• Home
• Basic Digital Photography
• Digital Camera Basics

Digital Camera Basics:
DSLR vs Compact Digital

Let’s start with a few digital camera basics. What’s the difference between a DSLR and a compact digital camera? Which one is right for you? With the price and feature gaps closing between DSLRs and compact point and shoot digital cameras, buying decisions are becoming more confusing. This article may help to clarify your choices.

DSLR versus Compact Digital

 

What are the Differences?

Compare cameras: which one is right for you?

Let’s examine the pros and cons of each type of camera.

The advantages of a DSLR over a point and shoot are:

1. (1) the viewfinder on an SLR looks directly through the lens on the camera. This means that your viewfinder shows you a much more accurate representation of the final image than with a point and shoot.
2. (2) SLR cameras have interchangeable lenses, allowing the photographer more variety of choice and quality. 
3. (3) Most DSLRs also have a function that allows the photographer to preview of depth of field.
4. (4) The
   larger sensor on a DSLR allows for greater depth of field, reduces noise, and produces better image quality.
5. (5) Although newer compact digital cameras are beginning to provide more control over settings, they are still limited. A DSLR will give you much more flexibility and control over your photographs.
6. (6) If you want to capture motion (like children playing or pets running around), you may be frustrated with many compact digital cameras on the market. There is often a delay between when you click the shutter, and when the image is taken. Sometimes, your subject has moved out of the frame by the time the image is made! Talk to your camera retailer if this is an issue for you. Some point and shoots are better than others in this regard, although none will match a DSLR.

 

Digital Camera Basics: DSLR camera
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

The disadvantages of a DSLR are:

1. (1) DSLRs are dropping in price, but still tend to be more expensive than a point and shoot. This is especially true if you begin to invest in a number of lenses and accessories.
2. (2) A DSLR tends to be bulkier and heavier than a point and shoot. If you like to be able to drop your camera in your purse or pocket, you may not want to lug around a DSLR, lenses and a tripod.
3. (3) There’s a steeper learning curve with a DSLR. You have more controls to master if you want to take full advantage of all the features available to you.
4. (4) DSLRs require a little more maintenance than compact digital cameras. When interchanging lenses, sensor dust may get on the sensor, and need to be carefully cleaned off. Newer DSLRs have self-cleaning mechanisms, but they are not perfect.

Digital Camera Basics: Point and shoot camera
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

I hope these digital camera basics have helped you to compare cameras, clarify your needs, and make a purchasing decision.

Next, you may want to visit the next digital camera basics page to learn What is a Pixel?

 

• Home
• Tips for Taking Digital Photography
• Digital Photo Books

Here are some hints and tips so that you can create digital photo books that wow! Find inspiring topic ideas, and learn how to choose the right images, lay them out on the page, and more.

Advantages of Creating Digital Photo Books

First and foremost, creating your own photo books is fun! It’s exciting to go through your images to choose favorites, and extraordinarily satisfying to see them come together in a professional-looking finished product. To me, a photograph is not a final product until it is in printed form.

In the digital age, we tend to take lots (and lots!) of pictures, but print very few.
Photos get lost and forgotten, languishing on your hard drive. Digital photography books are a great way to resurrect the old photo albums but with a modern and more sophisticated twist.

Photo books are a great way to show off your images to family and friends that they will enjoy much more than sitting though a long slideshow in your laptop! Creating a book forces you to cull your collection, choosing only the best of the best, and presenting them nicely in a portable, easy to handle way. This will definitely please your audience!

Another advantage of photo books is that you can make several copies to share with family and friends!

What Should Your Book Be About?

There are endless possibilities for subjects for your digital photo books. What will make your book stand out, however, is giving it a coherent theme, rather than making it a random collection of pictures. A good photo book does more than present images; it tells a story. Try to find a thread that you can weave through the book so that the pictures relate to one another.

Here are a few ideas for themes for your digital photography books.

Memory Books

• Vacations. Making a photo book about your vacation is a great way to capture and share your memories. It could be an exotic trip, or it could be Summer life at the cottage.
• A Person. You could make a retrospective about someone’s life, or you could document a year in the life of a child.
• A Child’s Perspective. Create digital photo books with a child from photos that they have taken themselves, for example on a trip to the zoo or a family vacation. Involve the child in choosing and arranging the photos for a fun collaboration.
• Family. Choose photos to represent everyone in the family doing their favorite activities, interacting with one another, and participating in important family gatherings. Make sure to print a few copies, as everyone will want one!
• Your Pet. A book with pictures of Fido or Whiskers is always popular, and a wonderful way to honor and remember an important member of your family!
• Recipes. If you are a cook as well as a photographer, take some photos of your culinary creations, and include the recipes with them in the book. This one makes a great gift for friends, or to pass down to your children.
• An Event. Choose a set of photos to commemorate a wedding, a shower, or a birthday party.

• A Relationship. A great gift for your partner, your photo book can include photos of places you’ve been and things you’ve done together. Get creative, and scan in movie tickets, maps, brochures, and other mementos, to accompany the photos.

Fine Art Books

• Your Passion! Flowers, landscapes, nature, urban architecture, rusty cars, city-scapes... what’s your "thing? Your subject can be anything that you are passionate about photographing.
• A 365 project. If you are doing a 365 project (taking a photo every day for a year), a photo book is a great way to document the finished product. You can put 7 images on each page so that a page represents a week.
• Favorite quotations. Pair a (themed) collection of your images with quotes. This is something I did, pairing my close-up flower photography with inspirational quotes from great thinkers.

 

Making it Look Great

Choosing Images

The most important factor in making your digital photo books look great is selecting your best photos. That may sound obvious, but it’s not always easy to do. One of the hallmarks of a great photographer is being able to edit your work. You need to be really tough on yourself. It can be difficult to separate the emotion you felt in the moment of taking the photograph with how successful the resulting photograph actually is. Sometimes, it helps to choose a few images, and then walk away and come back later with a fresh perspective. Edit, edit, edit. Keep on brutally narrowing it down until you’re left with the cream of the crop.

Remember how we said that a good photo book tells a story? An effective way to do that is by selecting a mix of overview pictures, medium close-ups, and close-ups. In a good story, you first set the scene with an overview image, then you move in closer to describe more of the "plot," and finally, you include some interesting details that people might otherwise overlook. In your digital photo books, you might have a single progression from overview to details, or you may move through that pattern rhythmically a few times.

If there is a chronology or an evolution to the images, make sure you include them in that order.

And did I mention? Be a brutal editor!

Designing Pages

Once you’ve chosen your images, you need to lay them out on a page. Most of the companies that produce digital photo books provide tools and templates to help you choose themes, page styles, and background colors to achieve a polished look.

You may want to have a very simple layout with a single image on each page. Especially if you are creating a fine art photo book, a simple layout keeps the attention on the pictures. You want people to be looking at your photographs, not the embellishments on the page.

On the other hand, stories can work well with groupings of images, and a less formal layout and background style can add fun to a memory book.

When you are selecting which pictures to place together, choose colors that complement one another. If the colors are similar, you will achieve a more soothing and harmonious look. If they are opposites, you will generate energy. What works best depends a bit on your story; just make sure to give it some consideration.

© Julie Waterhouse Photography
An example 2-page spread from my book of quotations.
I paired a close-up with a medium distance shot, and
selected images with the same color palette.

Also, don’t forget that when you open a book, you see the left and right pages at the same time, so make sure that the photos on both sides flow together well.

Finally, you may want to add text to your photos in the form of captions or descriptions. If you do so, I recommend
keeping the font consistent throughout the book for a more unified and polished look.

 

Cropping

Not all applications for making digital photography books allow you control of how your image gets cropped when you place it within a template. Make sure that if you are not designing your own pages from scratch using an application like Adobe Photoshop or In Design, that you choose your images carefully to match the available space. Think about whether a photo in portrait or landscape orientation will work best, and pay attention to what, if any, parts of the image are cut off. Some photo book applications allow you to move the image around within the frame window.

Consider whether you will create your digital photo books in portrait or landscape orientation. Landscape seems to be more common, but portrait has its advantages. You can place a landscape image into a portrait-oriented book as a full two-page spread.

Color Management

Is "calibrate monitor" a regular on your todo list? If you are not working in a color managed environment, keep in mind that what you see on your monitor may not be what you get when you print your photo book. If you don’t want to bother with calibration, then you’re probably best off to err on the side of making your images look a little brighter, since they often tend to print darker.

If you are working in a color managed environment, then see whether the publisher/printer for the digital photo books provides a color (ICC) profile that you can download and use to soft proof your book.

Tips

1. To avoid working online, which can be slow depending on the speed of your connection, many digital photo book companies allow to download their software and create the book offline, on your own computer. You can then upload the finished product.

2. Edit your photos in your own software (such as Lightroom, Photoshop, or Aperture) before including them in your book since most book production software is fairly limited in terms of photo editing. If you do this, then also remember to turn off any image auto correction settings in the book-making software.

3. To get an idea of what works in terms of layouts, check out other people’s books. Learn by seeing what works, and what doesn’t. You can find examples online at many of the companies that produce digital photo books.

4. Share a draft of your digital photo books with a trusted friend or three before you publish it to get some constructive feedback. It’s much less costly to fix things before you’ve sent a batch to be printed!

5. A somewhat sneaky way to get a discount on your digital photo books is to download the book-making software, and then wait some time before you send a book to print. Not always, but quite often the company will send you a discount coupon to encourage you to complete your book.

6. Creating a photo book is an excellent learning exercise for any photographer. After you create your books, you will revisit them many times, and you’ll continue to learn and improve with each new one.

***C2_invitation_27358957***

 

• Home
• Photography Ideas
• Creative Photography Exercises

Looking for some creative photo ideas, and ways to boost your photographic creativity? This page contains a handful of creative photography exercises to flex your creative muscle and stimulate your imagination. They’re not meant to be easy. They are meant to push you.

Creativity. It’s that elusive "something extra" that takes a photograph from "okay" to "wow!" You can master the technical aspects of photography, but without a creative spark, your images won’t get a second look. Creativity can’t be explicitly taught, but it can be encouraged and stimulated.

Here are a few creative photo ideas to get your juices flowing…

Restrict Your Options

Restrict yourself to 1 lens, and go out and shoot for a morning (or an afternoon, or some suitably long period of time). Pick the lens you like or use the least. This is supposed to take you out of your comfort zone, right?

For an added challenge, restrict yourself to a single aperture. If you like to shoot wide open, use f/22. If you are addicted to details, it’s f/2.8 for you!

The Hula Hoop Challenge

No, you don’t have to hold your camera steady while hula-hooping (is that a verb?)! The idea is to toss a hula hoop randomly outside your house.  Now make 20 images while standing within the hoop.

As a variation, try making 20 images of what’s inside the hula hoop (a macro lens may be helpful here!)

Unrelated Objects

Have a friend (not you!) choose 3 seemingly unrelated objects. You must then photograph them together. Push yourself! Make at least 5 different compositions, and get those creative photo ideas flowing!

Get into the Bathroom!

In the bathroom
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

The bathroom? Yes! It’s one of the last places you’d think of to take your camera. So, get in there and start shooting! (Maybe wait until it’s unoccupied, first!) Shoot at least 10 images.

Doggie-cam

All too often, people shoot photographs of pets (and children, for that matter) from their own eye level. It’s much better to get down to the level of your subject to shoot a nice portrait.

In this exercise, we’ll try to spark some creative photo ideas by turning things around. Pretend that you are the pet. How would you see the world if you were a dog? A hamster? Shoot 20 images from the perspective of your pet’s eye level. (So sorry if you happen to have a pet snake! Better get down on your tummy! 🙂 )

Emotion

Connecting with your viewer is all about conveying how you feel about your subject through the photograph. Try to shoot a series of 10 images that express a particular emotion: joy, sadness, hope, … Warning: this one is not easy! Think about how you will represent the emotion. Literally? Symbolically? Streeeeeeetch!

© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

You might also be interested in these other creative photo ideas:

Creative Photo Ideas: Part I – Fun with Foil and Food Coloring

Creative Photo Ideas: Part III – Flowers Through Waterglass

 

• Home
• Photography Ideas
• Flowers and Waterglass

An Unusual Twist on Flower Photography

Looking for unusual and creative photo ideas to provide a twist for your flower photography? I have just the thing to give a beautiful, dream-like look to your images. You’ll need a macro or a long lens, a piece of waterglass, and of course some flowers. All that’s left to bring is your imagination!

Flowers photographed through waterglass.
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

What You’ll Need

1. A piece of waterglass. I’m not referring to the jelly-like compound of sodium silicate. By "waterglass," I mean a piece of glass with a surface texture created by stretching the hot glass sheet while it is still in a pliable state. The result resembles the waves on the surface of a lake or stream. You can purchase sheets of waterglass inexpensively at most stained glass supply stores.

2. Waterglass holder. You need something to prop up the waterglass. You may want to start with something simple, like a styrofoam block into which you cut a groove to hold the glass upright. If you decide that this is something you want to do more often, you may decide to invest the time to create a wooden glass holder that you can mount on a second tripod. See below for instructions.

3. Flowers! You can use flowers growing in the wild, or a pot on your deck, or a vase on your kitchen table. The choice is yours!

Getting Set Up

When you set up to shoot, you’ll want to place the tripod holding the waterglass close to your subject, and then the tripod with your camera close behind it.

Waterglass shooting setup. © Julie Waterhouse Photography

Waterglass shooting setup. © Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

Helpful Hints

When you are just starting out with this technique, it’s easy to be distracted by the effect of the waterglass. Remember, when you are arranging your composition, the same rules apply as always. You still need a strong and effective composition; the waterglass effect will not "carry" the image.

The closer the flowers are to the waterglass, the less "warped" they will appear. I find compositions work best that include one flower, or a group of flowers that are clear, along with a background of more warped and impressionistic flowers. That means having one or more flowers close to the glass, and then a few further away. Having at least one flower clear helps the viewer to understand what the image is about, and renders it less of an abstract.

Note that I sometimes post-process my waterglass images in Photoshop to add a bit of the Poster Edges filter – don’t overdo it! This is not necessary, but can sometimes add a bit of punch to the image.

Experiment, and have fun! Warning: this can keep you busy for hours!

Flowers through waterglass – an example.
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

If you are interested in more creative photo ideas, check out Creative Photo Ideas: Part 1 – Fun with Foil and Food Coloring (a set-up for close-up abstract shooting), or Creative Photo Ideas: Part II – Exercises (a set of exercises designed to stretch you imagination).

 

You might also be interested in these other creativity exercises:

Creative Photo Ideas: Exercises

Creative Photo Ideas: Fun with Foil and Food Coloring

 

• Home
• Tips for Taking Digital Photography
• Digital Photo Tips: Live View

Digital Photo Tips:
Live View

Looking for some useful digital photo tips? We examine what Live View is on a DSLR camera, and how you can use it to improve the accuracy of your focusing on stationary subjects.

What is Live View?

Live View on a camera simply means that the rear LCD displays what the lens is seeing in real time. In lieu of looking through the viewfinder, you can preview the image you’re going to take by looking at the continuous display on the screen instead.

Those of you who have used a compact digital "point and shoot" camera may be wondering what the big deal is! Compact digital cameras have always worked this way. In a compact digital camera, the sensor activates as soon as the camera is turned on. Since there’s nothing in between the lens and the sensor, the light coming in through the lens immediately forms an image on the sensor, which is then displayed on the LCD screen.

Things are different in the world of DSLRs, however. There’s something in the way between the sensor and the lens! A DSLR camera works by having light from the lens reflect off a mirror, and be bounced up to the viewfinder. The image you see when you look through the viewfinder is actually coming from the mirror, not the sensor. When you release the shutter, only then does the mirror lift, and allow the light to pass through and form an image on the sensor. That’s why the viewfinder goes dark for a moment when you take the picture. For more information, see a digital camera basics discussion comparing DSLR vs compact digital cameras.

That design presents a problem for implementing a camera live view feature on a DSLR. This problem has been solved in newer DSLR cameras, however. A second sensor has been added in the path of the light coming from the mirror.

Digital Photo Tips
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

Digital Photo Tips: Focusing with Camera Live View

Accurate focusing with your DSLR can be challenging. When using autofocus, it’s difficult to tell whether your focus is as accurate as possible. Certainly you can see when the autofocus point lights up in the viewfinder, but you can’t always be sure it’s focused on the right point. And are you confident when setting your focus manually on a subject a moderate distance away that you have nailed the focus? Part of the problem is that viewfinders are designed more for displaying a bright image than as a focusing aid.

Live view can help with focusing. If you use live view, you can magnify a portion of your image on the screen and check for accurate focus. This makes it much easier to see the point of optimum focus.

Live view can also help to overcome poor calibration between camera and lens, a real issue for focusing accuracy. Calibration means making sure that the lens is accurately focused, and not just within an acceptable tolerance. Many DSLRs now come with a lens calibration feature to address this. Using the camera live view feature, however, can help you overcome any calibration issues by letting you see exactly what part of your image is in focus.

Digital Photo Tips: Disadvantages of Camera Live View with Autofocus

Using live view can really slow down autofocus, and the actual taking of the photo. This is because additional steps have to take place:

1. The mirror, which has been lifted up to achieve live view, must now drop down (autofocus requires the mirror to work).
2. The autofocus system engages and locks focus on the subject.
3. The mirror lifts up again.
4. The camera takes the picture.

In addition, on many cameras, autofocus in camera live view mode requires you to use a different button than the shutter release, which can be confusing and awkward.

Technology is already improving, and the above issues are being addressed.

Update: There are already cameras that do not need to lower the mirror to focus. You should check your manual, because not only does it vary by brand, but also by specific model.

 

Next, you may want to visit another digital photo tips page to learn about histograms. What is a histogram?

 

• Home
• Basic Digital Photography
• Digital Photography Basics: Noise

Digital Photography Basics:
Noise

It’s time for some digital photography basics. What’s all the noise about noise? Understand what digital image noise is, and whether there’s anything you can do about it.

What is Digital Image Noise?

Image noise is the digital equivalent of film grain. It manifests as "speckles" in an area of an image that should be of constant color or brightness. In technical terms, it is a (usually undesirable) variation of brightness or color information in images produced with a digital camera sensor.

Digital image noise in a magnified image of the sky.
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

Definition: SNR. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is a way of comparing signal to noise for any electronic unit (including a camera sensor). If you have a high SNR, then image information clearly stands out from any background noise.  On the other hand, a low SNR means the signal and noise in the image is similar, and it’s harder to distinguish the image from the noise.

Digital Photography Basics: Factors Affecting Noise

Brightness. Noise becomes less apparent as tones in the image become brighter.  This is because brighter regions receive more light, giving them a stronger signal, and consequently, a high SNR. This means that darker, or underexposed images will have more visible noise, even if you make them brighter during post-processing.

ISO Speed. SNR is affected by the ISO setting your choose when you take the picture. A higher number means the sensor is more sensitive to light. For example, a photo taking at ISO 400 will take half as long to reach proper exposure as a photo taking at ISO 200 (all other settings remaining constant). Digital cameras adjust the sensor sensitivity to achieve these different ISO settings by amplifying image signal settings. This signal amplification causes greater noise in images taken at higher ISO settings.

Sensor Size. A small sensor containing lots of pixels will have more
noise than a larger sensor with
the same number of pixels. This is because the pixels are packed in tighter together on the sensor, causing signal interference.

In addition, larger sensors tend to have larger pixels. A larger pixel can collect more light, allowing it to produce a stronger signal. This means that cameras with physically larger pixels will generally appear less noisy since they have a higher SNR. However, a stronger signal does not necessarily result in lower noise. Cameras with larger pixels may still have less sophisticated electronics that result in poor SNR, i.e., poor signal relative to noise.

Digital Photography Basics: An Example of Digital Image Noise

The first image of the bears was taken at ISO 100, and the second was taken at ISO1600. At this size, you can’t see much difference.

Photographed at ISO 100.
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

Photographed at ISO 1600.
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

If we look more closely by enlarging various parts of the image, the noise becomes apparent. The top pair of samples was pulled from the wall behind the bears. The middle two were pulled from the bears’ fur in the middle of the image, where the two bears’ faces touch. The bottom pair of samples was pulled from the black leather couch on which the bears are resting. In the last sample, it’s difficult to distinguish the noise from the texture of the leather.

Samples on the left are from the ISO 1600 image.
Samples on the right are from the ISO 100 image.
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

What Can You Do About Digital Image Noise?

Let’s investigate a few digital photography basics that will help you resolve issues around noise.

Camera Choice

Which camera you buy will definitely affect the amount of noise you have to deal with, particularly at the higher ISO settings. As we’ve discussed, sensor size has a significant impact on noise, with larger sensors generally being better. However, as we’ve also pointed out, the quality of the electronics has some bearing too, so it pays to do your homework, and research some comparisons on the internet first.

Noise is composed of two elements: fluctuations in color, and in luminance (brightness). Both kinds can be reduced using software. Be aware that the relative amount of color and luminance noise can also vary significantly from one camera model to another.

Image Editing Programs

Digital image noise can be fixed pattern or random. Although fixed pattern noise looks worse because the pattern is easy to discern because of its repetitiveness, that same repetitiveness also makes it easy to eliminate. Cameras can simply "subtract" the repeating pattern from the image. On the other hand, random noise is very difficult to remove, as it it difficult to distinguish it from random surface textures.

There is some excellent noise reduction software on the market that addresses both color and luminance noise. You may wish to investigate Noise Ninja by PictureCode, which is a leading program in the industry.

Use Flash in Low Light

I know many photographers prefer natural light at all times. However, photographing in low light requires longer exposure times or higher ISO speeds. These are the conditions that make your image more susceptible to noise. You may want to consider using flash in this situation if noise becomes an issue.

You may want to visit the next digital photography basics page to learn about shooting in RAW vs JPEG.

• Home
• Tips for Taking Digital Photography
• Digital Photography Histogram

Digital Photography Histogram:
Interpreting the Graph

What can a digital photography histogram tell you about your image? What information does the shape of the graph give you, and how to you correct your image when the image histogram indicates a problem? In this section, we explain all that and more!

Interpreting the Digital Photography Histogram

First of all, let me set the record straight. There’s no such thing as a “bad” histogram! I cringe when I hear people say that. A histogram just tells you facts about your image. It may tell you that you have a problem with your image, but a histogram is not inherently "bad" or "good!" Understanding histograms helps you to know how to improve your image.

The following histogram is pushed up along the left side of the graph. We call this "clipping," i.e., the histogram is "clipped" on the left. This tells us that a lot of pixels in our image will be rendered as pure black, which means that we have lost detail in that area of the image. We refer to this as our shadows being "blocked up."

Histogram showing blacks “blocked up”
Image source: dpreview.com

To correct blocked up shadows, you must increase your exposure. Understanding histograms, we know that this will have the effect of shifting the histogram to the right.

 

The next digital photography histogram, shown below, has the opposite problem. The histogram is pushed up against the right side of the graph. This tells us that a lot of pixels in our image will be rendered as pure white. Just as in the last case, this means that we have lost detail in that area of the image, and we refer to that as our highlights being "blown out" or "burnt out."

Histogram showing whites “blown out”
Image source: dpreview.com

To correct blown out highlights, you must reduce your exposure. Understanding histograms, we know that this will have the effect of shifting the histogram to the left.

 

The digital photography histogram below is clipped on both left and right, so we have a combination of the above two problems: both blocked up shadows and blown out highlights at the same time. This is an indication that the dynamic range (the range of contrast from light to dark) of the scene was greater than what the camera could capture. This can easily happen on a bright, sunny day. There are about 12 stops of light in an average sunny day scene. Although the human eye has the capacity to see detail in the highlights and shadows under such conditions, the camera cannot. It is limited to capturing only about 5 stops of brightness.

Histogram showing that the image’s dynamic range
has exceeded what the camera can capture.
Image source: dpreview.com

To address this problem is more difficult. If we increase our exposure to fix the blocked up shadows, we just aggravate the blown out highlights more, and vice versa. In this situation, we somehow need to reduce our dynamic range.

A graduated neutral density filter used in the field can help. This is a filter that is dark gray at the top, and fades to clear at the bottom. When shooting a landscape, for example, the filter can be placed over the lens with the darker part lined up to cover a bright sky, and the clear part to cover the foreground. This effectively darkens the sky relative to the land, and reduces the overall dynamic range of the image.

The problem can also be solved using HDR, or high dynamic range techniques. This involves taking multiple images of the same scene (using a tripod so that they are identical) at different exposures. At least one image will have properly exposed each part of the scene. The images are then combined using software to produce a complete well-exposed image.

Finally, if you can, come back to the scene at a different time of day when the light is less harsh, and there is not as much contrast. The last solution may sound facetious, but is meant seriously.

 

The final digital photography histogram, shown below, has no pixels that are white, or even near-white, and no pixels that are black, or even near-black. The majority of the pixels are in the mid-tones. The image corresponding to this histogram will appear flat, without much contrast. This can easily be adjusted in a camera raw editor to increase the contrast.

Histogram showing low contrast image.
Image source: dpreview.com

 

Understanding histograms:
Next, you may want to visit another digital photo tips page to see some histogram examples, showing actual images and their corresponding histograms.

 

• Home
• Learning Digital Photography
• Digital Photography Techniques

Too often, we fixate on getting perfectly sharp images. We spend a lot of time worrying about crisp focus, sturdy tripods, and fast shutter speeds. What if, instead, we try some new digital photography techniques that embrace the concept of motion? We just might surprise ourselves with some fresh, creative images! Enjoy these great ideas from Barbara, and start experimenting.

Get Moving!

by Barbara Bender

© Barbara Bender

We are told that moving our bodies is good for our health and keeping in shape. Movement can be beneficial photographically as well.

Most of the time, when we make a photograph, we do everything we can to hold the camera steady. Some place great value on photographs where everything is sharp, in focus and recognizable The use of a sturdy tripod, a beanbag support, or bracing ourselves, along with the selection of fast shutter speeds, are some of the ways we can avoid having our images ruined by camera shake or subject motion.

What happens, though, if we deliberately induce camera movement or allow the parts of our subject that are in motion, to freely move? If we experiment with these digital photography techniques, we can create photographs which can be expressive, evocative and impressionistic in nature if we are willing to try something new, make mistakes and view such images from a different perspective.

© Barbara Bender

Many mistakes will be made in learning to do this, and even those who are experienced in creating such images can have a high failure rate since there are so many variables which can affect the final outcome. Digital cameras are perfect for this kind of work because you can get an indication if your results are in an acceptable range by looking at the playback, and if not, settings or technique can be adjusted accordingly. Also, without film and processing costs, hundreds of images can be made and experimented with; all that is required is a lot of memory cards and batteries.

© Barbara Bender

In order to get the slower shutter speeds necessary for these digital photography techniques, use the lowest ISO possible, select a small f-stop to decrease the amount of light, and use a neutral density and/or polarizing filter on the lens.

 

 

 

 

 

Subjects That Are In Motion

Instead of cursing the wind which blows the flowers and grasses about, or getting aggravated when people walk through your scene, embrace this motion, and play with it. With the camera supported on a tripod, select a slow shutter speed, and when you make your exposure, let things move about. The parts of the scene that are stationary will be sharp and in focus while the elements that move will be registered as soft swirls of colour. Each shutter speed will give a different effect, so keep trying different settings to see what works best. Eventually, with practice, you will find that certain ranges of shutter speeds are most effective in specific situations. The only way to learn this is to experiment and make mistakes. Remember, there are no magic numbers that work perfectly every time, so try several shutter speeds even within the range of numbers that seem best. Shoot at least 5 frames for each speed, with each setting. Elements move at different rates and patterns, so each picture will be different.

© Barbara Bender

 

Camera Motion Techniques

These digital photography techniques can be done either with the camera on a tripod, or handheld. Try both and see which works best for you. You may find that certain situations are better suited to one or the other. Again, use a variety of shutter speeds, and try moving your camera different ways. You can pan your camera in a smooth motion during the exposure, or you can try quick, jerky movements. The camera movement can be horizontal, vertical, circular, or even random jiggles. Begin your movement just before you depress your shutter, and continue for a second or two after the exposure has been made. The speed at which you move the camera, your shutter speed, how far away you are from your subject, and your focal length are only some of the variables that can affect the final outcome of your photograph.

© Barbara Bender

Another way of creating motion effects is to rotate the barrel of a zoom lens from one extreme focal length to another during the exposure. Try zooming in and out, or out and in, and vary the speed that you do this. You can also attempt to do this while panning the camera at the same time.

© Barbara Bender

These digital photography techniques of motion can be done on stationary subjects as well as in situations where the subject is moving. Experiment with all different types of subject matter and situations. Sometimes your subject will be identifiable, and sometimes the wash of shapes and colours appear very abstract. The most ordinary scene can appear unfamiliar and unusual by simply moving the camera deliberately or allowing the elements to freely dance and move.

Every image you make will be individual and unique; it is impossible to be precise, so keep an open mind and evaluate the results on their own merits instead of what you hoped to see. Often you can make "happy accidents."

I wonder if all this motion this can be counted as part of my daily exercise routine.

No?…didn’t think so! Too bad!

 

About Barbara Bender

 

Barbara Bender is a freelance professional photographer and writer who uses various creative techniques, emphasis on design, and simple, often graphic composition to make photographs which are frequently expressive in nature. Her photographs have been featured in such publications as Nature’s Best Awards Issue, Black and White Magazine, and Color Magazine. A series of articles on photographic Creativity and Playfulness was featured in PhotoLife Magazine in 2010. Over forty-five of her images have been used as book covers for Guernica Editions. As an active member of the Greater Toronto Council of Camera Clubs, she gives presentations and workshops on various photographic topics.

www.BarbaraBenderPhotoArt.com

 

Next, you may want to explore your photographic creativity with some creative photography ideas.

• Home
• Portrait Photography Tips
• Family Portrait Poses

Family Portrait Poses

Do you want to avoid awkward family portrait poses? We have some great ideas here to help you create photographs that convey warmth and emotion, without looking stiff and formal. Take a look at a few family portrait samples, along with our tips, and you’ll be well on your way to great photos and a happy family!

Okay, Everyone, Get Close. Closer… Closer…!

If you could do just one thing to improve your family portraits, it would be to get everyone to move a little closer together. In most family portraits, people are too far apart, and the space between them makes them appear disconnected.

Family Portrait Poses:
Cheek to Cheek.

A sense of personal space is a cultural factor that influences how comfortable people are in getting close enough to each other to touch. To capture portraits that convey a sense of togetherness and family bond, you need to push people out of their comfort zone a little, and get them close together. Portraits with couples, or parents and children, touching cheek to cheek are compelling, and exude love and warmth.

 

 

Now It’s Your Turn to Get Close

As the photographer, don’t be afraid to step inside the personal space of your subjects to get the shot. Just warn them before you move in, so they can expect it!

Family Portrait Samples:
Getting Close.

In a portrait, the vast majority of emotion is conveyed through facial expressions, so cropping in tight to the faces concentrates attention in exactly the right place. A close-up like the photo above emphasizes the connection between the subjects, and carries a lot of impact.

The Classic Pyramid Pose

One of the classic family portrait poses is the pyramid. The shape of a pyramid is wider at the base than at the top. This means that for a group, you might place three or four people in a row, with two or three behind, and possibly one or two in a third row behind that. You want to keep the triangle a loose shape, rather than following a strict four-three-two-one arrangement, with the peak in the centre. That would look very contrived! Instead, place the peak off-centre or have the rows decrease unevenly (e.g., five-three-two). This will keep the pose more casual.

Family Portrait Poses:
The Classic Pyramid

In the photo on the left, a pyramid has been achieved with only three people. Because of the way Mom is leaning over, her form takes up more room, and so our overall shape is wider at the bottom.

Note the soft, out of focus background created using a wide aperture.

 

Large Groups

Family portrait poses with large groups can be challenging. The bigger the group, the bigger your challenge!

As with any big task, the best way to tackle it is to break it down into smaller sub-tasks. Pose your subjects in mini groupings of two to four at a time, and build your overall pose out of these sub-groups. It helps to pose the adults first, because children have shorter attentions spans, and might not be able to hold their places until you’ve finished the rest of the groups!

Family Portrait Poses:
Large Groups

Make sure that you have people in a variety of positions, and that not everyone is holding the same pose.

Before you take the photo, make sure that all faces are visible. You don’t want anyone being blocked by anyone else. Do a quick scan, and make sure that you can see everyone’s full face, and also that there are no disembodied heads. You need to be able to see at least part of the shoulders for the pose to look natural.

You must always watch out for blinking, but the problem is even more likely to occur in a large group. Take several photos to make sure you get at least one with everyone’s eyes open.

A More Candid Look

The days of having everyone look at the camera and say cheese are, thankfully, disappearing. Today’s family portrait poses are more casual, and a candid style is preferred. To this end, get your family members looking at each other, rather than at the camera. This shows them interacting with each other, and once again, emphasizes the family connection.

Family Portrait Poses:
Family interaction.

As an aside, check out the coordinated clothing in the portrait above. It helps to unify the image. White, especially against a blue sky, gives the image a clean, fresh look.

More Tips for Family Portrait Poses

Do… vary the levels within the portrait. That means not having everyone’s head in a row. Look at the family portrait samples on this page to see what I mean.

Don’t… line everyone up in a vertical row so all you see are their heads. It just looks creepy :-). Similarly, don’t have a parent hold a child directly under their chin.

Do… try to get even lighting across all your subjects.

Don’t… let people tilt their heads over. It’s okay for a couple who are leaning in to each other, but not in a group portrait. It’s especially common to see people on the end of a row tilt their heads in and down. It seems to be an instinct. Watch out for it!

Do… avoid the disembodied hand! This happens when one person puts their arm around another, and all you see on one side is a hand that’s reaching around the other person’s waist or shoulders. It looks out of place in the final image.

Family Portrait Poses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With this collection of family portrait poses, you should be ready to get out and take some pictures that will make the whole family happy!

Next, make sure you’ve read the other part to this article to give you some more family portrait ideas.

You may also want to read a fun article on portrait photography technique by guest author Larry Monzcka.

 

• Home
• Beginning Photography Tips
• How to Take Good Pictures: Podcasts

 

Two Minute Photo Tips: Podcasts

Each audio podcast will open in a new window with a built-in media player.

Family Photo Tips

Learn how to take good pictures of your family and friends. Get creative with your family photos! Stop getting everyone to say "cheese" in a formal pose, and start capturing more natural portraits.

Podcast on family portrait ideas

 

Bracketing

What is exposure bracketing, anyway? How do you do it? How can it help you?

Podcast on bracketing

 

 

 

Mirror Lockup

Mirror lockup is useful when you’re shooting on a tripod, and want super-sharp images. It is especially useful when you are shooting macro or close-up.

Podcast on mirror lockup

 

 

 

 

Selective Focus

Selective Focus is a technique used to draw attention to a particular element of a photograph by making it the only piece in focus. Find out how to achieve this professional-looking effect.

Podcast on selective focus

 

Next, you may want to read an article by special guest writer, Larry Monzcka, with basic photography tips to take your pictures from snapshots to wall-worthy. It’s all about the details.