Some basic tips about Macro Photography

Here is a small video which talks about Macro Photography and what all should be main consideration while shotting macro objects.

As we know MCRO/micro photography is about shooting very small objects. With normal lenses its very difficult because the are restricted from shooting objects from shorter distances which is main requirement of MACROs. Photographer needs a Macro lens or Extension Tubes for this purpose. Extension tubes are cheaper options which helps us using our standard lenses for shooting macro objects.

Even when we have Macro lenses and Extension tubes, there is challenge of getting nice Depth of field so that complete object is clear in final photograph. For that we need to shoot at low aperture which effectively means HIGH F value. Many lenses support F45 types for Macro shots. Since light will be low at F45, we need to shoot with slow shutter speed and TRIPOD would be must in that case.

Use Timer to avoid camera shake due to Click... For more details, watch this video...

Natural Light Portraiture : By Karl Taylor

Here is another video by Karl Tayor where he explain about shooting People Portraits in Natural Light.

There are great tips in this video but I liked this one : "Its a complete Myth that Sun should be kept behind the Photographer so that Subject/Model is well Lit" : If you have the same myth in mind, watch out the video and you will be amazed by final results by Karl...

In this video, he is going to shoot a Model during Sunset behind her.


Karl has given 5 Tips about Natural Light Portraiture:

1. Communication with Model : Its always a good idea to regularly communicate with the Model to make her/him comfortable with overall setup of Photo-Shoot. This is very important for good finals...

2. Choice of Lens : Karl is using 85mm Lens on Full Frame Camera and describes this in detail... So watch the video below...

3. Choice of Aperture : Large Aperture is good for People Portraits. Karl is using 1.2 Lens but recommends Aperture between 1.8 to 2.8.

4. Lighting : First he started with the Photography Myth mentioned above and placed his Model in front of Sunset. Karl want to shoot into the SUN.This will give a nice backlit onto the Hair. Because light will be very less on face,  Fill in light with standard silver reflector will help in this case, but need to make sure that its not too harsh...

5. Environment...Location, soft background with shalow Depth of Field...

Watch out the video to know more from Karl about Natural Light Portraiture...

How To Take Better Photographs Of People

Subject Placement. The biggest mistake many photographers make is to try to shoot a person's whole body, head to toe. Don't attempt this, unless clothes are important (such as a uniform). Instead, focus on the face. The eyes and mouth are the most important features, so start there and work out until you have just enough to represent the individual(s).

Lighting. A standard lighting technique is to position yourself so the sun is behind you and to one side. This arrangement will shine light on the subject's face, while the slight angle will produce shadows to illuminate form. A better approach is to put your subject in a shady area with a shadowed background. Unlike the human eye, photographic film can't easily handle bright areas and dark shadows, as in direct sunlight, so use the shade for a narrow tonal range. Overcast days are usually best for portraits.

Lenses. Use a long lens such as 135mm - the 'people' lens. A wide-angle distorts the face, although it can be effective for parties. Find a simple, mid-toned background and use a wide aperture to throw it out of focus. Center the eyes in the shot, not the head, to provide balance in the shot. When photographing children, crouch down so that you're shooting at their eye-level.

Setting The Scene. Try to set-up your camera ahead of time rather than making people wait. Help relax your subjects by engaging them in conversation. Get them to laugh or smile with a joke from the day. Finally, be sure to put yourself in the shot ;-)
-- that's what the self-timer is for!

Shutter Speed

In photography, shutter speed is the length of time a shutter is open; the total exposure is proportional to this exposure time, or duration of light reaching the film or image sensor.

Factors that affect the total exposure of a photograph include the scene luminance, the aperture size (f-number), and the exposure time (shutter speed); photographers can trade off shutter speed and aperture by using units of stops. A stop up and down on each will halve or double the amount of light regulated by each; exposures of equal exposure value can be easily calculated and selected. For any given total exposure, or exposure value, a fast shutter speed requires a larger aperture (smaller f-number). Similarly, a slow shutter speed, a longer length of time, can be compensated by a smaller aperture (larger f-number).

Slow shutter speeds are often used in low light conditions, extending the time until the shutter closes, and increasing the amount of light gathered. This basic principle of photography, the exposure, is used in film and digital cameras, the image sensor effectively acting like film when exposed by the shutter.

Shutter speed is measured in seconds. A typical shutter speed for photographs taken in sunlight is 1/125th of a second. In addition to its effect on exposure, shutter speed changes the way movement appears in the picture. Very short shutter speeds are used to freeze fast-moving subjects, for example at sporting events. Very long shutter speeds are used to intentionally blur a moving subject for artistic effect.

Hight Shutter Speed

Low Shutter Speed

I shot these pics during Shrikhand Trek in Himachal Pradesh.

Photographic Controls

Photographers control the camera and lens to "expose" the light recording material (such as film) to the required amount of light to form a "latent image" (on film) or "raw file" (in digital cameras) which, after appropriate processing, is converted to a usable image. Modern digital cameras replace film with an electronic image sensor based on light-sensitive electronics such as charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The resulting digital image is stored electronically, but can be reproduced on paper or film.

Now we start discussing different controls in cameras which give flexibility to photographers to capture a particular view conveniently....

- Aperture of the lens
- Shutter speed
- ISO speed
- White balance
- Auto Focus Point
- Focal Length
- Filters & Scrims
.........