An amateur naturalist's photoblog
Combining 2 or more photographs in one image can add interest to otherwise plain shots. Here 2 photographs of the same bird, taken at an interval of 1/6 sec, were combined using Photoshop. Combining 3 images would be even better.
Great Tit – taken at 1/1000 sec. with a 60 mm lens.
Blue Tit – taken at 1/320 sec. with a 105 mm lens.
Freezing motion when photographing small birds can be difficult. In order to get a decent shot of a small bird you need to get really close-up and when you are really close even slightest turn of the head will cause a blur. So, if you want to freeze motion you need a fast shutter speed. The picture below was taken at 1/320 sec. (this is just about enough to freeze motion in such a situation).
Motion blur can add interest to a photo by making it more dynamic. However, in the photo below there is probably too much motion blur – the bird ‘s head could have been in sharper focus. This shot was taken at 1/320 sec. This is much too slow to freeze motion. A shutter speed of 1/1000 sec. or faster would have reduced blur.
The photographs were taken at 1/6 second interval and at :
Find out more about Blue tit on wikipedia.
Here is another example of motion blur. A cascade taken handheld at 1/10 sec. using a Canon G9.
In photography, “bokeh” is the “blur”, or “the aesthetic quality of the blur” in the out-of-focus areas of an image. The term comes from the Japanese language and means “blur” or “haze”.
An aesthetic background makes your subject stand-out and makes your image all the more appealing. Three things that can help you create bokeh :
Here I used a 60 mm macro lens and was no more than 20 cm from the subject. The background was a good 5 metres behind the subject. The aperture was set at f 5.6.
Check out this “Bokeh Challenge“
View over part of the Alhambra from the Palacio de Generalife.
I took 3 shots at different exposures with my Canon G9 – combined them and got the above result. This is actually closer to what your eyes see than any single shot can be. The dynamic range of a digital camera is 5 stops – the dynamic range of the image is about 7 stops (the human eye is about 9).
Another HDR combination. The Alhambra (from al-Hamra – “the red one”) seen from the Palacio de Generalife. (Reminiscent of “Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry” particularly of the Chateau of Saumur scene.)
Read article : “HDR is the best way to reproduce the original high contrast scene”
Use backlighting when you want to hide certain details or create a stronger contrast between light and dark areas. Backlighting your subject will allow you produce silhouettes and help to emphasize lines and shapes.
Backlighting can cause the edges of the subject to glow, while keeping certain areas dark – as in this shot of mating lions.
“Contre-jour” or back-lighting is achieved by placing the subject between you and the light source (the sun, moon or other light source).
Photos don’t take themselves and like anything else you need to practise a lot to get good at something. So get out there and take pictures. Select different times of day, different weather conditions to get a “feel” of what you can achieve.
Your light metre LIES to you. Your light meter will only give a “correct” reading for MEDIUM TONES ie middle blues, reds, greens, yellows, greys etc. If you meter DARK TONES your metre will suggest settings that will result in a LIGHTER TONE in the final photograph ie a black cat will come out “greyish”.
In the same way, if you metre LIGHT TONES your meter will suggest settings that will result in a DARKER tone in the final photograph ie white snower will come out “greyish”.
In both these cases you will need to compensate by under-overexposing in the case of the black cat (this will render the cat really black) and over-exposing in the case of snow (this will render the snow white).
This is the same no matter how expensive your camera. This is one of the reasons you will frequently get badly exposed shots when using the automatic mode on your camera.
“Photography helps people to see.”
Berenice Abbott
If you really want to learn how to use your camera properly use your camera in MANUAL MODE :
Then go out and practise – select a subject and take lots of shots using different combinations. Practise in different light conditions, compose differently (look at different photography books to get inspiration). See what you like and try to reproduce these effects.
Once you have mastered using your camera in manual mode you can then practise using other modes : aperture priority, shutter speed priority and program mode.
“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
Henri Cartier-Bresson
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