Holiday photos

Here are a few links on taking the best photos for the holidays.

Ornaments Trees and lights Helpful tips

Group tips   Holiday tips

Use a tripod:

One with the flash one without

Have good Lighting

Take lots of pictures

 Don't wait until one shoot early in the countdown

 Simple backgrounds

Don’t stress your lens-type

Get close to your subject:

Use the timer on your camera [or a remote]:

Check your histogram:

Experiment:

Keep Your Shutter Speed Above 1/80

The biggest culprit of bad snapshots is motion-blur. If you are shooting in low light without a flash, most cameras in auto will choose a shutter speed that is way too low. Move to shutter priority mode ("S" on most cameras) and just keep it at 1/100. Many say 1/60 is good enough, but 1/100 is a safer bet amidst the chaos of a family gathering.

Shoot in bursts

If you are taking candids, it can be hard to capture the one split-second where the baby cracks a smile. Use your camera's burst mode and fire off 3 or 4 shots so you don't miss the magic moment.

Get candid

This is fairly obvious, but well-done candids are always more memorable than posed portraits. If you think about it, it's kind of creepy having dozens of shots of people grinning wide-eyed at the camera. Candids are harder, however, and you have to take a lot to have a good set of keepers. So don't be shy.

Get back!

Everyone focuses on faces and smiles, usually at the neglect of the bigger picture. Step back and snap a couple of nice wide shots of the entire room full of people—far enough away to hide your drunk uncle's drool and your grandmother's creepy stares.

Break People's Bad Picture Habits

Some people have a gut reaction whenever they see a camera pointed at them to look at it, freeze, and smile. If your subjects do this, don't take their picture! Either politely lower your camera until they resume doing less contrived things—or simply tell them to stop it.

Use fast prime lenses

Most traditional holiday activities are indoors and in dim light. In these conditions, fast prime lenses (f/1.2-f/1.8) will let you take better images without resorting to that 1,000,000 ISO setting with more noise than photo. Also, you will be able to achieve those great shallow depth-of-field shots that make any family photo album look pro. If you can, have a good wide angle and a good medium-telephoto lens on hand.

Shoot scenery and decor

Again, you gotta move past boring ol' faces. A set of photos should tell a story, and that includes the locale, the decor, the food, the weather. ALL OF IT.

Why Time’s Trump Cover Is a Subversive Work of Political Art

Read full article

This year, it should come as no surprise that President-elect Donald Trump was chosen to grace the cover of Time’s annual issue (shot by Jewish photographer Nadav Kander). “For better or worse,” Trump, during his campaign and now after his election, has certainly been among the greatest influences on the events of the year. For clues as to how Time feels about that question — is it “for better or worse?” — we can look to the image chosen for the cover of the issue. The decisions that Time made regarding how to photograph Trump reveal a layered, nuanced field of references that place the image among, in this viewer’s opinion, the magazine’s greatest covers. In order to deconstruct the image, let’s focus on three key elements (leaving aside the placement of the ‘M’ in ‘Time’ that makes it look like Trump has red horns): the color, the pose, and the chair:

The Color

Notice how the colors appear slightly washed out, slightly muted, soft. The palette creates what we might call a vintage effect. ...namely, Kodachrome. Kodachrome, It was immensely popular between the late 30’s and 70s, and its distinctive look defines our common visual concept of nostalgia.

 Trump ran a campaign based on regressive policies and attitudes — anti-environmental protection, anti-abortion, pro-coal, etc.... also about traditional values (defined primarily by the Christian right), about nostalgia for American greatness and security, about nostalgia for a pre-globalized world.

The Pose

Trump’s pose can be read as a subversive play on a traditional power-portrait pose.....

The Lincoln Memorial ...We see our subject head on, ...The angle forces us to look up at the subject, which in turn creates the impression that the subject is looking down at us. This pose and angle,... makes the subject appear dominant, powerful, judging.

On the Time cover, instead of seeing Trump head on and from below, we see him seated from behind and roughly at eye level. The power relation has shifted entirely.

Trump’s turn towards the camera renders the tone conspiratorial rather than judgmental. ... By choosing not to shoot Trump head on, the Time cover almost offers us a “behind the scenes” glimpse of the man who has spent so much of his time in front of the camera..The highly posed and processed nature of the photograph offers yet another level of irony.

Finally, we must note the ominous shadow lurking on the backdrop. It’s a small, but important and clever detail. Just as this image provides us with two theoretical points of view, it also provides us with two Trumps — Trump the president-elect, and the specter of Trump the president, haunting in the wings, waiting to take form.

The Chair

The masterstroke, the single detail that completes the entire image, is the chair. Trump is seated in what looks to be a vintage “Louis XV” chair ....The chair not only suggests the blindly ostentatious reigns of the French kings just before the revolution, but also, more specifically, the reign of Louis XV who, according to historian Norman Davies, “paid more attention to hunting women and stags than to governing the country” and whose reign was marked by “debilitating stagnation,” “recurrent wars,” and “perpetual financial crisis” (sound familiar?).

...It’s a gaudy symbol of wealth and status, but if you look at the top right corner, you can see a rip in the upholstery, signifying Trump’s own cracked image. ....— the entire illusion of grandeur begins to collapse. The cover is less an image of a man in power than the freeze frame of a leader, and his country, in a state of decay. The ghostly shadow works overtime here — suggesting a splendor that has already passed, if it ever existed at all.

.... like “The Picture of Dorian Gray” suggests more than just a physical deterioration.

As a photograph, it’s a rare achievement. As a cover, it’s a statement.

Jake Romm

If you’re going to shoot photos of a lifetime you probably shouldn’t purchase a cheap $40 compact camera to do so.

• Kirsty Fuller bought a Polaroid IE826 digital camera from the store in May 
• 33-year-old took around 300 photos on the trip with her husband to Brazil
• Insists she checked the settings before using the camera for the first time 
• Told by Argos it was 'unreasonable' to expect quality images due to price 

  Are these the world's WORST honeymoon pictures? Bride's fury at out-of-focus photos taken with a £40 Argos camera

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3168011/Bride-s-fury-40-Argos-camera-s-focus-honeymoon-pictures.html#ixzz3gSQn8bGW 

Lesson always fully test your camera before you use it for memorable moments

How to photograph your dog

These tips can possibly work with other pets and even young kids and you get more from your loved ones. Because a dogs love is eternal and should be preserved in the best light. 

See the photos here 

The art of before-and-after pictures and how lighting and posture changes your body

 

Before-and-after adverts, showing pictures of people who have lost weight or become fitter, feature in thousands of magazines. But how reliable are they, asks Justin Parkinson.

Wow, what a transformation. Two volunteers go from looking pale and unfit to tanned, toned and dynamic. Before and after photos show the benefits of a change in lifestyle - eating better, exercising more and, in many cases, taking dietary supplements to help the process along.
So how long did it take for the man and woman on the left to turn into those on the right?
Just under two hours.
They volunteered for photos taken as part of BBC Wales's Week In Week Out's investigation into sports supplements. The "regime" consisted of spray-tanning, 15 minutes of light exercise, improved posture and the introduction of more subtle lighting.

 

How to create the "Before and After" effect

"I was amazed when I first saw the difference," says Joe, the male volunteer, who also had his chest shaved for the shoot. "We hardly did anything in between. There was hardly any editing of the photos, either. It just goes to show what complete rubbish some of these adverts must be."
Physical self-improvement is a long-established business. During the 1940s, weightlifter Charles Atlas advertised his bodybuilding courses by describing himself as a the "97lb weakling who became 'the world's most perfectly developed man'". The pieces often featured stories of how skinny young men on beaches had followed his diktats for a short period, returned and successfully confronted bullies who had kicked sand in their faces.
These days, thousands of nutritional supplements are sold with the stated aim of helping people develop their bodies. The industry is worth more than £300m a year in the UK and, with concerns over obesity far higher than during the post-World War Two period, the global weight-loss industry is expected to be worth £220bn by 2017.
The basic formula remains the same. "If you're in charge of advertising diet products, body-building supplements or vitamins for a client you'd pretty much get fired if you didn't come up with at least one campaign featuring a before-and-after shot," says Peter Davies, director of the RMS public relations agency.
Under EU rules, claims about rapid weight loss or before-and-after photographs which state or imply a rate or amount of weight loss are prohibited, according to a Health Supplements Information Service spokesman.
He adds that there is no specific prohibition against "before-and-after" pictures in relation to muscle gain, but using them to make a claim in relation to a product could be viewed as misleading. A protein product can only ever be marketed as providing the materials for muscle gain that is actually achieved through working out.
"One old trick clients used to try was to simply avoid the use of the words 'before' and 'after'," says Davies. "They'd simply print the pictures alongside each other with no text to lead the reader to assume they were 'before-and-after' images." However, the rules have tightened up, he adds, and "anything that misleads the punter will be pulled" by the Advertising Standards Authority.
Could there even be an upside to before-and-after adverts?
"You could instantly see the volunteers' confidence growing after they were shown the 'after' pictures," says the photographer Antti Karppinen, who carried out the shoot for Week In Week Out. "They were surprised how much better they looked. It was a boost to them."


Week In Week Out will be shown on BBC One Wales at 22:40 GMT on Tuesday 3 March.
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How To Find Inspiration And Take Interesting Photos In Boring Locations

Regardless of where you live, chances are there’s some really incredible places to take photos nearby. The problem is, after looking at and photographing the same thing over and over again, it becomes increasingly difficult for us to see the beauty in it anymore. As a photographer, having the ability to find inspiration in the most boring, redundant, or even cliched locations is invaluable.
It’s frustrating, but, fortunately not all is lost. In the video below, Mike Brown invites us into his own backyard, a place he’s photographed a 1000 different ways already, to show us a few methods he uses to get the creative juices flowing when our eyes can’t see beyond routine.

Quick Tips To Help You Find Photos

As convenient as it would be, an interesting composition won’t always be obvious. Some times you’ll just have to go looking for it. Here’s a few pointers to get you started off in the right direction:

• Look for interesting light, don’t just wait for something to catch your eye by chance. Examine your surroundings thoroughly and seek out areas where the light is good enough to help add interest to an otherwise boring shot.
• Even if a composition isn’t jumping out at you at first, start by taking some basic shots. As you focus on taking photos, you’ll notice your mind and creativity becoming more active by coming up with fresh ideas to try.
• Shoot a lot of test shots and ask how you can make them better each time and try making the photo again until you’ve got it just right.
• Go out by yourself and take your time. You’ll want to allow yourself plenty of time to experiment with ideas and discover different perspectives, lighting, etc…Go it alone, if possible, so you don’t feel pressured to rush.
• Explore the scene. Shoot low, shoot high, shoot wide, shoot tight.

Remember, next time you find yourself struggling to get excited about photographing something, the key is to just start taking photos and experimenting. The more thought you put into, the more interested and involved you will find yourself. And even if you’re not in love with any of the photos you took, at the very least you got in a great practice session for next time.

About Tiffany Mueller

Tiffany Mueller is a photographer based in Hawi, Hawaii. You can follow her Twitter here and her personal life here.

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6 Types of Photos Every Photographer Should Know How to Make

     

While the popularity of some creative photography techniques rises and falls, there are some photo tricks that continue to stand the test of time. Here, we’ve hand-picked 6 classic pictures that you should know how to make – and explain how to do just that.

1. How to make a fake tilt and shift photo

Tilt-shift lenses are expensive. Brilliant, but expensive. Their moving elements enable photographers to correct perspective distortion in architecture photography and allow landscape photographers and studio photographers to extend the depth of field across a scene or an object in order to make more of it appear sharp.
However, there’s a seemingly insatiable appetite for using these lenses in the opposite manner for selective focus photography and filmmaking. Whether it’s creating a sharp portrait that’s surrounded by copious amounts of blur, or making a city or landscape look like a miniature model (the technique used for the opening credits to the BBC’s Sherlock), there’s plenty of creative mileage in a tilt-shift lens.
But as we said, man, they’re not cheap.
You can of course hire a tilt-shift lens, although it’s worth getting used to the manual features of your camera first. Tilt-shift lenses are manual focus only, but the magnification feature of your camera’s Live View mode makes this easy, enabling you to check the focus point is positioned precisely within the scene. Metering is also best handled manually before you adjust the tilt or shift controls of the lens, too.
Another alternative is to fake the tilt-shift miniature effect in Photoshop. This is a simple process of applying a gradient blur, and can produce a result that many viewers will be unable to discern from the real thing. It works best when the photo you want to add the tilt-shift effect to has been shot from a raised viewpoint on a bright day, as the angle and contrast make for a more authentic ‘toytown’ look.

2. How to make a forced perspective photo

At first glance they look like snapshots, but the best forced perspective photographs are well-planned pictures that can be both creatively rewarding and generate plenty of shares and likes on social media, if you’re looking for that sort of thing.
The idea is simple: a subject (usually a person) is carefully positioned so that they appear to be merging or interacting with an object in the background – or vice versa – to create an optical illusion. The classic holiday snap of someone appearing to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa was just the beginning; now it’s all bokeh bubble blowing and ‘man eats car’.
Technically, there’s not a lot to it. It’s more about spotting the opportunities and having your camera prepped to make the most of them (think reasonably small aperture and fast shutter speed to freeze movement). In terms of lens choice, a wide-angle lens will exaggerate the distance between the foreground and the background. Objects close to the camera will look much bigger than those in the distance – a useful trick if you want to make someone in the foreground appear to be holding someone in the background in the palm of their hand.
A longer focal length will compress a scene and make the elements appear closer together, a good technique for making objects appear on the same plane.
Working in Aperture Priority, you’ll need to use an aperture that provides enough depth of field to ensure there’s enough sharpness from the foreground to the background. You may need to increase the ISO to ensure a fast enough shutter speed for sharp results. Making sure the objects that are being combined are being lit similarly also produces a more convincing effect.

3. How to make a long exposure landscape photo

The long exposure landscape photo has become a modern classic. Exposures typically last anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes, with the result being that moving objects are rendered as smooth blurs – and can even vanish completely. Stormy seas can be rendered as silky as milk while locations bustling with tourists appear eerily empty.
To achieve such epic exposures in daylight requires the use of a strong Neutral Density filter. These range from around 3 stops to 10 stops in strength, with the higher-rated ND filters blocking progressively more light. For example, a scene requiring an exposure of 1/6 second at f/16 without a filter would need an exposure of approximately 2min 50sec at f/16 with a 10-stop ND filter.
In addition to a strong ND filter, you’ll need a tripod, a lockable remote release, a way of calculating the length of the exposure (there are plenty of smartphone photo apps that can do this for you) and something to block the viewfinder eyepiece with. Some cameras have a built-in viewfinder blind, while others come with an accessory that slips over the eyepiece in place of the rubber surround.
You need to block the viewfinder for very long exposures even if you’re using the camera in Live View mode. if you don’t, light leakage can occur and you’ll end up with odd-looking glow marks on the final image.
As a final touch, many photographers convert long exposure landscapes to black and white and add a square crop for that ‘fine-art’ look.

4. How to make a digital infrared photo

Infrared photography can add a ghostly appearance to images shot on bright, sunny days. As a result it’s an effect that’s particularly suited to photos that feature Gothic architecture, castles, abandon buildings and ancient monuments. But it’s a technique that’s just at home with portraits and wildlife photography.
The majority of digital camera sensors include an infrared blocking filter for standard photography, and this needs to be removed in order to be able to take infrared pictures. Converting a camera to infrared like this means that you won’t be able to use it for regular full colour photography, so you’ll need to adapt a spare camera.
Not all of us happen to have an old digital SLR knocking around or the spare cash to convert it into an infrared camera. But there is an alternative: using an infrared filter. This screws onto the front of the lens and blocks all light bar infrared. IR filters are very dark though, which means long exposure times – they’re useless for taking infrared photos of moving subjects. You won’t be able to see anything through the viewfinder either, so it’s best to compose and manually focus before adding the filter. You’ll also need to spend a little time converting the image later.
If you don’t want to buy a filter, you can always learn how to add an infrared effect in Photoshop. You can try this technique with any image, although if you take a photo with a fake infrared look in mind you’re more likely to end up with a successful result.

5. How to make a double exposure portrait photo

Combining one photo with another isn’t a new technique: it’s been around since the late 19th century.
One of the most popular forms of double exposure photography is the combination of a portrait with a natural pattern. A strong texture tends to work best, whether it’s foliage, tree branches shot against a white sky or cracked earth.
Some DSLRs have a multiple exposure mode that enables you combine images in-camera. You can produce some quite striking images without resorting to Photoshop manipulation. Don’t believe us? Check out the in-camera double exposures from Christoffer Relander.
For a clean silhouette, you’ll need a white backdrop – getting low and photographing your portrait-sitter against a bright, cloudy sky is ideal. Do the same with the image you’ll be combining it with. Working in Live View mode is best, as you will be able to display the first image on the rear screen while you align the second. The two frames will then be automatically merged, with the texture being visible in the darker areas of the first image.
Not all cameras can take multiple exposures, in which case you’ll need to combine the photos in image editing software. Making a double exposure portrait in Photoshop is a simple process and one which provides an endless opportunity to fine-tune the blend between the portrait image and the texture.

6. How to make a 360 degree polar panorama

Polar panoramas are fun takes on the traditional panoramic ‘strip’. The principle is the same – take a sequence of images that you then stitch together in software – it’s just that you create a circular ‘world’ image at the final stage of the process.
As with other types of panoramic photography, you need a methodical approach to taking the individual frames. Take test shots of the brightest and darkest parts of the scene and work out the base exposure from these results. Use manual mode to set the aperture and shutter speed, and set the white balance and focus manually too, as this will ensure consistency across the sequence of pictures.
Make sure the tripod and head are level and, when you move the camera, allow for approximately 1/3 overlap between each frame. Shooting enough frames to cover a 360 degree image will mean your final panorama ‘globe’ won’t look stretched or have an obvious join.
Use panorama software such as Photoshop’s Photomerge option to stitch and blend the frames together. The next stage involves flipping the panorama photo vertically and resizing it to create a square image. To do this, use Image > Image Size in Photoshop. Make sure the ‘Constrain aspect ratio’ link box is unchecked and then change the width and height to the same value.
The final step is to use Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates, selecting Rectangular to Polar in the dialog box that appears.

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About the author: Jeff Meyer is the editor of PhotoVenture, a photography blog for everything post-capture — improving photos, image management, sharing and more. This article originally appeared here.

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Image credits: Mini Brujas by Andrés Nieto Porras, Forced Perspective by Kenzie Saunders, To the Pier by Dom Crossley, Infrared Dream by zeitfaenger.at, Double exposure by Brian Tomlinson and Slovak National Theatre by Alexandre Duret-Lutz.

Low-Key Photography for Beginners – Enter the Dark Side

Mo is a long time Light Stalking denizen who you can also find on Flickr.

Low-key photography is a terrific challenge for both the novice and the experienced. It is a very simple technique that brings instant drama to an image but could take a lifetime to master. Like most other forms of photography, it is all about illumination and elimination.
Low-Key by Mo Dube (Shadow Stalker)

(Tucker by Sarah Christine on Flickr)

A low-key image is one that contains predominantly dark tones and colours. Like high-key images, they convey atmosphere and mood. But where a high-key image feels airy and light, a low-key is usually dramatic and full of mystery. And where high-key lighting over-lights the subject to reduce contrast, low-key lighting creates striking contrasts through reduced lighting. Shadows are now the primary element of the composition.

(A Portrait in Darkness by Sean McGrath on Flickr)

Black and White is a popular choice as it really brings ‘light’ to the shadows.

(Thinking by Thibault B Photography on Flickr)

But there is a lot to be said about the drama of colour when the light is right.

(Heels by woody329 on Flicker)

To create a low-key image, all you need is your camera and one light source. Depending on the results you are looking for, you might also make use of a fill light or reflector. If you are lucky enough to have your own photo studio, fabulous, this will give you a reason to use it. If you don’t, no worries, you don’t need one.
This shot was inspired by the way the computer monitor lit the photographer’s hand:

(Hand Print by qwikrex on Flickr)

Camera Settings – The only setting that should absolutely stay constant is the ISO. Set it to 100 (or as low as your camera will let you) and never move it. Keeping your ISO low will give you good image quality, keeping it both dark and noise-free. Then it is just a matter of adjusting the shutter speed and aperture to achieve the desired effect for the light you’ve chosen.
Lighting – Choice of light is all up to the photographer. You have only one key light so the only choices you have to make now are direction and strength. The only ‘rule’ you should impose on yourself when shooting low-key is to never allow light to reach your background. I know, never say never. But unless you have a particular reason to add texture there, don’t do it. This is called ‘contamination’.
Following is a very basic studio light setup for low-key photography. Remember that direction and intensity are all up to you but avoid lighting the background. And don’t be afraid of back lighting! It can produce some spectacular results.

 

If you don’t have a studio, you still have several choices. A popular one is to use two separate rooms. Block off all light in one room so that if the door is closed, you could see nothing. Use the adjoining room as the light source. You can use the door to help control the incoming light. Try to keep the light from hitting the camera or the background.

 

If you are unable to muster adjoining rooms, we still have choices. Indoors and out. Daylight and night. Why, I’ve been known to create low-key images with the levels sliders in Photoshop. (no hate mail, please).
But this isn’t about Photoshopping, so let’s look at ways of setting the camera up to achieve our results. With an off camera flash, we can create a low-key image any time of day. It works in the midday sun if you are indoors and works nicely outdoors on a dull, overcast day.
On a tripod, in manual mode:

1. Set your ISO as low as your camera allows.
2. Set your shutter speed to the fastest it will go with the triggers you are using. This will reduce a lot of the sun light.
3. Set up your shot.
4. Start with the aperture wide open (low number). Take a test shot and progressively narrow it until there is no ambient light in the frame. The histogram should be flat lined at the bottom.

From there, you have to experiment. Set up your flash and shoot. If there is too much light in the scene, you could lower your flash output or move the light further away. If the background is contaminated, you could change the direction of light or move your subject further from the background. Whatever you think of is fine so long as you achieve your intended outcome.

(Tea Cup by Renee Stewart Jackson)

If you are not blessed with a flash, you can still take outdoor, low-key shots. You just have to wait until night. Then head out into the darkness and find your light source. It could be a streetlamp, moonlight, car headlights, or a flashlight that you brought along.
Experiment – Ultimately a low-key image is just one that contains predominantly dark tones. There are many ways to achieve that. Feel free to use one of the most useful (and under-used) features on the camera – exposure compensation.

 

In closing I’ll add that although we are trying to capture darkness, it is the application and control of the light that makes a great low-key image. The lack of light puts all focus on what light is allowed to stay. All your lighting decisions will show in your image so although it can be fun and whimsical, really good low-key photography requires a good knowledge of light, shadow and tone. Precise application of lighting is required in order to control the very important shadow detail.
Manipulate your lighting and placement of subject until the shadows fall exactly as you want them. It’s that easy. And difficult.

 

See you on the dark side.
 

Train Your Eye to Take Better Photos by Analyzing Your Reaction to Others

 

By Alan Henry

A great camera and technical know how will only take you so far when you're learning to take great photos. You also have to pay attention to your composition and what you're trying to convey with the pictures you take, whether you want to make a statement or just capture a special moment for others to see. The best way to start thinking about how to compose your own pictures is to study other photos you love.

Photographer Simon Ellingworth has a great exercise to help you analyze the photos other people take so you can understand what makes them so good. He offers up a few examples, but suggests you sit down with the photos that you think are particularly well composed, close your eyes, and when you open them, immediately look at the photo.

Then ask yourself a few questions, like where your eye is immediately drawn, and how you scan the photo (does your eye go straight to a specific object, or are you scanning the photo in an S-shape?) Was the photo taken from eye level, or is a special type of photo, like a macro or wide-angle shot? How was light and shadow used in the photo? Finally, ask yourself if it's spawned an emotional response. Studying a great photo for the way the photographer has composed it—and the narrative or emotional response you pick up from it—will help you examine your own shots for similar nuances.

You can read the full list of suggestions at the link below, but the gist is that by taking time to really examine the photos you like, you can understand how to improve your own composition before you ever go into the field. Then, when you do head out to start shooting, whether you're taking pictures at a museum, on a hike, or at the kids' soccer game, you'll be better able to compose great shots, or at least sift out the bad ones from the great ones when you look back through what you took.

How To Train Your Eye to Take Better Pictures | Lightism