Hi Everyone. Welcome to another landscape and seascape photography tip. Heaps of people when they are starting out are unsure how to find correct exposure when taking photos. This little trick should help you get correct exposure when taking your landscape photographs. Its easy and takes about 10 seconds to do. Let me know what you think! Jamie Paterson
Backlight is when the sun is directly in front of you lighting the back of your subject.
Shooting a backlit scene is more difficult technically but that is no reason to shy away from what can become a dynamic and energizing image.
One of the strengths of backlight is that it emphasizes shape so you will want to find subjects with strong shapes.
In this image of Antelope Canyon in Arizona, it would be hard to distinguish the shape of this part of the canyon wall had the sun not been high in the sky.
Because it was mid-day, the light went straight down the slot canyon lighting up the canyon walls. I was at the bottom of the canyon shooting straight up, so my subject was backlit.
I always think of this image as the shot I almost didn't make. It was an after thought. My intention was to get down to the beach for a seascape and I was disappointed that I couldn't find a way down. As I went back to the parking lot feeling defeated I looked back and thought "I just have to capture that sky regardless of how boring those buildings are." When I looked at the photo on my computer afterwards I learned my lesson that an image only needs one really exciting element. I was able to bring quite a bit of detail out of the shadows in post-processing.
Backlight creates the rim light you often see in portraits but this effect works on wildlife too.
In this image of an egret the majority of the light was coming from behind the bird, causing the feathers around the edge of the bird to glow, but there was still enough ambient light to capture detail in the front.
When there is not enough ambient light to capture the details in the foreground you can use fill flash or a reflector.
The part that can be technically more challenging when it comes to backlit scenes is getting the proper exposure. If you have your camera set to evaluative metering it will take into account the entire scene and try to determine the best exposure. This works great when you have a fairly evenly lit scene, but when you have a scene with high contrast it doesn’t work as well. Your camera can’t meter for both the bright areas and the dark areas at the same time.
The solution is to switch to a different metering mode, such as spot metering, so you can tell your camera which part of the frame is important to you. You can choose to meter on the darker area to maintain detail in the shadows and let the highlights go completely white as I did in the photo of Antelope Canyon above. Or you can meter on the bright part of the scene and let the shadows go completely dark to create a silhouette.
One of my favourite techniques is to create a starburst effect in a silhouette image when the sun is still above the horizon. To do this, position yourself so that the sun is partially hidden behind an object and use a small aperture, like f/22.
When the sun is in your frame it’s a good idea to use your live view on your LCD monitor to protect your eyes rather than looking through the viewfinder, especially if you are using a telephoto lens.
Be sure to watch for lens flare when you are shooting directly into the sun. Lens flare is when the light hits your lens directly and reflects inside the lens causing bright streaks or polygonal shaped bright spots with rainbow colours to appear. This is not necessarily a bad thing but if you don’t like it you will need to shade your lens with a lens hood or your hand. Shading your lens is not usually possible when the sun is in your frame but you can reduce the lens flare by positioning yourself so the sun is partially behind an object.
Once you master the art of setting the exposure for a backlit scene you will open the door to new possibilities by looking into the light.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Using Backlight in Nature Photography
You’ve been reading their articles for months or years, have you ever wondered “Who are the photographers who write for DPS”? We thought it would be a good time to introduce them to you through a series of interviews. No worries, Darren will get his turn too.
Today meet Elizabeth Halford.
I’ve been taking pictures since I was about 10 years old. I spent all my pocket money on film for my Kodak 110 instamatic. I’ve been seriously teaching myself photography since 2008.
2. Do you have a full time job or are you a full time photographer?I’m a full time photographer and blogger. I also have a hand in running a charity, Cure Rett.
If I had to choose just one genre of photography, it would be children’s portraiture
I started writing for DPS in 2009 when I first started blogging about photography to keep my own site interesting. Darren hired me and so I was writing for DPS before I really even knew what blogging was all about! Thanks to that opportunity, I’ve built a really fantastic readership on my blog where I write about photography and business in “real.plain.english”. I learned from Darren that being nice to people online is a total win-win and that we highly underestimate the power of giving!
I shoot with a Canon 5DmkIII. A 7D is my backup. My two favourite lenses are the 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II and 50mm f/1.2. I wear a ShootSac to keep my lenses accessible while shooting.
Take pictures!
Well one of my most exciting projects this year has been getting my branded car. It’s certainly made waves! I got the attention of Mini who went and branded one of their test drive models because they loved mine so much!
My biggest project in 2013 will be my first live workshop “How to sell in Plain English” in March in Southampton to teach photographers how to do in person sales so they can actually make money photographing people! It ain’t rocket science!
I’m also the key photographer on the Picture the Hope Photography Tour which is touring the UK to photograph girls with Rett Syndrome. Some of those shots can be viewed here on the blog I write about my daughter, Grace, who has Rett.
To view my photography, you can visit www.graciemayphotography.com and to visit my blog for photographers, www.elizabethhalford.com. You can connect with me and my growing community on Facebook. My full story can be found here.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Meet The Photographers Who Write For Digital Photography School ~ Elizabeth Halford
bro.mo-am.com https www.facebook.com The big question, seeing as i started off my video blog with that question ‘What cameras i use for videos’. I thought it would be fitting to also let you guys know what cameras i use for my photography jobs. Also i gripe on what shit thing some photographer said to me at a past photo shoot. Let me know of any questions you may have or any shit photographer stories. Peace Music by TecBloc ‘Infidel’
Video Rating: 4 / 5
froknowsphoto.com I got to spend the day with Zack Arias when he held his OneLight workshop at my studio/apartment. What an amazing teacher, photographer and person. This guy is all about teaching, doing better and passing on the knowledge. After a long 17 hour day I asked Zack if he would be able to do a 5 min portrait of me to post on the site for all of you guys to see. We started shooting right around 2 AM and Zack was able to hammer out some AMAZING portraits. I think you will be able to pick up some lighting nuggets from Zack during this video. You will see him go from one or two speedlights to using three. Zack is a master with speedlights, it was truly an honor to get to pose for a portrait with him. Please Subscribe www.youtube.com
Time-lapse video covering my traveling and hiking around Iceland. Remember to watch in 720p quality! Unfortunately I have started to shoot timelapses only in the end of my stay and that is why there is not a lot of great locations I visited before. Shot with: Nikon D300 Edited: Adobe Lightroom iMovie LRtimelapse (lrtimelapse.com) Music: Jónsi – Around Us (jonsi.com) Sigur Rós – Staralfur (sigur-ros.co.uk) Created by: David Varga Photos from my travels: dvarga.net Want to come to ICELAND? Go to: www.extremeiceland.is
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Using a photo enlarger depends on the size and style, but generally the negative is placed under the light, the image is focused and the paper is set in place for exposure. Use an enlarger to create photograph prints with helpful tips from a fine art photographer in this free video on darkroom techniques. Expert: Deborah Gray Mitchell Contact: www.dgmfoto.com Bio: Professional Photographer, Deborah Gray Mitchell has been in business since 1981 as both a fine art and commercial photographer. Filmmaker: Paul Muller
photographyequipment.yolasite.com (Budget Equipment) razzi.me www.facebook.com twitter.com In this video you’ll learn that the light meter inside your DSLR will give you the same meter reading in both manual mode and aperture mode. Using aperture mode doesn’t mean you’re doing half the job. Shooting in manual mode doesn’t mean your pictures will come out right. The exposure is going to be the same if you balance it in manual mode vs if you let the camera does it for you automatically in aperture mode. Those who may be having difficulty shooting in manual mode should try aperture mode and see if they feel more comfortable. It’s less work and you can concentrate on composition and reduce camera shake.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
General Info: info@etinspires.com SOCIAL Subscribe to our channel: YOUTUBE : bit.ly TWITTER : bit.ly FACEBOOK fan page : on.fb.me INSTAGRAM : ETTHEHIPHOPPREACHER SOUNDCLOUD : bit.ly TUMBLR : bit.ly WEBSITE : etinspires.com GOOGLE + : bit.ly AUTOBIOGRAPHY& Other Merchandise etinspires.com (store page) EtInspires Store Page : bit.ly APP — ANDROID : bit.ly APPLE : bit.ly AUDIO CDBABY : bit.ly ITUNES (MP3’s) : bit.ly AMAZON (MP3’s) : amzn.to e-BOOK ITUNES (e-BOOK) : bit.ly AMAZON (e-BOOK) : amzn.to Barnes & Nobles : bit.ly New intro song by Fame Or Juliet www.facebook.com Download link: itunes.apple.com Clothing provided by Sleep is 4 Suckers: www.sleepis4suckers.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Aerial Photography is something that many people would love to be able to do but find is out of their budget. One more affordable way to go about it is to try some Kite Aerial Photography (KAP).
The 61 images in this post are all arial shots taken by strapping a camera to a kite to elevate it. It’s not something for the faint of heart as you are putting your camera at risk but the results can be pretty amazing in the right setting.
Getting up high with your camera attached to a kite gives a fresh perspective on a scene and can highlight patterns, textures and shadows that might not be evident to anyone at ground level.
Don’t just duct tape your camera to your kite though – most serious kite aerial photographers use purpose built rigging to get their shots like these:
There’s a heap of information on KAP online – Google it and you’ll be sure to find some great advice. Now back to some great Kite Aerial Photography images – Enjoy!
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
61 Amazing Kite Aerial Photography Images
In this episode Mark Wallace walks us through the entire process of shooting and editing a science fiction movie poster. Mark will demonstrate how to use lens flare to enhance post-production editing. Mark will also walk through the his Lightroom 3 editing and show each step of the final edit in Adobe Photoshop CS5.5 Visit www.adorama.com for more photography videos! Send your questions to: AskMark@Adorama.com
Don’t be a victim of circumstance. In this episode of TGIM Eric reminds us not to focus on events but to continually work on perfecting what we have, our gifts, talents & character… General Info: info@etinspires.com SOCIAL Subscribe to our channel: YOUTUBE : bit.ly TWITTER : bit.ly FACEBOOK fan page : on.fb.me INSTAGRAM : ETTHEHIPHOPPREACHER SOUNDCLOUD : bit.ly TUMBLR : bit.ly WEBSITE : etinspires.com GOOGLE + : bit.ly AUTOBIOGRAPHY& Other Merchandise etinspires.com (store page) EtInspires Store Page : bit.ly APP — ANDROID : bit.ly APPLE : bit.ly AUDIO CDBABY : bit.ly ITUNES (MP3’s) : bit.ly AMAZON (MP3’s) : amzn.to e-BOOK ITUNES (e-BOOK) : bit.ly AMAZON (e-BOOK) : amzn.to Barnes & Nobles : bit.ly New intro song by Fame Or Juliet www.facebook.com Download link: itunes.apple.com Clothing provided by Sleep is 4 Suckers: www.sleepis4suckers.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5
www.chrishepburn.co.uk Chris is a 20 year old photographer shooting a wide variety of subjects around the world, working exclusively with Getty Images and iStockphoto. Chris’ imagery has been published worldwide in books, magazines, posters, flyers and on various websites.