Photography Tips & Tricks

Some professional photographers like to follow rules and will even blow you out of the water when critiquing your work... don't let it get to you. As a professional photographer I would like to say for the most part... be true to yourself. Create images that feel right to you, because if they don't feel right to you, then you will not be happy with them and neither will anyone else. Follow your heart... be unique... and enjoy what you are doing! If it makes you happy then 9 times out of ten others will love it too!

Photography Tip #2) It doesn't matter what kind of camera you use... hone in on your skills instead of spending a lot of money on a camera.... Because a good photographer can shoot with anything! You must move to be inspired... talent doesn't come from doing nothing... it takes lots of work, discipline, and dedication... throw in some perspiration and you can create success!

The difference between a Point and Shoot... an SLR... and a DSLR.... There are two types of camera's... The point and shoot is your most typical "off the shelf" type camera which would include small digital, camera phones, disposables, etc. It's unique feature is that it has a simple window through the camera body which gives the photographer a rough idea of what he is capturing on film or flash card (memory card).

The other type is a Single Lens Reflex (uses film) or a Digital Single Lens Reflex (uses memory or flash cards) which allows the photographer to see exactly what the film or flash card sees. If you remove the lens from an SLR and look inside you will see a slanted mirror that is positioned between the lens and the shutter with a translucent glass and a prism positioned above it. This works like a periscope so the real image bounces off the mirror onto the glass which serves as a projection screen. SLR's and Digital SLR's are equipped with both automatic and manual controls where most Point and Shoot cameras are fully automatic.

Photography Tip #4) Okay... here is your first guideline... The rule of thirds is known to be the natural way of viewing an image and works well with the way someone views it rather than against it. Imagine your image broken down into thirds vertically and horizontally... giving you 9 parts (as a side note 3 and 9 are both very magical numbers). When taking a picture try to imagine this grid and place the subject of your image (whether it's a flower, person, object) on one of the intersecting lines of the grid. This causes your photo to be more balanced and enables the viewer to interact with it more naturally. Now I'm not saying that you should always use the rule of thirds because some images look great with the subject dead center (see tip #1). So work with the rule of thirds and then be rebellious and break the rules once in a while!

The Guard Shack

The Golden Hours... photographers agree that the best times to shoot are during those golden hours which fall just before sunset and just after sunrise. These are the best times of day to get some dramatic light that adds ambiance and interest to any scene. There are spectacular variations of colors and hues during these times, but you must act quickly because the lighting changes rapidly! Get there early and use your tripod... you'll be amazed! You can see a lot of my golden hour shots on my Stock Photo's and Prints Page... enjoy! Oh... one more thing... don't walk away after the golden hour at dusk! When the sun goes down there are more beautiful images to be sought... Night shots of city scapes, sea scapes, etc. can be awesome... again use your tripod for maximum quality and effect!

The photo to the left is a good example of a photo taken during the golden hour:

Photography Tip #6) Use a Tripod to eliminate camera shake. So... you think you're pretty steady... well think again. As soon as you push that shutter you are causing camera shake, even more so when using a longer zoom lens. Sometimes it's a must to use longer shutter speeds... this is definitely when you want to have a tripod. Now... if you don't have a tripod yet... you can always brace yourself or lean against something for more stability, but if you want those razor sharp images I suggest going out and getting a tripod. There are some inexpensive ones on the market and you'll thank yourself for picking one up when you see the difference in your work.

Example: Christmas tree lights

Here's a little trick that is fun to try if you have an SLR or DSLR...

First of all Bokeh is a Japanese word meaning "to blur."

To create this effect I use a thin piece of cardboard or card stock that will fit over the end of my lens. In the center of the cardboard you should cut a shape (heart, star, diamond, etc.), then fit the cardboard or card stock over the end of your lens. Now play with your F stop (the size of the opening that lets light into your camera) to create maximum blur, and then focus on something other than the lights or lighting in your image... and snap the shutter. This will cause the lighted part to take on the shape of your cut out.

The photo to the left is an example of bokeh I created using a single heart shape cut in the center of a piece of cardboard and focused on one of the branches of a Christmas tree with lights on it. Kinda Cool huh?

Photography Tip #8) Know your camera's battery life! Don't get caught with a dead battery. If you're not sure of your batteries life span you should always take your charger with you or have extra batteries for back up. Always make sure after you charge your battery to put it back in your camera before you go out for a shoot (don't laugh... I've done this). There's nothing worse than to drive where ever it is you're going to shoot... only to realize after you've set up your tripod and turned on your camera the darn thing wont come on! Duh!... you left the battery at home on the charger!! It's always good to purchase a battery backup and always remember to take along enough film or memory (flash cards or memory cards) when you leave the house. I always keep a few extra flash cards in my purse.

Photography Tip #9) Keep your lens clean! I don't care what type of camera you use always be sure your lens is clean. I purchased a couple boxes of lens wipes for just this reason and keep some in my camera bag, and in my purse. They also work great for other things... cleaning your sun glasses, your monitor, your windshield, etc. Use your lens cap and check your lens for dust and dirt build up often. There is nothing worse than downloading or processing your images to find out there are random spots on every image!

Sounds easy doesn't it? Well getting them all together at the same time is not so easy! For example: Imagine your all set up with camera in hand, possibly mounted on a tripod, just waiting for a dolphin and her lil one to jump out of the water, behind a boat full of sightseers during the golden hour! Now that would be a great moment! It can be time consuming and laborious... not to mention frustrating, but when these three elements come together that is when the magic appears... and not much can touch that feeling for a photographer! So always have your camera and gear at the ready, and watch for these three magic elements.

Shephards at Night

Because I love night photography so much I would like to touch on it a little bit. When the sun goes down we have to rely on other light sources to create images. This is the world of slow shutter speeds, artificial light and looking at things differently. If you put away your camera after the sun goes down you are missing out on some of the most beautiful images to be had. First you have to keep your camera steady... this is where that tripod is most important because a good crisp night shot will require no camera shake at all! If you are using an automatic camera the shutter will drag (or stay open for a long period of time)... longer than anyone can hold completely still for, so setting your timer to take the shot or using a remote is usually your best bet. You might think that the flash is necessary, but this is not true... when the shutter stays open it will collect the light needed. Of course if you use a remote you can open and close the shutter to your liking. Normally I count seconds and take various shots to get some different effects. Give it a go... its a lot of fun!!

The Photo to the left is an example of some great use of artificial light.

clearwater - clearwater beach and tampa bay florida naturel photographer

South Beach

Whether you are capturing landscapes, portraits, nature, macro's (small or tiny objects) or what ever you fancy... try changing your perspective. Get up high and look down on your subject, or get down low and look up at your subject. Try framing your subject with something... like tree branches, leaves, lights, etc. Get creative! Try focusing on something in the background allowing what is in the foreground to be blurred or out of focus... most people do just the opposite... I like to be different once in awhile! Also shoot in layers... sometimes we should have a bottom, center, and top to our images.

The Photo to the left is a great example of perspective and layers. There are at least four layers in the photo... water, island, architecture, & sky, shot from above looking down on the subject. You get the picture (no pun intended)... Have some fun!

Your white balance helps to compensate for those tones and adjust your camera for specific light conditions. Light is measured in Kelvin (or a unit of temperature). "Kelvin" named after Lord Kelvin - William Thomas, who wrote of the need of an absolute thermometric scale. So when you see a setting of 7200 k... the k stands for the standard measure of the color of a light source. On any given day light temperature can range from very low to very high and even at the same time of day can range depending on direct light or open shade.

Setting your camera's white balance will have a profound effect on your photo's. Learn to use the white balance controls on your camera rather than leaving them on automatic. Understand that light comes in different colors... colors that our eyes adjust for.... but your camera does not. Different light sources cast different colors. For instance a candle or flame will cast warmer tones such as yellow or orange where as florescent lights will cast cooler tones such as various blues.

Some advanced cameras gives us the ability to shoot in RAW... RAW is a file format meaning not yet processed, or simply... digital negative. When we shoot in RAW it gives us the ability to change things like white balance, exposure, and brightness before our images are changed to a usable file format like jpeg. or tiff. without losing data. So read your manual , play with your settings, and learn how to use your white balance to adjust your images or enhance them.

Photography Tip #14) Since we've touched on composition, perspective, and white balance, lets review "film speed" called ISO (International Organization for Standardization). The letters ISO on your digital camera settings refer to the film speed. Even though your camera is most likely not film at all, but rather digital, the ISO setting still does have the same function as older film cameras. ISO determines how sensitive the image sensor is to light.

With film camera's you would buy different speed film for whatever light circumstances you were shooting in. The less light you had the higher the film speed... this is pretty much the same with ISO settings. The less light you have to work with the higher you will have to set your ISO... however, the higher the ISO the more noise you will capture (more grain in your image)... therefore always use the lowest ISO possible for your situation. Of course you can always use a lower ISO and use your camera's flash or the flash unit of your choice, but sometimes that isn't possible... such as events where flash is not allowed. An example where you would not want to use your flash would be shooting against glass (fish tank) or mirrors, etc. Also, some gatherings or events (concerts) don't allow flash. As with white balance the ISO can be set to automatic, but images come out much better when you experiment with your manual settings and find the ISO that suits you best. So... you will obtain the best image quality with lower ISO's but in the case where you need to get the image in a low light or no light situation you will have to use a higher ISO and deal with the noise (grain) in your image. Some grain can be removed in certain image processors, so if you find yourself with a lot of low light situations it might benefit you to purchase one.

Photography Tip #15) A few words about files sizes and what works good for what. You may find that you have to save your file to several different sizes depending on what you are using them for. For instance if you wanted to save them for posting on the web you might want to find out what size files the site handles and how much space they allow you to use. You will find that Myspace allows you to upload larger file sizes then Yahoo groups, and Flicker only allows you so much space within a 30 day period so you might want to keep your file sizes smaller to conserve space and have the ability to upload more files. I would say a good size for uploading to sites like these would be somewhere between 340 pixels x 340 pixels. Sites that allow you to upload larger files you can go somewhere around 500 to 600 pixels which makes it easier for others to view them. Then you have the sizes to save for printing purposes. The larger the better. I normally save my files in the same size that I download from my camera which is right around 3300 pixels. This way I know I can print any size and get a nice clear image. Now that doesn't mean you have to save them that large. A normal 8x10 image can be saved at approximately 1500 x 2000 pixels and will be just fine. Probably better than just fine. How about an Avatar or an Icon used to show people who you are? This is generally a very tiny file 25 x 25 pixels at best. So do some research when you're uploading to the web and find out how much space you have, or what the site requires for size.