Black and White Photography

• Straight on – at eye level the photograph doesn’t over emphasize any particular part of the subject. Especially useful when photographing kids.
• From Sslightly Above - makes the subject look more passive or even sultry. Body shape becomes stronger and the focus on the eyes becomes greater.
• From Slightly Below - can make the subject appear somewhat aloof or dominant.
• From Below - A full length portrait from this position emphasizes power and dominance. A wide angle lens can exaggerate this effect further but use sparingly.
  

Architectural Photography

One piece of architecture can be shot in a myriad of creative ways. Light, weather, surroundings and the angle of the camera can all have a dramatic effect on how the building will be depicted digitally or on film.

Look for interesting perspectives to make your photograph, but beware of converging vertical lines when shooting upwards of tall buildings. This is more noticeable when using a wide angle lens.

Look for surroundings that compliment the focus rather than distract from it, and don’t forget to get close and take detailed shots of doors, statues etc. These shots are often more interesting than your standard post card shot of “Big Ben” from a mile away, and reflect the period and style of the building.

As discussed in a previous tip the direction of the lighting will create vastly different effects in your photographs. For capturing details sidelighting will give you a greater sense of depth and texture. Form and shape are best photographed using front or backlighting.

Finally don’t let a few rain clouds scare you off from getting out and shooting some great pieces of architecture as brooding skies, fog and even lightning(be careful) can infuse your architectural photograph with a moody powerful atmosphere.

Filters

Love 'em or hate 'em, there¡¦s no denying that at times they can be an indispensable tool for any photographer ,with a virtually endless array of filters to choose from. Probably the most common filter that most photographers will have on there lens is a UV filter. Basically UV filters are supposed to block UV rays , which can cause your color photographs to have a bluish hue about them. The other reason people use this filter is as protective filter for the lens.

For black and white photography I use a yellow filter to increase the contrast. There are four kinds red, orange, yellow and green. The red filter is the strongest and offers the greatest degree of contrast. This is ideal for landscapes with lots of sky and clouds.

I sometimes use a Polarizing filter with both color and black and white to reduce glare and reflection. Polarizers also tend to give greater color saturation to the photograph , which may or may not be to your liking. If the colors tend to be too saturated or blue consider using it in conjunction with a warming filter.

The other filter I've found handy is an ND (Neutral Density) filter. These filters come in varying strength depending on how much light you want to block. I have an ND8 filter which absorbs the equivalent of 3 stops of light. This works well when you want to want create a blur effect on a sunny day. e.g. a soft waterfall effect.

I use Cokin filters because of their ease of use. With Cokin you don't need to buy the same filter 3 or four times to fill all your different lenses , you just need to buy different rings to fit into your lens and attach your Cokin holder which will allow you to use three different filters at the same time if you want to create some weird effects.
In closing it should be said that as we're now living in the digital age , most of the effects you can get from using a filter can also be obtained from using Photoshop. The Choice is yours!

Light is without doubt the most important factor to consider when taking a photograph. Light changes in three key ways strength, color and direction. At different times of the day sunlight will greatly change the effect of your picture. Generally speaking early morning or late afternoon light is most versatile. The warm color of the low sun is much more pleasing than the nearly colorless midday sun.

Sidelighting: will add texture, depth and dimension to your photographs

Frontlighting: highlights are detailed within a scene and provide rich color saturation. Ideal for landscape photography but not the best for portraiture.

Backlighting: can be used to create dramatic silhouettes or add a glowing rim around a hairline (used in conjunction with a fill in flash) In landscapes it appears to add to the depth of the image because of the long shadows that stretch across the image.

Diffused Lighting: is excellent for portraiture and landscape as contrast is greatly reduced and subtle shades of color that can't be seen in bright light now appear.

There are 2 basic techniques you can choose when shooting action. These are stop action or blur. Stop action uses high shutter speeds to freeze the action whilst blur uses a slow shutter speed to stress a sense of motion.

Before the action starts be sure to set the exposure for the desired result and prefocus on the spot where you anticipate the action will happen. If you have a depth of field preview button on your camera use this to check the zone of sharpness.

To stop action you'll not only need to use a high shutter speed but also a high-speed film (except on a very bright day). You'll also need to consider the speed and direction of the subject you're photographing. For example a jogger running past you at a distance of 4mtrs may require a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second, whereas a jogger running towards you at a distance of 4mtrs may only require a shutter speed of 1/250. This example is based on using a 50mm lens. Remember when you double the focal length of your lens you need to double the shutter speed. For example 1/125 with a 50mm lens would become 1/250with a 100mm lens and 1/500 with a 200 mm lens. As you know the longer the focal length of your lens the further the light has to travel to reach the focal plane, hence the need for large apertures and /or high speed film.

When composing stop action photos consider shooting from a low angle and where possible use diagonals in favor of vertical or horizontal compositions. This will help to stress, size power and motion.

For blur photos its recommended you use a tripod, as you'll be using shutter speeds probably 1/8 and under. The slower the shutter speed the more the blur. You'll also need to consider the speed of the object your shooting. For example a shutter speed of 1 second might be ok for something that is moving very slowly but inappropriate for a fast moving subject, which would appear virtually invisible on your negative. Choosing the correct shutter speed for blur photos may require some trial and error but in this process you're sure to get some interesting results.

By carefully choosing your angle of view, and the juxtaposition of subjects within the frame, as well as lighting you can create images that convey the kinds of emotions you are looking for.

Some major points to consider when composing your picture are the following:

Subject: Make sure you have a clearly defined subject. Often photographs are ruined because there are too many competing subjects within the photograph.

Distance: In many cases the photograph gains greater impact when it fills the whole frame, so try to get as close as possible to the subject in order to avoid including extraneous details in the frame.

Format: Generally speaking a vertical format is best suited to photographing tall images whilst a horizontal format is best suited to photographing wide images. However don't hesitate to experiment with this rule as you might obtain some interesting compositions.

Background: Be careful when composing your image to look to see if there is anything in the background that may detract from the photograph you are trying to create. Consider using an aperture of F2.8 to F4 in order to diffuse any background details.

Patterns: Look for patterns in the subjects you photograph as the repetition of form and shape attracts and holds the eye to the photograph. A pattern with an unexpected break also works well.

Viewpoint: Try different angles; don't always take a photograph standing at eye height. A high viewpoint will give you a very different image to a low viewpoint or from a side or back view. Different points of views can also be gained from using different lenses eg. a wide angle lens . Again don't be afraid to experiment with different lenses from different perspectives.

Subject Positioning: Subjects positioned off-center usually are more appealing to those that are placed in the center of the frame. Subjects placed in the center of the frame often appear quite boring and lifeless. Positioning off-center breaks up the symmetry, allowing one's eye to explore the rest of the image.

Diagonals: Be on the lookout for diagonal compositions because they are more dynamic than horizontal or vertical compositions. Diagonals give a feeling of motion and a greater sense of depth, as the subject seems to be moving away or towards the viewer.

Exposure is controlled by the aperture and the shutter speed . The size of the aperture determines the strength of the light reaching the fim plane . The shutter speed determines how long the light is on the film plane. Most cameras today come with built in exposure meters which display the appropriate shutter and aperture settings (most of the time).

Every combination of f-stop and shutter speed that the meter shows has settings of equal value that you can use to get the same exposure. To work out an equivalent setting just remember that the standard numbers for f-stops (aperture sizes) and shutter speeds are in steps that double or halve the exposure . For example going from F11 to f8 or 1/500 to 1/250 is doubling the amount of light reaching the film in each case. If you take your aperture back to F11 or shutter back 1/500 the amount of light reaching the film has been halved in each case.

Therefore if you make the shutter speed slower by one stop eg 1/500 to 1/250 you have to make the aperture 1 stop smaller eg f8 to f11 to keep the exposure the same. This is known as exposure reciprocity. The decision on what combination of shutter speed and exposure to use depends on the results you are trying to achieve. If you are trying to freeze action use a fast shutter speed. Conversely if you want to blur action use a slow shutter speed. If you want your image to have a greater depth of field , say for a landscape use a small aperture (high f-stop like f22). On the other hand if you want a shallow depth of field , say for a portrait use a large aperture like f4.