By using the light from just one window, you can create great windowlit portraits. If you want a soft even light, use a north-facing window, however, your portrait photos can have a bluish cast to them unless you set your digital camera white balance to a shade or cloudy setting.
For a stronger lighting, choose a west or south-facing window. The light will be more directional and your portraits won't have the blue cast to them. Set your digital camera white balance setting to daylight.
Using light streaming in through a window for windowlit portraitures provides a strong directional sidelight accenting skin texture, however, many times we want to minimize the texture effect and we do that in a couple of different ways. One is toning down the light intensity by using a layer or two of sheer drapery material betwen the subject and light source. Two, move the subject farther away from the window. To further minimize the texture effect, and achieve a soft focus look, try using a diffuser filter.
Windowlit portraits come in two basic forms, posed and environmental. For posed head and shoulder portraits, use an 85mm to 105mm lens. The slight compression effect of lenses in this range provides for facial feature enhancement. For full and half-length portraits, use a 50mm lens.
The most popular sitting for posed portraits is the three-quarter profile. This results in the half of the face facing the bright light more illuminated than the other half on the far side of the light. This pose works well if the subject has a broad or wrinkled face, prominent ears or any other facial defect affecting only one side of the face. Make sure the side of the face with defects is on the less-lit side.
A variation of the three-quarter profile is the side profile. With this pose, the sidelight illuminates the half of the subject's face directly facing the light. This results in an accented texture effect and works well for a subject one would expect to have a weathered face, such as a rancher, fisherman or anyone having spent much of their working life outside in the sun.
If you are not trying to minimize facial features, the three-quarter or side profile shot can be taken as previously described or you can add light to the shadow side of the face by using a white piece of posterboard as a reflector. The amount of light reflected back onto the shadow side of the face is controlled by how close, or far away, the reflector is placed from the shadow side of the face. If you are going to add light to the shadow side of the face, you want the amount of light added to be about one-third as bright as the light illuminating the windowlit side of the face.
Frontlighting, light shining directly in the face of the subject, is better lighting for subjects having a long nose, narrow or double chin, or prominent forehead. Also, in these cases, a better pose is having the subject looking directly at the camera. This pose minimizes these features. When shooting the posed portrait, use a narrow depth-of-field, such as f4 or f5.6, so the background will blur and not distract attention away from the subject.
The environmental portrait is the second type of portrait pose. In this type of portrait, the subject is doing something and not just looking at the camera. Examples would be the subject reading a book, sewing or tying flies for fly fishing. Whatever the subject is doing is usually consistent with what people who know the subject would expect that person to be doing.
Because more of the person's surroundings are included with this type of pose, a wide-angle lens in the 28-35mm range is a good choice. A 50mm lens can be used if you have sufficient room to work. Also, with environmental portraits you want the background and/or foreground to remain in focus, so use an aperture of at least f8 or greater. The farther away the background is from the subject, the more depth-of-field you will need. Here, you don't want the background blurry because it helps tell the story.
Also, experiment with perspective. Don't be afraid to shoot from a higher or lower angle than normal eye-level position. This can result in excellent photos with a different look, thus preventing portraits that are static or boring.
Environmentals are a more pleasing type of portrait as it is visually more stimulating to see the subject doing something while being photographed rather than just looking at the camera. Finally, select a "warm" white balance setting on your digital camera such as shade or cloudy for accurate skintones.
Windowlit portraiture is an interesting type of photography to pursue on those cold winter days when the sun is shining, but it is too cold outside for digital photography. Besides, it is a good way to keep up on your portraiture photographic skills.
If you liked this article, visit our website at http://Sunlight Media for more tips and techniques.
Ron
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ronald_Kness
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Digital Photography - Learning to See
What compels you to stop and shoot a digital photograph or series of digital photos? I often wonder what draws me to a scene? Why did I stop here instead of a mile back or a mile further down the road?
Once I stop for a scene, I have to decide how I am going to digitally photograph it. Will I use a telephoto lens, wide-angle or close-up? Each creates its own perspective digitally.
Which lens I choose determines what I am trying to say photographically. If I want to isolate a subject with very little of the surrounding area, I will use my 70-200 mm zoom telephoto. If I want to include some of the surrounding area, then I will choose my 17-85 mm wide-angle zoom.
If I want a perspective similar to what the human eye sees, then I will set my wide-angle zoom lens to 50mm. Finally, if I want to come in really close on an object in the scene, then I would use my 90mm close-up lens.
Once I have selected my lens, then I have to decide where I will place the subject in the viewfinder. I know it will not be right smack dab in the middle.
But, by using the Golden Grid, or Rule of Thirds as it is sometimes called, I would place the subject on one of the intersecting points created when I visually drew vertical and horizontal imaginary lines in my viewfinder.
Next, I will determine how I want to light the subject. If I want to accent the texture, I will side-light it. If I want to de-emphasize texture, then I will front-light it. Finally, if my subject is translucent or if I want a silhouette, then I will back-light my subject. If I want to show how large my subject is or how far away it is from where I am standing, then I will put something of a known size in the foreground off to the side.
Watch the horizon. When shooting horizons, don't have the horizon centered in the photo. Give the area you want to emphasize the most room in the photo. So, if your subject were the sky or something in the sky, then the area above the horizon would get two thirds of the room in the viewfinder. If your subject were below the horizon, then that object would get the two thirds.
Framing a scene consists of using something, natural or manmade, to surround a subject or at least come in from one or both sides and the top. Framing allows you to use one object to look through at another.
When doing this, the most common mistake photographers make is not getting close enough to the subject. If you are not close enough to your subject, the subject gets lost in the framing. The second most common mistake is having cluttered edges of the frame.
In other words, having unwanted items intruding in from the edges of the photo. Always check for this before snapping the shutter.
Another choice you have to make is whether you are going to shoot the scene horizontally or vertically. Most scenes are best shot vertically if the subject is vertical, such as trees, waterfalls, etc. However, if the subject runs horizontally, then that is the best way to shoot it. Horizontal subjects include mountains, deserts, clouds and seascapes.
Two of the last choices you have to make are shutter speed and the aperture. If your subject is stationary, then the shutter speed is not much of an issue. However, if you intend to show motion by either freezing it, blurring it or by panning, then shutter speed is definitely a consideration.
On the other hand, if you are concerned with how much depth-of-field you will have, then your interest will be in which aperture to use.
Now you have all the considerations and decisions that must be made, once you are stopped after being drawn to a scene. If you systematically go through all these items, your resulting photograph will show what drew your interest to this subject. Lastly, do not be afraid to experiment and break away from tradition.
If you liked this article, please visit Ron Kness' website Sunlight Media at Sunlight Media for more digital photography tips and techniques.
Ron Kness
Sunlight Media
Travel Media Specialists
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ron_Kness
Once I stop for a scene, I have to decide how I am going to digitally photograph it. Will I use a telephoto lens, wide-angle or close-up? Each creates its own perspective digitally.
Which lens I choose determines what I am trying to say photographically. If I want to isolate a subject with very little of the surrounding area, I will use my 70-200 mm zoom telephoto. If I want to include some of the surrounding area, then I will choose my 17-85 mm wide-angle zoom.
If I want a perspective similar to what the human eye sees, then I will set my wide-angle zoom lens to 50mm. Finally, if I want to come in really close on an object in the scene, then I would use my 90mm close-up lens.
Once I have selected my lens, then I have to decide where I will place the subject in the viewfinder. I know it will not be right smack dab in the middle.
But, by using the Golden Grid, or Rule of Thirds as it is sometimes called, I would place the subject on one of the intersecting points created when I visually drew vertical and horizontal imaginary lines in my viewfinder.
Next, I will determine how I want to light the subject. If I want to accent the texture, I will side-light it. If I want to de-emphasize texture, then I will front-light it. Finally, if my subject is translucent or if I want a silhouette, then I will back-light my subject. If I want to show how large my subject is or how far away it is from where I am standing, then I will put something of a known size in the foreground off to the side.
Watch the horizon. When shooting horizons, don't have the horizon centered in the photo. Give the area you want to emphasize the most room in the photo. So, if your subject were the sky or something in the sky, then the area above the horizon would get two thirds of the room in the viewfinder. If your subject were below the horizon, then that object would get the two thirds.
Framing a scene consists of using something, natural or manmade, to surround a subject or at least come in from one or both sides and the top. Framing allows you to use one object to look through at another.
When doing this, the most common mistake photographers make is not getting close enough to the subject. If you are not close enough to your subject, the subject gets lost in the framing. The second most common mistake is having cluttered edges of the frame.
In other words, having unwanted items intruding in from the edges of the photo. Always check for this before snapping the shutter.
Another choice you have to make is whether you are going to shoot the scene horizontally or vertically. Most scenes are best shot vertically if the subject is vertical, such as trees, waterfalls, etc. However, if the subject runs horizontally, then that is the best way to shoot it. Horizontal subjects include mountains, deserts, clouds and seascapes.
Two of the last choices you have to make are shutter speed and the aperture. If your subject is stationary, then the shutter speed is not much of an issue. However, if you intend to show motion by either freezing it, blurring it or by panning, then shutter speed is definitely a consideration.
On the other hand, if you are concerned with how much depth-of-field you will have, then your interest will be in which aperture to use.
Now you have all the considerations and decisions that must be made, once you are stopped after being drawn to a scene. If you systematically go through all these items, your resulting photograph will show what drew your interest to this subject. Lastly, do not be afraid to experiment and break away from tradition.
If you liked this article, please visit Ron Kness' website Sunlight Media at Sunlight Media for more digital photography tips and techniques.
Ron Kness
Sunlight Media
Travel Media Specialists
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ron_Kness
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Digital Photography - Great Images Through Metering
Almost all of the newer Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras have multiple TTL (Through The Lens) metering modes. Each manufacturer calls their metering modes by different names, but basically, they all fall into four categories: spot, center-weighted, multi-pattern and matrix metering, the last one being proprietary to Nikon.
Spot Metering - Spot metering, as the name implies, reads the light from a very small spot or portion of the overall scene. This mode reads the light reflecting from what is inside the small circle or rectangle in the middle of your viewfinder. It will not be more than 9.5% of the overall scene.
With spot metering, you can pinpoint the area you want metered for reflectance light. The disadvantage is you pinpoint the spot you want metered for reflectance light.
Now wait a minute, how can pinpointing be both an advantage and disadvantage? The advantage is you are free to choose where to take your meter reading from in a scene. Just put the circle or rectangle on the area you want metered and press the shutter button half-way down to see the shutter speed and aperture settings.
The disadvantage is the TTL meter in your camera sees everything as middle tone or 18% reflectance. If the spot you pick is not middle tone, the exposure of the whole scene could be either over or under exposed. To get an accurate exposure, choose something close to middle tone, such as green grass, tan tree bark, blue sky or light brown flesh tone. Or as an alternative, take the reading and manually dial in exposure compensation to achieve middle tone settings.
The spot meter can be difficult to learn, but once you have mastered it, you will find it indispensable when you want your subject, the part in the spot, exposed correctly in a high contrast situation.
Center-Weighted Metering - Center-weighted metering is the most common of all the metering systems and the one used in all point-and-shoot cameras. Center-weighted metering reads light from about 75% of the center of the scene, weights it heavier, then reads the light from the remaining 25% of the scene and weighs it normally . This information is computed by the camera coming up with the final exposure reading.
Remember, the overall area metered needs to average out to middle tone. Anything other than middle tone requires you to compensate by using the exposure compensation feature in your DSLR camera.
Multi-Pattern Metering - Multi-pattern metering is also known as evaluative metering. With this method, the viewfinder is broken down into several metering segments built around the auto-focus sensors. Once you choose the auto-focus sensor, a center-weighted metering pattern is built around that selected sensor.
This system is basically the same as the center-weighted metering system except the center-weighted reading is taken from the selected auto-focus sensor instead of from the center of the viewfinder.
Matrix Metering - Proprietary to Nikon, matrix metering uses multiple metering segments arranged around the auto-focus segments in the viewfinder much like the multi-pattern metering system, but it also uses a database of actual photographic situations. This system works by each segment metered individually and assigned a light level. These light levels form a contrast pattern.
The contrast patterns are then filtered through the database in the DSLR finding the proper exposure compensation for a given scene. With this system, no manual exposure compensation is needed because the metering system automatically does it for you.
When To Use Each Metering System - Each metering system has its own use in specific situations. Generally, center-weighted is best to use when learning how to take photos. As you master this metering system, you can move to spot metering.
Here you will pinpoint a spot in the scene and manually apply exposure compensation. Use matrix or multi-pattern metering for rapidly changing light situations or when faced with highly complex lighting.
Summary - Now would be a good time to dust off your camera manual and read up on metering modes specific to your camera. Mastering metering modes takes your imagery to a whole new and higher level.
If you liked this article, visit our website at http://Sunlight Media for more tips and techniques.
Ron
Spot Metering - Spot metering, as the name implies, reads the light from a very small spot or portion of the overall scene. This mode reads the light reflecting from what is inside the small circle or rectangle in the middle of your viewfinder. It will not be more than 9.5% of the overall scene.
With spot metering, you can pinpoint the area you want metered for reflectance light. The disadvantage is you pinpoint the spot you want metered for reflectance light.
Now wait a minute, how can pinpointing be both an advantage and disadvantage? The advantage is you are free to choose where to take your meter reading from in a scene. Just put the circle or rectangle on the area you want metered and press the shutter button half-way down to see the shutter speed and aperture settings.
The disadvantage is the TTL meter in your camera sees everything as middle tone or 18% reflectance. If the spot you pick is not middle tone, the exposure of the whole scene could be either over or under exposed. To get an accurate exposure, choose something close to middle tone, such as green grass, tan tree bark, blue sky or light brown flesh tone. Or as an alternative, take the reading and manually dial in exposure compensation to achieve middle tone settings.
The spot meter can be difficult to learn, but once you have mastered it, you will find it indispensable when you want your subject, the part in the spot, exposed correctly in a high contrast situation.
Center-Weighted Metering - Center-weighted metering is the most common of all the metering systems and the one used in all point-and-shoot cameras. Center-weighted metering reads light from about 75% of the center of the scene, weights it heavier, then reads the light from the remaining 25% of the scene and weighs it normally . This information is computed by the camera coming up with the final exposure reading.
Remember, the overall area metered needs to average out to middle tone. Anything other than middle tone requires you to compensate by using the exposure compensation feature in your DSLR camera.
Multi-Pattern Metering - Multi-pattern metering is also known as evaluative metering. With this method, the viewfinder is broken down into several metering segments built around the auto-focus sensors. Once you choose the auto-focus sensor, a center-weighted metering pattern is built around that selected sensor.
This system is basically the same as the center-weighted metering system except the center-weighted reading is taken from the selected auto-focus sensor instead of from the center of the viewfinder.
Matrix Metering - Proprietary to Nikon, matrix metering uses multiple metering segments arranged around the auto-focus segments in the viewfinder much like the multi-pattern metering system, but it also uses a database of actual photographic situations. This system works by each segment metered individually and assigned a light level. These light levels form a contrast pattern.
The contrast patterns are then filtered through the database in the DSLR finding the proper exposure compensation for a given scene. With this system, no manual exposure compensation is needed because the metering system automatically does it for you.
When To Use Each Metering System - Each metering system has its own use in specific situations. Generally, center-weighted is best to use when learning how to take photos. As you master this metering system, you can move to spot metering.
Here you will pinpoint a spot in the scene and manually apply exposure compensation. Use matrix or multi-pattern metering for rapidly changing light situations or when faced with highly complex lighting.
Summary - Now would be a good time to dust off your camera manual and read up on metering modes specific to your camera. Mastering metering modes takes your imagery to a whole new and higher level.
If you liked this article, visit our website at http://Sunlight Media for more tips and techniques.
Ron
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Digital Photography - 10 Tips For Great Digital Images
Below are ten simple composition tips that will instantly improve your DSLR images. Start using them as instantly see your digital photography improve.
Adjust ISO - Increasing the ISO is a trick you can use to gain an extra stop of either shutter speed or aperture. For example, if you are shooting flowing water at an ISO of 100, a shutter speed of 1/30 second and an aperture of f16, and you need a slower shutter speed to get the silky, cottony effect, one way is increasing the ISO to 200. You will gain a stop of shutter speed with the shutter speed now at 1/15 second. If you need another stop, increase the ISO to 400.
Adjust White Balance - Many times the DSLR Auto White Balance setting renders a correct color cast. However, when the Auto setting is reading the light incorrectly, adjust your white balance manually to a setting matching the type of light in your scene.
Vertical Perspective - Vertical subjects, such as trees, fence lines, streams, etc. look better shot from the vertical perspective.
Use Your Histogram - Ensure you are getting a correct exposure by checking your histogram. On some DSLRs, you can check before pressing the shutter button while on others you have to check after the image is recorded.
Look at the left and right sides of the histogram. The spikes on each end should not be cut off and should taper off down to the left and right corners on the bottom horizontal line. If they don't, adjust your DSLR settings and reshoot.
Rule of Thirds - This is the rule of subject placement. Mentally divide your viewfinder into a tic-tac-toe board. The rule says to place your subject on one of the intersecting points where a vertical and horizontal line meet.
Framing - Framing involves using something either natural, such as an overhanging tree branch or man-made, such as a doorway or window frame to draw the viewer's eyes through the frame and to the subject.
Horizon Placement - The general rule is first determining if the subject is above or below the horizon line. If the subject is above the horizon line, then give that area 2/3rds of the frame. If the subject is below the horizon line, then give it 2/3rds of the space.
Use Aperture and Shutter Speed Settings - Shutter speed controls movement. Aperture controls depth-of-field. To show movement as a blur, use a slow shutter speed. If you are shooting at less than 1/30th second, use a tripod. If you want to stop action, use a shutter speed of 1/250th second or faster. You will have to experiment because the shutter speed necessary to stop movement depends on the speed of the subject and direction of travel. Use aperture to control how much of a scene is in focus. The larger f-stop number, the more of the scene will be in focus.
Crop in Camera - Use the zoom feature of your zoom lens to crop out any unwanted elements in a scene. This will save you time later by not having to perform this editing function once your images are downloaded into your computer.
Use a Polarizer - If I could only have one filter, this would be it. A polarizer, darkens a blue sky, cuts out reflections, saturates colors and removes light haze. It also acts as a neutral density filter in that it takes out two stops of light allowing you to shoot at a slower shutter speed or a smaller number f-stop.
By incorporating these ten tips into your future digital photography, you will see an instant improvement in your next batch of digital images.
Adjust ISO - Increasing the ISO is a trick you can use to gain an extra stop of either shutter speed or aperture. For example, if you are shooting flowing water at an ISO of 100, a shutter speed of 1/30 second and an aperture of f16, and you need a slower shutter speed to get the silky, cottony effect, one way is increasing the ISO to 200. You will gain a stop of shutter speed with the shutter speed now at 1/15 second. If you need another stop, increase the ISO to 400.
Adjust White Balance - Many times the DSLR Auto White Balance setting renders a correct color cast. However, when the Auto setting is reading the light incorrectly, adjust your white balance manually to a setting matching the type of light in your scene.
Vertical Perspective - Vertical subjects, such as trees, fence lines, streams, etc. look better shot from the vertical perspective.
Use Your Histogram - Ensure you are getting a correct exposure by checking your histogram. On some DSLRs, you can check before pressing the shutter button while on others you have to check after the image is recorded.
Look at the left and right sides of the histogram. The spikes on each end should not be cut off and should taper off down to the left and right corners on the bottom horizontal line. If they don't, adjust your DSLR settings and reshoot.
Rule of Thirds - This is the rule of subject placement. Mentally divide your viewfinder into a tic-tac-toe board. The rule says to place your subject on one of the intersecting points where a vertical and horizontal line meet.
Framing - Framing involves using something either natural, such as an overhanging tree branch or man-made, such as a doorway or window frame to draw the viewer's eyes through the frame and to the subject.
Horizon Placement - The general rule is first determining if the subject is above or below the horizon line. If the subject is above the horizon line, then give that area 2/3rds of the frame. If the subject is below the horizon line, then give it 2/3rds of the space.
Use Aperture and Shutter Speed Settings - Shutter speed controls movement. Aperture controls depth-of-field. To show movement as a blur, use a slow shutter speed. If you are shooting at less than 1/30th second, use a tripod. If you want to stop action, use a shutter speed of 1/250th second or faster. You will have to experiment because the shutter speed necessary to stop movement depends on the speed of the subject and direction of travel. Use aperture to control how much of a scene is in focus. The larger f-stop number, the more of the scene will be in focus.
Crop in Camera - Use the zoom feature of your zoom lens to crop out any unwanted elements in a scene. This will save you time later by not having to perform this editing function once your images are downloaded into your computer.
Use a Polarizer - If I could only have one filter, this would be it. A polarizer, darkens a blue sky, cuts out reflections, saturates colors and removes light haze. It also acts as a neutral density filter in that it takes out two stops of light allowing you to shoot at a slower shutter speed or a smaller number f-stop.
By incorporating these ten tips into your future digital photography, you will see an instant improvement in your next batch of digital images.
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