Free Photography Tutorials

What To Focus On.

gafphoto — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:42:16 +0000

In our last tutorial we talked about how to make your pictures come out nice and sharp. Today we are going to learn about proper focus. What I mean by proper focus is that in most situations your camera will not render the entire scene in sharp focus, so you will have to choose what to focus on before you take the shot. I am going to start with the most photographed subject in the world, people. When you are taking a picture of a person you have to take special care to focus specifically on the eyes. The way to do this is to place your subjects eyes in the center of the frame and gently press the shutter button halfway down, you should hear a beep which confirms that focus has been attained. Then just recompose the shot while keeping the button pressed halfway down then gently squeeze the button to take the picture. you should now have a nice portrait with the eyes in sharp focus. Anytime you are composing a shot you have to decide what your subject is and then what part of your subject has to be in sharp focus. Using the mode dial on your camera to select the type of scene or subject your are going to shoot will help to set some of the settings in the camera to help decide how much of the shot will be in sharp focus. For example in a portrait you want a very small portion of the scene in focus and on the other end for a landscape you want as much of the scene in focus as possible. Play around with focusing on different parts of the same subject and then download them to your computer and look at the differences in each shot.

In all of your pictures you should use the above technique of pressing the shutter button halfway to achieve focus on your desired subject and then recomposing the shot to finish your shot.

Coming up next in Digital Photography 101: How to make sure your exposures are correct.

Welcome to Digital Photography 101.

gafphoto — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:43:44 +0000

This is the section of FreePhotoTutorials.com where we are going to teach you the basic fundamentals of digital photography. We will cover a variety of topics, starting with becoming familiar with your new camera, taking nice sharp pictures, how to make sure your exposures are correct, getting the pictures from your camera to your computer, storing and editing your photos, and getting your pictures printed.

How To Get Sharper Photos Every Time.

gafphoto — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:22:42 +0000

Before you start with this tutorial, make sure you have read our If you just got your new camera tutorial.

Once you have become familiar with the basic workings of your camera it is time to learn the basics of good photography. There are many things that can make a photograph great. One of those things is taking a nice, sharp photo.

In order to make a sharply focused picture you have to make sure that the camera doesn’t move while you are taking the picture. There are several ways to stabilize your camera. Arguably the best way to make sure the camera doesn’t move is to place it on a very sturdy tripod and then use the self timer to take your shot. That way, you (and your trigger finger) are no where near the camera when the photo is being shot. However, I know that carrying a tripod and being able to set it up is not always possible, but it definitely is the best way to help insure a sharp shot. If you can’t use a tripod or don’t own a tripod you can always look for something stable to set the camera on. ie… a table, the roof of your car, a railing or even just the ground. NOTE: please use good judgemet when placing your camera on something. If you break your camera I can’t very well teach you much about photography!

Depending on the situation you are in or the subject you are shooting, the only thing you can do is to shoot handheld. Holding and using the camera properly are two additional ways to maximize sharpness in your photos. The proper way to hold your camera is to use both hands, pull your elbows into your body and then gently rest the viewfinder against your face. Now I know you’re saying, “But I don’t use my viewfinder, I just use that big, beautiful LCD on the back of my camera.” And I am going to tell you that when you hold the camera out in front of you with your arms extended you are asking for camera shake which shows up as blur in your final image. The last technique for today is learning to squeeze the shutter button instead of just PUSHING it. If you push the shutter button too hard or too fast you will literally move the camera. To prove this, zoom all the way in and then push the shutter button just a little harder and faster than you think you have to. Then look at the image and notice how it jumps when you do this. Now try the proper technique. Take your finger and kind of roll it onto the button, squeeze it half way down to let the camera focus, then squeeze the button all the way. If done correctly, there should be almost no movement when you use this technique.

Those are the best tips that I can give you for getting a sharper photograph.

If you have a nice sharp image to start with, any post processing that you do will look that much better and if you are lucky good enough to capture that once-in-a-lifetime moment, you’re golden.

Waterfall Photography

gafphoto — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:02:41 +0000

In my post on flowing water photography, the shots I included were of a slowly moving stream. Today I would like to discuss the topic of flowing water a little more in depth, specifically faster moving waterfall photography. Last weekend I visited Ohiopyle, PA and was able to get some shots of Cucumber Falls. The most important part of this type of photography is a tripod. Without a tripod or some other type of immoveable support you will no doubt introduce camera shake or bluring into the shot.

In my first flowing water tutorial, I stated that I like to get a shutter speed of about 1 second. This works very well for slowly moving water. At Cucumber Falls however, I soon found out that with water moving as quickly as this waterfall was, anything slower than about 1/4 second was just too slow and I would begin to lose all detail in the falls.

The best advice I can give you for shooting moving water is to experiment with shutter speed and keep an eye on your histogram to make sure that you are not losing all of the detail in the moving white water.

Disclaimer: Please take care not to give any of your equipment or yourself a bath. Also don’t get too close to the edge, that first step is a #@!%#.

Also take note of the use of a frame within a frame.

Flowing Water Photography!

gafphoto — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:39:08 +0000

Hey everyone! Today I am going to show you how to make flowing water take on that silky look that you see in so many photographs.

As you can see in these photos, I was able to capture the motion of water in a still photograph. There are a few things that you are going to need to make a successful shot like this. First and foremost is a tripod or something very sturdy that you can set your camera on. You will also need to find the controls to change your ISO rating, the dial to switch to “aperture priority mode” and your self timer ( it’s not just for getting yourself in the shot anymore!). Also, you should choose a day or time of day where the light is not very bright or harsh on the water that you are going to photograph.

Now lets get started. If you are using a DSLR make sure you go into the menu and turn on your noise reduction to avoid hot pixel noise! By now you should have picked your location and have the shot in mind. Set up your tripod, attach your camera and take some test shots to see how you like the exposure and composition. Once you have a shot that you like, we are going to change the settings on your camera to give the water its silky appearance. We will do this by using a longer exposure.

I have read that some photographers like to start at a shutter speed of about 1/8 second. Personally, I like to start with a slower speed of at least 1 full second. Note: your shutter speed will ultimately be dictated by the overall amount of available light. I want you to now set your ISO to the lowest possible number. On most cameras this will be a number between 50 and 200. Now switch to “aperture priority mode” and choose the highest number. On point and shoots this is usually F8 to F11 and on DSLR’s generally F22 but sometimes higher. You have now set your camera up to give you the slowest possible shutter speed.

Press your shutter button halfway and take note of the exposure, it should be something like F11 at ?/? sec. or if the light is low, F11 at 1sec. (If the exposure is much faster than 1/8 of a second, you may want to look for a shadier shot or wait until later in the day when the ambient light is a little lower.) If your shutter speed is slow enough we are almost ready to take the shot. Now find your self timer button. You probably have 2 settings, a 2 second timer and a 10 or 12 second timer. I almost always use the 10 second timer. The reason we are going to use the timer is to give yourself time to remove your finger from the button before the photo is taken. This will prevent camera shake, a major cause of blur in shots like these with long exposure times.

Now it’s time to take the shot. Gently press the shutter button and step away from the camera. If everything went as planned you should now have a nice silky picture of flowing water.

Disclaimer: When using your camera in, on, around, or near water use EXTREME CAUTION to prevent any kind of damage to your equipment. When using you in, on, around, or near water use EXTREME CAUTION to prevent slipping, falling or just getting wet feet.

The gafphoto Flickr Group!

gafphoto — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:26:44 +0000

I started a group on Flickr for all of us to have somewhere to share our photos, discuss the tutorials, and to start building our own online photo community. Here’s the link to the gafphoto group on Flickr. I will be uploading photos and starting some discussion threads in the next couple of days. It’s free to join, and I hope that it will become a great place to learn and share. Please come and join us!

A Great Photography Critique Site!

gafphoto — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:38:31 +0000

I want to share a great photography community with you today. The name of the site is PhotoSig. A friend of mine turned me onto this a few months ago. The premise of the site isn’t just photo sharing it’s more of photo critiquing. The way it works is there is a points system based on the critiques you provide, and how useful the community finds your comments. I have to warn you that this site can be highly addictive, I have spent hours upon hours looking at and critiquing photos. I urge you to check it out and it is free to join. Although you are limited at first to uploading only 1 or 2 photos per 24-48 hour period, the more helpful critiques you write the more photos you can upload and share. I find photosig to be a very useful tool in helping me to improve my photography. You can really learn a lot by studying other peoples photographs and critiquing them or just reading other peoples critiques. Please go by and check it out, my screen name there is gafphoto.

Shoot More!

gafphoto — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:34:11 +0000

Just a quick tip today. I want you to shoot more. Digital exposures are almost free whereas with film you would have to buy the roll of film and then pay to get the whole roll developed. Now with digital photography you can not only fit hundreds of pictures on your memory card but you can reuse it hundreds of times. You don’t have to get every picture developed, only the ones that you really like or want to study further. And the best part is the instant feedback provided by the display on the back of the camera. So what I want you to do is go out and experiment. What do you have to lose? The more that you go out and use your camera the better your photography will get.

The other way to look at shooting more is. When you are shooting anything that is moving or changing, don’t just shoot one frame and hope that you get it. Switch your camera to a continuous or drive mode, (if this isn’t available just press the shutter button repeatedly) and shoot a lot of your subject. Using the continuous shooting mode will help increase your chances of catching the perfect decisive moment. In a future post I will be explaining my thoughts and techniques for capturing the decisive moment, but for now use the SHOOT MORE philosophy to help you get the shot!

Fill The Frame

gafphoto — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:43:24 +0000

Here is a very simple technique for adding a lot of interest to your photos. This is similar to the get closer tutorial but with a little extra punch. This is a shot of some homemade Christmas cookies. It shows the tray but really lacks detail and is a rather uninteresting photo.

This next shot I really moved in close and completely filled the frame with nothing but… cookies. Are you hungry now?

This is another great way to improve your photography, and it is absolutely free! The next time you are shooting just about anything take some extra frames in which you completely fill the frame with nothing but your subject. This works well for portraits as well, just take note of the header on the top of the page. Go out and give it a try. Let me know how you do and what your thoughts are about this technique.

A Frame Within A Frame.

gafphoto — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:43:18 +0000

The technique I am writing about today is a composition technique called a frame within a frame. The idea here is to use something in the foreground of your picture to create a frame for your main subject.

This is a monument at Presque Isle in Erie, Pennsylvania. I walked all around this monument shooting at many different angles, everything from standing and filling the frame with it to lying on the ground and trying to just use the beautiful blue sky as a background. Finally I walked out of the “viewing area” and found this lovely tree branch and the sitting stones. I was then able to help isolate and really draw attention to my main subject ( the monument) and really add a lot of interest to the shot.

In this next shot I used the railing and floor boards of a porch to help capture this great environmental portrait. This illustrates another use of frame within a frame. I not only was able to really drive attention to my subject but I feel as though I really captured the essence of curiosity that all toddlers have.

Also take note of the use of available light here. I exposed the picture for her face which is the subject of the shot, but using the sunlight to back light her and make her hair glow or create a halo really helps to add some punch to the shot.

You can use a lot of different things to create a frame within a frame. You could take a picture of a flowerpot in a window frame. A child staring out of a window. A person standing or posing in a doorway. I have seen some companies make entire advertising campaigns out of people holding picture frames around their faces. There are a lot of possibilities with this composition technique. Go out and take some shots with this in mind. And please give me some links to show off your work.