Archive for Become a better photographer

Visualising studio lighting

Once you feel you've started to get the knack of pointing your camera at things and clicking the button, it's time to start taking control of all the lighting in the scene. But, as it turns out, that's bloody tricky. I keep having to explain how to 'visualise' different types of lighting to people, and it turns out that it's rather difficult - not because what I'm doing is particularly advanced, but because sometimes, it's just tricky to make the connection between what is happening in a photo, lighting-wise, and how the lights are set up.

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Darkening a room by adding light

I was doing a photo shoot a few days ago, where I was photographing a lemon suspended from a piece of thread. I wanted to make it look as if it was hovering in pitch darkness. Upon seeing the results, someone asked me an interesting question: Isn't it difficult to focus your camera in the dark? Well, no, because the photo was taken in the daytime, with my lights on. So, how come does it look like it was taken at night? That, my friends, is the power of contrast in lighting. You have to remember that you don't need a dark room in order to make a background completely dark - you just need to ensure that your foreground is significantly brighter than the ambient light. Here's how and why...

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No longer looking for n00bs (thanks!)

Edit: I'll keep this post here for posterity, but I have all the help I need. Thank you all so much for your feedback and interest! So, I'm a writer. I write books about photography. And I get a lot of e-mail from people, asking if I can recommend a good book for someone who knows absolutely nothing about photography. Sadly, I can't say that I've found such a book quite yet. The problem with photography books out there is that they are either too technical too early (I happen to find shutter times deeply fascinating, but it's too hands-off for many people who want to get out there and take photos), or they are too tutorial-driven. Several of the most popular photography books for beginners are written in the form of 'hey, see this photo? Isn't it awesome? to take it, set your camera to X, Y and Z, and press the shutter', without actually explaining why you need those settings, and what would happen if you changed them slightly. Only today, a good friend of mine, Sally, asked me if I could recommend a book. that re-awakened the idea I had: Maybe the time has come that I write my own book for complete beginners.

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In photography, rules aren’t laws.

The internet is absolutely full of guides about things you should and shouldn't do to take 'good photos'. Don't over-expose. Remember the rule of thirds. Don't cut people's heads off. Watch your background. Use a shallow DOF in portraits to throw the backgrounds out of focus. 3-point lighting for portraiture, etc. A lot of us just take all these rules for given, as if they are hard-and-fast rules that you have to stick to, because if you don't, you'll fail as a photographer. Break these rules, and you won't take a good photo in your life. Your cat will die, your children will hate you, and your significant other will divorce you.

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When RAW is not enough

One of the first pieces advice I give to people who wonder where to start getting their photos to become better, is to shoot in RAW. There's many obvious reasons for why this is a good idea. With RAW, the final result can be sharper, you have better control over white balance, you get wider dynamic range, you can do HDR photography, and, well, it's what all the cool kids done. Recently, however, I have moved away from shooting in RAW for several reasons. Or, to be precise, I have started shooting in RAW+JPG. Here are some compelling arguments for why you should do the same...

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Learning by example

Some people learn best when they start at the basics: This is a camera. Press this button to make it go 'click', and it takes a picture. Change the aperture to... etc. Me, I like to work the other way around - I learned a long time ago that photography - like computers, cars, etc - is interesting mostly for its results, rather than for its technology. Who cares if your camera can do 1/4,000 second or 1/12,000 second shutter times... Unless, of course, you need the faster shutter time to achieve something.

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How to hand-colour your photos

I recently had a conversation with Bob Keefer - a talented photographer who has decided to hang on to some traditional techniques in a world which is accelerating at full speed toward better, faster, stronger... His party trick is impressive: Take a black-and-white photograph, and colour them. By hand. Creating gorgeous, real-yet-unreal photo-based art which redefines how you'll think about photography and digital retouching? Obviously, I had to catch up with Bob to see what, how - and perhaps, most importantly - why...

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The quest for perfect droplets

One of the strengths of photography has always been its ability to freeze time. Before the advent of photography, it was impossible to see how a hummingbird moves its wings, how a tennis ball deforms as it is served, or what it looks like when a bullet hits an apple at the speed of sound. In the microcosmos explored by macro photographers, there are hundreds of similar quick-moving phenomena that lay unexplored. I have a fascination with falling water and the way matches flare up as you strike them, so I decided to take a closer look.

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Beginnings in street photography

Sometimes, I learn more about photography when I teach about photography, than when I learn about photography. Bear with me, it does make sense, honest. I have one friend - Daniela - who is a n00b at this whole photography things. Some of the questions she asks, and some of the comments she makes, sound like stupidity in my ears. 'Of course not', I want to burst out... And yet... that's a learning moment for me. What is 'obvious' to me isn't necessarily obvious to others - especially if you're just trying to come to terms with photography and how it all fits together. Anyway, Daniela was recently in Belgium, and had a go at some street photography. I've written about Street Photography many times before: A shot at Street photography, Katie Cooke's The return of Street Photography, Brad's Street Photography and the Law, Street Photography in Montreal, Prime Lenses, and why you need one, Oi You! no Pictures! and it's also mentioned in my article about insuring your photography gear. What I had never stopped to think, however, is how a beginning photographer looks at street photography. Daniela offered some insights...

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Get a photo critique!

I have been doing Photo Critiques on this blog in the past, but it's starting to dawn on me that perhaps a blog isn't quite the right way of doing these, so instead I'd like to start doing them on Flickr. If you would like me to critique your photographs, here's how to get on the list...

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