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Beginners’ Guide to Still Life Photography

Landscapes and portraits provide you a great opportunity to learn about elements of photography, but still life can also improve your compositional skills and sense of lighting. With still life photography, you make a picture rather than take it. It gives you more control in arranging elements within a composition. Unlike landscapes, still life gives you more control over the lighting. Unlike portrait subjects, still life subjects will never get bored.

Lighting

Since you’ll be working indoors most of the time, you’re going to need some good light. So it would be best to shoot near a window, one that lets plenty of sunlight in. Be careful when using a camera with a built-in flash. Since the flash is close to the lens, there’s a big chance that the lighting will appear flat, with very little shadows. Use thin tissue paper to scatter the light to smoothen bright spots. When using window light, exposure times should be set in slower mode.

Start small

Beginners have the tendency to just grab still life subjects, put them together, and then snap away. It’s more beneficial if you put careful thought into your work. Try to start with one object and observe the effects of lighting on the modelling of your subject.

Then add another object and try to experiment with arrangements to achieve a great composition. Think about all sorts of contrasts - smooth and textured, light and dark, hard and soft - that produce different effects.

Background

Many beginners commit one of the grave sins in still life photography: not thinking about the background. Basically, a background is your major item of contrast. A good background highlights the subject, whereas a wrong background hides it. You can use a black velvet background to absorb unwanted reflections and light.

You can also use a white background, but you have to ensure that it has no creases because any shadows will be visible in the final print. At times, however, such effect is necessary. For instance, a draped cloth can add nice effects on the subject.

Inspiration

Like other art forms, photography needs some inspiration. So where can you get inspirations for your subjects? There’s an inexhaustible ideas for still life. Think about illustrating movie, song, or book titles as well as proverbs, anecdotes, or sayings.

You can also get ideas from posters, postcards, or a funny experience. If you want to learn something about portraiture but don’t have available model, buy a doll or an artist’s mannequin. Then practice poses and lighting whenever you want to.

Posted in Photography Tips

November 6th, 2008 / No Comments
Sports Photography Tips and Help

All of us have at one time been enthralled by sports photos. It may be Kerri Strug’s gold-winning performance in the 1996 Athens Olympics, and the image of her limping after damaging her ankle on vault. It may be an image of the hot-tempered Marat Safin smashing a tennis racket after losing a point. Or it may even be a naked man chased around by policemen in the middle of a Wimbledon match.

We all love the human drama in sports images. Here are some photography tips to help you capture images of slam dunks, home runs, soccer goals, tumbling passes, perfect 10’s, outrageous sports fans, and more.

Know your camera

Understanding your camera’s features can definitely help you take outstanding sports images. Before going to a game, it is very important to read the camera’s manual and become familiar with its settings. While the rules and the position and movement of the players are predictable, there is somewhat degree of unpredictability that can catch you off guard.

At the snap of a finger you may need to adjust the shutter speed, aperture, brightness, or contrast in anticipating an awesome photo moment. Scrabbling through unfamiliar menus and settings in the heat of the game is a waste of valuable time and can be very frustrating as perfect photo opportunities come and go.

Find the perfect spot

You can only capture images of things that you see. The nearer you are to something or someone, the nearer you can see them. Taking sports photos is no different. You need to get as close as possible to your subject. Photographers with a press pass usually get to the sidelines and other good spots to take pictures, but you won’t be allowed on the playing field all the time.

Once you made it to the sidelines, expect to jolt with many other photographers for space - those photographers who have worked sweat and blood just to secure that million-dollar space. No matter what, get as near as you can.

Be familiar with the sports

Taking great sports photos requires an understanding of the sporting event. It is very crucial to know the game’s rules, the positions of the players, where they are likely to move after a particular action, and when the action is going to speed up or slow down. You also have to know who the star player of the team is or the history of the rivalry between the opposing teams.

Understanding the sports allows you to know where to position and what to focus at a particular time. It also helps you to snap the shutter at the right time. Becoming familiar with the sports enables you to capture a memorable event.

Don’t forget the fanatics

Sports is not only about the athletes, it is also about the fans who boost the players, trash talk the other team, sulk when the team or player they are supporting suffered an embarrassing loss. Sometimes, trash talking among fans result in brawls. Fans can tell the story of an event just as well.

Whether a wide-angle shot of the crowd doing “the wave’” or an extreme close-up of a fan’s facial expressions during or after a brilliant play, such images can help narrate a story. You can also take pictures of fans interacting with players: basketball players giving high-five’s to supporters, a fan handing out water to a triathlete, or a girl giving flowers to a gymnast.

Snap, snap, snap

There will be a better chance that several fantastic pictures will come out if you take more photos. Make the most of your camera’s digital technology. Games have a “blink of an eye” nature so you may find it extremely hard or almost impossible to capture each single moment perfectly.

Posted in Photography Tips

October 21st, 2008 / No Comments
Finding a Suitable Model for Your Nude Photography

Right, so it is your first time to try your hand at nude photography. You have carefully studied the human form and have all the theories you need for application. Now, here is one of the most difficult parts before you can start taking shots: finding a suitable model.

This is not much of a problem if you are a well-known photographer who have an impressive portfolio, a state-of-the-art studio, and professional business card. But what if you are just starting and relatively have less photography experience? Do not be surprised if potential models run away from you if you approach them on the street. Here’s how you can find a suitable model for your nude photography:

Project a professional image

You have to appear professional when approaching and talking to potential models. Show them your portfolio. The portfolio does not need to be a collection of nude photos; show your portfolio to gain the trust of the models. It is better to let the photos do the talking, and take it from there depending on the responses of the prospective models.

You also have to show them a business card. It should not be just a business card, but a professional-looking business card. A makeshift business card or one that is ripped off part of an old photo paper invites suspicion.

Do not go for glamor or amateur models

One option is to get professional or glamor models. Sure, they are definitely good for your portfolio, but there are some major drawbacks. First, professional models can be very expensive. Remember, you are a struggling photographer and you do not have the resources. Second, they may not be in line with nude photography, as they are keeping some image. Third, many professional models are known for their bad temper and attitude.

Another alternative is to get the services of amateur models. You can even hire nude still life models. But the problem is that while they have no inhibitions whatsoever getting in their birthday suits (or can sit or stand still, holding a specific pose for minutes), they may not be able to animate themselves - an important quality that a nude photography model should possess.

Go for someone with self-interest

The third alternative is to find models who would be prepared to pose nude in exchange for a portfolio. These models are likely to put extra effort, resulting in an efficient photo session that translates into great nude photos. These models have the enthusiasm to explore various techniques and perspectives, producing better results compared to perfect but wooden models.

Build a good relationship

You have to forge a good working relationship with your models. And build this on confidence. It is very important when you evaluate and criticize the work. Remember that the very first photo session will set the tone for your future work.

Posted in Photography Tips

October 2nd, 2008 / No Comments
Using Flash

Utilizing the power of the flash in photography could help the budding artist in you get the most out of your pictures. But caution not to abuse the flash since this may backfire and work against you.

Flash is most helpful in taking action shots, freezing that single instant without blurring the subject and the details. Flash also makes sure that pictures would not get blurred if the film has low ISO or grainy if shooting in low light.

Flash can also be utilized in very bright light, for example during midday when the sun is high up. Although there is almost no shadow, details get blotted out especially when an object obstructs the light coming directly from above. I was advised in my photography class to use a flash even in broad delight since the facial shadows would block the features of the rest of the face.

All cameras have built-in flash already, but professionals still prefer to use external flash or accessory flash units. This way, they can control which shots need flash and how intense or direct the flash should be.

The drawbacks of using flash though is that sometimes it creates an unnatural intensity of light to the image. One way of alleviating this is make sure that the subject is at a considerable distance. If your camera has flash settings, adjust them accordingly.

Another problem with flash is red eye. Newer camera models though have preflashes or that lingering red light before the actual flash to prevent most instances of red eye.

Posted in Photography Tips

April 22nd, 2008 / No Comments
The Importance of Framing

One of the basic principles in basic photography is framing. Simply put, it is the idea of filling up the whole frame with your subject. Getting closer shots means you get to see more details of your subject, thus capturing more features of the subject and more emotion if it is a picture of a person.

This is one of the simplest photo techniques yet, it is also one of the hardest to master. For beginners, it is important to know the nuances of your camera so that you will know how it works plus you will get used to carrying it, adjusting your style and technique to whatever works for you. This entails a lot of practice.

The problem usually arises when the photographer commits the mistake of thinking he is already near enough to his subject. Sure, in your mind’s eye, you view your shot as perfect, and that is what you think you see in your viewfinder only to find out after taking the shot that you find your subject farther away than you originally thought it to be.

A simple way to prevent that is to move closer. A few steps forward would do. If you think you are close enough, look at the viewfinder and see if there is still detail that you can eliminate. If in doubt, take a few more steps closer.

A more expensive way of fixing that problem is to use a telephoto lens. This is usually helpful in faraway shots like sports or celebrity events. Getting used to utilizing lens also needs some practice, so take as many shots as you can.

Things are made easier with today’s digital cameras since you can immediately see if the picture comes out right and you could re-do as many shots until you are satisfied. Back then using old point and click cameras, some head space is considered since photo shops usually tend to cut off prints. Since everything is digitized now, it is now you doing the cropping using the photo editor in your own PC.

Posted in Photography Tips

April 15th, 2008 / No Comments
Flowers In Macro

If you’ve only started your hand in macro photography, you will discover that you have a lot of options at hand because of the wide range of subjects available. However, if you do want to focus on the different flora that is available in your very own backyard as well as neighborhood, then by all means, start there. After all, macro photography on flowers is a very good place to start.

Contrary to what most people believe about flower photography, these beautiful blossoms are best photographed with diffused lighting. You may want to include different softboxes or maybe white umbrellas that are able to simulate an overcast sky.

Some of the best wildflower shots that have been photographed were taken during the middle of the day during the time that the sun is most intense. However, it is important that the pictures were taken were also diffused in turn. It is not entirely bad to photograph flora in direct sunlight. It’s not really that horrible-looking. However, if you do have to shoot flowers in direct sunlight, you might want to simply lean over the flowers in order to block the light and thus create some sort of a shadow. You’ll find out that the contrast is much less and the colors will become very beautiful compared to the direct and harsh lighting of the noonday sun. In essence you will be able to create a makeshift shade using your body using this simple technique. Doing this will be able to soften the light hitting the flowers, thus making them readily available

One of the most important things to remember whenever photographing flowers at a macro range is that you should always take notice of the contrast that it has every time light hits it. You might want to take out the dark shadows that will come out once you photograph a specimen under harsh lighting. Of course, the shadows will still be present in a flower photographed in the shade but the point is that they will be softened and that they will add dimension to the whole picture.

That is one of the most important things to remember whenever you are photographing flowers in macro mode. Always try to soften the light that hits the flowers and always be sure to watch the highlights and contrasts of the subject when light hits it. Other than that, if you have excellent composition, you’re well on your way to obtaining a very good photograph.

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January 16th, 2008 / No Comments
Photographs And Copyright

So you have photographs that you think are awesome? You’ve now ventured into the world of preventing others to take ownership of your wonderful photographs. Enter the world of copyrighting.

In and of itself, the word “copyright” simply means “the right to copy.” This claim is a legal construct, which is made and designed for artists, mainly, to support their artistic endeavors. If your photographs were without copyright, just about any one would be able to freely download and use your different artistic works without due payment or compensation. What would happen with this particular setup is that there would be little to no financial compensation for the effort of generating and producing pieces of art. If you have copyrighted your pictures, you have legal protection. If anybody wants to use your work, or in some cases, even use just parts of it, they have to obtain your permission. If you are able to do this, you may be able to negotiate a “license” to copy. In some cases, you may even end up being paid in real money. With such an incentive, hopefully, it will inspire, motivate and spur more people to create art so that the world will be a better and more beautiful place teeming with art.

Going back to the first year of when copyrighting first came to be, legal copyrights were already made since 1557. It was at this time that a British printers’ society forbid other members from printing books originated by other members. The publisher obtained security but not the author. During 1710, Britain’s “Statute of Anne” provided copyright protection to authors, regulated the length of the protection, and offered rights to the purchasers. Rights were also discussed during the U.S. Constitution of 1787 wherein they discussed “securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries”. The original U.S. Copyright Act dates back to the late 1700s, particularly in 1790. As time passed, the definition of rights were expanded and globalized with the Berne Convention, which was drafted in 1886 and accepted in U.K. law in 1988 and the U.S. in 1989.

Copyrighting plainly commonly pertains to most artists’ artistic works. Examples of these include paintings, murals, statues, TV shows, music, and for the avid photographers, photography. As a photographer, having your images copyrighted gives you the exclusive right to be able to make and sell copies of the photo, to be able to generate derivative works (other types of art which are based on the photograph that you took, such as a painting of the photo). It also gives you the exclusive right to display the picture that you took in public. Finally, you will be able to license usage for money to other people. In a nutshell, copyrighting your pictures doesn’t actually give you anything per se. What it does is it really just affects other people, by listing down the things that they shouldn’t do, ergo this is known and seen as a “negative right”.

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August 8th, 2007 / No Comments
Stock-quality Photographs

If you happen to notice your favorite photographs, you will be able to see that there are several common factors that they share. If you look at the photographs that get printed in a travel magazine, you will be able to conclude that there are simple but consistent elements that those photographs contain.
People
Most of the great photographs are all about people. Whatever they are doing and however they are expressing themselves. Most of the good shots are all about people. There are some attributes that the excellent people photographs have. If you look at your favorite magazine photographs about people, they already have a single element that binds them and those are mostly the emotions and empathy that come along with the person’s face. A good photograph should evoke emotion from the person viewing it. Try to avoid crowds and make the photograph simple enough so that it will be narrowed down to one person. The more popular subjects for photographs of people are old people as well as children. They have innocent and pensive expressions so these emotions will come out as provocative shots which contain so much emotion.
Clear layout
This is all about composition. If you notice, the good shots do not have any distracting background behind your subject. You will always find a good shot that just zooms in on one particular subject and holds your attention to that subject the whole time. You should be able to make things look easy on the eye. If you have to, zoom in or get close to your subject or go to eye level or find a simple backdrop that will aid you in composing your photograph and your subject’s orientation. Find the balance in your picture by giving it enough sparse background and positioning your subject accordingly.
Solid colors
One of the most underused factors that most photographers do not emphasize or take pictures enough of are bold colors. Whenever you see images which are ‘stock-quality’ images, your attention will always be drawn to those images which have bold, strong and vibrant colors. Whether you are looking at a typical red sports car or an emerald sash across a brunette’s ponytail, you will notice that colors have a way of drawing your attention to the subject. So make sure that you will always have something colorful to photograph. Sooner or later, you yourself will be naturally attracted to colors which attract the eye. Shooting colors will become second nature to you.
These are just some of the suggestions that you may incorporate in your next photo shoot or photo session. You might want to give yourself an assignment of shooting colorful subjects or a theme that comprises all of the hues of a single color. You may also want to try photographing several subjects without having any distractions. This could be your assignment on composition. Whatever your challenge to yourself is, make sure that you will be able to practice these techniques for they may help improve your photography very much.

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July 18th, 2007 / No Comments
Photos You Can’t Sell

There are a lot of entrepreneurs out there who would want to be able to sell their photographs to agencies as stock photographs. However, before you go out there and submit whatever photograph you have on file, make sure that you’ve read through this guide so that you won’t have to embarrass yourself in front of your contact person when you finally do submit that picture.

Legality
First thing to consider is if the photograph that you’re submitting is really yours. You must own the copyright to your photo and because of that, you must have taken it yourself. The photograph also should not be a result of “work-for-hire” because they might claim that the agreement transferred the copyright to them since it was them who hired you to do that shoot in the first place. Photographs that you want to submit must be entirely yours. No one else should have taken the photo but you.

Artwork
Companies rarely take on photographs which have a recognizable artistic thing as its subject or on the background. Murals, paintings, sculptures, cartoon characters and logos will do just fine if the stock agency is specifically looking for those types of photographs but unless they expressly say it, they will not be comfortable in taking in photos with copyright artwork in them. Besides, the companies which have those artworks, such as logos, will probably restrict the use of their copyrighted logos.

People
For any other recognizable person such as a model, you will need a signed model release form and there are agencies which only accept digital releases, not faxed or hard copies. For children, you will need a model release form signed by that minor’s parent or legal guardian. This includes for photographs that are portraits or snapshots.

Nudity
There are some stock photo agencies which do not really like any photographs which have anything to do with nudity. They reject photos that are “sexy” or “nude” in nature. Should they accept a model that has posed nude in a photograph, they will be needing a photo ID of the model, must look 25 years of age and above and have consent to the shoot.

There are other miscellaneous categories of photographs. If there are any offensive content to your photograph, a stock agency would not take that in. If there are any subjects or depictions which are defamatory, hateful, illegal, slanderous or vulgar content, that you have to kiss that photo’s chances goodbye. Another thing is that should there be any professional sports team in your photograph, they have the “Right of Publicity” and they normally refuse unauthorized commercial use of pictures of their facilities as well as players.

So there you have it, some guidelines on what not to sell when trying out your feet in the freelance world of stock photography. Keep shooting and remember these tips so you won’t worry about going back for another shoot simply because you break one of the commandments listed here in this guide.

Posted in Photography Tips

July 12th, 2007 / No Comments
Picking The Time of Day

One of the most important things that a photographer needs to get a good, solid grasp on is lighting. A photographer should always be mindful of his surrounding and the lighting that it provides towards a particular subject. For example, a photographer must be concerned with the warmth, depth, form, contrast, color and texture of the subject that he wants to capture. However, all of these things will be unavailable if there is no proper lighting provided. One has to be able to master shooting at the optimum time in order to differentiate between an amateur’s picture and a professional’s.

There are a lot of times that one will go through when they will be shooting something that would be best shot at a different time of day. A fishing dock would probably look great during the middle of the day, when the sun is up, casting great warmth over the whole place but it would equally be an impressive shot if you were to wait until dusk when the sun would be setting over the horizon. It would make for a more poignant setting as well as more established shadows and colors since the setting of the sun will cast an orange hue over the rest of the sky in your shot as opposed to white, overexposed sky in the middle of a cloudless mid-afternoon. It would also be equally advantageous for you if you shot that picture in the early morning. You should remember that when the sun is low over the horizon, the light is leaning more towards gold and orange which will enable you to get a shot that is warm and reminiscent of a log fire. The professional photographers call these times, “magic hours”. These are the times that most magazines and movie shots are made or shot. It is within this very brief window of opportunity that the best shots are captured because of the orange hues that are emanated from the sun, the horizon and the sky. Being able to plan your shots during these magical hours will save you time and will definitely provide you the best lighting that could ever be provided outdoors. If you save your photography for one hour after sunrise and two hours before sunset, you will be able to add spectacular warmth to your shots.

Here is just a rough layout of a day’s plan. This is assuming a sunrise at 6am and sunset at 7pm, and that your spouse/kids/friends suddenly give you the reverence and servility you so obviously deserve, a good day might be:

5am: Pre-dawn: A pink, ethereal light and dreamy mist for lakes, rivers and landscapes.
6-7am: Dawn: Crisp, golden light for east-facing subjects.

10-2pm: Midday: The sun might be too harsh for landscapes and people, but perfect for monuments, buildings and streets with tall buildings.

2pm-4pm: Afternoon: Capture blue skies with a polarizer.

4pm-6:45pm: Late Afternoon: Awesome warm, golden light on subjects facing west. This is the best time for landscapes as well as people, particularly one hour before sunset.

6:45 - 7:30pm: Sunset: Great skies 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after sunset.

Posted in Photography Tips

June 20th, 2007 / No Comments