Tips and tricks on photography

Merchant

Ah. That's weird. Canon just threw out a generation of corporate philosophy.

ofaeon

Just the way the market goes as the price point of digital SLRs continue to drop, there was a need for cheaper lenses to all those buying Canon Digital Rebels because of the introductory revolutionary price being below US $1000 and for keeping a kit package with lens at a similarly low price point. The Digital Rebel line is a great success for Canon as is the D70 for Nikon. These new digital SLR owners though might have been shocked to find camera lenses may cost much more than their camera. Tis an expensive pursuit if one keeps at it.

Merchant

I think you're exactly right. The film Rebels are the top selling SLRs of all time. I'm sure the Digital Rebel is leading the way in the digital field. At some point soon, the weird lens accomodations are going to be moot. In five years, the Digital Rebel will have a full-frame sensor (something only available now at Canon's top-end, $$$$), and all the lenses will work, including the kit lenses for film cameras.

suryakund

There has been some excellent info put out there already on this thread. Here's my super-condensed list, assuming the trip is traveling in India (no sports action for example)

Technically,
1. Use flash when taking pics of things or people outside in the sun between 3-10ft. This will eliminate black circles around the eyes etc.
2. ASA numbers for digital cameras simply mean that a lower number like 100 or 200 will produce pics with less noise or more smoothness, but you'll need decent light. As available light decreases, and you still want to shoot in ambient light, turn ASA higher. You will be able to shoot without shake but the pics will be 'rougher' looking, or like with a texture. This is really visible at ASA 3200. But you can also take handheld pics in auditoriums.
3. Don't use MS Paint and other crap software of its ilk to deal with your pics. Like someone already suggested, use free and fantastic Google Picasa.
4. Always always shoot full quality and max size. No point shooting any less. Shoot in RAW if its available.

Compositionally,
1. When shooting people, don't cut their feet (like around the ankle) off if everything else is included.
2. Follow the rule of the third. Trust me, your pics of you with the Taj will be immensely better with you on one side about a third in, and the Taj in the rest.
3. Generally, take care to not cut corners, edges etc when taking pics. Conversely try to not include little corners, edges etc. at the edges of the pics. Example - the cycle pic that Beach (I think) uploaded. There's something next to the back tire that distracts (It looks like Beach's knee??) Imagine the pic without it...
4. When shooting architecture, keep level lines level. Meaning, take care to not have the roofline or other such orthagonal lines come out sloped.

Of course, every rule out there's been broken with awesome result! So follow these generally, yet feel free to break them when strongly convinced to do so...

mantru

can we have more pics to demonstrate...all the points...there must be so many prof photographers??

suryakund

Hi Mantru,
Here are some of my pics from my last India trip (too long already!). See if at least some follow the heuristics I'm talking about

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suryaku...7594117389431/

This help?

Hyderabadi

Use depth (fore and back ground) to highlight your subject, specially with macros, and light the subject to flatter it:

(took this with ambient light, focussed around the top of the glass and edited very little in Picasa - crop, saturation, sharpness, shadows. The lens I used is 28-135 Canon IS US @ 28mm, f 3.5... )

Or, simply, set you camera on "P" mode and pay attention to focus.

mantru

great..this is good where we can see the photos as well.......

mantru

good tips for beginners...

http://digital-photography-school.co...ginners-guide/

__________________
-----------------------------
Mantru
http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/m...0489&protype=1

http://mytravelpage.6te.net

Hyderabadi

White Balance is very important, many of us are careless or ignorant about it...

Mantru, from your above link:

http://digital-photography-school.co...white-balance/

toofarjimmy

Hey Bora,

Apeture works in the following way
1. It refers to the size of the hole in which the camera lets in light.
2. The smaller the f number the larger the hole.
3. This means if you have low light available you might need to use a smaller f number ie. f5.6.
4. However for landsape if you want the background sharp a high f number will be needed. A low number will blur the background.

So perhaps the best piece of advice i can give is to use a high iso film or setting on digital camera, and a slow shutter speed. Perhaps also a tripod or hood of a car to hold the camera still, this way you can avoid camera shake using really slow shutter speeds.

Nick-H

[QUOTE=toofarjimmy;641241]4. However for landsape if you want the background sharp a high f number will be needed. A low number will blur the background./QUOTE]Not quite right. A large aperture may well mean a blurred background, but there is slightly more to it... a small aperture (high f number) means more depth of field. That means a greater amount of distance, both in front of and behind the point on which the camera is focussed, will be clear.

Depth of field is a prime creative tool in photography: one can set a foreground subject against a soft background, include it in a sharp backround, or even soften items in front of it

Hyderabadi

Bump!

Great thread, and I see Vadim's site is still up.

Thanks again Vadim.

barochallo

Guys, I was just wondering, this thread is the most informative one on photography for beginners. Can we request the Moderators to make it a 'Sticky'?
And the experts amongst us can go on adding their tips into it?

barochallo

__________________
Sharing is caring...

Aredsloth

What hasn't been mentioned :

1:Identify your subject.
2:Simplify the image/subject ( remove useless stuff from the frame - I mean leave out the powerlines, or ask your subject to step to the side so the tree isn't growing out of their head, and don't chop off the head... Do you want just the head ? Head and shoulders ? Waist level ? Whole body ? ).
3: Emphasize the subject ( Use/take advantage of colour, shape, texture, leading lines - lines that point to or encircle the subject, or anything that can make your subject stand out or look interesting - however you see fit. )
4: Consider that you may have "foreground", "middle" and "background", or just one or two of these. Try to make use of this. Decide to put the subject in fore/middle/background.
5: Your own uniqueness can emerge in your photography, as in any creative field, study the basics but don't try to take the same pictures as everyone else.

Take lots of pictures. Go to the library and check out all the how to photography books. Read internet tutorials - I think they surpass the books in number these days.

Lastly, look at your pictures with a critical eye.