School Of Digital Photography: October 2013

Thursday, 31 October 2013

Why and How to Use the Diopter Adjustment on Your DSLR Camera

Not all people have perfect 20/20 vision and that is why some of us wear glasses or contact lenses. People wearing glasses often find it difficult to look through the viewfinder with their glasses on as it tends to get in the way. But if they take off their glasses and look through the viewfinder chances are they’ll only see a very blurry picture. To help make photography a more enjoyable venture all major camera manufacturers have built in a diopter which can adjust the viewfinder image to compensate for your eye sight and thus help you see clearly when you look through the viewfinder without glasses.

Some Facts about DSLR Diopter

A properly calibrated diopter is critical to ensure precise focus especially when using manual focus.
Diopter adjustments has nothing to do with the lens focusing mechanism, it will only help you see the viewfinder image clearly.
When sharing your camera with another person the diopter needs to be adjusted to suit their vision and when you get back the camera you need to re-adjust the diopter to suit your eye sight.
The dioptre adjustment is a fully manual process and the setting cannot be locked.
There is no index point and nothing to tell you the level of correction entered.
Typically diopters in DSLR cameras have an adjustment range of -3 to +3, with 0 being nominal 20/20 vision.

Where is the Diopter Located in my DSLR?

DSLR Viewfinder Diopter

In case of mot DSLR cameras the diopter control is located near the upper right corner of the viewfinder. It is usually characterized by a +/- sign. In case of Nikon cameras the diopter adjustment wheel can be either big or small but regardless of its size it’s very noticeable. In case of Canon it is not very noticeable however it works just the same as in Nikons.

Calibrating the Diopter of Your DSLR Camera

What you are seeing through the viewfinder is the image from the lens projected onto a ground glass viewing screen you get to see the image sharpest when the diopter is correctly calibrated.

The easiest and most reliable method to calibrate the diopter of you DSLR camera is to point your camera at any featureless subject like a white wall, look through the viewfinder, turn your lens so that the wall is out of focus, now pay attention to the markings in the focusing screen and also to the various indicators in the viewfinder (your camera needs to be turned on and if you do not find any indicators gently tap your shutter button once)

Dslr Viewfinder on the left is un calibrated diopter and on the right is a calibrated diopter

Now turn the diopter adjustment wheel all the way towards the "+" side. The image will in most cases blurred (unless that is the right setting for your eye) slowly turn the diopter toward the "-" side until the lines and the viewfinder information becomes crystal clear.

You will find that there are more than one clicks where the image appears sharp so to get the best setting make sure you go past the sharpest view, and then back, so that you are sure that you have the best possible setting.

If you usually wear your glasses when taking photographs, make sure you wear them when setting the dioptric correction.

Going Beyond Standard Adjustments

Built in diopters can only adjust from -3 to + 3; those of you who have higher powers of short / far sightedness will need dioptric adjustment lenses that fit into the eyepiece of the camera which could go beyond the standard adjustments.

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

22 Tips for Photographing Stunning Seascapes

As far as a creative minded photographer is concerned, seashores are one of the most happening locations one could ever dream of. There’s much drama happening there all the time, and with it comes endless photographic opportunities, the mood of the scene keeps constantly changing with the play of light, the rise and fall of tides etc.

Photo by: Casete

Capturing stunning seascapes is not that hard; if you are aiming to take your photography beyond regular beach shots, here are a few tips and tricks for taking stylish, artistic seascape pictures that stand out from among-st the crowd.

Equipment Recommendations for seascape photography

Just as in Landscape photography, to create extraordinary images you need to have the right kind of equipment. Here are our recommendations.

Photo by: Spreng Ben

Camera – the most obvious and most essential piece of gear

Lenses – the choice of lens depends upon the location and the effect you aim to achieve in your shots. The vast majority of seascapes are shot with wide angle lenses but the compression of view afforded by telephoto lenses could work well in certain situations.

Lens Hood – photographing seashores is one of the times when a lens hood comes in very handy, it helps eliminate flare, thereby increase contrast and also affords some protection from the sea spray.

UV Filter – in general professional photographers are divided as to whether a UV filter is necessary or not but when it comes to photographing seascapes they are all united in their opinion. Photographing seascapes could be very demanding and in order to protect your lens from the splashes and the sea spray a UV filter is an absolute must. Remember in the course of a day you may have to clean the filter/front element many times over now it’s your choice rubbing repeatedly will cause the anti glare, reflective coatings on the front element to deteriorate, but if it’s a filter you can easily replace it with another as it costs very little when compared to you lens.

Sturdy tripod and head – moving water and clouds at the beach present lot of opportunities for long exposure shots and this requires a solid tripod with a solid head. Remember to clean your equipment thoroughly after working at the beach as salt water and sand could easily damage it if left unattended.

Bubble level to level the horizon – if your tripod head has one or if your camera is one of the newer models that have a digital level then you probably won’t need one of these but if not then having one will make things very easier and they cost very little.

Spare Battery – shooting in live view, shooting long exposures, constantly reviewing shots in the cameras LCD etc could all drain batteries quickly. Always carry a fully charged spare battery with you even if you don’t use one it’s very reassuring that you have one with you if its needed.

Small headlamps or torch – if you intend to shoot in the early morning hours or late evening a headlamp could come in very handy, it will help you find your way in the dark, could help illuminate camera dials and if needed be used for light painting some foreground elements. Headlamps have the advantage over torch as they let you free both your arms.

Lens Cleaning Solution and Lens Cleaning Cloth – while shooting at the beach your lens or filter will frequently get coated with salt crystals, clean your lens/filter frequently using lens cleaning cloth and solution and do it very carefully as dry salt crystals could easily scratch your lens.

Rain Coat and Rain cover – always carry a rain cover for your camera. Keep your camera in it only take it out when you are ready to shoot and put it back as soon as you are done, it will keep your equipment safe from slat and splashes. Rain coat will help you keep dry in case it rains.

Remote Control / Cable Release – this is not an indispensable item as you can always use the self timer on your camera. But having one makes matters easier.

Essential Filters for Photographing Seascapes

Photo by: Casete

Polarizing Filter

Polarizing filter could be used to cut the glare and reflections, produce more saturated colours and helps turn the sky dark blue. It could also add about 2 stops to the exposure thus serve as a 2 stop ND filter in you want to blur water.

Neutral Density Filter

Neutral density filters cuts the amount of light passing through them there by allowing the photographer to shoot at slower shutter speeds. They come in varying strengths ranging from 1 stop to 10 stops. They have no effect on colour, tone or saturation but the ability to use slower shutter speeds will help you capture movement in the clouds and blur the water.

Graduated Neutral Density Filter

When shooting seascapes the sky will always be much brighter than the foreground and this could create problems for you as a photographer. If you try to expose the sky properly you will get a dark foreground and if you try to expose the foreground correctly you will end up with a washed out (over exposed)sky. Graduated neutral density filters help you even out the exposure difference between light and dark areas in you scene. Like ND filters they also come in varying strengths, GND 0.9 (3-stops) Hard Edge and GND 0.6 (2-stops) Soft Edge filters are probably most useful ones for shooting seascapes.

Seascape Photography Tips

1. Research and study the location before shooting

Research your destination thoroughly before the actual shoot date, tourist guides, magazines, information centers etc are all helpful. But the best option is to speak to knowledgeable locals (even better if they have some photographic interests) and get your directions there may be better beaches nearby that are not frequented by tourists which only locals know about.

2. Go during Off-Season

Photo by: Mike

Beaches all over the world are popular tourist destinations and they attract hordes of people. In pictures of lonely beaches is your intention visit during off season and during bad weather. Bad weather keeps tourists away but will get you great shots with character.

3. Safety first

Always inform a friend, neighbor or relative where you are going to shoot and when you could be expected back. Do carry a flash light or a head lamp with you. Check weather and tide forecasts before you set out to shoot. Never turn your back on a wave and always keep an eye on the tide. Be very careful when treading on slippery rock surfaces and make sure that you have always have an escape route in case things does not work the way as planned. Never wait till the last give yourselves ample time to get back to safety before the tide turns, things could change much faster than you ever anticipated and if it happens you’ll soon find you are in big trouble.

4. Shoot around sunrise and sunset

Photo by: Hakahonu

Undoubtedly the best times to shoot seascapes are during sunrise and sunset, arrive at your location one hour before sunrise or sunset and stay for at least an hour after sunrise or sunset to ensure you get the best lighting conditions.

5. Decide When to Shoot

Time your shot well, do your homework and find out which direction the beach is facing, this will help you decide whether it is a good idea to go during sunrise or during sunset. Also study the tide timings a perfect time to visit any beach would be when the sunrise or sunset coincides with the low tide. There are free programs like the Photographer’s Ephemeris which will tell you the time and location of sunset and sunrise anywhere in the world on any date.

6. Camp Out

Photo by: Garry

If you are located far from a beach it’s always a good idea to camp out at the beach or stay at any nearby hotels so that you can easily get to the beach during early morning and capture the scene with the morning mist, followed by the golden hour light, then the sunrise and so on.

7. Depth of Field

General rule of landscape and seascape photography is to use an aperture that provides enough depth of field to get objects across the frame from the foreground to the background reasonably sharp. For this reason most commonly used aperture for photographing seascapes are f/11 or f/16. However there is no hard and fast rule, do experiment with shallow depth of field this could work well in situations where you manage to include a foreground element in your shot, focus on the foreground element and use wide open apertures to see the effect.

8. Add a Foreground Element

Photo by: Toby Keller

A plain shot with just the water and sand could turn out boring, sometimes it’ll all one could find at the seashore. But look around you may be you missed something at the first instance it could be a bottle with a message (this one you could arrange for can’t you) a piece of drift wood, a star fish, shells or simply a rock.

9. Play with Shutter Speeds

Photo by: Justin Brown

Use fast shutter speeds to freeze the motion of water that is crashing on to the rocks, this type of shots will effectively capture the fierce energy in the moment. Alternatively you can use slow shutter speeds to blur the waves and produce a surrealistic image with a dreamy feel to it. when using slower shutter speeds include some stationary foreground element to enhance the feeling of movement. Read more about blurring waterfalls and beaches with long exposure.

10. Watch the Tide

The very same beach looks entirely different during high tide and low tide, some areas looks best at high tide while some others looks best during low tide. Low tide reveals much more of the beach and underlying rocks if any, at the start of a low tide is an ideal time to shoot reflections. Visit the beaches during both tide times to see for yourselves which locations look better at what tide.

11. What to shoot at the beach?

Photo by: Len Radin

There are endless opportunities for photography at the beach patterns in sand, sunrise, sunset, reflections in water and on wet sand, people, rocks, algae, moss, sea weed, marine life, drift woods, shore birds, waves crashing, boats and yachts, surfers, piers, light houses, puddles of water, clouds and many more keep your eyes open and opportunities will present themselves.

12. Dress appropriately

Do consider the time of the year and prevailing weather conditions while selecting dress for beach photography. If weather permits, sorts and T shirt with a jacket or photographers vest over it could be the ideal choice. It is not advisable to wear jeans or long pants as it could be quite an inconvenience if it gets wet. Also make sure you wear walking shoes that have enclosed toes, could be wet and also provides good grip over slippery rock surfaces.

13. Don't be afraid to get wet

Sometimes the most interesting angle to shoot a seascape will be from the water with the camera pointed towards the sand. So don’t be afraid to get wet if you are intent to find truly unique shooting angles. Make sure you wash your tripod legs in fresh water after every seascape photography session to prevent corrosion and also damage caused by sand getting between tripod sections. If necessary disassemble your tripod, clean everything thoroughly and assemble it back (if your tripod allows this, some tripods cannot be taken apart but most professional models can).

14. Shoot RAW

Photo by: Mark Wassell

Shooting in RAW file format has a lot of advantages over shooting in JPEG. It lets you capture more detail, allows you the flexibility to change white balance in post processing and also use noise reduction function to clean up any noise caused by the long exposure.

15. Shoot in Manual Mode

The best shooting mode for photographing seascapes is the manual mode.

How you set your exposure variables depend on the intended effect. i.e. whether you want to freeze the motion or blur it. To freeze motion you’ll require faster shutter speeds, so shoot wide open and if needed bump up your ISO. And to blur motion, shoot using narrower apertures and ISO 100. Always check the histogram to determine your exposure is right.

16. Composition

Compose your frames carefully, keep them clean and uncluttered, when it comes to seascapes the simplest of the compositions are the ones that come out well. It is best to find one interesting focal point for your shot and compose your frame around it paying attention to eliminate anything else that competes with your main focal point for attention.

17. Keep Horizon Level – Always

Photo by: Esther

There are no exceptions to this rule; keep your horizons level 100% of the time period.

18. Shoot in both Vertical and Horizontal Formats

Photo by: Vaidotas Mišeikis

Shoot your scene in both landscape and portrait orientations, do not judge which one looks better in the camera LCD, this could be done later at a large computer monitor.

19. Shoot the water at an angle

90% of all beach shots are taken head-on with the camera facing straight towards the water; instead try to shoot from an angle with the camera looking down the waterline explore creative compositions by varying the shooting height and tilt there by changing emphasis from foreground to the background etc.

20. Use Lines

Photography Tutorial Seascape Photography

Photo by: Eleder Jimenez Hermoso

Remember lines are a very important part of your composition; use leading lines to draw the eye of the viewer to the most important part of your image.

21. Dramatic Reflections

The reflection of the sun in the water during sunrise and sunsets could produce some very dramatic effects. Anticipate your shot, compose your frame in advance and be ready to shoot, shoot a sequence starting well before your indented frame and ending only after taking some more shots after that. You will never be able to judge which one came out well be looking at the small LCD, while reviewing in a bigger monitor it’ll be a different frame that impress you. It is also a good idea to bracket you exposure for critical shots.

22. Have Fun!

Tips For Seascape Long Exposure Photography

Photo by: Toby Keller

This is actually the most important tip of all have lots of fun, enjoy your day out at the beach and those pretty pictures you took along the way could be considered as a welcome bonus.

Monday, 28 October 2013

Photographing Flowers on White Background

In the previous article we discussed how to photograph flowers with a black background, now let us consider the opposite; shooting flowers on white background.

I don't like the way Google auto enhance is playing with images being uploaded on blogger, click here to view the original version

While photographing flowers on black we noticed that our equipment requirements were minimal, however to shoot flowers on white you’ll need a bit more equipment in terms of lights and modifiers.

The secret of creating a Clean White Background

The real secret behind a clean white background is the lighting. Arrange your lights so that they overlap at the center and produce even lighting throughout. The following lighting diagram will give a better idea of how this is done.

Photographing flowers on white background lighting diagram

The two lights pointed directly at the background will illuminate it evenly; two black V cards are placed next to them to prevent light from spilling on to the subject. Now we light our subject using a key light and use a white reflector to reflect light back on to the other side of the flower to act as fill.

Once the lights are all set up you need to be careful with the light ratios. To get pure white backgrounds you’ll need your background to be overexposed by a couple of stops. Play with the light power until you get the desired effect. As regards to you flower, since the background lights are effectively shielded they do not spill on your subject, adjust the power of key light to properly expose the flower, You can increase the strength of the fill light by moving the reflector closer to the flower and decrease it by moving the reflector away from the flower.

Now this setup will require three lights at the minimum, more if you need precise control over how your flower and vase is lit. The background material could be any colour from medium grey to white; it could all be made to look pure white by controlling the amount of light hitting it.

An alternative to the above setup is to use a softbox as your background as shown in the diagram below, this method however is a compromise, you will get a pure white background for your flowers but you will have limited control over how your subject is lit.

Photographing flower on white background

Photographing Flowers on Pure White Background

Set your camera to manual mode
Shoot in RAW file format
Set white balance to Flash
Set ISO to ISO 100
Set Shutter speed to your camera’s Sync Speed
Set Aperture according to Depth of Field requirements.
Now Turn on and Adjust power of key light for proper exposure
Introduce Reflector or another light for fill
Once you are satisfied with how your subject is lit turn on background lights
Adjust power of background lights till you get pure white
If needed use cutters to make sure background light is not spilling on to your subject
Check histogram and ensure there is no clipping.

When photographing flowers it pays to not only check the luminescence histogram but also the RGB histogram since even if you get luminescence right you could be clipping any of the colours without knowing about it, meaning loss of detail.

Post Production

Open the image in any image editing program and look closely by zooming in for any areas than are less than white. Make a selection of those areas, feather your selection to avoid any sharp edge to your adjustment and use brightness/contrast, levels or curves adjustments to make the correction.

Sunday, 27 October 2013

How to Photograph Flowers with a Black Background

Black backgrounds have been an all time favorite of flower photographers. The reason is simple, no matter what kind of flowers you are photographing (from tulips to exotic orchids) and no matter where you intend to shoot (from the comfort of your studio to the vast outdoors) you can never go wrong with using black as a background.

photographing flowers with a black background

Black background works all the time, it’s clean, elegant, brings out the colors in your flowers and does not distract the viewer’s attention from the subject. In this article we will discuss how to photograph flowers with a black background, both indoors and outdoors.

Equipment Required

A light source (flash, studio strobe, an incandescent bulb or even natural (sun) light will do.
A black card or a black piece of paper preferably A2 size (black velvet works even better)

Well that’s it, all you really need is a light source and a black piece of paper, of course having a couple more of black cards will help you control light and prevent it from spilling on to your background. But in most cases it won’t be necessary. If you are planning to use your flash you will need some method to trigger your flash off camera. It could be a Sync cord, TTL cord, Infra red or wireless triggers. Using on camera flash or external flash mounted on top of camera is not recommended as the light from it will also illuminate the background (unless the background is very far from the subject).

how to photograph flowers with a black background

In this setup we used two lights the one of the right is the key light illuminating the subject and the one on the left is for the reflections on the rim of the glass and also for illuminating the stem the picture taken is the one given above.

The primary requirement is to get your flower lit in such a way that it is at least 2 stops brighter than the background.

Achieving Black Background in Studio

how to photograph flowers on a black background

Place your black material at least a couple of feet behind your flower.
Set up your light it could be from above the flower or towards the side (lights at 90° angle to the lens is the most commonly used setup).
Make sure light is not spilling on to the background, if necessary slightly change the angle of the lights or use another black card or any other material to shade the background. You could also try tilting the background at an angle, this could help avoid light being reflected back to the camera.
Experiment with your light by moving it around the flower and observe how the petals respond, you could bring life to your flower photographs by capturing radiance or translucence etc of the petals. Be careful of light spilling on to the background though.
If you find there are hot spots (very bright areas) on flower petals move your light source a bit away from the flower.
Slightly underexposing your shots will help obtain more saturated colors and darker backgrounds.

Achieving Black Background Outdoors

Getting a completely black background outdoors is a little more difficult than getting it in studio.

Set your camera to Manual Mode
Set ISO to ISO 100
Set shutter speed to the camera’s Sync Speed.
Set aperture to f/11 and take a test shot, experiment with narrower apertures till you get a completely dark frame.
Whenever possible shoot from an angle that makes the flowers sidelit by the sun.
Place your dark material a few feet behind your flowers
Try tilting the background material so that it does not catch the sunlight. It is not necessary to have the black background parallel to the sensor plane; I have found many people trying to do just that.
Now all you need to do is light your subject using flash making sure light from the flash is not illuminating the background material. Adjust your flash power till you get a proper exposure.

Post Processing

If you shoot RAW (which I highly recommend) you could use the “Blacks” slider and if you are a JPEG shooter then you could experiment with Levels, Curves or simply the Burn tool to fix any spots on the background that did not come out dark enough.

Friday, 25 October 2013

How to Photograph the Sun

This article is in response to an email I received lately, one of our readers wanted to take pictures of the sun with her digital camera but was not sure how to. Instead of answering the mail personally I thought I’d write an article so others could also learn the trick. So this article is not a primer to astro photography but one that covers general points that help you capture beautiful images of the sun using your digital camera. It could be a DSLR, a point and shoot or a mirrorless, either long focal length (tele) photographic lenses or telescopes which have the option to mount a camera could be used. There are many opportunities for photographing the sun like Sunspots, ISS transits, eclipse or other special events.

Photo by: Opticoverload

Before we go any further let us be clear about one thing. Photographing the sun is not a job for the uninformed as it could be quite a dangerous endeavor. If you look at the sun long enough without proper filtration you could easily damage your cameras sensor and also lose eye sight. The first and foremost consideration while attempting to photograph the sun, should be safety; both of your eye and equipment. Never look at the sun with your bare eyes or through any other equipment without proper filters attached. The only time we get to look at the sun is when it’s only a few degrees above the horizon (during sunrise and sunset); at all other times if you are not careful you could permanently damage your eyes just by looking at the sun.

Sun Photography Equipment Requirements

Photo by: Rudy

1. Digital camera

2. Tele Photo lens with a long focal length (600mm or greater) longer the better.

3. Telescope

4. Tele-converters (1.4x or 2x)

5. Solar Filter

6. Tripod and Head

Photographing the Sun with a DSLR

For photographing the sun with other types of cameras, all the principles stated below are applicable, only thing you will be somewhat limited in the amount of control over different variables.

1. To photograph the sun the most indispensable equipment apart from a digital camera and a long lens is the solar filter. Remember there are different types of filters, some materials used as filters like exposed film only blocks visible light but let’s IR rays pass. Using such materials could easily damage your eyes. So use a proper filter designed for visual use. Remember if it is safe for your eyes then it should be safe for your camera too. A quick glance through any "Astronomy" or "Sky and Telescope" magazine could help you find many suppliers of solar filters for visual use.

2. Before you actually use the filter make sure the filter is in perfect condition without any tears or punctures.

Photo by: Tarique Sani

3. Remember the solar filter is to be mounted on the front of the lens; this might sound obvious to many but there are many lenses like the Canon 600mm f/4 which allow filters to be mounted on the rear slot. This was made possible so that the photographer could use smaller diameter filters with the lens which otherwise had a very large diameter front element. But if you mount an ND filter on the rear slot and face the camera towards the sun all the heat will be concentrated at the filter inside the lens and this could cause over heating easily damaging the lens or the camera.

4. Once the solar filter is mounted on the lens your exposure depends on the strength of the filter you are using. In general it is advisable to keep you shutter speed faster than 1/250 to prevent camera shake as you will be working with long lenses.

5. To be on the safer side if you camera supports live view shooting use it instead of looking through the viewfinder.

Photo by: Stuart

6. With the filter attached to a tele photo lens, the sky turns pitch dark and the sun will appear as a white disk. Finding the sun with such a set up is in itself a challenge, also it keeps moving so you need to follow it with your lens. One trick to find the sun is to look at the shadow of your camera, point your lens in a corresponding angle and scan the general area using live view until you find the sun.

7. Once you have framed the sun, use the zoom function in live view to manually set your focus.

8. It is a good idea to bracket your shots and check your histogram for exposure.

Photo by: Sergei Golyshev

9. Your RAW image will look like a black and white picture with the sky appearing pitch black and the sun as a white disk. To adjust the colour of the sun adjust your white balance settings; you could either leave the sky as it is (black) or replace it with a shot of just the sky taken in the opposite direction as the sun is.

10. It is advisable to go through the shoot as quickly as possible and pack your gear, never leave your camera pointed at the sun any longer than absolutely necessary.

41 Inspirational Halloween Photography Ideas

Anyone looking for some creative photographic inspiration during halloween season, well look no further here are 41 of the best halloween pictures to get you charged up.