beginner photography

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Beginner Photography Getting Started with Photography Welcome to our Beginner Photography course! Here you will find our Beginner photography lessons and tutorials. If you’re just getting back into photography, you may also be interested in our refresher course before venturing on to our moreadvanced lessons and tutorials. Photography 101 How to Use Your Camera Light and the Photographer Exposure Control Light and the Human Eye Learn Beginner Photographer Tools Camera Tripod Photographic Film Photographic Lenses Beginner’s Photoshop Courses Layers in Photoshop Photoshop Channel Mixer See All beginner Photography Classes Learning Photography THE PROBLEM You have a good eye and you are seeing good pictures but they just aren’t coming out, on paper, the way you wanted or the way you saw it. THE SOLUTION Because your eyes constantly make everything APPEAR normal you now need to learn how the film and lenses record light, scenes, and color. Then, once you have that well ingrained and almost second nature, you need to learn how those different things render on film and print. Few of us realize how powerful the mind is in blocking out what we don’t want to see AND how well we automatically can correct bad lighting without even realizing it. Until we learn those important lessons, we will not have the knowledge or skills to MAKE photographs the way WE want them. You can spend a small fortune on courses that will get to the fun part right away. Courses that give you assignments to take photos you aren’t interested in and overwhelm you with a lot of hi-tech phrases. They’ll teach you how to talk the talk.HOWEVER, until you learn the basics your castle will be built on sand. We have created a course that is simple and quick. It is designed to be easy- to-understand yet full of solid information. It will provide the basics YOU MUST learn, and then allow you to go off to any specific subject you have any interest in. Each of these “special” subjects will add more to the basics, offer photographs and other visual aids to illustrate the point, and pass on tips and tricks to help you. WHO WE ARE : Skip Heine is the original author ofPhotographyCourse.net. Skip, a nationally-awarded photographer (news and corporate reports) has been

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Page 1: Beginner Photography

Beginner PhotographyGetting Started with PhotographyWelcome to our Beginner Photography course! Here you will find our Beginner photography lessons and tutorials. If you’re just getting back into photography, you may also be interested in our refresher course before venturing on to our moreadvanced lessons and tutorials.Photography 101 How to Use Your Camera Light and the Photographer

Exposure Control Light and the Human Eye

Learn Beginner Photographer ToolsCamera Tripod Photographic Film Photographic Lenses

Beginner’s Photoshop CoursesLayers in Photoshop Photoshop Channel Mixer

See All beginner Photography ClassesLearning PhotographyTHE PROBLEMYou have a good eye and you are seeing good pictures but they just aren’t coming out, on paper, the way you wanted or the way you saw it.THE SOLUTIONBecause your eyes constantly make everything APPEAR normal you now need to learn how the film and lenses record light, scenes, and color. Then, once you have that well ingrained and almost second nature, you need to learn how those different things render on film and print. Few of us realize how powerful the mind is in blocking out what we don’t want to see AND how well we automatically can correct bad lighting without even realizing it.Until we learn those important lessons, we will not have the knowledge or skills to MAKE photographs the way WE want them.You can spend a small fortune on courses that will get to the fun part rightaway. Courses that give you assignments to take photos you aren’t interested in and overwhelm you with a lot of hi-tech phrases. They’ll teach you how to talk the talk.HOWEVER, until you learn the basics your castle will be built on sand.We have created a course that is simple and quick. It is designed to be easy-to-understand yet full of solid information. It will provide the basics YOU MUST learn, and then allow you to go off to any specific subject you have any interest in. Each of these “special” subjects will add more to the basics, offer photographs and other visual aids to illustrate the point, and pass on tips and tricks to help you.WHO WE ARE:

Skip Heine is the original author ofPhotographyCourse.net. Skip, a nationally-awarded photographer (news and corporate reports) has been nominated twice for The Pulitzer Prize. He has covered over 100 NFL games, three Super Bowls, dozens of pro basketball, baseball, and hockey games. Covered the U.S. and British Opens. Paid (by major corporations) to do photography in Europe, Canada, Mexico as well as the entire United States. Guest lecturer at colleges and universities. Rated one of the top five Experts ataskme.com.Other PhotographersWe also have numerous seasoned, talented photographers from around the continent- with expertise in specialized areas such as Wildlife Photography, UnderwaterPhotography, and Studio Photography – who contribute to the lessons.PhotographyCourse.net Contributors include:Steve Guymon

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Steve has been taking pictures for as long as he can remember. He used to take pictures of his trips but now he goes on trips to take pictures. He’s photographed in Africa, Alaska, and the Rocky Mountains. View Steve’s work atwww.SteveGuymonPhotography.comSee all Steve’s LessonsCarrie Butler

Carrie is a Wedding Photographer who loves what she does. Her favorite type of session is one where she leaves, rushing home, because she knows she’s capture a look, a touch, or a gesture that she can’t wait to get out of her camera. Check out Carrie’s blog to see her latest wedding photography.Carrie is also looking to be the Best Photographer in Salt Lake City! You can vote for her here.See all Carrie’s LessonsDerek Watterson

Derek is a Graphic Designer focusing mainly on designing for web. He’s also always enjoyed photography. Learning design helped him to appreciate what makes great photography. When he’s not designing or experimenting with photography he enjoys doing electronic experimentslike RC with his sons, especially brushless cars.www.DerekWatterson.comSee all Derek’s LessonsDiane Davis

Di is an experienced, educated and emotionally connected professional photographic artist. After she gets to know you, Di will then create images that reflect the most amazing person that is you. When you commission Di to create a session for you, you may come in a stranger and you should just be prepared to leave as a friend.DianeDavisPhotography.comSee all Diane’s Lessons

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Let’s start Learning PhotographyA few tips that will immediately improve your film shooting:Read the directions!!!!!Stick with one film (and film) speed until you thoroughly understand how it works …. at least for the first 5 or 6 rolls.Stick with one good processor …. forever.Take notes on the first 5 or 6 rolls …. when you make mistakes you’ll immediately be able to troubleshoot your mistakes.A few tips that will immediately improve your digital photography:Start Basic- Focus on CompositionHave Memory Cards to take Lots of Shots.Photograph what you love to Photograph.Learn Photography- Practice.Repeat all steps until you’re a Professional Photographer.Now lets begin with Lesson 1, a simple lesson on light. You may go on to theadvanced photo lessons if you feel you already have a good background in photography.

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Free Film and Digital Photography Courses- All the Secrets Without the Cost!HomeCoursesEquipmentPhoto EditingProfessional Photography« Nikon D70Light and the Human Eye »Light and The PhotographerWritten by: Digital PhotographyPhotography Lesson #1Light is the primary working tool of the photographer. Light is the visible portion of the electro-magnetic spectrum. The spectrum starts from red, the weakest of rays, all the way to violet which is the strongest of rays.

Light rays from the sun are considered white and they contain all the colors of the spectrum. Black is the absence of any color.When we place a prism in front of a white ray, the prism will diffract (separate) that light intoall the colors of the spectrum. Stop for a minute and watch this:

When we place a LENS in front of any ray, that lens will simply refract (bend) that ray.

So, being in focus simply means moving the lens elements forward and backward until all the rays coming toward the camera from the subject meet at one point; the focal point on the film.In the illustration above, you will see a point where the rays meet.  That point is also called the film plane.   At that point, all light rays of the subject must meet to accomplish sharp, focused pictures.Once you have this down, you’re ready for photography lesson #2: Light and the Human Eye.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 11:31 pm and is filed under Beginner,Photography Lessons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You canleave a response, or trackback from your own site.Light and the Human EyeWritten by: Digital PhotographyPhotography Lesson #2The human eye looks basically like the crude drawing below. The lens at the left side of the eye focuses light rays onto the retina at the right. The retina converts light rays into electrical impulses that are sent to the brain.  Our brain then tells us we are seeing a bit of light.

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Both digital and film cameras have a lens in front to capture light rays. Light rays enter through the lens to the film, or digital sensor; both of which are sensitive to light.  Instead of jumping ahead of ourselves, let’s get back to the basics.About Light RaysWe have different labels for describing the rays we see. Here are a few basic ones:Transmitted RaysWhen you look at a stop light the top light is red, the middle is yellow, and the bottom light is green. That light is transmitted by putting a light source behind a colored filter.Direct RaysWhen you look directly into the sun, a camera’s flash unit, or a flashlight you are looking at direct light. The light you see is coming directly from the source.Reflected RaysWhen you look at anything, you can see that object because direct light is shining on it and being reflected back into your eyes.Ambient Light:Think of ambient light as stray light – light rays that are being bounced around from all sorts of sources. If direct or reflected light on the subject is stronger your subject will appear clearer and less hazy.Available LightAvailable light simply means whatever light is present when not using a flash or other sources of light.Understanding ColorThe COLOR of the subject is determined by the color of the light source and the color of the subject.Photographic film records light as it actually is. Your eye/brain, however, will always correct light back to “normal”. Your brain is constantly compensating.That is … if you are inside a place that is lit with light bulbs, those light bulbs actuallytransmit a reddish-brown light and white objects will be recorded on film as reddish-brown. However your brain will correct that light and a white object will appear white.Same thing happens inside a place illuminated with fluorescent bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs actually transmit an ugly greenish-yellow light, but your brain corrects that light and it appears white to your eye. Film records that light as greenish-yellow.

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Fluorescent light contains only enough green and yellow light to photos turn out a bit “off” in color.  However, by using a magenta filter in front of the lens, the overall lighting is more natural and “warm”.We will discuss this at length later on. Right now just understand that it happens.RED light rays only contain red because it is a primary color. So GREEN light rays only contain green, and BLUE rays only contain blue. Again, that is because these are the PRIMARY colors.Secondary colors - magenta, cyan, and yellow are considered SECONDARY colors because each one is a mix of two PRIMARY colors. Mixing PRIMARY & SECONDARY colors will give you TERTIARY (third tier) colors …. making up all the visible colors in the spectrum.You can see how PRIMARY colors and SECONDARY colors mix from the chart below:

Here’s another image to show you how using the primary colors, red, green and blue, you can produce the secondary colors.

Do Not Worry, there will be no test on this. Just read it and think about it for a while. This concept can be a little confusing as in school we learned that the primary colors are different. We must remember that color in the printing world is what we learned in school, but color combinations are different for light. For photography, we must learn the colors of light, not the colors for printing. In photography we are talking about RGB or colors of light that join together to make white, whereas in print all primary colors joined together would create a neutral color, or gray.Right now let’s go on to photography lesson #3: Lenses

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CoursesEquipmentPhoto EditingProfessional Photography« Light and the Human EyeExposure Control »Photographic LensesWritten by: Digital PhotographyLENSESSince optical designs of photographic lenses (wide angle to telephoto) differ so radically we will not go into detail about optics. This lesson will cover a basic discussion of lenses and some good tips on lens use and care. Lenses are designed to refract (bend) light rays. Here is a basic convex lens (crude drawing below). Notice that this bends the light towards the center of the film plane. A magnifying glass is a basic convex

lens. A concave lens bends the light away from the center. In modern camera lenses, you will find a variety these lenses with some individual elements oddly

shaped. Below is a cutaway illustration of a typical camera lens. Notice the different shapes of the elements. The science of optical design has become quite sophisticated and as it has progressed we, the photographers, have benefited with sharper, faster, lenses with greater

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color purity. 

Depth of field is a term we use in dealing with the sharpness of objects in our field of view. We know the subject we focused on will be sharp, but what about objects in front of, and behind? We control the sharpness of those objects by using THE APERTUREwhich is built

inside each lens. The aperture is used primarily for controlling the exposure (the lesson on Exposure follows this page, be patient) but it also controls the depth of field (depth of sharpness would have been a better term). Words cannot explain this as well as visuals so take a look below at how different aperture settings can control the sharpness of objects in front of, and behind, the subject you are focusing on:

 Wide open .. f2.8 to f4.5

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 “Optimum” .. f8 or f11

 Stopped down …. f16 to 32If the lens aperture is “wide open” the depth of field is very shallow… notice how the runner (below) is sharp and the other players are out of focus. However, if you close the aperture all the way down objects in front of, and behind, will appear much sharper (see

below).  By keeping the aperture wide open (left) we give the runner a “3D” look. He stands out among the out-of-focus players and our eye is drawn to him. If we close the aperture down (right) more objects are in focus and the runner gets lost in the

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crowd.  Therefore, if you have a camera that offers Manual Control, use “depth of field” to help draw attention to the objects you consider important. Now to some other tips lenses …TIPS ON LENSES: We always use a UV filter in front of the lens (instead of bothering with lens caps). The filter protects the lens and blocks out unwanted, hazy UV light. The glass used in photo lenses is covered with a coating (to correct some color problems) therefore, you should be very careful when cleaning the lens. We suggest that you not use lens cleaning fluids, rather a gentle blowing (your breath has moisture) followed by a gentle wiping with a clean, soft cloth or lint-free napkin. If the lens is seriously smudged then put a drop of lens cleaning fluid on the cloth and gently wipe. DO NOT apply lens cleaning fluid directly onto the lens… the fluid could get into the edges and destroy the adhesive that keeps the element attached to the barrel. Don’t bring a lens in from extreme cold … the moisture inside will instantly freeze up the whole lens. It is best to carry the camera under your winter coat when not in use. When making photos you should make sure the lens is in the palm of your hand, freeing up the fingers to focus. This takes the pressure of the lens mount AND provides for more steadiness. When using a telephoto lens you should also tuck your elbow into your side … which offers you more camera support (i.e., less

shake).   When carrying the camera on your shoulder (using the strap) the lens should point inward to protect the glass and keep it from banging into other things … like little people. You’ll find that the camera is now positioned in such a way that when you reach for it, it will go into your hand easier and feel more

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natural.  FILTERS: There are numerous filters out there, some designed to correct color/light problems … others add special effects. We will discuss three basic filters (which you probably should have). UV/HAZE filter: It cuts out ultra-violet light rays. Although invisible to the naked eye, ultra-violet rays give bluish tint and haziness in color photographs. UV/HAZE filters make the picture clearer. This filter does not block enough light to cause you to make an exposure compensation, therefore it is should be kept on the lens at all times to protect the lens surface. POLARIZING filter: This filter subdues undesired reflections from non-metallic surfaces such as water, windows, etc. When used in color photography it will darken blue sky by blocking atmospheric haze. By eliminating that haze skies will be bluer, red objects will be redder …. in fact all colors will be much more saturated and true. CLOSEUP filters: These are simple lenses that, when attached to the front of your lens, will allow you to focus much closer … allowing you to make full-frame images of very small objects. The more powerful the closeup filter, the more you will have to “open up” the lens, because these filters do “absorb” some of the light rays. The filter should come with instructions that will tell you how much exposure compensation you should make. If not, simply experiment … AND take notes. Next we need to look at EXPOSURE CONTROL.

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Exposure ControlWritten by: Digital PhotographyExposure: Aperture, Shutter Speed & ISOGetting the right exposure is fundamental in photography. It’s like getting your balance in riding a bike, you’re never going to win a competition unless you have the awareness of your balance from the get-go. Three settings will factor into your exposure: Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO.So the question then becomes “How do we achieve correct exposure?”

Study this and learn it, then you will KNOW how to control exposure.

 Okay, remember how the lens bends the light rays into the camera and onto the film plane? Good. Between the lens and the film plane areTWO devices we use to for exposure control, to control the exact amount of light hitting the film.THAT’S RIGHT, THERE ARETWO DEVICES TO CONTROL EXPOSURE….THE SHUTTER, is usually a curtain-like device just in front of the film. Think of a shade pulled down on a window, and then quickly open it and close it. FOR AN INSTANT THE ROOM WAS FILLED WITH LIGHT and the length of time that burst of light filled the room is shutter speed! That is basically how a shutter controls the amount of light getting to the film.The time the shade was open determined – to some extent – how much light came into the room – but so did the SIZE of the window! That window opening acted as…THE APERTURE, which is built inside each lens and controls how much light enters the lens.

“Stopped down” f16 or f22Now for some clarification on shutter speeds. Looking at the photo below, you will see inside the red circle, the numbers in white are the shutter speeds in fractions of a second (i.e. 30 = 1/30, 60 = 1/60). This is the time taken from when the shutter opens to when the shutter closes, after you press the shutter release.

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Moving from one speed to the next one halves the amount of light that enters the camera. Moving the other way, to a slower shutter speed, doubles the amount of light that enters the camera. This change from one speed to another is called moving a stop. For instance, moving from a speed of 1/30th to 1/60th of a second is going 1 stop faster, and from 1/60th of a second to 1/250th of a second is moving 2 stops.HERE IS A RULE OF THUMB FOR PROPER EXPOSURE OUTDOORS:First, take the film speed number as your shutter speed (100 ISO = 1/125th of a second or, if your film speed is 400 then the shutter speed would be 1/500th of a second for instance), your aperture setting is:

For bright sunny days and the sun is on the subject. f16.For overcast, cloudy. f8.Sunsets and sunrises, low light. wide open @ 1/30thThese are basic starting points that usually work. The film package also has some excellent, basic exposure suggestions.So, you have two methods of controlling exactly how many light rays get on the film and if you understand the above, you then understand how to control exposure for different types of film or different ISO. Re-read it until you understand it, because this is the crux of exposure for daylight photographs.In order to become more sophisticated with exposure control you need to learn how to use a light meter. This can get very complicated because there are so many light metering systems out there, and so many ways of using those meters. I submit, after 40 years of shooting, that the only true metering system you NEED to master is the light metering system offered in any good SLR camera.

The light meter reads the light coming off the subject matter, through the lens you are using, and is controlled by the film speed you have already set that meter to. It simply is the most sensible, accurate way to meter those light rays. SLR meters are getting more advanced all the time offering “spot” metering (you can zero in on one particular spot on the subject, get the right exposure, and lock in that setting and make your photo) … overall metering, reflected metering, incident metering, ……and on and on. It is no longer necessary to “bracket” your exposure ( shoot one frame over by one stop, one frame at the indicated exposure, and one stop under the recommended exposure). I quit bracketing twenty years ago and have not exposed a frame improperly.Therefore, I will not get into other methods of metering. All of the recommended exposures from now on will be based on through-the-lens metering with an SLR camera.

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Enough with Exposure Control, Shutter Speed, and aperture. Lets learn about FILM

Photographic FilmWritten by: Digital PhotographyPhotographic film and photographic paper are basically a gelatin-like emulsion, loaded with light sensitive silver salts on an acetate base.This information is also useful for digital camera users. The only real difference is that digital uses a light sensitive chip instead of light sensitive film, so there is no need for chemical processing. Digital users should read on anyway, for this will provide a great deal of information that will be useful later on.

To understand film and photo paper think of Jello on a sheet of clear plastic. The Jello has a bunch of light-sensitive salt crystals suspended in it.THINK ABOUT SILVER, this metal is so light-sensitive it will turn black – tarnish – when exposed to light. The light sensitizes the silver and the oxygen in the air reacts with the silver that was hit by light and “oxidizes” -tarnishes – it.NOW PAY ATTENTION!!!!This is illustrates what a cross-section of film might look like.The “orange” bottom layer is the acetate (film) base, and the emulsion on top is laden with silver salt crystals

Those salt crystals are sensitive to light, and when hit by light rays and then developed by chemical oxidation, those salts will turn dark.

Salts not hit by light (i.e. black or dark rays) will be washed away. Think about this until it is clear and fixed in your mind.Below is a piece of film that has been exposed (a negative).

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Below is photographic paper that is exposed from that negative.

Look at the white jersey above, his number – 84 – appears black. Now that “white” jersey appears black and the number is white.HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED.FIRST, TO THE FILM ON THE LEFT:When the reflected light from #84 passed through the lens and hit the film, the white numbers sensitized the film a lot, and the black jersey reflected no light. So white numbers registered on the film and the black jersey did not. When we developed the film – by chemically oxidizing those silver salts that were sensitized by the light – the numbers became very black and the dark jersey, which reflected no light to the silver salts, came up clear and were washed away.NOW LET’S ZOOM IN ON THIS PLAYER….

and shine some light through this “negative” to a piece of photographic paper. A lot of light will pass through the “white” (or clear) portion that is his jersey. But, because the numbers are black, they will block light from getting though to the paper, so….. when we develop the paper we get this:

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A “positive” rendition of the scene… a photographic print! Because light passed through the white part of his jersey, the final print renders it black…. as it should be.Color photography, although too complicated to go into in detail here, looks similar:A COLOR NEGATIVE OF BRETT FAVRE

WILL PRINT UP LIKE THIS:

Color slides (transparencies) happen because the film basically has a few layers of silver salts that act as a negative and, during the processing, re-exposes the positive layers, thus giving you a positive image.HOT TIP OF THE DAY:The numbers and brand name you see on the edge of developed film were put there by the film maker. If those letters and numbers are not solid black … the film was not developed properly. If the characters are lighter – grayish – the film was under-developed. And, if they are VERY black, the film was over-developed.Now, if you have the past pages well understood and fixed in your mind, it is time to get to the advanced photography goodies.

Nature CloseupWritten by: Digital PhotographyNATURE …. CLOSE UP Photography by John KirchnerYou are seeing this butterfly about twice it’s normal size. John took this beautiful image with a 100mm macro (close-up) lens and Kodak 800 Max film. Exposure was f11 at 1/500th, hand-held! See how this self-proclaimed “serious amateur” manages to generate these marvelous, first-rate images.

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I met John at the local drugstore where he was looking over his latest “take” of nature photos. On one roll of Kodak Max 800 film he had captured an astounding variety of beautiful macro photographs, including a praying mantis, a bee (full-frame), the buckeye butterfly (top of the page) and others. He is totally self-motivated, shooting for the love of photography and constantly challenging himself to improve. His “eye” is excellent and his photographs are well composed. Whenever possible he tries to capture that “moment” that tells you something about the subject. He knows his subjects… “Praying mantis are fun to shoot,” he observes, “they will just sit there and stare at you.”.

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A painted-lady butterfly taken with Kodak Gold 100 film, with a 100mm macro lens hand-heldHis favorite “hunting ground” is a small garden maintained by the City of North Wildwood (NJ). He approaches his photography much like those wildlife photographers who stalk grizzlies and tigers. He knows their habits, is patient and quiet, sometimes even building blinds to camouflage himself in order to capture his subjects. If you wish to become an accomplished wildlife photographer, this is an excellent training lesson for you. It can be done simply, with a minimum of equipment, and the cost is low. John uses an older Minolta X7000 SLR camera with two lenses – a 100mm macro and a 500mm mirror. He does not use special filters, ring lights, reflectors or flashes. He keeps it simple, insisting that “more shots are messed up due to camera shake than anything else”. All of his shots are hand-held.For this shot, John built a “blind”, completely covering his bedroom window except for a small hole to poke the lens through. He pressed his 100mm macro (adding a 2X tele-extender) against the glass (to avoid camera shake) and made a few exposures.

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John captured this dragonfly with his 500mm mirror lens, which he usually uses for shooting egrets and other birds of the wetlands.. “It’s kind of tricky because you cannot change the aperture (it is fixed at f8) and the 500mm is hard to hold still. But I was intrigued by the dragonfly’s wings, the markings are different and I wanted to show the detail. Depth of field is so shallow that the wings on the left start to blur.Like most true photographers John prefers his anonymity – wants to be the proverbial “fly-on-the-wall”. He makes these marvelous images for himself. He makes no claims at being an expert and has shown little interest in selling them nor does he ask for recognition. He would, of course, be thrilled to see his works published.  So, if you are interested in publishing any photos from his vast “Nature Up Close” collection, you may contact him by writing to:John Kirchner303 E. Nashville Ave.Wildwood Crest, NJ 08260

Simply an incredible close-up of a common fly. John made this image with his trusty Minolta X7000 SLR camera with a 100mm macro lens. Exposure was f11 at 1/500th with Kodak Max 800 film, hand-

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African Photo Safari

Yes, photo safaris are expensive. And you'll need a big lens to bring back decent pictures. Still, put it on your list of things to do.

Version info:2/11/04: removed Amazon link for Lanting's out of print

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book. 7/25/07: did some rework and rewording

It's built into our genes. Many centuries ago, our ancestors wandered and hunted the African landscape amongst an overwhelming abundance of wild animals. In each of us is a primal urge to experience Africa for ourselves, even if it is from the safety of a Land Rover and the luxury of private, room-sized tents.

Elephants at sunset. Nikon N90s, 20-35mm f/2.8, Sensia, Singh-Ray graduated filter. Note that this is the same waterhole where the cover shot of Frans Lanting's Okavango book was made. Different time, different photograper, different look.

Africa's a big place, so just where do you go? The big three in my mind are Tanzania's Serengeti and nearby Ngorongoro, Kenya�s Masai Mara, and Botswana's Okavango. But hundreds of parks and preserves (some private) exist throughout Africa. Your basic choice is this: East Africa or South Africa.East Africa means Kenya and Tanzania and the primary locations that most people think of and visit when they say they "went on safari." Safari trips are extremely well established in these countries, readily available, and easy to access. That also generally means crowds, though. It's not unusual to see a dozen or more vehicles around a kill site or exotic animal. Many of the classic safari movies (remember Hatari?) and television specials (e.g. National Geographic) you've seen were done in these areas, though.South Africa means South Africa (duh) and Botswana (normally I'd add Zimbabwe to that, but current political conditions there are something we should discourage by not bringing in tourism dollars, in my opinion). Zambia (animals) and Namibia (scenery) are two oft-mentioned extensions, but usually aren't visited as a sole destination. Safaris are well established in South Africa and readily available, slightly less so in Botswana. South Africa, like Eastern Africa, has a more close-in-to-civilization feel than Botswana.If you're getting the idea I like Botswana, you're correct. The herd sizes tend to be smaller there (except, perhaps, for elephants), so you don't see the big mass movements you do in the Eastern African parks. On the other hand, most Botswana wildlife areas have tighter limits on number of visitors at one time, and you're much further from population centers, so there's much more of a remote feel to your trip. On one trip we went five straight days without seeing another group at one point. That's a lot different experience than seeing 24 Land Cruisers surrounding a kill in the Serengeti.No matter where you go, what will surprise you about Africa is that you didn't even realize there was such a variety of animal life to photograph. Take hoofed mammals, for example. You can probably name zebra and impala, but there are also dik-diks, elands, gazelles, gerenuks, gnu, oryx, topi, and waterbuck, to name just a few. Buffalo, hyena, hyrax, fox, jackal, mongoose, warthogs, and wild dogs probably don't roll off the tip of your tongue either, and we're just getting started. In short, get ready to be overwhelmed (and bring a good identification book!).A typical safari is done in a four-wheel vehicle�Land Cruisers and Land Rovers are the norm in Eastern Africa (more open vehicles are used in South Africa)�moving between tent camps and the occasional lodge. Your vehicle may have as many as eight other folk in it, though the best tours try to restrict photographic safaris to a maximum of four shutterbugs per vehicle (two is perfect, three is perfectly acceptable in a Land Cruiser). Some of the vehicles are open seating, but many are more traditional, with �moonroofs� that can be flipped or rolled back to allow for photography or closed to keep dust out during drives.Shooting from vehicles is an art in itself. You need a wide range of focal lengths to maximize your possible shots, and even with support, you and your vehicle-mates will need to develop protocols to keep from shaking the vehicle while someone is shooting. Beanbags work well for support on all but the open vehicles, but I found that I got the best support by splaying the legs of a small tripod flat across the roof opening (I tend to gravitate towards a rear corner, so I can do this out of the way of the others). Alternatively, use a support designed for vehicles, like Kirk Enterprises Window Mount. Bring the very best tripod head you can afford, as you're going to readjusting your framing almost constantly.Monopods are also useful if outfitted as Really Right Stuff suggests (Bogen swivel head). In short, be prepared to use multiple, flexible ways to get support for your long lenses.35mm users need a minimum of a 500mm lens, preferably with a 1.4x or 2x extender. A fast 80-200mm zoom and your wide angle of preference should round out your basic kit. If you have a Nikon digital SLR, you�re finally going to find a reason to love that 1.5x focal length effect imposed by the small CCD sensor. Suddenly your 70-300mm lens

Why Go?It�s better than Out of Africa even begins to hint at, and you�ve been dreaming about going since your were a kid watching Tarzan films (or Lion King for you younger folk).Lucky ShotRhinos are rare, so any shot you get of one in the wild is a huge bonus. However, to optimize your chances, try:Etosha, Namibia for black rhinoHluhluwe-Umfolozi, South Africa for white rhino

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becomes an almost perfect wildlife lens (100-450mm), and your 500mm is a eyeball-grabbing 750mm. Basically, you need a mid-range zoom and a longer lens (zoom or fixed). And you'll probably want them permanently mounted on two bodies, as you don't want to be constantly changing lenses due to dust. My current choice is a D2xs with a 70-200mm f/2.8 VR and a D2xs with a 200-400mm f/4 VR. That leaves me a little short of where I'd truly like to be (500mm) at the long end, but for more reach I just crop rather than risk dust entry by putting on a TC. You still need an occassional wide angle shot, so bring a good compact camera for that, or a third body with one of the 18-x zooms.All-in-one compact digital camera users are going to be swearing at their lenses and cameras on safari, as virtually none have the reach you'll need, none have the aperture you'll need at full telephoto extension, and none have the focus speed for anything moving. Because the animals often are moving, but you need to stop the vehicle and shut off the motor in order to take vibration free photos. It seems as if you always need just a few more millimeters of telephoto, and most all-in-ones have none to give. Shooting at f/5.6 or f/6.3 at long telephoto distances makes for shutter speeds that aren't good enough, which makes you bump ISO up; again, a weakness of the compact cameras. And finally, I haven't seen a compact camera that can follow focus on fast action the way a DSLR can.Bottom line: Use a DSLR and invest in (or rent) the longest telephoto you can find, but make sure to practice shooting animals with them (hint: try the zoo) long before you arrive in Africa, as there are framing and focus issues you need to master.Most safaris spend a few days in one location, returning to a tent camp each night, then move the whole operation to another area and repeat the process. On two-week safaris, most tours book a stop at a fixed lodge midway, while shorter tours usually end up at one. While camp conditions range from upscale backpacking to oh-my-god-this-tent-is-bigger-and-fancier-than-my-bedroom-at-home, you should expect to rough it, at least a bit. That means everything from being ready to pack up quickly to putting up with some dust and bugs.But the pictures you'll bring back are worth every bit of �putting up with� you have to do, and you'll come home with renewed respect for your ancestors.

Must See and Photograph

The Big Cats: leopards, lions, and cheetahs are surprisingly easy to find and photograph, though getting pictures of them hunting or with a kill is a hit or miss proposition. Herds. Seeing a herd of cattle on a farm is one thing, but standing at the edge of thousands of animals is a photographer�s dream. Elephants at Sunset. Sunsets in Africa are Sunkist-orange and spectacular. What better to photograph in silhouette against that dramatic sky than the real lord of the land?The Forgotten Animals. Monitor lizards, hyenas, wild dogs, asps, chameleons, and a much wider range of birds than you'd expect are all there if you look hard enough in the right places.

top | homeThe EssentialsMultiple camera bodiesMidrange and longrange telephoto optionsDust abbaitment and cleaning toolsMultiple, flexible support devices (beanbags, monopods, clamps, etc.)Tons of storage (16GB a day can be the norm if you're lucky)Power adapters, perhaps even solar charging ability

Practical Advice Bring zipper-lock bags to keep your camera in between shooting sessions. Dust is omnipresent and small enough to crawl through every gap in your camera�s body. 35mm users: bring a dust brush and check the pressure plate and rails on your camera every time you load a roll of film. Digital users: dust on the CCD sensor is a quality killer that requires expensive cleaning, so be extra careful with your camera, especially when changing lenses. Likewise, use trash bags to cover your entire camera case.Bring the longest telephoto you can afford. 35mm users: consider renting a 500mm f/4 or 600mm f/4 and extenders if you don't already own them. D1 users: you can get by with a 400mm, especially if you bring a 1.4x extender. Coolpix users: The Nikon 3X only gets a Coolpix 990 up to about 350mm (35mm equivalent), and you're going to want 500mm or 600mm equivalents. I've tried the Kenko 8x spotting scope on my Coolpix, which gets me to over 1000mm, but the quality isn't as good as I�d like and focus is a real headache. Invest in a beanbag. A high quality bean bag can provide exceptional and versatile support options, allowing you to shoot out vehicle windows, etc.

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Get a car adapter for your recharger. But check first with your tour operator to see what voltage their vehicles produce. I've encountered both 12 and 16 volts.Special Travel AdviceCheck the CDC�s Web site to find out what shots and medications you need, and get them as early as possible (except for those that are only effective for short periods, such as gamma gobulin shots).Larium (the most commonly prescribed malaria preventative) has strange effects on some people. I had hallucinations and personality changes on the evening that I took my weekly pill. If you're taking the medicine correctly, you'll know that well before you get on the plane, giving your doctor a chance to prescribe an alternative.

Best Book for PhotographersWith plenty of competition, I�d still say that Joe McDonald's Photographing on Safari is the most informative for someone trying to make the most of a photographic adventure. McDonald's advice on metering off various animals is spot on, and hard to find anywhere else. Unfortunately, this book is now out of print (though you can often find used copies in Amazon's Z-Shops). A photo book by McDonald that's inspirational and still in print is African Wildlife.

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Bottom of FormFun with FlashesWritten by: Carrie ButlerThe last wedding reception I photographed was a little cute backyard wedding, and they had strung up bulb lights and colored lanterns across the yard. I knew I wanted to take some photos of the bride and groom as the sun went down, but I knew they had limited time, so I grabbed another couple and had them pose for me so I could get my settings right before I dragged bride and groom away from their guests. I took a couple of shots. The first shot is all natural light, no flash.

I exposed for their faces, as a result, you can’t really appreciate the colors behind them, not to mention, I had to slow the shutter speed way down to get their faces exposed. The settings for this first photo are ISO 640, shutter speed is 1/8 and aperture is 2.8. They are kind of washed out and blurry, even though I had my camera on a monopod. The second photo, I turned my flash on in the auto mode, ttl, and I exposed for the light behind them. My shutter speed was 1/60, everything else was the same, but see how the colors are so much more vibrant and they are nicely lit? See how the blue sky actually shows up instead of that washed out sky in the first picture?

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Awesome, right? So after the practice, when the bride and groom were ready, we had a few seconds to snap some photos, and this is what we got!

The last picture I put a little yellow on, I couldn’t help but think of that scene from Tangled with this one.. Stay tuned, the next post will be about using your flash off camera.

What is HDR?Written by: Derek WattersonHDR refers to High Dynamic Range. Dynamic Range is the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of photographs that still show detail. For most people that probably doesn’t mean much. It will help you to see the difference:

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The image on the left is a sunset photograph with normal dynamic range. The image to the right is a sunset with high dynamic range (HDR). The image to the left  wasn’t edited at all while the photo to the right was highly edited in order to have the high dynamic range, or the high level of detail throughout the photograph even though shot has a high range of lights and darks. In fact, the photograph wasn’t even one photograph. The reality is it took many photographs to make this one photograph.Photo Editing to Achieve a High Dynamic Range (HDR)The way that photographers achieve photographs with a very high dynamic rangesuch as the one above is by combining different exposures of a photograph where the detail can get captured at each exposure and then the best of each photograph is combined. Sound like a lot of work? Luckily we have computers to do most of the heavy lifting, and new gadgets such as the iPhone 4 do all the merging within the device.Or, if you can prefer you can use your favorite photo editing software like Photoshop. In photoshop you just go to File > Automate > Merge to HDR.It used to be when moving from film to digital your camera automatically looses a few stops of dynamic range because the digital sensors are not as capable of capturing the details of the brightest and darkest parts of the photograph as film. Although digital had once lost the battle of dynamic range, it’s now only because of digital technologies we can achieve photographs like the one below.

ISO and Dynamic RangeA lower ISO sensitivity provides a higher dynamic range. In other words an ISO 0f 50 provides more detail throughout the photograph than an ISO of 400.HDR Mimics the EyeThe thing that makes HDR so wonderful is that it get’s photographs closer than they’ve ever been before to being what we see. Our eyes instantaneously refocus as we look from a dark area to a light, and we see an incredible amount of detail. HDR allows cameras to match that ability and even move beyond it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 16th, 2010 at 3:24 pm and is filed under Advanced,Digital Photography, Film, Photo Editing, Photography Lessons, Professional Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackbackfrom your own site.2 Responses to “What is HDR?”Tom on November 18th, 2010 at 12:03 amI do HDR all of the time. I mostly use Photomatix when it won’t butcher the image and force me to do it manually. One thing I can say for tips is if you have the time to do a double bracket. Some cloudy days and some situations with the lights in all the wrong places will make even a properly bracketed set of images come out bland. I take two triple sets most of the time for 6 total pictures to merge. You’ll need a tripod, of course. Take the -3,-2,-1,0,1,2 and if your camera lets you do it, grab that way overexposed +3 if you can. When you get back to the computer, look through them and see what you get in terms of details. You may want to use just a few, or all of them to merge. Another tip is for night shots. If you need to capture lights grab an exposure that has just the brightest lights in it with the rest being

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black. When merged you’ll get alot of the “sparklies” that your eyes see from the lights at night.Nameless on January 15th, 2011 at 4:16 pmThose pictures are amazing. You’ve convinced me to look into HDR photTelephoto Lens for LandscapesWritten by: Steve GuymonThe vast majority of landscape photography is done with wide angle lenses. One, very common use is capturing wide and dramatic panoramas. Often, however, the scene’s grandeur and majesty doesn’t compress well into a single photograph. After you have shot some wide-angle images, do photographically what your eyes do- zoom in on a component of the scene. There are always additional subjects within a photograph, so put on a longer focal length lens and shoot some detail. These shots will have impact since telephoto lenses tend to compress distance to record details a wide-angle lens cannot.

Use your tripod! Long focal lengths amplify any camera shake, so lock down the camera and tripod. Don’t introduce shake with your shutter finger but instead consider using a remote shutter release or self timer to trigger the shutter.Look at the other photographers- they’re stuck on wide-angle lens and won’t get the impactful images you’re getting!What and WhyIt’s extremely rare to see a cloudless McKinley. The photograph above was taken by aNikon D700 camera through a Nikon 70-200mm lens at 105mm (which is about two times magnified). To get maximum clarity throughout the entire distance, I set the aperture at f/22 using the aperture priority setting, plus to get the maximum detail I used a low ISO of 400. I used the pattern exposure setting with an exposure compensation of -0.7 to get more saturation. The camera selected a shutter speed of 1/180 second which, although slow, was acceptable since the camera was mounted on a Gitzo G-1410 tripod with a Really Right Stuff BH-55 ball head.  To eliminate any possible camera movement, I tripped the shutter with a release cable that required two squeezes since I used the mirror lock up.

Hyperfocal: Range of FocusWritten by: Steve GuymonRange of Focus (Hyperfocal)

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The area in a photograph, from near to far, which appears to be in sharp focus is called “depth of field” (probably better called “range of focus”). The laws of light physics and optics dictate this sharply focused area extends from one-third the distance in front of the point of focus to two-thirds beyond.  To maximize the area in sharp focus:  simply select a focus spot one-third of the way into the scene.Doing this, the front third and the back two-thirds will be in focus to maximize the range of sharp focus.  (You should use your camera’s multi selector button to place your camera’s focus point on this spot to preserve your composition.)  Focusing here, coupled with an aperture of f/22, will give you the widest possible range of focus throughout the image.What and HowThis image of the frequently photographed Moulton barn and Grand Tetons is actually a High Dynamic Range composite of five bracketed exposures.  It was shot off a stout tripod and ball head by a Nikon D700 camera through a Nikon 70-200mm lens set at 78mm.  To maximize the range of sharp focus, an aperture of f/22 was selected.  The D700’s full frame sensor handles light well, so I chose ISO-800 to get a shutter speed of 1/250.

Tack SharpWritten by: Steve Guymon

What does “tack sharp” mean?It means everything in the image that should be sharply in focus is sharply in focus. You know it when you see it. It’s one of the first components of a photograph your eye

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instinctively recognizes. If the element of the photograph you want to convey isn’t “tack sharp”, your viewer’s eye will wander through the image looking for the focus point. No matter what other positive elements the photograph contains, an out-of-focus photograph should be immediately deleted. Never show bad photographs!“Tack sharp” results from blending mechanical set up with artistic skills.Set up your camera with the lowest ISO possible. (You may have to use a higher ISO if your subject moves so the shutter speed is fast enough to avoid blurring). Stabilize your camera by using your tripod. Trip the shutter without introducing movement by using a cable release, a self timer, or the mirror lockup. Select an image quality setting like JPEG-fine/Large which yields high resolution images. A fill flash will illuminate areas so they’ll be sharper.Choosing the aperture gives the photographer the most artistic control. A small aperture (f/16) gives a deeper range of sharp focus while a large aperture (f/4) allows the subject to be in sharp focus while the rest of the image is muted. This tends to concentrate the viewer’s attention on the area in focus.Focus on the eyes. People instinctively look at your subject’s eyes. If the eye is in focus, other components will be secondary and accepted.Thank technology for digital camera LCD review screens! Simply take a test shot and then zoom in to verify its “tack sharp”.