Photography - Shooting Tips

Shooting Tips

Here are some tips for dealing with common photography issues.

Reducing Camera Shake

Camera shake is caused by a combination of the photographer’s hand movements or inability to keep the camera still, slow shutter speed, and long focal length. Camera shake results in a blurred image. The focal length of the lens, combined with a slow shutter speed, creates a situation in which the shutter speed is too slow to freeze the image before the camera moves significantly. 

You can eliminate camera shake by using a tripod or by increasing the shutter speed to a value higher than the focal length. For example, if you’re shooting at a focal length equivalent to 100 mm, you should set your shutter speed to 1/100 of a second or faster. The digital image sensor will capture the image before the movement of the lens has time to register additional light information on the sensor.

Note:  Some lenses have image stabilization features that allow the photographer to shoot at a shutter speed whose value is lower than the focal length of the lens.

Minimizing Red-Eye in Your Photos

Red-eye is the phenomenon where people have glowing red eyes in photographs. This is caused by the close proximity of the flash (especially built-in flash) to the camera lens, which causes light from the subject to be reflected directly back at the camera. When the flash fires, the light reflects off the blood in the capillaries in the back of the subject’s eyes and back into the camera lens. People with blue eyes are particularly susceptible to the red-eye phenomenon because they have less pigment to absorb the light.

There are a few ways to minimize or eliminate red-eye in your pictures. Some cameras provide a red-eye reduction feature that fires a preflash, forcing the irises in your subject’s eyes to close before you take the picture. The main problem with this method is that it often forces subjects to involuntarily close their eyes before the image is taken, and it doesn’t always completely eliminate the red-eye effect. 

A more effective method is to use an external flash via the camera’s hot-shoe mount or, better yet, with an extension bracket. An external flash radically changes the angle of the flash, preventing the lens from capturing the reflection of the blood in the back of your subject’s eyes. While you can also fix the red-eye effect using Aperture, there is no way to accurately reproduce the original color of your subject’s eyes. Preventing the problem before it occurs is the preferred solution. 

Reducing Digital Noise

Digital noise is the polka-dot effect in images with long exposures or images shot at high ISO settings in low-light situations. The effect is most noticeable in images shot in low-light situations. Many consider digital noise to be a synonym for film grain. Although the causes are the same, the effects are quite different. Some film photographers purposely shoot images with enhanced grain for artistic effect. However, digital noise detracts from the image because of the sporadic bright pixels within solid colors, and lacks the aesthetic qualities of enlarged film grain.

You can reduce digital noise by taking your photographs at ISO settings between 100 and 400. The 400 ISO setting provides more exposure latitude, but even 400 ISO exhibits a little noticeable digital noise. If your subject is not moving and you can’t use a flash, using a tripod can allow you to shoot successfully with low ISO settings.

Many DSLR models come with a noise-reduction feature. If you turn on the noise- reduction feature, it is automatically activated when you shoot long exposures. The camera color corrects at the pixel level, processing the image as it’s shot. The main negative aspect to digital noise reduction on the camera is the significant lag time required for the image to process between shots. One way to avoid this lag time between shots is to keep the noise-reduction feature on your camera off and use the Aperture Noise Reduction adjustment controls after you’ve imported your images.

Understanding RAW, JPEG, and TIFF

RAW

A camera’s RAW file is an uninterpreted, bit-for-bit digital image recorded by the camera when the image is captured. Along with the pixels in the image, the RAW file also contains data about how the image was shot, such as the time of day, the exposure settings, and the camera and lens type. This information is also known as metadata. RAW refers to the state of the image file before it has been converted to a common format, such as JPEG or TIFF. Because most photography applications previously could not process RAW files, RAW files had to be converted before they could be used in image processing software.

Why Shoot RAW Files?

There are many reasons to capture images as RAW files rather than JPEG files. However, it’s important to note that RAW image files require additional work to achieve the color balance you’re looking for, whereas JPEG files are color-balanced by the camera for you. JPEG files are also smaller than RAW image files, requiring less storage space.

The advantages to shooting RAW files are:

• Increased bit depth allows for more color-correction “head room.” The JPEG format is limited to 8 bits per color channel. RAW images store 16 bits per channel, with 12 to 14 bits per channel of color information. Although it may sound confusing, this means you can do significantly more color correction without degrading the image or introducing color noise. 
• After the RAW file is decoded, you work with the most accurate and basic data about an image.
• You control the white balance, color interpolation, and gamma correction aspects of the image during post-production rather than when shooting.
• The image file isn’t compressed, as JPEG files are, which means that no image data is lost. 
• Most cameras are capable of and do shoot color outside the gamut range of JPEG (both Adobe RGB 1998 and sRGB), which means color clipping occurs when you shoot JPEG files. RAW files preserve the camera’s original image gamut, allowing Aperture to make image adjustments that take advantage of the full range of captured colors.
• RAW files give you control of noise reduction (luminance and color separation) and sharpening after capture. JPEG noise reduction and sharpening are permanently applied to the image according to the settings on the camera. 

JPEG

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a popular image file format that lets you create highly compressed image files. The amount of compression used can be varied. Less compression results in a higher-quality image. When you shoot JPEG images, your camera converts the RAW image file into an 8-bit JPEG file (with 8 bits per color channel) prior to saving it to the memory card. In order to accomplish this, the camera has to compress the image, losing image data in the process. JPEG images are commonly used for online viewing. 

TIFF

TIFF (Tag Image File Format) is a widely used bitmapped graphics file format capable of storing 8 or 16 bits per color channel. Like JPEG files, TIFF files are converted from RAW files. If your camera does not have an option to shoot TIFF files, you can shoot RAW files and then convert them to TIFF files using software. TIFF files can have greater bit depths than JPEG files, allowing them to retain more color information. In addition, TIFF files can use lossless compression, meaning that although the file gets a little smaller, no information is lost. The end result is greater image quality. For these reasons, printing is commonly done from TIFF files.

Types of Digital Cameras

Types of Digital Cameras

In its most basic form, a digital camera is a photographic device consisting of a lightproof box with a lens at one end, and a digital image sensor at the other in place of the traditional film plane. Advances in digital photography are fast providing a wide spectrum of features and options that can be challenging for the new digital photographer to master.

There are two basic types of digital cameras:  

Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) and 

Digital Range Finder.

Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR)

This camera is named for the reflexing mirror that allows you to frame the image through the lens prior to capturing the image. As light passes through the DSLR camera’s lens, it falls onto a re-flexing mirror and then passes through a prism to the viewfinder. The viewfinder image corresponds to the actual image area. When the picture is taken, the mirror reflexes, or moves up and out of the way, allowing the open shutter to expose the digital image sensor, which captures the image. Most features on a DSLR are adjustable, allowing for greater control over the captured image. Most DSLR cameras also allow the use of interchangeable lenses, meaning you can swap lenses of different focal lengths on the same camera body.

Digital Rangefinder
There are two classes of digital rangefinder cameras:  coincident rangefinder and point-and-shoot.
Coincident Rangefinder
Unlike DLSR cameras, the coincident rangefinder does not provide the photographer with the ability to view the subject through the lens. Instead, the coincident rangefinder employs a mirror or prism that uses triangulation to unite the images seen through the viewfinder and a secondary window to bring the subject into focus. The photographer sees two images overlaid on top of one another in the viewfinder, and the image is not in focus until there is a single image. As with DSLRs, most features in a coincident rangefinder are adjustable, allowing for maximum control over the captured image. An advantage to using a coincident rangefinder over a DSLR is that the lack of a reflexing mirror significantly reduces camera shake. Camera shake is due to hand movement or the vibration of the reflexing mirror found in a DSLR, and can cause blurring of the image.



Digital Point-and-Shoot
This is a lightweight digital camera, aptly named after the two steps required of the photographer to capture an image. Basically, point-and-shoot cameras require pointing the camera and taking the picture without manually adjusting settings such as the aperture, shutter speed, focus, and other settings that professional photographers routinely set on more sophisticated cameras. Of course, some point-and-shoot digital cameras do include adjustable aperture and shutter settings. Point-and-shoot digital cameras are generally light and small, have built-in automatic flash, require no adjusting of focus, and most often include an LCD display that allows you to view the image through the lens in real time via the digital image sensor. Most manufacturers of point-and-shoot cameras separate the viewfinder from the lens assembly to simplify construction and achieve a compact size. The lens, aperture, and shutter are one assembly, irremovable from the camera itself. 

because rangefinder cameras separate the optical path between the viewfinder and the lens assembly, optical compression and frame indicators (guidelines) are used to approximate the image’s frame. This approximation often causes subtle differences between what the photographer sees in the viewfinder and what is captured in the image. This is especially noticeable when the subject is close to the camera.

Know your gear - Camera - Photography

The way you approach architectural photography will depend on the kind of camera you choose. 

While you can make excellent architectural photos with almost any camera, your choice may also be influenced by the purpose for which your photographs are to be used. Megapixels can make a difference as the frame 

Full Frame Cameras 

Full frame DSLRs like the Nikon D800 and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III,  produce images that have good dynamic range and minimum noise, even at high ISO settings. Most camera companies havea wide range and minimum noise, even at high ISO settings. Most camera companies have a wide range of wide angle lenses - from those that offer variable focal lengths to those that have a wide aperture and IS. 

The only downside to these cameras is that they are bulky, considerably expensive and require plenty of investment for good optics. 

Cropped Sensor DSLRs

The additional reach provided by using a DSLR with a cropped sensor can be an advantage in certain situations that demand the use of telephoto focal lengths. Also, these cameras have lighter optics. 

Compact Cameras 

These cameras, usually, have wide 28mm lenses, some going as wide as 24mm. Various modes in the camera allow you to shoot vivid colors easily. Some never compact cameras even allow us to make panoramas and HDRs by using an in-camera mode. Many compact cameras even offer RAW and hot shoe capabilities. 

A large sensor helps produce better tones. 

The Mirror-less advantage 

Mirrorless systems like the Sony NEX promise high image quality without the bulk of DLSRs, while having the versatility of interchangeable lenses. Additional, a few mirrorless systems have some very goof wide angle lenses that are cheap, sharp and more economical than their full frame counterparts. 

15 Photo Legends You Must Know About

Henri Cartier Bresson 

Known as the father of street photography, Henri Cartier - Bresson has long been regarded as someone who helped develop candid photography. He was also one of the earliest users of the 35mm film format. He also popularised the concept of 'the decisive moment'

George Brassai 

Brassai first explorer the medium of photography to pay tribute to his love for the city of Paris, Beautiful photographs of life in the city are part of his 1933 book Paris de nuit. He also photographed artists like Salvador Dalf and Pablo Picasso 

Steve McCurry 

Ask anyone to name an iconic image, and most will resond with McCurry's 'The Afgan Girl'. McCurry is known for his portraits and richly coloured photographs. He is also the last photographer to hace used Kodachrome film. 

Raghubir Singh 

His documentary style of photography is legendary. Raghubir Singh made a name for himself with his unique way of photographing the Indian hinterland with his use of colour and wonderful compositions. 

Yousuf Karsh 

We have all grown up viewing his images in our textbooks! Karsh is known for making the most iconic portraits of famous personals in history - from Albert Einstein to Winston Churchil, Muhammad Ali and Hollywood actor Humphrey Bogart. 

Ansel Adams

He is a pioneer in black and white landscape stunning photographic works, Adams was also an educationalist, having imparted his learning though several bestselling books. 

Raghu Rai 

He is widely considered as one of the best photographers from India. Rai was appointed by Henri Cartier-Bresson as his protege at a very young age. He has also produced more than 18 photo books on topics like Indian diaspora. 

Herb Ritts 

He truly helped redefine fashion photography. Strong, graphical frames feature prominently in Herb Ritts' portfolio. He broke the mould of what was  considered traditional fashion photographs and made very iconic frames. 

Diane Arbus 

Her portfolio consists of photographs of 'strange' people like circus performers, transgender people, giants, nudists and dwarfs. Her image helped bring a neglected section of society to the mainstream. 

Robert Capa

War photographer and journalist. Robert Capa extensively photographed conflicts like the World War II. Sadly, Capa lost his life by stepping on a landmine during the First Indo-China war in 1954. He died with his camera in his hand. 

Marc Riboud 

A sharp eye for catching important moments and a keen sense of making perfect frames only just being describing Mac Riboud's work. Riboud is renowned for his street photography and reportage work from Asia, Afria, USA and Japan. 

Man Ray 

Surrealist Man Ray produced major works in mixed media, though he is known for his work with photograms. Ray also worked in close collaboration with painter Salvador Dali, making some stupendous works of art with him. 

David LaChapelle 

David LaChapelle creates the extraordinary from the ordinary. Quickly portraits, bright, shocking colours and a hyper-real aesthetic form part of LaChapelle's work, while sending strong social messages to the viewer. 

Homai Vyarawalla

Homai was India's first woman photojournalist, and made some iconic images of India's independence and the politicians of yesteryear's. Her work speaks volumes about the passion with which she approached the art. 

Helmut Neton

Newton was a prolific fashion photographer, whose sensual, erotically charged and often controversial, photographs were featured in the top fashion magazines. His photographs gave rise to extreme reactions from society.