DSLR Archives - Page 3 of 3

Don’t copy the masters’ style blindly, create your own style

Growing up as photographers one of the biggest source of guidance are the works created by already established photographers. It does not have to be one of the classical masters such as Ansel Adams or Henri Cartier-Bresson or even the pioneers of photography such as Peter Henry Emerson; even contemporary photographers working at the present time can also serve as undeniable influences in one’s formative years. To be honest, one’s inspiration has a lasting impact on one’s work. Having said that, however, great photographers have always found a way to make their work stand out from their masters and the clutter of work produced by others. Read more...

Photography inspiration: How to keep shooting images

As an amateur we see images taken by photographers like Eric Kim or Jeremy Cowart or Chase Jarvis or classical photographers like Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson and we figure out we could do the same if were to get a good enough camera. After all everybody raves and compliments our Facebook uploads! If we can be this good with our smartphones imagine what we can do with a professional DSLR? Thus, we save, and save and save and finally after a year of sacrificing some of our other indulgences, we finally get our hands on our dream cameras. The first few weeks after we receive our camera are exciting days. We wake up early in the morning, take images of anything that moves, make the exact same composition about a 100 times, each time thinking it is better than the last time and ask anybody we know to pose for a portrait session. We are truly one with our cameras. Read more...

Using Circular Polarizing Filter (a C-PL Filter)

Photographers shooting landscapes in broad daylight or shooting objects with shiny metallic surfaces or may be shooting at places with a lot of reflective material around, have something common to counter for – glare. Glares from window glass, shop displays, automobiles lined up in a car show etc. are all potential nightmares to shoot. If you have your blinkies (highlight indicators) turned on, you are likely to be warned that you are passed the red line with your highlights. While there are some photographers, who don’t quite appreciate the concept of cutting down glares and reflections, for most these are quite offending. For the latter group of photographers, circular polarizers are the only way to cut down glare. Read more...

Understanding the Basics of a Good Exposure

Exposure is the key concept that governs all forms of photography where light in some form or the other is used. Regardless of the camera, lens or other gear you may have, or post processing skills you may possess, if you are unfamiliar with the concepts of exposure and are incapable of getting a good exposure 9 out of 10 times, in camera, you will never be a good photographer. Even if your concept is a good one, a poor exposure is going to ruin the image. Read more...

Image Stabilization: Why It Matters, Types and How to Use

In the overall history of camera technology image stabilization is a rather recent development. Image stabilized lenses did not appear up until 1995 when Canon introduced the EF 75-300mm f/4 – 5.6 IS - the first image stabilized lens. IS or Image Stabilization is the acronym that Canon uses to refer to this technology. The technology was actually first seen on a previous lens, also made by Canon, the EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM. This lens however did not reach the market up until 1999 which made the 75-300mm the first commercially produced image stabilized lens the world has seen.

Nikon calls this technology VR or Vibration Reduction. Other manufacturers use different other acronyms to label this technology. However, at the end of the day, they all mean the exact same thing. Though, in this case it is fair to say that all technologies are not the same. In fact all lenses are not optically stabilized either. There are some manufacturers who prefer to stabilize the sensor inside the camera rather than the lens! This happened because when image stabilization was developed digital sensors were not around and it would have meant either moving the physical film or the sensor. Canon and Nikon devised it was much easier to move the focusing elements inside the lens than moving the actual film.

Okay. Now we need to have a deeper understanding of how image stabilization works and why most professional and serious enthusiasts prefer to pay more for image stabilized lenses. Read more...

Congratulations on buying your first DSLR! Now you are well and truly on the road to photographic nirvana! Your DSLR is a very powerful tool for making images. With it you can control the amount of light reaching the sensor, thus, allowing you to balance an exposure, pursue creative ways to express yourself through your images and in essence capturing more than just light inside the small box. For all practical reasons a DSLR is the only camera you will ever need.

But there are more to good compositions than just the camera. A good composition involves not only a good subject matter or a moment but also good light and of course clever use of all the elements to put together an image. Literally, you don’t take an image, you make it.

Good light is unfortunately something which is not within the control of a photographer. However, if you are really good with a camera and have an astute sense of lighting, you will be able to make better use of the available light than most. But even the most experienced photographer, at times, require additional lighting tools to fine tune a composition. In this article we shall be looking at one such tool - speedlight or an external flash.

Every Independence Day, or even Memorial or Labor Day, it’s common — a given, even — to see fireworks light up the night sky. They make for wonderful sights and sounds for large gatherings, but fireworks also make great photographs. Its just about knowing how to capture such colorful images.

Shooting fireworks is fairly simple, but it takes some planning and equipment to do so. However, follow these tips and you too can have wonderful photos of those sky rockets.

Auto Exposure Bracketing: Everything You Wanted to Know

Multiple camera shots with different expose combined in HDR photo by sumitrodda

If you are just starting out in digital photography, you have probably never heard about auto exposure bracketing (AEB). If you are an enthusiast photographer, probably you have heard about this but never quite mastered the concept to use it with confidence. Regardless of your expertise in digital photography this article can help you master an extremely important feature of your DSLR, i.e.; auto exposure bracketing (AEB).

5 Useful Tips for Making Great Images in Low Light

Cameras like the Canon 5D Mark III and the Nikon D3X have completely changed the playing field when it comes to low light photography. In the earlier days photographers would have no way to change the ASA (ISO as it was called in those days) once they had loaded a film in their cameras. They were pretty much stuck with the film sensitivity until they changed it. That had a limiting effect on their creativity and it ensured that they were careful about their selection of film before heading out.

These days, digital photographers have a much easier time. They could change the ISO (light sensitivity of the sensor) just with the flick of a button. Cameras like the D800 comes with the added advantage of a greater dynamic range, allowing photographers to compose and make images that are closer to what they see with their naked eyes.

Yet, there are certain time-tested and useful tips that you need to know in order to nail good exposures in low light conditions. These are, in no way, alternatives to the ability of your camera to shoot in low light. Rather, these are complimentary to a high ISO capability.

4 Methods to Get White Balance of Your Images Correct

Image before white balance correction

Are you plagued with the problem of strange color casts in your images? Many a times after taking a picture with our little Point & Shoot cameras the results fail to impress us. Having taken a picture, say under a dominating source of fluorescent light or for that matter a tungsten light bulb, the images appear to have a strong color cast. To be a little more precise a tungsten light source will have a yellow color cast and a fluorescent light will have a bluish color cast. Why does this happen? This happens because every light source has a color temperature and that is what is captured by the digital sensor when the image is made.