured on an image, it won’t look right if the horizon is not completely flat.
And it notices. Even minor aberrations in the horizon level will make a picture look “odd”. That is, unless there is something in the scene that obscures it.
You don’t need to be a genius to spot a wonky horizon and, thankfully, you don’t need to be a genius to correct or avoid it in your images. Landscapes and seascapes are the biggest areas of imagery that require pinpoint flat horizons.
Make sure yours are level.
Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com.
So, you’ve just graduated to the big boys and got your first 35 mm camera. You’re ready to take some professional quality photos, right? Well, not so fast. See, there is a little matter of film speed. When graduating to the ranks of the 35 mm camera, you’re not just dealing with one film speed, but several. As a novice, you may be asking the question, “What does it matter?” The answer to that question is that it matters a great deal. Depending on what kind of photos you’re planning to take and where you’re planning to take them makes all the difference in the world to the film speed that you’re going to want to use. Hopefully, after reading this little revelation on 35 mm film speeds, you’ll know exactly which speed to choose for the job at hand.
The slowest 35 mm speed is 100. By slowest, we refer to how quickly the shutter opens and closes when taking the photo. While 100 speed is the slowest, it is by no means slow. Shutters open and close in fractions of a second. However, 100 speed when compared to the other speeds, is quite slow. So just when would you use 100 speed film? The ideal conditions for this speed is when you are taking photos outdoors in bright sunlight with a stationary subject. It is not recommended that you try taking moving photos with 100 speed film as the photos will most likely come out blurred.
After 100 speed film, the next fastest speed is 200 speed. This film is your most common speed that people will buy for everyday use. It is primarily used for indoor photos with flash. You can also use it for shots to be taken outdoors under partly sunny conditions. It is not recommended for photos under bright sunlight. This speed is also very good for photos that you plan to enlarge.
After 200 speed film is 400 speed. There is a big debate as to whether or not there’s a whole lot of difference between 200 and 400 speed film for general use, as both are very good under normal conditions. The professional photographer may be able to tell you what the difference is but most people won’t notice. However, if you look at photos taken with 200 and 400 speed film under the same conditions, which is the litmus test, you will notice that the 400 speed film photos are slightly sharper. The difference is so slight under normal conditions that one has to wonder if the difference in price is worth it.
Finally, the fastest film speed, which is also the most dramatically different in photo quality, is the 800 speed film. This film is mainly used for taking action photos such as stock car races. It is also very good for low light conditions. This film is very expensive and is mostly used by professionals. Unless you’re planning on heading out to the track and taking photos of the ponies, most likely you won’t have any need for 800 speed film.
There you have it. Now when you get your new 35 mm for your birthday, you’ll have at least some idea of what kind of film you’ll need based on what kind of photos you’re planning to take.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Photography
Disposable Cameras (also called single-use cameras) first came on the market as film cameras. You would take the entire camera back where you bought it and they would crack it open, take out the film and process it, resulting in photos that were virtually indistinguishable from photos taken with a more conventional camera. Now, following the trends in conventional cameras, there is a choice between using film or digital disposable cameras.
Some people think digital cameras are too hard to use; the disposable digital cameras offer a solution. Disposable digital cameras still have all of the great features that attract people to digital cameras such viewing your pictures before printing and photo manipulation. With a disposable digital camera, you get a flash, a timer, and a viewing monitor (depending on the model you buy). This means that you can see whether you want to take the picture over or not, as you also have the ability to delete an unwanted photo, and retake it if you have the opportunity. Additionally, a free picture CD is usually included with your prints in a disposable digital camera package.
Does a disposable digital camera offer the same features as a regular digital camera? It does offer the most frequently used features, but you will not get zoom or night shots, or most of the other bells and whistles that come with a $400.00 camera. But disposable digital cameras do not cost anywhere near $400, and they do allow you to leave your valuable cameras safe at home and still have the technology that you may crave in a camera for between $10.00 and $20.00, and sometimes even cheaper.
However, you cannot connect your disposable digital camera to your PC or Mac. The photos must be developed at a retailer that provides the proper equipment for your particular brand of disposable digital camera. This may actually be a plus for the technologically challenged, though, since you don’t have to hook up the wire, crop, fix the color — no need to waste hours in front of a computer, as it’s all done for you. Your time is valuable.
Disposable Cameras Info provides detailed information about digital, wedding, and underwater disposable cameras, as well as cheap and wholesale disposable cameras. Disposable Cameras Info is the sister site of Underwater Cameras Web.
Are your precious photos safe?
Are you backing up your precious photos? our computers and removable storage media are full with experiences and precious moments. However electronic media is not safe. Hard disks crash and removable media fails.
Disasters can happen. Digital photo albums are vulnerable and if not backed up you lose thousands of photos and a lifetime of moments in just one hard disk crash.
What are backups? backups are just copies of our files that are put in a safe place. Example of such copies can be photos put on a DVD and placed at a friend’s house. The DVD could of course be placed in your own house but that would be less safe since in case of a disaster in your house you might lose both your computer and the backups.
A few years ago backups were hard to make. You practically had to be a computer guru to figure our those backup software. Today however backup was made easy using a number of software solution and online service. Below you can find two main options for backing up your photo albums: burning them to a DVD/CD or using an online backup service.
Backing up to a DVD/CD
Backing up to a DVD/CD is done by using a DVD/CD writer drive and software that can burn files on such media. Usually using such solutions requires more technical know-how. Backing up to a DVD/CD is a cheap solution. You can buy such writer drives and software for probably under a $100 and each DVD/CD media should cost in the cents. One such software that has been around for a while and used by many is from Roxio.
When backing up your photo albums to a DVD/CD please make sure that you put the DVD/CD in a safe place a good option would be somewhere out of your home maybe a family member, a neighbor you can trust or a friend. Another thing to remember with DVD/CD backup is that when you take new photos you should remember to refresh your backups. Ususally unless your photo album is very big the easiest way to do that is just to burn again you complete collection.
Backing up to an online backup service
As any other service backup found its way to the Internet too. A number of sites provide backup services today for everything from digital photo albums to your word documents. Those services usually charge a monthly fee in the $10 to $20 but some provide a more limited service for free. The idea behind the service is simple: instead of backing up to a DVD/CD you just upload your photos to a site and create copy there. The site stores the backups for you in a safe place far away from your computer. If a disaster happens and you need your files you can simple download them back from the site or ask them to send you a DVD/CD with the files (not all provide the latter option). A broadband connection is needed in order to use this option.
There are many advantages to using an online backup service. First they are usually very easy to use. Some provide software that you download and install on your computer. You then point to the folder where your photos reside and the software takes it from there. It will make sure new files are uploaded to the backup service and that your backup is always fresh.
Examples of sites that provide such service are: Streamload that starts with a basic FREE 10GB space (approx 10,000 photos at 2 megapixels) and Xdrive that starts from 5GB for $10 a month.
Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information about photo album printing and photography in general on http://www.printrates.com - a site dedicated to photo printing
Mist or fog, like rain, has a certain charm and quality. Contrast changes and hues and shapes take on a subtle aspect. Almost everything looks better in the mist. Pictures will look mean and moody and sometimes have an added artistic look to them without you even trying. The brightness of the scene might fool your camera’s meter, but with some alterations to the exposure you are bound to get it right. And, of course, with digital, if you don’t like the result, just take it again with different settings and see if it’s any better. Look for areas where there is standing water as this will be where mist forms first and lingers longest.
Wind is unsettling. You can be buffeted wildly in some case and your equipment (especially a camera on a tripod) can be damaged. The movement created on trees and other objects can look dramatic but with longish shutter speeds you will get blur. This can be pleasing if you are trying to convey movement. Just be aware that you might need to experiment a little to get the result you are looking for.
Snow brings great opportunities but also added difficulties. The whiteness of the scene can markedly fool the camera and to get the right exposure you may have to compensate (overexpose) by 2 stops. Experimentation is the key. But look for objects and vegetation covered in snow and ice. Check for familiar objects with unfamiliar appearances. Falling snow can make dramatic shots and people will always be wrapped up warm which makes candids a must!
A good tip: have some plastic bags in your camera bag. These fold up small and are lightweight and easy to carry. They can be used to cover your camera and lens and to put down on the ground to protect your camera bag from water seepage. They are inexpensive, can be wiped and reused or simply thrown away and replaced. Using a lens hood will prevent water droplets collecting on your lens. It might be useful to carry a soft cloth or towel so you can periodically wipe your hands or your equipment.
Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com
Did you ever get back a fresh batch of film, only to be disappointed in finding out that you got back wash-out boring images.
The problem is that you didn’t expose your film properly.
Whether we use a digital or film camera, we need to be able to calculate exposure properly. But first, we need to understand how the aperture and the shutter work together. We also need to know how film handles light, and the relationship between film light sensitivity and f/stops.
Lets take a quick look at the main elements.
Aperture and f/stops: the aperture is an opening in the centre of the lens through which light passes. The amount of light which passes through an aperture is indicated by f/stops. The lower the f/stop the more light that passes through the aperture. Opening up one full f/stop doubles the amount of light entering the camera. F/4 admits twice the light of f5.6.
Shutter: the shutter is a mechanical device that controls the length of time that light is allowed to act on the film. Each time you open the shutter by one, we double the light, when we close down the light by one we half the light. Opening the shutter at 1 second allows twice the light as that of a second.
ISO (ASA): stands for International Standards Organisation. The initials are used for film speed which rates light sensitivity. A film with an ISO number 100 is twice as light sensitive as a film with an ISO of 50. The faster the film, the more sensitive it is to light.
Most digital SLR have ISO settings built in to them. If you are taking a low light image with a digital camera use a slow ISO rating of 200 or upwards.
Getting the perfect exposure isn’t easy, but there are several different ways of making it easier.
Using a light meter: there are two types of light meters,
1. Reflected-light meter (the same that is built into your camera) works by pointing the meter at your subject.
2. Incident-light meter: instead of pointing the meter at your subject, you stand beside the subject and point the meter at the camera. The light that falls on your subject will also fall on your meter.
The most common way is to use the meter built into your camera. All modern day cameras have a reflected-light meter built in to them. But don’t point the camera directly at your subject from 10 meters. This will more than likely underexpose your image. Take the exposure reading up-close, then return to the starting position and take your image.
It doesn’t matter which metering system we use, if we don’t point them in the right direction our images will return too dark or too bright. The key is to know where to point the meter.
When I take a landscape image I normally take five or six different readings. I take an incident-light reading with my light meter to record the foreground and a reflected-light reading of the sky.
If you are unsure take three or four images at different exposure settings. Don’t let a perfect picture moment pass by without recording it flawlessly.
TJ Tierney. Award winning Irish Landscape Photographer. If you are looking for more tips visit: Photo tips. To view some of his images visit his on-line gallery: Pictures of Ireland
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