Canadian photographer Gajan Balan answers the top three most commonly asked portrait photography questions about cameras, lighting and posing.
Ask The Expert
There’s magic in long exposures, particularly ones made outdoors that draw in scenes and overlay them with a sense of motion. Making these images is not hard, so we will start with the necessary pieces of gear and then work through some techniques for success. Needed Gear The most critical piece of gear for long exposure work is a solid tripod. This sounds simple, but it’s the main source of problems that I encounter with folks who complain about their long exposure work. The problem is one of stability. Too […]
“Christmas season is just around the corner and I was wondering about taking photos of Christmas lights at night using a DSLR. I attempted it last year with little or no success. What suggestions do you have?”
The Exposure Triangle is a continuous entity. A change to any value necessitates a change to at least one, perhaps both of the other elements. If we want a higher shutter speed, then either we have to open the aperture or increase the ISO or some combination of the two. When we shoot in full automatic, the camera’s CPU is doing all the work for us based on the meter reading. That’s great, right up until we choose to take a bit more creative control of the triangle.
“I was wondering if you have any tips for shooting sunsets along the beach. I can never seem to get a good balance with the exposer between the sun and the water. I can not get both of them exposed properly it seems, any tips?”
“I am going to Disney World in a month and am trying to find out how I can get better photos from my vacation. What DSLR settings are the best for shooting fireworks? What are the best settings to use when wanting to photograph stationary objects and have people that are walking by blurred?”
“I would really appreciate any tips on cold weather shooting. I’ve never been very comfortable with taking my camera out in the cold and with winter quickly approaching any advice you can provide would be helpful. Tips on keeping my camera safe but also how to capture the beautiful white snow.”
“My question is how to set the white balance when shooting hockey. Should I use cards or use a piece of the ice as my reference? I have a Sigma 70-200 2.8 lens and still in some dimly lit arena’s it is a challenge to get good photos.”
“While photographing a moving subject, how can I better improve my skills and/or what photographic equipment(s) I shall look into, to achieve crisp and sharp images?”
“I enjoy doing sports photography that has a lot of action – what are my options for capturing fast action and stop action? I enjoy shooting both indoors and outdoors? Does this mean I should change lenses? Is there one lens or should I be looking at some choices? Are there options for filters that I should also consider?”