Photography News

 

1. Where To Go

Finding statues is easy. Most churchyards, within walking distance from your home, will have one or two amongst the gravestones. Parks often house statues that iconise mythical figures or historical figures while larger tourist cities will have them scattered all over the place to celebrate famous people who have lived there and politicians. Sculpture parks provide an opportunity to find several interesting objects all in one location and often make a great day out too.

2. Angles

The first thing to do is look at the angle. In most cases, you're going to be shooting from a low viewpoint as the statues often raised on a plinth and way above eye level. To fill the frame you'll often end up shooting from a low angle and the statue will look distorted, big at the bottom and smaller at the top. A better approach is to stand a bit further back and use the longer setting of your zoom lens to crop tighter. This will produce a photo with a more natural angle. Ideally, if you can find a position where you can gain height so you are on a level will improve the shot even further. Steps of a nearby building is often a good option or, if you're agile, a nearby wall can improve your height.

3. Shooting Direction

You should also consider the shooting direction. Walk around the statue where possible and check the background and the features on the statue. Not only will you start to discover the best viewpoint to allow arms to be seen along with the face or symbolic features, but you'll also find that a background can influence the exposure and overall feel of the image. A cloudy sky may help to create mood in the photo but the bright areas can affect the meter reading.

If you have a shot where the camera captures most of the scene correctly but it results in the statue appearing as a silhouette, you can take a second shot, pointing down at the ground and locking the exposure so the statue is exposed correctly. However, this will most likely result in a sky that's washed out. However, all is not lost as if you use a tripod to ensure the camera doesn't move, you could combine both shots during post-production to produce the perfect exposure. Of course, you could also just change your viewpoint to get a better background to work with and sometimes you'll find it gives you a more suitable composition of the statue. If you're not sure, take several photos from different angles and choose the best one later.

4. Turn Your Flash Off

If you try to photograph a statue in low light with an automatic camera that has a built-in flash, it will automatically fire. As a result, you'll lose shadows which give the object its shape and your image won't have any depth. To avoid this switch the flash off and use your tripod to stop shake spoiling your shot.

5. Blur The Background

The background can be thrown out of focus if you select a suitable aperture. Further blur can be added in Photoshop but a similar result can be achieved by using a longer focal length. Just remember to use a tripod as blur caused by shake is exaggerated when you use longer lenses.

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Panoramas and landscapes go together like gin and tonic and make a potent combination. There are several panoramic heads available and we will be discussing how they are used in due course. To start with, though, this is a technique that you can shoot handheld.

  Working Without A Panoramic Head

This technique works fine for subjects some way from the camera position. If you have subjects quite close to the subject you do need a proper panoramic head that can be adjusted to get the optical centre of the lens directly above the tripod's centre axis.

 

1. Gear Suggestions

Your normal DSLR and a standard zoom are fine (30-50mm on an APS-C sized sensor and 50-75mm on a full-frame camera.)

 

2. Work Manually

Go manual control for this technique. Set your DSLR's white balance to manual using a suitable preset, set manual focus and set manual exposure. Shooting manually does make life easier and streamlines workflow rather than having to tweak each image before stitching.

 

3. Check Your Exposure 

White-balance and focusing are pretty straightforward, but manual exposure needs a little thinking about. Ideally, you want an exposure that ensures good highlight detail and shadows will look after themselves. Take a meter reading and shoot three images, one at the centre of the panorama and then one at each extreme edge. If the exposure works for each area you have got it right.

 

4. Don't Adjust The Focus Once Set

It is also important that focus is not adjusted during the panorama so take care not to touch the focus barrel once you have focused.

 

5. Take Your Shots

Try shooting in an upright format and start from the left, allowing a one-third frame approximate overlap between each frame. Capturing between six to eight frames should be fine.

Shooting horizontal format is fine too but it is good to have some area spare to crop into should it be necessary. Shooting upright gives less of a letter-box effect, too.

 

6. Stitching

There are various stitching software packages available. Try Panorama Factory - it is quick and very effective or you can always use Photoshop.

 

 

    Working With A Panoramic Head

For panoramas where there are elements much closer to the camera, you need a purpose-built tripod head.

 

1. Gear Suggestions

There are various models of panoramic head available at a variety of prices and enable single row panoramas and some multi-row. The key thing is that the instructions of the head are followed to find the no-parallax point of the lens, usually called the nodal point.

 

2. The Set-Up

Find your scene, set up the tripod and camera so that it is level. Set manual white-balance, manual exposure and manual focus. Meter to get tones in the important part of the scene – and bracket exposures if it is contrasty.

 

3. Take Your Shots

Shoot from left to right once you have set up and the head has click stops to ensure that you get the correct amount of overlap. Do a ‘dry run’ before shooting for real.

 

4. Stitching

Back home, get the images corrected and cloned and put them through your usual panorama software. 

 

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There is a reflex most photographers know well. Something happens, a light shifts, a child laughs, a stranger's face catches the sun, and before the moment has fully registered, the camera is already up. The hand moves faster than the thought.  

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      1. Make A Checklist

Before you leave for the airport make a list of all the equipment you're taking with you, writing down the serial and model numbers, too. It'll also help if you take photos of your equipment for your records.

2. Check Your Insurance

Make sure you have the right insurance just in case your equipment's stolen or damaged. If you're unsure if your equipment's covered, read your policy or ring your insurer.

3. Put Your Equipment In Your Hand-Luggage 

Camera gear is fragile so don't pack it in the case you plan on checking in at the airport. If you do, you run the risk of equipment getting damaged. Do remember to check the size and weight restrictions on luggage with the company you're travelling with as airlines tend to have different rules/restrictions when it comes to luggage you can carry-on.

4. Don't Take Trips On Your Own

If you're planning a few day trips don't go alone. That way, when you're framing up your shot, your 'buddy' can watch your camera bag and any other equipment you have.

5. What's Your Bag Look Like?

Don't use a bag that screams: "Look! I have a very expensive camera in here."

 

6. Don't Put Your Bag Down

Even when you're taking a photo don't leave your bag on the floor and never leave it unattended. When you're in busy locations such as markets, carry the bag on your front as if it's on your back, there is the chance that someone could access it without you knowing. You may think you look a little silly but that's better than finding all of your gear's gone.

7. Carry Spare Memory Cards

Don't just take one memory card with you as if it's stolen or lost that's it. Always carry a spare in your bag and keep one locked away in your hotel room too, just in case.

8. Try To Fit In

Having confidence and looking like you know where you're going (even if you don't) will mean you're less likely to be bothered. Try to blend in rather than stand out as a tourist.

9. Put Your Equipment In A Net

You can buy safety nets which you place your equipment in and then you fasten the net to a solid object that's fastened down.

10. Use A Safe

Most rooms have safes that will fit memory cards, chargers, a smartphone or a small DSLR body in. If you have lots of kit or there's no safe in your room, ask at reception to see if they have them available at the desk. Just make sure you make a note of everything you hand over and take images so you have proof if anything goes missing. 

If you have any tips for photographers heading off on holiday, add them to the comments.

You've read the technique now share your related photos for the chance to win prizes: Daily Forum Competition

 

Taking a walk to the end of a pier and back is a must when visiting the coast. However, instead of walking up and over the beach why not step down onto the sand and under the pier for a spot of pier photography with a difference?

You can't get underneath all piers so please use your common sense and don't put yourself in danger for a photograph. If you do plan on spending time under the pier, make sure you keep your eye on the tide as if you're distracted it can easily take you by surprise.

1. What Gear Do I Need?  

Most lenses, from wide-angle to telephotos can be used for pier photography, but if you want to get in close to the rust patterns and seaweed you'll need a macro lens. If you don't have one, try a close-up lens or even an extension tube. Pack your tripod if you want to play with long exposures. 
 

2. Capture Lines And Patterns

The underside of a pier is a hidden world of patterns and strong compositional lines waiting to be photographed. Position yourself right and you'll be able to follow the vanishing point into the sea and photograph the solid shapes formed by the supports that frame it. If you're on the beach late afternoon and the pier you're under is made of wooden boards you'll see rays of sunlight shining through, which will add even more interest to your frame.

If you don't want to get your feet wet walk further up the beach and focus your macro lens on the rusting nuts and bolts that hold the pier together.

 

 

3. Study The Tide Times

Check the tide times and head out at low tide when you'll find seaweed and barnacles decorating the supports with bands of colour and textures or take an exposure from the sky to turn the pier into a silhouette and leave all the detail out.
 

4. Play Around With Longer Exposures

As mentioned above, take your tripod along and you can put your camera on a long-ish exposure to leave the still strong pier surrounded by smooth, fluid waves. This can take a while to get right as waves can grow too big or shrink to something not worth photographing so you may have to experiment with exposure times and just keep taking photographs until you get it right. Have a lens cloth to hand as sea spray will land on your lens, leaving dots of water in the process and make sure your tripod is sturdy as all it takes is one, strong wave to knock your gear over into the sea.
 

5. Choose To Shoot In RAW

If you can, shoot in RAW as you'll be surprised how much detail you'll be able to bring out in the highlights and shadows in post-production without ruining the look of the rest of the image.
 

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The Olympus XA2 is a 35mm clamshell camera from the mid-1980s with exactly three focus positions and zero manual exposure control. That sounds like a recipe for frustration, but Steve O'Nions makes a compelling case that those limitations are exactly what makes it work. 

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Every dog owner likes taking their dog to the seaside. Some beaches do stop dogs going on the sand so check before you step foot on it.

 

1. How To Start?

Your approach will be dictated to a degree by your pet. Some dogs will sit and pose happily for hours for a treat; others need to be worn out with exercise before staying put for any period of time. Take the approach that suits you best.
 

2. Think Like You Would For A Shot Of A Person

Treat photographing dogs as you would a person. Consider the background and the composition as well as the subject itself. Use camera settings to make the most of the opportunity too. Wide apertures to throw the background out of focus and slow shutter speeds for deliberate blur. Relatively slow shutter speeds work well too if your dog has gone for a dip and emerges to shake itself dry. Add some backlighting, perhaps with a blip of flash from the camera's onboard unit, and you have a nice picture.

 

 

3. Capture Movement

For action shots of your pet running, try manually pre-focusing on a particular spot and when your dog runs into it, press the shutter. You'll also need a reasonably fast shutter if you want to capture them running along the beach.

Having someone with you will definitely help when you're trying to capture action shots as you can ask them to call for the dog while you concentrate on shooting.
 

4. Longer Lenses

You may find that using a long zoom makes it easier to capture shots of your dog as they will be less aware of what you're doing and won't try and play with your camera and lens. With longer lenses, use a wider aperture to create a shallow depth-of-field.
 

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