[x]

Photography Troubleshooting: Winter WildlifeFor many parts of the world, Winter provides a beautiful backdrop for some of the best landscape and water scape Photography out there. Snowy hills, Frosty trees and more help to convert a world of vibrant Summer or Autumn into subdued yet awe-inspiring Winter. But what about the wildlife? Extreme weather conditions can make it more challenging to get out and about with the camera, but can also give you more opportunity to capture those elusive animals.

When I first started investigating Winter Wildlife Photography I thought that I would have to aim for things like Foxes, Deer and other wild and sometimes elusive animals. But actually, wildlife Photography and in particular in the Winter - can start right in the back garden.
Birds in particular get hungrier and needier during Winter months in England. I'm sure this is true for many parts of the world too. Depending on the kinds that frequent your garden, you could encourage them to linger pretty quickly or it might

Photography Troubleshooting: Capturing SnowThe best of the Wintery weather conditions often come later on in the season, especially here in the UK. The next week or so will hopefully provide many photographers with the chance to capture those snowy scenes. So what’s the best way to achieve them?
I’m sure many will agree that snowy landscapes are amongst the trickiest things to photograph. Exposure is the common problem; temperature is usually a close second! If your camera has a snow or winter setting then this will help override the auto white balance and lower the exposure, so you are already set to go. But if your camera doesn’t have these functions, then you might find these tips handy:

1.Before you head out, check your equipment. The white skies that often accompany a snowy scene are the most likely out of any shot you’ll take, to show up the dirt on your lens. Give it a good clean beforehand or you’ll be spending a long time with th

Photography Troubleshooting: PetsPhotographing pets whether for yourself or as part of a job, is becoming increasingly popular and the demand for tips and tutorials is ever on the increase. Within this weeks article we hope to give you a few pointers and answer a few queries that might have come up. ^Talty asked us this...
"My camera has a pets & kids setting but they still come out blurry.
I've tried every setting, so far I've had better results with the "EASY"
setting, but they still come out only decent."
^Talty is using a high end Canon Powershot which is fantastic for things like still life photography, landscapes and working up close with static options and scenery. But when it comes to photographing animals and in particular as ^Talty is attempting - kittens, it doesn't compensate for the difficulties such a subject poses. For example kittens are incredibly wriggly, and as ^Talty has found, getting them to stay still in any one place is a nightmare! So naturally you need a camera that can al

Troubleshooting:How to Photograph Christmas Lights

I recently read an article on Reddit that explored the best way to photography Christmas lights and it raised some interesting points. Rather than re-hash what has already been said, I've delved into a few tutorials around the web to give an overview of some hints and tips - and will link them all at the end of this article so that you can investigate for yourself.

When you take a Photograph, the camera will often over-compensate with the colours that it's trying to capture and objects that look fairly white to the naked eye don't appear so in the photo that you've taken. White Balance aims to override that. But just setting your camera to Auto White Balance and hoping for the best is not good enough...

The above shots show the same location taken firstly with auto white balance - and then secondly with the white balance set to shade. Setting Shade me

Photography Troubleshooting: Grouping PeopleWhen working with large groups of people, it's often incredibly difficult to know how to direct them, where to pose them, and indeed what to have them doing. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made when embarking on my first group shot at my first wedding as a photographer - was not speaking up when my assistant was shooting alongside me. The consequence? Half the group were looking at him, and half the group were looking at me. Luckily we straightened it out in the end - but when there are a lot of cameras around, or lots of people - you need to speak up and give direction so they can take direction.

Preparation
Knowing who your client is in advance, and knowing what sort of group you will be working with is very useful in terms of preparing. It would be unprofessional to arrive at a Wedding with expectations of 50 people attending and then finding out that you have 150 to work with. Knowing your group and the expanse you'll need i

Photography Troubleshooting: Tripod or not?In a recent issue of Photography Weekly we talked about tripods and whether or not it's worth using one and what alternatives there are. I think it was safely concluded that using a tripod is better than not at all - but there are certain situations when you can do something else or when a tripod isn't necessary. Sometimes it's really hard to pick out the moments when it might be needed. Quite often you could end up out walking for miles carrying a tripod that weighs the same as a small elephant - and you don't even use it. So what are some useful tips?

Firstly, find a tripod that DOESN'T weigh the same as a small elephant. I may be exaggerating slightly, but honestly there are tripods out there that weigh more than they need to. If you need a heavy duty tripod, you probably know exactly what you're supposed to be doing with it and don't need to read this a

Food Photography - back to basicsFood is a necessity for daily life and good health (the right kinds anyway), but food is also fast becoming something of an Art as well as many turn to their cameras once a mammoth baking session is over and capture the delightful dishes in attractive and alluring ways. Since the beginnings of Still Life Photography, food has been a subject and whilst the topic has remained the same - methods, equipment and ease have changed in varying degrees across the years. Food Photography is still a genre that is vastly overlooked and majorly underrated in the art world.
It all began with Still Life Paintings back in the 17th Century. They were as far from commercial as a style could get and certainly weren't created with selling in mind. However the skill and main aspects that realism painters took back in the 17th Century are kept close to the hearts of Food Photographers today as they grip onto Realism, effects of light, composition and arrangement. Props have always been an important part of

Photography Troubleshooting: Capturing AutumnFor many Photographers, Autumn is now officially here and is one of the most exciting seasons to capture in terms of colour, change and vistas. Early morning mist, late afternoon sun, orange, red and golden hues - Autumn has a lot to offer in many countries. If you're like me, Autumn often arrives all at once and it can be tricky to know how to make the best of the season before it's over. A couple of days of high winds and rain can ruin the best Autumnal captures by ripping the leaves down before you've even got the chance to snap - so it's great to be prepared for the season.

Leading lines are particularly useful. Yet so many people quote ' Look for leading lines...' or 'You've captured the leading lines here perfectly' and really do we even know properly what they are? The purpose of a leading line is to draw a viewers eye into the photograph and then on a journey - through it. Think of it as a visual narrative. They can be intentional and ind

Photography Weekly: Edition Forty OnePhotography Weekly Header created by ~TouchedD
"Have no fear of perfection - You'll never reach it! "
~Salvador Dali"
Have you studied Photography? I'm intrigued to know whether or not a qualification in Photography has made you a better, or indeed a worse photographer. Or has there been no change? This week, The Photography Blog asks whether or not a Photography Degree is worth the paper it's written on. Graduation in any field these days doesn't mean that you'll immediately get a job in your desired area. Not these days. So is it worth embarking on study related to photography when in the end, you could get to the same place without the paper stating what you are capable of? Photography is one of a small number of job areas where what you've done speaks higher volumes than whether or not you're

Photography Troubleshooting: Capturing BabiesOkay so one of the biggest subjects within portraiture photography are infants and children! Children and in particular newborn babies bring out the photographer in all of us. So whether or not you're looking to go pro and snap babies professionally or whether you just want to brush up on some tips for your own family or friends, this could be the article for you! I always thought that when I got my first baby shoot booked, it would just be a case of snapping them on the carpet or wrapped up in a blanket. I had no idea how creative I could really get - and how simply it would be to do that.

Until a few weeks ago, I had never photographed a baby in my life, let alone had to pose and arrange one in cute positions with lots of fluffy toys surrounding it. I had also never used a lighting kit before, but that's another story. Anyway, I found it incredibly easy once I knew what i needed, to set up for the shoot and since then I haven't looked back. Whether yo

Photography Weekly: Edition Forty TwoPhotography Weekly Header created by ~TouchedD
“Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”

― Mark Twain
The sky is so often underestimated in terms of Photography that I felt compelled to give it a bit of love and talk about it in this weeks article. I've been following UK Storm Chasers on facebook who have been documenting the arrival of the 'demon child of Nadine' as it has been deemed. Hurricane Nadine is still out there in the Atlantic Ocean spinning around and preparing to send the UK another demon child (which is really just a tropical storm to us) and with it comes a plethora of opportunities to snap some stunning skies and horizons. But do we appreciate the sky enough? I don't think we do. When was the last time you stopped shooting at eye level and looked up? Often, there's nothing there - but often too, there's something worth capturing. The general rule when capturing la

Photography Troubleshooting: Dull Images on dA?After a long pause in which nobody seemed to have very many questions, we've got a very intriguing one which came up during the People & Portraits #projecteducate week and it's something that has always played on my mind, and no doubt on yours too. Once again `sine-out has provided a fantastic answer, so hopefully that will help somewhat in clearing this issue up. Have a question? Drop it on this article and we'll work on an answer!

"It seems like colorful pictures made in adobe look good, then after
they have been uploaded on deviantART... the color is more dead.. not so
alive..is this an issue?" ~ *kayjensen
"Hi *kayjensen, the issue your describing is most likely a colour profile issue. Colour profiles essentially describe how each colour is represented and there are different profiles for different purpose but mostly for getting accurate colour out of a printer or a screen.
By default the internet works with and assumes that every

Photography Fortnightly: Edition Forty Nine
Photography Weekly Header created by ~TouchedD
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase"
- Percy W. Harris
The other week, a piece of my writing was selected for a Daily Literature Deviation. If you're curious you can see the article here. I was humbled by that, but my reason for mentioning it in Photography Bi-weekly is that *0hgravity then highlighted a website to me that I found absolutely fascinating. It's soul purpose is to highlight Endangered Languages through Photography. 3170 lens are capturing the people who hold the key to the worlds most secret languages. Once again something like this highlights the complete and utter importance of Photography and reminds us of how far we've come, and how much we can do from mobile ph

Photography Troubleshooting: Understanding ISOHeader created by ~TouchedD
=TheGalleryOfEve asked recently about SLR settings and in particular, a troubleshooting article focusing on ISO. So here it is! Hopefully this article will help you to understand ISO better, whether a beginner or not.
What Is ISO?
ISO within traditional photography, was an indication of how sensitive a film was to light. Within digital photography it measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. Basically, the lower the number then the less your camera is sensitive to light. Higher ISO numbers are generally used in dark situations to get faster shutter speeds but this can often mean that your shots are noisier. ISO 100 is the most widely used and gives crisp shots with little to no grain. Shooting in automatic means that the camera will select the appropriate ISO for the situations that you are facing, and work out the rest for you to reduce noise as much possible. But it's when you start getting more technical and

Photography Troubleshooting: How to work with MistGetting the camera out, and the scarf, hat and gloves, and heading into a misty morning or hazy evening can result in the best kind of photographs. Atmospheric, moody and ultimately a fine example of whatever current season you're in - these kinds of shots present themselves at awkward moments so it's vitally important to be prepared. In previous years I've got up at the crack of dawn and ventured out with all the excitement of a young child on their first day of school - only to come home with a grazed knee and broken felt tip pens. Or rather, washed out, blurred and altogether rubbish photographs.

Browse More Like This

more ▶

Featured in Groups:

#Unframed-Nature
Where Nature is Unhindered!

#deviantARTcommunity
deviantART Community Explorer

#communityrelations
Foster Creative Genius

#Divine-Tutorials
Tutorials befitting of a deity!

#DevNews
News 'til Hell freezes over

#ArtHistoryProject
Community Relations Explore Art

Details

Submitted: January 24
Submitted with: Sta.sh Writer

Link

Thumb

Statistics

Comments: 12
Favourites: 40 [who?]
Views: 2,527 (0 today)

[x]

Photography Troubleshooting: Landscapes

Thu Jan 24, 2013, 1:33 PM

I first started out with landscape Photography and it's something that I particularly enjoy now whether that's rolling hills, rolling clouds, or a bit of both on a stormy day. Photographing landscapes can not only highlight the natural terrain of the earth, but also what's going on in the sky and the weather effects of the day. *DreamlikeDesign asked for some Landscape pointers - so here are some handy tips on how to achieve great landscape shots:

1) Use a Tripod
There are times when you just won't have the time. But equally if you've got a fantastic scene in front of you and you have a moment or two to set things up, then please do. You'll honestly be more pleased with your results. Where you may have a landscape that involves a bit of water, you might need a longer shutter speed. The tripod will help stabilise you. Consider also using a shutter release to help you as well. For a bit more information on tripods and when and where to use them check out our troubleshooting article on exactly this - Tripod or Not

2) Construct your Image
Look at the layers that a landscape is providing you. You might have Sky, Mountains, Greenery and then foliage right in the foreground. Placing points of interest in your foreground can make a shot more interesting and create a sense of depth. Opening up the landscape by focusing on more land may stop the sky from being over-exposed and equally focusing on sky might bring the foreground in. Play around until you get the right mix.

3) Lead with Lines
Often it's suitable to lead your viewer in with some fantastic lines of symmetry or general lines within the image. It doesn't always work, but it's worth thinking about. Lines create depth, scale and a focal point. Whether that's with roads, a bridge, hedges, pathways or walkways.

4) Work with the Sky
Using a polarizing filter will enhance some contrast and bring out some colour in your shot, this is often useful for making the sky a stronger blue. If your sky is boring, white/grey or just empty, then consider using more of the foreground and land to spice the image up a bit. If the sky is fascinating, of course take in more of it! For more information on filters check out our Filters Troubleshooting Article - Filters

5)Think Horizon
Is your horizon straight? Is there anything there that disturbs it that could be eliminated if you crouched down? You can straighten images afterwards, but it's always useful to know you've achieved a decent shot at the beginning. Consider the rule of thirds - that's right - consider it! You don't have to use it, but it's worth thinking about.

6) Get Adventurous
Stand on the car bonnet (carefully), stand on a bench, perch on a wall - do anything to shoot your landscape from a different vantage point. Getting higher or lower will open up either the sky or the ground in your shot and provide different lighting. Equally consider slanting your camera if you've got some great curves or lines going on. If you're shooting in a forest, pointing your camera down or up rather than straight in front of you might help to capture the sense of expanse and height.

7) Get with the Movement
Waves, Trees blowing in the wind, water running, birds flying - even clouds rushing - can create a fantastic atmosphere. A longer exposure will create a blurrier scene. You need a tripod, a big stopper filter and a shutter release to achieve a shot similar to below - but it's possible! Those smooth clouds and smooth water looks are much sought after. Depending on your light, set your exposure to a few seconds (or more) and shoot away. If you're struggling and need to guess your exposure then set the camera to BULB mode and the shutter will remain open for as long as the button is held down.

Previous Photography Troubleshooting Articles

If you have a burning Photography related question then do shoot me a note after checking whether or not we've already covered it below!

Christmas Lights - Shooting them!

Being a People Person

12 Comments

Photography Troubleshooting: Landscapesby ^Kaz-D

Journals / Art News / Photography

This week, Photography Troubleshooting focuses on capturing landscapes as requested by *DreamlikeDesign - check out the full article for more info, a roundup of our previous articles and how to request assistance with your Photography issues! Don't forget to

the article if you enjoyed it!

love 2 2

~~joy 0 0~~

~~wow 0 0~~

~~mad 0 0~~

~~sad 0 0~~

~~fear 0 0~~

~~neutral 0 0~~

*ByPriorArrangement Feb 13, 2013

Many thanks for this.
My best piece of equipment is my camera tripod!

I have dropped it into our Group Helpful Hints Box.

^Kaz-D Feb 14, 2013 Hobbyist Photographer

Thank you!

`TeaPhotography Jan 25, 2013 Professional General Artist

Really great, informative and helpful article!

^Kaz-D Jan 27, 2013 Hobbyist Photographer

THank you!

`electricjonny Jan 24, 2013 Hobbyist Photographer

Man do I love polarizing filters

Although one thing that is rarely talked about, with polarizing filters, is that to get the most effect from one, you need to be 90 degrees from the sun. So if the sun is at 12:00, you can shoot to 3:00 or 9:00 and get the best results. (At least if my memory serves me right?).

Or that's how it works for me, with my (rather old fashioned) linear polarizers.