Thursday, January 15, 2009

Silhouette Photography.


Many of you photographers have probably stared at a silhouette photo and wondered to yourself how exactly they were taken. Silhouettes could contain a couple’s moment on the beach, a person staring out at a landscape, or an amazing cityscape with the sun going down in the background. Silhouette photographers must have great timing and perfect exposure settings.

What is a Silhouette?
In photography, a silhouette is defined as an outline that appears dark against a light background. More specifically, it is where your subject is seen as a black shape without detail against a brighter background. This is an artistic outcome that many photographers like to perfect. This effect can be achieved with any kind of bright light source, but of course the most commonly used is the sun around sunrise or sunset. The backlighting from the sun shadows everything towards you and produces this effect.

Silhouette Techniques
When you are getting ready to take your silhouette pictures, there are a couple things to keep in mind. These tips work for both digital and film photography. Make sure you never point the lens directly at the sun. If there is too much light, the light will fall on your object. If there is not enough light, your background will become gray. The main key to silhouette lighting is having your background lighter than your object, but this can be done in more ways then one. Many photographers focus on a certain time of day, where their subject is, what kind of weather there is, and where the sun positioned in the frame.

My Silhouette Tips and Methods
I choose to take my silhouette photos when the sun is right above the horizon, usually at sunset. I prefer this time because the sun causes the sky to be at it’s brightest for a greater contrast between your object and the sky. Try aiming at your object with the sun directly behind it for a glow around your silhouette. Also, if the sky is too bright and your object is small, it is possible to underexpose your silhouetted image.

I always use a narrow aperture (high f/stop) so the camera captures the whole scene in focus. It is also convenient to use this method so you can use your camera’s automatic exposure settings focused on the lighted background. If you use a point-and-shoot camera focused on the subject meant to be dark, the camera will probably try to compensate for the lack of light on the subject and overexpose the background. So when you have your camera set on automatic exposure, be sure to focus on the light in the background.

Remember that there isn't an exact science to taking a great silhouette. It takes practice, experimentation, and maybe even a little luck to capture a truly spectacular silhouette photo.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Basic Exposure Tricks.


Exposure is the amount of light collected by the sensor in your camera during a single picture. If the shot is exposed too long the photograph will be washed out. If the shot is exposed too short the photograph will appear too dark. Almost all cameras today have light meters which measure the light in the given shot and set an ideal exposure automatically. Most people depend on the light meter which is fine, but if you know how to control your exposures you can get some creative and sometimes better pictures. (The photo on the left is with low shutter speed and narrow aperture (high f/stop).

The two primary controls your camera uses for exposure are shutter speed (the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light) and aperture (the size of the lens opening that lets light into the camera). Shutter speeds are measured in seconds and more commonly fractions of a second. (1/2000 of a second is very fast and 8' seconds is extremely slow). Apertures are measured in something called f/stops (a very wide aperture is f/2.8 and a very small aperture is f/19).

You might wonder why there is not just a constant shutter speed or a constant aperture so that you would only have to worry about one control. The reason is that even though they both control the amount of light getting to the sensor they also control other aspects of the picture. Shutter speed for example can be used to freeze subjects in midair with a fast speed or it can be used to blur water with a slow speed. Aperture controls the depth-of-field which is what is in focus in the picture. Aperture can be used to draw attention to one subject (like the flower on the right) by blurring the background with a wide aperture (low f/stop). Aperture can also be used to focus everything in a picture with a narrow aperture (high f/stop). (The photo on the left is with Wide aperture (low f/stop) and corresponding shutter speed).

On most digital SLR's (Single Lens Reflex) cameras today you can even change the sensitivity of the sensor when collecting light which is called the ISO speed. The common span of ISO speed is 100 to 800. The higher the ISO speed the faster the camera collects light but it also adds more noise to the photograph than the lower speeds. For example if your trying to take pictures in dim light without a tripod you might want to raise the ISO speed in order to get a picture that's not blurry. Most of the time you should keep it at a lower ISO speed if there is enough light, but it makes a big difference when there isn't.


Low shutter speed and slightly narrow aperture (pretty high f/stop)

The best way to learn how to use shutter speed and aperture is to just keep experimenting with them.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Edra Wijaya volume two.



Title: Waiting Someone.
Camera Model: NIKON D40X
Shutter Speed: 10/60 second
F Number: F/5.6
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 200




Title: A Tree That Shines.
Camera Model: NIKON D40X
Shutter Speed: 10/1600 second
F Number: F/9.0
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 400




Title: Dancing Lights.
Camera Model: NIKON D40X
Shutter Speed: 80/10 second
F Number: F/22.0
Focal Length: 20 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Edra Wijaya, once again shows his consistency in photography with these photos. Edra Wijaya said that the best photo only earned by time by time, more professional you are, a nicer photos you got. So keep training all!!

Friday, January 9, 2009

William Tjhia volume three.


Title: Flower Under The Sun.
Camera Model: NIKON D80
Shutter Speed: 10/200 second
F Number: F/22.0
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 320




Title: Psst.. I'm Here.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 40D
Shutter Speed: 1/45 second
F Number: F/3.5
Focal Length: 45 mm
ISO Speed: 1250



Once again, William Tjhia shows his talents in these photograph. The right blend of colour makes a nice photograph, that's showed by him in these photograph. The creativity, passion, and determination also affect his photos. The quotes "Practice Makes Perfect" perfectly fit him.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Ten Tips for Photographing Wildlife Like a Pro.

Tip 1: Miss the eyes and you've missed the shot. Getting the eyes in focus is key to capturing a photo of an animal. It's human nature to look at the eyes. It's how we determine emotion and how we connect. When I was in Homer, Alaska, I came across a moose on the move. Given it was early morning and the light was low I knew getting a fast shutter speed to freeze his movement would be tough, so I quickly adjusted my camera to lock the focus on his eyes, and took the shot. The majority of the picture was a bit blurry, but because the eyes are in focus, the shot was saved.

Tip 2: Use a telephoto lens. Getting closer to the action, yet staying a safe distance, is the key to photographing wildlife. By keeping your distance you allow the animal to be in their comfort zone and are more likely to get natural behavior. Safety is also a factor when photographing in the wild. Always keep at least 100 yards distance from wildlife, for your safety and for the well being of the animals. Another good use for a telephoto lens is a trick not many people know, which comes in very handy when photographing animals in the zoo that are behind fencing. If you move close to the fence (keep a safe distance) and use at least 100mm of your telephoto lens, focusing beyond the fence, with a wide aperture, you can "focus out" the fencing and take a photo of the subject with no wires! Now, there are some exceptions, such as, if the fencing is black you’ll have a much better chance of pulling this off. Regular chain link fence is gray and semi-reflective, which in the sunlight can cause a glare and is often too bright to focus out. I’ve also had some successes at trying different angles, so experiment for your best results. I often shoot with a Canon 100-400mm IS USM and a Canon 28-300mm IS USM. If you're new to telephoto lenses, on a budget and not sure what to get, I suggest the Tamron 28-300mm or a Sigma 70-300mm. I've also had great results with the Sigma 50-500 which, as of this writing, I consider to be the best bang for the buck. These lenses all work with teleconverters of 1.4x and 2.0x so you can easily extend your reach even further, often while keeping auto-focus (with Canon L lenses, a minimum aperture of 4.0 or less will support auto-focus. Above that a manual focus is your only option.)

Tip 3: Use a wide aperture. Learning the effects of adjusting your camera's aperture will go a long way toward improving your photographs, especially in portrait style shooting. In a photo of a grazing elk I shot in Yellowstone, I chose a very wide aperture to blur out a potentially busy background and bring attention to the subject instead. As you learn to control your camera you'll also find that adjusting your aperture will have a direct effect on your shutter speed. This will prove especially helpful when shooting in the early mornings and late evenings, when animals are typically most active and the light is warm and muted.

Tip 4: Adjust your shutter speed to stop/show the action. When animals are on the move you need to decide quickly on the type of shot you want to take. If you want to freeze the action, you'll need to shoot at 1/500 or faster and depending on light, that can be tricky. One option, if you're shooting digital, is to adjust up your ISO, which will make your sensor more sensitive to light and give you that needed boost in shutter speed. Now, if you want to give a sense of motion to your image, try shooting with a shutter speed of 1/4 to 1/8 and pan your camera with the animal. Pan steady and remember, keep the eye in focus if you can! For best results, pick backgrounds that are uncluttered and simple, as this will make the subject standout in the image.

Tip 5: Use a flash to fill in shadows. It may sound odd, but using a flash outside on a bright sunny day actually makes a lot of sense. In this situation, you're not using the flash to illuminate the subject, as you would in a dark setting, but rather to fill in the shadows and provide detail where harsh shadows would otherwise be heavy and dark. It's important to use flash wisely and here are a couple of other suggestions:

Be conscious of the animal and whether flash will scare them and,
There are times where your only shoot is through glass -- using a flash behind glass will ruin your shot. The glass will reflect the light back at the camera and you shouldn't be surprised if all you get is a big white picture!

Tip 6: Plan for the best light. There's nothing like a cloudy day to provide soft, even light for wildlife photography. Clouds act like a giant diffuser to the sun, spreading the light out evenly and taking away harsh shadows that are created by a bright, sunny day. Of course, a cloudy day has its challenges as well, such as lower light, which will force you to adjust ISO and shutter speed settings for stopping action and getting sharp, in focus images.

Tip 7: Composition - Framing your shots. Some simple framing advise can go a long way toward improving an image, and for those who are computer savvy, a little trick called cropping (software technique to cut a photo) can help improve composition that wasn't quite right at the time the photo was taken. The best way to think about composition is to picture a tic-tac-toe grid in the view finder of your camera (I've seen some new cameras that come with this as a feature you can turn on!) and use that grid to organize your shots. There is no hard rule, but the general theory behind good composition is that your subject lies in one of the crosshairs of the grid. Setting up your shot to lead the eye is also a good example of composition.

Tip 8: Shoot with two eyes. This is a tip I'm sharing here, but often have a hard time remembering myself. I can't tell you how many shots I've missed because I didn't see the action coming. By keeping both eyes open you'll see the subject in the viewfinder and you'll also see what's going to happen next.

Tip 9: Anticipate behavior. This tip goes well with Tip 8, shoot with both eyes, because anticipating behavior is often key to capturing a rare moment, action and unique situations. Panning the camera to follow an animal can be a tiring process, so often I'll study the animal's behaviors watching for a pattern and then use some anticipatory shooting, and a little luck, to hopefully capture that perfect moment.

Tip 10: Use a tripod. Using a tripod is one of the best things you can do to improve your photography, and wildlife is no different. By mounting your camera to a tripod you reduce camera shake, which is usually the cause of blurry photos. To take this a step further, I use a shutter release cable, which eliminates the need to touch the camera while snapping shots and thus removes almost all potential for camera shake.

Bonus Tip: Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. This tip is a no-brainer for those of us who shoot digital. Shooting digital is cheap -- technology is advancing so quickly that, as of this writing, a 4 gigabyte memory card is selling for less than $100 and you can get A LOT of photos on a 4 gig memory card. The bottom line of this tip is take photos....a lot of photos. Don't be shy. I often take multiple photos of the same scene or subject and then later choose the best from the group. This is also a great way to learn; by adjusting your camera between shots you can experiment and see the results of different settings of your camera. And, don't sweat the details of trying to remember which photo had which settings...another great thing about shooting digital is something called EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format). EXIF data is written to every photo so that later, upon review, you can see every setting your camera used to take that image.

Filemon Wijaya volume one.

Title: An Old Bike.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 40D
Shutter Speed: 1/512 second
F Number: F/5.6
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO Speed: 400




Title: Both Old.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 40D
Shutter Speed: 1/64 second
F Number: F/5.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100


This is Filemon's photograph. He's one of my friend at Pelita Harapan University in Product Design's faculty. Filemon has a really big talents in photography and he wants to improve his skills.. If you are interested with Filemon's photos, it'd better for you to look at the contact info below.
contact info: +6281932387246

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Davina volume two. (Saychiz Photography)

Title: Broken Doll.
Camera Model: NIKON D80
Shutter Speed: 10/1600 second
F Number: F/9.0
Focal Length: 20 mm
ISO Speed: 200



Title: Reality.
Describes another point-of-view about poors and make them a nice photography object.


Title: Between Angels.
Camera Model: NIKON D80
Shutter Speed: 10/1250 second
F Number: F/5.6
Focal Length: 58 mm
ISO Speed: 500


After having a short-incoscistency, Davina signs her come-back with various of nice photos and portraits. These are three of many interesting photos of Davina. Do you want to see more? Visit her DeviantArt account at http://freestylegirlzz.deviantart.com/

Monday, January 5, 2009

William Tjhia volume two.



Title: Sunset.
Camera Model: NIKON D80
Shutter Speed: 10/600 second
F Number: F/27.0
Focal Length: 38 mm
ISO Speed: 200




Title: Summer Bee.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 40D
Shutter Speed: 1/1024 second
F Number: F/4.0
Focal Length: 41 mm
ISO Speed: 100





Title: Ancol Beach.
Camera Model: NIKON D80
Shutter Speed: 10/300 second
F Number: F/13.0
Focal Length: 22 mm
ISO Speed: 100

William shows his existency in photography by giving us 3 nice photograph of himself. It prove that he's so into photography and wanna be more professional.

Edra Wijaya volume one.


Title: Spider Relaxing.
Camera Model: NIKON D40X
Shutter Speed: 10/2000 second
F Number: F/5.6
Focal Length: 270 mm
ISO Speed: 400



Title: Dragonfly Resting.
Camera Model: NIKON D40X
Shutter Speed: 10/2000 second
F Number: F/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 100



Title: 2 White Flowers Sunbathing.
Camera Model: NIKON D40X
Shutter Speed: 10/5000 second
F Number: F/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Edra Wijaya was a very talented photographer, especially on his specialty, nature photography. He still tried to be better than he was.
contact info: +6281806448141

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Aperture and How to Use F-Stops

We all use cameras in our day to day lives. However, most of us know nothing more about the devices than "point and shoot". If you ever wondered how to take portrait photos of a subject with a blurred background, or how they take those pictures of trailing lights or water across a landscape, keep reading.

Light. We see it every day, and just like how we see light, a camera does the same thing. In dim light, our pupils dilate to bring in more light, so we can see better. In bright light, our pupils contract to restrict the amount of light so we can see without being blinded.

A camera will do this same thing. The aperture of a lens is the opening at which light passes through. For most lenses, this opening can change based on the camera's settings. These opening have been standardized into specific sizes, called aperture stops, or F-stops.

If you've ever bought an SLR camera, then you may have seen the F-stop numbers and not know what it meant. You may have seen it represented like so: f/2.8 - f/5.6. This means that this lens makes a range of openings from the 2.8 stop to the 5.6 stop. Just what does it all mean?

Follow me closely: The larger the F-stop number is, the smaller the opening is. In other words, the larger number represents the lower end of the scale, less light entering the camera. A smaller F-stop number means the opening is larger, more light entering the camera.

Aperture goes hand and hand with the shutter. The shutter is what lets light hit the film (or digital receiver). Remember, the aperture controls how much light enters, and the shutter lets that light hit the film.

Shutter speed is simply the length of time that the shutter remains open to let light hit the film. It is directly dependent on the aperture and the F-stop, because the amount of light entering the camera through the aperture determines how long the shutter remains open. With each F-stop, the shutter speed will increase or decrease in step. Naturally, a larger F-stop number (remember, smaller opening), requires a slower shutter speed. A smaller opening means less light is reaching the film, so it needs more time to create a picture or exposure.

A smaller F-stop number (remember, larger opening), requires a faster shutter speed. Less time is needed to create the exposure.

Opening and closing a shutter is like opening and closing your eyes. If you open and close your eyes quickly, you can not see very much, and only what's immediately in front of you may be in focus. However, if you leave your eyes open, much more may be in focus. This same principle applies to- you guessed it, the F-stop. How much of what's in front of you that's in focus is called depth of field.

A smaller F-stop will have a faster shutter speed, thus it would have less of a depth of field than a larger F-stop. This means that smaller F-stops (larger opening) are great for portraits, where the main subject of the photo is a person. By the same coin, larger F-stops (smaller opening) are great for landscape shots, where there is huge landscape that is the main subject.

So how to we go about making special effects?
Let's say, for example, we want to make a car or a fast moving person appear to be frozen in time, with no blur. We would want a quick shutter speed, because a slow shutter speed would capture too much light, essentially capturing too much in time, blurring the shot. A quick shutter speed would also mean a smaller F-stop. This would also mean that we have a diminished depth of field. Bottom line: Quick shutter speed = smaller F-stop number = more light being let in (larger opening) = less in focus (smaller depth of field) = frozen time, focused subject, blurred background.

Let's say we see a fountain. We want to show the water as moving and flowing. If we take a picture with the settings in the previous example, we would see droplets of water frozen in time. We want to show movement, and encourage blur in the water. So what do we do?

To begin on this example, we have to know what causes blur. We already know depth of field blur, but what about motion blur? When the camera opens it's shutter, it makes a permanent impression on the film (or digital receiver). If the shutter is held open too long and the subject moves or the camera moves, this shows on the film as blur, almost like smudging a painting. So rest assured, when a photo is blurred, the camera is functioning as intended!

For this photo, the only thing moving should be the water. Any slight movements of the camera will ruin the whole effect. The F-stop would need to be a high number, which would mean the shutter is left open longer because there is less light reaching the film. More of the picture would be in focus as well. Slow shutter speed = larger F-stop number = less light being let in (smaller opening) = more in focus (larger depth of field) = illusion of movement at higher F-stops, focused subject, focused background.

Davina volume one. (Saychiz Photography)


Title: Sisters.
Camera Model: NIKON D80
Shutter Speed: 10/1000 second
F Number: F/4.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 200





Title: Without You.
Model: NIKON D80
Shutter Speed: 10/1600 second
F Number: F/8.0
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200






Title: Imel.
Camera Model: NIKON D80
Shutter Speed: 10/1000 second
F Number: F/5.0
Focal Length: 22 mm
ISO Speed: 400


Davina was a last-semester student at Tarumanagara University in Visual Communication Design. She was well-experienced photographer. Saychiz Photography was her freelance project. If you wanna hire Davina, this contact info will be useful.
contact info: +62817775307

Jonathan Rakuen volume one.


Title: Golden Sky
Camera Model: NIKON D80
Shutter Speed: 10/400 second
F Number: F/13.0
Focal Length: 38 mm
ISO Speed: 500


made by Jonathan, the talented photographer but not really experienced.. wanted to improve his ability in photography.

contact info: +628174919228

William Tjhia volume one.


Title: Only Words, Now You Left Me..
Camera Model: Canon EOS 40D
Shutter Speed: 1/22 second
F Number: F/9.5
Focal Length: 41 mm
ISO Speed: 100





Title: Have Many Things, but Not a Heart..
Camera Model: NIKON D80
Shutter Speed: 1/6 second
F Number: F/27.0
Focal Length: 62 mm
ISO Speed: 400


All by William Tjhia, an intermediate photographer who wanted to be more and more professional, and he still tried to be the best..
contact info: +6281932918588

Saturday, January 3, 2009

the use of DOF to improve your digital photos

Depth of field is a photographic term that describes the area in a photograph that is in sharp focus. Although only a single plane in an image can be in true focus, various lenses and certain lens setting can create the appearance of a much wider area of focus. You can alter DOF by changing the aperture of the lens, the focal length of the lens or the distance to the subject.

A more academic approach to DOF would include discussion of things like circle of confusion and hyperfocal distance. For all practical purposes, however, you don't have to know about these advanced topics to include DOF effects in your photos.

There is no "good" or "bad" depth of field. Depending on your subject and your artistic vision, you may choose to use a wide DOF for some images and a very narrow DOF for others. If you are shooting a portrait, you may want a shallow DOF, so only the person's face is in sharp focus. If you are shooting a front three-quarter shot of a car, you may require a wide DOF, so everything from the grille to the rear bumper appears tack sharp.

There are three ways you can control depth of field:

1: You can move farther away or closer to your subject.

2: You can switch the lens focal length.

3: You can change the aperture of the lens to a larger or smaller opening.

Let's look into these methods more closely.

Depth of field varies as you move closer or farther away from your subject. If you have ever shot closeups with a macro lens, you undoubtedly noticed that only your subject was in focus, while everything else was dramatically fuzzy. Because the lens was extremely close to the subject, the image exhibits very shallow DOF.

The same effect, although less pronounced, occurs when shooting any subject. The closer a lens of a particular focal length is to the subject, the less apparent depth of field you will see in the resulting photograph. Don't expect to see a great difference in DOF unless you move the lens significantly. When you photograph something from afar, such as Big Ben or the Grand Canyon, chances are the entire subject will be in focus, because the subject was far away from the lens.

The second way to manage DOF is by changing lens focal length. Wide angle lenses tend to exaggerate the apparent depth of field, while telephoto lenses usually offer a shallow field of focus. The result is that almost everything will tend to appear in focus with a wide angle lens. In contrast, a telephoto will allow you to isolate your subject from the background and foreground.

As I indicated earlier, which focal length you choose will depend on what you are attempting to show in the photo. Suppose you are shooting a group of people seated around a table. Your goal will be to have everyone in focus, so a wideangle focal length will be the most appropriate choice.

On the other hand, maybe you are shooting a craftsman working in his crowded shop. You can use selective focus to isolate the man from the background. A long lens will display only the man in focus, while the rest of the image fades into a soft blur.

Many zoom lenses include both wide angle and telephoto settings. This means depth of field produced by a zoom lens will vary with the selected focal length.

The final way to control DOF is with lens aperture. Larger lens openings (smaller f-numbers) create shallower depth of field. Smaller lens openings create greater DOF. Think about what happens when you are trying to make out a sign that is too far away to read. Most people squint, causing their eye opening to be smaller and the sign to be more focused.

Your camera lens works exactly the same way. When you open the aperture to allow more light to pass through the lens, DOF becomes shallower. Stop the lens down to a smaller f/stop and DOF becomes more pronounced, causing more of the image to appear in focus.

Now that you understand the concept behind depth of field, consider how you can use this knowledge to improve your photographs. I've already discussed how you can select an appropriate focal length for a particular subject. But the available DOF options are much more complex. Great photographers learn how to manipulate DOF to create arresting photos.

Isolating a subject from the background, whether it is a flea or a battleship, always produces interesting subjects. Most photographers choose to shoot architectural subjects with a wide angle, because the wide focal length allows them to capture the whole building while standing close to it. To capitalize on shallow DOF, however, you could walk several blocks away and shoot with a telephoto, separating the building from other structures nearby.

Should the subject require many different elements to be in focus, you now know that you can achieve that result by either moving farther away, switching to a wide angle lens or selecting a smaller aperture. Naturally you can combine all these techniques to increase the DOF even further.