"Tip" Tag, your it........

[coffee]

New forum game that might be fun and helpful. Post your all time favorite photography tips that you've discovered or heard about and implemented. You can post one tip per forum page so we can get everyone involved. I will go first:

When done shooting for a length of time, I always set my camera to auto mode. I never otherwise shoot in auto, but if I'm at home, on a trip in the car, or anytime I have my camera near by but not shooting, this is a great way to get a fast shot you may otherwise miss because your camera isn't set up for the conditions. It is the worst thing to see something you HAVE to get a shot of, but miss it cause you have to fiddle with the settings.

Tag.....

[skeuos]

Neat idea! This is one I found in Popular Photography, that they found on the web. I think there's a video tutorial somewhere for it.

If you're somewhere you can't shoot with a monopod or tripod, take the screwplate off your tripod head (or a bolt that will fit the threads on your camera) and tie a length of string on it. Screw this into your camera, hold it at normal shooting position, then stretch the string to the floor (plus a little bit) and tie the other end to a weight or something you can step on (I used a roll of tape). The string length should be long enough to go from the floor to the bottom of your camera when it's at eye level, but short enough so that it's stretched tight when doing so.

When shooting, step on the weight and pull against the string to help minimize camera shake. Using this plus image stabilization has gotten me up to 3 seconds exposure time.

tag . . .

steve

[LensBaby]

Mine is this


MOVE IT FROM THE MIDDLE



Imagine a tic tac toe board in your viewfinder. Put your subject on one of the intersecting line points. Try it with each intersection, and then notice how your photos are better than having the subject in the center of the photo. Center stage is great for performers, but let's try to make your subject POP!

[pauld]

Ok, here's mine:

Sometimes you need to take group pics, like 4-5-6 etc people.(family, reunion, etc.. i'm not talking church choir size)
They always look dull and uninteresting.

Now look at the photo's of royal families, they can afford the most expensive artists. What is the golden rule: never put 2 heads on the same level, especially not next to each other.

Examine those portraits, all the "heads" are at different levels. Adding a chair or a sofa helps.

Paul.

[jerryph]

Good idea, however, I could likely fill a book with these tidbits... lol!

A wise man (Joe McNally) once said:

"If you want to make a picture interesting, don't light all of it".

Though this concept is mostly associated in flash photography, it should not be limited to just flash, but any picture. Learn to use and control light in such a manner that small shadows or lighting contrasts give your picture that 3-d look.

[jerryph]

Before taking a picture, don't look at just the subject, but what is all around them. Avoid having trees, wires, lamp posts and other visually displeasing objects growing from out their heads or making it look as if they have extra appendages.

Clipping or visually amputating body parts is also a no-no. If you must crop, never crop at a joint (knees, elbows, wrist), but above or below.

Compose your pics in such a way that when printed out, the picture, when in a frame, doesn't cut into the subject. In other words, don't crop your pics so that the head of your subject is at the edge of the photo and when that picture is placed in a frame, that part of the subject's head, arms, toes are cut into. Better to leave a little "breathing room" around the pic's borders and be able to crop to desired results.

[dkippen]

Okay, I'll play. Just got an online magazine and came across this tip:

Pick up an ND filter if you don't already have one. It will balance out the brightness in your shot and help expose the picture properly. Hold the filter so the darker bit is over the sky (or snow). You'll see more detail and atmosphere in your shots.

(To be honest, I never knew which side to hold over the lens.)

[laura]

i read this one in a weekly newsletter I get:

"Don’t lose sight of having fun. Photography is as much about the experience as it is realizing the final product. Enjoy the journey of improving your photography and don’t be discouraged. If you become frustrated take a break, and/ or talk to others about your situation to see if they have advice to offer. In the pursuit of enhancing your evolution as a photographer take part in photowalks, photo tours and workshops. All of these activities will put you in contact with photographers of varying backgrounds and experience levels giving you additional opportunity not just to learn, but have fun."

[jerryph]

In a portrait shoot, if the subject is placed to one side or the other within the frame of your composition, it is esthetically more pleasing if they are looking "into" the frame more than if they are looking "out of" the frame.

[jerryph]

In a portrait shot, try to never shoot a subject's head and shoulders "straight on". Angle them to the right or the left a little. A 90-degree shot is too much. Something between 15-60 degrees gives better results.

[jerryph]

Never trust the LCD to tell you if your shot is properly exposed, learn to use the histogram of your camera.

More advanced users will learn to not just use the main luminance histogram, but the RGB histograms as well, if their equipment provides this feature.

Places to learn how to use a histogram:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/histograms.htm
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/yrgb.htm
http://www.basic-digital-photography.com/how-to-use-the-camera-histogram.html
http://lifehacker.com/software/how-to/use-a-histogram-to-tone-pictures-334549.php
http://www.pcworld.com/article/120600/digital_focus_use_the_histogram_to_avoid_exposure_ issues.html
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml
http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/guides/digital/histogram_101/histogram_101_5.html
http://blog.webshots.com/?p=920
http://www.ehow.com/how_4523400_use-histogram-photography.html

[jerryph]

We use a tripod or monopod to reduce vibration or motion blur, but motion blur can be drastically reduced when using slow shutter speeds, if proper body posture and breathing techniques are used in cases where a tripod or monopod are not permitted or available.

The technique is similar to that of what military sniper shooters are taught to use and seems very effective for photographers:

The pohtographer should:
- Stand at between a 75-85 degree angle to your subject
- lean the left elbow into into the ribs somewhat tightly
- breathing normally, compose the shot through the view finder
- after composition has been acheived, take a deep slow breath in
- breathe out about 1/2 a breath
- gently squeeze the shutter, don't slam it down
- after the shot is taken, lift the finger slowly off the shutter, THEN complete the breath and restore breathing to normal.

- One can add more time to the duration by being calm, relaxed with a slow heart beat, and actually timing the pressing of the shutter so that the event happens in between heart beats.

This technique has let me take FLAWLESS blur-free pictures at shutter speeds consistently of as slow as 1 second in duration.

You should also not be avert to using the local area to assist you.

- Walls
- tables
- large rocks
- trees
- railings
- etc...

... can all be useed for support, to lean against or lie on to get a motion-blur free shot.

[laura]

Here is one about posting in forums to receive feedback:

Utilize photography forums to gather feedback on your photography. Keep an open mind when others comment on the images that you think are great and those you know have flaws. Don’t be afraid to point out flaws you’re aware of and ask for ideas on how to improve them. Not all photography forums are of equal caliber. Find a photography forum with members who are both civil and knowledgeable. Photography forums are like doctors, go to one that you respect and find helpful.

For all those new members to this forum who maybe a bit nervous about posting. Don't be.

[skeuos]

I'm going to piggyback a bit on Jerry's histogram tip. I addition to using the histogram, most cameras have the ability to highlight overexposed areas when viewing the image. I find it useful to combine viewing the histogram with the overexposure preview.

A general rule of thumb is that if you have to choose between detail in highlights or detail in shadows, it's better to expose for the highlights to keep information there. The eye is used to shadows without detail more so than highlights.

[jerryph]

skeuos, the concept of exposing for hights or shadows, etc... is a big open discussion and depends a lot on camera, setup and method used. We can start a discussion on exposure, perhaps, in another section.

Suffice to say that exposing for the highlights is not wrong, but its not completely correct either. :)

So that we don't fall out of step, my tip is:

Proper Camera Height - Generally speaking, the camera lens should be at about eye level for head and shoulders portraits, chin level to chest level for 3/4 length portraits and chest level to waist level for full length portraits. An even lower camera height for heavy set brides, that are posed standing, will make her appear taller and more "regal" but can also make them look "larger" too. Shooting the "larger" man or woman from above will make them appear thinner. Know when to shoot higher and lower.

[trulight]

Wow-great tips! Coffee shared the first one with me last month and I thought it was great - thanks for starting this off!

I just read a tip about white balance. Instead of carrying a grey card, you can use an old lens filter and cut out a white coffee filter to size and put inside. Use this to create a custom white balance. For a better description and how to, the DIY site is: See http://www.diyphotography.net/worry-free-digital-white-balance-the-5-cent-expodisc.

[ladyups]

Ok. I'll play!

My first and foremost tip on photography...

Never leave the house without your camera....you never know when the photo op of the century will be in front of you.

[ladyups]

Proper Camera Height - Generally speaking, the camera lens should be at about eye level for head and shoulders portraits, chin level to chest level for 3/4 length portraits and chest level to waist level for full length portraits. An even lower camera height for heavy set brides, that are posed standing, will make her appear taller and more "regal" but can also make them look "larger" too. Shooting the "larger" man or woman from above will make them appear thinner. Know when to shoot higher and lower.

This is an awesome tip, Jerry, and one I really had never read before. I've added it to my photo tip folder. Thanks!

[laura]

This one really helped me when I was trying to undertand aperture...bigger hole, smaller number - smaller hole, bigger number...

Imagine your poaring paint into a bucket, if you were to pour it through a funnel (ie. small hole) you would get a even, tidy bucket of paint (large depth of field, all in focus). Where as if you simply poar straight in to the bucket (i. large hole) the paint would splatter up the side of the bucket and 'make a mess' (small depth of field, blurred background).

Hope i explained it okay.

[dkippen]

Laura - that is a wonderful analogy. And - there are some great tips here. Keep 'em coming!!!

[laura]

Laura - that is a wonderful analogy.

Unfortunatly I can't take credit for this one, I read it in a magazine. But it certainly helped me. :)

[coffee]

This one really helped me when I was trying to undertand aperture...bigger hole, smaller number - smaller hole, bigger number...

Imagine your poaring paint into a bucket, if you were to pour it through a funnel (ie. small hole) you would get a even, tidy bucket of paint (large depth of field, all in focus). Where as if you simply poar straight in to the bucket (i. large hole) the paint would splatter up the side of the bucket and 'make a mess' (small depth of field, blurred background).

Hope i explained it okay.

To add to this: If you use the funnel (large number, small hole) it will also take longer to transfer the paint, or take longer for the shutter to stay open to get correct exposure.

[laura]

To add to this: If you use the funnel (large number, small hole) it will also take longer to transfer the paint, or take longer for the shutter to stay open to get correct exposure.

Absolutely :)

[trulight]

Don't hesitate to take pictures - you can delete later. I still have a film mentality and have to remind myself that I can and should snap away without it having to be perfect every time.

[littlepixel]

Don't hesitate to take pictures - you can delete later. I still have a film mentality and have to remind myself that I can and should snap away without it having to be perfect every time.

This reminded me of what I was told. Do not delete photos straight from your camera. Wait until you are sitting at your computer to do the deleting. This way you can analyze the photo and camera settings to learn from the mistakes. Also, there may be some shots really worth keeping and processing that would have otherwise been deleted.

There are some great tips here! Thank you all for sharing.

[coffee]

Don't hesitate to take pictures - you can delete later. I still have a film mentality and have to remind myself that I can and should snap away without it having to be perfect every time.

This is so true. Some of my most cherrished captures were taken when I didn't expect anything to turn out at all due to a number of reasons.

[dkippen]

Is that why my external hard drive is getting so cluttered - because I don't delete anything?

[jerryph]

Don't hesitate to take pictures - you can delete later. I still have a film mentality and have to remind myself that I can and should snap away without it having to be perfect every time.

Snapping away without knowing how your camera is set or what you are snapping away with basically is as good as not taking any pictures, IMHO. You may have hundreds of blurred and useless pics or pictures that could be so much better with just a little thought.

Now, if the camera is setup properly, you understand what you are doing AND there is a bit of action happening, THAT is the time to snap away. You can get a lot of keepers, but if you do the studies, you will find that your percentage of keepers rises in the 1-2% range intelligently snapping away. Still that is better than not having that one nice photo, but you *will* have many more better photos if you stop snapping away, take the time to use all these tools like proper focus, composition, proper camera settings and think your way through each shot. You also will have hundreds of fewer pics to delete\try to save\post process\cry over becuase someone did not take 3 seconds to look at camera settings beforehand.

I am not saying to take 15 minutes per pic, but I am saying that once you are well practiced, the difference between 5 pics snapped away and 5 well thought out better quality pics is perhaps 1 second more per picture.

"Quality over Quantity" is my motto.

[jerryph]

Is that why my external hard drive is getting so cluttered - because I don't delete anything?

One of the things that most people do not do (yes, me included for the most part), is culling.

I should try to develop a little better workflow process and in the initial transfer of the pics to the hard drive work area, delete the pictures that are blurry or not usable. If you are like me and save every RAW file that comes out of your camera, you will be talking several gigs of wasted storage space in a very short time.

Right now I just copy everything on the CF card to the computer and work on them there... basically little to no culling. That will change for me now, especially since I just looked at the amount of space that JUST my 2008 pictures took... over 12,000 files and 110gb. Now that I have the D700, if I do the very same amounts as last year, that will all go up 20% and I doubt I will take less pics this year... likely MANY more. Yeah, its time to start deleting the unusable ones... lol

[dkippen]

Yes - culling is on my mental list of things to do. I know it should be done, but I just never get around to it.

[trulight]

Snapping away without knowing how your camera is set or what you are snapping away with basically is as good as not taking any pictures, IMHO. You may have hundreds of blurred and useless pics or pictures that could be so much better with just a little thought.

Now, if the camera is setup properly, you understand what you are doing AND there is a bit of action happening, THAT is the time to snap away. ..."Quality over Quantity" is my motto.

Of course, I agree. I have learned so much about how to improve my photos, though, by not being afraid to take a shot because I'm not sure what the right settings are. The number of bad photos is already decreasing...slightly, but still!

Another basic tip - use a tripod!

[coffee]

I see this thread is getting lost so I thought I would try and resurrect it.

Here is one tip that has saved my days of work in the event your computer goes to h*ll on you, and you know it will.

This tip will save you days of work, and possible lost images if you have to restore your computer to out of the box condition, or other major OS problems that force drastic measures. It's sure saved me a handful of times.

Of course you should always back up your images to a place other than your computer, like an external HD or disc or something. But if you are forced to restore, you still have that long process of restoring all your user files and images back to your HD. And if you run into errors doing this, you can still lose stuff.

Get a second internal HD where all your user files and images are on, and the first HD has your OS and programs. This way if you are forced to restore your OS, you can do it apart from where your working user files are. You just reinstall windows and your programs on drive 1, and you're are back in business. I've taken it one step farther on the user files HD. I've partitioned that drive so that my finaces, images, movies, and such, are on their own partition so that in the event that drive has issues, it might not affect each partition.

[photosbyjorgy]

I recently read a helpfull hint, in a Jim Zuckerman book. In those conditions where a cameras light meter can be fooled take a Kodak gray card, buy a piece of fabric the same color and sew it to your camera bag, or jacket. Then you will always have a midtone to use your spot meter on to get a good exposure. Jorgy

[martha]

Read your manual.

I have had my camera for almost a year now. My husband passed it onto me when he bought the 40D. It was easier for me to ask him questions when stuck. Now he works away from home during the week I started reading the manual the other night. What a revalation. I'm a amazed at what I have been missing. He had invested in the XTi/400D Digital Field Guide

cheers Martha

[ladyups]

This tip is right up there with Martha's read your manual. I think one of the best tips you can give a new photographer is "know your camera!" Inside and out...where all the buttons are, what they do and how to change them...There is nothing like losing a great photo op because you are too busy trying to find the button that changes the shutter speed or the fstop or even white balance.

[dkippen]

For those that keep every shot - no matter how many times we go back and look at it and think about it, it will never become more sharp, the blown highlights will never get better and the cutoff head will never come back. If it doesn't look good the first time you look at it - get rid of it. It will never get better. When you look at pictures this way, you will start to keep the better ones.