For people becoming more interested in making photos with a camera, there are a lot of parts to this that more experience photographers have learned and take for granted.

As with anything (learning a new language for example), once you’ve had enough practice it becomes second nature, as something you do without thinking. But for new photographers, it’s worth documenting the variousingredients to making a photograph.

Basically this list is in the order that they happen, even before you pick up a camera. I show these points to new photography students, but often they will only make sense of them once they become more familiar with their cameras and can develop an evolving shooting style. This ability to make creative distinctions depends on the level of your commitment.

BEING IN THE ZONE: PREPAREDNESS
If you’re ready for what you come across,  can pick up the camera and start making good images, you can get into a connected mental state I call the ‘zone’. But this only happens when you’ve prepared properly for responding to good opportunities, and you’re comfortable with how to use your camera.

WHOLISTIC INSPIRATION: AWARENESS OF THE CREATIVE CONNECTION
Be aware of why you picked up the camera and held it to your eye in the first place. What have you seen? What does it mean? What do you want to show from this relationship or connection with what you see? This awareness is necessary prior to any pre-visualisation.

MOTIVATION: THE MESSAGE OF THE IMAGE IN YOUR MIND
The more you’re aware of what you’re looking at (for) actually means to you, the more clearly you can translate this message, and also communicate this to others through your pictures

IMAGE SIZE AND FILE FORMAT
Before you pick up your camera, you need to have decided whether to shoot in jpeg or raw format. Remember that shooting in raw means having the commitment to spending time processing the shots individually, but it gives you greater scope for image enhancement. Always shoot at the highest file size, and have a spare memory card if you run out of room.

ISO REGARDING SHUTTER SPEEDS
Remember that if you’re shooting hand held, you need an ISO that will give you a high enough shutter speed to avoid camera shake (unless you want some blur, in which case you can choose a lower ISO). Using  ISOs above 400 generally causes loss of image quality.

COLOUR BALANCE
If you shoot in raw format  you can leave WB on auto and opt to change this later. Otherwise it’s worth selecting the specific WB for the light conditions. Experiment and test these!

ORIENTATION OF CAMERA, SHOOTING POSITION
When you pick up the camera, you will automatically choose a horizontal or vertical position. Change this, do both, and consider angling your camera diagonally or up or down. Don’t be limited by not making more choices in this. Every photo is a unique and unrepeatable event!
Brace hold your elbows by your sides for more stability.

AWARENESS OF LIGHT AND DIRECTION
All visual artists become aware of ‘the light’, and special daylight effects (often early morning and late afternoon on sunny days) produce a magic time (the ‘magic hour’). But overcast days also give good muted soft contrast with even light, tone and colours. Be aware of where the sun is going (buy a little compass and carry it with you) in the sky during the day, and whether now is the best time for a shot, or whether it would be better to come back another time.

COMPOSITION, FRAMING THE IMAGE, BALANCE OF PARTS
When you pick up your camera, you are designing what goes into the frame. Be aware of the  various elements of this, and research the classic visual tools used by both painters and photographers, to allow you more informed choices that will become instinctive. These include leading lines, perspective, rule of thirds, balance, space, colour, movement, timing, graphic elements, contrast and patterns.

CHOICE OF LENS FOCAL LENGTH
Most people use zoom lenses, though technically these are not as optically sharp as prime lenses; be aware of pincushion or barrel distortion with zooms. When you look through the camera, zoom in and out, and change your position and distance before taking the picture.

UNDERSTANDING ANGLE AND PERSPECTIVE
Using a zoom lens shows how focal length affects perspective. Simply, wide-angle lenses foreshorten and exaggerate perspective so that objects close to the lens appear large, and background objects dramatically diminish in size. Wide-angle lenses have more inherent depth of field at a given aperture than telephoto lenses. Telephoto lenses flatten perspective, making background objects seem to be at the same distance. These lenses produce less depth of field at a given aperture than wide-angle lenses. When you change the focal length of a zoom lens, be aware of the differences found at different focal length settings and distances to the subject. Experiment!

FOCUS AND DEPTH OF FIELD
A wider aperture (small number: f1.4,f 2, f2.8) produces less depth of field, and ‘fast’ prime lenses (e.g. f1.4) produce a softness of background (‘bokeh’) unobtainable with slower (zoom) lenses (even at f3.5). Using a smaller aperture (f11, f16,f 22) obtains more depth of field in the scene, though actual focus is only at one distance. For maximum (‘hyper focal’) depth of field, focus 1/3 into the scene and use a depth-of-field preview button to see the effect. Having said this, the actual sharpest focus at one distance is usually obtained by using a middle aperture, as lens sharpness (acutance) is best at this range.

FLUID OR STATIC IMAGE STYLES
Although 1/60 second is generally the slowest shutter speed to use with a hand-held camera, you need to use a faster speed on long telephoto lenses (1/focal length as a guide). People often want their pictures to be sharp, but photos can also show a more dynamic element by using a slower speed to show either camera movement (shake) or subject movement. Options for movement include zoom blur (moving the focal length on a zoom lens from one end to the other during exposure; not available on compacts), panning (moving the camera in synch with a moving subject with a slow shutter speed), and longer exposure abstract effects.

PREVISUALISATION
This is being aware of how the image will translate form what you see to the photographic image. ‘Thinking like a camera’ includes understanding the transfer from 3 dimensions to 2 (close one eye to see this); awareness of timing; knowing how tones and colours will translate (digital media renders higher contrast and lower tone values than your eye sees); and how the choice of lens format will affect perspective and the angle of view.

AWARENESS OF ACCESSORIES
Both before you set out taking photos and after a session, be aware of whether you used or could have used one of any number of camera accessories; including tripod, flash, filters, cable release, compass, lens shade, spare battery, spare memory card. Make lists of your needs, and budget for them in order of importance.

SELF-AWARENESS OF SURROUNDINGS
One of the important things to be aware in your shooting environment is the safety of both yourself and others. Other things to notice are any restrictions on photography where you are, and whether you have appropriate clothes, shoes or money for your endeavours.

READING YOUR CAMERA DISPLAYS
If you don’t know all the displays on your camera’s menu, learn them. There’s nothing worse than making a mistake that more awareness of the camera’s display would have avoided; starting with exposure (shutter speed/aperture), ISO, white balance, battery level and how many shots are left on your memory card.

EXPOSURE
This is probably the most important detail it’s important not to overlook. Checking your shutter speed and aperture are before you press the shutter is an instinct you must develop. Are you using the best ISO for the light? Are you happy with the white balance? In spite of the efficacy of using Photoshop to enhance your images, if they aren’t taken at the optimum exposure, you are not shooting at the best quality you can. If in doubt or in a hurry: bracket 3 images.

TIMING: THE DECISIVE MOMENT
‘The decisive moment’ is a term coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson, and his photographs reveal the value of choosing the right moment. This will be different is you want to be unobtrusive, if you have a human subject, if the light is changing quickly or you are in a hurry. You can always take more pictures, but one will usually be the best one. Explore what things determine the best moment to press the shutter.

INVOLVEMENT WITH YOUR SUBJECT
If you are photographing something that interests you, the more involved you are with it, the better your relationship. This includes inanimate subjects like buildings, as well as dynamic ones like people. Take time to ingest and be aware of what is going on around you, and that you are directing as well as witnessing and interpreting the event of the photograph.

ADAPTATING TO CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES
Similar to timing, be aware of any changes from when you pick up your camera to when you view the fist image on your screen. This is the time to make possible changes in distance to subject, exposure, white balance, lens focal length, or any other modifications.

REVIEWING THE IMAGE; CHANGES
After you take a photo, always look at it on your review screen to see if it shows what you want. Not to do this wastes the opportunity to improve the image. This seems contrary to the idea of one decisive image (which some photographers adhere to by taking only one photograph), but you are only in that place at that time, once. Make the most of it.

MULTIPLE CHOICE OF YOUR IMAGE
The more photos you make at any time, the more choice you have as to what will make the best image. Most photographers take more than one shot of something, and editing is everything. Cartier Bresson said; “your first 10 000 photographs will be your worst”.

IMAGE USE AND THE BIGGER PICTURE
Be aware of what you could use your images for. Photo Libraries (see www.alamy.com) will pay you money for images you stock with them that they sell. Make a calendar, or a photo card to send on emails, or join www.lflickr.com or another photo community site and get feedback on your photos. Look beyond the even to what you can use the images for.

POST PROCESSING IMAGES
Whether you shoot images n jpeg or raw format, using Adobe Photoshop (version CS4) to enhance the quality

CHOICES OF MEDIA
Increasingly, new photographers seem not to be printing out their images. This is a shame, since if you only view your photos on a computer, you are only seeing them at 72ppi, and not the high resolution produced by your camera. Think about getting an A4 inkjet printer, which (at best photo setting) will produce a photographic quality, 1440ppi image. If you send images as attachments in emails, don’t forget to reduce the file size by resizing the original image to 72ppi, and a smaller image size, to no more than 500kb.

PROJECTS: THE STORY CONTINUES
Deciding on a project for your photos gives your intention a focus and attention you can’t get by just taking individual photos. If you want to take good pictures, choose a good subject for a project, and go back to photograph it (them) again and again. This will improve your camera taking skills, and increase your photographic abilities more than anything else. Good luck!

©James Bartholomew

Students often tell me of their disappointment in looking through their photos, especially holiday snaps. The reason for this is that their camera had a different understanding of the event than they did! This has led me to outline some ways to overcome this dilemma, by thinking more like a camera (in taking pictures) instead of hoping your camera can live up to your eye’s expectations.

Here are some basic tips.

1. Squint.

Digital media is limited, compared to what you see, because your eyes are more sensitive, in tonal evaluation, than a digital camera can record. This is why contrast is often higher, and tone range lower, than your eyes will see. To predict the results your camera will give, try squinting your eyes very tight. You’ll notice in previewing a scene this way, that you lose more detail in the shadows than in the highlights. The most effective way to overcome this limited tonal range is to take several exposures of the same scene (at least + and – 2 stops, though I often use a +3, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2, and -3, seven stop bracket (changing only shutter speed to retain the – manual – focus). This is the basis of an HDR (high dynamic range) image, where the separate exposures can be merged togehter, in “auto – merge to HDR” with Photoshop. I’ll do a post on this.

2. Close one eye.

You always put the camera to the same eye, so you are by default, right or left eyed. Closing one eye mimics how the camera sees the scene, by going from three-dimensions, to a two-dimensional representation of what you see. The limitations of two dimensions are that actually you lose all relative distance between any subjects, and it is only your brain that is telling you these distances (just like you need to use both ears to hear the direction from which a sound comes). Use other means like leading lines, curves, sky, designing the composition (see my post, “a list of artistic things”) to make sense of what you are recording and ‘lead you in’ to an image of only two dimensions.

3. Take more than one photograph of the same thing.

Unlike your vision, which sees everything in continuous time (like film or video), when you push the shutter, that’s it. You only have one image, from one unique frozen moment of time. People blink, change expression. Light changes. Things move. The sun goes in and out of clouds. Give yourself more chances of having a good result by being able to edit out the best photo. You can’t have a choice with only one. Try sequencing.

4. Preview the zoom range, or change your position.

Your eyes see everything in one perspective (which is matched in 35mm format, by a 50mm lens, which gives the same perspective you see). Wide angle lenses (or the wide end of your zoom lens) distort perspective by exaggerating it, and give you a larger field and angle of view.Telephoto lenses (zooming “in” and magnifying the scene) distort perspective by compressing it, and give you a smaller field and angle of view. Look at the choices you have with your zoom lens by trying different settings (zooming in and out) before choosing one. Or choose several.

5. Learn how to predict the limits of your zoom lens.

There’s no point in going in close and using a wide angle setting if your lens won’t cover as wide an angle as you want. Or, zooming out and hoping for a tight crop if you’re too close. Using your hands straight out at either sides (180 degrees), learn how to estimate the limits, from wide to narrow, of where your zoom lens will be at both ends, and the middle, of the range.

6. Make conscious framing choices.

As with no. 5 above, be aware that while there is no limit to what you see (hold your hands outstretched on either side of you and wiggle your fingers; you have almost 180 degree peripheral vision!), as soon as you point your camera in front of you, you limit the view of something by putting a frame around it. Make good decisions in your choices, and only include in your viewfinder ‘design’, what is necessary for a good photo. Too close or too wide, and you might miss the point of visual focus or interest.

©James Bartholomew

Email:james@jamesbartholomew.com

http://www.imageworkshops.net

http://www.jamesbartholomew.com

http://jamesbartholomew.wordpress.com

It’s not an exhaustive list, and not all the points here will apply to all images you use. Include other considerations of your own that are relevant to the photo.

Why did you choose this image? What attracted you to it?

Why did the photographer / artist make the image?

Is the image constructed or documented from a real event?

Is the photographer trying to say something? Is there a message to the photograph?

What function did the photograph serve within the time it was made?

Is the subject matter symbolic in any way?

Does the image tell a story, were there events that lead up to and followed the single moment of the picture?

Discuss the use of composition, light and shade, texture form etc within the picture (refer to my post, ‘A list of artistic things…”).

Are there any particular techniques used in the photograph?

Describe the image, as though to someone who cannot see it.

How does the photographer’s work relate to that of others? Who were their influences and whom did they influence (it is worth doing research on the photographer to determine these)?

Can you tell if there are any specific parts of the photograph that link or define the image to specific dates, eras, or cultural, historical, social, religious, gender, political or other references?

What can you take and use from the image? Ideas, techniques, composition, etc?

NB:
Don’t use this list in a question/answer format; introduce these and any other notes and considerations in full sentences and paragraphs as relevant methods of analysing the image.

Important: when analysing and commenting on any image that is not your own work, be sure to you credit the name of the photographer and include the date of each image.

When using work copied from books or articles or downloaded from the internet, be sure to give full reference (including web addresses) to where the image was taken from.

©James Bartholomew

Email:james@jamesbartholomew.com

http://www.imageworkshops.net

http://www.jamesbartholomew.com

My students this week have asked me how to photograph fireworks. Considering that tonight is the night (in the UK) where we let off a lot of rockets, here’s a quick answer to the question. I’m shooting some fireworks tonight, and will put the best results below.

1. Use a tripod if you have one. Use one anyway, as often as possible (look out for a future post of using ND filters during the day to create good effects with movement, especially water. You can’t get this result just by using a longer shutter speed!). If you haven’t got a triopod, brace the camera (in the vertical) against a tree, or nestle it in your clothes or on your camera bag.

2. Start with the following exposure: 400 ISO, Daylight White Balance, aperture f8 or f11, and shutter speeds between 1 and 10 seconds. Use Manual exposure settings, and manual focus, on infinity. Use RAW if you can.

3. Look at the results on your review screen (you’ll have to make any adjustments – change your aperture – sharpish, since the fireworks are over pretty quckly).

4. Set your camera (on the tripod) for vertical format, and use a wide angle view, with the baseline on the ground, and include losts of sky.

5. Using an exposure of 5 seconds or more lets you get several rocket launches in the same shot, but experiment with shots from 2 to 10 seconds, as too many explosions in the same shot makes the result very busy. One or two bursts is better.

6. Try moving your camera during exposure, and also use zoom blur (zooming in to out, or out to in) during exposure. Zoom blur is better on a tripod, but you can only do zoom blur on a DLSR, not a compact.

7.Use a cable release if you have one.

8. Go home and make some fireworks of your own, with someone you love. Fireworks are romantic.

Have fun. Send in some results and I’ll post them here.

6 November: RESULTS FROM BROCKWELL PARK SHOOT, LONDON

Since I’m giving advice on how to photograph fireworks, I thought I’d better go and shoot some myself.

The photos aren’t brilliant, but I’m happy with the results from 15 minutes’ shooting. These events are expensive (£10 000 is not unusual), so try as many different techniques as you can in the short time avaiable. I was shooting ‘blind’ for this one, as there wasn’t time to check the review screeen since I was concntrating on timing. I think the nearly full moon makes a nice touch, though it’s overexposed. I’ll put the exposure information in the titles.

Talking to several other photographers at the scene (always a good idea) there was one Spanish guy, a beginner, who was experimenting with zoom blur during his shots, which were less wide than mine (you can see the distortion in the building and ‘leaning’ people on some shots). His were good, and I may try some zoom blur at another local display tonight.

Also since I shot these all on 16mm (since I didn’t know how high the rockets would go) and cropped the hell out of the results, there are a lot of specks in the sky, which are either debris (there’s a lot of that around) or I need to clean my sensor (I’ll write a post on this). Mind you, with 21mp to start with on the 5Dmk11, there is enough to play with.

Anyway, here are some of the results. There are probably too many but I’m just chucking them up here. May take some down later.

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/12 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/4 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/2 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/6 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/10 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/5 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/2 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/11 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/14 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/8 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/16 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/11 seconds/ f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/4 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/4 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/4 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/6 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/3 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/2 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/11 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/7 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/7 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/2 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/9 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/4 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

Canon EOS5D Mk 11: 400 ISO/AWB/4 seconds/f11 (tripod) ©James Bartholomew

©James Bartholomew

Email:james@jamesbartholomew.com

http://www.imageworkshops.net

http://www.jamesbartholomew.com

TAKE COURAGE

In 1965 I moved to London with my family on the first of several cross atlantic relocations.

I was a precocious 5 year old; observant, serious, shy, and puzzled at the cultural differences of these two countries who shared (almost) the same language. I loved the old money, and the comics and sweets I could buy with my florin.

One thing I noticed right away were these two big signs that seemed to be everywhere, prominently displayed on the walls of buildings. Like commands, or instructions; one said, ‘TAKE PRIDE”. The other, “TAKE COURAGE”.

The signs seemed to speak to me as personal messages. If I was brave, I could be proud of myself. The small boy took heart in this.

It was years before I found out that Pride and Courage are beers. To me, this is one of the photos that speaks of the messages and symbols that abound for us in the visual world we experience. Yes, it’s an obvious one. So is advertising.

This photo below is one of mine from some time in the 80′s, and comes from one of the buildings facing Borough Market in south London (itself a very old place) The sign is still there.

And I haven’t had a drink in over ten years.

©James Bartholomew

Email: james@jamesbartholomew.com

http://www.imageworkshops.net

http://www.jamesbartholomew.com

TECHNICAL OVERVIEW A-Z

My thanks for this go to Arwa Wallan, a lovely Saudi student who worked with me as a private student for several months in 2009. We talked about so many aspects of photography that I made a list of them for her, and share it with you here.

AF-L AND AE-L SETTINGS
AF/L (auto focus lock) at default is by pushing the shutter button halfway down. Focus on your subject (in the middle), then hold the AF/L to recompose the composition with the same focus.
AE/L at default should be separate from AF/L and is usually done by holding down the  button or the +/- button. You will use AF/L much more often than AE/L.

APERTURE
Fast lenses @ wide aperture (f.1.4, f.2.0, f2.8) let you shoot images hand-held, in less light.
A very fast lens (ex. 50mm f1.2 or 1.4) @ widest aperture, gives real BOKEH(soft background).
Small apertures (f16 or f22) give you more depth of field (focus) than large apertures.
For best depth of field, use hyper-focal focussing (focus 1/3 into the distance of the scene

ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Pointing the camera straight ahead (vert. or horiz.) avoids converging vertical lines of buildings.
Use a wide-angle lens to bring whole buildings into viewfinder.
When parallel lines converge, think about lining one up with the edge of the frame.
Design aspects of composition. Don’t stick to straight-line conventions.

BRACKETING
Remember to use AWB (Canon) or BRACKET SET (Nikon) when in a hurry for best exposure.
Bracketing with the multi-shoot setting gives 3 bracketed shots (instead of continuous burst).
Most modern cameras can bracket ambient exposure, flash exposure and also white balance!

COMPOSITION
Preview your choice of composition in your mind before putting the camera to your eye.
Be aware of light, position of sun, clouds, etc.
Design elements of composition instinctively; be aware of what looks good in the viewfinder.
Always check the image on your review screen, make different shots, and compare results.

DEPTH OF FIELD
A smaller aperture (f16, f22) gives more depth of field (focus) than a larger aperture (f3.5, f2.8)
At any given aperture, depth of field is created 1/3 in front of and 2/3 behind the focus subject:
Use your camera’s depth of field preview button (where the image goes dark and sharper) to see how much depth of field is produced at small apertures.

Hyper-focal (maximum) depth of field is created by focussing 1/3 into the scene.

ESSENTIAL EXTRAS
tripod tabletop tripod ND filters ND graduated filters
filter holder UV filters for lenses step-up rings hand held exposure meter
50mm f1.4 lens fast telephoto lens spare battery speed-light flash / diffuser
cable release lens shades grey card spare memory card(s)
card reader blower brush camera bag sensor cleaning brush
lens-cleaning cloth

EXPOSURE: Ambient (existing light)
Metering, ambient, incident metering, reflective metering, matrix or centre weighted
Ambient exposure compensation (+/-) gives an exposure more or less light.
See bracketing
Do a Grey / Black / White card test to show how the camera meter averages the reading.
HDR: High dynamic range (see tone mapping)
Reciprocity Failure (film & digital reacts more slowly with very long shutter speeds)

EXPOSURE: Flash / (additive light)
Flash metering (incident not reflective), works more with aperture than shutter speed
Max. flash synch speed: is usually 1/250s unless the lens has a copal shutter in the lens
Expose for flash only (fast shutter speed) or mix flash & ambient light (slow shutter speed)
Flash exposure compensation ( +/-) gives more or less power for the flash output.
Studio and professional rechargeable flash is measured in Joules or Watt/Seconds
Speed-light flash output is measured in Guide Numbers (GN), to the following equation:

GUIDE NUMBER CALCULATIONS (flash)
f-stop x distance
(this is usually done in feet at 100 ISO).

Example:
A flash giving a reading of f16 at six feet (at 100 ISO) therefore has a Guide Number of (GN) 96.

EXPOSURE INTERPRETATION
You can over or under-expose both ambient and flash settings for dramatic results.
Try ambient at -1 and flash at 0 or -1 for lowering ambient for holding sky details.
It’s worth experimenting with exposure since the ‘right’ exposure is open to wide interpretation.
Explore the different results you get from low-key (dark) and high-key lighting situations.
Remember that the meter assumes your composition is average.

EXPOSURE METERING
Experiment with different settings when shooting at a radiant light source.
Metering ambient light with a diffuser cone on a hand held meter is most accurate way to meter:
Hold meter at subject pointed straight back at camera. You can also use this for flash readings.
The camera ONLY gives a REFLECTED meter reading for an AVERAGE scene (with +/- at 0).
For non-average scenes, use your ambient +/- and  +/- to adjust settings for best result.
Always set exposure for best overall rendering of tones and colour at time of exposure!
A reflective reading of the subject off a grey card gives the same exposure as an ambient reading with a hand-held light meter.

EXPOSURE ‘NUMBERS’
Learn which side of display shows shutter speed and aperture settings.
Look at these BEFORE you take a photo. Remember 1/60 as lowest hand held shutter speed.
Remember that ‘stops’ are interchangeable with each other & have same exposure value.

FILTERS AND FILTER FACTORS
Polarizing filters: have a filter factor of x2 (they lose two stops of light)
remove highlight ‘pings’ from faces (any skin tone) in any light
reduce reflections in water and glass if light is 90 degrees from camera
saturate colours (so they are good filters to use for landscapes and skies

ND (Neutral Density) filters:
reduce the light enough to be able to use very slow shutter speeds in daylight
ND grads (Neutral Density graduated) filters: darkens sky in landscape photography

Heliopan Neutral Density Filters: Filter factors and exposure correction –

DENSITY LIGHT LOSS FILTER FACTOR EXPOSURE CORRECTION
ND 0.3 50.00% 2 X – 1
ND 0.6 25.00% 4 X – 2
ND 0.9 12.50% 8 X – 3
ND 1.2 6.25% 16 X – 4
ND 2.0 1.00% 100 X – 6.66
ND 3.0 0.10% 1000 X – 10
ND 4.0 0.012% 10 000 X – 13

FLASH (SPEEDLIGHTS)
Only true single flash output may be in Manual setting (no pre-flash test)
First or second curtain flash output determines blur at start or end of long exposure (test)
Front facing naked flash is a hard light with prominent shadows. Use diffuser for front light flash.
Diffused front facing flash (esp. @ -1 to the ambient exposure) is subtle & balanced
Bounced flash makes shadows under eyes in recessed part of face.
Flash from camera will only light the foreground. Background must be lit by slow shutter speed.
Use most powerful batteries available (ex Duracell Ultra). Be careful if flash gets hot: turn it off!

FILE FORMATS: JPEGs, TIFFs and RAW files
Jpegs (.jpg) are processed images compressed to different sizes. Always use the largest size.
Tiffs (.tif) are processed, uncompressed images, captured at the mega-pixel rate of your camera.
Raw files (ex. .CR2 and .NEF) are unprocessed, slightly compressed files, in 16 bit colour, allowing greater adjustment post processing, because you can change the whole exposure and WB.

Professional photographers often always shoot in RAW format, or RAW and JPG large, but shooting in raw commits you to processing each image individually, either in your camera’s software (Nikon view, Canon view) or Photoshop CS4. Early versions of Photoshop may not recognise the ‘tag’ ending of your camera model’s raw format.

Earlier digital cameras had settings for tif, but modern cameras only have jpeg format.
Pros often save images for printing in tif (for Mac or PC) since tifs are more stable than jpegs.

FOCUSSING
Importance with using single centre AF point, point centre of lens at subject
You need to use MF (manual focus) with any subject of single tone in all kinds of light, since there’s no contrast range for the auto focus to work.
Understand the difference between AF-L (auto focus lock) and AE-L (auto exposure lock).
Compare: One Shot Focus, AI Focus, AI Servo Focus settings.

HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR)
Use HDR to extend the limited tonal range of the digital medium (relative to film). Using a tripod, shoot 5 to 7 exp. in Manual mode (with manual focus): exposures at +/-0, then +/- 2 to 3 stops in whole stops (change shutter speed, to maintain D-O-F). For best results use ‘tone mapping’ software, but for basic results: blend all exposures in Photoshop (file-auto-merge in HDR).

INTERIOR FLASH PORTRAITS
Use shutter priority not program (inside) with slow shutter speed to capture available light
Best WB inside with flash is usually sunshine (!), not AWB or  WB. TEST these results.

ISO SPEEDS
The best quality is from using lower ISO settings. Above 400 tends to give excess noise. Test!
High ISO sacrifices the ability to enlarge image without noticeable noise increase, and gives less contrast, less saturation, less sharpness, increased grain (noise).
Use LOWEST ISO you can, that will give you a 1/60 shutter-speed (lowest hand held speed).

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
Wide-angle lenses are best to show large area of view.
Avoid large views without areas of focal interest: these tend to be more boring.
Try using cloud WB even on a sunny day to give more vibrant and interesting colours.

LENSES / FOCAL LENGTHS
The standard lens for 35mm (film) is 50mm, because it gives same perspective as human eye.
All lenses (inc. those for smaller camera sensors) are measured compared to 35mm (full frame)
Ex: 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 (24-70mm in 35mm format), because of longevity of 35mm format.

Pro. lenses are more corrected (wide-angle: barrel, telephoto: pincushion) than consumer ones.
Wide-angle lenses: distort / exaggerate perspective, have more inherent d-o-f @ same f-stop.
Telephoto lenses: flatten / compress perspective, and have less inherent d-o-f @ same f-stop.

PRIME (single focal length) lenses are sharper, usually faster (wider aperture, e.g. F1.4), and have less distortion inherent in them (barrel distortion for wide-angle, pincushion distortion on telephoto settings).

There is less depth of field the closer you get to a subject (esp. macro, 1:1 ratio. Life-size)
For maximum d-o-f, focus 1/3 into the scene @ smallest aperture possible (hyper-focal d-o-f)
Explore difference of perspective and relative subject size with different focal lengths & distances, e.g. using a wide-angle lens for portraits has less distortion the further away the subject is from the camera.

MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY and DEPTH OF FIELD (D-O-F)
D-O-F becomes more shallow, (less depth of focus), the closer you focus on a subject.
Use a tripod and small aperture (f22) for best D-O-F, or use shallow focus to good effect.
Life size magnification (ratio 1:1) is only possible with a real macro lens. This is a telephoto.

MOVEMENT
Slow shutter speed using only ambient light gives abstract, fluid effect of movement
Portrait with tripod & slow speed (@ good d-o-f) gives person movement plus sharp background
‘Open Flash’ (slow shutter speed + frozen movement from flash): use second curtain flash synch (synchronisation)
‘Camera toss’ (jiggling camera during slow exposure)
Zoom blur (hand-held or on tripod)
Radial blur (rotating camera in circular movement during slow exposure)
Explore combinations: open flash / camera toss / zoom and radial blur.

NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
Night photography is very exciting and has many different applications.
Try using a tripod with fairly slow ISO (400) to hold small pixels and tonal range.
For extended tonal range at night, use a tripod and shoot 7, 9 or 11 stops exposure (see HDR).
Night panning is better than day because of the dark backgrounds.
Also blurring water (fountains) is easier at night since you don’t have to use ND filters.

PANNING SLOW MOVEMENT
Explore slow shutter speeds for holding movement sharper relative to blurred background.
Traffic and people can both be panned: move camera exactly at same speed and in viewfinder.
You don’t have to look through the camera when panning; try looking at subject over camera.

PORTRAITS: working with people
Good portraits are a combination of timing, good light, an animated (live) expression and a good relationship between photographer and subject. Do have all your equipment and lighting how you want them before shooting, and only show the good photos to the model when you’re happy with what you’re getting. Try to get the model interested enough in the process to do some experiments with lighting, composition, location, poses, costumes etc.

QUALITIES OF LIGHT
Explore the qualities of SUNLIGHT: from times of day, direction, angle, and strength of light.
Sunshine in the middle of the day is much less interesting than early or late in the day.
Sunshine always gives harder, sharper shadows and more contrast than a cloudy day.
The ‘magic hour’ is one to two hours before dusk on a sunny day.
Overcast light gives very flat colours and no shadows, with even and diffused tonal range.

SHUTTER SPEEDS
The slowest hand held S/S is 1/60s (do test). Shorter speeds (1/250s) for long zoom lenses.
Fast shutter speeds (1/125s, 1/250s and faster) freeze movement.
TEST results from lower shutter speeds @ both ends of every zoom lens for best results.

STOPS AND EXPOSURE CALCULATIONS:
Learn whole ‘stop’ numbers:

S/S: 2s 1s 1/2s 1/4s 1/8s 1/15s 1/30s 1/60s 1/125s 1/250s 1/500s 1/1000s etc

Aperture: f1 f1.4 f2 f2.8 f 4 f5.6 f 8 f11 f16 f22 f32 etc

ISO 50 100 200 800 1600 3200

TIMING
Explore the ‘decisive moment’ with relevant subjects. OBSERVE changes before they happen.
Shooting in continuous mode solves the problem of people blinking, but the noise is distracting.
Choice of images is better than one bad one that could have been improved at time of shooting.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PHOTO
ANALYSE the images you’ve already done. List similarities of what make them good images.
EXPLORE aspects of design in photso: composition, angles, lines, colour, light, contrast, patterns (rule of thirds etc), other considerations like timing and emotional / human resonance.
COMPARE and study the work of other painters / photographers.
DEVELOP your understanding by working on projects: photograph the same thing many times.
Show your best photos to people who know you, and ask them to comment on your work.
Make a BEST PHOTO file in your computer, and be harsh in selecting your best images.
These will change over time, as you get better and set a higher standard for your work.
UPLOAD your work on web forums like FLICKR; get feedback, and go public with your images.

WHITE BALANCE
Default WB setting is AWB, OK to use in RAW since you can change this post-production.
Use custom settings to bracket white balance, especially in subtle changes from warm to cold.
Set CUSTOM or PRESET WB by doing a test shot of a white card and see if it gives a good result. You may have to overexpose at least +2 stops (ambient +/-) to render the white tone.
This is especially useful when in a mixed lighting situation if you’re not shooting in RAW format.

NB: THE GOLDEN RULE
If you want to be able to create consistently good photos, you have to take lots of bad ones first!

Don’t be embarrassed by this truism.

Four main things you need to be genuinely curious to learn about, to progress and enjoy:

1. Learn your camera(s) very well, use them as paintbrushes to light. Explore, investigate, test!
2. Find out how photography works! Buy books on technique, go on photography workshops!
3. Explore composition, design, aspects of what gives images the most impact. Be thorough!
4. Question your motivations and interests in photography, and work on ways to develop them.

©James Bartholomew

Email: james@jamesbartholomew.com

http://www.imageworkshops.net

http://www.jamesbartholomew.com

ARTISTIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

Like the earlier post on ‘technical things’, this list is not meant to be exhaustive.

Many students have problems in knowing how to compose, how to see, and basically what to put in the viewfinder.

My response, as always, is ‘do some work.’

If you have ever done an art or art history class, you will have come acrosss some of the subjects below, that many painters and artists working in two dimensional form will have used to good effect.

It’s a good idea to go to one of the major art galleries where you live, and just walk around, looking at what painters have put onto their canvas frames. You can also search any of these words below on google to see what other people say about them.

I’ve expanded the list for painting, to include aspects that apply more to photography. I hope the list is useful.

LINE

TONE

FORM /SHAPE

TEXTURE

CONTRAST

BALANCE

SPACE

COMPOSITION

HUMAN INTEREST

EMOTION

COLOUR

SATURATION

DESIGN

GRAPHICS

STYLE

CURVED LINES

LEADING LINES

DIAGONAL LINES

RULE OF THIRDS

SYMBOLISM

LIGHTING

DEPTH OF FIELD

BRIGHTNESSS

FOCUS

FIELD OF VIEW

ANGLE / HEIGHT OF VIEW

ORIENTATION OF VIEW

USE OF IMAGE

BACKGROUND

BOKEH

©James Bartholomew

Email: james@jamesbartholomew.com

http://www.imageworkshops.net

http://www.jamesbartholomew.com

My thanks to Martin Grommel, whose wordpress post:
“100 Things Martin Grommel Learned About Photography” was humorous inspiration.

1. Always go out with a spare battery and memory card.
2. Shoot from your hip, instincts, and feelings;places other than your head.
3. Learn from the lucky accidents that occur. There are no accidents.
4. Be hopeful and observant. Take pictures without looking through the camera.
5. Notice the small details around you, as much as the big horizon
6. Look for the treasures that are offered to you. Only you can see them!
7. Find a project to work on: shoot the same thing again and again. And again.
8. Notice the sun’s actual journey in the sky: take a compass with you.
9. Have a notebook in which to write addresses, people’s names and camera tips.
10. If strangers let you photograph them, always email the results to them.
11. Join a forum like Flickr, show appreciation of photos you like, put up your own.
12. Join or start a local camera club. Make sure you go to meetings.
13. Get an inkjet printer with 6 inks, and output your best photos on A4 matt paper.
14. Find a local venue to exhibit of your finished projects. Be serious about this.
15. Always have business cards to give to people. Make contacts with others.
16. Talk to other photographers you see on the street. Don’t be competitive.
17. Take a raincoat with you, and pack one for your camera bag as well.
18. Go out at night and do street scenes with a tripod. It’s supposed to be heavy!
19. Make panoramas with photo stitching software. The results will please you.
20. Learn basic adjustments in Photoshop to maximise your image quality.
21. Shoot like you had to pay £1 for every photo you have stored on your computer.
22. Be sure to back up all your images on an external hard drive.
23. Then back up your external hard drive to a master drive.
24. Learn how to clean your image sensor with a vibrating brush (e.g. ‘Visible Dust”)
25. Explore the work of other photographers, living and dead.
26. Notice the difference of sunny and overcast light, at different times of day.
27. Shoot at dusk and dawn, and treasure these times just for you.
28. Find a friend to go shooting with in the same place. Look at the different results.
29. Find a good teacher or mentor, and go on some photography courses.
30. Becomebetter than your camera. This might take a while.
31. Equipment isn’t important, but good lenses are worth paying for. So is a good tripod.
32. Let your pictures tell a personal story. Make a photo diary.
33. Make a sequence of images as a story; write a journey of your mind’s eye with text.
34. Explore new ways to take risks, as daring as you can challenge yourself.
35. Shoot at least one new way every time you use your camera. Make lists of these.
36. Try to photograph your feelings, and do this honestly. It will show.
37. Avoid clichés and images that are not genuine for you.
38. Try at least once, to photograph only things that do not interest you at all!
39. Write a editorial story with photos on something you care about. Try to get it published.
40. Make a proper book of your photographs. Show it to people. Make another one.
41. Research local photography exhibitions where you live and go to them.
42. Always carry a camera. If your SLR is too big, buy a good compact.
43. Always shoot in raw format and learn how to post process to optimum results.
44. Make a ‘best’ folder in your computer for your best photos. Keep it to the best 100 results. Update the images at least once a month.
45. As you get better, make a ‘B’ and a ‘C’ folder, for the old photos from the ‘A’ folder.
46. Categorise your best images for a Photo Library (like Alamy) and try to sell them.
47. Don’t be afraid to look for ways to make money from your photos.
48. You will make l000s of bad photos before you start making good ones.
49. You should probably only really like a maximum of 10% of your photos. This is fine.
50. Always send good photos of people to them. They will like this. Emails are ok.
51. Explore personal things like your culture, gender, race, etc. with your photos.
52. Don’t be afraid that your photos have nothing to say in them. They do.
53. Don’t be afraid to try to let your photos say something about you. They will.
54. Remember that photography is at base a form of sun worship. Even in Britain!
55. Learn all your camera’s menus and set good defaults for it. This will save time.
56. When photographing other people, be prepared, and value their time.
57. Learn how to mix ambient light with subtle fill flash, inside and out.
58. Take as many photos as possible. Always. It’s basically free.
59. Never delete ‘bad’ photos until you learn how to do better next time.
60. Get the best exposure at the time; use the +/- button, or bracket.
61. Imagine you will never have another chance to take this photo. You won’t.
62. Learn the angle of view of both ends of your zoom lens.
63. Get a 50mm prime lens. Pay the extra for f1.4 over f1.8. It’s made better as well.
64. Use a dedicated speed light, with a diffusion screen; face on, at -1 stop,
65. Realise that your pictures are expressions of your beliefs, values and reality.
66. Realise that you can change these. Explore the values of others.
67. Recognise what attracted you to that something, and let your camera translate this.
68. Don’t be afraid to express yourself, even if you only understand what this is, later.
69. Let your camera be a subtle ingredient to events, rather than an obvious obstacle.
70. Learn to be unobtrusive with your camera (Leicas and compacts are good for this).
71. Learn from other people’s views on your photos. They are valuable.
72. Some people will not like your favourite images. This doesn’t matter.
73. Always shoot for yourself; but explore and develop your motives for this, honestly.
74. Photographs of people make them immortal to the moment, that will not come again.
75. Print all your best photos to A4 at the highest quality you can. Show them to people.
76. Keep your camera under a coat in public, and always be aware of your own safety.
77. Take pictures with your eyes closed; point accurately and use the audio focus beep.
78. Imagine that your sight is brand new. Take pictures this way. Really.
79. Learn the differences between your review screen, computer monitor, and prints.
80. Try movement and night shots with different shutter speeds, panning and zoom blur.
81. Don’t miss a shot by being afraid to get your clothes dirty from kneeling or lying down.
82. Learn about artistic methods of composing; these apply to photography as well.
83. Investigate rule of thirds, leading lines, colours, contrast and shapes of composition.
84. Close one eye to see things like a camera (in two dimensions instead of three).
85. Squint, to anticipate the tonal limitations of the digital medium, relative to your eye.
86. Never take only one photo of something. Look around you. Wait. Be aware.
86. Always explore different zoom positions before you shoot. That’s what it’s for.
87. Brace the camera against something solid at slow speeds, rather than up your ISO.
88. Always buy the best lenses you can, the same brand as your camera.
89. Read reviews on equipment before buying it. Don’t follow fashions.
90. Shoot in Raw at auto White balance and change it afterwards if you need to.
91. Use a Mac instead of a PC. If you can’t afford one, try someone else’s. You’ll like it.
92. Download your images on a card reader, so you can do this on any computer.
93. Explore the results from using different apertures: wide open or stopped down.
94. Always look at the exposure numbers before you take a photo.
95. Remember that shutter speeds slower than 1/60s will blur your photos.
96. Believe that you are a good photographer, and you will be one.
97. Don’t be frustrated by bad results. You are as good as you want to be.
98. You have to learn about photography as well as your camera. And compostion. And your motives.
99. Photography is an endless journey of seeing yourself in images.
100. Be passionate about your journey. Enjoy it. With luck, your images will outlast you.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

Especially if you’re a beginner, this list is useful for two reasons.

One, if you’re having problems translating your camera’s instruction manual into plain english, you need to get used to the words and terms used in photography (this stands for film as well as digital). Once you begin to look at what the options are for each topic below, you’ll begin to understand where they all fit in to both the workings of your camera, and also the physics of photography (which is basically as simple as light recording an image on film or a digital sensor.

Two, though you don’t have to use all of these controls, if you know what they are, you can choose which ones to use!

This list is not meant to be exhaustive (!). One thing that would be very useful is to get one of those nifty little ‘Moleskine” notebooks (the smaller the better), make notes in it (start with the ‘golden rules” – I’ll leave you to decide which ones these are), and put it in your camera bag. What do you mean, you don’t have a camera bag? Get one! Tamrac rucksacks are the best, though there seems to be a distribution problem for these in the UK. LowePro are good too.

NB: re. camera rucksacks. Don’t ever put your laptop computer in the pocket at the back of your rucksack and carry it around, or worst still, put the rucksack on your motorcycle and bungee it over your top box. If you do (you have a Mac, don’t you?), the thin aluminium (aluminum to my American friends) will buckle, the whole thing will bend, and even if it’s under warrantee, Apple will tell you to take a hike. Which is probably a good thing to do with your camera anyway!

SHUTTER SPEED

APERTURE

ISO SETTINGS

FOCUS POINT

DEPTH OF FIELD

EXPOSURE

WHITE BALANCE

AUTO FOCUS SETTING

LENS FOCAL LENGTH

EXPOSURE COMPENSATE

FLASH COMPENSATION

FLASH ON OR OFF

AMBIENT / FLASH MIX

SHOOTING PROGRAM

AUTO EXPOSE BRACKET

IMAGE FILE

FORMAT

HAND HELF OR TRIPOD

PANNING MOVEMENT

POLARISING FILTER

ND GRADUATED FILTER

NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTER

VISUAL PARAMETER SET

CUSTOM FUNCTIONS

AUTO EXPOSE LOCK

AUTO FOCUS LOCK

IMAGE REVIEW

EDIT IMAGE FILE SIZE

SINGLE / MULT-FRAME

AUTO FOCUS BEEP

LENS AUTO/MANUAL FOCUS

VIEWFINDER DIOPTER

TIME / CABLE RELEASE

DEPTH OF FIELD PREVIEW

©James Bartholomew

Email: james@jamesbartholomew.com

http://www.imageworkshops.net

http://www.jamesbartholomew.com

TECHNICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIGITAL AND FILM CAMERAS

Traditionally, film cameras had set shutter speeds, usually from 1 second to 1/1000second. These were timed with a spring shutter, which did not allow interim settings between these speeds.

Lenses for film cameras, pre-auto focus, usually had a ring to set apertures, which often had clicks for making stop and half stop settings.

ISO (ASA) settings on film cameras are for film speeds. These are calibrated in 1/3 stops, since some films (e.g. Ilford FP4: 125 ISO) are not made at whole stop settings. The same ISO must be used for a whole film, but can be changed in digital cameras according to the light value present.

Film camera lenses were first made in prime focal lengths, ie. without zoom. The standard lens for 35mm cameras is 50mm, which gives the same angle of view as the human eye (45 degrees), and also shows the same perspective (for relative distances of different subjects) as the human eye.

NB: since the size of consumer digital cameras is 1.5x smaller than ‘full frame’ (whole 35mm film format), the ‘standard’ lens for these cameras is also 1.5x less than 50mm, or around 32mm. BUT: since 35mm constitutes a wide angle lens, which has the characteristic of exaggerating perspective, there is still more perspective distortion with a ‘normal’ focal length lens on a small chip camera, compared with a full frame camera system.

White Balance (WB) is the correct colour balance of the image relative to the colour temperature (degrees Kelvin) of the ambient or flash light source in the scene. Colour film is available only in two white balances: daylight and tungsten (changes for other light sources have to be made with lighting or camera filters). Digital cameras have settings for individual light sources; sun, cloud, overcast (shade), tungsten, florescent, flash and preset or custom, as well as auto white balance.

Film cameras record data on the film at one quality setting, usually relative to the ISO of the film (lower ISO films record finer colour and sharper detail). Digital cameras can be set to different File and Image sizes (quality), though it’s best to record data at the highest quality setting. Film also records colour, sharpness, saturation and contrast relative to the light source and subject, but digital cameras can be set at different ‘perameters’ or ‘picture styles’ for these characteristics.

Digital cameras offer features with the review image of photos just taken, including auto rotate and magnifying the image detail. Since film images are not available for viewing or printing until the film has been developed, there is no way to see or review the final image from a film camera before this stage. Professional photographers shooting film often use instant ‘Polaroid’ camera backs which allow them to review this image, though usually this isn’t available on 35mm format cameras.

Film records tone and colour most accurately using exposure to calculate shadow detail and development to render highlight detail. Digital media only has one process in exposure, except that shooting in ‘Raw’ (unprocessed) format allows for greater adjustment of things like exposure and white balance. It’s thought that film, properly exposed and processed, shows a greater tonal, colour and contrast range than digital for this reason, especially in black and white.

© James Bartholomew 2009

Email: james@jamesbartholomew.com

http://www.imageworkshops.net

http://www.jamesbartholomew.com