Wednesday 22 January 2014

Composition Tips for Landscape Photography

Composition Tips for Landscape Photography

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Composition Tips for Landscape Photography

Posted: 21 Jan 2014 06:17 PM PST

Final Reminder: Only 1 day left! in the popular deal on the: Landscape Legend Lightroom Presets

It may be hard to believe, but you can take very nice landscape photography even with the most basic equipment. You don’t need the latest and greatest ultra-wide lenses (although that does help create a unique perspective) or the fastest lens with a f1.2 aperture.

landscape composition tips

“The Great Divide” captured by Mark Broughton (Click Image to See More From Mark Broughton)

Landscape photography generally benefits from a deep depth of field, and ironically the type of camera with inherently deep depth of field are compact point and shoot digital cameras! DSLRs have shallower depth of field, hence they lends themselves to creating shots with nice bokeh (out-of-focus elements).

These 5 tips will not feature the discussed-to-death rule of thirds. Anyway, for those looking for something on the rule of thirds, just remember this rule: Don’t place your subject right in the middle of the frame unless you are aiming for symmetry (see the next tip below).

Symmetry vs Asymmetry

Decide if you want the picture to be symmetrical, or asymmetrical. Slight errors in composition (eg. a crooked horizon) will dilute the effect of the picture. Certain pictures benefit from asymmetry, which means that the left side is dramatically different from the right side. Asymmetry works well for pictures where you wish to highlight the differences between two elements in the picture.

Timing

Yes, timing plays a part in the composition of a landscape photograph as well. Timing in the elements within the picture includes choosing the right moment to click the shutter. I was composing a scene in my DSLR during a nice clear afternoon. The sun cast some interesting shadows across the bridge floor, but I wanted something more. Hearing footsteps behind me, I turned around and saw a farmer walking towards me. I waited for her to cross the bridge a little more, and clicked the shutter. It made the picture more interesting than if I had shot just the bridge alone.

Timing also includes choosing the right time of day to shoot. You can use the shadow of an object to lead the attention of the viewer to the main subject that is in full view. This type of shadow only appears when the sun is at a certain angle (see my post on light ratios for landscapes).

Framing Elements

By choosing your framing elements carefully, you can bring a new point of view to a subject. Slow down, and look for interesting angles. The best way to do this is by taking a walk. Sometimes we pass by too quickly if we travel in motorized transport. Trees can be easily used as framing elements.

You can also use the framing elements to tell a story, as in a picture of a door panel that has a sculpture of a sentry, guarding the entrance to the palace.

Perspective

Using a wide angle lens, we can exaggerate the perspective of a picture to shift the focus of the story to a specific element in the picture. Shooting from a very low angle, with your camera almost touching the ground, using an ultra wide angle lens, can exaggerate the height of vertical elements, and create converging lines that seem to meet at the top.

composing landscapes

“London Underground” captured by samuel lubbock (Click Image to See More From samuel lubbock)

The other extreme is using a telephoto lens to compress perspective. Telephoto lenses make distant objects appear closer than they are, thereby allowing you to stack elements together.

Isolation and Focus

Giving the subject plenty of white space (as designers call it) around it can focus the viewer’s attention to it. Panoramic pictures are good solutions if you want to create isolation. Panoramas do not need an ultra-wide angle lens. A standard kit lens is all you need, to take several shots side by side and later stitch them up on the computer. In fact, an ultra-wide angle lens would create too much distortion to stitch a panorama easily.

About the Author
Andy Lim (www.simpleslr.info) runs a profitable photography business that spans wedding photography, commercial photography and conducting photography workshops.

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Jolly Soccer Fan Gets a Photo Opportunity, That is All (Video)

Posted: 21 Jan 2014 03:03 PM PST

Soccer fans are notorious for their strong rivalries, offering loyalty to favorite teams and passionate disapproval to others. And they often show their preferences in shocking ways. When Gabby Agbonlahor of the Aston Villa Football Club in Birmingham, England took a dramatic fall over the railing at a match on January 18, one fan of the opposing team had an interesting reaction:

Rather than try to assist the fallen player, the nearby Liverpool fans looked on with smirks. And one nonchalantly pulled out his camera for a photographic souvenir as Agbonlahor lay injured below. Fortunately, the athlete was not seriously hurt, but he was left unable to play in the rest of the game.

soccer-fan-photographs-injured-player-2

What do you think, sports fans? Was this a cruel reaction or a funny photo opportunity?


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How do Digital Cameras Work? (Video)

Posted: 21 Jan 2014 10:56 AM PST

Ever wondered how those magical little boxes we call cameras actually work? In the following short and humorous overview, British TV personality James May gives us a glimpse into the inner workings of digital cameras:

On a basic level, digital cameras work much like their film predecessors—light is focused through a lens and controlled by a shutter and aperture, except photosensitive film is replaced by a light-sensitive sensor chip that records all the data digitally and very quickly.

“While the microprocessor revolution started to transform many parts of our lives from the 1970s onward, the digital camera was a relatively late invention, arriving after the video camera, the mobile phone, the laptop computer. This was because the technology that lies at the heart of it—the sensor chip—is unbelievably complicated.”

The sensor is covered with tiny light-sensitive cells (or pixels); each measures the amount of light that falls on it. As technology has advanced, the number of cells on each sensor has increased, which has given us cameras that create high-resolution images. While early digital cameras offered only a single megapixel of resolution, today we’re commonly seeing 16 and 20 MP consumer models.

digital camera megapixels


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Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

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