"There are no such things as problems, only opportunities"
I wish I could remember who said it but I agree whole heartedly
Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
shoot from a wide angle first then move in and around shoot, shoot, shoot from different angles!
Hello Everyone,
When I was growing up I hated rules. I got into a lot of trouble every time someone said “You can’t do that!” Sound familiar? To a lot of you it does.
I just came in after working outside on my pickup truck in a snow storm for the past 45 minutes replacing the Throttle Position Sensor. I just replaced it 2 months ago. So you ask “Why replace it again?” I violated one of the rules I had when I repaired cars. I used an inferior and cheaper part because it was convenient and cheaper. So I paid the price tonight in a snow storm. I bought the good part from Ford today. I still had to pay the price but I wasted the time and money on the first part.
OK, so what does this have to do with photography? Same principle, different application. A second good rule for photography is: shoot from a wide angle first then move in and around shoot, shoot, shoot from different angles!
When I used film the cost of a roll of 24 exposure print film and processing was about $10. This made it very expensive to shoot, shoot, shoot. But, today we have digital cameras that use memory cards. Memory cards are cheap. 20 some yeara ago I added 1 MB of memory to my first computer. The cost was $350. Today you can buy a 1GB memory card for around $20. Have several cards on hand and shoot, shoot, shoot.
Typically the first rule of photogrpahy is to move in. And when you think you are close enough move in some more. And when you think you are close enough again move in some more. With film that was necessary because when you enlarged the picture the quality of the picture degraded with what was called "grain". Small dots became very visible in the photo. Today’s camera resolutions are very good. The “grain” which we call “noise“and “pixilation” today is far less than what it was even 2 years ago. You can crop away a lot. This varies from one camera to another and is something you will need to check out for yourself on your camera. Look at these two photos. The photo on the right was cropped from the outlined area of the photo on the left. Even printed at 8x10 there is virtually no diferrence in quality.
The important thing is to get the picture. Then we can crop and do some awesome things with it in Photoshop.
When I was growing up I hated rules. I got into a lot of trouble every time someone said “You can’t do that!” Sound familiar? To a lot of you it does.
I just came in after working outside on my pickup truck in a snow storm for the past 45 minutes replacing the Throttle Position Sensor. I just replaced it 2 months ago. So you ask “Why replace it again?” I violated one of the rules I had when I repaired cars. I used an inferior and cheaper part because it was convenient and cheaper. So I paid the price tonight in a snow storm. I bought the good part from Ford today. I still had to pay the price but I wasted the time and money on the first part.
OK, so what does this have to do with photography? Same principle, different application. A second good rule for photography is: shoot from a wide angle first then move in and around shoot, shoot, shoot from different angles!
When I used film the cost of a roll of 24 exposure print film and processing was about $10. This made it very expensive to shoot, shoot, shoot. But, today we have digital cameras that use memory cards. Memory cards are cheap. 20 some yeara ago I added 1 MB of memory to my first computer. The cost was $350. Today you can buy a 1GB memory card for around $20. Have several cards on hand and shoot, shoot, shoot.
Typically the first rule of photogrpahy is to move in. And when you think you are close enough move in some more. And when you think you are close enough again move in some more. With film that was necessary because when you enlarged the picture the quality of the picture degraded with what was called "grain". Small dots became very visible in the photo. Today’s camera resolutions are very good. The “grain” which we call “noise“and “pixilation” today is far less than what it was even 2 years ago. You can crop away a lot. This varies from one camera to another and is something you will need to check out for yourself on your camera. Look at these two photos. The photo on the right was cropped from the outlined area of the photo on the left. Even printed at 8x10 there is virtually no diferrence in quality.
You cannot put in what is not there, except in Photoshop(sometimes) but that can be a
tremendous amount of work. By shooting farther away and moving in you get everything you want in the picture without cutting it off. I find this most important when I need to shoot fast. Look at he photo on the left. I would really like to have Emily's foot back. A second after this shot she was gone. We could not get her to pose again.
Ever notice how fast children move? Then try to get their picture. I like candids but children do not stay in one place long even when you try to pose them. They don’t like to pose.
Action pictures, remember rule #1 I posted last time? If you zoom in and the action moves it will often be gone before you get the shot.
If you move in too close you cannot crop for the different formats (aspect ratio) you may want to print, 4x6, 5x7, 8x10. I will talk about aspect ratios at another time.
If you move in too close you cannot crop for the different formats (aspect ratio) you may want to print, 4x6, 5x7, 8x10. I will talk about aspect ratios at another time.
There are also new kinds of photo displays one of which is the “wrap around”. You need 1-2 inches around your photo if you want to do a “wrap around”. If you shoot to close you loose the effect because there is nothing to “wrap around”.
The important thing is to get the picture. Then we can crop and do some awesome things with it in Photoshop.
When you shoot lots of frames move around and get different perspectives. Zooming in from one location does not change the perspective, it simply magnifies the photo. You will be surprised at the wonderful things you will see when you change your perspective. Try tilting the camera. I have a friend named Dave that is an awesome photographer. You can tell his photos because he likes to tilt the camera to put the image at an angle. It creates interest in the subject. I don’t do it enough and need to follow his example more.
The bottom line is: start wide then move in, move around to different angles and shoot, shoot, shoot. I was able to repair my truck the second time but when you are shooting a picture if you miss it, the picture is gone. It will never come back, no matter how many you take you cannot get back the one you lost. Be prepared to get it the first time.
Have fun and shoot, shoot, shoot!
Bernie
Saturday, December 12, 2009
A good question: are there a lot of rules for taking pictures. Yes and no. Good answer right? Not. Rules can help us get started and guide us through to get what we want. They can make us better because the rules make us think about how our picture looks and what it could look like. But sometimes you throw out the rules. The rule that I believe is number ONE the Biggy the first most important gotta do! Get the picture. If you don’t get the picture nothing else matters. I have lost a gaxillion shots because I was trying to compose it right or get the best depth of field etc. When things happen quickly set your camera to automatic and as high an ISO as you need (can) and shoot, shoot, shoot. Shoot lots of frames and don’t get in too close. You can always crop. It sure is work to put in something that is not there – lots of Photoshop and that may not work.
I went out to a park in our neighborhood to get photos of the snow that had just fallen it was great! As I was walking down the hill with my arms full of camera gear 1 Doe and 2 fawns came trotting up the valley. They saw me and I saw them. One of the fawns stopped about 30 feet from me. We all just stood there looking at one another. We stood looking at each other, not moving for what seemed like an eternity but actually was probably 5 seconds. I very slowly removed my camera from the bag and raised it to get a shot of the fawn nearest me. Then the mother jumped and left. The fawns went after her. The shot I got is attached along with one of the good shots of the area. I would rather have had the photo of a fawn. If my camera had been set for fast moving objects I may have got the shot.
Here’s a personal thought. Keep your camera for something that moves fast and you can always reset it for your slow shots. Slow shots you have a lot of time to do things. But when things happen fast it is over before you realize what was going on.
I went out to a park in our neighborhood to get photos of the snow that had just fallen it was great! As I was walking down the hill with my arms full of camera gear 1 Doe and 2 fawns came trotting up the valley. They saw me and I saw them. One of the fawns stopped about 30 feet from me. We all just stood there looking at one another. We stood looking at each other, not moving for what seemed like an eternity but actually was probably 5 seconds. I very slowly removed my camera from the bag and raised it to get a shot of the fawn nearest me. Then the mother jumped and left. The fawns went after her. The shot I got is attached along with one of the good shots of the area. I would rather have had the photo of a fawn. If my camera had been set for fast moving objects I may have got the shot.
Here’s a personal thought. Keep your camera for something that moves fast and you can always reset it for your slow shots. Slow shots you have a lot of time to do things. But when things happen fast it is over before you realize what was going on.
The missed fawn
and the nice landscape.
I had 1/2 of a second to get the fawn and all day to get the landscape.
Have fun and enjoy,
bernie
Posts are coming soon. Does anyone have a question about photography that you would like answered? In the meantime check out http://www.berniem.com/. Enjoy. I'll be back.
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