How To Shoot 360 Degree Panoramas While On The Road – With Audrey Scott And Daniel Noll Of Uncornered Market
It’s worth your while to click on the image above to be taken to the full sized 360 view of the Shah-é-Chéragh Mosque taken by Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll of Uncornered Market.com. As DPS evolves, we’ll be adding in the ability to see these immersion style Shockwave files on the blog, but for now, take a look at this example before diving into this post.
Daniel And Audrey have been creating these wonderful images for years. I’ve been a bit addicted to the far-flung locations they show and the amount of detail they can pack into a full spherical image (which looks fabulous in full screen mode). I recently contacted them to find out how they capture their images as I wanted to present my panoramas (not full 360) in the same manner. This post will explore how they capture what they do and will point you to some resources you can use to do the same.
In an upcoming post, I will dive a bit deeper into a slightly different style I currently use to create similar images. But for now, on to the Q & A!
NOTE: I suggest subscribing to their blog as they post one of these images from around the world every week. Plus they have other great photography and travel stories on their site I think you will enjoy.
1 ) Starting with the photo shoot, list for us the equipment you use to capture your scenes.
Photo Shoot:
Camera body (e.g., Nikon D300)- Circular fisheye lens (e.g., Sigma 8mm f/3.5 EX DG Circular Fisheye Lens)
- Monopod Velbon RUP-43 (optional, we carry one)
- Panoramic tripod head (optional, we do not carry one)
Post-processing:
- Your favorite photo editing software (e.g., Photoshop)
- Spherical panorama stitching software (e.g., Autopano Giga)
- Spherical panorama tour software (e.g., Panotour Pro)
2 ) You’ve captured hundreds of 360 panorama images while traveling almost full time. Can we get some technique tips that will help those learning the technique shorten their learning curve, please?
For the purposes of this Q&A, we’ll assume you are shooting with an 8mm circular fisheye lens.
The shots: You will shoot in RAW format at least five images in portrait orientation – four images each at 90-degree angles to one another (think around a single axis), then a fifth shot overhead to be sure you’ve captured the entire sky or ceiling. If you are not shooting with a lens at least as wide as 8mm, you may need to take more images to be sure you’ve covered everything from a 360-degree perspective.
We take virtually all our panoramic photos without a monopod, tripod heads or other aids. After you’ve taken enough photos, you get a feel for properly aligning with the ground and horizon. An alignment trick: tie a string around a coin (or heavy item) and hang this from your lens so that you can be sure you are shooting at the same angle around the axis.
Exposure and focus: To ensure a consistent exposure, be sure you are in fully manual mode. As a general rule (there are exceptions), you’ll want to expose for the sky. Also make certain your lens is set to infinity focus. (There are exceptions to the infinity rule if the bulk of your subject and surroundings are close up, say inside a bus for example.)
Subject area: Having some people or objects in the foreground can be useful to provide action or perspective. Because you are working with an 8mm lens, objects in the distance (e.g., mountain ranges) will appear especially far away, so they may not be as engaging in a spherical panorama as they might appear to the naked eye.
3 ) After you have the images, run us through your workflow (on a high level as this isn’t a complete tutorial).
The workflow consists of two parts: 1) image stitching, and 2) creating the 360-degree tour.
The stitch:
- Be sure that software settings are properly set at spherical panorama.
- Drop the five RAW images from the scene into a stitching software program in order to detect the control point (overlaps) between images.
- Examine the draft stitch. Adjust variables such as roll, pitch and yaw in order to correct for distortion and camera body angle.
- Render the stitched photos into a panorama. The output will be a flat .jpg file.
- Post-process the resulting .jpg file in your favorite photo editing software to tune exposure, contrast, saturation, etc.
- Use pixel clone/stamp to fill in the black/empty area at the bottom of the image.
Creating the tour:
- Take the post-processed flat panorama .jpg and drop the file into a 360-degree panorama “tour” software. We use Panotour Pro to create the flash-based tours you see on our website.
- Set your preferences, including logo/watermarks and button/user interface options (e.g., full screen) you’d like available on your tour.
- Render the flash tour. The resulting output will be a .swf file that you can upload to your website or blog’s media manager. More information on this Panotour wiki on how to format. WordPress users can also use PanoPress.
4 ) Which step is the hardest to master in this entire sequence?
Equally, subject selection and the actual shooting process. Not only are you concentrating to ensure that the photographs are properly exposed and aligned, but you must pay attention to people/cars/animals/etc. coming in and out of view. These can be wonderful in terms of showing action, but if they move too quickly, they may create “ghosts” (where heads, feet or body segments are missing) in the resulting stitched image.
5 ) Have you found any resources particularly useful while learning to create these shots?
We first became involved in 360-degree panoramas thanks to 360cities.net. The site has a tutorial for people getting started in panoramic photography, it offers inspiration in its collections, and it features the ability to host and serve panoramas.
6) What particular challenges have you had to face while creating these images while still on the road?
We have one camera body to shoot photos for panoramic photography (with our 8mm Sigma lens) and two-dimensional photos. Often, we’ll be in the midst of a scene that is wonderful for both types of shots, but we have to make a quick decision to shoot one over the other if the scene is quickly evolving. Many of our best panoramas have also been shot in less-than-ideal physical conditions including dust, snow, heat, moisture, so we have to continually mind the camera sensor as we swap out lenses.
7 ) Including shooting and editing time, how long would you say it takes you to produce one solid 360?
If all goes perfectly, the process can take as little as 20 minutes: 5 minutes for the shoot, 10 minutes for rendering/photo editing, and 5 minutes to create & test the stitched 360-degree panorama and .swf file tour.
8 ) For beginners who love to travel, which three areas of the world would you suggest as havens for producing 360 panoramas?
1) India – so much color, activity, wonderful markets and temples. Good for interiors and exteriors.
2) Andean South America – surreal landscapes (e.g., Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia), mountains, active indigenous markets
3) Middle East and Central Asia – for Islamic art interiors, bustling spice markets.
4 Favorite panoramas:
a) Disco Ball Mosque, Iran (awesome interior)
b) Petra By Night, Jordan (night, possibly our most popular panorama)
c) Udaipur Market (market action)
d) Crossing Thorong La Pass, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal (landscape)
Bonus Panorama in time for Valentine’s Day: Petronas Towers Fun (panoramic trickery)
Bio:
Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott are the husband-and-wife storytelling and photography team behind the around-the-world travel blog, Uncornered Market. More than five years and 70 countries later, they are still exploring the world, still taking panoramic photos…and still married. You can follow along with their adventures via Twitter, Facebook, Google + and by subscribing to their blog.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Silhouette Photography Technique
A great photograph is no different than any other work of art, in that it should elicit emotion and engage viewers. One of my favorite ways to engage the viewer of a photograph and encourage them to interpret the image is by utilizing silhouettes.
Silhouettes Engage Viewers
The reason silhouettes are so engaging is because they are so open to interpretation. Think of a silhouette of a man sitting alone on a park bench at sunset. Is he sad and lonely because his wife has passed? Is he relaxed and content? Has he finally achieved an important goal in life? Is he anxious about how much longer he will live, and whether his loved ones will be cared for? Are there religious overtones?
The photographer may have all or none of these themes in mind when creating this image. The interpretation is dictated by the individual viewer’s mindset. The viewer subconsciously projects her own hopes, fears, and mood onto the silhouette.
The reason for this is simple. Your brain is constantly working to fill in the details of what it doesn’t know. In a photo such as this, the silhouette provides a great unknown which we cannot help but interpret.
Technique for Shooting Silhouettes
Taking silhouette photos is an intermediate photography skill. The technique is a little tricky, and it will take some trial and error on your first few attempts before you become proficient.
Silhouette photography requires that we use pure back lighting. That is, we want to place our subject so that we maximize the amount of light in the scene coming from behind the subject.
As an example, let’s describe how we would best set up a shot of a silhouetted woman standing alone on a beach at sunset. Sunlight will be our only source of light, and it will be coming from behind the subject. We will not be utilizing any reflectors or fill flash.
Aperture and Selective Focus
First, focus the camera on the woman. We want the outline of her silhouette to be crisp and in perfect focus. I recommend using a large aperture opening, specifically f8 or higher. The reason for this is we want the background sunset and ocean to be in good focus too.
With the sun just above the ocean horizon, point the camera at the sky just to the side of the sun. Keeping your aperture as you set it, adjust the shutter speed until your exposure is correct.
You may need a long exposure time. Therefore it is good practice have a tripod on hand to keep the camera steady.
Fire off a few shots and check the image on your LCD screen. If you used all the correct settings, you should have a perfectly exposed ocean sunset with your subject rendered as a black silhouette.
Halos and Silhouettes
You can render your silhouette with an interesting halo effect around her. If you desire this effect, move the subject directly in front of the setting sun. This will create a glow, or halo which will further enhance your subject. Such an effect will obviously influence the viewer’s interpretation of your silhouette.
Use Any Subject
Any subject can be rendered as a silhouette provided we are using back lighting. It need not be a person. A silhouette of a tree, or a child’s bike, or any strategically chosen object can add interest to a scene.
Conclusion
Silhouettes add a sense of mystery and intrigue to any image. Because our brains fill in the details of what is not known, a silhouette demands stronger involvement and interpretation from viewers. By using back lighting, and properly exposing the scene for the background, we can create beautiful and interesting silhouettes in our photography.
Learn more about Shooting Silhouettes – read our previous post – How to Photograph Silhouettes in 8 Easy Steps and see our Silhouette Image Collection for some stunning examples.
About the Author – Daniel Padavona is an avid photographer, and the founder of Warmpicture Royalty-Free Images. Daniel lives in upstate New York with his wife Terri, and their children Joey and Julia.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Silhouette Photography Technique
How I Stumbled Across an Amazing Way to Slow Down My Shooting Process
A guest post by John Davenport
I, like many new photographers, would walk around shooting everything I saw without consciously thinking about the way it was framed or the settings on my camera. If you browse through the archives of my blog you’ll see a clear pattern of growth and learning in the images, but admittedly, I still have a long way to go!
For me it’s always been hard to slow down. I’ve always been the type of person that wanted results now, not later, and slowing down to think through a shot seemed like I’d be wasting time. Even after reading posts here on dPS like, these three stupidly simple reasons, it still took me a while to learn to slow down. For the first few months of my photography experience I handheld everything – it just took too long to set up the tripod.
Of course, I finally did get sick of those blurry images and I decided that the tripod was worth more than just a good walking stick after all. While, at first setting up the tripod did help me slow down and it certainly improved my image quality, it didn’t help me slow down to the point where I was thinking critically about the shot. I was still going too fast!
So What’s This Magical New Method?
While out on a typical photo walk I stumbled upon this awesome new technique when this crazy idea to pull out my iPhone and film my camera setup popped in my head. I decided to explain my thought process on the shot, and finally I ended up sharing that video with my small group of readers over on my blog. The result was the photo you see above and the video embedded below.
Okay, so it’s rough around the edges, but be kind, it’s my first video ever, and I am frozen!
The point here isn’t the quality of the video or even the fact that I’m recording it with the mindset to show my readers how I took the shot. The point I have is that recording a video like this is a good idea even if you’re not going to show it to anyone! It took me until when I got home that night to realize exactly why, but here are the reasons I came up with.
Three Benefits of Recording Your Shot
- You’re Forced to Talk About It – When you’re out setting up the shot how often do you actually talk it through? I know we always say, “Think it through, frame it right, and double check your settings”, but a video forces you to talk through the shot and that’s a completely different experience.
- You’ve got Evidence – After a typical shoot all you’re going to have is the memories and your photographs. A video will give you a clear view of how you set the camera up and even an insight into your thought process when you were shooting which is something that’d be hard to convey otherwise.
- And of course Slow Methodical Set Up – Due to the added time it takes to record a video you’re without a doubt going to slow down and think about the shot from every possible angle, which should result in a better composed image.
Now I know recording a video is impossible for every single shot and I don’t expect anyone to do that, but personally I’m going to try to do this process at least once every week or two.
Can you think of any other benefits to recording your shot? Have you ever done something like this? I’d love to hear what you think.
John Davenport is an avid amateur photographer who posts daily photos on his blog Phogropathy. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter and his brand new Youtube Channel.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
How I Stumbled Across an Amazing Way to Slow Down My Shooting Process
Take More Photos – Keep Less
A guest post by Sam Levy, founder of citifari, New York Photo Tours.
In today’s environment, with the development and increased mobility of digital cameras, it has become easy and inexpensive to take a large volume of photos. Compared to the early days of photography when it took a couple of days, required gear weighting tens of pounds and cost a couple of dollars for each capture (or rather, at today’s prices, a few hundred dollars), photography today allows instantaneous results, requires less than a pound of equipment and cost little to no money per take… in addition, the photos taken today are often much better in quality. The future of photography is bright: we today have more than enough tools to surpass the works of the early masters of photography. The bad news is with advanced tools so readily accessible to the average user, much has already been achieved. So what is left in it for you? A lot! More specifically, for many of us in photography, there is still a lot of room for improvement. I would guess that since you are reading this post, you are looking for that self-improvement. Here are two pieces of advice.
Take more pictures
When I first heard this advice, I did not fully understand it. I was backpacking in Mexico and had met with that professional photographer who gave me the advice. We met a few days in a row, which made me feel after that I could do much more with that fancy DSLR than with my small point and shoot. I felt the urge to spend what was left of my savings into that ‘toy’ at the time. From toy it became tool but that’s another story. Before we parted ways, I received a final word of advice: “take more pictures”. It did not resonate with me until much later after owning my own DSLR. Even though my now-wife felt that I was already taking too many pictures, my current view is that it is not so much the quantity of pictures taken as it is learning from the trials and errors of many takes in order to perfect your touch. Multiply the opportunities. And, when you have found a subject or setting that you like, keep on shooting until you lose interest.
Keep fewer pictures
Unless you are naturally gifted, following the first advice will result in a monster inventory of pictures. You will come back from a long weekend with 1,000 or 2,000 pictures easily. But it wasn’t even your wedding – it was merely a visit to Grandma and you shot everything possible in her garden. What to do then? The easy way is to download the pictures onto your computer and leave them there or share them all. While most of us “sort” through them and send 50 of them to your parents, siblings, friends, facebook etc… that number is still too large. Keeping 50 would often mean eliminating the ones that were identical or poorly composed or exposed. But you still have 50! You need to be much more selective. Try to keep 5. Yes 5 out of 2,000! 0.25%! When exercising this best practice becomes a habit, you will develop your critical eye and you will keep only the pictures that YOU really like.
The feedback loop
As you learn to take more pictures and keep fewer, you will begin developing a sense of style – your style. You will start to shoot only those shots that you think you have a chance of keeping. You will begin to understand your tastes and aim for each different shot you take. However, you will still shoot a lot and still keep very few. The feedback loop will feed itself of increasingly better pictures and operate through a tougher selection. As a result, you will have trained a more critical eye and a better shutter finger. In no time, you might keep 1 of 50 photos taken during that weekend with Grandma, but you will love that picture and Grandma will be happy she appeared more interesting than the tomato in the garden.??So, again, what is left for the aspiring photography after the fact that the average camera user can follow these advices too? Well first, this is a disciplined practice that not anyone can put himself/herself through. But, with diligent practice of this exercise, you will certainly improve your photo skills. More importantly, you will develop a better sense for your passion in the way that pleases you.
Sam Levy is the founder of citifari. citifari offers photo tours in New York City. Structured as a 2-1/2 hour practical workshop, citifari tour helps you get comfortable with your camera settings and take great shots in New York City. citifari is launching its newest New York tour: Central Park photo tour.
Images in this post are copyrighted to citifari
Visit citifari at:
www.citifari.com
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email Sam Levy at sam@citifari.com
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Zen and the Art of Photography
When you get really into photography, when you’ve mastered your camera and are focusing completely on the creative aspect, there’s a real beauty that comes to play. Being completely absorbed in your activity and thinking of nothing else. In a way, photography is a way of meditation. A way of zen. Your focus is completely on the image and nothing else seems to matter.
Meditation, the practice of self-realization and consciousness, can be related to photography in many ways and, in my opinion, help strengthen your skills as a photographer.
When one meditates they start by focusing on one specific thing, be it ones breathing or an image. This trains the person to clear their mind and have deep, concentrated focus. The same can be applied to photography and used to develop ones senses, particularly ones vision.
When most people look around the world they see things but don’t really “See”. Their mind quickly labels objects, categorizes things, and fails to see the beauty built into everything. ?
Practice Seeing Everything
While I won’t recommend sitting in the lotus position, I do recommend spending five to ten minutes before every shoot meditating. Spend this time observing your location.
Do not think of anything
Simply observe. Notice the light and how it hits certain objects and is blocked, causing shadows in others. Notice the quality and color of the light. Notice the shapes and lines of the objects and the natural, built in composition of the area. ??Use your other senses as well. Notice the aroma in the air. Feel the wind and listen to the ambient sounds. Become completely absorbed into the location that you are at. Be there and actually be there, not somewhere else in your mind thinking about something very insignificant. ??When you begin a photo shoot this way you come to understand your location much better. People photographers understand the importance of knowing their subjects personalities before shooting. The same holds true for nature photographers, architecture photographers, etc.
When Framing Your Shot…
Never simply point and shoot your camera. Many photographers think they have the right shot and simply shoot, spending at most a few seconds looking through the viewfinder. This is the most important step in photography and should take up much more time. Look through the viewfinder and really “See” everything within the frame. Often times you’ll come up with even better ideas simply by holding off that urge to press the shutter down.
“Observing” On a Daily Basis
While the deep, zen-like observing is great when on a photo shoot, it’s something that should be done on a daily basis. When walking through a park, passing by a dark alley, or going anywhere you’re going to pass beauty (it’s hard not to). Instead of thinking what you have to do, where you have to go, or who you have to talk to, just observe. I do have to warn you though, you may feel the sudden urge to have your camera with you at all times if you start doing this often.
When you truly open your eyes, everything becomes “photogenic”.
Al Sanchez is the creator of PhotoTechniques.info, a site with digital photography tips.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Zen and the Art of Photography
Understanding Light: A Series of Tutorials
Over in the forum area of dPS we have an area called ‘Tutorials’ where members submit their own tips and tutorials for the community.
In recent weeks a wonderful series of articles on the topic of Light has been published by one of our wonderful members – Richard Taylor.
Rather than republish the tutorials here on the blog I would strongly urge you to check out what Richard is producing. So far he’s up to 5 parts (there could be more to come). Check them out at:
A BIG thanks to Richard Taylor for posting these (and many other) great tutorials. Check out more of his work on his Flickr Stream and on 500px.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Understanding Light: A Series of Tutorials
Catch that Shot! 10 Tips for Weekend Warrior Sports Photographers
A Guest Post by Deb Scally
Many of us spend plenty of time on the weekend watching our favorite sports from the sidelines and, as photographers, we yearn to be able to capture that awesome moment when something great happens. But it’s rarely as easy as it might seem. All the critical elements have to come together to shoot really good action shots: timing, position, exposure, and framing–and you have just a split second to make it happen.
Years ago when my kids were younger and beginning sports, I set my sights on improving my craft, and over the years, and after learning lots of hard lessons, I have seen dramatically improved results. Here are a few tips I’ve gathered along the way.
1. Eliminate that “D’oh!” moment
Take the time to check your equipment…before you leave home. Extra battery (charged), spare memory cards, a dust cloth, and of course, the proper lens for the job, including a lens hood for sunny days, should be packed and ready. You’ll thank yourself later.
2. Exposure: Learn the basics and lock it in
Point and shoot cameras have this all figured out. Just turn the dial to the guy who is snow skiing and you’ll get perfectly exposed shots, right? With an SLR, it takes a bit more thought, but it’s still relatively easy. Just remember the three key settings for optimal exposure: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Change one, and you affect all three. On days with plenty of available light, I set my camera on a low ISO for best image quality. Then I set aperture priority (Av) at a wide-open f-stop, which in turn, allows the camera to select the highest possible shutter speed. If available light is an issue, I’ll simply push the ISO higher to ensure I get the shutter speed I need. My own guideline is a minimum of at least 1/500 of a sec if possible, but occasionally at night, you’ll have to settle for speeds in the 1/250th range. More often than not, I am shooting at 1/1000th or higher to stop the action really well.
3. Depth of field: Zero in on your subject
Selecting a wide aperture has another great benefit beyond faster shutter speed: compression of space and shallow depth of field. Why is this important in sports photography? Because generally there is a lot—and I mean a LOT—of clutter on the sidelines. Spectators, cars, parking lots, signs, concession… all the stuff you did NOT go there to photograph. Opening up your aperture ensures that your subject will be the focal point, rather than the surrounding milieu.
4. Focus: Laser-like precision
Tack-sharp focus is of prime importance to creating winning action shots, and several factors will affect this outcome.
Focus mode. Your camera’s focusing mode can make a big difference with a moving subject. Among the three Canon modes, Al Servo, or Continuous Mode for Nikon lingo, is usually the best choice, as it’s designed to help you hold focus on a moving subject coming toward you.
Focus points. Also consider your selection of focusing points. This is a bit trickier. My Canon 7D offers a superlative 19-point focusing system, but frankly, with a subject that is moving all over the frame, I have found the most success by using a single-point mode and employing the back-button focus method (which can be permanently set using Canon’s custom functions) In this way, I can easily lock in and recompose quickly to have the most control over my composition. It takes a little practice, but once you are used to it, you’ll never go back to shutter-button focus.
Steady as she goes. Even the best cameras can only do so much, and the bottom line is, you have to have a steady, supported hand to manage good action shots. An image-stabilizing lens can be a big help, too, but learning how to brace your camera—using your own body as a makeshift tripod or by mastering the use of a monopod, will greatly enhance the final product.
5. Know your sport, and shoot, shoot, shoot
Anticipation is well over half the battle in capturing a header in soccer, a slam-dunk in basketball, or the perfect equine arc of a hunter/jumper. Understanding what is likely to happen will mean your camera is trained at the right spot–in advance of the moment. Beyond that, it’s simply a matter of practice. After you’ve logged in hundreds and hundreds (and by that I mean, thousands and thousands) of shots over time, your instincts will begin to kick in and pretty soon you’ll have mastered the ability to both continually shoot and enjoy the action at the same time.
6. Use your arms and legs
Remember to move around! Funny enough, your feet can become a cheap but useful piece of camera gear, by allowing you to change your perspective and the relationship of the camera to the action. By the same token, don’t forget to use your arms and turn the camera vertically, especially if the action comes too close and you need to reframe the shot.
7. Know your limitations
This, admittedly, takes discipline. You’ve purchased that awesome 75-300 mm lens… you want to use all 300 mm, don’t you? Here’s a lesson I’ve learned over and over. Even with an awesome zoom, the best shots rarely ever come from the other side of the field! Do I still find myself pegging out to capture that faraway action? Yes, but every time I do, it confirms what I already know—it’s a bad idea. Even with image stabilization and a quality camera, you will give yourself the best options when they are shot from close to mid-range.
8. Good composition—the holy grail
I know I said focus was a primary factor in image quality, but without great composition, your focus won’t matter. In my estimation, and according to many mentors I have followed over the years, a few elements of good sports composition include:
Faces. Make sure you can see the subject player’s face. The shot will fall short if all you see is the back of someone’s head. Faces with great emotion are a huge plus!
Be the ball. Include the ball or other equipment in the shot. These things are an extension of the players’ action, in most cases, so it’s an important element that really communicates what is happening in the shot.
Cropping. Credit where credit is due, I owe this mantra to Jim Bryant, an experienced pro who repeatedly mentions this in DPS forums: “Crop in tight…then crop some more.” Tight shots create excitement and add emotional tension to a shot, so eliminate everything that is not central to the action. One caveat, though, is not to crop at a person’s joint (knee, elbow, wrist). Just above or below those areas create a more pleasing and less awkward aesthetic.
Negative space. Ok, despite what I said about cropping, occasionally the use of negative space can add dimension to a composition. Sometimes just providing logical room for the player to kick the ball out of the frame can be the element needed to balance the composition and communicate something more about the moment.
9. Editing
Be very strict on yourself when it comes to your final product. I may shoot 400 frames in one soccer game but I consider it a success if I end up with 10% to share with others; and beyond that, a handful that I personally am proud of. My advice is to analyze each shoot, learn something, and then delete and don’t look back.
10. Post-processing
When it comes to sports, if all goes well, you should have very little post-processing except for cropping and adding a touch of sharpening. The real post-processing fun comes when you are able to send out a batch of photos that represent special moments to teammates and friends.
Deb Scally is a full-time writer and editor and author of her photo blog, 1107photography, which can be found at www.1107photography.wordpress.com. Her passion is artistic nature photography, but she enjoys challenging herself in all genres and photographic styles including sports, portraits, architecture and travel.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Catch that Shot! 10 Tips for Weekend Warrior Sports Photographers
10 Quick iPhone Photography Tips
A Guest Post by Sarah from a beach cottage.
Before I got my iPhone I had a Nokia phone with a pretty good camera on it… apparently… but I never really used it much because it had such a long lag on it from clicking the shutter to the picture making it to the phone that it irritated the willies out of me… talk about a way to make you not inspired to shoot with a phone!
Since I moved into the world of Apple though, a whole new world of photography opened up to me… my photos in the beginning with it were pretty dire… now I am right in the swing of it and loving the results.
First of all the best thing about phone photos over fancy DSLR shots is quite purely and simply, ease, accessibility and weight. In my world with 3 kiddos and generally being busy a lot of the time, I don’t have time, although I must say I certainly have the inclination, to get out my big camera, start fiddling around with what lens to use, start playing around with the settings, yadda, yadda, yadda… it’s heavy and bulky and means that I have to have an ugly camera bag with me.
Phone cameras change all that – and having that little baby in my pocket has taken me on another journey with photography, one I certainly did not see coming or expect and one I am enjoying immensely.
Phone photography for me means freedom and capturing moments with my family and things about Australia that I am inspired by that otherwise I would miss.
It was tricky at first to get a good shot though.
Here’s what I have learnt over the last few months:
The Beach Cottage Top 10 Tips to Phone Photos
1. Hold the phone like you would a camera
When I first got my iPhone and discovered the camera I was holding it with just one hand and almost gliding it around… now I hold the ‘camera’ in two hands and with my right hand I ‘click’ the shutter as you would a regular camera…
I also imagine my camera screen as the viewfinder on my big camera – when I first started iPhoneology I was holding the phone out in front of me at a ridiculous angle and doing some strange straight-armed, head back movement, robot style. Now I hold the phone in front of me with both hands and ‘look’ through the screen to what I am taking a photo of as I would with the other camera rather than kinda looking past the phone… I hope that makes sense?
2. Don’t zoom in with the zoom on the camera, zoom in with your feet
If you want to take something close up actually walk up to it, get close and click. Mmy iPhone loses heaps of quality even with a tiny bit of zooming and it becomes really grainy and pizelated. So I never move the zoom in. Moving from a telephoto lens on a Canon 50D to no zoom on a phone is a big difference and has been great for teaching me about light and my composition comfort zone has been seriously jolted… ahem, still learning here!
3. Shoot the same thing a few times
The great thing about digital photography is it allows for a lot of attempts and a lot of mistakes. Add to that benefit, the speed and ease of a camera phone and you have the opportunity to take a few shots so one of them will be good. You can just take multiple shots of the same thing and one of them will be vastly better than the others.
I love shooting at the beach with my phone, as you might have gathered and I will sit, with a coffee or on a walk and take a bundle of shots, upload ‘em when I get home and poof delete them right off. Too easy!
But don’t delete those shots you think are no good when you are out and about because often when you get home the things you think looked rubbish on your phone screen actually turn into interesting things on your computer monitor. The first time I got sun flare on my iPhone I was on the ferry to the city and shooting like mad with my iPhone. Checking the images I was a bit disappointed on the quality – they looked really over-exposed, too bright and patchy. When I got them uploaded to the computer later I realised that the elusive fingers of God were all over my pictures.
4. Light
Light with camera phones is important – the lower the light the more grainy and bad quality it becomes – unless you are taking photos of the sun and the sea keep the light behind you and your subject well lit.
But don’t lose those dark and night time opportunities. Shoot with your phone at night and dusk and see what it produces. I am doing this all the time lately and learning a lot along the way. I love shooting the sky at night – results have been a real mixed bag but are inspiring me to get out there with my real camera and have a go like a big girl.
5. Check out the resolution and picture quality settings – and set them on high
6. Keep the camera as still as you can because the jitters will make your picture blurred. To keep it still look for something to lean your arm/hand/camera on – this makes a big difference to camera jitters and my phone photos. Keep your hand there for a second after you ‘click’ too just to make sure, in case your phone has a big shutter lag.
7. Move around and get in different positions
The thing I love about my phone is that it is small and easy and you can get get down low and dirty with it or you can point it up and high really easily. Tou can move right on in to a shell or a flower and you can get it into awkward places and positions that a regular camera it would be more tricky with. So move it in bundles of different angles to see what you get – it doesn’t cost a penny.
Also move the angle of the phone as you take the pictur – I have experimented with this a lot with the horizon and the sea… haven’t posted any of the images yet ‘cos it actually looks like I was drunk when I took the photos, ahem maybe there was the odd Limoncello involved in some of them actually… but the shots are really interesting in my own personal photo-taking journey.
8. Clean the lens… duh!
I didn’t do this for ages and I don’t do it enough now still. My phone is in my bag, in my pocket, floating about in the car and ultimately has grubby little kiddo fingers all over tit so cleaning it makes a difference to the resulting shot.
9. Process!
All of my phone pictures are processed. I think that is the beauty of phonology, you have the ability to whip that baby out and capture something amazing you see, even though the quality and look might not be what you wanted. Then wham bam thank you mam, technology and a lil bit of foofing gives you a pretty nice shot…
I usually use Windows Live to tweak the contrast, light and saturation etc. It’s normally the light that makes the big difference in shots. I turn the highlights and brightness and often exposure right up. A real photographer would probably shudder at my processing, but the look I like, and hey that’s who I’m doing this for, is overly bright photos.
I also nearly always turn the temperature down. I like my photos on the err of blue and you would never have guessed but I like ‘em pretty white too. You can also do this with an app if you have an iPhone. Qhen I first got mine I went on a serious iPhone frenzy and got a lot of phone camera apps but really none have them have honestly floated my boat that much. Nowadays I just take the photo with the regular phone camera and do the foofing later.
There are a few apps for processing too but I find it fiddly and too small to try and see what’s going on on the small screen of my phone, I much prefer getting them uploaded and doing it on the big screen.
10. Clutter
Don’t have too much going on in your photo. One of the reasons, in my humble little opinion, some of my phone photos are still fairly good even though they are pretty grainy and not even in the same league in sharpness and quality as my DSLR camera shots is that there is not too much going on in the photos. This allows you to get away with a lot.
Keeping one main subject and a scene where you want all/most of it in focus are best. As you can see in the photo above, the quality is average to poor and pretty grainy (when viewed at full size) but hey I LOVE the pink sunflare, I love the clouds, I love the sea and baby I captured it… bingo… and that’s what photography is all about for me!
That’s how I take photos with my iPhone, hope these ten tips for phone photography might help you too… main thing though… just shoot ‘em up baby!
Sarah is a busy mum blogging from the beaches of Sydney about her sea-change from the grey skies of London to Australia, she logs the renovation of an old cottage and life by the sea, since picking up an old Powershot that had seen better days when she first started her blog, she began on an unexpected journey with, and new found love for, photography…slowly moving up the camera ranks, she replaced the Powershot with a Canon G10 and soon moved onto a Canon 50d…and nowadays also uses her iPhone when she’s down the beach to capture it all….
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
10 Quick iPhone Photography Tips
How to Scout for Portrait Shooting Locations
A Guest Post on Scouting for locations by Kyle Miller from Photography Tips
I remember driving around for hours on end through urban and industrial landscapes and to remote areas of the countryside that even the local farmers had forgotten about, all in search of prime and unique location photography spots. In the end I came to learn that some of the best locations were, and in one instance literally, right in my back yard. I still used many of these remote locations I found, but in general I saved them for special shoots. What helped me find the location spots around my office, as opposed to miles away, was learning what truly made for the best areas for location photography.
Simplicity
A beautiful location shot, but this would most likely be to distracting to also include a model. Image by Kyle Kruchok
It’s only natural to look for amazing and extravagant areas to use as location photography spots. But a problem with these areas is that they are too extravagant, and while they may be unique to photograph on their own, they do not work well when used as a location spot. This is because they pull interest away from your model, who is the main subject. Simplistic areas tend to work the best for locations spots. These areas should have a simple theme or feel about the that complement your subject rather than pull away from them.
Universal
While you should always retain a fairly large number of potential location photography areas, you should remember that not every spot will work for every shoot. The majority of the location photography areas you use should hold an almost universal appeal, that allows the area to complement virtually any shoot. If you only use specialized locations than you will inevitably come across a shoot that none of your locations will work for. I have found that it is good to retain a few cliche location photography areas, such as train tracks, a “downtown” area, an open field, and a lightly wooded area, but also to keep some specialized locations as well, such as an industrial area, a unique alley, a train bridge, and even a run down building (not a condemned building, as that is unsafe and illegal.)
Multiple Areas in a Single Area
This would be a prime location, since it is both interesting and retains multiple areas that could be used. Image by Eneas
As you scout for locations this is probably one of the main points to keep in mind, as it lends itself greatly to the universality of a location photography spot. An area that you believe would work well for location photography, should contain multiple areas that you can shoot at, all within the same general area. For example, one of my prime locations I use in most of my location portrait shoots is a decommissioned railroad bridge. This location has a unique predominate area of an old wooden bridge with railroad tracks, but I can also use the underside of the bridge, the creek the runs underneath it, or even the light wooded area that surrounds the bridge as areas to shoot.
Safety, Seriously.
This is a huge part of finding locations to shoot at, and should always be the main point kept in mind when deciding on a location. I will not advocate that I am the safest person in the world, but I damn well make sure any location I take a client to is as safe as possible. I have some fairly run down locations that I tend to use including decommissioned tracks, bridges, and even run down buildings. But before I ever even mention these locations to a client, I make sure to inspect every aspect of the location to make sure it is suitable to do a shoot, and if it’s not I will not use that location no matter how interesting it is. A cool photo is not worth getting sued or going to jail for reckless endangerment (or potentially manslaughter). Be smart about your location choices, seriously.
It doesn’t matter how awesome an idea you have is, areas such as this should be avoided. Image by Sister72
Kyle Miller has been a professional wedding and portrait photographer for several years. He shares his knowledge on his blog Photography Tips where you can also download his eBook 7 Essential Photography Tips for free.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
How to Scout for Portrait Shooting Locations
A 15 Minute Exercise To Help You Improve Your Photography in 2012
Here’s a little exercise for you to do today. It will only take 15 minutes. It’s all about slowing down and thinking about the shots that you’re taking.
Grab your camera – what ever one you have handy (I used my iPhone last time I did this) and head out into your backyard (or if you’re in the middle of winter you can choose an indoor location – perhaps your living room – really anywhere will do).
Now find somewhere to sit – somewhere in the middle of whatever place you’ve selected.
Now for the next 10 minutes just sit there. You’re not allowed to take a photo for 10 minutes but rather your sole task for this 10 minutes is to observe what is around you and to plan your shots.
Observe
- Soak in your location.
- Look at the light and how it hits your surroundings.
- Pay attention to what your setting makes you feel.
- Look at the details that perhaps you’d not have noticed if you’d rushed through the setting.
During this ‘observation’ phase you may like to move around your environment to look at it from different angles – but don’t use your camera yet.
Plan
As you sit there – begin to think about your setting and the elements in it as a photographic subject and how you’ll photograph it.
- What will you shoot?
- What perspective will you shoot from?
- How will you compose the shot?
- What settings could you use to get different results?
- How will you convey the emotion of what you’re feeling?
- Picture the shots you’ll take in your minds eye.
Shoot
Now that you’ve spent 10 minutes observing your location and planning your shots you can now spend 5 minutes using your camera to capture the shots you’ve been thinking about.
I find that this kind of ratio of observation, planning and taking of shots brings about a marked improvement in the shots that I take (as opposed to the times I race into a situation to take a quick shot… or worse still a heap of shots without really much thought to what I’m doing in the hope of getting a good one).
I find taking time to observing allows me to notice details that I might otherwise have missed. Taking time to plan often leads me to photograph my subjects in more creative ways than I’d have otherwise done.
For Example
The picture of the snail above was one I took with my iPhone this past week. I’d not normally have taken the time to even notice this little guy but as I sat in my own backyard taking in my surrounds – there he was. As I watched him I began to think about how to take the shot. I moved around him to observe how the light would hit him, to think about the background and to think about where I’d position myself.
While I wish I’d had my macro lens with me to shoot him with a better camera I was still pleased to see how the shot turned out (and the picture went to the popular page on Instagram so it seems others enjoyed it too).
I’d love to see the results of this exercise for you in comments below!
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
A 15 Minute Exercise To Help You Improve Your Photography in 2012