Shooting Tips for "Wedding & Functions"

Wedding is the window to culture and hence need a special treatment in photography. Wedding photography is the first stepping-stone to become a professional photographer. Wedding photography is a bread winning game for a professional photographer but for others it may be a fun. Whatever may be the purpose, the following tips could contribute for a better wedding photography: Flash that matters

1. If you are using an aim and shoot camera with a built in flash in indoor, make sure that you are just about six to ten feet away from the subject. This is because the flashlight from the built in flashes in the small aim and shoot cameras are not powerful enough to reach the subject beyond this distance. 2. If you are using a SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera with a separate camera mounted flash, do not exceed the flash synchronization shutter speed (1/60 or 1/125 secs.) marked distinctly on the shutter speed dial or as specified in your camera manual. If you are working in a shutter speed faster than the flash synchronization speed, then you will see part of the final photograph looking totally black. 3. If you are using a SLR camera with a separate camera mounted flash, check from the distance scale of the flash and select the appropriate aperture (f-16, 11, 8, 5.6, 4, 3.5, 2.8 etc) that has to be set on your lens. 4. If you are using a SLR camera and shooting in automatic flash mode, decide about your range of distance (0.5 meters to 3.3 meters) within which you operate for shooting the function sequence. Then, find the appropriate aperture from the flash scale (f/5.6) to set it on the lens. 5. If you are using both the camera and flash from the same camera manufacturer (a flash designed as dedicated. For example, Nikon SB-18, Nikon SB-20, Canon speedlite 540EZ and so on) in the automatic mode, then the camera and the flash mutually take care of the flash exposure, flash synchronization speed etc. 6. It is recommended to use the flash from a closer range possible (just around 1.5 to 3 meters) 7. Use fresh batteries for shooting important functions. Otherwise, it will take longer time to charge the flash and you might miss an important shot when the flash fails. You can use rechargeable NiCd. or NiMH batteries for powerful, consistent flash out put and a longer battery life in a camera mounted flash. Composition also matters

1. While shooting a sequence of function, confirm that you are getting the faces of the participating persons clearly. For example, if there are two people garlanding each other, then, it is preferable to show them in profile (side face). The identity of the participating persons is important so, do not shoot people from behind.

2. Use a wide-angle diffuser on your flash when you shoot with a wide-angle lens (28mm/24mm) otherwise, the middle area of the photographs will look brighter than the corners. 3. Being very harsh, flashlight produces dark shadows. This could be minimized to certain extent if you shoot people closer to the background. If you are using a powerful flash unit with the tilting flash head, then you can try bouncing the flashlight against the wall / ceiling / reflector. 4. Do not try to shoot all the people sitting in the auditorium / hall with your camera mounted or built in flash because; flash cannot illuminate the front and back rows evenly. If you want, you can shoot them in small groups four or five people in a row. 5. Flashlight could capture any fast action. You have to decide on the best action of the sequence so that the picture looks meaningful. For example, if you are shooting an inauguration of new premises by cutting the ribbon, then the right action would be the scissors cutting the ribbon half the way through. Any action before or after will become meaningless. 6. While shooting people in groups see that you are standing exactly opposite to the middle person in the group. This will facilitate the even distribution of the flashlight. 7. Note to avoid any stray subject in between the flash and the people, for, this will make the subject look over exposed (too bright) or the people under exposed (too dark). 8. Be careful about the highly reflective backgrounds for example, painted walls, glass partitions, glass doors / window panels, glossy or polished furniture; for, all these surfaces reflect the flashlight seen as a white washed out patch in the final picture. To avoid this, shoot from an angle so that the reflected flashlight is not recorded in the photograph. 9. Sometimes people close their eyes at the very sight of the flash. This is most common but could be avoided if you say ready before you shoot. 10. To get the natural expression and emotions of people, watch the sequence of the function carefully and shoot as it goes and dont ask people to pose for you after the sequence is over. Action replays generally will not give the true expression of the people. Avoid people waiting for you to focus or load a fresh roll of film.

Shooting Tips for "People"

Apart from shooting people in the studio with the formal set up, it is quite interesting to shoot them in their place of work or home. These pictures need not be a formal portrait but still could communicate about the characteristic nature of the people. The following tips may be useful to shoot interesting pictures of people: 1. Almost all the lenses ranging from 28 mm 300 mm could be used for shooting people but it is recommended not to use wide-angle lenses for shooting tight close ups. 2. Portraits lens (135 mm) is ideal for shooting tight close ups and head and shoulder shots. 3. Wide-angle lenses are suitable for shooting people with the ambience to show the surroundings also and a normal lens (50 mm) is ideal for a full length and half-length shots. 4. Watch out for the natural expressions of the people without any photography

consciousness. Many people turn to be grim and timid in front of the camera hence, develop a dialogue so that, they are casual and normal the way they stand and smile. 5. Though all types of lightings are interesting in its own way, a diffused overcast lighting is comfortable for shooting people in out door. 6. While shooting in doors avoid direct flash and use a bounced flash either on the wall or ceiling along with the window light. 7. It is not always necessary for the subject to look in to the camera and many times they can look even away from the camera. Whenever, you wanted a picture with an interaction to the viewer, and then the subject (person) can look in to the camera. 8. A candid picture shooting people without their knowledge, is just fantastic for you get the true expression and actions of the people. 9. It is suggested to use open apertures wherever the background is distracting. Open apertures (f-2.8, f-2, f-1.8) could make the background un-sharp to throw importance for the main subject. 10. Under low light conditions it will be better to use fast films so that, hand held photography is possible.

Shooting Tips for "Rain"

Rain is interesting not only to kids but also for photographers. They produce strong feel of the atmosphere and variety of subdued colour hues. But it is not just easy to shoot rain and you need to prepare well for getting it right. 1. Use huge umbrellas to protect the camera, preferably wrap the camera around using a plastic bag with a hole for the lens. 2. Taking shelter in a car is a way to be safe from the rain to shoot it. 3. A shutter speed of at least 1/125s is required to capture rain in action. A fast lens may be a better choice for handling the camera in the hand. 4. The ripples created by the rain on a water/wet surface gives a graphical pattern and are interesting subject to shoot. A faster shutter speed is required to capture the ripples in the form of multiple rings. 5. Shooting rain in an urban set up gives lot of scopes for getting the traffic with interesting colour and patterns. The wet roads and the neon signs make the effect of rain more interesting. Shooting such scenes needs a sturdy tripod and slow shutter speeds.

Shooting Tips for "Texture"

Texture is the surface details of the subject (For example, texture of a tree trunk, texture of a leaf, texture of a polished car), which communicates about the nature of the subject. In photography, capturing the texture details is always a challenge and need careful study about the lighting and composition. Try the following ways to get the texture of the subject in photography,

1. Look out for a contrast light from the sides or from behind, as frontal shadows gives a pronounced effect of the texture. 2. The diagonal light from the lower level is ideal to get texture details. 3. Control the reflections if it is a polished surface by a polarizing filter. 4. Use a macro lens if you are working on tiny subjects or a wide-angle lens if you are working on landscapes (deserts and snows).

Shooting Tips for "Perspective"

Perspective in a photograph, is nothing but establishing the third dimension (depth) in a two dimensional picture. The world what we see is having a third dimension, which need to be established in photographs also. The effect of illusion - one object in a picture appears farther away than another is created by four types of perspectives controls as described below. 1. Aerial perspective 2. Overlapping forms 3. Diminishing scale 4. Linear perspective. 1. Aerial Perspective: It is the tendency of colours and tones to fade with distance due to atmospheric diffusion. This variance of colours could establish the perspective and emphasize the difference in distance in it. 2. Overlapping forms: The overlapping forms in a picture, one partly obscuring another or again clear indication of depth. This is achieved by contrast lighting from the sides. 3. Diminishing scale: The objects closer to the camera look bigger than the objects away from it. This relative difference in appearance and size could strongly establish the perspective in a photograph. 4. Linear Perspective: The gradual converging effect of planes and lines as they recede from us communicates the perspective most effectively. Thats why, lines and curves are used to, effectively communicate the distance and direction in a photograph. Perspective in a photograph is achieved at its best by the following methods: 1. Look out for contrast lighting with clear definition of highlights and shadows. 2. Identify contrast colours or tones with clear difference to mark the distance. 3. Choose wide-angle lenses, which enhances the perspective effect in a photograph. 4. Identify lines and curves to converge or lead in a photograph, which indicates clear perspective in a photograph. 5. Place subject of differenct sizes for an effective comparison to establish the perspective. 6. Work in narrow apertures (f-11, f-16 etc.) to get effective sharpness in landscapes and architectural photographs to define perspective.

7. Use selective focus technique for subjects with fine forms, to stand out effectively from the background, which establishes distance and perspective.

Shooting Tips for "Candid Pictures"

Candid photographs are shot without the knowledge of the subject. In other words, the subject is not aware that it is been photographed. Many of the photojournalism pictures fall under this category. To shoot this type of pictures the photographer has to be literally non-existent, in the sense, he has to be very swift and smart while working. He should be even very careful that the noise of the shutter should not disturb the subject. Given below are some of the tips to work on candid photography: 1. Wait patiently and watch for the right moment carefully but act very fast to get the action captured. 2. Use fast films (400 ISO) and fast lenses (lenses with open apertures viz.f-1.2, f-1.4, f-1.8 and so on) to facilitate easy working in the available light conditions. The extra grain structure of the fast films add beauty and mood to candid shots. 3. Avoid using electronic flashes and tripod for, your presence will be noticed and the camera conscious subject cannot give a candid expression. 4. Try to relate the subjects to its action, location, background, profession, expression, emotions, culture and so on through a candid picture. 5. If it is an action oriented candid, you can preferably use a camera with a motor drive.

Shooting Tips for "Colour"

Colour is an important and powerful factor in photography. When compared to black and white photography, colour photography has additional information of colour, which is very important to communicate effectively. So, it is necessary to capture the colour as a powerful form in photographs. Following tips could help to take colourful photographs: 1. To get colours in your photographs watch out for colours and colourful subjects. 2. Of course, colours could be reproduced effectively through colour negative films, colour transparency film (slide film) and digital films. So, you can use any one of these for a colour impact. 3. More than colour negative films, transparencies would give saturated colours in its true form. 4. Use contrast lighting like, bright Sunlight or electronic flashes to get saturated colours in the photographs. 5. Use polarizing filters to enhance the colour saturation while shooting in out doors. Polarizing filters reduce the unwanted glare or reflections from the surface of the subject and produce saturated colours.

6. Overlapping colours in a scene need to be balanced carefully so that, the subject separation is clear.