Portrait Photography

Are you one that just takes pictures of friends without thinking how they might turn out?  Portrait photography takes you a step up from people photography.  It gives you elements to notice such as the angle you take the photograph, the lighting you will use, and the expression of emotion on a persons face.  While you may be an amateur photographer deciding to take Christmas photos without the expense you will need to have some basic knowledge of techniques used by the professionals. You can find this knowledge through a digital photography course online but  first, read a good digital photography course review.

First when taking a photograph of a person you need to study their face.  The face is important to the angle you will shoot from.  Though it is a cliché, it is true some people have a better side.  This could be in relation to scarring or acne breakouts or even simpler.  For instance my left eye is larger than my right by just a bit, and looking head on into the camera will cause a horrible portrait, however if the photographer comes from the right side and angles up a little the light and shadows will help even out the features while keeping the distinctions that make me who I am.

Capturing the essence of the subject’s personality is what portrait photography is all about.  The little nuances of a face add character to the portrait.  You will want to loosen up your subjects.  If you are becoming a professional portrait photographer you will want to learn about your subject as you are taking pictures or perhaps meet them before the session.You should know what would get their personality captured on film if they are just your family. 

The next important step to portrait photography is lighting.  A lot of photographers prefer natural light to artificial.In part, your subject will make this decision for you.  Remember you will use the light you have.  Natural light will often require setting the aperture to compensate for the cameras lack of definition.To get the effect you want you need to create the contrast between the light and shadows in other words.  Often artificial light is harsh and not directed properly unless in a studio.  Again you will need to use the manual settings on your camera to create the perfect portrait. 

The background is also important when discussing light.Picking backgrounds that will not wash out features or clothing is what good studio photographers do.  They want to have a distinction or contrast between you and the background.  This is also important of home portrait photography.  You will want a background that gives color to your subject rather than taking it away.  Finding a nice spot with a tree to sit on and mountains in the background can be a great portrait, but you will want to make sure the background is not too busy to distract from the subject.  Make the subject seem apart of the picture rather than outside of it.

The type of camera and film you use will also determine the quality of the photograph.  Once you combine techniques such as lighting, angles, and understanding your subject you will be able to create a near to professional if not professional portrait for your friends and family no matter the occasion.Wouldn’t it be great to have a better portrait rather then just snapping another picture?

How To Use Lenses In Photography

Just having a camera is not going to get you the best pictures.  Most of us who take photos are amateurs in the art world, but with the right digital photography lessons our photography can be elevated to a new height.When you settle on a medium you are going to train in, lenses are important.  Most photographers choose one area of photography to specialize in.  There are many types of lenses, the standard 35- 80mm, telephoto, and panoramic lenses. 

 

Most 12mp digital SLR cameras have a 35- 80 mm lens, even the point and shoot type.Most of the time you get a standard lens when you purchase a camera casing.  All lenses are interchangeable.  You do have to stick with the same brand of lenses as your camera and make sure the diameter is the same.  The diameter of most lenses is the same as long as you keep to the same brand.  The 35- 80 mm lens tells you the extent of reach.  While you can take photographs several miles away with a standard lens you will not have the distinction of features in the print that you need.  The standard lens is great for close up shots, such as flowers, spider webs, people, and pets.You need a larger lens in order to gain a more defined picture that is miles away.

 

There are many canon telephoto zoom lenses in photography.  One is the 75- 300 mm lens.  While this is not as massive as other telephoto lenses you may see a professional walking around with it is a great step up for mountain and wildlife photography when your quarry is some distance away.  When you begin to move from the 35mm into something larger it is best to have a stabilizer with the lens.Even if your hand moves a little bit, a stabilizer will help you hold the camera steady to get a clear shot.  When you move into the world of the telephoto lens you can by accessories to help with angles and light.

 

Photography in the world of panorama is another way to take spectacular landscape photos.Especially with a digital camera, a panoramic lens will allow us to widen the photograph.The panoramic lens is the best way to go rather than cutting an pasting a picture of a glacier or mountain range together in Photoshop in order to get the whole picture.  I’m sure you have seen landscapes with a panoramic view and wished you could have that option.  Even with film cameras you could have a panoramic lens to widen the photograph. 

 

All three lenses are just the icebergs on the use of lenses in photography.  Whether you are an amateur photographer or a budding professional you will want to maximize your photo taking skills.  The next equipment you may want to purchase to help you with the larger lenses would be a tripod to stabilize the camera even more.  Tripods are pretty simple and lightweight pieces of equipment and work great for portrait photography.  All mediums in photography require moderate to top of the line camera equipment to produce a photograph with quality.  Photography also relies on the photographer’s skill and eye.When you begin your study of the art of photography you will find that lenses are just a small part of photography.  If you have any questions on lenses the best places to find answers are your local photography shop.

 

Back To Basics: Photography

Most sports fan know what it means for a team to go into what’s called a rebuilding year.This is done to correct bad habits and train new people when owners or coaches decide it just needs to be done.  And invariably, what team leadership says when they go into such a time is that they are going “back to basics.”

Sometimes it’s good for us as photographers to go back to basics of digital photography .  And, of course, if you are just getting started in the world of photography and want to learn “the ropes”, the basics are a natural start.However you want to learn the basics of what professionals know about the art of photography.

Anybody can take a picture.  I attended a wedding reception where the wedding party left a disposable digital camera on each table at the reception for guests to snap photos.  Before the evening was over, it was the children who were running around taking pictures of everything from the dirty dishes to their own underwear.  These were not photographers and while those pictures will no doubt get a few chuckles, these are not the kind of professional pictures people want for their long-term memories.

Obviously, the cornerstone of photography basics is the camera.  When you see a camera geek walking around with enough equipment on his neck to launch a space shuttle, you get the impression that cameras are phenomenally complex, more than mere mortals can grasp.  But look at the professionals and you see them working with portable, relatively easy to operate cameras.  That is because the basics of running a camera come down to aperture and shutter speed.

Don’t let fancy terms bother you.  Aperture is just a term for how wide your camera lens is open to let in light.The shutter speed is the amount of time you allow light to enter the lens and in turn affect the picture.  For getting a shot of a fast moving event, you want a wide aperture to let in a lot of light but a short shutter speed so you capture the event quickly and close the window so the picture is caught before more light hurts the quality.

Basically photography is all about light.  You can and will get learn a lot about lenses and flash photography and other ways to turn the control over the lighting of a shot to you.  So add to your core skills of photography a willingness to never stop learning.  The better and more sophisticated you get in your ability to work with the equipment, the more you will learn and the more you will want to learn.

You can get a greater control over these basic controls of the camera such as aperture and shutter speed by learning how to switch from automatic settings to manual settings.  The automatic settings of any camera are just there for the general public who are not interested in learning the basics.You will learn about some basic settings such as portrait, landscape and sports settings.You learn best what settings work in different situations by switching to manual.

We now come to the concept of practice which is the most important basic of digital photography to becoming a great photographer.  Take some time with your equipment and play with it.  Take it to situations and take photos with different aperture and shutter speed settings, in outdoor and indoor settings and different orientations to light.  Don’t get upset when some shots don’t work.There is a learning to everything and this is part of it.

You learn best by doing and you build your confidence along to way to becoming a great photographer.  But don’t get cocky, there is always more to learn.  And that is one of the fun things about photography, isn’t it?