If you’re a regular on this page, you know that we don’t subscribe to the notion that Manual Mode is the only way to go if you’re serious about photography. In fact, we recently posted a tutorial in which one pro insisted that Aperture Priority Mode is often a better choice.
Shooting portraits with a telephoto lens can be a very good idea. Long lenses help you isolate a subject by providing attractive compression while producing beautiful background blur, aka bokeh. But how long is too long of a lens to shoot a portrait with?
Many of you are familiar with the Eve Arnold quote, “It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument.” But let’s face it: If you haven’t set up your camera correctly, it’s pretty difficult to capture great photographs.
Most photographers would love to upgrade their camera every time an innovative new model with enhanced capabilities is introduced. But let’s face it: The “latest and greatest” gear seems to come around every year or two, and many of us can’t afford to break the bank whenever that happens.
There’s an old saying that you’re not a “real photographer” until you switch the camera’s mode dial from Auto to Manual. While we think that notion is somewhat overblown, there are definitely advantages to manual photography.
Are you seeing random spots and squiggly lines on your photos? If so, it’s time to clean your camera’s sensor and employ some simple preventative measures so it doesn’t get dirty again.
Earlier this week we featured a video demonstrating how to customize your camera by tweaking its AUTO default settings. Today’s helpful tutorial takes things a step further by explaining how to shoot in the Manual exposure mode for maximum creative control.
The first thing most photographers learn is that a camera’s light meter is calibrated to deliver correct exposures of “average” subjects with a tone of middle gray. But what about bright scenes like a snowfield, or close-ups of dark subjects like a black cat? That’s where exposure (EV) compensation comes into play.
Achieving a correct exposure is the first step toward capturing a great image, and on Monday we explained how to do that by bracketing your shots. In today’s tutorial, you’ll learn another way to get things right, by using your camera’s histogram.
Let’s say everything comes together just right: You have a great subject, the light is beautiful, and your composition and focus are impeccable. You just captured the money shot, right? Not so fast, because everything is for naught if you mess up the exposure.
The craft of photography is full of long-held concepts and conventional wisdom that have proven helpful for years. But as technology, techniques, and editing software have evolved, some of these so-called "rules" deserve to be pushed to the wayside.
What if we told you there’s an easy-to-used tool that helps nail exposure with every image you shoot? There is, and it’s called the histogram. Unfortunately it’s often overlooked.
One of the most important skills in the early development of all photographers is knowing how to interpret the light falling on a scene, and then choosing the camera settings that will result in a perfectly exposure photo. With a bit of knowledge and practice, this quickly becomes second nature—enabling you concentrate on other key variables that make up a great image.
Yesterday we featured a primer on exposure bracketing, explaining how to get the light right by shooting three images of the same scene, and merging them during the editing process. Today you'll learn how nail exposure in the camera by using the oft-ignored histogram that you can set to appear on the rear LCD.
Dynamic Range is a very important concept to understand when evaluating the performance of your camera or purchasing a new one. This specification is also a key aspect when editing your photos, as you’ll see in the tutorial below.