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Win a trip to Nepal! Go on assignment with sight-saving charity ORBIS

jmeyer — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:36 +0000

There are lots of photography competitions out there, but few are as special as the opportunity we’re offering Digital Camera World readers.

We’ve partnered with the international sight-saving charity ORBIS to offer one lucky Digital Camera World reader the opportunity to put everything you’ve learned in our popular Shoot Like A Pro series to the test and do something truly meaningful with your photography.

For more details on the prize and how to enter this exclusive photo competition, see below.

THE PRIZE

The international blindness prevention charity ORBIS is offering Digital Camera World readers the opportunity of a lifetime to give something back with their photography.

The winning photographer from this photo competition will travel with a delegation from ORBIS to Geta Eye Hospital, in Dhangadhi, Nepal, where the photographer will be on assignment with the charity, tasked with documenting ORBIS’ work. From Dhangadhi, the winner will then travel with ORBIS for an additional two days documenting its work at Pokhara Hospital, Kathmandu.

The resulting images will then be used by the charity to increase awareness of issues relating to blindness and deliver help to those who need it most.

HOW TO ENTER

To win this fantastic opportunity, photographers are asked to submit a small portfolio of three images along the theme of Outdoor Portraits. This can be done via the entry form on the competition page at the link below.

Images must be 72dpi and no bigger than 800 pixels along their longest edge. Entries will be accepted until 12 July 2013, after which our judges will select a shortlist of five photographers.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Our judges will conduct a short interview with each shortlisted photographer about his or her portfolio, and a winner will be announced in August 2013.
The winning photographer will leave London with ORBIS for the assignment, which will take place from 22 to 27 October 2013.
Your flight, accommodation and transfers will be covered, but all other in-country expenses such as food and drink will be your responsibility.
This competition is open to UK residents only.
Entrants will be informed of the winner following judging via ORBIS’s newsletter
Full terms and conditions from ORBIS and Digital Camera World can be found on the competition entry page at the link below.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER YOUR IMAGES

Photography Lighting: using flash to cope with challenging conditions

jmeyer — Sun, 12 May 2013 23:01:58 +0000

In the final post in our Shoot Like A Pro series on photography lighting, we explain simple techniques for using flash to take control of your lighting environment.

Shot with on-camera flash

Unlike other lights, where you can see the effect of the position of any modifiers such as diffusers or reflectors, you can’t see the results with flash until you take a shot.

Flash doesn’t have to be scary, particularly if you are now familiar with how the direction of natural light affects your shots.

The quality of the light from most flashguns will be a little harsher than the light from your average reading lamp, so you still need to do some test shots with your own kit, but the basic principles of the quality and direction of light are the same, no matter what type of light source you use.

Shot with off-camera flash

Using a flash fired directly at the subject as the main light source is almost guaranteed to put you off using flash for life.

Used like this the flash works as a tiny point of light producing harsh, unflattering, high-contrast light.

You need to soften this light by making it appear to be much larger to the subject to make it more photogenic.

PAGE 1: Why you might want to use flash
PAGE 2: Soften the light from your flash
PAGE 3: How to use flash triggers
PAGE 4: Your remote flash options (infographic)

Photography Lighting: how to master shooting in low light

jmeyer — Sun, 05 May 2013 23:01:29 +0000

In the latest instalment of our Shoot Like A Pro series on photography lighting we take a look at the best settings and methods to use when shooting in low light.

From dimly lit interiors to shooting outdoors before sunrise or after sunset, shooting in low light presents very different challenges to shooting in bright conditions.

It’s often difficult to get the right exposure using the automatic modes in dark conditions, so you’ll need to master Manual mode.

These conditions can also make things like focusing and white balance more challenging, but it’s worth overcoming them, because shooting in low light can result in stunning images.

Exposing in low light

Shooting in darker conditions can play havoc with your camera’s exposure settings, especially if you’re using any of the automatic exposure modes, because the subject will rarely contain a normal range of tones.

In most low-light situations you will get much better, and more predictable, results by switching to Manual.

If the subject contains mainly dark tones you’ll find that your camera will over-expose your shots. This is easily visible, as there will be too much detail in the shadow areas.

The best way to assess the exposure is to take a test shot, and then check the histogram graph. If there’s a gap to the left, the image is over-exposed so you need to use a faster shutter speed, smaller aperture or lower ISO.

When it comes to choosing the exposure settings for shooting in low light you have some decisions to make.

Firstly, do you need to use a fast shutter speed to freeze movement or prevent camera shake if you are handholding the camera, or are you happy to put the camera on a tripod and use long shutter speeds?

To use a fast shutter speed in low light you’ll have to use a high ISO setting, such as 800 or above. But when using a tripod you should set a lower ISO such as 200 or lower for the best quality.

PAGE 1: Exposing in low light
PAGE 2: Shooting in twilight vs complete darkness
PAGE 3: How to shoot handheld in low light

Photography Lighting: simple ways you can make the most of natural light

jmeyer — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:01:34 +0000

In the third part of our Shoot Like A Pro series post on photography lighting in all its forms, we take a look at how you can make the most of natural light on any given occasion.

For large subjects such as landscapes or buildings it’s not feasible to control the light, so you will be at Mother Nature’s mercy.

However, you can choose the direction of the light by your viewpoint, and with a little planning you have some control over the quality of light by shooting at different times of day or in varying weather.

The classic time to shoot scenic images is during the golden hour. This is the hour after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is low in the sky, giving strong side lighting on the landscape to reveal texture and shape.

When the sun is low in the skyyou will find that the colour temperature is lower, giving your shots a warmer look.

Shoot into the light
One of the most dramatic and striking lighting effects is when you shoot into the light. This technique – also known as contre jour or backlighting – gives your images a totally different look to shooting with the light in front of the subject.

With the light behind the subject you can get two completely different ‘looks’ by altering the exposure. By exposing for the background the subject will be dark, producing a silhouette, while exposing for the subject will over-expose the background, giving a much brighter, high-key effect.

When you’re shooting into the light you should always avoid looking directly at the sun, so try composing using Live View, rather than the optical viewfinder.

You’ve probably seen the ‘perfect’ sunset, even if only from your house or car window, but how many times have you seen it when you’ve been out with your camera?

If the answer is many then you’re either extremely lucky, or more likely you spend too much time checking the weather forecast!

But knowing what conditions to look for, and the timing and position of the sun during the day, is the key to getting the most from natural light.

PAGE 1: Making the most of natural light
PAGE 2: Predicting the natural light
PAGE 3: Shoot in the direction of light

Photography Lighting: simple ways of improving the light

jmeyer — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:01:15 +0000

In our latest Shoot Like A Pro series post on photography lighting in all its forms, we take a look at some of the easy ways you can improve the light available to you.

Controlling the light for large subjects such as landscapes is impossible, but for smaller subjects such as portraits, close-ups or details in the landscape you don’t always have to make do with the lighting conditions exactly as they are.

There are plenty of different ways that you can alter the light, especially when you find yourself having to shoot in harsh, direct lighting conditions.

As we have already explained, to get softer light you need to make the light source appear larger to the subject. Moving the light closer to the subject will help to produce softer light, but this isn’t always convenient, or even possible.

Without a diffuser

If you are shooting a small subject in sunlight, then you need to use a diffuser between the light and the subject, to make the light source appear much larger.

This doesn’t have to be an expensive piece of kit, it can simply be a piece of semi-transparent white paper or cloth, or you could go for one of the folding diffusers such as those from Lastolite.

With a diffuser

PAGE 1: Taking control of the light
PAGE 2: Use a reflector to fill in the shadows
PAGE 3: Using fill-in flash

Photography Lighting: easy ways to take control from natural light to using flash

crutter — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:01:53 +0000

In our new Shoot Like A Pro series we take an in-depth look at photography lighting and how you can take control of the elements to get more balanced, beautiful pictures. We start this week by taking a closer look at the character of light and how the quality of light will affect your images.

Light is more than just how bright or dark it is; it’s also the key to the look, mood and atmosphere of your images. The direction of the light will affect how the shape and texture of your subject appears, while the colour and how soft or harsh the light is can totally change a shot’s appearance.

Light’s very important, so in this series we’ll show how a few simple camera tricks and techniques can guarantee better images – from choosing the right time to visit a photo location to taking complete control of the light by using flash.

You’ll also discover how to alter the character and contrast of photography lighting by using diffusers and reflectors. As you’ll learn, there’s nothing esoteric about mastering light, as much of it comes down to careful planning…

Understanding the character of light

There are three basic characteristics of light that determine how your shot will look: how harsh or soft it is, the direction and the colour.

It’s easiest to tell the quality of the light by looking at the shadows, rather than the areas in the light. Harsh, direct light creates strong, well-defined shadows, while the shadows created by more diffuse lighting are much softer.

The location of the shadows tells you where the light is coming from, as they appear on the opposite side to the light.

Lighting positions

How hard or soft the light appears is due to the apparent size of the light source from the subject’s position.
A small light source produces hard, directional light, while a very large light source produces much softer light.

Remember it isn’t the actual size of the light that matters; it’s how it appears to the subject that you are shooting.

For example, the sun is huge, but because it is so far from the subject it acts like a tiny light source.

The direction of a light source, and the shadows it creates, will affect how the texture and form of the subject will appear.

Light from the camera position (or behind it) will produce flat light on the subject, and also create shadows directly behind the subject.

This is good for capturing fine detail, but won’t reveal much of the texture or shape in the subject.

You’ll get much more interesting results when the light is coming from one side of the subject. This effect, known as side lighting, produces shadows on the opposite side to the position of the light, revealing texture and contours in the subject.

A common photography lighting situation you’ll encounter shooting outside during the middle of the day is when the light is falling from above the subject.

This can create unflattering results, especially when shooting portraits, as the eyes will be dark, and there will be shadows under the nose and chin.

How white balance affects the quality of photography lighting

Along with the quality and direction of the light, the colour of different light sources can have an effect on the appearance and mood of your images.

This variation in light is known as the colour temperature, and it’s why your camera has a white balance setting to correct the colours from these different coloured light sources.

The colour temperature of light is measured using the Kelvin scale. The lower the colour temperature, the more red the light will be, while the higher it is the more blue.

Normally you’d set a white balance to get neutral coloured results, either by using the automatic setting, or a preset white balance such as Tungsten, Sunny or Cloudy. But by setting the ‘wrong’ white balance you can also use these presets to give warmer or cooler results.

PAGE 1: Understanding the character of light
PAGE 2: How to control your photography lighting
PAGE 3: Taking control of the light
PAGE 4: Use a reflector to fill in the shadows
PAGE 5: Using fill-in flash
PAGE 6: Making the most of natural light
PAGE 7: Predicting the natural light
PAGE 8: Shoot in the direction of light
PAGE 9 Exposing in low light
PAGE 10: Shooting in twilight vs complete darkness
PAGE 11: How to shoot handheld in low light
PAGE 12: Why you might want to use flash
PAGE 13: Soften the light from your flash
PAGE 14: How to use flash triggers

How to use a camera: pro secrets to using Shutter Priority mode

jmeyer — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:00:58 +0000

In our latest Shoot Like A Pro series post on how to use a camera, we venture beyond Program mode and your Aperture Priority setting to uncover the secrets behind using Shutter Priority mode

Shutter Priority mode is simply the opposite of Aperture Priority mode, so instead of choosing the aperture you have control over the shutter speed.

This mode is most useful when you are shooting moving subjects, especially when you don’t have time to set the aperture manually – when shooting sports, wildlife or action, for example.

To freeze fast-moving subjects like birds in flight or motor racing you’ll need a fast shutter speed of 1/1000 sec or faster.

Remember that you may need to increase the ISO to allow you to use these fast shutter speeds, especially in low light.

You can also combine a slower shutter speed with a panning technique – where you follow the movement with your camera to blur the background while keeping the main subject sharp.

Try using a shutter speed of around 1/125 sec when panning with fast-moving subjects like motorbikes or cars, while you can try a slower speed such as 1/30 sec for slower moving subjects.

You can use Shutter Priority for long shutter speed effects such as blurring moving water, people or traffic.

You’ll need a shutter speed of 1/4 sec, or slower to blur many of these subjects, so you’ll have to mount the camera on a tripod, and ideally use a remote shutter release to ensure the static areas are pin sharp.

PAGE 1: What is Shutter Priority mode?
PAGE 2: How to use Shutter Priority mode?

How to use a camera: Aperture Priority mode made easy

jmeyer — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 01:00:13 +0000

In our Shoot Like A Pro series on how to use a camera we’ve shown you how to get started with Program mode. The next step towards full manual control of your camera is using Aperture Priority mode to take more control over the depth of field in your image. Here’s how it’s done.

Aperture Priority mode is the most useful and convenient mode for shooting many subjects and situations. Changing the aperture gives you control over the depth of field, but the camera will select the shutter speed automatically.

The main advantage of using Aperture Priority mode is that it gives you control over the depth of field in your image, but also with the convenience of not having to set the shutter speed yourself.

Even though in Aperture Priority mode your main concern is the aperture setting, this doesn’t mean you should completely ignore the shutter speed.

The main concern is the shutter speed falling below a speed that you can safely hold the camera steady to avoid camera shake.

In this situation you have a few options: you can either increase the ISO, which will allow you to use a faster shutter speed at the same aperture, or keep the settings the same and use a tripod to prevent camera shake.

PAGE 1: What is Aperture Priority mode?
PAGE 2: Highs and lows of Aperture Priority mode
PAGE 3: How to control depth of field in Aperture Priority mode

How to use a camera: exposure modes made simple

jmeyer — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 01:00:22 +0000

Buying a good camera and staying on auto settings is like buying a Porsche for the school run. In our latest Shoot Like A Pro series we show you how to use a camera in a more meaningful way that lets you take control of the picture-taking process.

In this series we’ll run through all of your camera’s exposure modes and explain when – and why – you should use them. This week we’ll start with Program Mode.

Your digital camera’s auto settings make it easier to just point and shoot, and often that’s enough to capture a moment in time. But what if your subject’s moving, if the light is constantly changing or you want to get creative with blur?

If you’ve started to feel as if you’re missing out on photo opportunities because you can’t work out how to take control, it’s time to master your camera’s creative shooting options.

Choosing and using the different exposure modes can transform the pictures you take, but venturing off fully automatic modes can be daunting, and even experienced photographers can find choosing the right settings tricky.

So here we’ve put together a guide to the four main exposure modes, covering everything from taking control in Program mode to mastering full manual operation. It will forever change the way you shoot!

Before we get started, in the infographic below we’ve highlighted the icons you’re likely to see on your digital camera’s top dial and what they mean. Click on the cheat sheet to see the larger version of this file.

PAGE 1: How to use a camera’s top dial
PAGE 2: How to use Program mode
PAGE 3: Program Mode Pros and Cons
PAGE 4: Your camera display explained
PAGE 5: Using Program Shift / Flexible Program
PAGE 6: What is Aperture Priority mode?
PAGE 7: Highs and lows of Aperture Priority mode
PAGE 8: How to control depth of field in Aperture Priority mode
PAGE 9: What is Shutter Priority mode?
PAGE 10: How to use Shutter Priority mode?

Wildlife photography made easy: how to shoot in iconic locations

jmeyer — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 01:00:40 +0000

In the final post in our series on wildlife photography made easy, we thought we’d do something a bit different. Every photographer dreams of shooting the world’s most iconic photo locations. Here’s how to make the most of your once-in-a-lifetime trip to make sure you don’t waste any photos and opportunities whilst there!

The photography skills you’ve built up shooting local wildlife will be invaluable when you get the opportunity to travel further afield.

Whether you’re taking pictures of penguins in Patagonia or meerkats on the African plain, you’re far more likely to create more impactful shots if you get eye-level with your subject, use wide aperture settings to soften distracting backgrounds and spend long enough observing the animals to anticipate when they’ll do something interesting.

Naturally, being on the spot when the light is at its best will transform an image, but in national parks and other wildlife ‘honeypots’ you’ll often only be allowed access to the animals during certain periods, and this may not coincide with ideal conditions.

If light levels are low, increase the ISO to give you the necessary shutter speed to prevent an animal’s movement and camera shake leaving you with fuzzy images. When faced with grey skies, compose your shots so that these aren’t in the frame.

Equipment choice can often drive you mad at the best of times, but it can be a real headache when you factor in long-haul flights and other forms of transport.

Travel as light as possible without leaving you short on focal length. An all-round travel kit could include a telephoto zoom in the 100-400mm range, plus a wide-angle zoom and a fast macro lens.

PAGE 1: Wildlife photography in iconic locations
PAGE 2: Don’t forget the basics of wildlife photography
PAGE 3: How to protect your gear