Shooting Photos Articles

Video / Updated 08-08-2023

When you photograph a beautiful landscape or an animal, placement of the horizon line can make or break the image. If you place the horizon line in the center of the image, your viewer doesn’t know which part of the image is the most important. You make that decision when you visualize the resulting photograph in your mind’s eye. The placement of the horizon line is determined by which parts of the scene contain the visual information you think is the most important. Nature is often chaotic. When you travel through a lush forest or craggy mountains, there is no sense of order. Animals often exhibit the same random nature, although many of them do line up in artistic patterns when traveling or migrating. Humans, on the other hand, don’t relate well to chaos. We prefer some order in our lives and the way things are arranged. That’s why it’s important to have some sort of organization to your photograph, a path viewers can follow to make sense of nature’s chaos. If you use the Rule of Thirds, you know that you divide the scene into thirds vertically and horizontally. If the most important information is above the horizon, such as a scene with a beautiful cloudscape (see the figure), place the horizon in the lower third of the image. Conversely, if the most important information is below the horizon line, such as a scene with a still lake with wonderful reflections, place the horizon line in the upper third of the image. If you pay attention to placement of the horizon line, the viewer knows where to look.

Video / Updated 08-08-2023

Photographing landscapes after dusk is not as easy as photographing during the day. Twilight offers low light, which means you’ll have to increase the ISO setting, and many cameras are extremely noisy at high ISO settings. Here are some tips for the aspiring twilight photographer: Scout your shooting location. Even if you know the place you plan to shoot like the back of your hand, the next time you shoot there, get into a twilight state of mind. Look at the features of the landscape and visualize what they’ll look like as silhouettes. If you think a tree will look good as a silhouette, use it as a focal point in one of your images. You also need to think of the background and make sure there are no large shapes that will compete with the object you’ve chosen as the focal point of your image. Visualize. As you check out a location that might be good for shooting at twilight, look for objects you can use to compose your images. Are there any strong lines that you can use to lead your viewer into the image? Remember that a diagonal line is more interesting than a vertical one. Also look for natural frames. Get your times right. If you plan to do a photo shoot beginning at dusk and into the twilight, know what time dusk begins. You can find this information online or by using an application like The Photographer’s Ephemeris. Leave plenty of time to get to your location and set up. An unexpected traffic jam when you have perfect conditions for photographing your desired subject is not good if you don’t have a fudge factor. If you do leave in plenty of time and run into a traffic jam, you can visualize, while you wait, the great pictures you’re going to get. Look for reflective surfaces. Clouds will reflect in bodies of water like lakes and rivers. If you have a still body of water, you have a mirror reflection of the sky and any objects on the horizon. Use a tripod. Your exposure times will be long. Cranking up the ISO in twilight will result in lots and lots of digital noise in the shadow areas of your image, which in many instances is the majority of the image. A long exposure time will increase noise as well, but not as bad as switching to an ISO high enough to hand-hold the camera. Another benefit of using a tripod is you can get the camera level. Lock the mirror. Before you fly into the twilight, make sure your camera mirror is in the upright and locked position. This applies only if you use a dSLR to take your pictures. When you take pictures at slow shutter speeds, the act of the mirror stopping transmits vibration to the camera, which results in an image that isn't as sharp as it could be. If your camera has the option to save custom settings, create a custom setting to lock up the mirror. Add other settings such as switching to the Aperture Priority mode. Use a cable release. A cable release enables you to open the shutter without touching the camera (which can cause vibration resulting in a blurry image). In lieu of a cable release, you can use the auto-timer to delay the release of the shutter. Carefully position the horizon line. Place the horizon line where it will draw the viewer’s attention to the most important objects in the photograph. Photographer David duChemin calls this “visual mass.” If the most interesting parts of your photograph are above the horizon line, place the horizon line in the lower third of the image. If the most important parts of your image are below the horizon line, place the horizon line in the upper third of the image.

Video / Updated 08-04-2023

In this video, Dummies author Julie Adair King tells you how you can get great family photos at home — even when your kids are being rowdy. Learn about choosing a good background and lighting the scene.

Video / Updated 08-04-2023

You might be surprised to learn that using your camera's flash outside is an important aspect of taking beautiful portraits of people. In this video, photographer and Dummies author Julie Adair King explains why, and she provides other valuable advice for shooting outdoor portraits.

Article / Updated 07-26-2022

When it comes to checking exposure, the image shown on the digital camera monitor can be misleading. The actual image may be brighter or darker than what you see onscreen because the display is affected by the ambient light in which you view the image and on the brightness of the monitor itself. For more reliable exposure guidance, find out whether your camera offers an exposure meter, histogram, or highlights display mode. Reading the meter An exposure meter offers before-the-shot assistance. This simple bar graph indicates whether the camera thinks your current settings will produce a good exposure. When you see a single bar at the 0 mark, as in the third illustration, you're good to go. Bars appearing on the side of the meter that sports a minus sign indicate underexposure; bars on the plus-sign side predict overexposure. The more bars that appear, the greater the potential exposure problem. (Note that some cameras place the positive end of the meter on the left while other models put it on the right, so inspect the meter closely to see which is which on your camera.) A few pointers about the way exposure meters operate: You may need to press the shutter button halfway to display the meter. Your half-press wakes the exposure system and tells the meter to do its thing. Where and when the meter appears depends on your camera and shooting mode. The meter may appear in the viewfinder, monitor, or top LCD readout, depending on your camera. But on most cameras, the meter appears only when you shoot in manual exposure mode. In other modes, the meter typically appears only if the camera anticipates an exposure problem or if you enable Exposure Compensation, an autoexposure adjustment feature. The meter readout depends on the metering mode. This setting determines which part of the frame the camera analyzes when calculating exposure. Normally, the entire frame is measured. Keep the lens trained on your subject while checking the meter. If your camera displays the meter only in the monitor (or if you prefer to view the meter there), don't move the camera after pressing the shutter button to display the meter. All too often, people frame the shot, press the shutter button halfway to activate the meter, and then point the lens at the ground so that they can get a better look at the display. The problem is that most cameras continue adjusting exposure settings until you take the picture, so as soon as you move the camera, it takes a new reading. So when the lens is pointing down, you're viewing the proper settings for photographing the ground and not your subject. For this reason, you should rely on the viewfinder meter if your camera offers one. Interpreting a histogram A histogram is a chart that plots out the brightness values of all pixels in the photo, using a scale of 0 (black) to 255 (white). For example, the histogram shown below represents the accompanying butterfly photo. The horizontal axis of the chart displays brightness values, with shadows on the left and highlights on the right. The vertical axis shows you how many pixels fall at each brightness value. A spike at any point indicates that you have lots of pixels at that particular brightness value. Some cameras can display a histogram on the monitor in shooting mode, helping you suss out exposure settings before you snap the shot. Most models, however, offer this tool only during playback; you may need to change your camera's default playback settings to display it. Normally, a histogram that resembles a bell-shaped curve, or something close to it, is a good sign because well-exposed photos typically contain more midtones (areas of medium brightness) accented by highlights and shadows. This fact has led some photographers to believe that their exposure decisions should be based on generating this so-called perfect histogram. But unless you plan to frame and exhibit your histogram instead of your photograph, this idea is hogwash. Here's the thing: You have to interpret a histogram with respect to the brightness values of your subject. You're just not going to see a ton of pixels at the dark end of the scale when you're photographing a polar bear against a snowy backdrop, for example. However, if you look at your camera’s histogram and it has a big spike to the left, it may be that your photo is too dark, in which case you need to adjust the exposure settings or add a flash. If it’s spiked to the right, your photo may be too bright. It’s normal to have a few odd spikes here and there, though. Displaying playback “blinkies” The problem with both the meter and the histogram is that although they can indicate an exposure issue, they don't tell you which parts of the image are under- or overexposed. To provide this information, many cameras offer a playback mode that causes any pixels that are pure white — that is, the ones that have a brightness value of 0 — to blink in the display. Most photographers refer to this as “blinkies” mode, but the official name on most cameras is Highlights Display mode. Again, consider the blinkies display with respect to your subject. When you shoot a portrait against a very bright background, you may see lots of blinkies in the background. If your subject is well exposed, ignore those blinkies — it's the subject that matters. But if the blinkies occur on the person's face or hair, that's a signal to adjust the exposure settings or find different light in which to shoot your subject and try again.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-04-2022

Capturing beautiful landscape images isn't always easy, and ticking off items on a checklist might not seem like a useful technique in photography, but ensuring you have all equipment with you on a photo shoot ensures you can focus on snapping pictures instead of discovering you've left something behind. By the same token, readying your equipment upon your return lets you grab your camera bag and go capture more landscape and nature pictures.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-07-2022

Lighting is a very important aspect of digital photography. As a photographer, it’s your job to use that light in the best possible way. The lighting process starts with being able to measure the light and determine the best settings to correctly expose for the available light, using a flash to add some light to a scene when needed, and using light to illuminate or hide areas in your images.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-01-2022

Understanding the art and science of exposure in digital photography involves three main settings on your camera (which is probably a digital SLR, or dSLR): aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Adjusting these interrelated settings will alter the look of your photos, and when you understand how these settings work, you'll begin to take the kinds of eye-catching and impressive photos that you probably dreamed about when you first invested in a quality digital camera.

Article / Updated 04-26-2017

Point-and-shoot cameras can be used to photograph nature. The type of nature photography you intend to pursue will dictate the type of camera you purchase. Point-and-shoot cameras have smaller sensors than digital SLRs and are more susceptible to generating digital noise that is noticeable in rendered images. The optics of point-and-shoot cameras are smaller and are not as good as digital SLR lenses. Depth of field is also an issue with point-and-shoot cameras. Because of the small sensor size, they have a much greater depth of field than digital SLRs. This is fine when photographing landscapes, but not when you’re photographing something like a bird, when you’d rather have a shallow depth of field. If you have your heart set on a point-and-shoot camera, you need one with a zoom lens with a range from wide-angle to telephoto. Remember, digital point-and-shoot cameras have much smaller sensors than digital SLRs. Because of the small sensor size, these cameras use a much smaller focal length but get the same field of view as a digital SLR lens. Most point-and-shoot camera manufacturers show the 35mm equivalent focal length. When you use a point-and-shoot camera to photograph landscapes, you need a camera with a lens that is the 35mm equivalent of 28mm or wider. Most point-and-shoot cameras feature a 3X or 4X optical zoom. This gives you a 35mm equivalent range from 28mm to 105mm or 140mm. This is a good range for photographing landscapes and relatively tame birds. However, this won’t get you close enough when you need to maintain a safe distance between you and potentially dangerous wildlife. Some cameras have 12X to 18X optical zoom, which will enable you to zoom in even closer. However, a point-and-shoot camera with that large of a focal length range may not deliver images that are as sharp as images taken on cameras with a less optimistic focal length range, due to the amount of glass elements they’re packaging in a relatively small area. The best advice is to visit your local retailer or do some research online to find models that you may consider purchasing. Armed with that list, visit a camera review site such as Digital Photography Review. You may also find customer reviews at major camera retail sites like B&H Photo. After reading reviews, your list of candidates will be shorter. Then, visit a local camera retailer and trying one or two of the top candidates on your list. Note how the camera feels in your hands. Can you find all the controls easily? Are the menus easy to read? If possible, take a couple of pictures and review the results on the camera LCD monitor. Many point-and-shoot cameras offer digital zoom, which is designed to zoom in even closer than the optics are capable of. The problem with digital zoom is the camera crops to a smaller portion of the sensor and then enlarges the image to the standard size. This almost always results in image degradation and increases the noise. Digital zoom is not an acceptable option if you want sharp images.

Article / Updated 09-23-2016

Many dSLR cameras offer a choice of shutter-release modes, which controls what happens when you press the shutter button. The name of the option varies, but it's typically something like Drive mode or Release mode. Check your camera manual for that information and for details on how to select the mode you want to use. You may find the settings lurking on an external dial, as shown on the left, or accessible via a button that displays a screen where you choose a release mode, as shown on the right. The following list describes the most common shutter-release modes. Note that which shutter-release modes you can select depends on your chosen exposure mode. You may need to step up to an advanced exposure mode to take advantage of all the various options. Single-shot mode: The camera records one image every time you fully depress the shutter button. In other words, this is normal photography mode. It is usually represented on camera screens as a single rectangle like the one shown here or by the letter S, as on the dial shown on the left. Continuous or burst mode: Designed to make capturing fast action easier, this mode records a continuous series of images — a burst of frames — as long as you hold down the shutter button. The standard symbol used for this mode is a stack of rectangles (representing multiple frames). A few tips to know about this mode: How many frames per second you can capture depends on your camera and memory-card speed. Advanced cameras typically offer a faster shooting rate, which is important if your primary interest is photographing sports (or other fast-moving subjects, such as hummingbirds). As for the memory card, its read/write speed can affect whether the camera can actually achieve the fastest frame rate promised in its marketing specs. Before buying the fastest card on the market, though, be sure that your camera supports it. Some cameras can't communicate with the latest cards or may be able to store files on them but not at a faster rate than with slower cards. You don't always need to max out the frame rate. You also may be able to choose from a couple of continuous-frame rates, typically labeled Continuous High (maximum frames per second) and Continuous Low (typically around three frames per second). Although most people are tempted to always use the highest frames-per-second setting, That option should really only be used when shooting a subject that's moving at a really rapid pace. You probably can't use flash. Most cameras disable flash when you select this shutter-release mode because there isn't enough time between frames for the flash to recycle. With some cameras, turning on the flash automatically changes the shutter-release mode to single-frame; with other models, the flash may fire once but then go to sleep. Self-timer mode: In this mode, you fully depress the shutter button, and the camera releases the shutter and captures the image several seconds later. The original purpose of this mode was to give the photographer enough time to press the shutter button and then run in front of the camera and be part of the picture. But savvy photographers also take advantage of this mode to eliminate any chance of camera shake (and resulting image blur) when shooting long exposures and using a tripod. On some cameras, self-timer mode offers some bells and whistles that make it even more helpful. You may be able to choose from two delay times for the shutter release — say, two seconds or ten seconds. The two-second delay is great when you're substituting self-timer mode for remote-control operation; waiting around for ten seconds between shots gets a bit annoying. Some cameras even enable you to set up a self-timer session that records multiple frames with each push of the shutter button. This feature is known as continuous self-timer mode. Remote-control mode: Some cameras enable you to trigger the shutter button with a corded or wireless remote control. You may need to choose a special shutter-release mode to take advantage of that option, so consult your camera manual about this issue. The icon shown in the margin is often used to label a special mode provided for wireless remote control, for example. As with self-timer mode, you may be able to tell the camera to release the shutter as soon as you press the button on the remote or to delay the release for a couple of seconds. Many cameras offer the option to use a smartphone instead of a dedicated camera remote to trigger the shutter release. To take advantage of this option, you need to download the proper app from the manufacturer's website. If you're shooting with an intermediate or advanced camera, also check out these additional shutter-release options, some of which may be buried somewhere in the camera's menus instead of being grouped with the other settings: Time-lapse shooting: Sometimes called interval or intervolametor shooting mode, this feature enables you to set the camera to automatically capture one or more frames over a period of time, with a specified interval between capture sessions. You set the camera on a tripod, focus the lens on your subject, enable the feature, and then walk away and let the camera take care of the rest. You might use this option to record the gradual opening of a flower bud over a couple of days, for example. Mirror-lock up: One component of the optical system of a dSLR camera is a mirror that moves every time you press the shutter button. The small vibration caused by the action of the mirror can result in slight blurring of the image when you use a very slow shutter speed, shoot with a long telephoto lens, or take extreme close-up shots. To cope with that issue, some cameras offer mirror-lockup shooting, which delays opening the shutter until after the mirror movement is complete. Situations that call for mirror lockup also call for a tripod: Even with the mirror locked up, the slightest jostle of the camera can cause blurring. Using a remote control or self-timer mode to trigger the shutter release is also a good idea. Note, too, that on some cameras, a mirror-lockup setting is provided only for the purposes of cleaning the image sensor and not for picture taking. Quiet mode: This mode is another setting sometimes found on dSLR cameras and also has to do with mirror movement, which makes some noise when you take a picture. In Quiet mode, you can delay the sound by keeping the shutter button pressed down after the shutter is released. You still hear the mirror slap when you release the button — and you can't take another picture until you do. But if you're in a situation where the slightest noise is problematic, Quiet mode may be of some help. In addition to delaying mirror noise, this mode automatically silences the beep that most cameras make to let you know that autofocusing is complete.