I thought about whether or not I wanted to title this article “Why Take Photos” or “Who Do You Take Photos.” Either way, the answer might change based on how long you’ve been taking pictures.  In the beginning of my journey as a photographer, I think I would have answered differently than I would now.  But, the key is to make sure the reason begins and ends with you.  

How I began Taking Photos

In the beginning of my journey as a photographer, I enjoyed capturing moments that came up organically.  I might capture a picture of a grandfather and grandson, eating ice cream together, while leaning against a fence post.  Or, I would photograph a child, excitedly swinging on a tire swing.  Even more importantly, I would always have my camera with me, especially at family events.  

As the years went by, I started to crave more.  I thought better gear and a different subject might make me want to take more pictures.  I really leaned into the idea that my pictures weren’t as good as they had been because my gear just wasn’t good enough to produce the kind of photos “the pros” take.  So began a several year trek to acquire the right gear to make my photos better.  

In case you already guessed it, better gear was costly and overall, it didn’t significantly change the quality of my photos.  In fact, the more I watched videos and the more I considered my gear inept (and myself), the more my photos suffered.  This isn’t to say that gear isn’t necessary to take good quality photos, it’s just not the be-all-end-all.  

Taking Photos for Whom?

After some time passed, I joined a photography club.  This was a new adventure for me.  It opened up opportunities for me to take photos of subjects I never would have otherwise.  Two of these subjects include splash and toy photography. Without the incentive to take these shots, I would not have gotten two of the best shots I have ever taken.  But, over time, I desired to take more and more shots that impressed the judges and indirectly, members of the club.  During our meetings, I remember hearing about member complaints when the judges did not score someone’s photo in a way they felt was desirable.  I remember thinking to myself, “That’s how I used to think.  Now, I take photos for myself.  If I like them, that’s all that matters.”  These are the sentiments club members would share with the ones who were distraught over the comments and score judges would give them on their photos.  They would take it personally.  The truth is, I was still taking pictures to impress the judges, even though I wouldn’t get as bent out of shape over not placing in the competition.  

Why Do You Take Photos?

That leads me back to this question: Why do you take photos?”  It’s okay if the answer to this question changes over time, or morphs throughout your journey as a photographer.  But, I will venture to say, if you take pictures for others, it will eventually leave you frustrated and lacking motivation when you hit a rough patch.  Inevitably, we all hit one at some point, or several points, as we continually try new things.  Now, it seems trite to say, “take photos for yourself and not others,” so let me leave you with a few pieces of advice to help you.  

Planning to Have no Plan

While it’s important to have a plan when you go out to shoot, sometimes planning can also get in the way of the creativity we as photographers need to produce photos that are different.  I suggest planning trips that have no plan at all.  Bring a few lenses with you for different scenarios that might come up: a wide-angle lens, a zoom lens like 70-200, and maybe a long-range lens like 300mm or longer.  I suggest this so that you are prepared for different situations that might come up, like wildlife or a beautiful landscape or even some interesting people, walking around a major city.  There have been times when I have gone out to specifically take photos of birds in flight, only to come home to find that my photos didn’t come out so well, or in some instances, there weren’t any birds available to photograph.  I wasn’t prepared with a backup plan, so I came home empty-handed.  While I think going out with no plan at all, from time to time, can help spark creativity, I believe going out with a backup plan can also help the frustration of coming home with not much to show for the hours of work you did that day.  If I planned to take photos of birds and I didn’t have much success with that, I will make sure I have the address of a location nearby where I can photograph another subject that I know I will be successful in capturing.  This subject might be landscapes or even architecture.  These subjects are much more predictable and I am way more likely to nail a shot. Having no plan doesn’t mean you’re lacking preparation, it just means you’re open to taking photos of what is available around you, this way you will return feeling successful after a long day of work.  

How SlickPic Can Help

Once you find a location you like to shoot at and you decide you want to return, or maybe you don’t like a location for a certain reason, SlickPic provides a notepad for your photo albums.  You can type notes to remember something you want to tell a client or notes for your own remembrance.  Maybe you want to describe the story behind the photo that day; you can use the notepad to keep track of it.  For example, the day I took my first shot of an osprey has a great story attached.  I was heading over to take a picture of a seagull (which I wasn’t excited about), the only bird present on the beach, when all of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something splat into the ocean to the right of me.  It took me a second to figure out what had just happened, but once I realized it was an osprey who had just swooped down to spear a fish, I lifted my camera to the sky and began spraying (clicking and panning).  I love the story behind this photo because it reminds me that great photos aren’t always planned, they are a result of getting out there and doing.  SlickPic’s notepad will help remind me of this very important lesson.  Thank you, SlickPic!   

About the Author: Melissa Bilotta

Photographer- Teacher- Melissa has taught elementary school for over 12 years.  Her interest in photography began around high school, but really became her passion in more recent years.  She has been photographing mostly landscapes, wildlife, and portraits, as a hobby, for the last 10 years.  As a teacher, she continues to learn her craft so she can grow and help others pursue their photography goals.

The post Art 4 Why Take Photos? appeared first on SlickPic Digital Photography School.

Please visit roxanneoverton.slickpic.site — where you will find more photography and information on my instructional and travel series photography books.

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Seven years ago, I was issued a challenge by one of the most gifted photographers I know. I was whining about how I couldn’t identify a genre to focus on – how I felt my work was stagnant – like I said – whining.

He issued me a challenge that utterly changed my photographic path – accelerated my learning curve – and set me free to explore my own potential. I won’t issue that challenge to you but you may decide after reading this article to issue it to yourself.

He had been ‘working’ this challenge himself for several months and was very impressed with his results. He was hoping I would take it on to see if it worked for me as well.

His challenge was for a one-year period. Every single day.

I also expanded the challenge to include other lessons I had learned that I felt contributed to my own growth in photography in surprising ways.

The challenge was to post ONE photograph a day, every day on a social media platform. It had to be a photograph that I was extremely proud of and I had to understand why I liked it and write a short summary. It had to be the quality of photograph that I was proud to share with the world.

Note – ONE photograph a day. Not a series of snapshots but a quality piece of work. Don’t dilute it with numbers. Give it the importance it deserves.

Here’s an example.

Conversation: I love the strong backlight – how it creates a glow on the walkers. The shot is well anchored with a series of vertical lines that repeat in reality and by implication in the people walking. Burnished colors compliment the scene. Strong feel of energy – people in motion.

It’s been interesting over the years how people who follow my work and read the descriptions assume the words are for them. I’m happy to share them but the words are an important part of this growth path and are written for me. In analyzing why I like the photograph I am posting, I am reinforcing within my mind what is important to me. 

As I did this, over time, I found I had specific things I looked for regardless of what subject I was shooting. I learned from my own work and my own preferences what to look for when I was out shooting.

Conversation: I love the curiosity this shot creates. The frame is weighted nicely on the bottom with a soft pattern that helps throw emphasis on the bright area at the top that frame the subject. Sharp focus also draws my eye. Nice lines and shapes strengthen the frame. 

I found giving verbal voice to my visual image was a terrific learning tool. I found a way to expand on it. Instead of giving my voice to just my own work, I decided to have personal conversations with myself when looking at the work of people I admired. What was it they were consistently doing that made me pause and gaze in wonder at their captures?

These conversations taught me more about what it was that drew my eye. And the best part is that they inspired me to weave new ideas (not copy) based on these preferences into my own work. I started clarifying and distilling to the heart of what I loved seeing in a photograph. 

Here’s an important aside. When studying other people’s work, it’s vital to study only work that inspires you. This can be found on social media but it’s a very small sliver of the photography that is posted. 

Be careful with scrolling on the internet. It’s far too easy to feed your brain junk food by looking at photo after photo of inferior quality. This may sound snobby, but it’s not. 

What we shoot every time we raise the viewfinder or screen to frame a shot, is a compilation of everything we have felt and seen in our entire lives. It’s what makes photography unique. None of us has walked the same footsteps and we all see differently based on our own collective personal experiences. 

If you scroll through endless junk, you are making that part of your experience. 

Other places to find inspiring work are specific webpages belonging to stellar photographers and photography art books. The libraries are full of them. Spend time with masters and have those verbal conversations. You’ll be amazed at what you learn.

Conversation: I like how the receding columns on the left pull my eye back and into the image. The blues and yellows make a nice contrast and add energy. The big X is a strong pull and anchors the shot which is really about motion. I like the slight blur of the people – the wisps left over from a passing car. Another thing I like about this shot are the patterns – they are everywhere and enhance the strength of the shot.

Words are important. In sales, it has been proven that words and visuals combined add up to much more than 1+1=2. The combination accelerates the power of each. When I first started looking at the work of others, I actually wrote down bullet points about their work to see how often each of their images ticked off a point. I found the most inspiring work to carry a lot of commonality across the multiple genres they shot. It opened my eyes to possibilities. 

I did this for three years. It was hard but I learned so much. I still do it although I cut myself some slack. I skip vacations and occasionally post without a comment. 

But I find I miss the exercise. My subconscious knows it’s incredibly valuable and I’m not ready to stop growing. I hunger to explore and improve. So, I post and converse – out loud for emphasize. I look at the work of others and converse – out loud for emphasis. And I stay away from junk – do not evaluated negative things – all of my emphasis is on the positive. 

This isn’t my challenge to you. It’s your challenge to yourself should you choose to accept it. 

Conversation: I like how vibrant and natural the colors look. I like the contrast they provide coming from opposite sides of the color wheel. I like the horizontal bands that move my eye across the image from side to side – it has an endless feel. I like the interruption of shape in the foreground where the water meets the sand – a lazy curve line that lets my eye explore.

Please visit roxanneoverton.slickpic.site — where you will find more photography and information on my instructional and travel series photography books.

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Photo stories till date remain one of the highest forms of story telling. Incidents portrayed in the form of a series of well composed, content rich photos, while aesthetically pleasing, continue to be one the most attractive and arresting form of documentary.

The power of illustrations, even when simplistic, is self evident.

I did this simple photo story on road layers as part of one of my projects. A common enough occurrence…..but several photos documenting the process of work and the people when strung together complete a short and simple story which can be interesting.

Forming a photo story starts with deciding upon a theme. 

THEME

A carefully chosen researched theme is almost immediately appealing. Even commonplace occurrences when presented well can be interesting.

Right mix of portraits, environment and activities.

A story needs to document snippets of a lot of things. People, environment and some of the important activities that these people engage in.

INFORMATION

Some information regarding the protagonists is always welcome. Its better to ask around, to engage in conversations, to know the relevant details about the process being photographed. This kind of information can influence how you finally present the story.

CURATION AND PRESENTATION

One shoots a lot of photos while looking for a story. But proper curation to include the best and the most relevant photos is of utmost importance. Repeatedly view your photos to decide upon which appears to be the best.

BE AWARE

Be sensitive to local customs and processes. If and when possible it’s always better to ask for permission from individuals before photographing them. Identify off limits areas.

Before being unduly insistent on gaining access to forbidden and restricted areas, be patient for a while. Utilize that time to build up a rapport with people who frequent such areas. Recklessness almost never pays.

GEAR

I personally prefer to carry two camera bodies, one with a mid zoom fast lens usually a 24-70mm and the other with a telephoto lens usually 70-200mm.

If the situation warrants so a wide or ultra wide might be necessary to take in the environment.

The post Beginners’ guide to composing a brief and simple photo story appeared first on SlickPic Digital Photography School.

SLOWER SHUTTER SPEEDS

The most important rule. Shutter speeds by definition need to be slowed down to allow tracking a subject over a period of time. This creates the beautifully blurred backgrounds.

Shutter speeds depend on the speed on the moving subject. Fast moving objects may need around 1/60th of a second. Most often 1/15th to 1/30th provide good results. But this varies too much. As said before, the speed of the moving subject decides this. Usually some experimenting is required.

FOCUS AND TRACKING

Modern cameras allow tracking a moving subject while in focus. Half press of the shutter usually locks the focus. At times manual focus set to a specific distance might be needed.

PANNING

Smooth movement of the camera to follow the moving subject comes with practice. A horizontal smooth travel or following of the subject with the camera is the basic underlying technique. Tripods and monopods come with pan heads but most often panning is done with the camera handheld.

SPACE AROUND THE SUBJECT

Too tight frames tend to negate the effect of motion blur. Usually some real estate on both sides of the subject result in a more dramatic panning effect.

Photo: Colours in the background helps in subject isolation

PANNING SLOW MOVING OBJECTS CAN BE TRICKY

One might end up moving faster than the subject. In my experience panning slow moving subjects require more skill. The shutter speeds might turn out to be faster than required….the camera movement can turn out to be out of sync with that of the subject…….but opinion differs.

BRIGHT DAYLIGHT

This can lead to problems in slowing the shutter speed. Stopping down at base ISO can help.

TEST SHOTS, EXPERIMENT, SEVERAL SPEEDS

Try out several shutter speeds at different focal lengths to get at the optimum and most dramatic pan. Fiddle around a bit with the aperture.

The post Introduction to Panning – Basic techniques and a beginner’s guide appeared first on SlickPic Digital Photography School.

A smaller f-stop means a shallow depth of field

The aperture as a regulator of depth of field

By changing the aperture we are not only changing the amount of light that enters the camera, but we are also influencing the sharpness of a photograph. A low f-stop, like f/2.8 means that the aperture is more open than with a larger f-stop, like f/11. Coincidentally, a low f-stop will allow more light to enter the camera. By controlling the aperture, a photographer can utilize the depth of field to emphasize certain parts of an image. The larger the f-stop number – the larger the depth of field.

Dog

The photograph above was taken with an aperture value of f/2.8. You can see that only the eyes of the dog are sharp and the other parts of the image have gone blurry. Using low f-stops can be very useful when you want to really emphasize one particular subject. Knowing what parts of the image you should keep sharp and what parts you want out of focus is a great tool you can use to your advantage if you want to produce outstanding images.

On the other hand, when you are taking pictures of landscapes, like the photograph above, preferably you would keep most of the image sharp. That can be accomplished with a higher f-stop number. This particular image was taken with an aperture value of f/11, which is enough for the depth of field to span from the railroad tracks in front, to the statue that can be seen in the distance.

Focal length

Another parameter that defines the depth of field in a photograph is the focal length of the lens you are using. Longer lenses produce much more blur than wide angle lenses. In other words, the same aperture value combined with a lens with a larger focal length means a bigger opening. A 100mm lens with an f/2 has a bigger aperture opening than a lens with 50mm focal length, also with an f/2.

A focal length of 200mm produces much more blur than a smaller focal length would

Distance

Depth of field is not defined only by the aperture value and focal length, but also by the distance between the camera and the subject. Here, there is a simple rule: the shorter the distance between the lens and the focused subject, the more out of focus the rest of the photograph will be. The larger the distance between the camera and the subject is, the bigger the depth of field.

The closer your camera is to the subject, the shallower the depth of field will be

As you can see by now, there are a number of parameters that influence the depth of field in photography. Once you’ve got them down, you will see that they are not as intimidating as they sound at first. Trial and error is the best learning tool, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t immediately master them – try again!

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Banks of Hooghly

Photographers have continually stressed on getting the timing right and discussions continue to focus on anticipation, preparation and techniques.

Similarities

The all important sense of anticipation

A term is often used…..”working the scene”. That’s when you make sense of a scene by moving around, observing a scene from different angles, looking for interesting subjects popping into the scene and building up a scenario in the mind. This creates a sense of anticipation and this sense of anticipation leads a photographer to a state of readiness with the camera settings and framing.

Metamorphosis

Compositional elements

What you finally see is what you anticipate. Interesting juxtapositions, overlaps, portraits with meaningful backgrounds and freezing stunning action are some of the constituents of canning a moment that has a certain amount of x factor in it…..something that sets it apart from a regular moment.

Environment

Multi shot

Using the multi shot function is almost always a winner. Multi shot mode allows you to shoot a sequence of photos of moving objects in rapid succession depending on the frame rate of your camera. Frequently one among this sequence will appear to be just the right shot in terms of positioning.

Plunge

Higher ISO and faster shutter speeds

Immensely important to capture stunning actions. Even in daylight iso speeds in the range of 800 to 1000 allows for significantly faster shutter speeds thus helping to freeze fast action.

Wits end

Be unobtrusive

Be as unobtrusive as possible. All elements of a scene, when they become conscious of the photographer and the camera, tend to behave unnaturally. But there’s nothing better than a candid shot which captures the natural essence of a scene. Spending some time in the shooting zone and familiarizing oneself with the situation at hand tends to relax people around the photographer. After a while they just go about their business without being too conscious of the camera.

Paper Bird

Innovative angles

Experimenting with angles and povs ( point of view ) usually create different looking shots. Eye level shooting has mostly been the norm in documentary and journalistic work. But even simple street scenes can often appear dramatic with creative angles.

Catch

To conclude, the sense of anticipation reigns supreme along with the readiness to shoot away the moment something interesting begins to happen.

Moved left

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Make sure you have one main focus point

Before you press the shutter button to take your next photo, you need to ask yourself one question. What is the focal point, or central point of interest, in this photo? Where does the eye rest when looking at the scene? Being able to critique your photos is one of the steps towards success.

Remember that you can have various points of interest, but this should not distract from the main subject. If this happens, the viewer might be unsure what to look at. The most obvious way to ensure you have one focus point is to get closer to your subject – fill the frame with it. This works particularly well with flowers and portraits.

Kudu antelope as main focus point: Always make time to evaluate your own photography -ensure that you have one main focus point in your image.

Details

Details is an important way to compel viewers to look even deeper into your photos. Simply showing them what they are already able to see in real life won’t get you that second glance. When someone looks at the image, it is important to evoke that emotion and get the imagination working. There are many different methods to work detail into your work, some of which include taking a step back to showcase the bigger picture, using lines and texture and sticking to single points of interest in your subjects. It is therefore important to look at your photos in depth and critique your photos. It is even useful joining photography groups and clubs that critique photos just so you can learn and improve.

Detailed spiderweb: Viewers can read a photograph in many ways, but lots of details is a good method to give that wow factor, to keep their glance a little longer.

Composure (sense of organization) placement, lighting, background, keep it simple

Composure is the one element that can help you to create a masterpiece from the dullest object or subject. The correct focal length or crop, aperture and also the angle plays a very important role in the end results. Play around with the lighting and background if you can, and always remember to keep it relatively simple. You don’t always need a lot of details in a photo to achieve the perfect end results. By being critical about these aspects and evaluating your photography in this way, you will achieve a sense of organization in your work.

Sharp focus

Another step you can take to evaluate your own photography is to make sure your focus is tack sharp. To me, this is one of the most important aspects of a good photo. Once the image is blurry, there is no amount of editing that can fix it. Always review your photo on the camera playback screen after you have taken it. Despite the small screen, you will get some kind of idea of whether or not you are on the right track.

A good shortcut when shooting portraits or close-ups is to use a larger aperture. This will allow not only more light to enter, which gives more room for movement, but your photo backgrounds will seem less cluttered. This is a great way to get pin sharp focus on your main subject. Feel like cheating? Switch your camera dial to portrait or macro mode if you don’t shoot in one of the manual functions. With people and animals, always remember to focus on the eyes.

Sharp focus on bug and flower: Evaluate the quality of your pictures by creating close up images. Without sharp focus you won’t draw the attention of those that look at your work.

Creativity

Review photos of professionals all the time. Look at what they do and find ways to do things differently. This is one of the ways in which you can get creative, another way to evaluate your photography and improve on your work and style.

View from a bridge: Get creative. Sometimes adding more than just the view in front of you can give surprising results. Always try different things.

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‘Practise makes perfect’ is an overused and clichéd phrase, could not be further from the truth. The more you use your camera, the better value you will get from your investment. It’s almost like going for camera lessons, or photography classes, but without having to pay for it. It is actually very easy to create your own photography exercises.

Shoot what’s around you: You can become a better photographer by shooting what is around you, whether in the garden or in your house

Photography exercises help you look at things differently

This is the perfect photography assignment for beginners. Walk around the house and find a subject, whether a piece of fruit or an interesting décor item. Shoot it from different angles. You can even change this photography exercise a little by shooting the same object for a few days in a row, but with the aim to get different results.

Everyday objects: I have an obsession with tennis, and decided to embark on a photoshoot on the tennis court. This assignment for beginners is a great way to create something out of nothing

Shoot moving objects

This photography exercise will teach you about shutter speed, anticipation and timing. Whether you choose an energetic child, Ruphus the family dog, wild birds in your garden, or someone jogging down the road, these are perfect subjects to perfect your skills. Play around with the light, shutter speed and composition and eventually you will get perfect images without having to fiddle with every setting on your camera.

Bird in flight: Shoot moving objects. It can be anything from the family dog to the birds in yoru garden.

Create a shooting list

By far, the ideal photography assignment for beginners: Start by drawing up a list with different topics for each day. Add words such as dirt, trees, water, sun, spouse, candle, fork or bed. The only limit is your imagination, so go wild. Throw them in a hat. The idea is to draw one every day, or whenever you have time, and shoot the subject on the piece of paper. This way you harness your creativity fully. As you do so, you will be amazed at the results of your photography assignment.

Get connected

Get inspiration from the professionals and work on your shortcomings. When struggling with something, Youtube and other online platforms are perfect. With countless tutorials available, one click is all it takes. Secondly, photo sharing sites are great. I make a habit spending time on SlickPic (www.slickpic.com). This photo storage and sharing site is a great showcase of professional work and one can spend hours exploring – looking at what works, and where photos could be improved.

Change genres

You might have your specialities, but it is always good getting out of your comfort zone. Shoot the people in the house, or head outdoors and look for those crawling insects in the garden. Different genres might come with different challenges, and this is what will make you an even better photographer. Experimentation is good, so keep an open mind.

Bugs in the garden: This photography exercise for beginners will challenge you to do different things. I headed outside, sat down next to some plants, and looked at what I could find.

These are just some photography exercises to try, but the possibilities are endless. At the end of the day, practising in your own time at home will give you the opportunity to learn what your equipment is capable of, what the limitations are and how to get around those. Never stop shooting!

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Understanding image resolution

Image resolution is measured by the number of pixels per inch that shows up on a digital screen. You have probably also heard of the term dots per inch or DPI, but more about that later as it can be quite confusing.

The more pixels you have on your screen, the higher the image resolution. But what is a pixel? A pixel is a picture element – the smallest physical element of a digital device that the eye can distinguish. If you zoom in far enough, rows and rows of blocks show on your screen.

For web, pixels per inch do not matter as the sizes of devices, or your computer monitor is already set. Unless someone is going to take the image from the website and print it, an image with 72 pixels per inch displays the same as a 300 pixels per inch photo on all devices. This is where understanding image resolution for printing becomes more important.

Pixels per inch and printing

Pixels per inch are important when printing images. The more pixels you have per inch, the better the image resolution. This means that you will get better quality prints. Generally 240 or 300 pixels per inch are acceptable for printing. When it comes to large scale printing such as billboards, it can be larger than 300. The height and width of an image is also important to determine image resolution as PPI is only a relative measure.

You can think of the pixel per inch input as a way to adjust the physical size of the print-out. Decreasing the PPI will produce a lower quality image because pixels are larger and more visible.

Below a screenshot of an original image before it was resized. The original size of the photo is 4608 x 3072 as shown in the Adobe Photoshop file.

Understanding image resolution and size

Image size of smaller image

However, when the image was saved in a smaller format – below is how this changed the dimensions of the photo.

Image size of original

Now, you are probably asking how that makes a difference. The resolution of the small image have decreased so much, just look at the effect on the female walking in front when zoomed in. The pixels per inch have decreased so much that her hair alone is far less than 50 pixels.

Small resolution affects pixels per inch

But compare this to the original image – zoomed in. It becomes impossible to count the pixels in her hair alone.

Large resolution pixels per inch

What about image size?

Once you understand image size better as illustrated above, you will realise that size do matter. Larger images can be printed larger without pixelating as there are much more pixels per inch while the same is not true with smaller photos. Understand now why photos pixelate? You are that much closer to understanding image resolution

Today, we have the ability to shoot at any resolution and quality setting we want. But this comes at a price. With smaller sizes you sacrifice print quality, but bigger quality settings influence storage space. However, I will say that with the affordability of storage solutions these days, the birth of cloud storage and photo sharing and storing sites like SlickPic, there is really no excuse for not shooting at maximum quality. You can always make the image smaller if you want to use it online later.

Online media

Smaller file sizes are crucial if you want faster loading times on websites. For web one can generally set image size to 72 pixels per inch without problems.

For interest sake: Are more megapixels always better?

The short answer is NO. Just the other day one of the editors from a magazine sent out an email telling journalists that even with the great cameras on phones these days, chances are that they still might not be able to print those images. For a while I have also wondered why images on a phone’s 14mp camera do not look as good as the images from my actual 14mp camera. This comes down to the sensor size. The larger your sensor, the more light goes in. Without light you won’t get a photo.

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A frame within a frame

The most literal use of framing within a photo is including an actual frame. They can easily be found in architecture, like in the form of windows, doors and passages. Taking a picture ‘through’ something will add a sense of depth and lead the viewers gaze towards the focal point of the image.

The photograph above is a classic example of a frame within a frame. The doorway had a small amount of lighting and was quite dark in general. But there was this beautiful cityscape opening up with a bunch of tiny lights, which I could have just photographed as is. Instead I decided to include both the doorway and the cityscape, which makes for a much more interesting image.

This is another example of a frame within a frame. If you have been following our series on composition in photography, you will be able to recognize some other elements too. There is a transition from dark to light and some leading lines that all work together to lead the gaze towards the brightly colored windows.

Closing off the frame

Almost any kind of shape or opening can be used to frame your subject. Framing closes a part of a photograph off and the eyes are naturally drawn to the open part of the image. Look for openings in your surroundings and place your subject in them.

The image above was taken through a roll of colored paper. I noticed the cat kept pushing its head into it, so I quickly grabbed my camera and took the shot. You can see there is a lot of negative space left, which additionally puts all the attention on the cat.

Creative framing

Now that you’ve got the basics of framing down, you can start being a bit more creative in your framing. Don’t get stuck on just searching for different openings and passages. Look for other elements that could almost imitate a kind of frame.

In this case, the dress of the dancer is the frame. It almost took the shape of an ellipse and rounded her face and torso. Combined with this intense blue color, it pulled the attention to her facial expression really well.

Here is another example of creative framing. The Louvre palace and the glass pyramid are overlapping, but the geometric lines of the pyramid work as an unusual kind of frame. There isn’t a classical frame around the palace, but still the shapes and their positioning pull the gaze straight in.

Practice and learn how to use different types of framing so later on you can begin combining various techniques in a single photograph. You see there are no definitive rules in photography, but you can take some bits and pieces from every lesson and you photography will surely improve.

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The festivities are generally observed in mid April on the final week of the Bengali calendar year. The rites involving Gajan has evolved over centuries and presently involves worship of Shiva along with ritualistic body piercings, self-flagellation and fire stunts.

Tongue piercing starts

The word “Gajan” is etymologically derived from the bengali word “garjan” meaning roar or cry which the worshippers emit in a bid to appease the gods and celebrate the pain which still forms an integral aspect of the rituals. The worshippers are commonly referred to as sanyasis or bhaktas. The festival ends with charaka puja, a form of worship aimed at evoking blessings of the gods for prosperity and harvest.

‘Sanyasis’ pierce themselves with skewers and march across villages accompanied by drummers and followed by the locals in huge numbers.

Body piercing and preparing for march

Rituals vary from place to place including one popular method in which men hang from ropes and are spun high above the ground from tall tree trunks converted to poles. In other places obscure tantrik methods predominate, wherein devotees march on through villages with skulls and bones. Fire stunts remain a widely observed routine.

Ever popular among rural communities, this festival still draws huge crowds and continue to remain a spectacle.

After the worship of Shiva, devotees gather to collect ‘charanamrit’ or holy water which has supposedly been used to wash the idol’s feet.

Waiting to collect Charanamrit

Considered the ultimate form of the lord’s blessing.

Mad rush for Charanamrit

Of course a mandatory selfie

Selfie

Videos

The rituals mandate marriage of Shiva with Leelavati. The devotees go berserk amidst drum beats as the grooms companions.

Accompanying the groom

The marriage rituals… outsiders are never permitted inside.

Leelavati’s wedding

Shiva has been married off to Leelavati. Now the customs state that the groom, the almighty Shiva graciously blesses a dead man and brings him to life. Devotees celebrate Shiva’ s ability to bring one back from the dead.

Raising the dead

Dawn. Crowd swells. The most eagerly awaited part begins. The tongue piercings. Celebration of pain. It is said men pierce themselves to feels the pain of womenhood, of childbirth.

More piercing

More piercing

Amidst body piercings and voluntary infliction of pain through self flagellation, another integral part of the festival remains the dressing up of men and women as popular deities and performing impromptu skits. The intensity of the piercings are countered by the light hearted comical performances by these characters commonly referred to as “shong” meaning jesters.

Young performer in the middle of a yawn

Goddess Kali

PROBLEMS WITH FESTIVALS

Photographing a festival that is observed predominantly at night can be tricky, even difficult. One might get trapped in corners or get jostled around by unruly crowds preventing proper vantage positioning or time to shoot critical moments.

Uneven lighting or even the lack of adequate ambient light further complicates matters. camera settings need to be frequently checked to ensure proper exposure settings at all times.

SHOOTING MODES AND ISO FOR LOW AMBIENT LIGHT

Many prefer to shoot in Aperture Priority mode in such situations. I though always prefer full manual controls.

Low light situations are what you mostly end up with. Even apparently bright fluorescent lights in open spaces have huge fall-offs and do not contribute to ambient light in a manner you would expect.

High ISO settings are almost always a must. Modern full frame sensors usually do a more than decent job of handling ISO settings above 2000. I almost always maintain a basic setting of ISO 3200 in such situations and at times climb up to above 6000.

In camera noise reduction helps but tends to differ among manufacturers.

SHOOT RAW

Its advisable to shoot RAW. The speed at which things can happen in festivals, fairs and similar celebrations might not always allow one to set perfect exposure settings.

Post processing, at times even heavy, is generally required. Modern softwares help a lot with contrast and noise adjustments while retaining clarity and augmenting sharpness.

PRIOR SURVEY AND PLANNING, LEARN ABOUT THE EVENT

The scope of a recce of the scene, if possible, cannot be overstressed. Crowds tend to move in throngs, in phases, so high ground if available is almost always an advantage. Crowd movements when combined with slow shutter speeds can make for dramatic and creative styles.

Its best to collect as much information as possible about the rituals, customs, local sensibilities, off-limits areas, places to avoid, places to be in, situations to follow, a bit of local history etc.

GEAR AND SETTINGS

When I need to cover a festival that’s chaotic, disorganized and draws voluminous unruly crowds and that too at night, I usually prefer a full frame sensor noted for good ISO handling abilities and a fast mid-zoom lens.

Mostly it’s a Canon 6D which allows really smooth high ISO handling, enabling faster shutter speeds and I usually pair it with a Tamron or Canon 24-70mm, f2.8 lens. Tamron even puts in an image stabilization in its 24-70.

The entire sequence was shot after midnight. ISO settings have mostly stayed above 3200.

I don’t prefer too shallow DOFs for street and documentaries because in my opinion that messes up the eyewitness feel of the photographs. I am almost always shooting at f8 or higher during daytime and at night I try not to come down below 6.5 unless I am looking for extreme subject isolation

The post Photographing Gajan, a religious hindu festival of rural Bengal, at night in low ambient light appeared first on SlickPic Digital Photography School.

Although your iPhone is up to the task, there’s always a better choice when capturing your sister’s wedding or your company’s year-end party. Folks, it’s called a full frame camera and it’s the only answer for the discerning photographer who covers special events on a constant basis. Here are some reasons to convince you why a camera with a full frame sensor trumps the competition.

A full frame camera is the weapon of choice when it comes to image quality

A Bigger Sensor

When everything is said and done, the laws of physics will come out on top and nothing can change that. The same can be said to camera sensors with all the current trends and gimmicks in the industry right now and how a full frame camera is the most logical choice for event photographers. A bigger sensor allows more light to be captured without compromising image quality and current cropped-sensor camera can never hold a candle to a full frame. This allows photographers to boost their ISO and shoot with a relatively fast shutter speed to capture that decisive moment without worrying about noisy photos that much.

Furthermore, having a bigger sensor gives you that pleasing blur when you isolate your subjects. This is especially true when you pair the camera with a fast prime when the lights go out during a wedding reception or a high school prom.

A Wider Field of View

Those who shoot events know the challenge of capturing photos of groups all too well. And that folks is one good reason to invest in a full frame camera too. That’s because there’s a wide range of affordable and quality wide lenses that’s designed for a full frame sensor and gives you more than enough room to shoot those group shots.

Having a wider view is a great thing when capturing family photographs

Compared to a cropped or a micro 4/3 sensor, using a 28 or 24mm lens will give you a truly wide angle without the need to sacrifice image quality. When Uncle Bob calls out the whole family during a wedding reception, you need not worry because you have the situation under control. You’ll have an easier time arranging them and fitting them all in your viewfinder for a photo they’d surely appreciate.

Top-Notch Ergonomics

As compared to low to mid-end models, a full frame camera comes with the right amount of buttons and dials that are designed to help you take better images faster. Major camera companies have sought to make their cameras more intuitive to use so photographers can focus more on being in the moment, rather than fiddling with their settings. And that goal has been achieved to their maximum potential in the form of full frame cameras.

When it comes to great moments, having a pleasing blur to emphasise the moment more is always better.

This benefit has helped so many photographers who cover special events because a split second is all they’re gonna have on that day. Whether it’s that fateful wedding kiss, the birthday celebrant blowing the candles when the lights are dimmed, or that spontaneous reaction a kid does in the middle of the party, a full frame sensor is at its best when paired with a competent auto focus system.

A cropped sensor camera, or even a high-end cell phone, can do the trick of capturing a special moment. But when your name is on the line and people are gonna be expecting the best output from you, it’s a no-brainer folks. Go get a camera with a full frame sensor to make your life easier.
If you may have any reactions or anything you’d like to add to the topic, don’t be shy. Hit me up in the comments and give me a piece of your mind.

The post Why A Full Frame Camera Is The Best Choice When Shooting Special Events appeared first on SlickPic Digital Photography School.

Surprise them to make them laugh.

Whatever you do, don’t ask them to say cheese.  What you can do instead is ask them to say something completely random.  When you start saying ‘on the count of 3 say..’, they’ll be expecting you to add ‘cheese’ at the end. So saying ‘antidisestablishmentarianism’, for example, instead will catch them off guard, and most likely make them laugh.  That’s the moment you want to capture.

Surprise them to make them laugh

Go for the fake laugh.

Ask them to do the biggest, silliest fake laugh they can.  Really go over the top here, maybe demonstrate a really ridiculous fake laugh for them.  Take a few photos of their efforts, but then keep shooting.  What you’ll find is that the fake laugh will give way to a genuine laugh, and lovely natural smiles.

Try some reverse psychology.

This is a great trick for children, but it can work really well for adults too.  Basically, you need to really seriously tell them that for the next photo they absolutely must not smile.  Tell them you don’t want to see any smiles at all, just super serious faces.  If you do this with a little glint in your eye, and an exaggerated tone to your voice, it’s almost guaranteed to bring out a genuine smile!

Use reverse psychology for genuine smiles.

Get some help.

If you’re photographing a family, but want to get individual portraits of each family member, then get the rest of the family to help you out to get some real smiles.  Ask them to stand behind you as you take the photos and do whatever they can to make the person smile.  

Get help to get natural smiles

Get them talking.

A lot of the time you get forced, unnatural expressions in photos because people are feeling a bit nervous and tense.  So to get lovely natural smiles you need to help them relax.  A great way to do this is to ask them questions and get them talking about things that make them happy.  So for a child you might ask them about their favourite toy or cartoon character.  If you’re photographing parents, then getting them to tell you about their children is a great way to get happy expressions.  

Play a game.

If you’re photographing a family or a group of people together then getting them to all play a game together is a great way to get natural smiles.  One of my favourites is the telephone game, where one person whispers a few words or a secret to the person next to them, and it gets passed along the group until the last person has to say nice and loud what they think was initially said.  It’s so much fun, and brilliant for getting genuine expressions from everyone as they find out how wrong the person was at the end!  A variation of this for couples is to get one person to whisper a silly secret or private joke in the other person’s ear.  Then wait for the reactions that follow.

Play games to get natural smiles

Get candid.

One of my favourite ways to capture genuine smiles is to take photos when the person isn’t really aware that I’m doing it.  Photographing a couple when they’re chatting with each other, or a child on the see saw at the park, will let you catch them caught up in a moment, when they’re just being themselves.  

Get candid for natural smiles.

Wait for the moment after the action.

Patience is a really big factor in getting the real smiles you’re after.  So get your subjects to all jump in the air on the count of three, or race each other to a certain spot, or squeeze in as close as they can to each other and then wait.  The natural smiles will come just after the action.  That’s the moment you want to watch for.

If all else fails, tickle.

For family photos especially, a tickle fight is almost guaranteed to result in genuine laughter and smiles.

Get genuine smiles by tickling

So there you have it, a whole host of ideas for getting genuine, natural smiles in your photographs.  These are the kinds of photos you’ll want to show off and share with people on SlickPic where you can create your own stunning galleries that look just the way you want them to.  Now go and capture some genuine smiles and don’t let me ever hear you ask anyone to say cheese again!

The post How to get natural smiles in your photographs appeared first on SlickPic Digital Photography School.

That’s where the magic of overexposure comes in folks. Essentially, this act entails you to expose for the shadows and shoot at the widest aperture available. Here are some reasons why the end result should convince you to overexpose when capturing portraits.

Always expose for the shadows when shooting portraits

Overexposing Gives Your Subjects That Much Needed Glow

When you open your lens at its widest aperture and you place your subject in a location where good, natural light is readily available, the end result is much more pleasing that what you’ve expected. That’s because increasing the amount of light coming into your camera brightens up your subject and makes their skin lighter than the usual. At the same time, it also evens out your subjects skin tone and makes it more natural. This feat will make your portrait photos look more balanced as long as you’re shooting outdoors and there won’t be any shortage of natural light around.

Overexposing Makes Your Subjects Slimmer

Can you guess what happens when the right amount of light wraps around your subjects?

Overexposing your subjects make them look like they’re glowing

The answer folks is as simple as pie but as amazing the sliced bread. What happens is your subjects will look slimmer and more slender. The explanation for that is because you overexposed your shots, the light shaves off a part of their bodies when the image is processed in your camera. This feat will be really handy, especially when you’re shooting women since they would look better in their portraits.

Overexposure brings out better colours for your shots

Overexposure Leads To A More Natural Color

Have you ever tried underexposing your images or shooting in conditions where there’s no good light to be found? If you have, chances are, the color of your pictures are really bad. In fact, if you’re not used to shooting in low-light conditions, the images you’ve produced from them are those you haven’t shown to anyone.

On the other hand, overexposed images shot outdoors seem to exhibit a livelier feel when people look at them. These pictures look like they’re gonna pop out into your hands and there’s nothing dull to be found in them. When the final version of the overexposed photo has beed processed, you can see how the color impacts its overall quality and you’re gonna say to yourself you’re never gonna shoot using just the right amount of exposure again.

Of course, there are gonna be some things you might need to properly overexpose your photos. First, better get the fastest portrait lens you can afford. The faster, the better your images will come out. Second, although it’s not really a requirement, a full frame camera will most definitely help. That’s because the image quality of these cameras are way higher than cropped or micro four thirds sensors and the results can surpass your expectations. Last, but most definitely not the least, find an outdoor location that isn’t too sunny and one that’s filled with spots conducive to image overexposure. If you find the ideal place, that’s already half the battle won for your portrait session.

Do you thing overexposure is the best thing to happen to portraits? Or is there a better way to go when it comes to capturing photos of people? Sound off on the comments below and let us know what you think folks.

The post Why Overexposing Your Subjects Can Be Flattering For Them appeared first on SlickPic Digital Photography School.