Image by Ron Cardinale

I’ve walked the shore of this lagoon many times. On this morning, a storm was approaching from the Pacific. I had an idea of what to expect so I had my wide angle zoom with me and used it at 12mm for this shot. The luck part of it was being there at the right time to catch these dramatic clouds with unusually still water. I’d taken a few other shots around the lagoon that morning but I like this one the best because the clouds and their reflection appear to converge directly across the lagoon. Despite the calm conditions on the ground, the clouds were moving along so I didn’t have a lot of time. The converging pattern was vanishing and I could see that the clouds that were moving in weren’t as dramatic as these.

One issue with such a wide angle lens when shooting a scene with bright clouds is that the lens sees a lot of those clouds so the camera’s meter very often reduces the exposure and the shot ends-up too dark. In previous shots, I had increased the exposure but that caused the loss of too much highlight detail in the clouds. The clouds are a key part of the image so it was important to hold detail in them. For this shot, I used the camera’s normal metering. The exposure was 1/500 at f/8 with ISO 100.  The resulting image was dark but it held details in the clouds except right were the sun was.

I made some adjustments later at the computer. I made a quasi HDR photo from different processings of the single raw image and also made a curves adjustment. A real HDR image sequence wasn’t feasible in this situation because the clouds were moving and the water wasn’t completely still.   Have fun and keep shooting!
Read a little more from Ron Cardinale at http://roncardinale.110mb.com

Some people may argue that this shot is not justified because it was captured at a bird sanctuary — ‘cheating’ if you will. If a photographer gets a shot like this from a refuge, it’s far less of an achievement (because it’s easier) than it would be getting that shot in the bird’s natural surroundings.

On the flip side, others stand by the notion that being in a sanctuary/zoo does not guarantee great pictures. It just means better access and more opportunity to capture the beauty you are searching for.‚ You certainly still need to have skills and a good eye.

So who wins this argument? You tell me! See what others are saying in our photography forum.

Here’s 4 reasons why darkroom printing rocks;

1 — There’s that special ‘something’ that comes from doing the majority of the work with your own hands. It is far more satisfying to produce a print in the darkroom than by pressing the print button on your printer. Ask any good darkroom printer that has done both, they’ll tell ya. It’s true that darkroom printing takes longer and its precision is less accurate than digital; and yet it’s still more satisfying.
2 — Since everybody is going digital your work will stand out if you stay traditional.
3-‚ YOUR work will never be doomed to spending its life on a hard drive or on a few websites, you’ll always have beautiful prints to hold and show off.
4 — I have a sneaking suspicion that darkroom prints printed today will be more valuable than the same image printed digitally. Why? Because every darkroom print is somewhat unique and traditionally, unique items have more value than mass produced ones.

If you decide to set up a darkroom here’s a few things to be aware of. Before you start your darkroom make a floor plan of the room so you can more or less know how to layout the wet side and the dry side.‚ Will you be processing b&w and/or color? Colour printing is more complex (and requires a different enlarger) than b/w printing so it’s probably best to start with black and white. A good exhaust system is highly recommended as the chemicals you’ll use (unless you buy a processing machine) are toxic.

What’s great to know is that because everybody and their uncle has gone digital, there are amazing deals on used darkroom equipment. Ebay is your friend!So get your feet wet! Enjoy a getaway from the digital everyday…More on darkrooms here in our photography forum

Point and shoots (P&S) aren’t ideal for learning photography. In fact they are a bad choice. Why? Because you can’t do many important things on most point and shoots (like change lenses, learn to manually focus a lens, manually meter easily, change shutter speeds easily etc.) that are essential when learning photography.

But — for someone that already knows photography, a point and shoot is very convenient due to its way smaller size. Many photographers want to have a camera with them at all times because there are always photographic possibilities around us.

Would I ever bring a point and shoot to a paying gig?‚ Maybe as a 3rd emergency backup. The cliche about not bringing a knife to a gunfight holds true for paying gigs and cheap cameras. But when I’m not shooting, I want to relax without all the gear. I still need to carry protection (the P&S ) though, just in case.

Which point and shoot should you get?‚ There’s way too many out there to list. One that I have my eye on that seems like it may be tasty treat is the Canon PowerShot G11. It’s supposed to be out in October. Buying/ordering through the B&H link above helps support the site. Thx.

Tip one: Do not use a tripod unless you have a specific effect (e.g blur) in mind. It is likely going to limit your moving around and will take extra time to set up for each shot.

Tip two: If possible, shoot outside if you’re new to the game, or use great window light, it’s so much easier. Pay attention to clutter and distractions though. Be aware of what’s in the frame, what’s out of the frame, and make decisions on what to include or chop.

Tip Three:‚ Easier light to handle might be around sunset time or on a cloudy day with diffused light. A reflector like white cardboard can help if needed.

Tip Four: If you already know how to work with flash and/or are comfortable with your technique, feel free to shoot in a tattoo shop if you get the permission. You’ll likely get cool effects if you try slower shutter speeds on their own and/or mixed with flash.

You can find loads of fine tattoo photography in the gallery at vanishingtatoo.com

A CPOL (circular polarizing filter) can be used any time you’re in the outdoors, especially in the bright sun. It reduces reflections, and deepens/saturates colors like a blue sky. In bright sun,‚ you’ll often get skies that are blown out if you don’t use this filter. It makes the sky much bluer and richer looking in many cases without really affecting the other tones in the image. You will note the greatest results when the sun is low in the sky (so early morning and later afternoon/evening). The CPOL will not help your color and saturation much on overcast days, or when the sun is high in the sky.

For more information on this amazing little gadget, including a little insight into the ‘rule of thumb’ when using a CPOL, visit this link on polarizers in our photography forum

Here’s a link from B&H where you can look at or purchase different polarizers.
Buying from this link helps support our site.

These days, photographing children raises a red flag for many people and some photographers steer clear away from them. There may be a sense of ‘intrusion’ into the lives of these children, and photographing them may just not feel right. There is also the perceived risk that someone may call the authorities suggesting that the photographs are being taken for sexually motivated reasons. Other photographers that photograph children do so in order to show the true beauty and innocence of who children are. They don’t care about perceived risks as they know that the photographs they take are artful and ethical. Completely different sides of the story, right?

Another interesting choice of subject to some photographers are street scenes — capturing the beauty of surroundings with people passing by. No wrong doing right? Well again, to some photographers, there is a sense of discomfort in shooting complete strangers without getting their permission first. Other photographers that know their rights (it’s legal to photograph anyone in a public place) have no issue with the ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ policy.

There are many interesting subjects to shoot, and which is right depends on the photographer’s preference, taste, and comfort zone. What subject matter are YOU uncomfortable shooting and why?

For more on this subject, check out the Photography subjects — off limits thread in our photography forum.

There’s also something to be said for the “who gives a crap attitude”. Just because these types of shots are commonly shot, does that mean you should not shoot them? I mean are you NOT going to shoot the Eiffel tower or the Taj Mahal or a sea of red tulips just because they are commonly shot? You’re going to shoot them because these are YOUR shots.

If you absolutely adore these types of shots, but feel as if they are all too commonly done, challenge yourself. Be as creative as you can with the shot and it will be sure to stand out among the rest.

For more on this subject, visit our photo forum: http://www.photography.ca/Forums/showthread.php?t=4202

Along with a high shutter speed for moving objects, and good depth of field, the quality of your lens has a lot to do with image sharpness. Shutter-speed may affect the sharpness of your image if you get to a point where you’re too slow to hand-hold. In general though, most digital images need a tweak in sharpening. A digital photo that was shot with a good depth of field and a high shutter speed will normally be blurrier‚ than the same image shot from a film camera. To go about sharpening, photoshop (or Gimp) have tools (like unsharp mask and smart sharpen) to help you make your images nice and crisp
For more information on keeping your images crispy.. err.. crisp, read more check out this link on our photography forum and this link to a podcast on getting sharper images.

The simple solution to this is buy a lens hood. They are inexpensive and they help prevent stray light from entering your lens. Many pros keep them on their lenses 100% of the time, even at night, since city lights and car lights can cause flare.

You could use your hand to block the light of course… it is certainly a cheaper alternative! But for the long run, the lens hood will be quite beneficial in both protecting your lens (from the wild party happening next to you) and in producing shots without the ‘unwanted’ flare.

Check out this link in our photography forum for more information or to comment on this topic.

Image by Marko Kulik

This is a fun way to experiment with your camera and lighting, and can produce some fabulous results. Best thing? You don’t need to have much‚patience for it! 20–30 minutes is all you need and you’ll get a nice handful of shots.‚Nice idea when doing this type of exercise is to wear black clothing… otherwise you may become the focal point of your shoot!

For some tips and examples check the link in our photography forum
You can also take a listen to our painting with light podcast

Quality is certainly not compromised whether or not you purchase a ‘brand name’ versus a ‘no name’ memory card — if the card works, chances are you have purchased a fine card which will hold those priceless moments for you.

And what about size… does it really matter? 2GB, 4GB, 8GB… it’s all a matter of preference. But a great tip for those who shoot events would be to buy a few smaller memory cards (4 GB) in case something ‘should’ happen to one card, you know you have a few other cards that your shots are on. Now that’s safe thinking! FORUM LINK:‚ http://www.photography.ca/Forums/showthread.php?t=2522

An external flash gives you far more control over how you want the scene lit — the built in flash on your camera is usually only good enough to light a subject from a short distance and the light from the flash can only be used from one plane. This is another area where an external flash shines

External flashes can be taken off camera. This allows the photographer to creatively light a subject from different angles. You’ll need a way to trigger the flash and there are several good methods depending on your budget. The cheapest way (20 bucks or less) is with a sync cord but a better way is a wireless triggering system like the Pocket Wizard.

So if your budget can cope, an external flash is a prime investment and a stepping stone to getting you closer to the ‘advanced photographer’ status. For additional info check this link from our photography forum.

Shutter speeds that are too slow for some shots such as moving targets, will not produce the sharpness you are looking for if you are looking to ‘freeze’ the action. Moving targets require faster shutter speeds. Generally though, for objects that are not moving, the rule of thumb is 1/focal length of the lens as the slowest shutter speed to use while hand holding a camera. This means that if you have a 200mm lens the SLOWEST handheld‚ shutter speed you need on any subject is 1/200. Choosing a speed slower than that introduces the photographer’s own movement into the image and sharpness is sacrificed. Generally following this rule will give you favorable results. Practicing at different shutter speeds will give you a good grasp on things; so practice, practice, practice. While you’re practicing, slap the lens on a tripod and shoot some text on a newspaper pasted to your wall at different apertures. Use a cable release. Now you can gauge the sharpness of that lens you were questioning!

For more info on this topic click the link to our Photography forum

A nice idea is to place a simple border around the photo, and have your signature and the photo’s title 1/8 of an inch below the photo. If not opting for a border, another idea would be to keep it ‘clean’ by placing a signature in the bottom right corner of the photo itself. Keep in mind though that‚you want to keep the photo clear and not have your signature or border disrupt elements in the photo.

Some photographers choose to sell their photos with mats already attached, and sometimes they sign the matting and not the image. This seems silly IMO; after all the photographer created the image not the matting so why sign the matting? Also, the matting can be separated from the print and so the signature or logo can get ‘lost’.

Some clients however prefer not to have a border/signature/title ‘disrupting’ their photo. In cases as such, you may want to confirm with your client first prior to printing. As an alternate way to sign your prints, a stamp with your logo/signature on the back of the print may be a nice final touch.

For more info, feel free to check out the link on our photography forum.

A nice idea is to place a simple border around the photo, and have your signature and the photo’s title 1/8 of an inch below the photo. If not opting for a border, another idea would be to keep it ‘clean’ by placing a signature in the bottom right corner of the photo itself. Keep in mind though that you want to keep the photo clear and not have your signature or border disrupt elements in the photo.

Some photographers choose to sell their photos with mats already attached, and sometimes they sign the matting and not the image. This seems silly IMO; after all the photographer created the image not the matting so why sign the matting? Also, the matting can be separated from the print and so the signature or logo can get ‘lost’.

Some clients however prefer not to have a border/signature/title ‘disrupting’ their photo. In cases as such, you may want to confirm with your client first prior to printing. As an alternate way to sign your prints, a stamp with your logo/signature on the back of the print may be a nice final touch.

For more info, feel free to check out the link on our photography forum.

A filter is not only used to‚protect against every day use. UV filters offer protection against UV rays that may damage our lenses, and Skylight filters reduce the haze and clarify the photo. But really, are these truly necessary? Many photographers suggest that they have no noticeable effect in most circumstances. Lenses are made so strong today, that the question remains…“To use a filter, or not to use a filter?”

Feel free to add your comments here or join our photography forum and add to the conversation. Here’s a link to the topic in the photography forum.

When comparing pro lenses to the ‘cheaper’ lenses, the higher priced lenses deliver better quality for the most part. Depending on the lens you might also get expedited auto-focus, sharper images and less chromatic aberration.‚ Perhaps the biggest advantage though is with regard to aperture. More expensive lenses are often faster. This means that their largest F-stop (smallest number eg. F1.8, F2.0, F2.8 etc) is usually larger than cheaper lenses. Remember, the larger the aperture, the more room you have to use a faster shutter speed. In addition, the larger the lens’s aperture, the easier it is to shoot in lower light because when you look through the viewfinder you are looking at a scene through the lens’s largest aperture. If a lens has a max aperture of F2.8, any scene you look at through your viewfinder will look BRIGHTER than if the lens’s widest aperture was F4.0. It makes no difference what F-stop you use during the actual exposure. This doesn’t make a difference in bright sunlight, but in makes a huge difference in low light where it is easier to focus if the viewfinder is brighter. On the negative side, higher priced lenses with larger apertures will often‚ buy you significantly more ‘weight’ as well.

When comparing the results of pro lenses to the ‘mid-range’ priced lenses (pro-consumer level), there doesn’t seem to be a noticeable difference to many advanced photographers so long as the images are kept small. This is especially true if the images are for Internet use only.

If you’re still skeptical and want to test the waters yourself, you can always take the same picture using two different lenses to prove a point. Or, an easier route is to search the web for someone who’s already taken the time to do it — much easier!

As a final point, when people (photography newbies/hobbyists) ask me what camera to buy, they never ask about lenses which is a monster mistake. I ALWAYS council newbies/hobbyists to spend MORE on the lenses than the camera, especially the first ‘expensive’ camera. This is because the camera is just a box with a flap to let light in. The LENS does all the focusing so a poor lens on an expensive camera will give you a poor result. A great lens on an average camera will give you a great result (in the right hands of course )
When you’re just learning though you can easily learn on a used or lower end DSLR that you’ll surely replace as technology changes. The lenses though, you can keep those for decades. Trust me, spend the dough on the lenses.

Check out the link in our photography forum for more info.

But if this is not possible, Photoshop can help you achieve that ‘near perfect’ shoe shot by extracting it from the background. Photoshop’s selection tools work well to get the job done. The quick selection tool is great for simple extractions. The background eraser is another great tool. Although many people loved the extract tool in Photoshop CS3, it’s missing from CS4. (If you loved it and still have CS3, you can copy it from the CS3 Plug-ins-Filters folder to CS4).‚ But depending on the subject, these tools may miss out on some of the finer details like a model with frizzy hair. In cases like these, manually tracing the edges with the pen tool and then converting it to a selection is ideal. Tedious yes, but it will give you optimal results.

Pluggins are also available for removing backgrounds if you’re up for the expense.
Who knew shoes could be so technical?!
Link from our Photography forum

But if this is not possible, Photoshop can help you achieve that ‘near perfect’ shoe shot by extracting it from the background. Photoshop’s selection tools work well to get the job done. The quick selection tool is great for simple extractions. The background eraser is another great tool. Although many people loved the extract tool in Photoshop CS3, it’s missing from CS4. (If you loved it and still have CS3, you can copy it from the CS3 Plug-ins-Filters folder to CS4).  But depending on the subject, these tools may miss out on some of the finer details like a model with frizzy hair. In cases like these, manually tracing the edges with the pen tool and then converting it to a selection is ideal. Tedious yes, but it will give you optimal results.

Pluggins are also available for removing backgrounds if you’re up for the expense.
Who knew shoes could be so technical?!
Link from our Photography forum

The ‘Rule of Thirds’ is used regularly by most advanced photographers. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts (like a tick tack toe board) by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. The shot above is a good example. Most newbies would have placed the model dead center in this image. The image works much better compositionally  with the model to to right of center on one of the lines with the yellow dot. Play with this ‘rule’ for yourself just to test it out.

Depth of Field (otherwise known as DOF), is the area from the foreground to the background within your photo that is in focus. A narrow DOF (F-2.0 or F-2.8 for example) will allow the main subject of your photo in be in focus while the background is blurred. A wider DOF allows one’s eyes to wander over the whole image as there are more details that are in focus.

Other ‘rules’ to consider include leading lines, framing, foreground interest and more.

Original link from our Photography forum

The ‘Rule of Thirds’ is used regularly by most advanced photographers. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts (like a tick tack toe board) by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. The shot above is a good example. Most newbies would have placed the model dead center in this image. The image works much better compositionally‚ with the model to to right of center on one of the lines with the yellow dot. Play with this ‘rule’ for yourself just to test it out.

Depth of Field (otherwise known as DOF), is the area from the foreground to the background within your photo that is in focus. A narrow DOF (F-2.0 or F-2.8 for example) will allow the main subject of your photo in be in focus while the background is blurred. A wider DOF allows one’s eyes to wander over the whole image as there are more details that are in focus.

Other ‘rules’ to consider include leading lines, framing, foreground interest and more.

Original link from our Photography forum

Venus and Cupid by Marko Kulik — This image was printed in the darkroom and then toned in a sepia bath to get this rich brown colour.

Many digital cameras now offer you the option of taking the image in sepia (and other tones as well like blue, red, green etc.) This is quick and efficient for immediate results. It does have it’s limitations though, like losing all of the colour information in the image. This is why most photographers like to ‘play around’ with their photo in photoshop.

Photoshop not only allows the option of converting to sepia, but it further allows a whole range of brown/orange tones to choose from. Some artists prefer a more muted sepia, while others prefer it to appear more drastic. Either way, there is really a vast array of tones to choose from.

Whatever the method, just make sure of one thing — save an original copy of your photo just in case you decide that sepia wasn’t for you after all.

Here’s the link from our Photography forum

Many newbie photographers steer clear away from Manual mode, and Opt for Automatic mode instead.‚ Full ‘Auto’ mode chooses everything from your ISO, to your shutter speed and aperture including whether or not a flash should be used. So really, it gives you a safety net to assure you can grab that shot without muffing it up. That said, the shot you end up with is based on the CAMERA’s choices not the photographer’s choices.

Manual mode however allows you to set both your aperture and shutter speed separately, without the camera automatically changing the other to suit. With this in mind, you can be more creative with your shots, and in turn, you can better understand how to get that perfect shot.

Manual mode seems to take more time then, right? Right.

But as a result, it forces you to THINK about your subject at hand, learn about light, shutter speed, depth of field and work at perfecting your shot and your craft.

PHOTOGRAPHY FORUM LINK

~ Watch which way your lighting is coming in and check the quality of the light. Softer diffused light is a much better light for flattering portraits than harsh direct light. Although backlight is amazing for dramatic interesting portraits, it’s harder to work with especially for someone newer to photography. Using front light, sidelight, and 3/4 light along with fill light from a secondary flash‚ or reflector will bring your portrait skills up a notch.
~ Adjust your aperture so that the background blurs out a bit and more focus is placed on your subject.
~ Alter your perspective by taking the shot from a different angle rather than eye level. This can really change the ‘wow’ factor of your photo.
~‚ Play with eye contact — it does wonders to a photograph when your subject’s focus is on something else.

Shooting the perfect portrait may seem daunting, but keeping useful tips in mind when doing so will make portrait photography a ‘snap’.

More tips can be found at: http://www.photography.ca/Forums/showthread.php?t=2393

Some might feel that borders are distracting to the visual elements in the photo. A border can further destroy a photo if it’s too overwhelming to the subject at hand.

Others can’t do without the borders; they serve to help make the photo ‘pop’, make the photo a tad more elegant, or depending on the color and context of the photo, can also complement the elements in the photograph.

Just as every photographer has their own tastes in their photo subjects, they also have their own opinions on borders as a creative element. Essentially, it’s all up to the artist and how they feel their creativity should be displayed.

PHOTO FORUM LINK: http://www.photography.ca/Forums/showthread.php?t=3049

Let’s start with PPI. Pixels per Inch. This will affect the print size of your photo and will in turn affect the quality of the output. If there are too few pixels per inch, then the pixels will be very large and you will get a very pixilated image, thus affecting the quality of the output. There are 2 ways that you can change the print size, by resampling or by not resampling. Not resampling is what you generally want to do; this will only change the size of the print out. Using resampling will actually change the number of pixels (and thus the file size) in order to match the print size.

DPI on the other hand refers only to the printer — Dots per Inch. Every pixel output is made up of different colors of ink (generally 4 or 6 colors — depending on your printer). Due to the small amount of colors available, the printer needs to be able to mix these inks to make up all the colors of the image. So each pixel of the image is created by a series of tiny dots. A high DPI printer has more dots making up each pixel, and thus a higher and better quality image output. Vice versa for a lower quality DPI printer.

People often use the terms of DPI and PPI as one common one, which is really not the case. They are both different, and thus should be used as so.

PHOTOGRAPHY FORUM LINK: http://www.photography.ca/Forums/showthread.php?p=11200

Well,‚ Art has different meanings for different people and there is no one answer for this issue. Think about it… have you ever been to a museum and seen a canvas completely painted in indigo blue? This is top of the line art according to avid artists. To others, this is simply a waste of paint and canvas. Or how about those early black & white nudes, otherwise known as “early porn”. Time managed to somehow evolve these photos into art. Or let us reflect on thousands of years back, when the cavemen wrote on the cave walls to communicate and tell a story. Today, these drawings are etched in all art historiansž minds as the works of masters.

So truly, art and beauty is in the eye of the beholder and according to Edward Degas: “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see”.

Obviously the ‘artist’ of this photo wanted us to see something… A LOT of something.

FORUM LINK: http://www.photography.ca/Forums/showthread.php?t=570

Photoshop provides numerous methods to master the vignette. Want some insight? You can use an elliptical marquee tool, inverse the selection, and blur the four corners. You can also brighten or darken the four corners by working with the level balance on the inversed selection. Lens correction (Filter ‚” Distort) also works well for adding a vignette. These are only two methods, but there are certainly more.

But what about those who prefer working in a darkroom to achieve their artistic photo effects? In the darkroom, this is done by holding an opaque material with a circle or oval cut-out during the exposure.

Either way, a vignette can add drama or even soften a photograph all at once. The possibilities are endless.

FORUM LINK: http://www.photography.ca/Forums/showthread.php?p=17647

The higher the ISO when taking photographs with your SLR, the more noise it creates. So all of the efforts we make trying to tweak and adjust our cameras for that perfect lighting, counteracts with the clarity of the photograph.

Thus, here is our plea to the camera manufacturers: We have sufficient mega pixels, we certainly don’t need more (Since that is what seems camera manufacturers are giving us nowadays‚¦). Instead why not give us better low light/noise performance?

It should be noted that some photographers, especially fine art photographers, can use noise to their advantage in order to create a certain feel. For the most part though, most photographers hate noise.

Photography forum link: http://www.photography.ca/Forums/showthread.php?t=1916