Shoot Better Low-Light Digital Photos

Indoor, low-light photography is not always as simple as point and shoot, even with the latest digital cameras. The following tips can help you take better indoor digital photographs in every kind of low-light situation.

Avoid Using the Flash When You Can

Although using a flash seems to be the obvious solution to low light digital photography, digital flash images have their downsides. Not only will a flash interfere with the setting, it also tends to flatten images, distort colors and wash out skin tones. This problem is especially apparent with the cheap, built-in flashes on most compact digital cameras.

The first thing pros will suggest is to increase your camera's ISO setting, or its "light sensitivity." Traditionally, high speed film (ISO 800 and higher) was better suited for low light photography. Unfortunately, higher ISOs on digital cameras tend to produce color noise - little specks of red green and blue scattered across your image.

Most point and shoot cameras, even those with manual controls, won't produce quality images above 400 ISO. The solution then is to use lower ISO settings, which however, requires long exposure times in low light situations.

Dealing with the Blur

Whether through the subject's movement or yours, long exposure times increase the chances of blurring the digital photograph. These techniques will help produce blur-free shots:

• Start with the largest aperture allowed by your digital camera. Use aperture-priority mode if you have one.
• Zoom out as much as possible if you have a zoom lens. More light will hit the photo sensor of your digital camera and exposure time will go down.
• If the exposure time is still greater than what you can handhold without shaking, use a tripod. Consider something small like the innovative Joby Gorillapod - a small, flexible tripod which will fit nicely in the average coat pocket. There are several sizes available, some of which probably won't fit in your pocket but still aren't as cumbersome as full-size tripod.
• Use the digital camera's timer function to reduce the shake that results from pressing the shutter button. Most digital cameras will have a two-second delay timer that works great, especially on long exposures.

If you have very steady hands, you can try holding the digital camera even on long exposures. Pick a solid stance with your legs slightly apart, and brace the digital camera against your face and hold your breath while you press the shutter. Be sure to zoom in on the resulting image on the preview screen of your digital camera to check for blurring!

Balancing Your Whites

The biggest challenge you face in low light situations is, obviously, the lighting. Chances are you will be shooting in artificial light. Light temperatures from incandescent bulbs or fluorescent overheads can cast yellow or blue tones over a scene. Sometimes, as in the case of incandescent light, this can have a nice warming effect, but it may not be what you are looking for at other times.

The solution is to adjust the white balance in your digital camera. Most digital cameras offer a variety of preset white balance settings which you can experiment with. If all else fails you may be able to customize your own settings. You can also change the white balance after the shooting using software if you shoot RAW images.

Killing Digital Photo Noise

There tends to be unacceptable levels of color noise in the finished digital photograph when using high ISO setting. There are ways to get rid of color noise after the fact using software. Adobe Photoshop features a noise filter that blends surrounding areas together. There are also dedicated software like Noise Ninja ($35-$80, depending on the license) that can provide much more pronounced improvements without blurring or other side effects.

Techniques for Winter Digital Photography

Winter digital photography can be an exhilarating experience. Winter brings with it its own unique beauty worth capturing in digital photographs, as we as its own set of challenges for the photographer. Knowing how to deal with the digital photography issues in winter will allow you to better capture the splendor of snow and ice.

by Rajendran Varma

Equipment for Winter Digital Photography

Two important considerations for digital photographers in winter are comfort and safety. Therefore, it is imperative to dress warmly and in layers for your digital photography trips in winter. The low temperatures also cause digital camera batteries to run dry faster, so make sure to take extra batteries. Condensation can also cause problems for your camera hardware, so take precautions such as not breathing directly on your camera.

Lighting for Winter Digital Photography

The light reflected off snow and ice during winter makes for very interesting lighting conditions for digital photography. However, this reflected light is very often the problem with winter photography since you can end up with too much light in your digital photographs. This results in reduced contrast and less details as well as washed out colors. One solution that is not intuitive is to use flash to help balance the light off the snow and ice, and fill in darker areas. Many newer digital cameras also have adaptive lighting technology to deal with high contrast scenes you are likely to encounter in winter digital photography.

White Balance in Winter Digital Photography

White balance can be especially tricky in winter digital photography. White balance is meant to balance colors in a shot based on the lighting conditions. However, very dark and very bright scenes can be tricky situations for your camera’s white balance, and causes winter digital photographs to turn out dark and grayish because the camera underexposes the scene. Therefore it is important to manually control settings to adjust the white balance in you digital camera. Newer digital cameras often have winter shooting modes that do this automatically.

Contrast and Color

Winter’s photographs are especially striking when the bare, white landscape is punctuated by contrasting and colorful subjects. Trees, mountains, wildlife and people all make interesting subjects for winter digital photography. The interesting patterns and textures that are unique to winter also make for intriguing subjects. As always, experiment with different shooting angles and digital camera settings.

View Amazing Winter Digital Photography

How To Master Digital Photography Basics

by Connie Fillmore

With the advent of digital cameras, the cost of photography has plummeted considerably, with the result that there has been a surge of interest in the field. Greenhorns in this area however, need not fret. Sharpening up on your digital photography skills is easy, provided you have the basics at the tip of your tongues, or is it, at the tip of your lenses!

Mastering the basics of digital photography, first and foremost involves knowing all about pixels and resolutions. These are the parameters that have a direct bearing, and quite a lion's share on the quality of the images being generated. The more the pixel count, the better the resolution or clarity of the picture and the better it turns out when enlarged. So it is obvious that the fastidious photographers prefer robust pixel values. However, with the market flooded with digital cameras of various makes, you can hope for a good bargain. Let us discuss a few basics of digital photography.

Zoom And Tele Lenses
Going digital has also meant that you can click away merrily at anything and everything under the sun. This will only help you get well up on the nitty-gritty of the zoom modes. The Optical Zoom of a camera is worth tinkering with. The "Telephoto" mode makes your subject appear larger while the "Wide Angle" mode is all about cramming a lot of a scene into your picture and hence the elements of the picture appear smaller.

Focusing
 Toying with the controls of your digital camera is a good way of getting a hang about the different picture modes and hence be able to put them to good use. For instance, instead of relying on the instruction manual, see for yourself that the Portrait Mode actually sharpens your subject and de-focuses the background. For those who are not yet comfortable with the exposure, focus and flash parameters can take the help of the Auto Mode in the awkward initial stages.

Lighting
There is no such thing as a photography gene. Good photographers weave magic with their cameras, but this magic is all about getting the lighting and flash issues straightened in their photographs. Shooting in the early morning light is advisable if you want to avoid the harsh glare of the midday sun and in case of night photography, filming during the twilight hours or just as the moon is rising gives you the best results. You should not shoot with the sun directly in front of the lens.

Using the Flash
The flash is quite a lure for the novice photographer but results are not always satisfactory. This is because improper use of the flash function leads to the marring of good photos. In fact, the flash really leads to underexposure, and thus ungainly shadows in night photography. While you are using this feature, inch closer to your subject and thus make sure that all the areas of the picture are equally lighted up.

Shutter Speed
The shutter speed is one area that many newcomers to digital photography is quite oblivious to. But you will be amazed at the dramatic results that mere varying the speeds can bring about. The rule of thumb: fast shutter speeds "freeze" the action, while slow values will result in a blur. Slow shutter speed also let more light enter into the camera, so this is an option worth considering when you need to shoot in low light conditions.

The basics of digital photography are not hard to master. And being well versed in them will help you capture reality in all its essence.

Photography Tips - Portrait Photos

Portrait photography is an important aspect of photography in general. High quality portrait photos are impressive projections of emotions and feelings, and captures the objects' character forever. This article will provide you with guidelines for achieving such high quality portrait photos.

Although producing true high quality portrait photos is an art and requires experimentation and experience, there are some simple general techniques that you can follow in order to quickly improve your portrait photos. Here are a few:

Background: A good portrait photo, or for that matter any photo in which a person is the center of attention, should have a passive background that does not take the attention away from the object. Specifically a portrait photo is all about the objects face. Take your photos in a neutral background. A background that is comprised of soft solid colors is an example of a good background to use. A busy street or people moving around are examples of bad backgrounds to use in portrait photos.

Blurring: Another way to focus the viewer's attention on the object and not the background is to blur the background details. Blurring the background will literally lift the object out of the photo and make it stand out. The technique to blue the background is pretty simple you will need to set your camera to a shallow depth of field. You can do that by using a zoom lens and shooting from a short distance or with a wide aperture manual setting.

Lighting: Lighting is a simple but important issue in portrait photography. Natural lighting is preferable whenever possible. Natural light is much better at capturing the full color range and warmth of the skin than artificial lighting. Try taking portrait photos outdoors during the day. Position the subject in such a way that sunlight hits them from an angle and not directly. Taking photos with the sun behind the subject will result in a silhouette. On the other hand, taking photos with the sun right in front of the subject will result in overexposure and color distortion. You can use a fill-in flash to compensate for some shadowing that might occur on the face, especially in the nose area.

The eyes: Although a face has many details - nose, eyes, mouth, and so on - the eyes are the overwhelmingly important feature to focus on in a portrait photo. The eyes tell a story and they convey emotions, feelings and state of mind. Focusing on them will make the photo better project all those feelings. Depending on the emotions and story that you are trying to convey through the photo, guide your object to look straight to the camera or to look sideways by focusing on another object.

Experiment: It takes time and experience to perfect your portrait shooting abilities. With digital cameras the cost of taking photos is literally zero, thereby allowing you to experiment extensively until you get a good sense of how to produce high quality portrait photos.

Digital Camera Accessories - Cover The Bases

By: Idan Lavi

There is no denying the fact that digital cameras haven taken the world by storm in the last decade. As technology continues to develop and pictures taken on them prove incredible, the amount of digital camera accessories to make your photos even better is really on the rise. Where only a few extras used to be available, digital camera enthusiasts are finding a whole host of choices these day. Some of these accessories are essentials, while others just make digital photography more convenient.

Must Haves

Extra Memory

With digital cameras offering such ease in shooting, those who want to take high-quality pictures find themselves tearing through memory cards rather quickly. These digital camera accessories are generally pretty affordable and are more than easy to carry. Typically the size of postage stamp or just slightly larger, extra memory cards can be used by anyone from the professional shooter to the amateur on vacation.

Spare Batteries

It might be hard to consider these as an accessory, but the fact is many who own these cameras do. While most digital camera batteries can last a long time, when they run out in the middle of a vacation or a particularly fun shoot, it can be really irritating. Having a spare set can really come in handy. It`s best to consider rechargeable spares to save on replacement costs down the road.

Weatherproof Camera Bag

When it comes to digital camera accessories, this one is a must have for anyone that intends to take their camera outside, ever. Providing protection from bad weather and drops alike, these accessories aren`t very expensive either and they can help store those extra batteries and memory cards, too.

Love To Haves

Lighting mechanisms

This particular class of digital camera accessory might almost fit into the must have list. While most digital cameras take very good pictures, there onboard flashes tend to leave a lot to be desired. There are all kind of lighting mechanisms that are available that can remedy this. Some are designed to work with specific cameras and others are standalones that can assist in any photography setting. These are great for anyone who wants to take spectacular shots to consider.

Tripods

When it comes to digital camera accessories, this is one any serious shooter might want to consider. These help take away the shake that`s involved in some settings and can really help create spectacular images.

Extra Lenses

Not all cameras will accept these digital camera accessories, but those that do can really benefit from zoom lenses. Providing a way to really turn a digital into an all-purpose camera, lenses should be considered by those who can use them.

When it comes to digital camera accessories, the options are becoming amazing. The above is just a small list of those available. While not everyone will need many digital camera accessories to take the pictures they want, it`s nice to know options are out there

Photography Lighting Techniques

Lighting is one of the most important aspects of photography, since it is light that is captured by a camera. Understanding how lighting works and what you can do with different lighting conditions can lead to a better photography experience and results.

Consider the angle of the light entering the frame, the kind of shadows you want, and whether you want to use fill-in-flash (using flash to light the subject if you have a really bright background). If you are shooting at night you can create all sorts of cool effects like lights in motion, pictures with moonlight, or silhouettes. The following are just some examples of all the possibilities.

Angle of Light

The angle of light should be taken into careful consideration whenever you feel like you want to create a specific effect. Shadows can be very powerful when cast over half of someone's face. When you are deciding which angle you would prefer to have the light coming from you are indirectly deciding where the shadows will be cast. The angle of light can be used to show texture if it is coming from the side because the shadows create the effect of more depth. It can add detail and mystery to someone's face if you choose to keep half of their face in the shadows. The most common light usage mistake that people make when they are taking portrait pictures is having the light coming directly from the back when they don't intend to create a silhouette. This usually results in having the subject's face just very dark and the background overexposed.

Light Rays Effect

The effect of rays of light indoors and outdoors can be very spectacular. A brilliant part of some great photographs is the ability to actually see rays of light in a photo. Whether it is in the setting of a brilliant sunset, light pouring through a window or light from artificial lights almost all kinds have the potential to look amazing. Usually the only way to obtain something like this is a narrow aperture (high f/stop) and a very slow shutter speed. I have found rays of light to be very nice in architectural photography in the form of light streaming through windows or spaces.

Silhouettes

Silhouettes are another interesting example of strategic light use. The way to create a silhouette is to have significantly brighter light coming from behind the subject. In doing this it is important to take your camera light reading off of the background instead of the subject in order for the camera to adjust for an exposure based on the backlight. If you do this the subject will be successfully underexposed and the background should hopefully have a well-balanced exposure. You can do this for any kind of subject including people, animals, landscapes and impressive cityscapes.

Scarce Light in the Darkness

Photography at night is completely different than photography in the day. At night there is most likely not enough light to handhold the camera if you are going to take a well-exposed photo (without flash). A tripod is very necessary and I always use a tripod when I am shooting at night to take away the risk of blur from hand shakiness. If you keep experimenting with different ways of using light you will find that you can get very interesting results. One favorite location of night photographers is on the roadside of a busy street. With a long shutter speed the photographer can use the car lights to make streams of light across the frame. The longer the exposure, the more fascinating the results with light most of the time.

Try This Technique to Make a Copy of Someone

Set the shutter speed for somewhere around 30 seconds, set the camera on a tripod and set the self-timer so you do not have to press the shutter button. Someone needs to stand next to the camera with a flashlight and someone else needs to be the subject of the photo in front of the camera. The subject then stands in one place while the flashlight is pointed at him and moved in an up and down motion. After around 15 seconds the flashlight is turned off and the subject is told to move to his left. Then the flashlight is pointed at him again and moved up and down until the camera finishes the exposure. If you do this successfully you can create the same person twice in one frame.

Conclusion

The use of light is a very essential practice to master if you are going to be a successful photographer. When a digital camera takes a photo its sensor is essentially just collecting all the light from the scene that is reflected in through the lens. It is your job simply to figure out where you would like the light to be coming from and how long the sensor should be exposed to the light in order to create a sufficient exposure.

About the Author: HDR Japan is an Okinawa Japan photo blog and cultural information resource.

Understanding Digital Photography White Balance

In digital photography terms, and traditional, you will most likely hear the term “white balance” quite a lot. It’s an important meaning because many digital photography enthusiasts concentrate on the lenses and digital camera without first learning about how light works.

In a nutshell, “white balance” in digital photography relates to the ‘temperature’ of light. If you notice when doing your digital photography indoors, the photo will have a bluish colour through out the digital photo. Then if you take your digital photography outside you will notice the photo then has a warmer tone to it. This is your white balance feature on your digital camera working to adjust the image.

To give you a direct example of how white balance works in your digital photography think of this; have you ever noticed how your colour pictures come out a more bluish tone in the shade? The problem is that because light has temperature, the camera has to analyze this change in its own limited way compared to the human eye.

You can help reduce the blue by altering the setting on the camera or adding a warmer color filter such as yellow. Some colour filters have different shades or hues of the same colour. Each warmer colour filter moves towards a warmer feel and increases in density.

Your white balance in digital photography also works when you walk into an office building. The fluorescent light might be different from that of the doctor’s or a drug store? Well, you’re not imagining things! The reason is there are over 40 different ranges of fluorescent lights and the problem for us digital photographers is that each one has its own colour temperature. It’s not to be avoided, please no! It just means you need to be aware that all florescent lighting is not the same and that you’ll have to consider this when shooting under this type of light.

You can work well with white balance by switching indoor shots to an “outdoor” setting to eliminate the bluish tone in indoor shots. And alternatively you can set the white balance mode to “indoor” when you are outside to reduce some golden/yellow saturation in your outside digital photography shots.

About the Author: Amy Renfrey is the author of two major successful ebooks “Digital Photography Success” and “Advanced Digital Photography”. She is a photographer and also teaches digital photography. She’s photographed many things from famous musicians to portraits of babies. Amy also teaches photography online to her students at Digital Photography Success.

Seven common mistakes when taking Digital Photos

By: Ziv Haparnas

You have probably taken photos before just to find out later that they did not come out as expected. Although digital cameras are getting smarter there are still a lot of decisions that the photographer has to make. There are also many mistakes that the photographer can make. Here are seven common ones.

Many mistakes can ruin a photo. Here is a list of seven common ones. The first step to avoid these is to understand what they are and why they ruin a photo. The second step is to be aware of them when shooting your photos.

Out of focus: An out of focus photo looks blurry and has low contrast. Usually such a photo is useless and can not be corrected. Most digital cameras can automatically set the focus for you and in most cases they choose the right focus for the scene. Some scenes however are harder to focus on and can fool the cameras auto focus mechanism. If you are using an SLR camera you can make sure that the objects are in focus by looking through the viewfinder. Most cameras sound a short beep when the focus is locked and also display a green rectangle around the area that they focused on. Always make sure that this area is where the objects that you care about are. For example if there are two objects in the scene in different distances from the camera make sure that the camera focused on the object you want.

Blurry photos: Blurry photos are most likely the result of camera shakes. Learn how to hold your camera to minimize shaking: it should be held firmly with two hands and it should touch your face. If you are shooting photos using slow shutter speeds you should use a sturdy tripod to prevent shaking. If you can not guarantee that the camera will be stable for example if you are shooting while youre moving set the camera to shutter priority and choose a fast shutter speed (assuming of course that the light conditions allow such setting) for example setting the shutter speed to anything faster than 1/250 of a second will most likely guarantee a non blurry photo even if the camera shakes a bit.

Underexposed: Photos that are underexposed look dark and lack details. The reason for underexposed photos is setting the exposure too low. Although the camera can measure ambient light and make the exposure decisions for you it can be confused by more complicated scenes. For example if there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting. The result will be a photo that captures the bright area but darkens all the others. Usually you can assume that scenes that have extreme lighting gaps between different areas confuse the camera for example if a quarter of the photo is very bright and the rest is very dark the camera is likely to set the wrong exposure. In such cases you can manually correct the exposure.

Overexposed: Photos that are overexposed have blown out areas and sometimes are completely saturated and white. The reasons for overexposed photos are similar to underexposed ones. The camera makes an exposure decision that is incorrect due to complicated scene conditions. In such scenes you can manually correct the exposure.

Shaded objects: A good example of shaded objects is when taking a portrait photo in daylight. The camera measures enough ambient light to set a low exposure value. Although there is enough ambient light shades can appear on the object depending on the angle of the light source relative to the object. For example if the objects face is lit from the side the objects nose can create shades. Or maybe if the object is wearing a hat and is lit from above the hat can create shades on the objects face. The camera can not automatically correct such shades. By understanding what causes shades you can easily eliminate them by turning on the fill-in flash. Firing the fill-in flash (make sure that the object is within flash range) will remove the shades from the object.

Red eye: This is a very common phenomenon. When taking photos of people or animals using a flash in a dark environment the eyes have some red glow in them. There are a few things that you can do to prevent red-eyes: some cameras support a red eye reduction mode. In that mode the camera fires the flash a few times before taking the photo. Although this can help reducing red-eye it can also result in photos of people with their eyes closed (as they are blinded by the pre-flash their reflex is to close their eyes). Other ways to prevent red-eye is to use bounce flash (you can do that with special equipment or for example by pointing the flash to a white wall) and using more ambient light if possible (for example by turning on all the lights in the room). Some cameras include built-in image processing software that automatically removes red-eye from the photos or alternatively you can use many software packages on your home computer to accomplish the same.

Dark Silhouettes: When taking photos with a bright light source behind the object (for example when the sun is behind the object) the result will be a silhouette of the object. One example is taking a photo of someone on the beach against a sunset. The result will be a dark silhouette of the person with a good photo of the sunset background. This problem can be solved using a fill-in flash. The fill-in flash lights the object making sure that it is captured with all its details. Simply remember to use a fill-in flash when taking pictures of objects with a bright light source behind them. One limitation is that the objects must be within the flash range otherwise the flash is useless and they will appear as silhouettes in the photo.


Author: Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. You can find more information digital photo printing printing and photography in general on PrintRates.com - a site dedicated to photo printing

Article source: Articlecat.com

Great Landscape Photography

By: Mark A. Fenwick

Be at One with the Land.

Buyers and collectors have accepted photography as art for some time, but only if it's of significant artistic merit. Great landscape photography sells because the buyer is searching for escapism and the need to dream. As a species we have always been linked to and drawn to the landscape. Do you have a love for the countryside and an understanding of the landscape?

When you're out in the great outdoors, away from the bustle, what do you see

• sunlight filtering through trees and dancing on the landscape?
  
• snow on the mountains and a gushing river in full flow?
  
• coastal cliffs with the shimmering sea lapping onto the shore?
  
• a brooding sky casting a spell over the windswept moors?
  
• the warm glow of the sun setting at the close of day?
  
• or mists and changing patterns of wind, clouds and magical light?
  

Do you see the beauty and feel the connection?
To produce a great photo landscape you need to understand the countryside and how light affects it. You need to have a passion for the land and experience an intimate connection with nature. The best way of doing this is to explore an area on foot and become part of the landscape before taking any photos.

On your walk look for:

• Light (shadows and highlights)
  
• Shapes (round and angular)
  
• Color (harmony and discord)
  
• Texture (rough and smooth)
  
• Composition (strong and weak)
  
• Tones (light and dark)
  
• Patterns (even and odd)
  
• Mystery ( ? and ? )
  

So the next time you're out with your camera looking for that open vista of rolling hills and mountains, also observe the intimate details in the landscape and maybe just photograph a small section of the bigger picture.

Where do you go to find the perfect or most interesting images? Do you have a favourite place or do you simply like to travel and see what you find?

The world is full of wonderful locations and the image creator is blessed with so much choice. Some of you will specialize in a particular area capturing the wildlife silhouetted against golden sunsets in Africa; the architecture of ancient civilisation in Egypt; the vast skies and tumbleweed of Nevada or the diverse, often moody landscape of the British Isles. Whatever gives you the most joy and satisfaction, go there and get creative!

If you only have a vague idea of the landscape work you would like to do, the best idea is to just go out there and explore. Start locally. It's surprising what you'll find literally on your back door and this will give you a chance to experiment and see what locations you are drawn to.

Your personality and your vision must come through in every photo you take; it's up to you to capture the essence of the landscape in front of you. If your photograph works, the person viewing your image will feel they can step into your picture and experience the emotion of being there. A great landscape photograph is a great escape.

Author: Mark A. Fenwick is a Fine Art Photographer. For tips and tricks of professional photography, and photography jobs and opportunities, visit Photography Update

Article source: Articlecat.com