Photography Tips of The Week

10 Efficiency Tips for Digital Photographers (Part 2)

6. Shoot in RAW. The best way to capture all the range of colors and details of your subject is to shoot it in RAW file, not compressed jpg. It may be heavy on your memory cards and hard disks, but it gives a better result, if not best, out of your images. Unlike jpg, which are already compressed, the full color spectrum and the wide range of details and textures are still intact in your RAW files. So it's more vibrant and sharp. 

Of course, with RAW files, you may need a higher capacity memory cards and a software to open and process them. I use Lightroom 3 to edit my RAW images, but you can also use Photoshop (CS4-5), Aperture, and Digital Photo Professional (DPP) which is included in your camera installer CD. With RAW files, editing your photos is much easier and safer than jpg, with less risk of damaging your image and pixels.


7. Tell a Story. We all know that a photograph should tell a story, or evoke emotions from the viewer. Although we may not be able to achieve that in every shot that we take, we can still show it by simply framing our photos in the right progressive way. You can aim at telling the story by taking various shots of the subject and try to include the background or scene relevant to your story. Take wide angle shots, medium shots, vertical and horizontal shots, and close ups (shoot closer and look for details). In that way, you can tell the whole story in the collective of frames and images.


8. Find your Light. Photography is all about Light. Photographs are created with recorded light rays. The quality of our photos depends on how we choose, manipulate, control or exploit that light. It is what sets the moods and manifestations of our photographs. So be very careful in using it. Understanding your light and it's source is very essential in creating your masterpieces. (This topic is wide and more complexed, so we'll just discuss it further later)

                           
If you're using natural light (sun), take advantage of the most convenient time of day to shoot. That is, 7-9 in the morning and 3-5 in the afternoon, where the sun's light is softer and angled low. If by chance you're shooting at midday where the light is harsh and above your subject, you can either use a diffuser and/or reflector, or simply put your subject on a shade. You can also position your subject where the light would be either on their side or at the back. Just add a fill light (flash or otherwise) or reflector to control the shadow and bring more light to your subject.


9. Keep your Focus. The quality of a photograph is based not only on its lighting and composition, but also on its focus. The viewer's eyes should be easily led to the subject and must be drawn into it much longer with its clarity and substance. That is to say, the focus on the subject must not only be compositional, but also technical. Sharpness and clarity aside, if your main subject is out of focus, then it doesn't qualify to be as such. It only makes it a part of the photograph.

There are means to achieve better focus with your cameras. The most efficient features are the AF focus and the AE lock. What I normally do, is set my AF focus to spot (single AF point) when shooting portrait, close up or macro, and architecture. Multiple AF focus when shooting landscapes and group shots. With the help of AE lock, I would first focus on my subject, shutter half-pressed, before re-composing my image. In doing so, proper focus and exposure are centered on my subject regardless of where they may be positioned in my photograph. (will also discuss selective focusing next time)

Aside from the AF focus and AE lock, it also helps to understand the metering modes of your camera. To compliment the AF focus in my exposures, I also use spot metering for my portraits and macros, and average metering on landscapes, architecture and group shots.


10. Back Up your Files! I had a very painful experience with this. I lost my 2009 & 2010 files when my 1 TB broke down. I'm still in the process of recovering them, and it doesn't look very promising. The most unfortunate thing is, 3 of my wedding coverages were also there, and it's been getting harder to explain and make excuses with the clients on when they can have their wedding photos. (arrggghhh!!!)

So learn from my experience, and don't just take my word for it. Just do it!. Right now, I maintain 2 separate hard disks for my files. The original files straight from the camera are saved on a 1TB, and the edited or processed photos and albums on a separate 500gb. Better protect your original files, they are more valubale than the edited ones.

While you're at it, try to manage your files, too. Separate your files in folders or albums. My set up is like this;

1. Original Files (RAW) on a separate HDD, sorted by date.
2. Photography Folder >
    a. Albums>
        >  Macro>
               >(Date or Location)>
                      > 1_Small    (reduced photos for posting)
                      > 2_Large    (hi-res large files, processed in Photoshop)
                      > 3_Raw      (original RAW file from camera or DPP)
                      > 4_Lightroom  (TIFF files processed in lightroom, before editing in Photoshop)

You can create your own filing system, what's important is to manage your files for easy access and storage.

Thanks a lot for the visits! Feel free to leave your comments and or suggestions. See you again for more basic Photography Tips next week!