Photography Techniques
Discover How these Simple Techniques
Will Improve Your Everyday Photos
How does a photo become a framed keepsake? What do the pros look for that I should look for?
Properly applied photography techniques are the secret.
It would really help you if you knew how the photographer applied a particular technique to a particular subject to elicit a striking result.
I won't pretend to tell you how to take brilliant photographs each and every time you snap a picture. The truth is that even the most legendary photographers like Ansel Adams to Annie Leibowitz didn't create a masterpiece with every click of the button.
What Ansel and Annie and you and I all do as photographers is to take lots of pictures and experiment with subject matter and photography techniques. We begin to see the image that is possible, no matter what the subject may be.
"Everyone smiles in the same language." - Anonymous
It Doesn't Have to Be Complicated
One of the best things you can do to improve your skill as a photographer is to learn one new technique at a time. And then to just go out and…
- shoot
- shoot
- shoot
- shoot!
One of the best known and least understood photography techniques is shutter speed. Your average Point and Shoot digital camera has made it very easy. Believe me, most are as easy as clicking to the SCN mode and scrolling through the different camera situations you are in like, Beach, Snow, snapping Kids and Pets, Night Shots etc. Your flash will adapt along with other features of your camera. Take a few minutes to look that one feature up. The pros know that:
Shutter speed is a function of the amount of light that is available to your camera as it captures the image. When you take pictures at night, your shutter speed (or exposure) is longer because there isn't as much light available. But when you slow the shutter speed down during the day, the effect is magnificent!
This photography technique can capture the movement of a hummingbird's wing; the drama of cloud cover floating in on angel's wings; or the clumsy, bouncy, wild dash of a little child escaping a diaper change.
Whatever your subject matter, shutter speed can be used to heighten the story you're trying to tell through the picture.
Magnificent Results
Two Easy Steps
Stopping down
To capture the bouncing blur of the toddler mentioned above or the hummingbird on wing, you do something called stopping down – which in essence means that you place a very small aperture over the lens. The smaller the hole, the less light reaches the camera, the longer the shutter must stay open to capture the light. The result can be a misty sweep of motion or a bouncing trail behind chubby legs.
ND filter
To capture that evolving blanket of cloud cover, you'll need an even longer exposure. And the aperture just won't get it done. The "Sunset" feature on your camera will also take care of it! OR:
You'll need something called a neutral density filter. In essence, the neutral density filter (or ND, as those in the know call it) STOPS the light and allows you to control the exposure from your standard blink of an eye.
In addition to clouds, you can create magnificent effects with moving water, light beams at night, or even star tracks and suns streams shimmering against a mystical background. Look under "exposure setting" and you'll be a few quick steps away with your camera and and tripod.
Get the Effect and the Smile You Want
Two quick notes in closing…
- When you can't seem to get the happy, dimpled grin you're hoping for, it may be time to try the Smile for Me Toys™ birdie. Just pop this perky fellow atop your camera, and even the most smile–averse adult or child will flash a happy, dimpled grin.
- Remember that with shorter shutter speeds, you can hold the camera in hand while you complete the exposure. But for exposures of a second or more, you'll need a tripod. Human beings used to have to remain perfectly still longer than that for all the vintage portraits we see now in history books. Absolute stillness is important to the best effects of all photography techniques, but probably not the most practical, so scan the site for more ways to make it fun to smile for the camera!
Now go out and shoot, shoot, shoot!
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