Photoscout

• 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

• Taking A Great Picture

  The art of photography is a little too overwhelming for some people. Others are able to discover different areas and places through photography while some find a new perspective regarding things. Whatever the person behind the lens sees, it will be something new. Therefore, the photographer is driven by that single desire to take that one photograph that will leave people utterly breathless.

  So what is it that you need in order to take the perfect photograph? What should you remember so that you’ll be able to take a snapshot of the perfect picture? The first thing you should remember is that good photographs do not necessarily mean that you need to own extremely expensive equipment. The secret in taking the perfect picture is in seeing. Simply ask yourself, what do I look at and how do I see it? One of the skills that a person needs to have when involved in photography is the ability to see things differently. You should always ask yourself, how can I see something so typical in a very different way.
  You should remember that a photograph is, in essence, a message that you’re trying to get across your viewers. You are communicating to them what you saw. In effect, when a person looks at a photograph, they say, “Here is what happened when I was in…” or something to that effect.

  

  What you should remember is that taking photographs, you should try to deliver a message. You need to know what to include whenever you are taking a photograph. The subject of your photograph is of great importance and following suit is the background of your photograph. Your subject can range from your friends, a building an abstract form and the like. The subject is typically defined as the central point of interest in the photo. It is also placed in the foreground. The second element of any photograph is the background. The background is as important as the foreground because it is the one that sometimes gives the context where the photograph was shot. This part of the picture tells us the location and relevance of the foreground. So when you’re taking a picture, make sure that you’re able to capture the foreground and background in a proper way. Very importantly, you should be able to capture the picture without any distractions. Anything that is not part of the subject will only mess up the entire picture. You should remember to always eliminate distractions because that will always take up some attention whenever a viewer is looking at it.

  So there you have it—some quick tips on how to take a great snapshot for all of your eager fans to see. It’s better if you practice using these techniques and build your confidence from there. You’ll find that the more you practice, the better you’ll become in framing different subjects and backgrounds altogether. In time, you’ll be able to pull it off and your portfolio of excellent shots will eventually grow.

  Posted in Photography Tips

  June 14th, 2007 / No Comments

• Panoramas Part III: What To Remember

  Now that you are well-equipped for taking panoramic pictures because you already have all of your gear in place, you are now ready to venture out into that sweet nature spot or that high-rise building that you’ve always eyed ever since. You have decided that the moment is now and you are sure that you’re going to get a good panorama the moment you’re there. However, you might want to learn a thing or two before you sound off your camera’s shutter. It’s important that you keep in mind the following points:

  Take a few practice photos

  It’s important that you first figure out what are the best settings to use when you’re capturing a panoramic image. This is even more important when you’re using an SLR because the photograph might be too underexposed because you haven’t checked that the last photograph that you took was stopped down to achieve a darker, more subdued look. It’s also important to also check the different settings such as ISO, shutter speed and whether you’ll be need an extra circular polarizing filter to screw onto your camera’s lens or if you will be taking shots near a body of water. Don’t overdo it though. It might not be good to take too many practice shots because the lighting conditions might vary or you might lose a subject that is already place to make the photograph interesting.

  Envision the sequence

  It’s quite important that you are able to mark the beginning and the ending of your panorama. If you would like to start at the left then frame your first picture by essentially “marking” it with an object that is part of the background. You might want to start with a tree at the left of your supposed picture and as you pan from left to right, you might also want to look for markers where your frame stops for each shot because it is approximately where you will be starting your next photograph.

  Steady the tripod

  It’s very important that you setup the tripod that you’re using on a very level surface. You should remember that the camera should be level with the horizon so that you won’t be taking a weird panorama after the end of the shot. Most tripods will allow you to shift the different legs to either extend or retract them so it would be a good idea to situate your tripod like that. Because a tripod allows you to smoothly pan across the horizon that you will be taking a picture of, you will be able to use it to create photographs, which when arranged in a graphics software program, will fit just right. One last thing to remember about a tripod is that you should be able to secure the camera into place each and every time. Take the time to sturdy both the camera and the tripod so that you will be able to both take a good shot and take your camera home in one piece.

  Posted in Photography Tips

  May 25th, 2007 / No Comments

• Panoramas Part II: What You Need

  So you’ve already decided that you do want to create a panorama. You’ve already decided on capturing that mountain range that your state has or going up to a very tall building to capture that city skyline that you’ve always wanted to shoot. You’ve decided to read up on how to take panoramas and you’re all excited to shoot your first one. What’s next? This article will show you what you need to bring in order to capture a picture perfect panorama. So, without further adieu, let’s start looking at the hardware.

  Digital camera

  This is specific for creating a panorama simply because you would like to be able to cut and combine several of your pictures into one long, horizontal scene. And if you happen to use a normal film camera, you would end up doing a whole lot more work than you’re supposed to normally have. The purpose of having a digital camera is to be able to have a copy of your pictures in digital format so that it will be easy to “stitch together” the different photos that you will be taking. If you had used a film camera to take the photos, you would need to have the negatives developed, and then have them printed. After that, you need to take the printed pictures and scan them in order for them to be manipulated digitally. You could probably end up just cutting and pasting areas of your developed pictures but this type of process could be quite crude. Just think about what you would do if you accidentally miscalculated a part of your picture that you were cutting? You would have to have that particular picture developed all over again. Now, compare that hassle to being able to just double-click your mouse to bring up a copy of the picture that you have on file. Even simpler, why not just hit Ctrl-Z to undo that command?

  Tripod

  This essentially helps keep your camera aligned along one straight horizon while you are successively panning per shot. If you had to capture photos just by using your hand, you would have to stay extremely stiff when you would rotate your body to capture the wide angle view of the horizon. You’re essentially risking a slight shift in the picture which will make your job much harder when you’re already stitching the pictures together.

  Graphics editing software

  After you’ve uploaded the pictures that you’ve taken, you can now proceed to do the hard part of making a panorama. You now have to “stitch together” the photographs. There are actually programs specifically designed to do just this task. You may not need to shell out for something as expensive as Adobe Photoshop and it wouldn’t be as practical as well if all you’re looking for is to stitch a few photographs together. Some of the digital SLR cameras out there even have bundled software with their camera. It certainly is much better if you are able to assess what you need before you go out and get software for the task.

  Posted in Photography Tips

  May 25th, 2007 / No Comments

• Panoramas Part I: What To Capture

  There are times, as a photographer, that you come across a view that is simply too majestic for you to take in. It might be a placid lake or an expansive view of a naturally made chasm such as the Grand Canyon. Whatever it may be, you just know one thing: you have to capture that scene right then and there. The problem with most scenery is that it is too wide for you to frame. You’d like to capture a part of the horizon that is at your left but the right offers a good view of a particular tree masking the sun. You know that you could take two separate pictures of those subjects but as a photographer, you’d like to give the people who will be seeing your photograph tangible evidence of what you saw. What you need is a panorama.

  A panorama is basically defined as a picture that is composed of different pictures which shows an entire horizontal view of a place. By doing this, one is able to provide a complete view of a single location which in other cases would not be able to fit in a single shot. Panoramas are essentially constructed by taking three or more photographs across a horizontal line.

  The first step in creating a panorama is to decide first on what you would like to show. You could capture places or things in the following criteria:

  Mountain range

  This is one of the most popular things to show. Whether you would like to feature snow-capped mountains or a simple yet evocative barren mountain range, making panoramas of a mountain range is one of the many things that a photographer would like to capture. You will be able to highlight the different peaks in the range which will essentially speak for the photograph itself.

  City skyline

  Definitely one thing that every photographer should get: a shot of the city skyline–or any city for that matter. What’s important is that you are able to get one whether during the day or at night.

  Bodies of water

  Whether it’s small or big bodies, everybody loves to see a panorama of a sea or a quiet lake with the sun just rising behind the horizon. There is something greatly picturesque when looking at the ocean during sunset or at a lake at the crack of dawn.

  Countryside

  Finally, you can choose to take a panorama of a great field. The rolling hills or the great flatlands of the countryside are definitely a great subject for a panorama.

  All in all, panoramas work best if you are out in the open—in the midst of nature and all its glory. Whether it’s including a skyline or the water below it or maybe even a combination of both, panoramas will definitely challenge the photographer in you. More than challenging yourself, capturing panoramas of the aforementioned places will amaze all of the people who will get to see the majestic and beautiful photographs you have.

  Posted in Photography Tips

  May 25th, 2007 / No Comments