TIPS TIPS for photographers

[elmo]

magandang araw po!!

since madaming nahingi ng tips sa photography sa ating photography thread..naisipan ko na gumawa ng bukod na thread para dito..

sisikapin kong ma cover ung mga basics...

lahat po ito ay mang gagaling sa mga mga photography websites.

sana maging active ito para sa mga interesado sa photography..



update lang po: from the number1 source ng mga tutorials:
Since free tutorial sa web..buti na lang credited pa rin naten ung authors..( ito ung reason kung bakit nag aalangan ako dati mag start ng thread) anyways ang ultimate goal ehh makapag share sila ng knowledge ( ng libre)

A Notice to Photography Clubs and Teachers about Using Our Tutorials
from Digital Photography School by Darren Rowse


One of the most common email requests that I get are from those heading up local photography clubs asking if they are able to use our tutorials in their newsletters or classes.

I get these emails on such a regular basis that I thought I’d write a post outlining how our content can be used by these groups.

While the written content on DPS is protected by copyright we do give permission to local photography clubs and schools to use our tutorials for educational purposes under some circumstances and conditions (outlined below).

1. Content may not be reproduced online on another website - ie you may use it in your club or school if you print it out for members/students or even to email it out - but not to publish on your site.
2. Credit must be given to the author - please include their name and bio line and a crediting link/url to their site if they have one in their bio.
3. Credit must be given to Digital Photography School. Please include a line to the effect of ‘Source: www.digital-photography-school.com’ or ‘first published on www.digital-photography-school.com’
4. Please don’t reproduce pictures without checking copyright - this one is trickier - at DPS we use a lot of Creative Commons licence images which you’d be able to use also if you credit the photographer. But if the images don’t have a link to where you can check the copyright they may well be copyright protected and only for use on DPS (some photographers only allow us to use them). To be safe you’d be best not to use the images in our articles or supply your own.
5. Our Tutorials may not be used for commercial purposes - please don’t sell them or use them as the basis for a paid course. If in doubt please contact us.
6. Fair Use - please don’t reproduce large quantities of our tutorials. We’re happy for you to reproduce a few for educational purposes but don’t take it too far and do hundreds!

Our goal with this policy is to share the knowledge and make the learning happening on DPS go further - but also to give credit where credit is due and not have our site and it’s contributors exploited. Again - if in doubt, feel free to email us via our contact form.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

A Notice to Photography Clubs and Teachers about Using Our Tutorials

 

[elmo]

Rule of Thirds

by Darren Rowse

rule-of-thirdsPerhaps the most well know principle of photographic composition is the ‘Rule of Thirds‘.

It’s one of the first things that budding digital photographers learn about in classes on photography and rightly so as it is the basis for well balanced and interesting shots.

I will say right up front however that rules are meant to be broken and ignoring this one doesn’t mean your images are necessarily unbalanced or uninteresting. However a wise person once told me that if you intend to break a rule you should always learn it first to make sure your breaking of it is all the more effective!
What is the Rule of Thirds?

The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. As follows.

rule-of-thirds

As you’re taking an image you would have done this in your mind through your viewfinder or in the LCD display that you use to frame your shot.

With this grid in mind the ‘rule of thirds’ now identifies four important parts of the image that you should consider placing points of interest in as you frame your image.

Not only this - but it also gives you four ‘lines’ that are also useful positions for elements in your photo.

rule-of-thirds

The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the shot - using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it.

In addition to the above picture of the bee where the bee’s eye becomes the point of focus here are some of examples:



rule-of-thirds

In this image I’ve purposely placed the head of my subject on one of the intersecting points - especially his eyes which are a natural point of focus for a portrait. His tie and flower also take up a secondary point of interest.

rule-of-thirds

In this shot I’ve placed the subject along a whole line which means she is considerably off center and therefore creating an additional point of interest. Placing her right in the center of the frame could have resulted in an ‘awkward’ shot.

In a similar way a good technique for landscape shots is to position horizons along one of the horizontal lines also as I’ve done with the following shot (I’ll let you imagine the lines).

rule-of-thirds
Using the Rule of Thirds comes naturally to some photographers but for many of us takes a little time and practice for it to become second nature.

In learning how to use the rule of thirds (and then to break it) the most important questions to be asking of yourself are:

* What are the points of interest in this shot?
* Where am I intentionally placing them?

Once again - remember that breaking the rule can result in some striking shots - so once you’ve learnt it experiment with purposely breaking it to see what you discover.

Lastly - keep the rule of thirds in mind as you edit your photos later on. Post production editing tools today have good tools for cropping and reframing images so that they fit within the rules. Experiment with some of your old shots to see what impact it might have on your photos.

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds#ixzz0PUkN3B5A

 

[elmo]

2nd most popular


10 Questions to Ask When Taking a Digital Photo


What goes through your mind in the moments as you raise your digital camera up to take a shot and before you press the shutter? If you’re like many digital photographers you’re not thinking about too much - you just want to capture the moment and then move on.

However getting in the habit of asking some simple questions can help take your images to the next level. Here’s 10 questions to get in the habit of asking while framing your shots. I’ve included links in each one to further reading on the topics. I hope you find them helpful:

StoryPhoto by Tim Gruber
1. What story am I telling?

This is an important question and one that should help you to make any number of decisions in terms of composition, framing, exposure etc. In essence what you’re asking is ‘why am I taking this shot? What is it’s purpose and what am I trying to convey?’ Is it purely a way to keep a record of a moment, are you trying to capture the emotion of a moment, is it possibly a shot to give to someone, is it part of a larger series of shots or will it be the only shot to commemorate the moment etc. Read more on telling stories with photos

Focal-PointPhoto by H@Ru
2. What is the visual focal point of this shot?

What will viewers of this picture naturally have their eye drawn to in this scene? Once you’ve identified this focal point you can think about where to place it in the frame (consider the rule of thirds for example).

There are a variety of ways that you can enhance a focal point - some of which we explore here.

Remove-ClutterImage by MoonGirlNYC
3. What competing focal points are there?

Once you’ve identified what you do want your viewers eyes to be drawn towards and have placed it in the frame - scan your eyes over the shot and see if there are any competing focal points and ask yourself whether they add to or take away from the image? Secondary focal points can add depth to shots but they can also be very distracting and so you might need to reposition yourself or adjust your focal length and/or depth of field to accommodate or remove them from your shots (read more on removing clutter from photography). Also keep in mind that if your shot has more than one focal point that it might be worth taking two shots, one of each focal point, in order to keep things simple.

BackgroundPhoto by Keith Morris
4. What is in the background and foreground?

One of most common places for distractions in digital photography is the background of your shots. Run your eyes over the space behind your subject to see what else is in the image (do the same for the foreground). Consider whether you want the background in focus or nice and blurry.

Read more on getting backgrounds right.

Birthday-Party-3Photo by Johnny Blood
5. Am I close enough?

Another common mistake in digital photography is taking shots where your subject is too small in the frame. Shots that fill the frame with your subject tend to be much more dynamic and show a lot more detail of your subject. To get this effect you have the option of moving yourself closer, moving your subject closer or using a longer focal length to give the effect of closeness.

Read more on filling your frame.

Sunrise-2Photo by Peter Bowers
6. What is the main source of light?

Always give consideration to how your subject is lit. Without light you’ll lose detail and clarity in your image and your camera will have to compensate by doing things like increasing ISO and lengthening shutter speeds (which could lead to noisy and blurred images). What is the main source of light, where is it coming from, is there enough light, do you need artificial light sources (flash etc), do you need to stabilize your camera on a tripod to stop camera shake due to low light etc. Read more on using artificial light here and here as well as photographing moving subjects in low light conditions.

Crooked-2Image by Darren Rowse
7. Is my Framing Straight?

It’s amazing how many otherwise good photos are spoiled by framing that is slightly offline. Sloping horizons and slightly leaning people or buildings should always be in the back of your mind to check. Read more on getting horizons horizontal and getting other lines straight.

Also related to this question is that of ‘Am I holding my Camera correctly?‘ Many people don’t and as a result suffer from camera shake and framing mistakes.

Pet-DogPhoto by Andrew Morrell
8. What other perspectives could I capture this subject from?

Put 10 digital camera owners in front of a scene and most of them will take exactly the same shot from the same position. Make your images stand out from the crowd by challenging yourself to not only take the standard shots that everyone else will get but to find creative and fresh angles and perspectives to shoot from.

Read more on adding variety to your Digital Photography.

How-To-Hold-A-Digital-Camer-2Image by Darren Rowse
9. How would holding the camera in the other format change this shot?

Many photographers get into the habit of always holding their camera the same way (horizontally/landscape or vertically/portrait). While it’s OK to have a preference one way or the other it’s also worth remembering that changing the format can drastically change the impact of the shot. Don’t forget you can also hold your camera at an angle for an effective result too.

Diagonal-2Photo by A is for Angie
10. How will the eye travel through this image?

This is related to asking about focal points but gets in touch with the fact that while you’re photographing a still image your viewers eyes don’t remain still as they look at an image. People tend to follow lines and are attracted to shapes and colors so considering all of these different visual elements and cues can help improve your shots considerably. Read more on horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines and how they impact a shot.

Of course you probably won’t remember all the questions and you’re unlikely to go through each of them with every shot you take - however next time you head out with your digital camera concentrate on asking yourself at least one or two of them as you take your shots. As you do you’ll find that they become more automatic and in time you’ll naturally take digital photography shots that take into account all of these elements.

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/10-questions#ixzz0PUox8E90

 

[elmo]

3rd teknik

8 Tips for Mom-a-raz-zo Photographers

Learn how to photograph your kids with guest poster Elizabeth Halford - and become a be a Mom-a-raz-zo!

by Guest Contributor

n. pl. mom-a-raz-zi - A mom who doggedly pursues her children to take photos

Much like the paparazzi who have become notorious in Hollywood for stalking celebrities and making their lives miserable, I must confess that I belong to the growing community of parents who pursue, nay, stalk their children day in, day out, to take photographs. The thought of a single day, field trip or activity going undocumented simply does not bode well for me.

Photos of children are so vastly different from other types of photography. A photo of a child will always evoke emotion, no matter the quality, subject matter, composition - children are dear to every heart in some way or another so when I photograph them and approach a shot to edit, I handle each shot with sensitivity. Having taken about 30,000 photos in the past 7 years, it could be easy to become emotionless and robot-like in my approach to photography. Rather, I remain strongly connected and with deep emotion, particularly in regards to children.
Here are 8 tips I’d give any aspiring momarazzo to bump up your game:

{1. Point of View} Try a different point of view rather than the normal face-on photo. Wait until they’re doing something sweet and try a shot of what they are doing.

{2. Something to do} Hand them a toy or get them involved in an activity and wait until they’re engrossed before you start shooting.

{3. Back Off} Back up and zoom in. Children have a very good sense for when they’re being manipulated and as any parent knows, they hate to be controlled. Back up, get out of their space, zoom in and just wait.

{4. Cropping} When you crop a photo, give your subject a space to look into. If they’re facing or staring into a certain direction, give some space on that part of the photo to give the viewer a sense that they are present in the moment. It makes you wonder ‘what are they looking at?’ Don’t place your subject in the dead-center of a photo.

{5. Get sporty} Whether you use a point-and-shoot camera (the kind without changing lenses) or an SLR (the kind with changing lenses), I’ve found the sports mode the best for children. Kids move FAST and so to catch them in action requires a very fast shutter. Also on some cameras, the sports mode allows continuous shooting where you hold down the shutter button and it just snaps shot after shot in succession. Then you can pick the one that caught that perfect moment.

{6. Make them scream} Kids hate being forced to smile and quickly learn to just ’say cheese’. Tell them to scream or shout something like “NO!” or “PEE!” Anything is better than the ‘cheese face’ and shouting makes for interesting expressions.

{7. Get Down} Everyone knows that kids are little. Get down and shoot on their level. Don’t make them come up to yours. Get down on your knees or lay on your belly and see what the world looks like from there.

{8. Edit} Play with your photos. Every photo can be made a better with a bit of editing. Editing can consist of changing a photo to b&w, playing with colour levels or adding a glow (great for kids). More intensive editing can be things like texture layers, colour replacement, adding blur, selective colouring, etc. Professionals and pro-sumers use programs like Lightroom or Photoshop (you can get free trials from the Adobe website). I started out with Google’s Picasa (FREE!) program. You can download it and use to organise end edit your photos and even make slide shows to upload on YouTube or photo collages. There are quick and easy buttons to add a glow, transform the colour or bump up the saturation to make your colours more vibrant. Picasa is an excellent place to start if you want to experiment with editing your photos.

Most of all, have fun and make your own rules. Photography can be the most intensely enjoyable hobby for yourself and your fans. Get out there and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/8-tips-for-mom-a-raz-zo-photographers#ixzz0PUV4kEJz

Link nung site

good reading materials

 

[ninoi]

cool..
more, more,more

 

[elmo]

cool..
more, more,more

thanks ninoi!!
madami pa yan!

 

[achihj]

hehe big big help hehehe panalo!

 

[elmo]

hehe big big help hehehe panalo!

thanks achi..

gawin naten itong reference..

sarap tuloy gumawa ng isa pang thread para sa mga weekly/monthly assignments..

tignan naten kung ma cli click!!

 

[achihj]

TARA!!! mini school!! tpos 1 entry C&C!! para swabe! kso minority ako daq nkadslr! haha

 

[elmo]

TARA!!! mini school!! tpos 1 entry C&C!! para swabe! kso minority ako daq nkadslr! haha

walang limitation sa camera..SLR camera phone , Point and shoot, bridge,kahit anung pana pwede..

maganda yan..1 entry...IMHO mas ok talaga ung may C and C's..

constructive naman at ang goal naten is to get better photos, creative photos.

wooohh!!
excited na ako!!

 

[achihj]

GROUP NA TO! haha ok lng kahit kaunti atlist me nagtutulungan!

 

[elmo]

imagine...di na ka magbabayad sa magtuturo sa iyo sa pagkuha at pag gamit sa camera mo

tapos magiging creative at ma appeal ung shots mo..it is a win win situation..sana madami mag participate

 

[vaio]

Compliments Elmo for this thread this would be very helpful sa mga tulad naming mga naguumpisa palang sa photography hope you update this regularly and continue posting your pics on our Photography thread.


“X” Marks the Spot – Finding Backyard Photo Treasures

We’ve all heard stories of grand treasures being found by following the “X” on the treasure map, but how far do we have to travel from the comfort of our homes to uncover the treasure that is a wonderful photo opportunity? 100 miles? 1000 miles? Try 50 feet! I know what you’re thinking…50 feet from where my favorite slippers are isn’t exactly an exotic locale. But it can be just as rewarding!

There are many photo “treasures” to be found in our own backyards if we just take the time to explore them. I think many times it’s just a matter of not seeing the trees for the forest (yes, you heard me right). We walk outside and take in the whole scene without seeing what makes up our own little part of the world. Other times it may be that we just don’t think there are little hidden gems right outside our bedroom windows.

So how do we find these treasures? Here are a few tips that helped me when I first started exploring my yard…

1. Probably the biggest tip that’s helped me is to just stop and take a look around. “Smell the roses”, so to speak. Just because you’ve been outside doesn’t mean you’ve noticed everything that’s there. Which brings us to tip #2…

2. Pick a spot in your yard and look at everything within arms reach. Find something interesting? That’s your “X”…take a picture of it! You’ll be amazed at what you start to see if you just pick a spot and look around that one area.

3. Try to see your yard through a child’s eyes. Kids don’t analyze why they want to build that sand castle. They just do it because it’s fun and interesting to them.

4. Think small. Little things like a rusty door hinge, a lady bug on a leaf, or even an outdoor water faucet can make wonderful images. And all three of these things can be found outside most houses.

5. When you find your “X”, shoot it from different angles. Walk all the way around it if you can and see it from all sides. One subject can sometimes give you more than one great image.

6. And if you live in a city and don’t have any kind of yard? Go to the park. Most cities have at least a small park located near residential areas.


See, you don’t need an eye patch or a parrot on your shoulder in order to find those photo treasures (although they may make the hunt more fun!). All you really need is a willingness to stop and take a look around at the things you overlook every day. There are many little treasure maps to explore right outside your door. In fact, I recently “set sail” on my own backyard photo treasure hunting expedition and discovered the “treasures” you see below. So grab your camera, throw on your pirates cap (optional), and embark on your next great adventure…in your own backyard.

 

[xtiand]

Pa-subscribe po

 

[elmo]

aye aye captian bayo!!

thanks for adding more tips..no worries...endless ata ang oppurtunity for photography.

nadadagdagan na...makaka pag set up na tayo nito ng contest or something..

KEEP SHOOTING GUYS!!!

@xtiand

welcome and post pix sa photography thread naten..

 

[Jayson1287]

ang galing naman. . pero cp lang sa akin. sharp 904 pero da pinagmamalaki ko ang cam neto. 1day balik ako dito. .

 

[elmo]

ang galing naman. . pero cp lang sa akin. sharp 904 pero da pinagmamalaki ko ang cam neto. 1day balik ako dito. .

basta camera..regardless kung anung type..parehas lang naman ang gamit di ba..pang capture ng picture..

 

[jinsaru]

Wow! Thanks ng madami! Ngayon ko lang nalaman mga to

 

[elmo]

I'll start..gamitin naten ung 1st and pinaka gasgas na teknik

rule of thirds...
street photography

N73 camera phone

Flower photography

D40 camera

Pets

D40

Plants

N73
potrait

D40

now imagine kung dead center ung mga pix..for sure boring..o kaya..ok lang..pero since ginamitan naten ng rule or 3rds....mas ok!!
pwede mo sabihin..parang me iba..na ca capture ung eyes mo..at di sya nag co concentrate sa center ng frame..

guys use it! ang post some pix

 

[elmo]

moving on..Plan ko i cover ung mga basic terminology sa photography..

mahirap naman magbigay ng C&C's na di naman tayo familiar sa mga common terms..

ayt!!

I'll start sa pinaka basic...

EXPOSURE

Learning about Exposure - The Exposure Triangle
by Darren Rowse

Bryan Peterson ( idol ko ito)has written a book titled Understanding Exposure which is a highly recommended read if you’re wanting to venture out of the Auto mode on your digital camera and experiment with it’s manual settings.
In it Bryan illustrates the three main elements that need to be considered when playing around with exposure by calling them ‘the exposure triangle’.
Each of the three aspects of the triangle relate to light and how it enters and interacts with the camera.
The three elements are:
written a post on

ISO - the measure of a digital camera sensor’s sensitivity to light
Aperture - the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken
Shutter Speed - the amount of time that the shutter is open
It is at the intersection of these three elements that an image’s exposure is worked out.
Most importantly - a change in one of the elements will impact the others. This means that you can never really isolate just one of the elements alone but always need to have the others in the back of your mind.

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography#ixzz0PZPxo0Un


personal notes:

di ko na dinaanan ung actual term na photography

pero let me try

from wikipedia

Photography (pronounced /fәˈtɒɡrәfi/[1]) (from Greek φωτο and γραφία) is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving pictures by recording radiation on a sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or an electronic sensor. Light patterns reflected or emitted from objects activate a sensitive chemical or electronic sensor during a timed exposure, usually through a photographic lens in a device known as a camera that also stores the resulting information chemically or electronically. Photography has many uses for business, science, art and pleasure.


Lens and mounting of a large-format camera.

A historic camera: the Contax S of 1949 — the first pentaprism SLR.

Nikon F of 1959 — the first 35mm film system camera.

Late Production Minox B camera with later style "honeycomb" selenium light meter
The word "photography" comes from the Greek φώς (phos) "light" + γραφίς (graphis) "stylus", "paintbrush" or γραφή (graphê) "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light." Traditionally, the products of photography have been called negatives and photographs, commonly shortened to photos.

Function

The camera or camera obscura is the image-forming device, and photographic film or a silicon electronic image sensor is the sensing medium. The respective recording medium can be the film itself, or a digital electronic or magnetic memory.
Photographers control the camera and lens to "expose" the light recording material (such as film) to the required amount of light to form a "latent image" (on film) or "raw file" (in digital cameras) which, after appropriate processing, is converted to a usable image. Digital cameras replace film with an electronic image sensor based on light-sensitive electronics such as charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The resulting digital image is stored electronically, but can be reproduced on paper or film.

The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film. In contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, the movie camera takes a series of images, each called a "frame". This is accomplished through an intermittent mechanism. The frames are later played back in a movie projector at a specific speed, called the "frame rate" (number of frames per second). While viewing, a person's eyes and brain merge the separate pictures together to create the illusion of motion.[2]
In all but certain specialized cameras, the process of obtaining a usable exposure must involve the use, manually or automatically, of a few controls to ensure the photograph is clear, sharp and well illuminated.

link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography