basics of photography Archives - Page 2 of 2

Digital photography is a vast field of specialized knowledge. Well, even if not many non-photographers appreciate it (one of the reasons why we have to deal with questions like, how can you possibly charge that much for taking pictures?), we photographers know that because our blood sweat and guts are spilled every day scouting for locations, making images, editing them and then putting them up for someone to say, ‘nah I could have easily done it’. Nothing makes oneangrier. But then due to the inherent nature of photography, being both a visual art form and the fact that it is highly subjective, everyone reserves the right to make a comment. Read more...

One of the least used perspectives in photography is the low angle. I bet every photographer thinks why get my camera dirty when my tripod can stoop down to inches from the ground? Well, can your tripod set the camera actually on the ground? I don’t think so. Because that is one of the camera positions that I am referring to when I say low-angle. About a foot and a half from the ground is no good when you want to capture something that is crawling on the ground or you want to capture something so unique which nobody else thinks of. You have to set your camera on the ground. Read more...

Sometimes you may need to blur out the background of your images. Let’s say you are shooting portraiture outdoors and there is a cluttered background which you don’t want to incorporate into the final image. Well you could possibly move the subject away from that spot and place her somewhere with a nicer background. But, sometimes, moving the subject may not be feasible as the lighting may change or the location being a bit cluttered overall may not allow you too much flexibility, like in the image below. So what do you do in a situation like this? There is an easier and more practical method.

As a photographer, digital or otherwise, one thing that you need to have a good idea of is the camera metering mode. By metering, I am referring to the process of assessing the light that is reflected off a surface and then the evaluation of the right exposure values for a properly exposed picture. All modern digital cameras employ the reflected light method when it comes to metering a scene; meaning, it actually measures how much light is reflected and not how much light falls on it. This process has its own limitations, but, we shall not be delving deeper into that. Here, however, we shall be looking at how to use the right metering mode for a given scene. Read more...