PictureCorrect.com: New Year’s Resolutions for New Photographers

Many of us have received or bought ourselves new digital cameras for Christmas, and with this comes the zeal to create great images. Sadly, the chances of this happening are small, as most of us know that a camera doesn’t take great images, the photographer does. So what resolutions can you make that will start your photography journey in the new year on the right footing?

photo by Ricardo Liberato

1. Read your camera manual

Please don’t stop reading this article because I said this. Go back to the box and get the manual out. In order to become a good photographer you need to do just that. Unless you know the basic functions—and specifically, the creative modes—you’re going to struggle to get the good images you see in books and magazines. This is important if you want to proceed to the next resolution. So, at least learn the basic functions if you aren’t up to reading the whole manual.

2. Find a basic photography course

This can be a book, an online course, or a local photography course. Whatever it is, resolve to find something that is going to lay a foundation and teach you the basics. You need to get your foundations right from the get go. If you are a self-starter then find books, magazines, and Internet-based material that you can self-study. Find something that works for you.

photo by Loughborough University Library

3. Plan photography time

Photography is not something you just decide to do when you feel like picking up your camera and taking some shots. You need to plan uninterrupted photography time into your schedule. Not reading or learning time, but finger on the shutter button time. Time dedicated to taking photographs on a daily or weekly basis is so important if you want to go anywhere in your photography journey.

4. Discover your photographic passion

What do you like doing in your life? What are your hobbies or interests? If you are a stamp collector or an extreme sports person, the chances are that you will want to take photos of your passion. This is not always the case but it will help you discover your passion. So sit down, if you don’t already know, and write down what you love doing. Then ask yourself if any of these interests are what you like to shooting. There will be equipment limitations based on your camera and lenses, so work within these restrictions.

photo by Brook

5. Think before you shoot

Put in your mind right at the outset of your photography journey that you are going to think before you shoot. The disease of digital is indiscriminate shooting without a plan, purpose, or thought. It’s like spraying a target with machine gun fire and hoping to hit the bull’s eye. Pretend you are shooting film and only have 36 exposures in your camera. If you can think before shooting rather than hoping that out of a hundred photos a few may be good, you are on your way to becoming a great photographer.

photo by Nick Page

Remember that just because you own a camera it doesn’t mean you are a photographer in the same way owning a box of paints doesn’t make you an artist. Resolve to do these things as you enter a new year with a new camera, and start your new photography journey as you learn. Happy shooting!

About the Author:
Wayne Turner has been teaching photography for 25 years and has written three books on photography. He has produced 21 Steps to Perfect Photos; a program of learner-based training using outcomes based education.

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PictureCorrect.com: Discussion: What is Your New Year’s Resolution for Photography?

The beginning of a new year is truly a good time to set some goals for what you want to accomplish. Start off 2018 right! What is your New Year’s Resolution for Photography? We started this discussion on Facebook last night and in previous years, it’s always great to make friends who are working towards the same goals.

Share & compare yours here: New Year’s Photography Discussion

What is Your New Year’s Resolution for Photography? (Click to Join the Discussion)

Find the discussion here: What is Your New Year’s Resolution for Photography?

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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: To Fly Free in Space

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Night Photography – Light & Composition: Seoul Lights, by Dimitrios Zavos

On my last evening in Seoul and the temperature way below freezing, it seemed like a really good idea to walk to the top of Namsan mountain to get an overview of the city by night. The view was spectacular, but to capture this 20 second exposure (and a few more later on) I had to use my jacket as support for my camera and lens… It wasn’t pleasant, but at least I got the photo I was looking for.

Canon 60D with 18-200mm | Exposure 20sec @ f/8 | ISO 100 | Focal Length 28mm
Seoul Lights, by Dimitrios Zavos

Award Winner: Photo of the Day | December 31
Award Score: 68 (Value 13, Clarity 12, Composition 18, Style 12, Skill 13)
Photo of the Day Award Category: Night Photography
Photograph Location: Seoul | South Korea

Photographer: Dimitrios Zavos (Farnborough, United Kingdom) Registered
Dimitrios Zavos is an independent, freelance travel and wildlife photographer and writer. Born on the beautiful Greek island of Samos, Dimitrios moved to Athens when he was just two years old. After spending his childhood and teeange years in Athens, he moved to the United Kingdom in 2007. Dimitrios is currently based in Farnborough, England.

Although interested in the genres of Travel and Wildlife photography since a very young age, it wasn’t until about two years ago that he decided to actively pursue his passion and took a more serious look in his photography. A civil engineer by trade and still employed by a multinational engineering corporation, Dimitrios has been blessed with the opportunity to travel the world and capture some of its beauty in his photography.He also loves sharing his knowledge in this beautiful art through a series of Digital Photography Tips and Tutorials articles he posts on his personal website.

Website: http://ift.tt/2CiGmev
Facebook Page: http://ift.tt/2zW2B3W
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZavosPhoto

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PictureCorrect.com: How to Photograph Fireworks Infographic

Fireworks are a rare subject that amateur photographers have a hard time lucking their way through. No amount of Instagram filtering and photoshopping will make a bad picture look good.

So if you want to stand apart from the pack, you’ve got to know what you’re doing. Here is a new infographic to guide you in the right direction:

Fireworks Photography Infographic (Click image to see full size.)

Via Taking Pictures of Fireworks.

Taking stunning photos of fireworks isn’t really as difficult as it seems. You just need a few pieces of camera gear, a strong handle on the technique, and an eye for composition.

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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Apollo 17 VIP Site Anaglyph

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PictureCorrect.com: What is the Slowest Shutter Speed You Can Use for Handheld Photography?

Once you start taking photos, many things become clear. The first is that light is vital to creating a nice photograph. The second thing is that digital photography has made things much quicker and simpler. Third, we understand that proper camera usage is crucial to getting good quality photographs.

photo by Jamie McCaffrey

As soon as these three things meet, we can start to feel pleased with our images. Once we recognize that various subjects and distinctive scenes need different adjustments, we can then go ahead and take beautiful shots.

Shutter speed and aperture (f-stop) are the two main things we must concern ourselves when aiming for sharp pictures. Shutter speed is responsible for the amount of time that the shutter is open. Aperture is responsible for depth of field and the amount of light coming into the sensor. Once you start exploring this closely you will realize that there’s more to the shutter than letting light in.

 What causes blurry images?

If you are photographing at night, for instance, and you choose a shutter speed that is too quick, your images will be very underexposed. The shutter simply closes too fast to let any decent amount of light in. Alternatively, if you choose a speed that is too slow, you may run the run the risk of over exposing your scene. At times, when our shutter is too slow we can create blurry motion. Blurring the motion is good for intentional special effects, but it’s not good when you want tack sharp pictures.

photo by Keith Williams

Shutter speed is one of the main factors for image clarity. An unintentional blurry photograph is often a result of hand holding the DSLR when the shutter is slow. It is really difficult to take a photo with a slow shutter speed and get absolute sharpness. You can have the best intentions in the world yet still manage to blur the shot just by standing there.

How slow can you go?

So what is the slowest shutter speed you can use when hand-holding the camera? In my professional experience, it lives anywhere between 1/80 and 1/ 50 of a second. I can quite confidently shoot at 1/80 of a second and see no blur. A number of people I know can shoot at 1/50 of a second and see no blur. Your neighbour or friend may be different from you and me. This won’t make it correct or wrong. It simply means there is a cutoff point that we can go past.

A useful way to develop the sharpness in your images, without a tripod, is to position your shutter speed at the same number as your focal length. If you are working with a 50mm lens then try not to shoot slower than 1/ 50 of a second. If you are shooting with a 200mm lens then try not to shoot less than 1/200 of a second. The further away your subject is the longer the focal length you will need. Longer the focal lengths require a faster shutter speed. This is due to the fact that the more you zoom in, the more the image shakes and moves in the frame. You will have to balance this out by choosing a faster shutter speed.

photo by Jens Schott Knudsen

The smallest motion can totally distort your image. This comes about simply from breathing or just standing. If you are shooting with a DSLR, you’ll be able to see what focal length you have by looking down the barrel of your lens. Around your lens is a sequence of numbers. If you have a 24 to 105mm lens, you will see a succession of numbers ranging from 24 right through to 105. As you zoom closer into your scene you will see a little indicator next to the number. For example, if you see this small indicator pointing to the number 85 then you understand that you are working at 85mm. Matching the shutter speed and focal length numeric value is a good way to increase image clarity. However, there is a limit.

You cannot use this rule for very slow shutter speeds unless you use a tripod. For example, if you are photographing a landscape scene at 20mm then I can promise that setting your shutter speed to 1/20 of a second will not advance your clarity. You need to be sensible about how slow you go with your shutter speed before you need the help of your tripod.

Matching your shutter speed to your focal length to attain sharpness may not be observable right away. You will not be able to see a massive change for the better when you take a look at the shot on the LCD on the camera. Only when you get your photo into Photoshop or Lightroom will you observe the difference.

Once you zoom into your photo you will see variation in sharpness. Once you know how to achieve sharpness, you will not need to over sharpen your images in post-production.

About the Author:
Amy Renfrey writes for DigitalPhotographySuccess.com. She’s photographed many things from famous musicians (Drummers for Prince and Anastasia) to weddings and portraits of babies. Amy also teaches photography online to her students.

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PictureCorrect.com: Interesting Photo of the Day: Glowing Tent Under a Winter Sky

Have you ever been camping in the winter? I mean, really camping—tent, sleeping bag, in the wilderness, under the clear, crisp winter sky, sleeping on snow? Colorado photographer Lars Leber lives for this kind of stuff and frequently hikes the beautiful, natural areas of Colorado to photograph its picturesque landscapes. Here, he captures his typical camping setup in the Lost Creek Wilderness against a stunning winter night sky:

Winter Camping by Lars Leber (Via Imgur. Click image to see full size.)

If you’re wondering why Leber didn’t just use one of the cabins in the background, it’s because they are old, abandoned cabins that were built for the Antero and Lost Park Reservoir Company between 1891 and 1913. Instead, he uses his modified Shangri-La shelter and a titanium wood stove. You can see the embers of the fire shooting out of the tent “chimney.”

Leber hiked about four miles from the Goose Creek Trailhead to find this beautiful backdrop. This shot was taken using a single 30-second exposure.

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PictureCorrect.com: The Pros and Cons of Using LED Lights for Studio Portraits

LEDs aren’t the most perfect lighting tools for studio portraits. But they do offers some advantages when shooting portraits in a studio environment. Jay P. Morgan demonstrates this by using LED lights to recreate the magic of the 1920s:

Advantages of Using LEDs

• With an LED light, you get to see exactly what you’re going to capture, which is a great advantage when setting up your lights.

• LED lights, being continuous in nature, are ideally suitable for shooting video.

• You have complete control over your color temperature. You can dial in the color temperature and match with the color temperature of whatever colored light that is coming through a window.
• LEDs draw a consistent amount of power. Strobes, on the other hand, draw a lot of power in a surge when they charge after discharging in a flash. This is why LEDs are comparatively more convenient to use in most environments, including homes.
• They work well for using wide open apertures to achieve shallow depth of field.

Disadvantages of Using LEDs

• LEDs are not very powerful. So, the very reason you can use wide apertures, means you cannot use small apertures like f/8, f/11 and so on.
• With LEDs you won’t be able to freeze action. The light isn’t powerful enough.
• You absolutely need a tripod to shoot with an LED light. You’ll need to use a longer than usual shutter speed, which means you need to stabilize the camera.

• Using modifiers becomes a tad more difficult when working with LEDs. Some LEDs do come with the option to mount a modifier, but not all of them.

Do you shoot with LEDs? Tell us about your experience.

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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: M78 Wide Field

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PictureCorrect.com: Fireworks Photos: Preparation and Planning

Everyone loves a great New Year’s fireworks show and it seems that lots of people take pictures while they are at the show. Here is a question for you. How many great pictures of fireworks have you seen taken by any of your friends or relatives?

I’ll bet your answer is not many. Now, have you ever wondered why everyone doesn’t have at least a couple of really good shots of fireworks? After all, the shows are free and the people that there seem to be snapping pictures like crazy.

“Jubilee Fireworks 3” captured by PictureSocial member Mike Kanssen

I’ll answer the question for you. It is because a little preparation and planning is needed to increase your chances of getting some really nice shots at a fireworks display.

The following are a few tips that might help when you are photographing fireworks.

Use a Tripod: This fireworks photography tip applies whether you are using a point and shoot Digital Compact Camera or a Digital SLR camera. The reason you will need a tripod is because it is best to photograph fireworks at slow shutter speeds.

Slower shutter speeds allow the camera to gather more light from the fireworks scene against the dark sky. When a camera is hand held and a slow shutter speed is used, the result will be a blurred picture.

If you don’t have a tripod, try placing the camera on a steady surface when taking the pictures. Sometimes, even the roof of your car might help.

Arrive early, claim a good spot: If you have time before the show, this fireworks photography tip can be very useful. As you probably know, fireworks shows are usually pretty crowded and you don’t want to have to reach over someone’s head to take a shot.

Some people might like to be close to the fireworks, but from a photography standpoint, it is better to be a little distance away from the actual scene. It is better to be able to shoot towards the fireworks rather than shooting straight up at them.

Also, if you are not right upon the fireworks, you might be able to include a little more than the fireworks burst in your picture. A building, a monument, or a skyline along with the fireworks bursts might make the images a little more interesting.

It is up to you to decide if you want anything but fireworks in your pictures. However, no matter what you decide, make sure you have a clear line of vision before you begin to photograph the fireworks.

Horizontal or Vertical? It doesn’t make a whole lot of difference if you hold the camera in the vertical or horizontal position when photographing the fireworks. However, since fireworks are shot upward in a vertical plane, it might not be a bad idea to shoot single bursts with the camera in the vertical position. On the other hand if there are several bursts going on at one time, the horizontal position will give you more room to frame the whole scene.

“Disney Fireworks” captured by PictureSocial member Ed Letts

Exposure settings for photographing fireworks: If you are using a compact digital camera, you cannot manually change exposure settings. Try using the fireworks scene mode of your camera. The fireworks mode will automatically set a slow shutter speed to photograph fireworks. (once again that is why you need a tripod or a steady surface for the camera).

If you are a Digital SLR user, use your cameras’ manual mode. It would be great if you use the bulb “B” shutter setting. The “B” setting allows you to keep the shutter as long as you like. That way can open the shutter just before the burst, and close it right after if you choose to do so.

If you don’t use the “B” setting, experiment with shutter speeds from 2-8 seconds. Also, try using a remote shutter release to avoid camera shake from pressing the shutter button.

As for the camera lens aperture settings, use smaller aperture openings between F8 and F16 if possible. Although the sky is dark, the fireworks are bright and overexposure is possible when using large aperture and slow shutter speed.

“Fireworks” captured by PictureSocial member Ivan Tam

Use low ISO settings like ISO 100 if possible: Higher ISO setting like ISO 800 or ISO 1600 might produce grainy looking images. (depending on what camera you use.) So try to use an ISO setting of ISO 200 or less.

Timing is everything: Fireworks bursts will appear quickly and disappear just as fast. Pre focus your digital compact camera on an area where the fireworks are being generated from. Hold that focus until you are ready to take your next shot. You will save time by not having to focus once the firework is in the air.

If you are using a Digital SLR camera use your manual focus feature prior to or during the first burst. You won’t have to refocus if you stay in the same location and use the same focal length.

Listen for a thump like sound or a whistling sound in the air. Those sounds indicate that fireworks have just been shot into the air. For best results do not wait until you see the bright explosion. Press the shutter as soon as you know something has been fired into the air. That way your camera will get the full effect of the burst from the beginning.(that is if your camera is already pointed right at the area of the fireworks and set at a slow shutter speed).

Photographing fireworks might be a little tricky at first. However, with a little practice you should come out with some pleasing results.

I hope these tips on photographing fireworks will be useful to you.

About the Author:
Keith Jones writes for http://ift.tt/LOViL8. A site geared towards beginners through serious amateurs who want to learn a little more about basic digital photography.

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PictureCorrect.com: Interesting Photo of the Day: Magnificent Autumn Colors of Wisconsin

A perfect autumn morning: sunlight filtering through the trees casts a soft orange glow, a sparkling little stream bubbles out of the rocks. The location? Pewit’s Nest near Devil’s Lake in Wisconsin:

Pewit’s Nest, Wisconsin (via imgur; click for larger image)

The product of an early-morning (4:30 am) excursion, the image was captured and edited by photographer Robert Stebler with a Nikon D5000 and a AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens. It is actually made up of 15 photos stitched together to create a 50,000 px by 50,000 px image.

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PictureCorrect.com: How to Set Up a Nighttime Portrait in 9 Seconds

Nine seconds. That’s all the time you have to set up a portrait of the bride and the groom. A tired bride and groom, at that. You have to be precise about the exposure, the light, and the pose. You also need to make sure that you don’t fool around and make an already long day even longer. Of course the right tools will help. But you need to know how to use those tools. Vanessa Joy explains:

For this shot Joy used two Profoto B1s with TTL, which allowed the power settings to be adjusted wirelessly and quickly. She instructed her  assistant to hold the backlight (in the middle of the street), and she placed the key light on camera left.

Even while instructing the bride and the groom where to stand, Joy was already setting the exposure on her 1D X Mark II using live-view. She then set the lights to TTL and did a test shot very quickly.

According to Joy, the first shot came out too warm and bright. So, after a little adjustment of white balance and exposure she took a second shot.

She took only two shots after the first one, just to ensure that she had at least one in sharp focus. Sometimes even when shooting with a strobe it’s possible to miss focus, especially when using a wide open aperture.

Here’s the final versions that Joy shared with her clients.

Pretty great for just three quick shots!

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