better photo tips

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www.betterphoto.com TIP BOOKLET Use these handy tips from the pros to create photos with “WOW” impact. Jim Miotke, Founder, BetterPhoto.com BetterPhoto .com ® THE BETTER WAY TO BETTER YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY

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Page 1: Better photo tips

www.betterphoto.com

TIP BOOKLETUse these handy tips from the pros to create photos with “WOW” impact.

Jim Miotke,Founder, BetterPhoto.com

BetterPhoto.com®THE BETTER WAY TO BETTER YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY

Page 2: Better photo tips

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Tips by Kerry Drager

1. Developing a Tripod WorkflowI use a tripod for every landscape scene - to achieve the best in image quality and to fine-tune my compositions. But that doesn’t mean I break out the tripod immediately upon seeing a subject I like. After making the effort to expand the tripod legs and lock the camera in place, it’s verrrrry tempting to stay put, without fully exploring the subject. That’s not the artistic approach!

Instead, the tripod set-up should come near the end of the creative process, not the beginning! Let me explain my tripod “workflow”:

When I come across a promising landscape scene, I set the tripod aside (assuming there’s a safe place). Then, with camera in hand, I’ll wander around in search of the best viewpoint, the right lens focal length, etc. Only when I’ve lined up the approximate shot do I grab the tripod, attach the camera, and frame the composition just the way I envisioned it.

2. Composition: Don’t Stop Now ... Keep ShootingWhenever I find a photogenic (and static) scene that really motivates me, I work it every which way I can within whatever time constraints I have. This means trying different compositions, different focal lengths, or different lighting angles. But this process also might mean the following:• Try different f/stops ... in order to experiment with the depth of field (the range of

sharpness in a scene that has front-to-back depth).• Try different shutter speeds ... in order to experiment with subject motion - by freezing

the action or by showing a soft blur of movement.

Kerry’s Photo Courses:

4-Week Course: Creative Close-ups8-Week Course:Creative Light and Composition

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Tip by Ibarionex Perello

1. Great Light for Outdoor PortraitsThe kind of light I often favor is open shade. I don’t like the look of direct sunlight in many of my portraits, because the contrast is often too high and you get some harsh shadows on the face particularly beneath the brow, the nose and chin. By finding some open shade, I have the benefit of more diffused and soft light, which produces a more pleasing result. A cloudy or overcast day is an ideal time to be making portraits because it provides the same kind of soft light provided by open shade.

I received a great tip from a great photographer and fellow BetterPhoto instructor, Neil Silverman. While we were walking in San Francisco making photographs, he pointed out that it was a good idea to look at the light reflected off large white surfaces like a building. The light reflected off the wall produced an amazing quality of light, which is just beautiful. It’s similar to the quality of light produced by a giant softbox. It’s taught me to not only pay attention to where the original light source is coming from, but also what it is reflecting off of.

Ibarrionex’s Photo Courses:

4-Week Courses: Learning the Canon EOS 40DLearning the Canon EOS 5D Mark II CameraLearning the Nikon D60Learning the Olympus EvoltPortrait Photography Using Available LightPosing and Portraiture TechniquesThe Pursuit of Light8-Week Courses: DSLR Features: When, Why and How to Use Them

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Tips by Brenda Tharp

1. Analyzing a Photograph’s EffectivenessIf you look at your picture in front of you quickly, you can often see what grabs your attention right away, and where the eyes travels. If you try to do this after you’ve been looking at something else for a few seconds or minutes, it’s easier. I put my picture up on my computer, then I look at a magazine or something on my desk, for a moment or two, and when I look back at the computer, I’m mentally ready to analyze what grabbed my attention first, where my eye traveled, etc., and what things I found distracting. I have used this in classes, where I will have everyone look at the projected image, and then I’ll move off it, then move back to it, and ask them right before I change to quickly ‘read’ the picture when it comes up. That first impression tells us so much about how well we did with composing our picture.

2. Getting sharper pictures in low lightIf you are working in low light conditions, and are hand-holding or using a monopod, here’s an idea that will help you get sharper pictures.

Put your camera on continuous frame shooting mode, and hold the shutter release down for three or four frames. The ones in the middle will typically be sharper, as pressing the shutter can cause camera shake, and releasing it can, too. The ones in the middle will be made with the button already down. This works for film and digital cameras, although digital compacts are harder to do this on because of the shutter lag

Brenda’s Photo Courses:

4-Week Courses: Travel Photography: Capturing the Spirit of a Place8-Week Courses: Creating Visual Impact

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Tips by Jim Zuckerman

1. The Visual Power of Ultra Wide Angle Lenses by Jim ZuckermanOne of the ways in which I dramatize subjects, whether I’m shooting architecture, people, landscapes, or anything else, is to use ultra wide angle lenses. I consider ‘ultra wide’ to be focal lengths in the 10mm to 16mm range for less-than-full-frame sensor cameras (remember that for Nikon and Canon cameras you have to multiply the focal length by 1.5x and 1.6x, respectively, to determine the real focal length of the lens), and for full frame cameras focal lengths 20mm or less is ultra wide.

The closer you place the foreground to a wide angle lens, the more distortion you’ll get. Sometimes this isn’t what you want; in other instances, it produces amazing images that you’ll love. In the extreme, you can create outrageous pictures that will crack people up, especially if the subjects happen to be funny anyway - like cows (I don’t know what it is about cows, but they make people laugh).

Using a lens like this is a way to design your images in a dramatic way. It does not duplicate what you see with your eyes at all, but it’s a valid and intriguing way to photograph many subjects. When tripods are allowed (like here), you have the luxury of being able to close the lens down for maximum depth of field. Even though ultra wide angle lenses have tremendous depth of field, when foreground objects are placed very close to the camera position, the distant background won’t be as sharp as you’d like if you use a large aperture like f/2.8 or f/4.

2. Hold Your Breath, Low-vs.-High ISOHere are thoughts on ensuring that your photos are just as sharp as you want them to be:

• When you are forced to shoot in a low-light situation without a tripod, hold your breath as you very gently push the shutter button. Don’t pounce on the shutter with enthusiasm and end up with a blurred image. Lean against a wall or brace yourself against a rock -- anything you can find - for stability. That will help you get sharp images.

• Don’t use an ISO that is inappropriately reduced for low lighting situations. We all should be shooting at 100 ISO or thereabouts to minimize digital noise. But ... there is no point in going this low if your pictures won’t be sharp. If you are not using a tripod, you have to adjust your ISO until your shutter speed is fast enough to hand hold the camera. Making your pictures noise-free is irrelevant if they will be blurred.

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Jim’s Photo Courses:

4-Week Courses: Making Masterpieces with Corel PainterStock PhotographyTaking the Mystery Out of Flash PhotographyTechniques of Natural Light PhotographyWildlife Photography8-Week Courses: Developing Your Creative Artistic VisionEight Steps to More Dramatic PhotographyFundamentals of Photography Made EasyMaking Money with Your PhotographyPerfect Digital ExposurePhotoshop: Advanced Creative TechniquesPhotoshop: Creative TechniquesPhotoshop: Thinking Outside the BoxSelf-Discovery in Photography: Where Does Your Passion Lie?

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Tips by Tony Sweet

1. A Key to Flower Photography Success: Background!Watch out for busy backgrounds, hot spots, black holes, and extraneous elements entering the frame. In fact, the background is at least as important as the subject. Nothing can kill an image quicker than a busy background. There may be as little as an inch or less of camera repositioning to go from a distracting background to a pleasing, detail-less, muted background.

2. Have Your Toothbrush?Dust and small particles can get into dials and other nooks and crannys on camera equipment, digital and film based cameras and all lenses. This is quite prevalent if one shoots on beaches, dunes, or just out in the wind. Also, if your stuff is just sitting around for a while, it can accumulate dust.

I always keep an old toothbrush in each of my camera bags and have often found it the “right tool for the right job” to get sand and dust out of tight areas on cameras and lenses!

Tony’s Photo Courses:

4-Week Courses:Creative Nature/Outdoor Photos with LensbabiesHigh Dynamic Range (HDR) PhotographyMastering the Nikon D200 and D2X/D2XsMastering the Nikon D3 and D700Mastering the Nikon D3008-Week Courses:Fine Art Flower PhotographyImage Design: Revealing Your Personal Vision

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Tips by Susan and Neil Silverman

1. Finding Lost ImagesIf you have ever mistakenly deleted your images from your compact flash card, all may not be lost. Most of the card makers provide a software program that you can download and it will help to retrieve almost all of your images, even if your camera may tell you that there are no photos on that card. When you purchase a card, check the manufacturer’s Web site for downloadable retrieval software. And if you are traveling with your laptop, keep it on your computer. Hopefully, it will be one program that you do not need!

2. Close Up Lenses-An AlternativeWe like the macro and micro lenses the best BUT a great inexpensive way to get wonderful effects is to purchase the Nikon diopters even if you shoot with a different model camera than Nikon. They come in a 52-mm filter thread size and in a 62-mm thread size. We recommend that you get either the 3t, 4t set or the 5t, 6t set (this is the 62-mm ones) and then purchase a set of stacking rings to hold them securely when you are not using them. If you have a set of 3t and 4t, then you can use just one of them or you can stack them and use them both together. We usually use these on a zoom lens such as a 80 to 200 zoom or thereabouts. Or they can be used on a macro or micro lens as well. If your lens does not have a thread size that corresponds to 52-mm or 62-mm, then you will need to purchase a step-up ring or a step-down ring - whichever is appropriate for your lens/diopter combination, and then screw that on the lens and screw the diopter into the other side of the ring. This will allow you to focus much closer to the subject or object and therefore get more magnification.

Susan and Neil’s Photo Courses:

8-Week Course:Out and About with Your CameraUnderstanding Digital PhotographyUnderstanding Digital Photography: Beyond the Basics

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Tips by Rob Sheppard

1. Impact of Black-and-WhiteBlack-and-white photography has gained a resurgence of interest that is well-deserved. But it has to be good. The simple conversion of color to black-and-white through any program using one option such as Grayscale or Desaturate is often disappointing. The key to a good conversion is to think of it as a translation of color to specific shades of gray. The wrong shades of gray will make a photo look bad, yet the right shades of gray will make it look great.

The latest versions of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements have good black-and-white conversion features that can be helpful if you really play with the controls rather than simply accepting the first look you see. This can definitely mean some playing around with those adjustments, seeing bad black-and-white and good. I like the controls in Lightroom 2, which are similar to those in Photoshop CS4 in that you can create an ‘activated cursor’ where you click the cursor on something in the photo, the program finds the right color for you, and you drag the cursor up and down (Lightroom) or left and right (CS4) to get the color the right shade of gray.

I also think very highly of Nik Software Silver Efex if you are really serious about black-and-white. This is a plug-in for Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Lightroom. It has a lot of presets that can quickly get you a look you like, plus it has a lot of control over how colors are changed to gray as well as quickly giving you overall control of the tonality and contrast of the image.

2. Going ‘Auto’ with Aperture Priority ... by Rob SheppardAperture priority is a fine way to use auto exposure. Many pros do exactly that (including me). I know some photographers would have you always do manual exposure. I used to feel that way years ago, but having worked with so many great camera models over my years at Outdoor Photographer magazine, I don’t feel that way at all.

You can use auto exposure just as effectively as manual exposure if you pay attention to such things as highlight warnings and histograms. You can be just as accurate as manual exposure and faster in many cases. This is not a case for quitting using manual exposure if that works for you, but for feeling guilt-free if you don’t use manual exposure.

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Rob’s Photo Courses:

4-Week Course:Composition Boot CampCreating Storytelling PhotosCreative Flash PhotographyGuaranteed Better PhotographySuccessful Publication PhotographyThe Magic of F-stops: Choosing the Right Aperture8-Week Course: Impact in Your Photographs: The Wow Factor

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Tips by Charlotte K. Lowrie

1. How to Photograph FireworksFor those of you who are in the United States or elsewhere where fireworks will be a feature of summer activity, I thought I’d share my tips on exposing for fireworks. This technique works for fireworks at a good distance away, not for close-up shooting.

1. Mount the camera on a tripod and point the lens toward the area where the fireworks will explode.

2. Use a telephoto lens or set the lens you have to the longest telephoto zoom setting.3. Focus the lens on infinity - the farthest point at which the lens will focus. For setup, focus

on a distant tree or rock or star.4. Set the camera to M (Manual) mode. Then set the exposure thusly:

• ISO: 200• Aperture: f/11• Shutter Speed: 1/3rd sec.

Now it’s a matter of timing to catch the explosions at their peak before the smoke begins to form. Take some practice shots, and you’ll soon get the hang of it. Then you can take a seat next to the camera, pressing the shutter button once in awhile as you enjoy the show!

You can also capture multiple bursts on the same frame by setting the camera to Bulb and using a black card to cover the lens between bursts. When a burst happens that you want to capture, remove the black card from the lens for a few seconds, and then replace the black card until another burst happens. This takes some practice, but can result in great shots! It’s also advisable to use a cable release instead of pressing the shutter button with your finger.

2. It’s all about the pictureDespite all the technology involved with digital photography, photography is still “all about the picture.” With every image, evaluate all of the elements in the frame; do they support the “story” you’re telling or distract from it? Does the lighting set the mood for the story you want to tell? What aperture or shutter speed best reinforces the story? And, finally, evaluate what image editing techniques that will further emphasize the message. This is a lot to think about, but it pays big dividends in making strong, polished, memorable images.

Charlotte’s Photo Courses:

4-Week Courses:Camera Raw: From Capture to Finished PhotoLearning the Canon Digital Rebel CameraLearning the Canon EOS 50D

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Tip by Lynne Eodice

1. Utilizing Effective Framing ElementsUsing a foreground element to create a frame within the photo’s frame can be a very effective compositional tool. The framing element not only isolates and emphasizes a subject, but also gives the picture a feeling of depth. It can also serve to obscure distracting details or to create an interesting foreground where none exists. Some frames, like an overhanging tree branch, seem so natural that we’re not always conscious of their presence, just the pleasing effects. Framing devices work best when they’re somehow thematically related to the subject, such as a tree branch framing an interesting rock formation in the background—both are objects found in nature.

Lynne’s Photo Courses:

4-Week Course:Learning to Shoot Inspiring Images

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Tip by Deborah Sandidge

1. Compositional ChoicesFinding a great subject is essential in photography. How to compose for a great subject is the next challenge. Your first instincts about composition are good to follow; but also push yourself to additionally compose your subject in different ways. You might surprise yourself with what choice you like best.

Here are a few ideas… If your first inclination is to photograph in landscape orientation, let portrait orientation be your next choice. Try tilting your camera to the left or right to compose diagonally. This simple step often creates a more dynamic image. What happens if you use a LensBaby? Go for selective focus and softly blur all elements except your subject. Use a wide-angle lens for a composition that tells the whole story. Try isolating a section of your subject using a zoom lens. Compose for the rule of thirds, and then break the rules. Move around your subject, find light that is different, and photograph the shadows. Change your perspective by moving to your left, right, up or down. Photograph your subject in HDR, infrared, use multiple exposures, pan your subject, or consider a panorama. These compositional choices and techniques will expand the creative opportunities you have in photographing a great subject.

Deborah’s Photo Courses:

4-Week Course: Digital Infrared PhotographyEnhancing Images and Creating Works of Art

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Tips by Sean Arbabi

1. It’s all About the AnglesPhotography really is all about finding the best point of view. Sometimes creating a quality image means getting out of our five-to-six foot eye level - dropping down low or finding a higher perspective to take a photo. Both, on occasion, can provide cleaner backgrounds, a unique perspective that most don’t see everyday, and often give you a better composition.

2. Photographing People: Soft LightA common blunder that occurs when people photograph their family or friends is they position themselves between the sun and their subject, with the sun at their back, providing the most light on their subject’s face (imagine the sun behind you as you take a portrait of your family in front of you with full sunlight on their faces). This often causes the subject to squint heavily, since they are forced to stare directly into the sun, and the light now created on the subject and surroundings is flat and boring. Instead, try photographing them in soft ambient light - that is, non-directional light where it is equally intense everywhere, such as shade or the diffused light from an overcast sky. This offers little or no shadows on a face, providing beautiful soft light complimentary for most people.

Sean’s Photo Courses:

4-Week Course:Better Exposure: How to Meter Light

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Tips by Jim MiotkeMasterpiece Membership Shooting ChecklistInspired by Leland Saunders; Adapted by Jim Miotke and the Masterpiece Members

Be a part of something special... Join like-minded photographers and make masterpieces every month!

Before I go out• Batteries charged?• Got a spare?• Images backed up?• Memory cards cleared?• Memory card in camera?• Got extra memory?• What will I likely shoot? (Got “shot” list?)• Bringing the best lenses?• Got the tripod, remote, filters, etc.?• Model releases and notepad?

Before I shoot• Exposure Compensation off (or set

correctly)• Self-timer turned off?• Got the right lens?• Best white balance?• ISO where I want it?• Focus turned on?• Tripod secure?• Two second delay or remote?

As I shoot - Light & Exposure• What’s the light like?• What made me shoot this? What’s the main

subject?• What’s more important - aperture/DOF or

shutter speed?• Exposure mode and setting?• ND filter / position• Bracketing exposures or trying alternate

versions?

As I shoot - Composition• Fill the frame?• Perspective / point of view?• Vertical as well as horizontal?• Rule of thirds?• Leading lines?• Patterns or shape or texture?• Framing?• Foreground interest?• Background interest?• Any outstanding color?• Distractions? Simple and complementary

background?• Am I having fun yet?

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