Long Exposure Photography Aka Slow Shutter Speed Photography

May 15, 2009 13:21

Exposure is all about the total amount of light enters the camera. The three things which control the amount of light enters the camera are Aperture Size of the Lens, Shutter Speed and ISO value. To learn more about Exposure Basics read these tutorials.

The word Long Exposure refers to the Slow Shutter Speed. Actually the concept is so simple, when you expose your framed scene to the image sensor of your camera for a longer period of time and so allows more amount of light to enter the camera means you are shooting with Long Exposure. Now the question is why would you do that since shooting with long exposures might end up with blown out photographs. Obviously, if you shoot with long exposures in direct sunlight during daytime, you will end up shooting super over exposed or blown-out photographs. But if you know the situations where you should use Long Exposure, you will glad that you can shoot that way. The two situations where you would like to shoot with Long Exposure are to create a bright photo in low light conditions or to create motion blur to the moving elements of the photograph.

Let's see some interetsing photos which creative photographers have taken with Long Exposures.

In the following photograph the photgropher has used Long Exposure and thus created a motion blur which has created an interesting effect for the moving waves.




Photograph taken by DieterThePhotographer



In the photograph below the Long Exposure has been used to capture the dark bridge. The use of slow shutter speed let the photographer capture the dark bridge so beautifully.





Photograph taken by idg



We hope you are now ready take some Long Exposure Photos. We would love to see what you create, leave the links of your shots in the comment section.


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Top 7 Tips for Composing your Shots

December 4, 2009 19:09

Mastering Composition is both art & science, the one needs practice (that is taking more photographs & learning from your mistakes) and the other needs learning (that is learning the rules & techniques). Today, we have compiled a list of Top 7 Tips to help you take best framed shots. Keep these tips in mind when you are framing your next shot!





Photograph Taken By Leonski

1. Seek Simplicity
Think simple, think basic! Try to keep the frame simple to convey the message of your shot quickly. Think in terms of one or two basic things and frame your shot by keeping the separated things within. Don't make your shot complex by trying to highlight or convey more than two concepts or things in one shot. At times you might want to ignore this but for most shots, keep this in mind.

2. Personalise it
Try to highlight the concept or thing which engaged you. Don't imitate others in common shots. You might have noticed something different. Try to convey your prespective in your own personal framing style. You can give that unique touch to the simple concepts by adding & conveying your own personal style.

3. Choose Complimentary Background
Background can make or break your shot. Do pay special attention to the backgrounds. Complimentary backgrounds can enhance the feel of your shot amazingly. Similiarly, poor background choice can spoil the feel of an amazing shot.

4. Avoid Wrong Cropping
Don't be tempted to crop the halves of the things to seek uniqueness all the time. At times, it can add more depth to your shot. But for most shots, avoid chopping halves or thirds.

5. Shoot With Many Frames
Its very rare that your first shot comes out the best one. Take your time to take your shot with different frames. Work with your subject in different ways.

6. Try Different Angles
Don't be afraid to shoot with unsual or uncommon angles. You never know trying out some uncommon angle can bring out an amazing shot !

7. Keep In Mind Your Last Mistakes
Whenever you are framing your shot, try to remember what you did wrong last time. Keeping your last mistakes in mind helps you to avoid old mistakes and do the right thing this time. We all make mistakes but we can turn them into blessings by not repeating them! If you had spoiled a shot in the past, don't let it happen next time!

Do you have some other composition tips to share? Leave your tips in the comments section and we will add them to this list.

Happing Framing!

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Creating Photographs with Impact

By Carl Botha – Senior Lecturer at the College of Digital Photography

Tip 1: Simplify

One of the easiest and probably most effective ways of creating an eye-catching image is by ‘getting in closer’. By getting closer you eliminate a lot of unnecessary information making for a striking, simple yet powerful image.

Tip 2: See the light

Undoubtedly the most important ‘ingredient’ in any great photographic image is light and by better understanding and using light, you will find a marked improvement in your photography.

Consider that light has colour and start looking for it. Between about 10am and 3pm sunlight loses most of its colour becoming clean, white and boring. Natural light changes colour throughout the day, which is the reason why we prefer to make photos early in the morning or late in the afternoon, to capture the colour of the light. Early morning light has some wonderful pastels like peach, pink and sometimes a bit of magenta, whereas late afternoon light is rich in warm yellows and golden oranges. Often these colours can become the very reason for wanting to capture an image.

Tip 3: Make use of colour

We know that light has colour, but were also surrounded by colour. Think about how we use colour in our daily lives, how it is infused in our language to describe feelings. We have all heard about someone feeling blue or about seeing red when we get angry. Colours are very closely associated with moods and emotions. Try using colours that add emotion to your image. Some emotive colour associations :


Using colour and composition to create Impact
Blue – Feelings of melancholy, feeling blue, singing the blues and the ever popular ‘Blue Monday”

Red – Passion, stop signs and danger

Orange – The colour of fire and warmth

Green – Freshness, nature and fertility, often used in scenes with ‘zen like’ calmness

Yellow – The first colour we humans notice or see, very lively and almost grabs the eye

Brown – Earthy, nature and associated with wood and trees, very neutral

Grey – The most neutral colour, enhances colours used with it, feelings of dreariness or depression
Black – Traditionally associated with death but can convey feelings of chic elegance and distinction


Tip 4: Exciting camera angles

Shooting from shoulder height is boring. We see life from that height anyway and therefore we like seeing images captured from interesting angles. Think about shooting directly down on someone from a balcony, a ladder or any elevated surface when your angle is exaggerated. Now try the opposite, shooting up from very low angles. Have you ever taken photos while lying on your back? If you lie at the base of a tree, the corner of a building or even at a person’s feet while using a wide angle lens the distortion can become extreme and make for a very striking image with loads of impact. Seeing from these different angles is not that new to us, we did it as children. We were almost always looking up at things and when picked up by adults we were then looking down from what was to us, extreme and exciting angles.

Tip 5: Distort with intent

Using a wide angle lens causes distortion which makes anything closer to the lens appears bigger than it is in real life but also diminishes in size anything which is further away from the lens. This can be a great way of getting some fun into your images and works particularly well with children and animals. Try shooting from interesting angles when you do this, possibly getting onto a ladder and shooting down on a person would make their heads looks enormous with tiny feet.

Tip 6: Managing contrast

If you are faced with contrast in a scene where you want to bring detail into dark shadow areas, either use a flash to fill in some light or consider using a reflector. Anything that can reflect light into shadow areas will work relative to the size of the area. Macro photographers for example tend to work very close up in tiny scenes where something as simple as the back of a business card can become a small reflector. If you want to make your own little reflectors with tin foil just remember to crumple the tin foil up thoroughly before stretching it over any surface.

Tip 7: Shooting from the hip

Photography Clint Eastwood style? Have you ever tried capturing images without looking through the viewfinder? Probably not! This can be a fantastic way of capturing exciting and unusual images of people, buildings or just about any subject matter you can think of. Consider walking through a shopping mall or a busy office building with your camera hanging from your hand and shooting as you walk. Try not to raise the camera higher than your waist and ‘force’ yourself to keep shooting without being tempted to look at the LCD every few minutes. While doing this you could intentionally slow down your shutter speed to blur both the movement of your hand as you walk as well as the movement of anybody in the scene. Another way of doing this is by hanging your camera around your neck ‘ala tourist style’. You won’t be raising the camera to your face at any point however. Keep taking shots continuously. When you think you have a possible scene that might work just depress the shutter release button while the camera hangs from your neck, or you could get a cable release and stick it out of sight and shoot that way.


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7 Tips For Better Landscape Photography By Jonnie Blaylock

The problem with most landscape photography is that not enough preparation is put into setting up the shot before it is taken. These tips are meant to give the photographer some things to think about before releasing the shutter.

1. Depth of field - Most professional landscape photographers want everything in the shot to be equally in focus. This is done by increasing the depth of field (making it deeper).

Aperture controls the depth of field. The higher the aperture setting, the smaller the aperture opening will be. The smaller the aperture opening, the deeper the depth of field will be.

2. Use a Tripod - A deeper depth of field usually requires the shutter to be open longer for proper exposure.

The slightest shake of the camera while the shutter is open can cause unwanted blur. Using a tripod greatly decreases the chances of this happening.

3. Framing - We all have those busy vacation photos with so much in the shot that no-one can quite tell what the subject is. This is usually caused by distractions in the landscape. These distractions can be anything from people to dominant colored buildings.

These distractions should not dominate the shot. Use the viewfinder to crop out these distractions. If they are not in your viewfinder they will not be in the photograph.

4. Foreground - Foreground is often not given the credit it is due in landscape photography. It should be used to help guide the viewer into the shot.

Look around at a landscape that you are interested in and see if there is anything that creates natural lines that lead into the scene. The foreground should not dominate the landscape though unless it is the actual subject of the shot.

5. Lighting - Most people wait for a nice sunny day before they grab their camera and head out. The photographers that do this lose out on some great landscapes.

Clouds can greatly enhance the mood of a landscape. Clouds themselves can also be made the subject of the landscape.

Dusk and dawn are also great times to shoot landscapes. Shadows are sharper and create more contrast in the scene. The light may even be a different color and cast a golden hue over the land. After all, who doesn't like a sunset?

6. Perspective - Sometimes it is possible to take a seemingly ordinary scene and create a dynamic landscape just by moving go a different spot.

Try changing the perspective of the shot. Kneel down low and shoot at an upward angle. Get on higher terrain and shoot down. Move the horizon around the viewfinder a bit.

7. Composition - Use the rule of thirds whenever possible. This is done by dividing the scene shown in the viewfinder into 9 equal parts (like a tic-tac-toe board).

Where the lines intersect is where the points of interest should be positioned. Horizon lines should be placed on the top or bottom horizontal line.

Do not forget, the only thing that shows up in the photograph is what is seen through the viewfinder. So make that little area look as interesting as possible.

I hope you have enjoyed my 7 Tips for Better Landscape Photography

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What Shutter Speed to Use

The Shutter speed you use can have a huge influence on your photographs.
If you use a too slow shutter speed your photographs will be blurred. Some novice photographers think that their photographs are out of focus but sometimes they just used a too slow shutter speed and their photographs are blurred.

If you use an automatic camera it will normally either pops up the flash automatically or have a flashing indicator which warns you when the light is too low to take a photograph. If there is not enough light the camera will use a longer shutter speed in order to have enough light to record. This long shutter speed is what cause the blur effect since you cannot hold the camera still enough in your hands.

If you use a shutter speed of anything less than 1/60 of a second you must use a tripod or any other object to support your camera. The minimum hand held shutter speed also depends on the length of your lens. For up to 80mm you will get away with 1/60th of a second but if you use a longer lens you will need an even faster minimum shutter speed. Like when you use a 200mm lens it would be best to put your camera on a tripod for anything slower than 1/150th of a second.

You can also use a slow shutter speed to your advantage.

If you put your camera on a tripod and use a slow shutter speed to picture a waterfall or stream, you can create a soft effect of the water.


Soft Waterfall
With a fast shutter speed we can freeze the motion in a picture.


Freeze the motion
To freeze motion of a picture, the shutter speed must be fast enough. You will need a shutter speed of at least 1/250 to freeze the motion of a running person successfully.

Even if you are photographing flowers in the wind you need a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion and get a sharp picture.

We can also use a slow shutter speed to enhance the feeling of motion in a picture. The picture on the left was taken at 1/60. The motion of the bike was followed as it moved pass. We call this “panning”.



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Two Popular Techniques

Two of the most popular Techniques I have found while doing research from the internet, books and magazines are misty waterfall and spiral lights (stars). I want to try both of them but there is a lack of waterfalls in Columbia. Oh the woes of living in the capital of a state. I have to always remind myself yes Karen you do live in the capital of a very small but proud state. There are some wonderful waterfalls at dupont state park in NC. I cant wait to go back! Robin an mum and Conner and Lucas are planning a trip and they are going to go swimming in the water falls. How cool is that!

Got a Credit!

I made fired up the ritz camera www site and signed on to live chat and said look here, the description shows two dvds. You gave me one. What about the other. While I was complaining about that I said look I bought this camera and less then a week it was $50.00 cheaper. Whats up with that? Well three weeks go by (I got ill) and Fired up the ritz camera www site and says look I am annoyed
1) Shows a dvd that wasnt sent
2) Now $50.00 cheaper
3) Talked to live chat almost a month ago and no response.

So I get an email Sunday and it says your credit/return has been processed. Thats all it says. I was like huh???

So once again I fired up the old ritz camera www site and once again talked to live chat and they said I am getting a $50.00 credit. I expected maybe the dvd... but didnt expect the credit. So I guess I am not going to complain about the dvd because after the car issue I had I could use all the $$$. Lucky I started saving that money for a lap top or a trip to memphis to see graceland.

My Review of Nikon D5000 DX-Format Digital SLR Camera Two-Lens VR Outfit (18-55 VR & AF-S DX VR 55-200mm F4-5.6G)

Originally submitted at RitzCamera.com

Two-Lens Nikon DSLR Bonus Outfit!
Includes: Nikon D5000 DX-Format Digital SLR Camera, Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55MM F/3.5-5.6G VR Lens and Nikon 55-200 mm F/4 5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor Lenses
PLUS - Two Bonus Nikon Instructional DVDs!

A remarkable bl...

Nikon D5000 DX-Format Digital SLR Camera Two-Lens VR Outfit (18-55 VR & AF-S DX VR 55-200mm F4-5.6G)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this Camera!

By Karen from Columbia, SC on 3/13/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Fast Shutter Speed, Tilt / swivel lcd, Fast / Accurate Auto-Focus, High ISO Performance, Large Clear LCD, Good Image Quality, Quiet, Easy To Use, Good Image Stabilization

Cons: None

Best Uses: Video, Landscape/Scenery, Indoors/Low Light, Travel, Sports/Action, Macro Photography, Wildlife photos, Weddings/Events

Describe Yourself: Photo Enthusiast

I use the camera for everything. From taking goofy shots of TP at the grocery store to family reunion to pets to landscape to the first real snow in SC in I dont know how many years.

misty water fall

Tags: Made with Product

Tags: Made with Product

(legalese)

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.

f-stop – What it is and how it works

The pupil of the eye becomes bigger or smaller in order to control the amount of light it allows through. When a person is standing in a dark room, the pupil of his eye will be large to allow more light to enter. The camera also has a mechanism which controls the amount of light moving through the lens – the aperture.

The aperture controls not only the amount of light moving through the lens but also the depth of field. The f-stop is the unit in which the opening of the lens is measured. The f-stop number is inversely proportional to the size of the lens opening. This means f22 is a very small lens opening, with a large depth of field, and f4.5 has a wide lens opening with a shallow depth of field. With a wide lens opening and shallow depth of field, more light will reach the film. Thus a large lens opening is more suitable for photography in bad lighting conditions, but unfortunately with a loss in depth of field. Also see illustrations below. The f-stop number is equivalent to the diameter of the opening of the lens relative to the diameter of the front lens unit. An f-stop of f16 will therefore be 1/16 (one sixteenth) of the diameter of the front lens unit.


Apperture size
Tip: If you have a SLR camera with removable lenses remove the lens from your camera. Hold it in a position to enable you to look through it from the back. Now turn the f-stop ring on the lens from side to side. You will see the opening of the lens changing as you turn the ring.


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Taking the Moon’s Image With a Handheld Shot

It is almost impossible for me to shoot hand-held to take the moon’s image at a really sharp focus. How I wish I could do it myself. If you want to try, go ahead. But I wouldn’t sweat it if I were you.
I have learned that to capture the image of the moon, you should equip your camera with a minimum of 200 mm lens. (Thanks to stopshootingauto.com ) Generally, the longer your lens can reach, the better. If you would like to increase your lens’ focal length without buying a whole new lens, you can opt to use teleconverters. Teleconverters come in different specs, some with 1.4 and some 2.0 etc.. Basically what teleconverters do is it multiplies your lens’ focal length depending on its specs. 1.4 would be multiplied by 1.4 and 2.0 by twice as far.

I would highly recommend using a tripod in capturing the moons image. Zooming to your lens’ full capacity will make it very sensitive to even the slightest shake.
Settings Used:
f/9
1/100 s
ISO 200
18-200 @200mm

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20 Beginner Tips For Taking Digital Photography

20 Beginner Tips For Taking Digital Photography
By Ralph Serpe
Digital cameras are one of the greatest inventions of modern times. We are so fortunate to have this modern convenience called Digital Photography. To be able to capture a precious moment or beautiful scene at the click of a button, is something we should not take for granted.

Many beginners find digital photography rather challenging and rightly so. Today, more and more digital cameras are being created and it seems like the more digital cameras they make, the more difficult they become to use.

I own a Canon Powershot S3 IS. I purchased this digital camera about a year ago and I still haven't utilized all of the awesome little features this camera has to offer. Now you may not want or even need a camera with this many features. It really depends on the type of pictures you plan on taking.

Regardless of the camera you own or are planning to own, you should have a well rounded knowledge of digital photography. I hope the following 20 tips for taking digital photography will prove to be useful in your quest for taking better photographs.

1. Know your camera. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not taking time to learn about the features of your camera. Don't be lazy. Read your instruction manual.

2 - When shooting sunny outdoor shots, try adjusting your white balance setting from auto to cloudy. The auto setting will make your shots appear too cold. When you change it to cloudy, it will increase the warmth of your pictures.

3 - If you are looking for superior image quality, the ability to use a variety of lenses and print large high quality photos, then considering upgrading to a Digital SLR Camera.

4 - Use your flash outdoors. Sometimes, even on a sunny day outdoors, there is still a need for a flash. If the sun is directly over head or behind your subject, this can cause dark shadows to appear on the face. The flash will help lighten the subjects face.

5- Sometimes simply turning your camera and taking vertical shots can make a world of difference. Experiment more with vertical picture taking.

6 - Do not put your subjects directly in the center of your shot. Move your subject off center to inject more life into your photos.

7 - Learn how to hold your digital camera. One of the most common problems beginners face is the shaking of the camera because they are not holding it properly. Of course, the best way to avoid shaking the camera is to use a tripod. If you don't have a tripod, then you should be holding your camera with two hands. Put one hand on the right hand side of your camera where you actually snap the photo and the other hand will support the weight of your camera. Depending on the camera, your left hand will either be positioned on the bottom or around your lens.

8 - Learn about the "Rule of Thirds". This is a well known principle of photographic composition that every beginner should become familiar with. Do a search online and you will find many tutorials on this subject.

9 - Look at other photographers work. Just spending time studying the work of other photographers can provide loads of inspiration.

10 - Join online photography communities. Get active and ask questions.

11 - Do not compare your photography to anyone else.

12 - Do not copy the work of other photographers.

13 - Do not leave your batteries in your camera if you don't plan on using your camera for long periods of time. Some batteries run the risk of leaking and this can damage your camera.

14 - Subscribe to a good photography magazine. Purchase books on photography.

15 - Find experienced photographers to go out on shoots with.

16 - Post your photographs in online forums. Learn to accept criticism.

17 - Try taking your pictures in RAW format. RAW is a powerful option available in today's digital cameras where no in-camera processing takes place. This allows you to do all processing using your favorite image editing software.

18 - Don't buy the most expensive photography equipment right away. Practice and learn about photography first using cheaper equipment. After you have been taking pictures for some time, you will then know what kind of equipment you will need.

19 - Invest in a tripod. Some of us have very shaky hands. If you can't stop the shakes, then get a tripod. It will make a world of difference.

20 - If you are not able to carry your equipment with you everywhere, make sure you have a note pad handy. This way if you find a nice shot, you can write it down and visit that location at a later date.

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Caputre Motion

Capturing Motion

Photographs, by definition, capture and immortalize a small slice of life. There is little for the viewer to infer what happens before or after that moment. However, there are images that need to communicate motion. For example, you may want to capture a dog running, a train barreling down the tracks, or trees that are blowing in the wind. Each of these scenes can come alive within your photographs if you learn how to convey motion properly...

Click the link up top to read more

Ten Photo Tips

Top Ten Digital Photography Tips

1. Warm Up Those Tones put a little warm in your heart
2: Sunglasses Polarizer (pretty cool idea this one)
3. Outdoor Portraits That Shine flash during the day ... who knew?
4. Macro Mode Madness My favorite mode!
5. Horizon Line Mayhem Ha ha ha thats so me
6: Massive Media Card 16 gig big enough?
7: High Rez All the Way what if your camera is 12 megs, is that too high or to much?
8: Tolerable Tripod never knew a tripod would make me a true photographer LOL
9: Self Timer Fun yeah we all took self portraits. fess up!
10. Slow Motion Water Love this one! I like arty fartsy