Photo tips, pro advices!
by Marc Reardon, photographer (Read his biography here)
1- Perfect outdoor exposure without using a light meter
Here is a simple rule that will guarantee perfect exposures to your slides or negatives:
1/ASA in seconds at f22 on snow or white sand
1/ASA in seconds at f16 full sun
1/ASA in seconds at f11 cloudy
1/ASA in seconds at f8 rainy
1/ASA in secondes at f4 open shadow
Example: you use a 125 ASA film in direct sun light. You then set the speed of your camera to 1/125 sec. with an f16 aperture.
With a 500 ASA film on a cloudy day, the camera speed will be 1/125 sec. and the aperture set at f11. This method often leads to more precise results than the ones obtained with built-in light meters.
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2- Apertures vs camera speeds
Explanation: you will get the same results, whatever the film speed you are using, by choosing any one of the equivalences shown in this chart. As told, if you choose to work at 1/30 sec. at f16, you could as well work at 1/500 sec. at f4 if your subject is moving and you want to freeze the action and end with a more precise picture.
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3- Foreground in a landscape
When shooting a landscape, try to include a foreground to give a three-dimensional depth, a perspective to your main topic. The foreground may be a nice fence, tree branch or some cut flowers that you will hold close to the camera lens. Frame your subject normally, then before shooting, bring carefully your foreground close to the camera lens. It will appear a little blur in the final picture, this is precisely the desired effect to bring out your landscape.
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4- Horizontal, vertical, or square?
Often the beginner photographer wonders whether he should compose his picture vertically or horizontally. The general rule is to frame the portraits vertically and the landscapes horizontally. The important thing however is to avoid any unnecessary part in a photo in order to maintain the impact of the composition. With 2 strips of black paper, try, starting from first side, then top and bottom of the picture, eliminating everything that adds nothing to the picture or that is not essential (background unnecessary characters cut to the shot, pieces of arms or legs that do not belong to the subject, empty spaces ...).
Another rule is that a square photo appears often more dynamic than a rectangular image. After all, Mr Hasselblad did he not built his marvel so that it can use a 6cm x 6cm format , which is a perfect square?
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5- Bounce-lighting for portraits
Rather than directly illuminating your subject, bounce your light source (bulb with parabolic reflector, flash, etc..) at a large white cardboard placed at 45 degrees to the subject. The ideal is to position your lamp slightly above the head of the model. Be careful with light rays that could enter through the camera lens and cause various problems, like a splash or a white dot in the photo. To avoid this, place a small black box near the camera lens fixed with tape or a small paper clip.
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6- Show me your hands!
The inclusion of the hands of the model in a portrait adds a note of sensuality, charm, or even playfulness. Remember to ask the person you are shooting to get his hands near his face, his neck or his shoulders. This will surely add a professional atmosphere to your photo.
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7- Lovely portraits with back light
A few years ago, a rule said always shoot with the sun in your back. This was because the film emulsions were not very sensitive and cameras had a maximum aperture of f8 or f11. But things have changed and today, the best advice we can give is to shoot facing the sun in order to enhance your subject with a very artistic. You should, however, use one to two lens openings wider in order to expose correctly the subject in the shadows. Another option would be to place a white reflector (cardboard, newspaper, cloth...) very close to the subject in order to return a portion of light coming from the rear. Again, attention to rear parasite rays that could reach the lens and ruin the effect!
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8- Close-up tubes and bellows
One of the most exciting aspects of photography is unquestionably the macro photography. It plunges you into a magical and fascinating universe. Its challenges are also high and amateurs often become discouraged after a few failures. This part of photography also requires special tools: extension rings or flexible bellows in order to remove the lens of the camera, or the use of a special lens called "macro" such as the Nikon AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED ($ 800). Better than a traditional macro, extension rings (economic) or bellows (much more expensive) can renter details such as tiny parts of insects, pistils and stamens of flowers, the blue iris of your six months baby!
Macro photography allows you to get very close to the subject. To do so, remove the camera lens, insert a ring or bellows extension, replace the lens on the ring or bellows. Contrary to a normal photo, the depth of field will be extremely reduced in macro photography and you must compensate for the loss of brightness due to the distance of the subject. You'll need a tripod to minimize camera shake and a small flash with extension cable to be placed close to your subject. Our goal here is not to explain in detail the technical macro photography, some sites provide specialized information on the subject, we just want to give you a taste of you venturing into this vast world of small details that are often invisible to the naked eye.
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9- Night shots Don't hesitate to bring your camera outside in the dark.
Here you will need a solid tripod and a flexible trigger in order to eliminate vibration during long exposures. Make your first test as follows: full aperture, exposure time: 1, 5, 30, 60 seconds, 3, 5, 10 minutes. Much will depend on the brightness of the subject. For long red and white streaks left by the headlights of cars, allow approximately 1 minute of exposure at full opening as a starting point. Choose a high point of view, the camera pointing down, where the cars pass. You can also place a cross screen filter or a mosquito screen in front of the lens to provide a magical and glamorous mood.
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10- Porcelain effect
Xero Graphics offers 41 free plugins for Photoshop which are very useful. There is one in particular that we use regularly which is called "porcelain". It is used both in landscape and portraits. This filter, as its name suggests, gives a look of porcelain to the subject, removing skin defects and adding a "dream" effect to your landscapes and still lives.
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11- Charm and nylon stockings
A very simple way to make diffused portraits is by using a rubber band and a piece of nylon stocking fixed to the front of the lens. You will get a marked softening of traits and this method is particularly suitable for female or child portraits. You will probably have, according to the chosen lighting, to increase the contrast of the photo to get a good tonal balance, which may be achieved by choosing a hard paper contrast, or in a photo treatment software such as Photoshop, Picture It, Paintshop Pro or The Gimp.
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12- Digital photo optimisation
You will find on the site of AKVIS, "Enhancer", a software that is not free but is very useful in some cases to improve the parameters of a cliche. Thanks to HDRI (High Dynamic Range Imaging) technology, we can expand the dynamic range of the image and view details in shadows and highlights. This software allows to recover details in the overexposed areas, under-exposed and mid tones of an image. Corrections are radical: you won't recognize your pictures!
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13- A breath of life
Here is an extremely simple but highly effective technique to get a soft mood in your pictures: you drop the mist of your breath on a neutral density filter placed in front of the lens and you wait a few seconds, while looking through the viewfinder, till the desired effect is achieved. Nothing is easier! Excellent for any kind of subject: portraits, landscapes, still lives. This technique was used extensively by the famous British photographer David Hamilton in the 70's.
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