How to Take Sharp Photos |  |
- How to Take Sharp Photos
- Interesting Photo of the Day: Jolly Elephant Seal
- Be the Engineer of Your Own Portfolio Website
- Top Sports Photographer Attributes Success to Working Twice as Hard and Luck (Video)
- How to Create a Sunset Lighting Effect While Taking Photos Indoors (Video)
| Posted: 02 Oct 2013 08:14 PM PDT Be a sharp shooter and don’t shake your camera. Have you sometimes looked at those wonderful coffee table books or maybe at some photo websites and asked yourself, “How can the pictures be so sharp? Is it some kind of digital trickery? Why can’t my pictures be so crystal clear?”  “Divided Belfast” captured by David Hobcote (Click Image to See More From David Hobcote) This is what I saw the other day. I was walking through the park near my home. A young man was taking a photo of his wife and child. He had taken out his camera and he’d clearly done some thinking. First of all they were not out there in the bright sunshine where they would have black sockets for their eyes but they were in the open shade under a tree in front of the lake – good idea. Then the man had squatted down on his haunches to take the photo. He didn’t want to be looking down on his wife and little girl – also a good idea. And then, the next thing he did was compose the picture on the screen of his camera which he held out right in front of him at the end of his arms. No, no, no! I wanted to go up to him and say, Please don’t do this. Anyway, he got up, the three of them looked at the screen, they seemed pleased and off they went. I’m pretty confident that if that family wanted an enlarged picture it wouldn’t be very big before it looked pretty blurred. Maybe they’ll think they need a new camera. I’m sure it’s obvious. You simply can’t hold a small and light camera right out with your outstretched arms while balancing on your heels and expect it not to shake and quiver like a leaf in the wind. And that’s the basis of camera shake. So, what can you do? Tip 1 – Hold your camera steadyQuite often when you want to take a photo you know the viewpoint’s very important. You may be in the middle of a field. If so, you must be the support for your camera. You must stand, or kneel, but make yourself a really solid base. Stand with your feet apart. You must hold the camera as steady as you can – certainly not waving it around with one hand. If you can, bring the camera to your eye if it has a viewfinder. If you have a strap, you can wrap the strap around your neck and use it keep the camera steady. and when the time comes to actually take the photograph, remember to press the shutter release very,very gently. If you jerk it, you will shake the camera.  “Seagull in Flight” captured by Linda (Click Image to See More From Linda) Tip 2 – Take several photos of the same subjectDon’t forget, if your subject is not changing all the time take several photos – 10 – or so at the same settings. You’ll find that one or two are sharper than the others. Tip 3 – Use a fast shutter speedIf your shutter speed is too slow the shake will show. It’s not easy to judge with modern digital cameras but the old photographers’ rule might help you: Always use a shutter speed related to the focal length of the lens. for a 50mm lens use a minimum of 1/50th sec. For a 300mm lens use a minimum of 1/300 sec. Get the picture? Long lenses will magnify the shake. Tip 4 – Find a supportAs I said, viewpoint is very important but perhaps you can change your viewpoint a little bit. If you do not have a tripod, look around you and you might see a tree, a wall, a bench, a table, a lamp post, something like this which is absolutely solid, unmoving, unshaking. If something like this is in the right the place, then use it to brace your camera. When you do this, make sure the camera itself makes contact. In other words, if you’re using the branch of a tree, hold the camera on the tree branch directly, not just your hand or your arm but the camera itself. This will make the camera rock solid. Of course, you might find that the horizon is not quite straight or something of that kind. You can change this by moving the camera a little bit or using your hand to help though that’s not ideal. You can correct it later in a computer if you use one. This technique will provide a rock solid support and stop you shaking the camera. Tip 5 – Use the Self TimerIf you have a solid support like a wall, and you have the exact viewpoint you want you can use the self timer. The self timer is normally used to take pictures of yourself but if you switch the self timer on and press the shutter release gently there will be a delay of a few seconds before the shutter fires. This will kill any vibration or camera shake. Use these techniques and your pictures should be sharper. If you want to be more sophisticated you will have to take some more equipment to support your camera. But that’s for another day.  “contrasts” captured by David Hobcote (Click Image to See More From David Hobcote) About the Author: Go to full article: How to Take Sharp Photos |
| Interesting Photo of the Day: Jolly Elephant Seal Posted: 02 Oct 2013 06:29 PM PDT “One, two, three, smile!” Though this phrase often works on your family and friends, rarely does it produce any results with wildlife. In this occasion however, photographer Justin Hofman was able to capture a photo of a seemingly jolly southern elephant seal. This image was captured off the coast of Gold Harbor in South Georgia with a Nikon D7000 and 14-24mm lens:  Don’t let his friendly appearance fool you (Via Imgur, Click to View Full Size) Despite appearing good-natured, elephant seals, just like many other large animals, can be dangerous. Some creatures will only attack if provoked, others will charge if you come near their territory. Always know the habits of the animals you plan on photographing, and be cautious. Go to full article: Interesting Photo of the Day: Jolly Elephant Seal |
| Be the Engineer of Your Own Portfolio Website Posted: 02 Oct 2013 04:58 PM PDT A major aspect of being a professional photographer is to showcase your work online, so that potential clients would find you. But why take the trouble to look for a web designer/developer to help you out, and invest a lot of energy in finding the right web hosting company? There is no need to give up on your plans of getting your hands on that new, state-of-the-art camera just yet. Hold on tight to your money and take matters into your own hands. Create photography websites with IM Creator because it's a fun and simple process, it's entirely free of charge, and because you have complete control from beginning to end. A rather diverse multitude of professionals, from restaurant owners to actors and consultants, have used this simple tool to create their own website. The catch is that it doesn't require knowledge about coding or investing a lot of effort in order to see it through. In truth, there are three basic steps towards establishing a website exactly as you envisioned it.  Getting Started For starters, IM Creator bids you to look through their comprehensive catalog and choose a pre-designed template which other users have started with as well. The templates are designed to provide a complete website layout. On the left side of their catalog, there is a column which serves to single out specific categories where those templates have been employed. An entire section is devoted to templates used in the making of a series of photography portfolios, so you may easily seek out the format that you believe to compliment your works the most.  Deciding on a portfolio style Secondly, the template is to be customized with the user's content of choice: gallery of past works, contact information, bio, etc. Once you've clicked on 'Customize Now', the template appears on a spreadsheet with all the content inserted by the photographer who used it. Clicking on any section which contains text will cause a set of options to appear in the top-screen, such as 'Edit text', or 'Edit inline'. All images from the template can be replaced, or cropped, and so on, and so forth. Naturally, you'll want to insert your own works, and past projects. If at any point you need assistance, there is a 'Support' button on the leftmost part of the screen, which will open a window where you can find a downloadable manual for working with IM Creator, several step-by-step tutorials, a FAQ section, a Forum, and of course the possibility to ask for help via email. When everything is set in the right place, the third and final step is to click 'Publish'.  Saving the site Now, all that is left to be done is name your website, and you're all-go. Any photographer can be the creator of their own website and, in no more than one hour, a great-looking portfolio is launched, without having to spend a fortune on creative specialists or hosting services. All in all, there is much to gain by turning to IM Creator.  portfolio example 1  Portfolio example 2  Portfolio example 3  Portfolio example 4  Portfolio example 5 Go to full article: Be the Engineer of Your Own Portfolio Website |
| Top Sports Photographer Attributes Success to Working Twice as Hard and Luck (Video) Posted: 02 Oct 2013 02:19 PM PDT Having over 200 of his photographs featured as Sports Illustrated, TIME, LIFE, and People magazine covers, including many shots considered to be some of the greatest sports photos of all time, one would expect Neil Leifer to have a certain air of confidence about him. Surely, the man behind the lens that captured Secretariat's historic 1973 Triple Crown victory and Muhammad Ali in all of his glory would consider himself at least a highly-skilled photographer. However, Neil Leifer's video interview with the Baltimore Sun at the recent opening of his massive 54-picture exhibit at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, highlights Leifer's humility and work ethic more than his skill with a camera: Leifer discovered his love for photography when he was 12 or 13, and he took his first iconic photograph at the 1958 NFL Championship game between the Giants and the Colts. He got in for free after volunteering to push a war veteran in a wheelchair into the stadium and then waited around the end-zone for the perfect moment while the security guards corralled drunken fans. When Alan Ameche of the Baltimore Colts scored the game-winning touchdown, Leifer was ready.
Through that experience and many others like it during his 50-year career, Leifer learned the difference between a really good sports photographer and “just the average shooter.”
In a recent Huffington Post Sports interview, Leifer called sports photography—and particularly photography of highly-active sports like football and basketball—"a game of chess," a strategic balancing act between finding the right spot with the most potential for a good shot and anticipating what might happen beforehand so that when the moment comes, the photographer is ready.
 Now Leifer works as a full-time filmmaker, producer and director. As a staff photographer for Sports Illustrated, Leifer photographed 16 Olympic Games, the first 12 Super Bowls, more than a dozen Kentucky Derbies, 4 FIFA World Cups, and a myriad of World Series games and iconic boxing title fights. He spent the last 12 years of his professional photography career working for TIME magazine, where he hoped to make a name for himself as a photojournalist by shooting "everything from the Pope to Charles Manson" (HuffPost Sports).
Go to full article: Top Sports Photographer Attributes Success to Working Twice as Hard and Luck (Video) |
| How to Create a Sunset Lighting Effect While Taking Photos Indoors (Video) Posted: 02 Oct 2013 10:57 AM PDT Indoor-sunset themed photo shoots are among the easiest and hottest trends you can experiment with to create cool, sexy and flattering photos to add to your portfolio. All you’re going to need in order to achieve this look are a back light, which should consist of a single bare bulb in a strobe, and a main light, which should be a warm, neutral colored bulb. You may also want to enlist the help of a standard reflector to keep your images from becoming too dark: One of the simplest ways to flatter and encompass a sexy yet casual look is to create a controlled, indoor-sunset themed shoot. You will need the following:
The most effective way to keep enough light in the shot without creating an overbearing camera reflection is too use a black cloth on the side of the lens. This will eliminate a lens flare from your shot, while lens flare is an added luxury to the indoor-sunset shot and creates a lounge-like, relaxed feel to the photos, it is usually a big no-no in the photography world. As you can see below however, in this type of shoot, it can be sexy and relaxed, which is what most photographers who do this type of shoot are aiming for.
To achieve this look, use the bare-bulb strobe in the background to create the orange-y, sunset/sunrise type of light. This back-light is endlessly forgiving and flattering and is one of the easiest ways to make a sultry image really pop. To keep from having your subject’s face washed out by all the back-light, you may want to place a main bare bulb in front of the model. This bulb should be a warm, neutral bulb as to not create too much foreground light. If your subject is still too shadowed in this low-light shoot, you can bring in a standard reflector and use it with the silver side up to cast extra light onto the face. If the trendy-sexy, flattering back light relaxed summer look is what you’re going for, use these tips and techniques to optimize your skill and show just how gorgeous appropriate lighting can make your model look! Go to full article: How to Create a Sunset Lighting Effect While Taking Photos Indoors (Video) |
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