Photography Tips of The Week #4

BETTER COMPOSITION & FRAMING

PART 1 : RULE OF THIRDS

Just like any other form of visual arts like painting, architecture and even on film, photography also rely on a good composition or framing to better translate the thoughts of the author into the minds of the viewer or spectator. Composition in photography is a very broad subject, but nonetheless, still follows the same methods or rules as in any art to achieve a better quality. Elements such as light & shadows, colors, textures, shapes & forms, and even dimensions help us to create a better composition for our photographs.

 

Composition is the combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole. In photography that thought is very important in taking good pictures. The following guidelines are just to be thought about though, it is not necessary to try to use them with every picture you take or there wouldn't be any creativity in your work. Once you learn these rules and strategies you will be more prepared to find great picture spots and opportunities.

Framing is the tactic of using natural surroundings to add more meaning to your subject. It could be anything such as bushes, trees, a window, or even a drift wood like in the picture above. In the process of doing this you need to be careful that you don't only focus on what's framing your subject. Make sure you focus on the main subject, and also it is a good idea to use a narrow aperture (high f/stop) to achieve a high depth-of-field. It also wouldn't hurt if the part of the picture framing the subject was darker or lighter so make sure you take your light reading on the main subject.

For years, photographers followed and created a number of rules or ideals in their composition. Below are few samples of those rules. There would be a lot of interpretations by different photographers on each of these rules.  So it would still be best just to gather all versions that you can, and then derive from them your own.

Here are from my own thoughts and works… 

THE RULE OF THIRDS

The Rule of Thirds has been used for centuries and is probably the most important of all the composition techniques. The Rule of Thirds means that the frame can be divided into three horizontal sections and three vertical sections and therefore, where the horizontal and vertical lines intersect makes an ideal location for the more important parts of your picture. By locating your main subject at one of the four intersections you give the subject more emphasis than if it was right smack in the middle of the picture. This is also a good technique if you have more than one important subject, the intersections can still work even if there's a subject or more than one. The divisions can also be helpful in setting up a picture, they can for example, help you determine how much horizon you want. Most famous photographs or paintings in the world today have the rule of thirds applied to them in some way.

As I have explained on my the workshops, the reason for having this rule is not just because of the positioning of your subject, but mostly on how the eye of the viewer should be directed in the photograph. There must be a single directionality for the flow.

It is you that should command that flow, in the way you would want the viewer’s eyes to travel along your image, and the way you would want to narrate your story.

Photography Tips of The Week #3

UNDERSTANDING YOUR LENS

I have promised somebody that I would give tips for shooting landscapes this week. But I just thought that, maybe, it would be better to start with the basics and fundamentals before venturing into the major topics. In this way, other beginners in photography might understand better and will be more prepared. Landscape Photography is very complex and it's going to be a very long topic, so let's just take it slow. I think it would be best to identify first the different tools and gears needed for this type of photography, and understand their uses and benefits.

I found this article in www.dpmag.com by William Sawalich regarding focal lengths, and decided to start with it. I will just make some minor adjustments to make it simpler and more comprehensible. The original article is very technical for laymen and beginners in photography.

Focal Lengths. Camera lenses can be broken down into three (3) broad groups: Wide Angle, Standard (normal) and Long-focus (telephoto). Focal lengths assigned to each lens group is dictated by the camera Format (film,or sensors in digital). The Focal Length of the lens is the measurement in millimeters of the distance from the optical center of a lens to the point at which its image is focused (located on the sensor or film if the subject, at infinity, is "in focus"). The camera lens projects part of the scene onto the film or sensor. The field of view (FOV) is determined by the angle of view from the lens out to the scene and can be measured horizontally or vertically. Larger sensors or films have wider FOVs and can capture more of the scene (see full frame and cropped sensors below). The longer the distance, the longer the lens (telephoto).The shorter that distance, the shorter its focal length, thus the lens (wide angle). 

The focal length of standard lens is approximately equal to the length of the diagonal of the format's image size. For a 35mm film camera, the diagonal of the negative size measures 50mm, so a lens with 50-55mm focal length is considered standard, and an 80mm lens is a moderate telephoto. However, the diagonal of a 6x6cm negative measures approximately 80mm, so an 80mm lens is a standard in a medium-format camera. As the dimensions of the sensors used by digital cameras varies so much from model to model, the focal length is usually quoted as if for the 35mm film format.




A full-frame digital sensor is equivalent in size to a 35mm film frame, making this the standard focal length baseline that today’s lenses are measured against. A cropped sensor, 1.6 or 1.5, have smaller digital sensor and thus, smaller formats. You need to be aware that the focal lengths expressed on the lenses must be multiplied by a factor. That factor, the Focal Length Multiplier, depends on the image sensor size used (cropped factor). Of course, if the image sensor is full-frame, i.e. it is the same size as 35mm film, then the multiplier is 1, and the focal length of the lens is accurate. However, only a few dSLRs use a full-frame image sensor , with most using a smaller image sensor, usually APS size (or roughly half-frame). 

The effect that a smaller sensor has on a lens of a given focal length is called a crop factor or magnification factor. This is because a smaller sensor produces a similar effect to cropping a larger sensor—effectively magnifying the image.That's why you'll read that a focal length multiplier of, say, 1.6 needs to be applied to the focal length of the lens to obtain the true focal length. For Example, a 10mm wide angle that seems unbelievably short, but in “equivalent” terms, they’re much more akin to more familiar focal lengths, like a 17mm lens that is the equivalent to a 28mm lens in 35mm film format.
So, suppose your dSLR has a Focal Length Multiplier of 1.6 and you use a 50mm lens with it, the actual focal length of the lens when used with your dSLR is 1.6 x 50mm = 80mm. This is both good and bad. The good news is that you can now get super telephoto focal lengths on your dSLR without buying costly and unwieldly dedicated lenses. For example, a 100-300mm zoom lens, with a focal length multiplier of 1.6, becomes approx. 160-480mm. The bad news is, of course, that super wide-angle lenses are equally affected and a 28mm lens becomes a 45mm lens. One solution is to buy a smaller focal length lens which, when factored up by 1.6, becomes equivalent to your desired lens. Say, a 10-22mm wide angle lens in cropped sensor dSLR, becomes 16-35mm in equivalent full frame sensor. A normal wide angle lens best fitted for landscape photography.

Angle of View.Lenses have various classifications based on focal length and the field of view they provide. A wide-angle lens provides a much greater field of view, and is generally considered to be any lens 40mm or shorter (again, in full frame equivalent terms). A normal lens—on a full frame DSLR—is the distinction given to any lens that ranges roughly from 40mm to 65mm or so. These lenses are “normal” because they provide an angle of view that approximates that of the human eye. Telephoto lenses on full-frame cameras usually are lenses longer than 70mm, and they range upwards of 300, 600 and even 1000mm. The longer the telephoto, the narrower the angle of view and the greater the magnifying power it provides. That’s why wildlife and sports photographers so often use 600mm and longer telephotos. Most amateur users, though, tend to top out around 300mm lenses for most uses.



Some lenses are called prime lenses, which means they have a fixed focal length. Other lenses are zoom lenses, so they can be adjusted across a range of focal lengths. Some zooms fit within a particular classification, such as wide-angle zoom, normal zoom or telephoto zoom. Many lenses actually zoom from wide to normal, or normal to telephoto. Extreme zoom lenses actually encompass all these qualities in a single lens—say a wide-angle 30mm lens that can zoom all the way to a 300mm telephoto. These extreme zoom lenses are prized for their portability since they offer such a wide range of focal lengths in a single package. The downside is that some extreme zooms are more prone to vignetting and chromatic aberrations when used with wide apertures and zoomed to the extremes.

Photographers shopping for point-and-shoot or compact cameras often encounter zoom lens descriptors such as 2X, 3X or 10X. This isn’t actually a representation of the precise focal length of a lens, but rather the zoom range that lens covers. A 2X lens, for example, doubles its focal length from its widest to its longest setting—as in a 35-70mm lens. A 3X zoom triples the focal length (like 35-105), and a 10X zoom multiplies it by a whopping factor of ten (as in a 35-350mm lens). The bigger the X factor, the larger the range of focal lengths covered by a lens. Remember though, just because two lenses offer 2X zooms doesn’t mean the lenses have the same focal length. For that, you’ll have to compare actual millimeter measurements in 35mm equivalent terms.

The longer the focal length of a lens, the more difficult that lens will be to handhold. This is true not only because longer lenses tend to be physically longer and heavier than wide-angle lenses, but also because subtle vibrations and camera shakes are amplified dramatically when using a telephoto lens. A good rule of thumb is to use a minimum shutter speed equivalent to the focal length—for example, when handholding a 500mm telephoto lens, be sure to set the shutter speed no slower than 1/500th of a second. The benefit of new lenses today is the extra feature added by the manufacturers dedicated to counter this kind of problem. The Image Stabilizer (IS) of Canon, the Vibration Reduction (VR) by Nikon, Optical Stabilizer (OS) by sigma, and others. They are extra motors inside the lens to counter camera shakes and other vibrations.

Just take note, that, when shooting while the camera is mounted on a tripod, monopod or any other sturdy objects, make sure to turn off the IS/VR modes of your lens to stop it’s motor from moving or reacting. Using a tripod to avoid movements or camera shakes will be of no use if your lens is still vibrating on its own.

Magnification.Some lens designations mean that even though the focal length may be the same, the lens won’t perform the same. A macro lens, for instance, can focus extremely close, allowing for great magnification of small objects and fine details. One 100mm lens may be designated macro, while another is not. You’re bound to pay a premium for the added capabilities, but if making big photos of little objects is important to you, it’s well worth the investment. 

Accessories and Adjustments.Many photographers utilize special devices to change the effective focal length, or at least the performance, of a lens. Teleconverters are popular among wildlife photographers and those who want to double or triple their lens’ focal length (with a 2X or 3X teleconverter) without carrying an additional, and often quite expensive, supertelephoto lens. Extension tubes are a similar device, but rather than changing the lens’ effective focal length they simply change the focusing range—making a lens focus much closer and behave more like a macro lens would. Like macro lenses, extension tubes are used to allow close focusing are ideal for flower photography and other close-up uses.

The downside with both extension tubes and teleconverters is that each requires a sacrifice in available maximum aperture—often as much as two full stops that turn an ƒ/2 lens into an ƒ/5.6. It’s worth it, though, if you’re working at smaller apertures, with flash or if you simply need the close focusing or telephoto extension effect.

Hyperfocal Distance .One great way to maximize the effect of focus and sharpness in your images is by understanding the Hyperfocal Distance of your lens. The hyperfocal distance is basically a point in which your focus and everything from that point to infinity will be sharp. Different lens, either prime or with varying focal lengths, have different corresponding hyperfocal distance. Mastering this can make outstanding landscapes with really sharp image all throughout the frame.

 






















Hyperfocal Focus distance is basically the focus distance for any given camera, lens, and settings that maximizes the apparent focus distance while including infinity at the far end. Normally you carry a table of hyperfocal values with you and just set what it says as focus distance for the lens and aperture settings you're using. Do so and everything from about half the hyperfocal distance to infinity is "in focus." Since a lens can only focus one distance at a time, hyperfocal focus depends upon the blur circle that is created by things in front or behind the focus distance to be small enough that we still detect it as a "point." 

Photography Tips of The Week #2

Selective Focus and Depth of Field

 
There are many ways to make your subject stand out in your photographs. You can use contrasting colors, textures, dimensions, change your view point, or you can just simply separate it from the background with selective focusing. Selective focus is a process of carefully controling the camera focus on your subject alone and completely ignoring or blurring the background. It's a creative manipulation of the Depth of Field in your photographs.

Depth of Field, for those who are not yet familiar, is the focal zoning from the foreground to the background, that indicates the sharpness of the subject(s) in your frame. It can be controlled with these three (3) factors, the aperture, the distance of your camera to the subject and the focal length of the lens. Through the aperture control, using a bigger opening (f-stop, ex. f/1.2 - f/2.8) can create a "Shallow Depth of Field", wherein, only the object of your focus remains sharp, and the rest of the background is blurred. While using a smaller opening (ex. f/8 - f/22) can result to a "Deep Depth of Field" wherein, the majority in the image from foreground to the background, is sharp. 



The distance between your camera and the subject can also determine your depth of field. If you stand closer to the subject, your focus will be concentrated more on it than the background, creating a shallow DoF. If you want a sharper image, move a little back from your subject to increase your DoF. 
  
Likewise, if you use a longer focal length, like telephotos and zooms (ex. 100mm above), the area in your focus is "compressed", thus, isolating your subject from the background. But it is not always the case, it still depends on your settings and distance of focus. Results  may vary with different lens and focal lengths. For example, a small f-stop (f/11) on a 35-70mm zoom lens, set on 35mm and focused on a 9 feet distance, can result to a Deep DoF with a sharp image from 6-20ft. On the other hand, with the same f-stop and distance but focal length set to 70mm, the DoF is relatively shallower with only 8-11ft sharp image. 


One great way to maximize the effect of focus and sharpness in your images is by understanding the Hyperfocal Distance of your lens.The hyperfocal distance is basically a point in which your focus and everything from that point to infinity will be sharp. Different lens, either prime or with varying focal lengths, have different corresponding hyperfocal distance. Mastering this can make outstanding landscapes with really sharp image all throughout the frame. A great example are the works of Allan Barredo (view them on his blog, Lantaw, http://lantaw.blogspot.com/ ). I'll see if I can also grab a chart and share it with you some other time.

Understanding Depth of Field and mastering the 

control of it can really help you in creating great quality images. It's what determines the output or the look that you want in your photographs. It's also a useful means to direct the viewer's eyes in the flow that you want. So it's very important to maintain a separation of focus with your subject and the background. Needless to say, that you're subject must be easily identified from the background through the difference in sharpness and focus. No matter how good a composition is, if the focus is off, then it's just a wasted shot. 

  
 Most of my photos, especially close-ups and macros, are done with selective focusing. It's what helps me create the mood that I wanted in my images. Even in my portraits and architectural photos, selective focusing is a great tool that creates emphasis and perspective on my every captures. Of course, it would be even better with the use of a good set of lens (fast lens with bigger aperture), and a creative viewpoint to capture that unique work of art. 



  

 You can also use selective focusing in enhancing  or isolating a portion of your subject. I normally use it to emphasize the eyes of the models in my portraits. Creating a single directional flow for the viewers and captivating them, making them linger on my subject.


Thanks again for your time... and see you next week on another Photography Tips!

Have a great week, everyone!



 

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!

Photography Tips of The Week

 My Basic Tips for Digital Photographers

Since most of my friends are into photography, I decided to include helpful tips on my blog features. Every week I'll try to post some tips about digital photography here, although, I'm not a professional photographer (yet... ^_^), nor I have an expert opinion on things about the camera and photography. I just want to share what I have learned so far, from my personal experiences, books and magazines, from the works and words of the professionals, and from various resources on the web. Some of these tips would be from my own experiences, and some taken from other sources but in my own explanations.

Feel free to give comments, suggestions or corrections if ever you see something that seems not right. Thanks and Enjoy!

 10 Efficiency Tips for Digital Photographers (Part 1)

1. Shoot with steady Hands. Stable hands create better images. Avoid unnecessary blur or camera shakes. Keep your hands firm before shooting to avoid spoiling your shots. There are many ways and gadgets to keep your hand steady. You can use a tripod/monopod or place your camera on a sturdy object to help you balance and get rid of camera shakes, or lean on something like a wall, columns or posts, trees and other rigid objects. A normal person can hold their camera whithout shakes for a 1/30 secs shot, while others can do better up to 1 sec. Most lenses today have extra installed motors or features to balance the vibration of your camera, such as, Image Stabilizer (IS) for Canon, Optical Stabilizer (OS)for sigma, Vibration Reduction (VR) for nikon, and others. A simple practice in holding your breath while shooting may improve your takes. 

2. Choose your Shots, Don't Procrastinate! Just because you have more shots of your subject doesn't mean you have more quality images. They will just add burden to your hard disks and your time. Remember also that your camera shutter has its own life span (shutter life- approx. 60k-100k shots depending on the camera model) So limit your shots if you don't want to change your shutter every year.  

I normally take 3-5 shots of a scene or a subject in different angles and focal lengths. That's moderate enough for me. Remember to stop and weed out unwanted, blurred, or bad shots from your memory cards while shooting and before downloading them to your computer. It will be easier to organize your files later on.  You don't want to spend more time on the computer editing the same images of the same subject over and over again. Just remember also to format your memory cards after downloading to computer to minimize bad sectors and file residues.

3. Use Efficient Memory Cards. There are dozens of memory cards and sticks on the market, but not every one are best suited for digital photography. Regardless of brand and model, the most important are the capacity and speed. Although more expensive, try using the hi-speed cards that would enable you to shoot without delay. Multiple 4 gb cards, if your shooting jpg format, or 8 gb cards if your shooting raw format, are better than using single high capacity cards (8gb for jpg, 16gb for raw), storing all your shots in one card. It will only bring you headaches if your card experienced trouble while shooting or malfunctioned while downloading. In shooting with different cards, you can be sure to have safe back up of your shots during that day. This is more practical if you're shooting events, like weddings or parties, where you don't get another chance to re-create the scenes once your card gets busted.

4. Don't Share your Memory Cards. Although I sometimes do, better not share your memory cards while in a shoot with other fotogs, you'll only have trouble sorting out your photos from theirs. I have an old 1gb card that I usually share if needed, but not my normal cards. For one, you need all the disk space for your own shots. And then, it would be uncomfortable for both parties to retrieve their shots quickly, unless you have a card reader or laptop on site. It would also save you from hidden bugs and further errors from cam to cam, or card to card.

5. Shoot as a Photographer not as a Photoshop artist! Plan your shots well so as not to overtaxed your images in Photoshop. A lot of newbies and hobbyists tend to rely more on the magic of retouching or editing their photos in Photoshop or other softwares, than having the discipline to take better images as a photographer. It may be convenient to edit your mistakes or flaws in photoshop, but it is not an efficient result, personally, as a photographer. Specially if you're doing a professional or commissioned work, you cannot tell your client that you're just gonna edit the flaws in your photos with photoshop later on. You're only as good as your last work. So treat every shot as your best. Take your time, and put more effort on every shot, and not to rely much on editing. 

Off course, since it is a digital image, there is the need to use softwares and conversions. And more and more applications and enhancements are getting easily available nowadays to make your images even better. I myself, am experimenting on many of those. But my point here, is to  rely first on your skills as a photographer, and not on what softwares can do to correct your mistakes and flaws. Just treat them as they should be, enhancements to your already good captures.

( to be continued...)