TIPS FOR DUSK PHOTOGRAPHY

You can do better photos if you keep certain things in mind. Before the sun completely sets, the light will be not so harsh. It is the best time to take many photos. The Natural lighting it the best choice for photography. It talks the emotions more than a face or a expression or a location which can't talk. Here are some tips to take few fantastic shots.

Location

Select a location which gives you a wide view of the landscape. Make sure that the sun and the light rays are clearly visible along with the landscape. Reach the area before few hours of the set and make the corresponding setup. Just follow the rule of third and set the tripod accordingly.

Equipment

With my experience i'm saying that equipment is not a factor. Only the way you looking the nature is the matter. It can be done even with a good mobile camera. A digital camera can do more better. If you have a DSLR then keep in mind some things. If you have a wide angle lens better you carry it also along with you.

Aperture and Exposure setting

Reducing the aperture will bring about a respectable depth of field in your image. Try experimenting in the range of f/8 to f/20. The wider apertures will be useful for focusing on a foreground subject while blurring the multicolored hues of the sky in the background. Exposure is best tested with metering by half pressing the shutter button. If your camera has a bracketing feature, the use it, long exposures will get you the best light for background and foreground.

SILHOUETTE PHOTOGRAPHY EASY TIPS

I'm not a professional in taking these kind of photographs, even i don't bother what kind of photography is this, but if you look at my face-book page https://www.facebook.com/MyPhotographyPath you can see some silhouette photos. Because i'm very much interested in taking these kind of pictures. So I can give you some tips in taking these kind of photographs.

Dusk or Dawn

Take the picture when the sun is below the horizon in morning or evening. Make sure the sky is not so sunny. No matter the amount of clouds in the sky. The main thing is the background should be brighter than the subject.

Camera

Actually the camera is not a matter in taking these kind of photos. Even the above photo is captured using NIKON L110 only. Even a mobile camera can also do the same. If you own a DSLR then close down the aperture to get a burst effect photograph.

Subject

Mostly people can be the best subject. The trees and the buildings also be good but the shadow of a people can say a lot than what a facial expression or costumes or even location can't say. So the best thing is to try with the people.

Position of Subject

To get a better silhouette the subject should be in a higher place than the camera position. Mostly the hill stations are the best location to take such kind of photographs. It is not compulsory to keep such positions, but it is easy for you to take a good picture without much effort.

Actions 

It is better to make some limb actions to express a joy or something like that. As said above a shadow can make out a lot. Or otherwise use a child or children in such kind of photographs as subject. They will express a lot than the mature can do.

Editing

Just edit the photo a little to add more spices to your photograph. Just work a little on the curves and histogram to make the darker portion a little more darker and brighter portion a little more brighter. Also try to add some yellowish to your sky detail. It brings a chill effect to your photograph.

So any body with a normal camera or a mobile camera can try this silhouette photography.

                                                                                                                  Written by Tisho Grahary
                                                                                               https://www.facebook.com/tisho.grahary
                                                                                          Thanks to Vasanth Srijan who took this picture
                                                                                            https://www.facebook.com/vasanth.srijan

CAMERA ANGLE

                                                    Early example of use of camera angle

Where the camera is placed in relation to the subject can affect the way the viewer perceives the subject. There are a number of camera angles, such as a high-angle shot, a low-angle shot, a bird's-eye view and a worm's-eye view. A Viewpoint is the apparent distance and angle from which the camera views and records the subject.

They also include the eye-level camera angle and the point of view shot. A high-angle shot (HA) is a shot in which the camera is physically higher than the subject and is looking down upon the subject. The high angle shot can make the subject look small or weak or vulnerable while a low-angle shot (LA) is taken from below the subject and has the power to make the subject look powerful or threatening. A neutral shot or eye-level (EL) shot has little to no psychological effect on the viewer. This shot is when the camera is level or looking straight on with the subject.

A point of view shot (POV) shows the viewer the image through the subject's eye. Some POV shots use hand-held cameras to create the illusion that the viewer is seeing through the subject's eyes.

Bird's eye shot or bird's-eye view shots are taken directly above the scene to establish the landscape and the actors relationship to it.

Worm's-eye view is a shot that is looking up from the ground, and is meant to give the viewer the feeling that they are looking up at the character from way below and it is meant to show the view that a child or a pet would have. When considering the camera angle one must remember that each shot is its own individual shot and the camera angle should be taken in context of the scene and film.

There are many different types of shots that can be used from these angles. There are extreme long shots which are extremely far away from the subject and might not even show a person at all.

Extreme long shots are usually done in a high angle so the viewer can look down upon a setting or scene. Extreme longs shots are used mainly to open the scene or narrative and show the viewer the setting. The rest of the shots are most typically done in an eye level or point of view shot although it is possible to do any shot with any angle. There is the long shot which shows the subject even though the setting still dominates the picture frame.

Then, there is the medium long shot which makes the subject and the setting have equal importance and has the two about 50/50 in the frame. Then is the medium shot which emphasizes the character and is about a knees to waist up type shot. Then the medium close up is a shot that has the waist to the chest and up. The next closest shot is the close up which has the shoulders and up or maybe a little tighter on the head.

Finally, there is the extreme close up shot which has one body part usually. This can be an eye, a hand or anything else. These shots can be used with any of the aforementioned camera angles.

A dutch angle, also called a canted angle or even simply the tilted angle, is an angle in which the camera itself is tilted to the left or the right. The unnatural angle gives the viewer a feeling that world is out of balance or psychological unrest.

Photography Tips for Beginners

                 Digital photography has democratized the medium. More people are taking more photos than ever before, and they're sharing them online with friends and family in record numbers. It's easy to place the blame on the camera if your images aren't as nice as some others you see online, but by following a few guidelines you can improve the quality of your photos—without having to shell out big bucks for a new camera. Keep these 10 easy tips in mind next time you head out to capture the world around you. And if you have any tips that have helped you take better pictures, please share them in the comments section.

Get Basic Composition Down. The heart of a photograph is its composition—the position of different elements in a frame. The easiest rule of thumb to learn and remember is the Rule of Thirds. Basically, you'll want to break your frame into nine squares of roughly equal size. Try and align the subject of your photo along these lines and intersections and imagine the main image divided over these nine boxes. This gives you a more dramatic, visually interesting shot than one where you subject is located dead center. Many newer cameras have a rule of thirds grid overlay that you can activate when shooting.

Adjust Exposure Compensation. As long as you aren't shooting in full manual mode, your digital camera is making decisions that determine the exposure of a photo—in English, how light or dark the shot appears. Generally speaking, a camera looks at a scene and tries to determine the appropriate exposure based on the correct lighting of an 18-percent gray card, which is why there are special scene modes for snow—without them, the camera would try to make the white snow gray.

If a photo is too light or dark you can either delve through the dozens of scene modes that are available in modern point-and-shoot cameras, or simply dial in a bit of exposure compensation. Many cameras have a physical button for this, identified by a +/- symbol. If your photo is too dark, move the scale up above zero; if too light, move it down a bit.

Choose the Right Mode. Your camera is likely to have scores of shooting modes, ranging from fully automatic operation to very specific scene modes. If you're shooting fast action you can put the camera into Shutter Priority ("S") mode and increase the speed at which a photo is taken—setting it to 1/125 second or faster will help to freeze action. In lower light you can use Aperture Priority ("A") mode to make sure as much light is entering the lens as possible, or if you're shooting landscapes on a tripod you can close the lens's iris to increase depth of field, keeping everything in sharp focus from the foreground to the horizon. If you're a D-SLR shooter, you're more likely to use the A or S modes, while point-and-shoot cameras will often feature more specific modes that cater to activities like sports, low-light use, or landscape shooting.

Watch Your White Balance. Your camera will try and set white balance automatically based on the type of light in which's you're shooting. Different light casts different types of color—sunlight is very blue, tungsten lighting is yellow, and fluorescent is a bit green. In many cases, the camera will automatically detect what type of lighting you're under and adjust the color in photos so that they look natural. If you're shooting under mixed lighting, or if the camera is just having a hard time figuring things out, you can set the white balance manually. On most point and shoots you'll have to dive into the shooting menu to adjust this, but many D-SLRs have a dedicated White Balance button, often labeled "WB." You can correct color in iPhoto or Picasa later on, but you'll get better-looking photos if you get the white balance right in the first place.

Think About Lighting. Pay attention to how much light you have and where it's coming from when taking your photos. If you're shooting outdoors, be careful not to take photos of a person when the sun is at their back. If you're grabbing a photo in front of a monument or landmark and don't have the flexibility to adjust your position you can use the camera's flash to fill in shadows. You may have to manually activate the flash, as there's a good chance that the camera will think that it's unnecessary on a bright day.

DEVELOPMENT OF CHEMICAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Monochrome process

Around the year 1800, Thomas Wedgwood made the first known attempt to capture the image in a camera obscura by means of a light-sensitive substance. He used paper or white leather treated with silver nitrate. Although he succeeded in capturing the shadows of objects placed on the surface in direct sunlight, and even made shadow-copies of paintings on glass, it was reported in 1802 that "The images formed by means of a camera obscura have been found too faint to produce, in any moderate time, an effect upon the nitrate of silver." The shadow images eventually darkened all over because "no attempts that have been made to prevent the uncoloured part of the copy or profile from being acted upon by light have as yet been successful." Wedgwood may have prematurely abandoned these experiments because of his frail and failing health; he died aged 34 in 1805.The oldest surviving permanent photograph of the image formed in a camera was created in 1826 or 1827 by the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. The photograph was produced on a polished pewter plate. The light-sensitive material was a thin coating of bitumen, a naturally occurring petroleum tar, which was dissolved in white petroleum, applied to the surface of the plate and allowed to set before use. After a very long exposure in the camera (traditionally said to be eight hours, but possibly several days), the bitumen was sufficiently hardened in proportion to its exposure to light that the unhardened part could be removed with a solvent, leaving a positive image with the light regions represented by hardened bitumen and the dark regions by bare pewter. To see the image plainly, the plate had to be lit and viewed in such a way that the bare metal appeared dark and the bitumen relatively light.

Niépce had previously experimented with paper coated with silver chloride. Unlike earlier experimenters with silver salts, he succeeded in photographing the images formed in a small camera, producing his first results in 1816, but like his predecessors he was unable to prevent the coating from darkening all over when exposed to light for viewing. As a result, he had become disenchanted with silver compounds and turned his attention to bitumen and other light-sensitive organic substances.

In partnership, Niépce (in Chalon-sur-Saône) and Louis Daguerre (in Paris) refined the bitumen process, substituting a more sensitive resin and a very different post-exposure treatment that yielded higher-quality and more easily viewed images. Exposure times in the camera, although somewhat reduced, were still measured in hours.

In 1833 Niépce died of a stroke, leaving his notes to Daguerre. More interested in silver-based processes than Niépce had been, Daguerre experimented with photographing camera images directly onto a silver-surfaced plate that had been fumed with iodine vapor, which reacted with the silver to form a coating of silver iodide. Exposure times were still impractically long. Then, by accident according to traditional accounts, Daguerre made the pivotal discovery that an invisibly faint latent image produced on such a plate by a much shorter exposure could be "developed" to full visibility by mercury fumes. This brought the required exposure time down to a few minutes under optimum conditions. A strong hot solution of common salt served to stabilize or fix the image by removing the remaining silver iodide. On 7 January 1839, Daguerre announced this first complete practical photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences, and the news quickly spread. At first, all details of the process were withheld and specimens were shown only to a trusted few, Arrangements were made for the French government to buy the rights in exchange for pensions for Niépce's son and Daguerre and then present it to the world (with the de facto exception of Great Britain) as a free gift. Complete instructions were published on 19 August 1839.

After reading early reports of Daguerre's invention, William Henry Fox Talbot, who had succeeded in creating stabilized photographic negatives on paper in 1835, worked on perfecting his own process. In early 1839 he acquired a key improvement, an effective fixer, from John Herschel, the astronomer, who had previously shown that hyposulfite of soda (commonly called "hypo" and now known formally as sodium thiosulfate) would dissolve silver salts. News of this solvent also reached Daguerre, who quietly substituted it for his less effective hot salt water treatment. Talbot's early silver chloride "sensitive paper" experiments required camera exposures of an hour or more. In 1840, Talbot invented the calotype process, which, like Daguerre's process, used the principle of chemical development of a faint or invisible "latent" image to reduce the exposure time to a few minutes. Paper with a coating of silver iodide was exposed in the camera and developed into a translucent negative image. Unlike a daguerreotype, which could only be copied by re-photographing it with a camera, a calotype negative could be used to make a large number of positive prints by simple contact printing. The calotype had yet another distinction compared to other early photographic processes, in that the finished product lacked fine clarity due to its translucent paper negative. This was seen as a positive attribute for portraits because it softened the appearance of the human face. Talbot patented this process, which greatly limited its adoption. He spent the rest of his life in lawsuits defending the patent until he gave up on photography. Later George Eastmanrefined Talbot's process, which is the basic technology used by chemical film cameras today. Hippolyte Bayard had also developed a method of photography but delayed announcing it, and so was not recognized as its inventor.

In 1839, John Herschel made the first glass negative, but his process was difficult to reproduce. Slovene Janez Puhar invented a process for making photographs on glass in 1841; it was recognized on June 17, 1852 in Paris by the Académie Nationale Agricole, Manufacturière et Commerciale. In 1847, Nicephore Niépce's cousin, the chemist Niépce St. Victor, published his invention of a process for making glass plates with an albumenemulsion; the Langenheim brothers of Philadelphia and John Whipple and William Breed Jones of Boston also invented workable negative-on-glass processes in the mid-1840s.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

I have made literally many bird photographs over the last 1 year. No matter how many times I photograph birds, I still find myself learning new tidbits that I might take for granted but that may be helpful for you. So here goes.

Background, background, background. If you don’t have a clean background you don’t have a good bird photo. Pick your backgrounds before you decide where to shoot.

It’s nearly impossible to photograph song birds, some raptors and other birds without setting up a perch and drawing the birds in. You need four things to do this. A clean place for the bird to perch, cover, food and water.

If you decide to set up a perch make sure you use local vegetation – it both aids in drawing in the birds and it makes the photograph more believable. You won’t find many arctic terns nesting on a cactus. Darker colored perches are less troublesome exposure wise.

Bird feeders are the easiest way to attract birds but if you’re going to put out a feeder make sure you use quality feed, and that you feed consistently, otherwise the birds will get sick or grow to rely on the feed and perhaps not find sufficient nourishment if you stop feeding. Tray feeders located near a water source and good perches will keep you shooting all day.

Use the smallest tray feeder you can find. Otherwise too many birds will just stay on the feeder and not land on the perch.

Remember that birds tend to fly or hop from perch to cover while they eat. They typically like to land on the same perch over and over so just be patient. When the bird leaves the perch there’s a good chance it is coming right back.

Use a long lens. Something in the 400-600mm range will give you enough distance from the birds that you shouldn’t scare them.

Shoot from a blind. Inexpensive bag blinds or hunting blinds are ideal for concealing yourself from the birds. They will be much more likely to hit your perch if they can’t see you lurking nearby.

Allow plenty of distance between your perch and background. The further away the background is from the perch, the more pleasing the bokeh.

If you’re photographing water birds, find a way to shoot from ground level. Water birds never look right when you are shooting down on them.

These are just some random tips. I could give hundreds more. The bonus tip is just go out and try it. Photographing birds requires patience but can be fun and very rewarding.

Steven Sasson - Digital Still Camera

Steven Sasson

Born Jul 4 1950Electronic Still CameraDigital Camera  Patent No. 4,131,919

Inducted 2011

In 1974, Kodak supervisor Gareth Lloyd asked electrical engineer Steve Sasson to investigate whether charge-coupled devices could be used to create an image sensor for a camera. After a year in the laboratory, Sasson created a device that captured an image, converted it to an electronic signal, digitized the signal, and stored the image—the first digital camera.

Invention Impact

An early adopter of digital imaging technology was the newspaper industry. In 1994, Kodak developed one of the first commercially-available digital cameras, the AP NC 2000, in cooperation with the Associated Press and Nikon. The first consumer digital camera to incorporate an LCD screen on the back was the Casio QV-10 in 1995, which retailed for around $650 and had 2MB of memory.

Today, consumers can choose from a wide array of cameras, from less than $100 to thousands of dollars. In 2008, 73% of Americans owned a digital camera and 34 million digital cameras were sold in the U.S., generating $7 billion in revenue. Virtually all of today’s digital cameras rely on the same structure that Sasson invented in 1975.

Inventor Bio

Raised in Brooklyn, Sasson attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, receiving his B.S. and M.S. He joined Kodak in 1973 and remains there today. Most recently, he works with Kodak’s Intellectual Property Transactions group.

Source: HALL OF FAME/inventor profile

Photographing Dew Drops

When you look out of your window and you see your lawn covered in morning dew, sparkling in the sunlight you need to get out of your Pj's  pick up your camera and get outside to photograph it. If you can't face getting up quite so early you can try using a spray bottle on your plants and shrubbery as this will create the same kind of effect

What Gear Do I Need?

If you own a DSLR use a macro lens as you're going to be working at close focusing distances. Compact users should switch to macro mode (usually a flower symbol on your mode dial) to let your camera know you're going to be working close to your subject). 

If you have a tripod with a center column that can be turned horizontally or upside down, set it up, otherwise you might find a beanbag more useful. 

If you have one, use a cable release or remote release as even the slightest touch on the camera can cause enough camera shake to blur your image. Alternatively, a two-second self timer gives you enough time to press the button and let go.

Blurry Backgrounds

A mid-range aperture will give you a decent depth of field, throwing the background out of focus while the subject stays ultra sharp. Keep an eye on your shutter speed as you don't want a blurry photo. Do try a larger aperture too but if you find it blurs more of the shot then you intended, just change the size. 

Focus

Make sure your focus is on the drop(s) so you get a nice clear shot of them. You may have to sacrifice foreground sharpness as a blurry drop will just distract the viewer. 

Refraction Photography

Dew drops falling down blades of grass look great but another cool and simple trick is to get an image inside the dew drop. To do this take another flower or grass blade and move it behind your subject until you can see it in your viewfinder. Do remember that everything you see is reversed in the dew drop though so if you want to centre the object that's to the left you need to move it more to the right.

HELIOGRAPHY

Nicéphore Niépce, an amateur inventor living near Chalon-sur-Saône, a city 189 miles (304 km) southeast of Paris, was interested in lithography, a process in which drawings are copied or drawn by hand onto lithographic stone and then printed in ink. Not artistically trained, Niépce devised a method by which light could draw the pictures he needed. He oiled an engraving to make it transparent and then placed it on a plate coated with a light-sensitive solution of bitumen of Judea (a type of asphalt) and lavender oil and exposed the setup to sunlight. After a few hours, the solution under the light areas of the engraving hardened, while that under the dark areas remained soft and could be washed away, leaving a permanent, accurate copy of the engraving. Calling the process heliography (“sun drawing”), Niépce succeeded from 1822 onward in copying oiled engravings onto lithographic stone, glass, and zinc and from 1826 onto pewter plates.

In 1826/27, using a camera obscura fitted with a pewter plate, Niépce produced the first successful photograph from nature, a view of the courtyard of his country estate, Gras, from an upper window of the house. The exposure time was about eight hours, during which the sun moved from east to west so that it appears to shine on both sides of the building.

Niépce produced his most successful copy of an engraving, a portrait of Cardinal d’Amboise, in 1826. It was exposed in about three hours, and in February 1827 he had the pewter plate etched to form a printing plate and had two prints pulled. Paper prints were the final aim of Niépce’s heliographic process, yet all his other attempts, whether made by using a camera or by means of engravings, were underexposed and too weak to be etched. Nevertheless, Niépce’s discoveries showed the path that others were to follow with more success.

BUTTERFLY PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

Unless you have a long handled net, chasing butterflies is not a sport you are likely to win at.  They have good eyesight and will often flit away long before you get anywhere near close enough to photograph them.  Maximize your chances by seeking them out at the beginning or the end of the day when they are less active and alert.

If you can't shoot early in the morning or in the evening the best advice is to find a place that butterflies gather, sit down and make yourself comfortable and wait.  It is often a better idea to let butterflies come to you rather than to try and chase them.  It may take a while but will be far more productive than trying to run after them.

Many butterflies' wings are covered in iridescent or reflective scales and patterns.  Photographing these in bright, direct sunlight will not produce good results.  If you have to work in these kind of conditions use a diffuser to soften and reduce the strength of the light or stand between the sun and your subject to cast a shadow on it, but be aware that either of these tactics may spook them and send them flying off again.

As butterflies are fairly large insects it is sometimes difficult to achieve enough depth of field to render them wholly in focus. Photographing them either from the side or directly above will make this more easily achieved.  Try to get the front of your lens as parallel as possible to your subject to get the best results.  Alternatively you could utilize the shallow depth of field to give artistic results.

Using a reasonably small aperture (f-8 or higher) will increase the depth of field available to you.  The offset of this will of course be reduced shutter speed, so you will have to juggle around your ISO, shutter and aperture settings to get the best compromise you can.  Lenses or cameras with image stabilization can help to reduce camera shake at lower shutter speeds, but you may also wish to consider using a tripod or other form of support.

As with virtually all wildlife photography, clear, sharp eyes are vitally important to getting a good image.  Getting the eyes in focus is often easier with manual rather than auto focus, as you are able to fine tune the focal point as you desire.  With shallow depth of field you might also find it easier to roughly fix your focusing point and move your camera to achieve proper focus, rather than tweaking your focusing ring.

If you have a garden, or even just a small window-box it is easy to attract butterflies to it.  Plant nectar-rich flowers with simple "single" or tubular blooms and before long you will find butterflies flocking to them.  Ask at your local garden center or look online for tips about which flowers will attract your local species.

If you want to take pictures of a particular or unusual species, research is the key.  A quick search of the web will bring up numerous resources describing typical habitats, geographical spread, flight periods, food plants preferred by the adult and caterpillar and a goldmine of other information.  

Another good place to hunt out more unusual species is your local butterfly house.  Again, research what species they have on show and when they are flying.  A quick call to their customer services should be able to provide all of the information you need.  While you are on the phone don't forget to check if there are any restrictions on both photography (e.g. whether tripods are allowed) and the use you can make of any images taken on their premises.  Some locations do not allow commercial use of photographs taken on their site without prior permission for example.

If you are serious about photographing butterflies, consider joining your local butterfly conservation society.  This will give you insider access to information and experience that is not normally available to the public such as up to date sightings and historical records. 

MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES

Make Sure Your Subject Is Perfect

When you're working at such close focusing distances any imperfections become more noticeable and they can end up distracting the viewer or spoiling what could be an excellent shot. However, taking the time to look at your subject, making sure the butterfly you're photographing doesn't have a damaged wing or your fungi specimen isn't dirty or had a bite taken out of it, will mean you won't be disappointed when you review your shots on your computer once home. 

Get Up Early

Not everyone's a fan of early starts but if you want to shoot macro photography out in the field, it's something you should get used to doing. Some subjects tend to be less active in the morning, especially when it's still a little chilly, making them easier to photograph and plants, flowers and other foliage are less likely to have had a bite taken out of them early on too. Morning's can bring a sprinkling of dew which adds another level of interest to your shots and morning light is softer and warmer too. 

Try Backlighting

Low, morning light makes it easier to back light your subjects which can give your macro shots an interesting twist. Objects which are slightly translucent such as leaves, flower petals and butterfly wings look really good when light shines through them from the back. Keep a close eye on your shots though as the light levels can fool your camera into thinking the scene's too bright and it will underexpose the shot. If you do have problems just use exposure compensation to fix it. 

Switch To Manual Focus

When working close to a subject autofocus tends to end up searching backwards and forwards for something to focus on. Eventually it may focus on the right point but it's much quicker to switch over to manual where you'll be able to focus more precisely. If you're not used to using manual focus it can take a little bit of practice but if you try shooting flowers, fungi and other objects which are less likely to fly or run off, you don't have to rush so can take your time in getting your focusing spot-on. Then, once you're used to working manually, move on to more tricky subjects such as insects and other wildlife.

Try Pre-Focusing

Some macro subjects such as insects move fast and scare easily so pre-focusing your lens before they come into frame can increase your chances of capturing a good shot. Find something that's of a similar size of your subject and position it the same distance away as your subject will be when it lands. 

Pack A Polarising Filter

A polarising filter can be fitted to a lens to ensure the colours captured are the same as the real thing, giving your shots more punch in the process. Attaching a polarising filter to your lens will slow your shutter speeds down, however so make sure you're using a tripod to stop shake which can spoil your shot when working hand-held. 

Avoid Shake

Camera shake is more noticeable when working close to your subject so always use a tripod If you have one, use a remote release to fire the shutter button so you don't have to touch the camera or use the camera's self-timer. Making sure your image stabilisation is on and using quicker shutter speeds, which you can get by switching to a higher ISO if you're working in low light, will help keep movement to a minimum but it's still best to fasten your camera to a tripod.

Windy Days Are Your Enemy

As already mentioned, any movement in the frame is exaggerated when working at such close focusing distances so what may seem like a small breeze to you can look like a strong, winter gale blowing through your image. 

You can hold your subject in place with plamps etc. or if you're patient, just wait for the wind to stop blowing. You can also try and shelter the plant you're photographing with a make-shift shield. Card works well but if you're out in the field try using your camera bag or even your own body to shield your subject from the wind. Also, using a slightly quicker shutter speed will freeze motion but this isn't always possible, especially when working in darker locations such as woods. 

Get In Close Then Add Some Space

By isolating part of a flower, insect or leaf you can create strong, abstract shots. So find detail that interests you and really zoom in close, filling the frame with striking shapes and interesting patterns. 

Don't forget to try the opposite too so your subject has some space to 'breath'. Why? Well it can help give your image context as well as create a sense of scale in your shot. Do keep your background simple if you do this though as you don't want it to distract from your main subject. 

Light Your Shot Well

Where possible, try to use natural light, however there are times when this isn't possible such as working in the woods where light levels are lower or when you're working with subjects that move quickly.

Rather than using your camera's built-in flash which is harsh and often too direct, try using a ring flash which can give a more even spread of light. Watch out for overexposed 'hotspots' appearing on your subject and when using natural light, make sure your own shadow isn't caught in-frame. You may also need to use a reflector to bounce much needed light into dark areas of the shot. You can buy reflectors but one made from a piece of card and silver foil can work just as well. 

MUSHROOM PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

Most photographers shy away from shooting fungi, mostly because it is not seen to be a glamorous thing to do. Yet these life forms are just begging to be photographed and the picture potential is there to be taken. Fungi can be found anywhere where organic matter is decaying, especially in woodland, and in particular around autumn and early winter.

To photograph fungi all you need is a simple set-up, so this form of photography is widely accessible and thoroughly enjoyable.

WHERE TO FIND FUNGI

Different types of fungi need their own habitats, but most will be found growing in deciduous woodland. The best places to look for them are on fallen branches and decaying stumps. You can also find them among mossy areas and dense leaf litter. Another good place to find them is on tree trunks, when a telephoto lens will be required.

One thing to remember about fungi is that they spread as mycelia (very thin root-like structures) underground and absorb nutrients from decaying vegetation before revealing their existence on the surface as reproductive fruiting bodies we commonly see as toadstools or mushrooms. These mycelia can travel for a at least a mile underground.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR

Most lenses can be used to shoot fungi, but because some species may be quite small, a dedicated macro lens will be the preferred lens to use. Macro lenses give results that are life size  They also give you maximum aperture, which means you will get a brighter image that is essential in dark woodland.

If you do not have a macro lens you can easily use much cheaper, but effective, close-up filters. These do not affect your camera’s automatic functions. Another possibility is the use of extension tubes.

An effective way of photographing fungi is to use a telephoto or a zoom lens from a distance to isolate the fungi from their surroundings. Actually, different focal lengths will help create different perspectives and results, so it is best to experiment.

GETTING IN CLOSE

As soon as you have found a good looking fungus to photograph, be it the fruiting body of a puffball mushroom, a stink horn mushroom, a death cap mushroom or whatever, you need to figure out the best way to photograph it.

The good thing about photographing fungi is that they are static objects, so you have lots of time to shoot them. Look at the surrounding light and the size and shape of the fruiting body.

Mobile Photography Concept

                                                                                         

Mobile photography is an emerging and powerful medium. Services like Instagram have made it possible for those with little or no photography background to quickly improve their skills and engage with a vast network of like-minded artists, and to have their work seen by a large and enthusiastic audience. This hands-on class will encourage and empower you to improve your photography skills by using the camera sitting right in your pocket.
 

Basic elements that make a great photograph are the same whether you're using a $4,000 DSLR or a $200 cell phone.

Even though the picture quality of a DSLR varies, when compare the picture of the mobile camera. But the sense of photography with simple editing work in Photoshop or a Picasso photo editor will makes the picture a ‘wow’ one. There are also many more mobile applications which make the photo editing more viable as soon as the picture is photographed.

The above picture seen here is taken from the place Marthandamthurai which is the southern part of India in which the estuary water is mixing on the sea.

This picture is photographed by Samsung galaxy Ace, which is a 5 megapixel camera later edited by Picasso Photo Editor.

This is the simple way in which the Mobile Photography Concept applies.

Black and white Photography

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!” 
― Ted Grant

Whatever the technology is blooming day by day, Black and white photographs makes the feel of life where the others are focus on colors. The life inside the photographs can be identified sooner when the picture colors are black and white.

We see and live in a world of color. That's how we've evolved, and it's the world that we know. Naturally, people gravitate to color photography like a kid to candy, attracted to images that pop with Disney-like vibrancy. Our affinity for color even can show up in our speech. We use the word "colorless" to describe a thing or an experience that's dull, tedious or boring. So, why shoot black-and-white when today's digital darkroom technology makes color management so easy?

Black-and-white is timeless, but more than that, it transcends reality and transforms an image into a realm that isn't abstraction, but isn't reality either. A black-and-white image deconstructs a scene and reduces it to its forms and tones. Distracting colors are recast as subtle shades of gray that add to a composition—at least if the image has what it takes to be rendered in black-and-white. 

*Thanks for Mr.Tisho Grahary, who contributes his artistic talent for this photograph*

Silhouette photography: tips for shooting into the sun

Silhouette photography is when you shoot a subject with back light so that you only show its outline. As the subject is thrown into shadow due to the position of the lighting, you can’t see texture, you can’t see its three-dimensional form, and you can’t even see its color. What you are left with is the shape alone.

To shoot successful silhouette photography you first need to choose a subject that can be identified by its two-dimensional shape.

A strong outline is not enough: you also need to photograph the subject from the right angle to accentuate this shape. Silhouette photography of a person, for instance, works better if you shoot their profile rather than shooting them head on.

For a bigger subject, such as a building, you will need to hunt out the best angle to shoot from by walking around it, and then possibly coming back when the sun is in front of you and behind the structure.

To get clear silhouette photography, you need a subject which can be isolated against the sky or by a plain bright backdrop – it is much harder to get a silhouette of a building in a built-up area than of one that stands in an open space.

Although you can shoot silhouette photography in practically any weather, silhouettes look more impressive when shot against a deep blue sky or a dramatic scarlet sunset.

The biggest problem with silhouette photography is getting the silhouette to look dark enough. If you shoot in auto modes, your camera will refuse you to give you a perfect exposure.

You want the shadowy outline to be as black as possible, and not a muddy grey. Because of this you need to take control of the settings yourself.

Interior Photography Lighting

One thing that photographers will tell you is to use natural lighting whenever possible. You will, however,  want to stay away from an overly bright window as it can lead to problems with exposure and white balance. Another pointer is to keep the window off to the side. If too much light is coming inside, draw the curtains or shades. Never photograph into the light, but bright light in the background is superior to indoor lighting. You may want to shoot your room at various points throughout the day to see which lighting is best.

A general rule of thumb is that Eastward rooms should be taken in the morning and Westward in the afternoon.Rooms with Northern and Southern exposure should be taken when the rooms are their brightest. It’s best not to shoot on a dark and dreary day. If rain is in the forecast, try putting off the shoot, if at all possible, until the sun begins to shine again.

For a gentler, softer light you may prefer to photograph your room at dawn or dusk when the sun is just rising or just about to set. A sunset can make for a magnificent interior photograph. If a flash is necessary, if you’re photographing at night or on a darker day, use a flash that has an adjustable head and point it up toward the ceiling to bounce the light from there to create a more diffused light.