Tips For Photographing Flowers

by Wayne Turner

 

With the advent of digital cameras and the huge amount of features, close-up photography has become the domain for everyone. The simple macro feature on the current generation of digital compacts has opened up this world to virtually anyone with a camera. Of course the ideal situation is the use of SLRs but is not limited to them.

"The Red Intruder" captured by Francois Novecento Boutiee (Click Image to See More From Boutiee)

One of the first accessories I bought for my film SLR way back in the 1980s was a set of close-up filters that screwed on the end of my lens. This added a new dimension to my photography and I was able to get in really close to my intended subjects, flowers. Although, I did dabble a bit in shooting some of the slower insects and bugs. But flowers were still my focus. Here are some simple tips that will help you shoot better flower photos.

1. Weather conditions and lighting

It is totally useless if you plan to shoot flowers on a day when high wind speeds are predicted. Movement is critical especially when shooting close-ups and your image will be spoiled if you don’t take this into consideration. Lighting is critical as you need to shoot under conditions that enhance colours and allow as much natural light as possible. Unless you’re using a ring flash with a digital SLR you are too close to use the on camera flash system. Never shoot at midday as the lighting is harsh and lacking in contrast.

2. Select the right flower

Getting your lighting, exposure and composition perfect and then finding that there are blemishes on the flower’s petals or leaves is a let down. Always inspect the chosen subject before setting up your equipment and make sure that it’s almost perfect.

"Cornflowers" captured by Donaldas Urniežius (Click Image to See More From Donaldas Urniežius)

If there are little imperfections, change the angle of view or shoot the opposite site of the flower. You can also remove offending petals and leaves if they do not leave gaps and make the image look imperfect.

3. Check the background

You are limited to how many angles you can shoot from if the flower is in a garden and not a studio. Make sure that the flower or flowers you choose have a background that is simple and uncluttered and enhances the overall quality of the flower image. If it doesn’t, then consider using a piece of card that compliments the dominating colour of your chosen flower. Your focus must be on the flower and a viewer’s eye should be attracted to the flower and not the background.

4. Use a tripod

A tripod is essential to flower photography as you need as much light as possible when using a narrow depth of field or focus and if you need a wide aperture the shutter speed is often slower. A slow shutter speed will always be a problem and this limits hand holding due to camera shake.

5. Composition

Flower shots always look their best when taken from the side. Shot from above they don’t have same appeal as when taken from the side. Use the rule of thirds placing them in a slightly off centred position and never right in the middle of the image. Getting in closer will always add to the composition. If you are shooting macro you’ll see details that really create an interest.

"Rinascita" captured by Alessandro De Matteis (Click Image to See More From Alessandro De Matteis)

Creating your own indoor studio and shooting picked flowers is a simple process. Use natural light from a window and a simple coloured background and stunning images will result. Be prepared to experiment and practise your techniques.
As with any photography take you time to think before shooting but also to get the composition perfect. Don’t be afraid to vary your angles and work at getting a good focal point. Overall, flower photography is exceptionally rewarding so work at it and create great images.
About the Author
Do you want to learn more about photography in a digital world? I’ve just completed a brand new e-course delivered by e-mail. Download it here for free by clicking here: http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/. To learn how you can take your photography from ordinary to outstanding click here – http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/21steps.htm.
Wayne Turner has been teaching photography for 25 years and has written three books on photography.

Wide Angle Photography

by Andy Lim

 

Ahh…wide angle photography, probably one of the easiest types of photo to take; but also one of the hardest to excel at.Have you ever tried to cram 30 people into a single photograph? You’d try to stack them, have some of them on the floor or even ask some of them at the back to jump at the press of the shutter!? You’re also trying to make sure that you are able to see the faces of these people in the photograph. Difficult if your camera’s lens is not wide enough and you have to move yourself further back to accommodate, which may not be possible if space is limited. When shooting indoors with flash, moving back may even give you an underexposed photograph, as flash is often not powerful enough to reach longer distances.

"The Peak H" captured by Ossie (Click Image to See More From Ossie)

Apart from the utilitarian purpose of getting good group photographs, shooting wide angle lets you portray the scene in full detail with unusual and sometimes, exaggerated perspectives. This is especially true of super wide angle. Small objects can be made to appear larger than larger objects within the same scene, effectively shifting the balance of the image composition. When used well, it can bring attention to the subject of interest in the foreground, at the same time preserving the context of the whole image by showing the location or event in the background.

Wider Options

Lenses are categorized by their focal lengths. Typically, lenses fall into one of these categories:

• super wide angle (10~24mm)
• wide angle (24~35mm)
• standard (about 50mm)
• telephoto (70~300mm)
• super telephoto (300mm and beyond)

These numbers indicate the focal length, which describes the field of view achievable using that lens. Incidentally, the field of view of a 50mm lens is considered to be an approximation to what the human eye sees. For the DSLR owners, they can choose from a variety of lenses ranging from a super wide lens all the way up to a super telephoto. But what about the rest of us?

"Lines" captured by Alyona Arnautova (Click Image to See More From Alyona Arnautova)

Digital compact camera owners are not left out of the picture. There are a multitude of wide-angle adapters for digital compacts; both made available as accessories as well as by third-party manufacturers. These can be attached via lens threads or bayonet mounts on their bodies. There are also some from third-party lenses which can be attached magnetically!

Focal Length Multiplier

Note: The ‘focal length’ of the lens determines the ‘field of view’, which is the angle of view seen using this lens. ‘Field-of-view crop’ is often referred to as ‘focal length multiplier’ for the sake of simplicity.
Digital photography, from the hardware perspective, is based on principles of 35mm film cameras. For a photographer who shoots with film, there is no such thing as a ‘focal length multiplier’, because to them, everything is 1x. This means that a 50mm lens is a 50mm lens. Not so for a digital SLR. A 50mm lens virtually becomes a 75mm lens, when attached to a Nikon D200 digital SLR. This is because the ‘focal length multiplier’ of 1.5x causes the 50mm lens to have a field of view equivalent to a 75mm lens.
Shooting wide angle is basically one way of depicting a scene using a wider field of view, which in turn is achieved by using a lens with a focal length of less than 50mm on a 35mm film SLR camera. These days, with the proliferation of digital SLR cameras, there might be some confusion to how focal lengths are calculated.

"Mersey Blues" captured by Mark Broughton (Click Image to See More From Mark Broughton)

To keep things simple, we can use this rule of thumb. If you are using a 35mm film SLR, your focal length multiplier is 1x.
If you are using a digital SLR, your focal length multiplier could be any one of these, depending on the model of DSLR camera: 1x (eg Canon 1Ds Mk II), 1.3x (eg Canon 1D Mk II), 1.5x (eg Nikon D200 or D70) or 1.6x (eg Canon 30D).
To get the actual focal length (and hence field of view achievable) of your lens, multiply the lens focal length with the multiplier.
Example 1 – Nikon D300 (multiplier is 1.5x) with a 17~70mm lens
The actual focal length range of this combination is 25.5mm-105mm, achieved by multiplying the lens range with 1.5
Example 2 – Canon 1Ds Mk II (multiplier is 1x) with a 70~300mm lens
The actual focal length range of this combination is still 70-300mm.
Example 3 – Nikon F5 (35mm film camera with multiplier of 1x) with a 15mm fisheye lens
The actual focal length of this combination is still 15mm.
The reason behind the focal length multiplier falls to the size of the recording media, the CCD or CMOS. Different cameras use different sized CCD/CMOS for different reasons eg. to make a smaller camera and for better power efficiency. For compact digital cameras which do not fall under the digital SLR category, focal length multipliers are rarely used because they don’t have interchangeable lenses. What they do have are wide angle adapters or telephoto adapters. A wide angle adapter may be referred to as a 0.7x wide adapter. What this number means is that this adapter shortens the focal length of the built-in lens by multiplying it with 0.7, effectively creating a wider field of view.
Super wide angle shots sometimes appear distorted, but they do show a lot more in the background, lending context to an image

"Sandune" captured by Mukesh Dhruv (Click Image to See More From Mukesh Dhruv)

Focusing with Wide Angle Lenses

An inherent characteristic of camera lenses is that wide angle lenses come with more depth-of-field compared to telephoto lenses. This reduces focusing errors to some extent, which means that you can focus on almost anything around the center of the frame and get an acceptably sharp image. In this case, a small aperture further increases the chance of a sharp image. For best results though, we can use the “1/3 of the distance rule”. Look inside your camera viewfinder, estimate the distance from the nearest point that is visible in the viewfinder, to the furthest point that is also visible in your viewfinder. Focus on a point that is roughly one-third of the distance away from you. If you cannot use autofocus effectively on that point (perhaps due to very dim light levels or low contrast early in the morning on a mountain), you can estimate the distance and manually focus your lens, using the distance scale on your lens. A small aperture (eg. f16) gives you more depth-of-field, so use it if possible. That’s why it’s good to carry a tripod, which will let you use smaller apertures without camera shake.

Composing with Wide Angle Lenses

Wide angle photography has its own set of challenges. While it lets you show more of the scene, sometimes less is more. If not properly framed, a super wide angle image may include distracting elements which detract from your image, because a wide angle lens sees a wider field of view than a normal lens. Therefore it’s good to fill the frame well, composing it in such a way that only the necessary elements are included. Landscape photography is a classic candidate for using wide angle lenses. In order to shoot great landscape photography, foreground interest is important. Wide angle lenses let you include a sizable portion of the foreground in the frame, so use it well by choosing a foreground that is actually interesting.

"Morning of Potential" captured by Steve Partridge (Click Image to See More From Steve Partridge)

When shooting super wide angle, we can also get away with a slower shutter speed because the shorter focal length downplays slight camera shake errors, opening up new possibilities with photography. One example is hand-holding your SLR camera in a busy street downtown, capturing a sharp image of your subject while rendering the pedestrian traffic as a blur, due to the slower shutter speed.

Wide Angle Care

Exercise more caution when handling your DSLR or digicam with a wide-angle lens/adapter. Some wide angle lenses have protruding glass which is more exposed and susceptible to accidental contact with dirty fingers or worse, it may end up getting scratched. If your lens accepts a UV filter, get one. It will protect your lens from countless dangers. Many wide angle lenses allow you to focus closer than a telephoto lens, so a lens hood helps to some extent to protect your lens from your overzealous attempts to get a closer shot.
Wide angle photography is exciting, go forth and experiment!
About the Author
Andy Lim conducts practical hands-on photography workshops. If you would like to make quicker progress in the amazing world of digital photography, Andy Lim recommends a great online photography course called Digital Photography Success.
 

Essential Facial Expressions for Photo Shoots

by Michael Abela

Much of the attention in photo modelling is given to the way a model poses and dresses. Yet, little or no attention is given to facial expressions. Expressions will make or break a photo shoot. Photos will be soulless and tell nothing. It is suggested that every model has a couple of expressions, which she is good at, up her sleeve. That way it gives character and meaning to her photos. This article describes some of the very basic facial expressions, which which you should attempt to capture in order to have a full photo session.
In order to improve the overall facial expressions when posing for a photo shoot, a model should use her hands, palms and fingers in a way to compliment and maximize her expressions.

Day dreaming and fantasizing

This is a pensive mood in which you dream about your aspirations, nostalgic moments and sentimental places. Your facial expressions should be calm and relaxed.

"Sparks" captured by Alexandra Catana (Click Image to See More From Alexandra Catana)

Chin can be cupped in both palms of the hands or head leaned over palm of the hand. Head can be rested on both hands too.

Loneliness and sadness

Here you should let your mind drift and detach yourself from your surroundings. You should look deep within you and come face to face with your worst fears and heart aches. In order to bring out the best emotions you should feel them rather than act them. Your facial expressions should be tense and stressed.

Photo captured by Szeredy Photography (Click Image to See More From Szeredy Photography)

Palm of the hand can be held over the mouth or touching your temple.

Happiness

This should be a straight forward and easy emotion to get across in your photos. Think of enjoyable moments with your family and friends, or funny situations that keep bringing a smile on your face.

"Girl at Metro" captured by Edgar Barany (Click Image to See More From Edgar Barany)

You can run your fingers through your hair or hands can be held over the tummy when laughing out loud.

Sensual and seductive

For many models it comes naturally while others have to put more work in it. Most of the expressions should be transmitted through the eyes and the tilting of the head. Your facial expression should hint lust-fulness and seductiveness.

Photo captured by Elena Novik (Click Image to See More From Elena Novik)

Fingers can touch softly the lips with mouth parted. Your fingers can touch delicately other parts of the face like the cheek or the neck.
From my experience, I can say that models with a background in acting and dancing, usually find it very easy to express a wide range of emotions through their face and body. If you work closely with your model, it makes sense to work towards perfecting these expressions.
About the Author:
I have been fascinated by the human body since the tender age of 7, always with a pencil in hand sketching figures and models. Photography for me is a way through which I aspire to capture the beauty, emotions and passion transmitted through the human body. Source: http://michaelabela.weebly.com/.

Learn Digital Photography – 7 Beginner Tips For Sharper Photos

by Wayne Turner

Scott Kelby, the author of many digital photography books says, “If your photos aren’t sharp then the rest doesn’t matter”. Key to any image is its sharpness and in order to get those photos pin sharp you need to follow some basic guidelines.

"BURN" captured by Michael Moody (Click Image to Find Photographer)

There’s nothing worse than looking at a portrait photo and the eyes are out of focus with a perfectly sharp nose. The eyes are the windows to the soul and their sharpness is critical to a good image. There are times when we want slightly out of focus images or parts of images out of focus. But, mostly we want crisp and clear images. Here are some steps for sharper images.

1. Pin sharp starts with a tripod

Every professional photographer and many amateurs will tell you that a tripod is an essential part of your gear if you want sharp images. Of course it’s not always possible to use one, but, when you can use one. It stabilizes your camera and stops camera shake from unsteady hands. A good, sturdy tripod costs money but it’s a basic part of your kit and fundamental to sharp images. Many photographers also opt for small flexible tripods that can be wrapped around objects and work in virtually any situation.

2. Cable Release

Don’t press the shutter; use a cable release. A cable release is a cable that goes to a connection on your camera. By pressing the cable release you don’t transfer any movement from your hand to the camera. Unfortunately not many entry level compact cameras have this feature, but, there is a solution in point three.

3. Self-Timer

If you have forgotten to bring your cable release or your compact camera doesn’t allow its use, use the self-timer. All cameras including compacts have this feature. Although you still press the shutter, there is a time delay of 2 to 10 seconds allowing camera shake to subside before the shutter is activated. Still, you need to press the shutter button gently to limit any transferred shake.

"Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast" captured by Drew Hopper (Click Image to Find Photographer)

4. Mirror lock-up

This feature is something only for digital SLR camera owners. When the shutter is depressed a mirror, which is in between your sensor and the viewfinder, pops up to allow light to pass and hit your sensor. This micro movement can affect your final image so what manufactures have added is a mirror lock-up. It locks the mirror in position once you have composed your image. Although you can no longer see the image through the viewfinder it prevents the micro movement from affecting your image. Use it if you are fanatical about sharpness.

5. Use your lenses sharpest aperture

All lenses have a sweet spot. They are sharpest at this aperture, usually two stops below fully open. Unfortunately this applies only to DSLRs. You should be able to tell by looking at your images and finding which images are usually the sharpest. Check the EXIF data by right clicking on your image on the computer and seeing what aperture it was taken at. Then shoot at this aperture whenever you can.

6. ISO

Avoid increasing your ISO as this causes your image sharpness to degrade. Rather shoot on a tripod. Shooting on higher ISOs adds noise to the images which is the reason for images lacking in sharpness.

Photo captured by Lisa Jayne Roe (Click Image to Find Photographer)

7. Turn off image stabilization

If you have a lens or camera that has image stabilization or vibration reduction, turn it off. There are tiny motors inside the lens which stabilize the image but also contribute to lack of sharpness through vibration. They are great for low light/handheld situations like weddings, but when you’re using a tripod, turn it off.
These are a just a few tips for getting sharper images. No single one will improve your sharpness, but used together they will improve you overall sharpness in an image.
Do you want to learn more about photography in a digital world? I’ve just completed a brand new e-course delivered by e-mail. Download it here for free: http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/ To learn how you can take your photography from ordinary to outstanding visit http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/21steps.htm
Wayne Turner has been teaching photography for 25 years and has written three books on photography.