Autofocus is a joy. It helps us get sharper images more quickly and is often faster in low light than the human eye can be. This tip takes you beyond full auto, to exercise more creative control as well as to take command of the camera.
Learning
How many times has it happened where you take a shot, using the camera settings and things just don’t look quite right? Probably not all that often, because today’s cameras do an amazing job most of the time. Manufacturers have analyzed millions of images to develop automatic and semi-automatic modes that do a great job for you. But let’s talk about two situations where the automation may not do what is needed.
So many people enjoy beautiful time-lapse photography, but they aren’t confident that they have the ability (or the tools) to create such fascinating works. Here’s a glimpse into the world of Time-Lapse photography, along with some step-by-step recommendations so you can join in the fun.
Soon the trees will burst forth with the beautiful colours of autumn, and everyone with a camera will want to capture the glorious scene. Almost any weather is good for shooting spectacular fall foliage images, including cloudy, sunny, misty, and rainy because each type of condition imparts its own magical element to your photography. The season is short, and you don’t want to let the weather interfere. Pack up your camera bag and let’s get started on an autumn photo adventure.
As the family shutterbug, you have responsibilities. Everyone expects you to document holiday festivities with creativity, grace and style. Your favourite lenses are close at hand and you’re eager to try out that new external flash. But before you click even one frame, you have to find scenes worth snapping.
With the school year back in session, children and grandchildren will be participating in sports and other activities and parents and grandparents are going to want to be able to get great images …
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.
When I teach someone about how to use strobes for lighting a portrait, they always seem amazed as to how simple the technical hurdles are to getting started. One’s initial impression of a potentially difficult, complex and highly technical world becomes a fairly simple affair.
It’s easy to understand how someone can be led to believe that using strobe lighting is difficult. The various pieces of the puzzle can have an outward appearance of being technically complex and sophisticated. Taken one piece at a time, you can learn the essentials of lighting very quickly, after which it becomes a matter of practice with the lights themselves to get portraits that you love.
Lighting can make or break a photograph. If you have experienced images that look very dark, too light, or totally washed out, when shooting in manual, there is something you can do to improve the lighting quality of your photographs. If you don’t normally shoot in aperture priority mode, you will appreciate the following tips to improve your lighting.
If you plan to be attending sporting events this summer, we have collected some great tips for capturing all the outdoor action, whether you’re shooting professional athletes or your kids’ team competing at the local park.