Tips For Photographing Flowers |  |
- Tips For Photographing Flowers
- How to Achieve a Realistic Tilt-Shift Timelapse Effect in Photoshop
- Ideas for Levitation Photography: Hadouken Style
| Tips For Photographing Flowers Posted: 08 May 2013 04:28 PM PDT Final Reminder: Only 1 Day Left! in the deal on: The Essential Flower Photography Guide With the advent of digital cameras and the huge amount of features, close-up photography has become the domain for everyone. The simple macro feature on the current generation of digital compacts has opened up this world to virtually anyone with a camera. Of course the ideal situation is the use of SLRs but is not limited to them.  “The Red Intruder” captured by Francois Novecento Boutiee (Click Image to See More From Boutiee) One of the first accessories I bought for my film SLR way back in the 1980s was a set of close-up filters that screwed on the end of my lens. This added a new dimension to my photography and I was able to get in really close to my intended subjects, flowers. Although, I did dabble a bit in shooting some of the slower insects and bugs. But flowers were still my focus. Here are some simple tips that will help you shoot better flower photos. 1. Weather conditions and lightingIt is totally useless if you plan to shoot flowers on a day when high wind speeds are predicted. Movement is critical especially when shooting close-ups and your image will be spoiled if you don’t take this into consideration. Lighting is critical as you need to shoot under conditions that enhance colours and allow as much natural light as possible. Unless you’re using a ring flash with a digital SLR you are too close to use the on camera flash system. Never shoot at midday as the lighting is harsh and lacking in contrast. 2. Select the right flowerGetting your lighting, exposure and composition perfect and then finding that there are blemishes on the flower’s petals or leaves is a let down. Always inspect the chosen subject before setting up your equipment and make sure that it’s almost perfect.  “Cornflowers” captured by Donaldas Urniežius (Click Image to See More From Donaldas Urniežius) If there are little imperfections, change the angle of view or shoot the opposite site of the flower. You can also remove offending petals and leaves if they do not leave gaps and make the image look imperfect. 3. Check the backgroundYou are limited to how many angles you can shoot from if the flower is in a garden and not a studio. Make sure that the flower or flowers you choose have a background that is simple and uncluttered and enhances the overall quality of the flower image. If it doesn’t, then consider using a piece of card that compliments the dominating colour of your chosen flower. Your focus must be on the flower and a viewer’s eye should be attracted to the flower and not the background. 4. Use a tripodA tripod is essential to flower photography as you need as much light as possible, often there will be great diffused light mixed with shadows. A slow shutter speed will always be a problem and this limits hand holding due to camera shake. 5. CompositionFlower shots always look their best when taken from the side. Shot from above they don’t have same appeal as when taken from the side. Use the rule of thirds placing them in a slightly off centred position and never right in the middle of the image. Getting in closer will always add to the composition. If you are shooting macro you’ll see details that really create an interest.  “Rinascita” captured by Alessandro De Matteis (Click Image to See More From Alessandro De Matteis) Creating your own indoor studio and shooting picked flowers is a simple process. Use natural light from a window and a simple coloured background and stunning images will result. Be prepared to experiment and practise your techniques. As with any photography take you time to think before shooting but also to get the composition perfect. Don’t be afraid to vary your angles and work at getting a good focal point. Overall, flower photography is exceptionally rewarding so work at it and create great images. About the Author: For Further Training, Deal Ending Soon:As spring is here and flowers are blooming many readers have sent us requests for more flower photography help. The 2nd edition of this flower photography guide has been completely revamped. We reached out to the publisher who agreed to give our readers 25% off which ends tomorrow. The deal can be found here: Wildflower Photography Guide Go to full article: Tips For Photographing Flowers |
| How to Achieve a Realistic Tilt-Shift Timelapse Effect in Photoshop Posted: 08 May 2013 11:46 AM PDT Timelapse videos are awesome, and tilt-shift lenses are awesome, and when you put them together, you create something amazing. But tilt-shift lenses are not exactly something just anyone can buy. They’re very expensive, and it’s hard to justify investing that amount of money into one lens. Luckily, we have an alternative: Photoshop. In this easy-to-follow tutorial, Julieanne Kost explains every step you need to take in order to create your own tilt-shift timelapse using Photoshop CS6 (for those of you reading this by email, the tutorial can be seen here): At first, the whole tilt-shift lens blur alpha mask Photoshop batch thing seems pretty complicated, but Julieanne has a skill for explaining things very clearly and concisely, especially for showing how to do the advanced technique rather than just add a blur gradient.  Recording a series of actions will allow you to batch process hundreds of images very quickly The result of the tilt-shift timelapse is beautiful, and leaves the door open to lots of photographic possibilities. Of course, this technique doesn’t have to be used for a timelapse video. This could also work on a single image in which you want a tilt-shift perspective. For Further Training on Time-lapse Photography:There is a popular COMPLETE guide (146 pages) to shooting, processing and rendering time-lapses using a dslr camera. It can be found here: Time-lapse Photography Guide Go to full article: How to Achieve a Realistic Tilt-Shift Timelapse Effect in Photoshop |
| Ideas for Levitation Photography: Hadouken Style Posted: 08 May 2013 10:03 AM PDT Hadouken photography is a case of life imitating art – it’s named after the “Street Fighter” video game series and aims to portray larger-than-life battling with a virtual aesthetic. Hadouken photography is shot using the levitation technique. The distinguishing feature separating hadouken from other action-oriented photography is that it is not attempting to mirror a real fight so much as faithfully model a “Street Fighter” battle. More simply, one model is usually “attacking” the other and sending them flying through the air (for those reading this by email, the video can be seen here): Alamby and Kai W from DigitalRev TV demonstrate a number of techniques to pull this off. In terms of the content of the picture, they dictate that the expression of the models should evoke the power of the fight; for example, if one is being held aloft by a “Darth Vader choke grip,” their face should be wide-eyed with terror while the rest of their body seems to hang uselessly. Kai W gets a feel for how his body would react to a rehearsed kick or magical blast by jumping several times and correcting his positioning. Compared to Alamby, his limbs are pointed in the opposite direction of the force, and in most of the shots he gives a much greater impression of actually being hit.
The actors play an important role, but so do the camera settings. The duo give some good suggestions, such as adjusting the shutter speed to remove or allow blur, to give the impression or motion or suppress it. If the goal is to suppress it, it’s best to take the picture while the model is “at rest” in the air, at the height of their jump. If you’re going for a strictly “Street Fighter” image, then having the fighters pose in front of a background which is not too varied (such as a wall) can give an authentic “Street Fighter” backdrop which doesn’t draw attention away and can emphasize a model’s movement even more so. For Further Training on Levitation & Photography Tricks:There is a best-selling eBook on how to do photography techniques that produce unusual, eye-catching results. It can be found here: Trick Photography and Special Effects Go to full article: Ideas for Levitation Photography: Hadouken Style |
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