Latest Articles by gmbunn http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us Shooting Positions For Your Digital SLR http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/photography/shooting-positions-for-your-digital-slr.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/photography/shooting-positions-for-your-digital-slr.html Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0500
WAIST-HEIGHT SHOTS-

When eyelevel shots are too high, crouching with one knee on the ground allows you to rest an elbow on your other leg for good support. This is generally very useful for landscape shoots, when trying to bring foreground detail into the scene, or to achieve a better perspective when shooting portraits of children.

SHOOTING AT EYELEVEL-

Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart, so you're really stable. You may find that it's more comfortable to stand with one leg in front of the other, rather than the side-by-side as shown here. In either case, just ensure your legs are a good distance apart. Try to keep your arms low, and support your elbows against your body if possible. When holding the camera vertically for a portrait shot, rest your left elbow on your body. Just before you take the shot, hold your breath for a moment so as to minimise movement.

TRY A LOW VIEWPOINT-

For an ants-eye view on the world, or when taking close-ups of nature, a prone position like this offers a very solid support. A bin bag is a cheap and effective tool for keeping mud and grime off your clothes, so is worth keeping in your kit bag. The chances of getting camera shake increases proportionally as the focal length of the lens increases. To combat this, use a fast shutter speed. If handholding your camera, aim to use a shutter speed that is 1 stop over the focal length, or faster. With a 50mm lens, a shutter speed of at least 1/50sec should be used. A 300mm lens will need a faster shutter speed of 1/300sec. The 35mm equivalent focal length should be used, see page 38 for more on lenses.

FINDING SUPPORTS AROUND YOU-

Where possible it is best to improvise and use objects surrounding you to support your camera and hold it steady. This is particularly useful when using long telephoto zoom lenses, as the further you zoom in, the greater your chances of camera shake when even tiny movements become amplified. Rest your camera on a nearby fence or wall, or find a comfortable way to brace the camera and yourself against a post. This will massively increase your chances of getting a sharp shot.

If you're looking for more in-depth Digital Photography Tutorials, Click Here!

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G. Bunn is the Editor of Your-Digital-Photography.com - The Complete digital photography resource site!



Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> 5 Steps To Better Macro Photography http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/photography/5-steps-to-better-macro-photography.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/photography/5-steps-to-better-macro-photography.html Mon, 02 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500



1 Search For Subjects. Spend time looking for the perfect image. The obvious shot might be the entire waterfall, but look that little bit closer - and closer still -and you'll discover a new world of subjects without the need to wander elsewhere.




2 Don’t use a Tripod. Take your camera off the tripod and explore the shooting opportunities where you're working. Having found something you like, you can then use the tripod to achieve the composition you have in mind.




3 Polarising Filters. Often there's no need to add a filter - it can lead to longer exposure times, but working with water, glare and contrast can be a problem, even under overcast skies. Experiment by making exposures with and without filters




4 Shoot parallel. Make sure that you use adequate depth of field by selecting smaller apertures. Then ensure that you align your camera parallel to your subject, preventing out-of-focus areas in your image.




5 Composition. Try positioning the subject according to the Rule of Thirds. Experiment with both landscape and portrait format images in order to see what works -ultimately, this will be a matter of personal choice.




Give them a try and see the results for yourself! Feel free to drop by for more tips tricks and techniques. Your-Digital-Photography.com

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Courtesy of Your-Digital-Photography.com The Complete Digital Photography Resource Site!



Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> 5 Quick Steps To Instantly Improve Your Outdoor Photos! http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/hobbies/5-quick-steps-to-instantly-improve-your-outdoor-photos.html http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/hobbies/5-quick-steps-to-instantly-improve-your-outdoor-photos.html Sun, 01 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500 5 Quick Steps To Instantly Improve Your Outdoor Photos!


We all love taking outdoor action shots that really capture the moment, so below we've compiled a short 5 step guide to help you snap outdoor action in a really exciting way!


Keep a low angle..


Use a medium to long telephoto lens to compress perspective and fill the frame with the action. You can then shoot from a safe distance and still be head-on to the action. Also, try shooting from a really low angle -lie on the ground - as the foreground will lead the eye into the action.


Try going wide..


Alternatively, you could use a super wide-angle lens. Getting in this close to the action gives your images another increase in the level of impact. Try to use a low camera angle on jumps to emphasise height and action and then a flashgun for fill-in flash to create motion blur, again enhancing speed.


Stop the action..


The minimum speed for achieving biting sharpness is l/500th of a second. In low light or under the shade of trees push the ISO speed up a little - 200 ISO is fine, with no loss in quality but ISO 400 can start to get a bit more noisy so a 'fast' but pricey f/2.8 telephoto lens will help here.


Add a splash of colour..


Colour can make all the difference. Dress your riders in bright tops. Red, orange, yellow, bright greens and blues create eye-catching splashes of movement. Choose complementary or sympathetic colours. Colourful bikes help too -a lot of single track is under dark, drab trees.


Master that exposure..


With wide lenses, meter for the highlights and leave the shadows. With full-frame telephoto images, meter for the rider or a mid-tone on the ground - washed-out backgrounds can be a useful contrast to action. Red or blue fleeces are often mid-tone so meter from them if needs be.


For D-SLR Reviews visit Our Digital SLR Reviews today


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Courtesy of Your-Digital-Photography.com



Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> Which Type Of Lens Should You Use? http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/photography/which-type-of-lens-should-you-use.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/photography/which-type-of-lens-should-you-use.html Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500 Standard
On full-frame digital SLRs standard lenses fall between 40mm and 55mm, though 50mm is the accepted norm. You'll need a 35mm lens to get the same field-of-view on digital SLRs with the smaller APS-sized sensor. Closest to the field-of-view of the human eye, standard lenses offer an undistorted perspective and are often used for flattering portraits. Just for the record, the true field-of-view of the human eye is 43mm!
Wide-angle
With shorter focal lengths and wider angles-of-view than standard lenses, wide-angle lenses are employed by landscape and reportage specialists. Remember you'll need a shorter focal length on many digital SLRs than a 35mm or full-frame digital model. This need for shorter focal lengths on many digital SLRs has produced a raft of new models. A 17-35mm model, such as the one shown below, gives a field-of-view equivalent to 25-52mm on a full-frame SLR.
Macro
If you've ever wondered how photographers fill the frame with small subjects such as petals and insects, the answer is the humble macro lens. Allowing for 1:1 (life-size) reproduction and focusing from as close as 2in, true macro lenses are specifically constructed for close-up photography. They are commonly available in focal lengths between 50mm and 180mm.
Telephoto
Any lens that weighs in with a focal length above 50mm is said to be a telephoto lens. Short telephotos (between 70mm and 120mm) are ideal for portraiture, while longer focal lengths (between 135mm and 300mm and above) are perfect for sports and wildlife. Remember, the magnification of a lens on most digital SLRs is increased by around 1.5x, so a 200mm lens is equivalent to a 300mm on a full-frame camera.

For D-SLR Reviews visit Our Digital SLR Reviews today


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G.Bunn (Editor)

www.Your-Digital-Photography.com



Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> How To Use A Polariser http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/photography/how-to-use-a-polariser.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/photography/how-to-use-a-polariser.html Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500
Although almost all polarisers are circular in shape, they actually come in two types that are confusingly called linear and circular. This name describes the way that the filters work, rather than their shape, and which type you need depends on your camera. If your camera has autofocus or spot (or multi-segment) metering you need to use a circular polariser. For older manual models you can use the cheaper linear type, although you can also use the circular type and the effect is the same. So, if you use a digital SLR make sure you're using a circular polariser to ensure that your camera will work properly!

Knowing how these filters work relies on a little knowledge about how light behaves, so here comes the science bit. Normal light behaves like a wave, but vibrates in all directions. But some light - such as blue skies or reflections from non-metallic objects - is polarised, so that the waves all vibrate on the same plane. A polariser works by only letting through light vibrating in a particular plane, so you can either block polarised light from reaching the sensor or let it through. A polarising filter can be rotated independently of the lens to control which light passes through and which is blocked. This can be tricky to see through the camera, but move the filter slowly and look out for blue skies darkening and lightening as you go. How you position the filter is down to personal preference, although there are some problems to watch out for that we'll cover later on.

Are they just for blue skies? No!Although darkening blue skies is the most common use for polarisers, they are also great for removing reflections from non-metallic subjects and also increasing overall colour saturation. For landscapes the ability to 'see' through water by removing reflections is handy, although you need to position the polariser carefully if you still want to darken the sky.A polariser can also be used as a makeshift overall neutral density filter, as they also reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor. This will allow you to use slower shutter speeds or wider apertures than without the filter in place, although the amount of light reduction will vary between 1 and 3 stops depending on the position of the filter and the amount of polarised light from the subject.

While the effect of a polariser is useful for many shots, there are also times when hey either have little effect on the image or the result can look unnatural. As we've already mentioned, they also reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor, so in low light you will find that the shutter speeds will be too long to handhold the camera, or you have to use a wider aperture than you want.

As the amount of polarised light in blue skies varies depending on both the position of the sun and the amount of pollution in the air, the effect of a polariser can lead to some unwanted results. The most common when using wide-angle lenses is an uneven effect across the frame. Blue sky is most polarised at right angles to the position of the sun. So if it is a clear day and your shot includes a wide area of sky you can find that using a polariser will make the area at 90 degrees to the sun much darker than those nearer or opposite it. This can make the sky look uneven and unnatural. A similar effect can also happen when the sky is very clear, especially if you are shooting from a high hill or mountain as the light is so clear it can go almost black if you use a polariser! So avoid using them in these conditions.Looking for more Tutorials? Visit Your-Digital-Photography.com Today!

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Courtesy of Your-Digital-Photography.com



Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> 5 Simple Steps To Better Macro Photography http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/photography/5-simple-steps-to-better-macro-photography.html http://www.articletrader.com/entertainment/photography/5-simple-steps-to-better-macro-photography.html Fri, 08 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500
1 Search For Subjects. Spend time looking for the perfect image. The obvious shot might be the entire waterfall, but look that little bit closer - and closer still -and you'll discover a new world of subjects without the need to wander elsewhere.

2 Don’t use a Tripod. Take your camera off the tripod and explore the shooting opportunities where you're working. Having found something you like, you can then use the tripod to achieve the composition you have in mind.

3 Polarising Filters. Often there's no need to add a filter - it can lead to longer exposure times, but working with water, glare and contrast can be a problem, even under overcast skies. Experiment by making exposures with and without filters

4 Shoot parallel. Make sure that you use adequate depth of field by selecting smaller apertures.

Then ensure that you align your camera parallel to your subject, preventing out-of-focus areas in your image.5 Composition. Try positioning the subject according to the Rule of Thirds. Experiment with both landscape and portrait format images in order to see what works -ultimately, this will be a matter of personal choice.Give them a try and see the results for yourself!

Feel free to drop by for more tips tricks and techniques. Visit us Here

--

Courtesy of www.Your-Digital-Photography.com The Complete Digital Photography Resource Site!



Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>