Now that we can enjoy cameras with multi, mega-pixel resolution in their CCDs there is an indulgence and pictorial improvement denied us with earlier models: that is, the role of cropping.
There one single basic skill in photography that no amount of technical cleverness can overcome or bypass: the skill and art of composition — if you ain’t shot it right, no matter of dodging and shuffling can save it. Except for the thoughtful approach of cropping.
Even if you’re dissatisfied with the your efforts after the event, it may still be possible to not only save the shot but take it to higher levels of visual acclaim.
It’s all too easy to shoot a great shot, then a few days later, have second thoughts about its framing. Flaws like too much sky, an excess of picture at the sides or bottom of the picture are all too easy to let slip through. Often, in terms of pictures, less is preferable to more!
With almost any camera sold today the opportunity to crop or select a part of the image is inherent. The examples shown here were shot on three different cameras: a Nikon, a Fujifilm FinePix and a Casio.
The yacht shot (Nikon) has benefitted enormously from cropping, with the final image making a far more satisfying print The dark, meaningless areas at the top of the picture have all gone.
This shot, taken in a city market (Casio), was ‘going nowhere’ before some severe cropping. The final image and delivers an attractive and unusual ‘string bean’ print.
The shot of the Ford Mustang (Fujifilm camera) had potential, only realised when the shot was tipped over to straighten its direction, the top and bottom of the picture removed and the area at top left filled out with some deft rubber stamp work. Now the image has motion in its composition.
Tricks of the Trade
The old adage “if in doubt, leave it out!” applies to image framing. The cautious may prefer to shoot two shots, one the full picture and a companion picture, severely cropped; shoot both and decide later.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
Crop and Chop
Original post by Barrie Smith
Weekly Assignment
It was a challenge, but this week we finished the Ghetto Lighting + Reflector assignment. A lot of people rose to the challenge and it really paid off. We were able to select some really well done shots this week! Our winner this week was mpenarandaa’s cat shot. This shot was taken using a LED reflected off of paper. You can also see a picture of the setup here. We liked this shot because of the fantastic clarity and the way that the cat is in partial darkness which created a nice sense of drama to the picture. Our first runner up was MissHK’s light reading. The lighting was done by putting a piece of kitchen foil inside the book to reflect the light from the TV back on to the face. Putting that foil inside the book really transformed this picture into a nicely lit portrait in a setting where there was a high risk of only getting a silhouette. The idea was really creative and well done. And last, but not least was ronnieg’s Pretty in Pink shot of the flower in the vase. The image was sharp and had good lighting. The photo was lit with a bed lamp covered by a white pillow case reflected on white paper, and the items were placed on a piece of glass that was covering a piece of white canvas. Great setup!
This week we also started our newest Abandoned assignment. There are several ways to define abandoned, so feel free to interpret it in any of them. As usual, there are a few rules for the mini contest. First, your photo needs to have been taken between 20 May - 3 June 2009. Second, your post must include the words “Assignment: Abandoned” and the date that the photo was taken. Finally, your EXIF should be intact and it’s helpful if you can post some of the main points in your post (e.g. camera, shutter speed, ISO, aperture). Next week’s assignment will be “Plants, but not flowers”. We are all guilty of taking flower photos, but this week we don’t want to see any flowers. Only plants. Find a creative way to make the plants look as good as their flower counterparts.
Hot Threads
- How to do post-production light painting: i speak in math shows us how to get well lit shots that have the kind of light painting that would seem to require a lot of darkness. Although the process is time consuming, it creates a very interesting result. Check out this easy to follow tutorial to add a bit of light painting to your shots.
- My first wedding shoot… do I tell them?: If you shoot events and weddings there had to be a first time that you shot one. Do you just assume that because they hired you they know your level of experience? Or do you feel a more personal obligation to tell them. How would you or how have you handled this situation? Come join in the forum discussion.
- Ideas for macro practice?: When the weather is a bit frightful and you’re stuck in the house, what is there to take photos of? More specifically, how do you figure out what kind of items make good macro subjects? Come make your suggestions for what to practice macro shots on when you just can’t get to the bugs and flowers.
- Shooting sports?: How do you get clean, crisp shots of fast moving spots action like skateboarders? Come offer your hints, tips and tricks for getting good shots of skateboarders.
- How many gigs of memory?: One of the harder packing decisions to make is exactly how much memory you should take with you when you go on a trip. It Do you take a lot of memory cards or do you take a laptop / external hard drive combo? And just how much memory is enough per day? Come give your opinions over in the thread.
- What Would You Do: Come join in our weekly post-processing thread where you get a chance to edit the photo of one of our forum members. It’s fun for all and it gives you a chance to practice your post-processing skills in a new way.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (24-30 May ‘09)
Original post by Nicole
Bryan Peterson has written a book titled Understanding Exposure which is a highly recommended read if you’re wanting to venture out of the Auto mode on your digital camera and experiment with it’s manual settings.
In it Bryan illustrates the three main elements that need to be considered when playing around with exposure by calling them ‘the exposure triangle’.
Each of the three aspects of the triangle relate to light and how it enters and interacts with the camera.
The three elements are:
- written a post on ISO - the measure of a digital camera sensor’s sensitivity to light
- Aperture - the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken
- Shutter Speed - the amount of time that the shutter is open
It is at the intersection of these three elements that an image’s exposure is worked out.
Most importantly - a change in one of the elements will impact the others. This means that you can never really isolate just one of the elements alone but always need to have the others in the back of your mind.
3 Metaphors for understanding the digital photography exposure triangle:
Many people describe the relationship between ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed using different metaphors to help us get our heads around it. Let me share three. A quick word of warning first though - like most metaphors - these are far from perfect and are just for illustrative purposes:
The Window
Imagine your camera is like a window with shutters that open and close.
Aperture is the size of the window. If it’s bigger more light gets through and the room is brighter.
Shutter Speed is the amount of time that the shutters of the window are open. The longer you leave them open the more that comes in.
Now imagine that you’re inside the room and are wearing sunglasses (hopefully this isn’t too much of a stretch). Your eyes become desensitized to the light that comes in (it’s like a low ISO).
There are a number of ways of increasing the amount of light in the room (or at least how much it seems that there is. You could increase the time that the shutters are open (decrease shutter speed), you could increase the size of the window (increase aperture) or you could take off your sunglasses (make the ISO larger).
Ok - it’s not the perfect illustration - but you get the idea.
Sunbaking
Another way that a friend recently shared with me is to think about digital camera exposure as being like getting a sun tan.
Now getting a suntan is something I always wanted growing up - but unfortunately being very fair skinned it was something that I never really achieved. All I did was get burnt when I went out into the sun. In a sense your skin type is like an ISO rating. Some people are more sensitive to the sun than others.
Shutter speed in this metaphor is like the length of time you spend out in the sun. The longer you spend in the sun the increased chances of you getting a tan (of course spending too long in the sun can mean being over exposed).
Aperture is like sunscreen which you apply to your skin. Sunscreen blocks the sun at different rates depending upon it’s strength. Apply a high strength sunscreen and you decrease the amount of sunlight that gets through - and as a result even a person with highly sensitive skin can spend more time in the sun (ie decrease the Aperture and you can slow down shutter speed and/or decrease ISO).
As I’ve said - neither metaphor is perfect but both illustrate the interconnectedness of shutter speed, aperture and ISO on your digital camera.
Update: A third metaphor that I’ve heard used is the Garden Hose (the width of the hose is aperture, the length that the hose is left on is shutter speed and the pressure of the water (the speed it gets through) is ISO.
Bringing It All Together
Mastering the art of exposure is something that takes a lot of practice. In many ways it’s a juggling act and even the most experienced photographers experiment and tweak their settings as they go. Keep in mind that changing each element not only impacts the exposure of the image but each one also has an impact upon other aspects of it (ie changing aperture changes depth of field, changing ISO changes the graininess of a shot and changing shutter speed impacts how motion is captured).
The great thing about digital cameras is that they are the ideal testing bed for learning about exposure. You can take as many shots as you like at no cost and they not only allow you to shoot in Auto mode and Manual mode - but also generally have semi-automatic modes like aperture priority and shutter priority modes which allow you to make decisions about one or two elements of the triangle and let the camera handle the other elements.
A lot more can be said about each of the three elements in the exposure triangle. Check out other relevant posts on the topic at:
- ISO
- Aperture
- Shutter Speed
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
Learning about Exposure - The Exposure Triangle
Original post by Darren Rowse
Every now and again I like to look back on the archives of DPS to see what we were publishing and what you as readers were reading this time last year.
