Your Photography Questions Answered

The art of photography is a wonderful creative outlet for all types of individuals. This art form has been around for decades, and companies have thrived on the production of equipment that is needed to ensure are great picture is taken.

Different types of photography are so varied, that a person can just be a novice to the art or they can become a professional that is driven by their passion. Photography is something that captures the moment for generations to come.

Which is better digital or basic film?

This is a question that only the person taking the pictures can answer. Digital is a relatively new concept that with the right equipment can allow for easy photo sharing via the internet.

A person can also send their digital pictures to a photo lab via the internet also. This allows for a family member several states away to pick up pictures quicker than having to wait for them to come through the mail.

But, if a person thinks that digital photography is too difficult to understand, they may opt to stick with the basic film camera. Again, depending on what a person wants to invest in, the choice is strictly theirs.

How can I become a professional photographer?

So many answers are available for this question. Photography school are everywhere, but if a person cannot attend photography classes on campus, becoming a professional photographer can be difficult.

However, the New York Institute of Photography allows for anyone in the world to become a professional photographer via correspondence. But, by doing a little research at the library, on the internet, and possibly interviewing local photographers to find out how they got into the business, a person can easily become a professional photographer.

How difficult is it to become a wedding photographer?

Wedding photography is one of the hottest types of photographers in demand today. Weddings are becoming larger and larger and the need to capture these special moments are in great need.

Anyone can take wedding pictures, but knowing how to accent with backgrounds, lights,and the right poses can make all the difference. Books and websites are a great place to start learning how to become an experience wedding photographer.

The most important thing when photographing a wedding is to remember to bring enough film and to plan in advance with the bride and groom which particular shots they want to include in their photo album. This planning can make all the difference and also can mean referrals which in turn means more money in the bank.

Which is better, the photography studio or location photography?

This depends on what is types of pictures are desired. A studio may have more equipment such as lights that can enhance the pictures better.

The location will more than likely not be able to accommodate all the equipment a photographer wants, but the area may be all that is needed for the perfect picture. The client and the photographer will have to make that choice together.

How hard is it to print my own pictures?

If a person has a camera with a compatible printer, all that is needed is a USB cable to hook the camera up to the computer. All major retail stores offer photo paper in various sizes to print the pictures on.

And, the pictures will be printed quickly and will look very professional at a fraction of the cost of a photo lab. To ensure quality printing, make sure your ink cartridges are fresh. Old ink cartridges can distort the natural colors of the photograph.

Choose the Right Lens for Portraits

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Nothing beats a good portrait. Especially when the subject and the photographer are satisfied with the results.

But if you want to take good portrait photos need to think about investing in the right type of lens. If taxpayers are satisfied with the results of your work, then you get the lens for the job. And that means one with the right focal length.

Lenses with a focal length less than 80 mm are not good. Arenoses look too big because the photographer has to get in too close. The ideal portrait lens has a focal length in the range 90mm to 135mm. These keep the natural proportions of the face as you see with the naked eye.

Don't forget your sensor size when determining the equivalent focal length. Most modern digital cameras have a sensor that is smaller than the 35mm film equivalent. This means you have to factor in a multiplier to get the correct lens focal length. A film lens of 50mm would work out 80mm on a digital sensor with a 1.6 multiplier factor. Refer to your camera handbook for information on magnification factors for sensors.

A longer focal length means you can stand a bit further away and still fill the frame to your desire. This makes the nose more in proportion with the rest of the face and is very flattering.

The End of the Film Era

My forty years as a photographer was spent depending on film for taking pictures. The more detail that was needed, the larger the size negative was used. Eleven by fourteen sheet film produced the finest detail and the smoothest photographs. The cameras that used this size film weighed up to eighty pounds and had to be moved on a dolly with wheels. Heavy duty tripods could be used but could not be moved once set in place. The larger sized film, from eight by ten and up were mostly contact printed in a light box. Specially sized film like ten by twenty inches produced a long photograph suitable for photographing large groups. The detail was amazing, even down to the eyelashes of a person sitting at a restaurant table in a room forty feet long. Today's cameras would be hard pressed to duplicate this feat.

In the nineteen fifties the large studio cameras were still in use but the film holders were downsized to five by seven and even split five by seven in order to save costs. The Speed Graphic cameras used by many newspaper photographers held four by five inch sheet film.. It's sensitivity boasted speeds of four or eight hundred ASA without affecting the appearance of grain to any extent. The holders were unwieldy with only two pieces of film in each, except for the film packs that held a thinner film pack of twelve.

Color film had been invented in the forties, but the color appeared weak and tinted with shades of orange and aqua green. Kodachrome gave the best color but was affordable only in 35mm size for slides. There was Agfacolor and Ektachrome in four by five sheets but the color left something to be desired. Candid weddings became popular in the fifties but the case of thirty film holders weighed over forty pounds.

In the sixties, the twin lens cameras using 120 roll film were the rage. Finer grained film duplicated the quality of the four by five film holders and the cameras weighed one quarter as much. Twelve exposures and later 24 exposures made candid photography much more convenient. Only the German lenses passed the critical eyes of the professional photographers. Rolleiflex and the single lens reflex, Hasselblad, made the grade.

By the seventies, better quality film by Kodak and Agfa allowed the use of 35mm single lens reflex cameras for most journalistic work. The larger sizes were still used for magazine publications, producing stunning detailed perfectly colored photos. The new multi coated, multi element lenses from Germany and Japan contributed much to the quality. Some camera manufactures experimented with half frame 35mm, 16mm and even 8mm film but one had to sacrifice some quality for compactness and weight savings.

The next two decades saw many improvements in camera automatic functions like the Minolta Maxxum with its built in motor drive, LCD readouts and program exposure but the film remained virtually the same. One hour film service reigned and custom labs could produce sharp grainless photographs in wall sizes.

If you didn't mind seeing little squared in your three by five snapshots, digital cameras were available in the mid nineties but the year 2000 saw massive changeover to digital 'film" with full size sensors and six to eight mega pixels of smooth detail.. The cost of changing from film to digital was daunting, but the benefits were irresistible to the professional photographer. No more hand coloring, hand retouching, waiting for proofs, smelly chemicals, space eating darkrooms and large storage facilities for storing the spent film. But we'll never forget the amazing one hundred year reign of film.

Specialized Styles of Photography

Outlined below is a list of genres that call for specialized treatment in the process of creating outstanding photographs. These thematic approaches will be discussed in detail here, though there are few more categories and sub-categories in thematic photography like ad messages, corporate brochures, under-water photography and so on.

--Wildlife photography

--Landscape photography

--Sports events

--Photo-journalism

--Fashion photography

--Black & White treatment

--Shooting Celebrities

-->Wildlife Photography

Wildlife photography is often assumed to be an exciting and high adventure genre of photography. In reality it is extremely challenging and wildlife photographers find themselves at the mercy of inclement weather and sometimes even face danger. Here are some suggestions for this specialized form of photography.

Understand the life form that you plan to photograph in terms of living habits, habitat and behavior. In other words you need a perspective on 'a day in the life of' your wildlife subject. Books and online research will throw light on your subject. The importance of getting acquainted with the behavior of the animal is a lot more important when you have to shoot dangerous jungle animals that can attack like lions or tigers or even bears. Animals will become aware of you when you enter close to their habitat but will usually not attack if you keep your distance. But you have to be clear on the distance at which an animal will begin to feel threatened by your presence and decide to attack you.

It goes without saying that you can't expect any kind cooperation from your subject! You have to fit yourself in, place yourself in a vantage point and have your camera set and ready and then wait for the 'right moment' to take the shot that you are looking for.

You may have to wait many days before you can capture the right shot. Your subject could not care less if the light is diminishing or the light is at its best. You may have perfect light conditions on a particular day but your subject may not be in the right spot for you to take the shot.

You need telephoto lenses to shoot from a distance and other camera features like Center-weighted metering. The Center-weighted meter allows you to meter the wildlife subject at the center of the frame and vary the size of the sensing area based on the dimensions of the subject and its distance from you.

-->Landscape Photography

Taking landscape pictures within a city from atop a building or on the beach is one type of landscape photography. But if you want to get closer to nature and shoot unique pictures of nature and environment in remote locations like wild forest area or mountain ranges, then you have your task cut out for you just like a wildlife photographer. You need the spirit of adventure within you in order to travels around to different places and scour different regions for landscape opportunity.

It is tough to firstly identify the right spots, you may have to explore for days before you find an idyllic panoramic landscape to shoot. You then have to wait for the right light conditions while braving the weather and the rough living conditions. In terms of equipment, landscape photographers need to go in for a variety of wide-angle lenses since this type of lens is capable of lending depth in the photograph. A wide-angle zoom lens is useful in this type of photography because of the range of focal lengths it can provide while fine-tuning a shot. But there is also the need for telephoto lenses for certain shot though not of the high focal length required by sports photographers. Landscape photographers usually go in for telephoto lenses with focal length less than 300mm (a telephoto lens has a focal length greater than 50mm, a wide angle lens is less than 50mm, and a standard lens has a focal length of 50mm).

-->Sports Events

Those who have made a career of photographing sporting events have a different style of operation to capture the high action of dramatic moments in a game. The length of the lens, the location of the photographer taking the shot and the need to limit blurring are the three critical aspects in sports photography.

Sports photographers use a telephoto lens. This type of lens magnifies the subject. The focal length to choose from in telephoto lenses varies from 60mm to 1000 mm. A lens with a high focal length can give you a wider visual area which is a necessity when you photograph field events. Sports photographers by and large prefer 35mm cameras and use focal lengths of 300-600mm especially for field events like soccer.

The location where photographers position themselves to take different shots is directly responsible for capturing the relevant high-points in a match. It also helps if you have a good knowledge of the sport. This ensures that you identify the right moments and are alert and ready when a memorable situation occurs during the sport. You can get the right shots if you are able to move around and use the right location in different points in a game. However, quite often the areas of movement are restricted for photographers and the best way to tide over this problem is to use a lens of focal length in the region of 600mm to enable shots of the far end of a court or field. Though a good location is usually described by the angle and distance from the court or field, the other aspect of a good location is also the play of light from your vantage point. Most photographers have the task of avoiding shadows caused by the quality of light. The intensity of color in a photograph is reduced in dull light conditions while bright sunlight can create shadows in certain angles.

To limit blurring and capture action during a special game moment, you need to have fast shutter speeds at your disposal. A 35mm camera that is generally favored in sports photography can provide the high shutter speed necessary for action shots. Besides shutter speed, the speed of the film also plays a role. Higher film speed enables higher shutter speeds. A film speed of 100 is inadequate in sports photography. You need a 400 and above speed film.

The autofocus mechanism in is also useful in sports photography especially when manual focus is difficult to achieve quickly in certain sports situations.

An interesting technique called panning is applied in capturing action shots. You have to avoid holding the camera still when you shoot action. A rule-of-thumb is to hold the camera steady but move it along with the action rather than attempting to hold still. This steady movement of the camera along the path of motion of the player; incredibly, has the effect of minimizing blur. On the other hand, you will get a blur if you hold your camera still while the action is taking place. This technique is actually based on sound scientific principles.

It should also be mentioned here that the art of sports photography actually goes beyond capturing action or high points in a game. The readers who view these photographs in newspapers and magazines want to see player expressions, the thrills, the disappointments, the concentration that players display is something that readers find captivating and it becomes a talking point. Readers also like to see crowd reactions and reactions of family members of the players in certain critical game situations. To cater to the public sentiment, a photographer has to also attempt to click these special poignant moments during a game by capturing reactions and facial expressions.

-->Photo-journalism

Photojournalism is a different ball game altogether. It is visual storytelling. It has a strong social and cultural context and is a visual form of reportage based on newsy and current affairs topics. Being in the right place at the right time and understanding the situation as it unfolds helps a photojournalist deliver reader interest material. The objective is to usually pick up contemporary topics and portray a visual story that creates an understanding on the pattern in which people live their lives or social changes that impact them in different walks of life. Photojournalism also lends credibility to the written word and can support a public interest story with visual proof. The visuals complement the written reportage on the story.

A visual representation of contemporary situations is a powerful way to make a point and the photographer who is into photojournalism has to be a firstly aware of the socio-political and cultural scene of a region to be able to shoot the relevant pictures. The equipment required by photojournalists varies by the type of story they pursue. If a photojournalist is picking up images of a town or if the photography is the type that portrays cultural and historical sites, or if the task is to follow the campaign trail of a political leader, each of these require a different treatment.

-->Fashion Pictures

A fashion photographer needs to be a creative thinker with a good eye for aesthetics and the ability to use sound judgment in implementing out-of-the-box ideas. Fashion photography is meant to render an elegant, stylish effect on readers so the mundane and the run of the mill shots will not work. Each photograph is a piece of art in itself and has to be original.

Creating an impact in fashion photography requires the photographer to take a leap in imaginative thinking and to create images that are different and unusual. The treatments that have been tried over the years range from the surreal to muted black and whites, to geometric shapes to brilliant color schemes. A fashion product has to be portrayed creatively while at the same time conveying style and classiness. A fashion photographer needs a high level of visual sophistication combined with ideation skills. It also helps to try and understand the psyche of models that fashion photographers have to regularly interact with, in order to get the best out of them. Your choice of camera and accessories will vary depending on whether you shoot indoor or outdoor, light conditions, theme of the picture, etc.

-->Black and White Treatment

The black and white effect is used by artists and fashion photographers to create abstracts or classy 'other worldly' images. The camera equipment required in black & white is not very distinct from other types of photography but the key actually lies in the processing and printing quality. This is an important area of emphasis in black & white photographs in order to get the desired effect.

You will need an assortment of lenses for different situations - such as a combination of wide-angle lens as well as a standard lens. If you want large prints, you may need a camera with a high-resolution digital image sensor for sharpness of large format prints. The resolution should be more than 3 mega pixels.

Whether you develop your photographs in the darkroom (traditional film based camera) or process the pictures digitally (digital camera usage), when you develop the picture yourself you have the leeway to heighten or reduce the contrasts in tour picture based on the type of impression and visual impact you hope to create. You can also scan from traditionally processed negatives onto a computer and then process the images digitally.

To fine-tune the images digitally you need some basic knowledge of Photoshop software. Without manipulating the main picture in any way, you can enhance your black and white images by fine-tuning the contrasts. Photoshop assists in optimizing the images. The principles are the same as those used in a traditional darkroom. Using Photoshop you can apply various techniques like dodging (you selectively lighten a certain portion of a photo), cropping, optimizing density and fine tuning the contrasts. Fine tuning the contrasts is important in creating the right effect in black and white.

The print quality is another important factor in creating high impact black & white photographs. If you intend to print digitally processed images, you need a good printer and long lasting ink in your printer. You should also use photo quality paper to print your images.

-->Shooting Celebrities

Celebrity photography is challenging and the same time an exciting, glamorous field. When you deal with celebrities, firstly you have very little time to work within. There is always a time constraint even after you pin down a celebrity for a photo session. You have to therefore have good infrastructure and be ready with the necessary equipment. You have to plan the shot and adjust your camera, before asking your celebrity to pose.

Celebrity faces are well known so the key lies in attempting to capture something a little different, to create a different perspective. You need to build a good rapport with the celebrity and have to persevere to get the right mood to capture the real essence of the person. If you are photographing the celebrity for an ad, then the strategy behind the ad has to be considered to blend in the celebrity's expressions and posture to suit the requirements of the ad.

To sum up, the discussion - Wildlife photography requires you to brave rough conditions and thoroughly understand the habitat and behavior of the animal. The relevant and useful tools in your camera system are the right lenses and center-weighted metering if you are into shooting wildlife. Landscape photography requires you to be a wandering explorer, constantly seeking out those spectacular scenic settings. You mainly need wide-angle lenses in your camera system to demonstrate depth and scale in your picture. Sports events need a good vantage point and if you want to freeze the high action in the game, you have to learn and hone the skill of panning. Photojournalism calls on your social and political consciousness and is the art of visually unfolding a story, while Fashion photography requires ideation and out-of-the-box thinking. The impact of Black & White treatment can be heightened during the processing phase using various techniques and, Celebrity photography is not all glamour. Capturing the right mood and the essence of the celebrity becomes the key to a good shot and you often work within time constraints.

It is apparent that different photography streams each have their own specialized approaches and style of treatment. Your mind-set and your interests should influence the path that you choose as a photographer.

Learn Digital Photography - 6 Steps to Great Candid Photos

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Although posing for a photograph can result in a wonderful image, candid shots always win at the end of the day. Why? Because they are so much more fun and natural. We all loved 'Candid Camera" and this is why candid photos are so popular. Let's take a look how to shoot great candids.

Photography is a moment in time and candid shots are simple and immediate. Maybe not perfect and fulfilling all the criteria, but, filled with emotion and sometimes memories. They are spontaneous and reflect an instant of poignant life snatched from oblivion by the magical machine, the camera.

Candid photography is all about taking opportunities at the right moment in time resulting in a memory. Here's how you can make the most of shooting candids.

1. Trust your instincts

If a subject catches your attention or intrigues you, don't think, shoot it. If you think, then the opportunity has probably gone before you know it. Don't worry about setting up the image and using all the rules of composition, just take the photo and think about the rest later.

2. Wait for the right moment

Don't use your camera like a machine gun and shoot everything that comes into range. Be selective and study the faces of the group that you are in. You can often see when a significant gesture or expression is imminent. Wait for the right moment then fire away.

3. Blend into the background

The best photographers know just how to blend in with the scenery and allow themselves to become unobtrusive. Walking around with your camera gets people used to you being there and eventually they won't even notice you. They start to relax and this is conducive to great photography. The object of the exercise is to fit in with the crowd and do what they are doing.

4. Look for people engaged in activity

When people are busy doing something whether it be work or recreation, they become classic candidates for candid photography. You can move around almost invisibly when people are engaged in an activity. Their expressions become unguarded and they are relaxed. By making a friendly comment or asking a question you gain their attention and as they look in your direction you can shoot away.

5. Choose when to approach your subject

Knowing when to approach your subject will help get that really great shot. You want them to lower their defences and allow you into their world. Remember that you aren't trying to photograph reactions to you as that takes away the candid element. You want them doing completely natural and unstaged activities that you just happen to stumble on. Camera shy people don't make great subjects, but, if you can shoot them unawares you get the best shot possible.

6. Don't be concerned about the perfect composition

Don't worry about mistakes when shooting candids. Photographic perfection is not what you are looking for. A different set of rules applies to candid photography. You are trying to shoot an image with different characteristics to a composed studio shot. Keep it simple and relaxed and shoot fast from the hip.

Candids should be fun, a side of people that you won't capture when they are posed. Candids capture the reality of the subject and a side of them seldom seen. Don't be afraid to experiment and try methods that you usually would not use.

Tips For Sports Photography

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Sports photography actually aims to freeze the moment at the actual event. Sports photographers must be prepared with the correct equipment. They should wish to click each and every emotion and the moment. The important aspect about the sport photography is that a photographer can click the each and every moment and later can share with public.

If you are into sports photography than the first thing is that you must know all the different types of sport. However each sport is different. Therefore the techniques and style used in freezing and capturing each moment is different. Take a brief about a sport and field which you are going to shoot. Knowledge of sport rules would help you to know the interesting angles. Let us see some basic guidelines which would help us to make our task easier.

Basketball

This sport is an easiest one to shoot as you just need to focus on the two subjects: a player and the net. But it limits you with certain angles.

Baseball

It is the sport which is most difficult to shoot due to the unpredictability. But ensure your safety first before experimenting with the shoots.

Football

This is an easier sport to click, but it contemplates the most of attention as here you have to wait for a perfect time.

Hockey and soccer

It is highly recommended to use auto focus camera in these sport as sudden moments and speed are involved in it.

Golf and cricket

It is very difficult to click images during a game because of a nature of a game. You can simply take one position and from there you can take shots.

Track

This is the kind of sport which is very fun to click as it is very easy to click and quite predictable. Just you need to wait for is the good time.

Racing events

They are easy to be photographed, but you require longer lenses to shoot if you are far away from a track.

Volleyball

However it is the rarest covered events. Also it is one of the favorites sport to cover as dramatic shots could be derived throughout the game. You need to turn the auto focus on as the moves in the sports are tricky.

Camera Digital Technology - Sensors, Storage Space And Snapshot Sharpness

Camera digital technology: do you have to understand it to utilize it? Probably not, especially if you're using a consumer digital camera - a point-and-shoot - and you just want to get that holiday trip recorded for posterity...

On the other hand, it is quite useful to have a good grip on camera digital technology to get the best out of that little technological marvel!

For starters, it makes sense to know that the number of pictures you can take on your camera depends on the file format you select, and on your camera's storage capacity.

Camera digital technology generally works with two main formats, the JPG and the RAW file. The latter is for storing as much as possible original data per picture, to be adjusted later on a PC. The RAW format is of particular interest to professionals. RAW pictures often need nearly 10 times as much storage space as JPG files, so a casual photographer will generally choose to use JPG.

However, your camera might give you the option of selecting high quality JPG's or standard quality JPG's - the latter using less space, and mostly giving quite satisfactory results.

The camera will store the picture files on a card. A 256MB card can sometimes store more than 80 images of standard JPG size. If you're willing to spend more, new camera digital technology allows you to buy cards with 10 times more storage capacity.

Another aspect of camera digital technology which is useful to know about, is the way the images are captured. In stead of the film of well, film cameras, digital cameras have a silicon sensor with light-sensitive photosites (pixels) which capture the light information.

These sensors are often less precise than film when it comes to rendering detail in shadows and highlights. Camera digital technology therefore dictates that you should be careful not to "blow" your highlights. If they are not captured in the first place, you can't make any adjustments afterwards in your software processing.

To ensure you capture as much shadow and highlight detail as possible, and in a balanced way, camera digital technology offers you the use of a histogram. This handy tool is a little graph which indicates how the levels of brightness are distributed in an image. Many cameras show a histogram in real time, while you compose your image, giving you the opportunity to make exposure adjustments.

While digital camera lenses are essentially "old technology", it is useful to know that you can get excellent quality pictures from fairly inexpensive consumer cameras. This has once again to do with the sensor used in camera digital technology.

As the sensor in these point-and-shoots have a much smaller surface area than the 35mm film of a film camera, the former can get a much sharper and detailed image than a film camera with the same lens, due to the smaller focal area.

Camera digital technology has the major advantage of offering you stacks of opportunity to experiment with taking first-rate pictures, because you don't have to be concerned with the expenses relating to camera film.

So go out there and put the new camera digital technology to use!