Wedding Photographer, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Posts tagged tips
Yamaha XVS 1300 Midnight Star
Mar 16th
Motorbike Photography
I had quite a few shoots over the weekend so I unwound a little by taking some photos, strange I know! I’ve noticed from some of my web traffic that the motorbike photography gets quite a lot of visitors, not surprisingly looking for the Yamaha XVS 1300 midnight star, it would be handy if they were getting married but I suspect they see the photo and are drawn in expecting a top notch review of the bike and are probably a little disappointed when all they get are a few camera techniques. If you are one of these visitors, no review needed, you should just go and get one of these, I love mine!
Depth of Field
Jan 14th
Another no photo post today I’m afraid, I’ve now forgotten what the sun looks like! I was out doing a bit of remote shooting with the pocket wizards today, I use the PW’s for off camera flash but I’ve recently got a cord that connects the wizards to the shutter release so I can fire the camera from a mile away. Unfortunately my tests yielded some of the worst photos I have ever taken so I won’t be posting any but I’ve ironed out the kinks and should have some up soon.
I did have to use web resource that I haven’t been on for a while as I was trying to do some Depth of field calculations. Depth of field is a term used when talking about how much of a photo is in focus and is not an easy concept to begin with but it soon becomes second nature. Portraits are a good example of photos that have a very low depth of field, they (usually) have a nice background blur with just the subjects face, or more specifically eyes, in focus, this draws in the viewers attention. Landscapes on the other hand usually have a large depth of field so everything is in focus from the foreground to the back ground. There are many factors that you can change to alter the depth of field, the main ones being:
Lens aperture – Lower the f number the smaller the DOF, so f/2.8 has a much shallower DOF than f/16)
Focal length – Wider focal lengths have higher DOF, so 24mm has a larger DOF than 200mm)
Subject distance – As the subject gets closer (or the working distance decreases) the DOF becomes less
Sensor size also plays a part with larger full frame sensors having less DOF than smaller crop sensors but this is not a variable that can easily be changed.
Anyway the simulator I was using, which explains things visually better than I have above is Here. With this DOF simulator you can see the current depth of field and how changing things like aperture and focal length can effect things, this is very useful if you need to know how wide your DOF will be if you have settings X,Y and Z. The site it is on, Liquid Sculpture, is also a great site with some fantastic water drop shots, well worth checking out.
Inspiration
Jan 13th
No photos to post today so I feel a bit stingy but the weather has been pretty shocking of late, we were a bit spoilt with all the snow and clear blue skies last week! So I thought I’d write a little bit about some of the sources I use for inspiration when I can’t get out to take photos for whatever reason.
Talk Photography – This is a forum I’ve used quite a lot in the past not only for inspiration but it’s also great learning resource. It really helps develop a critical eye for both others photos and your own, this becomes very important when you are out composing photos. There is always a little voice saying “what would that lot on TP make of this?” There is an issue of some people being overly critical and believe me, photographers are the most critical when it comes to, well, photographs. You sometimes question their validity to criticise but everyone has an opinion, if you can learn without taking too much to heart you will develop as a photographer.
Stumbleupon – I’ve only got into this recently but it’s great, you basically register and put in your interests (photography) and start stumbling. I’ve got a toolbar on firefox now where I just click and it’ll take me to some obscure site showing great photos, you can even say if you like it or not to get it noticed by others. I’ve found some great photos and resources just by stumbling.
Flickriver – This shows some of the best photos out there on flickr for a particular day, and there are hundreds, daily! It’s across a whole range of subjects so there is plenty of inspiration. Definitely worth a look.
Twitter – Again I’m kind of new to twitter but it’s a great way to meet others with the same interests, there are loads of big photographers who twitter a lot and the info is really good stuff. Other photographers are great for inspiration, just to look at the sort of images they are putting out, how they light and compose images. I always think looking at photos is a great way of learning, you absorb them somehow and they come back to you when you are out with the camera.
Flickr Maps – Flickr is great for photos but there are quite a lot to wade through and some of them have, ahem, limited appeal. The maps tool though is great, especially if you want to get out and don’t have any place in particular to go to. I put the map on an area I’m interested in (usually about a 10 mile radius of my house) then just search for landscapes, if an interesting shot comes up I see where it is on the map and get down there. It’s important not to go and try and replicate a shot but it helps open your eyes to landscapes that could just be on your door step.
It’s not always easy to keep inspired and more often than not you can go out and come back with nothing, but hopefully some of these links will inspire you to go out and get some shots. To quote Ansel Adam:
“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment.”
I’ve posted one of his shots below, he knew his way around a camera!
The Tetons and the Snake River