2009年8月27日

揭示摄影用光的奥秘

揭示摄影用光的奥秘

作者:胡海容    来源:《DSLR数码摄影学习手册》    责任编辑:dplee    日期:2009年08月26日


编者按:由胡海容编著,人民邮电出版社出版的《DSLR数码摄影学习手册》一书,全面地介绍了DSLR数码单反摄影技术,内容系统全面,例举照片精彩,拍摄心得及技法描述通俗易懂,适合数码单反摄影爱好者,以及计划购买数码单反相机、想加入单反摄影爱好者队伍、希望系统学习数码单反摄影技术的读者阅读使用。本文是该书部分章节的节选。
关键字摄影 用光 光线 技巧 方法 奥秘


一、光线的奥秘

摄影是一门研究光的艺术,所以光在摄影运用中是多么光的4个不同方向重要。

光包含了所有的色彩,能够穿过任何透明的物体,而缺光的时候就产生了阴影。我们不一定去探寻光的奥秘,只要能合理地利用光就足够了。

光是一种能量形式,它以电磁波的形式存在于宇宙之中,是诸多能源中的一种。光能以波的形式传播,把波的两个波峰间的距离称为波长,波长的长短决定了存在于大自然中能量的特殊形态。如下图所示,人类能够看到的光仅为图中一段很短的波段。我们把这种光称为“可见光”,除此还有人类看不到的光,我们只能以其他形式感受到它们的存在。

 

我们根据波长的长短发明了很多测光仪器,不仅能够测到红外线,而且还能测到波长相对较短的紫外线等。

由于光波会散射,所以光波会变得越来越薄,照射的范围也会越来越大,光波中所含的能量也会变得越来越弱。这一原理对摄影来说十分重要。例如,用闪光灯拍摄一个距离相机1m远的物体,其亮度会比在拍摄距离相机2m远的物体的亮度整整高出4倍左右,这就是摄影对上述原理的实际应用。

1、光的基本特性

光在不同时期的形态也不一样,正午灿烂的阳光下的灼热光,多云天气里天鹅绒般柔和的光,透过树叶间隙闪烁的斑斓的日光,部分灿烂耀眼而部分被云遮挡的阳光,雨天里朦胧阴暗的光,以及富有戏剧性神秘怪异的月光,但所有的光,无论是自然光或人工室内光,都有以下3点特征。

·明暗度:表示光的强弱,随光源的能量和距离的变化而变化。

·方向:只有一个光源,方向很容易确定。而有多个光源诸如多云天气的漫射光,方向就很难确定,甚至完全迷失。

·色彩:不同性质的光,随它穿越的物质不同而变化出多种色彩。在自然光与白炽灯光或电子闪光灯作用下的色彩各不相同,而且阳光本身的色彩也随大气条件和一天中时间段的变化而变化。



2、光的4个不同方向

根据相机、被摄物体和光源所处的方位不同,可从任何侧面捕捉到被摄物体。当主光源很强时(如明亮的阳光),从相机取景的角度来看,投射在被摄物体的不同部位会产生不同的效果,基本可以分为5种类型:顶光、正面光、侧光、逆光。

 

顶光:最不利于拍摄,尤其是人像,容易产生较为难看的光影,对于日常拍摄,反差较大,立体感又不是很强,是拍摄中最不理想的光线,所以通常摄影者不选择正午时分进行自然光拍摄。不过如果运用得当还是可以拍摄出决佳的照片,例如赫布·瑞茨拍摄的麦当娜的一张仰头的黑白照片就拍摄于正午时分。

正面光:相机与光源在同一方向上,正对着被摄主体,使其朝向镜头的面容易得到足够的光线,可以使拍摄物体更加清晰。根据光线的角度不同,顺光又可分为正顺光和侧顺光两种。

正顺光就是顺着镜头的方向直接照射到被摄主体上的光线。使用这样的光线拍摄出来的影像,主体对比度会降低,像平面图一样缺乏立体感。在这样的光线下拍摄,其效果往往并不理想,会使被摄主体失去原有的明暗层次。绝大多数的机载闪光灯照明下的照片就是这种光线。

而侧顺光就是光线从相机的左边或右边侧面射向被摄主体。在进行拍摄时,侧顺光是使用单光源摄像较理想的光线。多数情况下用25°~45°侧顺光来进行照明,即相机与被摄主体之间的连线,和光源与被摄主体之间的连线形成的夹角为25°~45°。此时面对相机的被摄主体部分受光,出现了部分投影。这样能更好地表现出人物的面部表情和皮肤质感,既保证了被摄主体的亮度,又可以使其明暗对比得当,有立体感。

 

侧光:侧光的光源是在相机与被摄主体形成的直线的侧面,从侧方照射向到被摄主体上的光线。此时被摄主体正面一半受光线的照射,影子修长,投影明显,立体感很强,对建筑物的雄伟高大很有表现力。但由于明暗对比强烈,不适合表现主体细腻质感的一面。不过许多情况下这种测光可以很好地表现粗糙表面的质感。

 

逆光:太阳正对镜头射入的光线,比较考验镜头的抗晕光能力,也考验摄影师的测光经验判断,运用好则能拍摄出出色的照片。


二、图解各种光线的效果

1、直射光

在直射光条件下拍摄,产生的影像反差较大,色彩鲜明,明暗交替明显。亮部、中间色调、暗部分界清晰,摄影师往往很喜欢这一类的光线。

由于直射光的独有特点,容易产生高光和投影,这也是摄影师喜欢运用的一种手法,很多摄影师喜欢运用投影来布局画面,也利用投影来遮挡干扰画面的元素。

 

这张照片,采用了很典型的直射光,光线从顶部斜射入,拥有从高光、亮部一直到暗部、投影及反光的所有层次。曝光相对准确,高光也没有溢出,暗部层次可见。

拍摄此类图片的时候要注意曝光的准确性,可以采用包围曝光模式来进行连续拍摄,以确保层次的再现,暗部既不能太亮,也不能黑得没有层次,暗部的反光和投影中的层次是最能表现空间感和立体感的部分,同样亮部的准确曝光能决定图片是否成功,亮部也是最为表现质感的一个部分。

 

如果在上面的图片中还未理解光线的方向,那么这张图片能清晰地分辨光线是属于45°斜射光,也叫侧光。这种光线多产生于上午9~10点或下午3~4点左右,能产生良好的光和影的相互作用,比例均匀,形态中丰富的影调体现出景物的深度,产生出一种立体感,表面结构被微妙地表现出来。

逆光时,所拍摄的景物就会大面积处在暗部中,如果采用兼顾曝光,尽管被摄物与背后的光比反差强烈,仍然可以捕捉到影像的细节。如果拍摄人物或毛绒物体,可以很容易地勾勒出轮廓光。

其实出门旅行经常会对这种难缠的光线束手无策,而所有相机的测光系统似乎对这一类的光线都难以直接给出精确数值。这里除了告诉你光线的效果以外,更应该告诉你如何处理这一类的光线。

如果遇到糟糕的情况,周围实在没什么可以吸引视觉的元素,能做的以下3点:

·准确曝光,一般使用中央重点侧光或平均侧光的时候手动减1~2挡的曝光,作者一般使用手动挡,这样可以更快地做出反应。

·构图时候避免大面积的天空。

·控制好镜头,调整一下方向,尽量使用遮光罩,避免产生不必要的眩光。


当然有时候情况会更好一点,比如能在构图中找到美妙的投影,那么你的运气来了,好好地利用这些投影,肯定能拍得更加出色,掌握好线条的构图是首要的原则。

另外有些时候也是同样的逆光,但由于拍摄景物的不同,可能更需要这些光线,如下图中的逆光使叶子更加通透。掌握好测光是必须的,尽量使用点测光。数码时代带来的便利也是明显的,可以先尝试拍几张,然后做出曝光补偿。

 

逆光也是直射光的一种,主要表现为光比相差极大,曝光往往不容易控制,而且有些镜头容易出现眩光,导致镜头质量下降。因此逆光拍摄也是判断一个镜头好坏的标准。

逆光拍摄时,如果被摄体边缘属于毛绒质感的,经常会出现轮廓光。一般拍摄人像和静物小品时最好使用反光板,以保证拍摄主体的影调和层次,否则很容易出现剪影效果。

 

顶光也是直射光的一种,旅游的时候经常会碰到这一类的光线,其实在这一类的光线下很难拍摄出优秀图片,但光线稍微侧一点的话,还是比较容易营造出拍摄物体的体积感和立体感,从示图中可以看到建筑的立体感强烈,光影对比强烈,需要注意的是尽量按照大面积的亮部来进行曝光,这样才能做到曝光的准确性。

直射光在摄影中的应用是最为奇妙和富有创造性,光和影的变化往往能激起摄影师的拍摄情绪,同样巧妙的控制也非常重要,左图中利用窗户直射进来的光线,投影在背景上,形成戏剧性的投影,摄影师精心安排的小场景出现了质的变化。

如何运用光线?

初学者可以利用各种光线来进行尝试,注意把脑子清空,只关注光(入射的光线)和影(产生的各种投影)的形态和变化,它们是变化无穷的。


散射光

不能被明确判明照射角度和方向的柔和的光线都被称为散射光。阴天的自然光就是最为典型的散射光,散射光不会在被摄物体表面留下明显的阴影。散射光的反差较弱,能消除物体表面质感的表现,在拍摄人像时,散射光能隐蔽皮肤的毛孔和瑕疵,因此想拍摄漂亮唯美的人像时,散射光得到较多的运用。

 

散射光下拍摄的照片光影效果显得比较平淡,被摄景物不会因为光影的效果而产生迥异的视觉变化,更多地还原了被摄物的本质。从这张图片中可以看出,平淡的光线,实在不利于风光的情感表达,拍摄者只好在构图上寻找视觉兴趣点,刻意把主体放置在最边角,而海天一色的平面底色更突出了主体。散射光下拍摄风光,比较容易锻炼摄影师的构图能力和寻找视觉趣味的能力,但想要拍出优秀的作品实在比较困难。

而对曝光控制而言,利用散射光来拍摄基本只需要评价测光(矩阵测光)就可以获得非常理想的曝光值。


三、光线和色彩的关系

1、直射光与色彩

直射光过于强烈,产生的光比较大,往往会破坏被摄物体的细节和本质色彩,在选择被摄物体和拍摄题材时必须有所取舍,很难达到整体曝光准确,这时就要考验摄影师对光线的熟练把握能力和经验是否丰富。直射光的优点是可以很好地突出被摄物体的反差变化和明暗对比效果,更好地塑造体积感,然而缺点也很明显,就是很难表现被摄物体的色彩全貌和丰富的色彩细节。

由于自然界直射光均产生于晴朗天气,空气透明度高,所以拍摄的画面感觉很艳丽,其实单从被摄物体上看,由于光比较大,亮部和暗部的颜色与物体本身颜色相差很大。

利用这些特点,摄影师可以选择无需突出物体颜色的题材和景物进行创作,适合表现空间感和体积感的题材。

直射光曝光准确后色彩浓烈,体积感强,但由于感光元件对光线的宽容度有所限制,亮部和暗部的色彩反差大,曝光值也不同,容易造成亮部曝光过度,无法还原真实色彩。对于色彩浓艳的物体,直射光容易导致层次丢失。

2、散射光与色彩

 

散射光相对直射光显得更为平淡,但与直射光相比,对于色彩的表现能力却非常优秀。漫射光适合表现均衡的色彩主题,这种光线可以使照片呈现更为丰富的细节,忠实还原被摄物体的本质色彩,而画面颜色更趋于饱和,对于表现丰富色彩和物体层次细腻的拍摄,散射光最为理想。

散射光曝光准确后色彩还原真实,被摄体细节丰富,层次细腻,由于散射光光比均匀,导致暗部细节也能良好表现,曝光相对容易控制。对于色彩本身比较浓艳的物体,散射光更容易表现层次。

3、弱光与色彩

弱光一般指早晨太阳还没出地平线或傍晚太阳已落山,但天空还未全黑时的光线。弱光下进行拍摄,其效果接近散射光,但由于色温对被摄物体的色彩影响较大,想还原真实色彩还是比较困难的。往往大多数的风光摄影师很钟情于这一类光线的拍摄,因为这时所拍摄的色彩已经超出了你们的想象,包括空气中雾霭所营造的空间层次。


2009年8月25日

10 Tips For Great Telephoto Photography

10 Tips For Great Telephoto Photography

Canon 1Ds Mark II + 600mm f/4 Super Telephoto Lens

One of the most exciting aspects of photography is working with Telephoto and Super Telephoto lenses. While out of the price range for most to buy, this lens family is easily accessible through lens rental services online or through local camera stores. Telephoto and super telephoto lenses enable photographers to explore a variety of subjects in new ways. Such lenses are often used in wildlife photography, but they can be used for a variety of subjects. Here are 10 tips and ideas for great telephoto photography:

1. Use A Tripod For Sharp Photos
By and large the vast majority of subjects photographed with telephoto and super telephoto lenses need to be tack sharp. Due to the narrow field of view and magnification of telephoto lenses ever so slight movements have an amplified impact diminishing image sharpness. The first thing you can do to ensure that you’ll capture sharp images is to use a tripod and a tripod head that can support the weight of your lens & camera. While this isn’t the only step to take to ensure sharp photos it is the essential first step. Using a tripod or even a monopod will also save your back and arms from unnecessary pain and fatigue.

2. Use A Shutter Release
Any movement is amplified when looking through the view finder of a camera using a telephoto lens. The simple act of pressing the shutter on your camera will cause even a tripod mounted camera and lens to shake when photographing a distant subject. To minimize camera shake use a shutter release. Quite simply a shutter release is a shutter release button on an extension cord. Minimizing movement of your camera and lens while mounted on a tripod will reduce unintended bluring of your photo.

Bonus Tip:
If your camera has a Mirror Lock-up function this in addition to the use of a shutter release will remove much of the mechanical vibration your camera itself can create. The mirror in the camera box of your dSLR allows you to see from the viewfinder out your lens. When you trigger the shutter the mirror will flip up out of the way so that light coming through your lens hits the sensor or film in your camera body. Mirror Lock-up will prompt you to trigger the shutter twice, first to move the mirror into a ready position and second to open the shutter. After the first trigger of the shutter you should wait 2-5 seconds for the internal mechanics of your camera and resulting vibration of your camera to settle to the point of being still before you trigger the shutter a second and final time.


3. Turn Off Lens Image Stabilization / Vibration Reduction for Tripod Mounted Cameras
When you have Image Stabilization or Vibration Reduction active on your lens the internal mechanics detects movement and counter acts it producing a sharp image. When your camera and lens are mounted on a tripod movement is removed, but your lens can errantly activating its IS/VR mechanism creating an image that is less than sharp. For this reason its a best practice to turn off your lenses IS or VR functionality when it is mounted to a tripod.

4. Telephoto Effect - Bringing Far and Near Together
Telephoto lenses have a unique optical effect in that they flatten scenes with great depth. Fittingly this is referred to as a Telephoto Effect. Making use of this effect can be very useful in composing graphically striking subjects and scenes. Unlike shorter focal length lenses that can provide a great deal of depth to a scene the flattening of a scene with the use of a telephoto lens can give the illusion that multiple subjects separated by great distances are actually very close. This effect can generate a great deal of impact with viewers.


Canon 1Ds Mark III and 600mm + 1.4x teleconverter for a total focal length of 840mm

5. Tightly Frame Your Subject
The most obvious use of a telephoto lens is to magnify a subject so as to close the distance between you and what you’re photographing. This can be of extremely valueable if you’re photographing wildlife and would like to get closer with out putting your life at risk. Beyond wildlife using a telephoto lens give you creative license to get extremely close to your subject in some instances. This is particularly useful in highlighting details that would otherwise be lost with shorter focal length lenses.


Canon 1Ds Mark III and 600mm + 2x teleconverter for a total focal length of 1200mm
Taken on my last 
Sea Otter Photo Tour

6. Isolate Your Subject
Telephoto lenses are great to more distinctly isolate your subject. While this can be done with shorter focal length lenses telephotos enable you to have greater reach to subjects that might be too far off otherwise. This is a middle ground use of telephoto lenses where you’re not looking to crop in too tightly or close the gap between subjects that are far apart.


Canon 1Ds Mark II + 70-200mm IS f/2.8 lens at 200mm

7. Make Use of Ultra Shallow Depth of Field
Telephoto and Super-Telephoto lenses share an optical characteristic that can produce very shallow planes of focus. As a result an often discussed secondary characteristic of long lenses, Bokeh, is the optical signature of out of focus portions of a photograph. Use of shallow depth of field can provide a non-distracting background to your subject enhancing perceived focus and its isolation from competing background elements. Understanding how Bokeh will look from one lens to another will enhance your ability to produce the highest quality image.


Canon 1Ds Mark III + 300mm f/2.8 IS + 1.4x teleconverter for a total focal length of 420mm
Lens provided by 
BorrowLenses.com 

8. Think Macro Photography
 If you’re not into photo yoga an alternate way to shoot macro photography is to use a telephoto lens. Extension tubes in combination with super telephoto lenses shorten the closest focusing distance of a lens. Working with a larger lens will not give you every vantage point that a smaller lens can provide, but it will enable you to obtain other unique perspectives all while saving you from getting your pants dirty.


Canon 1Ds Mark III + 300mm f/2.8 IS + 1.4x teleconverter for a total focal length of 420mm
Note these clusters of flowers are smaller than a US Quarter

9. Panning for Action
 Panning with a telephoto lens can provide high impact photos of almost any moving subject. Maintaining a sharp subject can be tricky requiring some practice. The added dimension of motion blur bring telephoto and super telephoto lens photos to life. This is a perfect technique for wildlife and action subjects alike.


Canon 1D Mark II + 70-200mm IS f/2.8 lens at 190mm + 2x teleconverter for a total focal length of 380mm

10. Experiment with Astrophotography
With a big enough lens your camera can become a low power telescope. Photographs likely won’t be in the exact same class as a true astrophotography taken with a telescope, but you’ll certainly get eye catching photos none-the-less. The key to successfully using telephoto lenses for astrophotography is:

1. Setting up in an area where there is little light pollution
2. Use of a tripod 
3. use of a cable release.

The slightest vibration will be enough to blur a photo with a long lens so special care should be applied to avoid this. For greater drama in post-production with a high enough resolution sensor you can crop down your image while maintaining mouth dropping detail.


Canon 1Ds Mark III and 600mm + 1.4x teleconverter for a total focal length of 840mm
Cropped in Photoshop for an equivalent focal length of 1800mm 




2009年8月4日

How to Photograph a Child’s Birthday ...

How to Photograph a Child’s Birthday Party

I’ve been asked by parents of children to photograph their birthday parties numerous occasions and each time it has been a lot of fun.

Photographing childrenisn’t always easy - and photographing ‘the birthday party’ presents it’s own unique opportunities and challenges as a photographer.

Birthday Partiespresent us with a lot of emotion, interaction, color and energy in a child’s party - the highs and a few lows of life are all present. On the challenging side of things - children’s parties can be chaotic places with moving subjects, lots of clutter and often little time for those organizing them to pick up a camera and take a shot.

Here are a few tips on Photographing Children’s Parties that come to mind:

1. Designate a Party Photographer

There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a party and realizing that while the camera was out that no one bothered (or had time) to pick it up and take some shots. Give someone the job and release that person from other party duties to just take photos. This way you’re guaranteed to get some shots and will have something to remember the day with. It is also good because it means others are able to relax and enjoy the party and that parents can rest assured that the photos will only be used responsibly.

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2. Get a Child’s perspective

One of the most important tips I can share is to get down low when taking photos of children. The biggest mistake I see in party photos is adults taking shots from a standing position looking down onto a scene. While you might take a few shots from this perspective the majority of your photos should be taken at eye level of the subjects you’re shooting.

3. Mix up Your Shooting Angles and Focal Lengths

Having said this - it can inject a lot of life into party shots if you do mix up your shooting angles and focal lengths at a party. Try some shots from standing up high (get on a chair even to accentuate it - this can be great for group shots) but also get down really low and shoot looking up at kids. Also try a range of focal lengths ranging from wide angle shots that take in the whole party scene through to zoomed shots of kids and party elements. Mixing it up like this will mean you end up with a more dynamic and playful series of shots at the end of the day.

4. Adjust White Balance Settings

Most children’s birthday parties happen inside (at least in part) where lighting can be tricky. In most cases there will be some artificial light which can leave your photos with different types of tinges. The easiest way to overcome this and ensure your shots are true in color is to learn to use your white balance controls. This is the subject for another post but most modern digital cameras have a variety of automatic settings that will give you some easy settings for different lighting situations. Before the party experiment with white balance and get your setting right.

5. Look for the Party Details

Another way to add interest to the shots is to focus in on the details of the party. I find that many of these shots are best taken before the guests arrive and might include shots of the cake, photos of balloons and other decorations, photos of presents stacked, shots of a set party table. Often it’s good to get in nice and close to these elements - fill the frame with them (to the point where they even become a little abstract). You’ll find that these types of shots look great scattered through an album between shots of people.

6. Use Bounce Flash or a Diffuser

Speaking of lighting - you’ll probably need some sort of extra lighting if your party is inside. You can help to eliminate the need for this by increasing your ISO setting a little but unless you have a lot of natural light or an extremely fast lens you’ll probably need to use a flash. If you have a flash hotshoe you’ll probably get the best results if you bounce the flash off the room or walls or if you use a flash diffuser of some kind so that the flash is not as harsh on your subjects (a common problem with many party photos).

7. Know the Party Plan

In order to capture all of the important moments in the party you should know how it is planned to run. Know when everyone will be sitting down, when the blowing out of candles will happen, when presents will be opened etc. This will mean you can be well positioned for each event just ahead of them happening.

8. Shoot Candidly

Most of your party photos will end up being candid ones of children and adults interacting with one another around the different party activities. I’ve written on candid photography previously but you’ll probably want to take a couple of types of candid photos during the party. I tend to take quite a few shots from the edge of the party using a longer zoom lens. These shots are largely of kids interacting with each other, playing, eating etc. The other thing to do as the party ‘warms up’ is to actually get into the party and shoot from within it. In these instances you will find a wide angle lens more appropriate and you actually join in the circle of activity (ie sit with the kids, play the games, eat the food) and photograph the children as you do this. At times it might even be appropriate to make taking the photos a game of sorts - getting them to pose and then show them the results on your LCD.

9. Shoot out of Relationship

Photographing from ‘within’ the party is fun but it doesn’t just happen straight away with many children. I find that the best shots come as the children warm up to you and their surrounds. So make an effort to meet the children as they come into the party and to be friendly and fun. This might even mean putting your camera away for a little towards the start of proceedings. Also in this I’d highly recommend that you need to be aware of personal boundaries when photographing children. Unfortunately we live in a time where the topic of photographing kids is something that makes many of us think about ways that doing so can be misused and abused. Always get permission of the parents hosting the party before photographing proceedings, always stay with the main group and don’t get into one to one shooting situations, be aware of giving those you’re photographing personal space and being appropriate.

10. Planned Shots

While the majority of your shots will probably be candid shots you should also think ahead about what type of ‘must have’ sort of shots you want from the party. Consult with parents (if you’re not one of them) about what type of shots they want. These might include some group shots, cake shots, blowing out candles, opening presents, party games etc

11. Take Before and After Shots of the Party

It’s amazing to see how a room (and people) can be transformed in just an hour or two when you have a group of children in it. For this reason you might want to consider what type of shots you’ll want to take before the party actually starts. This might include some of those shots that focus in on different elements of the party (see above) but also shots of the birthday boy or girl when they are dressed up and looking (and behaving) at their best. Also take a few shots at the end of the party - they could make a humorous comparison series with your before shots.

12. Shoot in Burst Mode

One of the most effective ways to capture parties is to learn how to shoot in continuous shooting (or burst) mode when your camera fires a series of shots in quick succession. This is particularly useful when shooting children as they rarely sit still but is also a good strategy for key moments in the party like blowing out the candles (which you only get a couple of seconds of opportunity to capture).

13. Include Adults in your Photos

The focus of children’s parties is generally the children - but the adults attending the party can actually present you with some fascinating shots as they watch on. Sometimes their reactions to what the children are doing can be quite fascinating and its worth including them in shots - particularly those adults in the immediate family of the child having the birthday.


2009年7月21日

6 Winning Ways to Work Wide 从 How to Photograph Fireworks Displays 作者:Guest Contributor

Today Joe Decker shares some tips on wide angle photography.

One of the first lens purchases aspiring landscape photographers typically made is a wide or super-wide lens, anything (in full-frame 35mm terms) from 24mm on down, and with good reason, wides offer photographers the ability to capture the sweeping vistas of the natural landscape. But they can also be a challenge to use effectively, it’s all to easy to end up with a wide-angle shot that lacks the power and grandeur we felt when we were shooting. In this article, I’ll explain why that’s so often the case, and provide a few tips for working around those challenges, showing you how to use wide-angle lenses to create dramatic, effective images.

Nordenskjöld Lake, Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile. Image Copyright Joe Decker

Nordenskjöld Lake, Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile. Image Copyright Joe Decker

1. Get Close!

Because wide-angle lenses take in a bigger angle-of-view than other lenses, using a wide-angle lens at the same distance from your subject will render that subject smaller than it would otherwise. To compensate for this, you’ll have to move closer to your subject. Don’t be bashful about getting close, particularly with super-wides&mash;it’s almost impossible to get “too close” to your subject with a 14mm lens. This emphasis in size that wide-angle lenses give nearby objects means that …

2. It’s All about the Foreground

Contrary to what you might expect, this means that the most important element of your wide-angle landscapes is the foreground. While wide-angle lenses do capture the wider landscape, they also (almost inevitably, because of their wide field-of-view) capture quite a bit of foreground as well, and this foreground is emphasized by the wide-angle perspective. As a result, if your foreground isn’t interesting, your photograph won’t be interesting. This leads us naturally to the Josef Muench idea of the near-far composition, an image which uses a wide-angle lens to not only show a broad vista, but also to show one detail of that landscape in an up-close, intimate way. When you’re photographing wide, be sure to spend some time looking for the most interesting foreground available to combine with your grand vista. (If there isn’t an interesting foreground, you might want to consider using a longer lens to leave out that less interesting foreground.)

 Fallen Redwoods, Stout Grove, Jedediah Smith State Park, California.  Image Copyright Joe Decker

Fallen Redwoods, Stout Grove, Jedediah Smith State Park, California. Image Copyright Joe Decker


3. Watch those Verticals!

Wide-angle lenses tend to bend and distort verticals, as you can see in the tree trunks near the top of Fallen Redwoods. Now, you might decide you like that effect, or that you hate it, but it’s important to be aware of it and to make a conscious decision about it. For some images it’s fun to embrace, but more often I find myself having to work to avoid it or correct it later. Avoiding it can be as simple a matter as composing so that there’s only a single obvious vertical (and that that’s vertical), alternatively, using shift movements with a tilt-shift lens can correct some of this distortion in-camera. Post-exposure, Photoshop’s “Lens Distort” filter can also save the day.

4. Leading Lines

Compositionally, lines (such as streams or railway tracks) leading from the bottom corners of an image towards the center often have a particular magic for guiding the viewers eye through the picture, making for strong images, and this is particularly the case for wide-angle images. Hot Stream is a great example of this, the viewers eye tends to wander from the corner back through the image along the stream. As the stream moves back into the image, the stream gets smaller (in terms of inches on the printed page) quickly due the wide perspective. This quick fade (in width) into the distance creates a real sense of depth in the image.

Hot Stream, Húsavík, Iceland.   Image Copyright Joe Decker

Hot Stream, Húsavík, Iceland. Image Copyright Joe Decker

5. Filter Woes

Shooting wide creates two problems for those of us who use filters. Polarizers are a specific problem, the effect of a polarizer on a blue sky varies across the sky so greatly that wide-angle images including the sky are left horribly unnatural, so leave off the polarizer unless you know there’s no blue sky in your scene. Screw-in filters are a separate problem, it’s all too easy for the filter edges, particularly if you’re stacking more than one filter on the same lens. Filter systems, such Cokin’s P-series filters (with the wide-angle filter holder), can help you avoid these problems if you must use filters.

Dwarf Arctic Birch, C. Hofmann Peninusla, Greenland.  Image Copyright Joe Decker

Dwarf Arctic Birch, C. Hofmann Peninusla, Greenland. Image Copyright Joe Decker

6. Focusing

One of the things I enjoy most about working with wide-angle lenses is the ease of focusing them. As you move to wider and wider focal lengths, the depth-of-field at a particular aperture gets deeper and deeper. This allows you to make great use of the concept of hyperfocal distance, that is, the nearest distance you can focus a particular lens at a particular aperture and get “good focus”. At 24mm, by focusing about six feet out from the camera you’ll capture everything from about three feet to infinity in focus—even at f/11. At 17mm, focusing at the right point at f/11 will get you everything from infinity down to 17 inches away. Find (using a web site like this or any of a number of other sites, software tools or printed tables) and write down the hyperfocal distance for a couple of your widest lenses at a couple of your favorite apertures, and you’ll have an easy way of bringing the entire scene of near-far compositions into critical focus.

Using wide-angle lenses can certainly be tricky, but I love them all the same. Used well they can allow the photographer to create images that immerse us in a world with both small, intimate details and bold, dramatic vistas.

2009年7月8日

Why you Need a Telephoto Zoom Lens fo...

Why you Need a Telephoto Zoom Lens for Landscape Photography



In this post naturalist, photographer, and computer scientist Steve Berardi from PhotoNaturalist explains why you need a telephoto zoom lens for landscape photography.

telephoto-zoom-landscape.jpgWhen you think about landscape photography, you might immediately think of the wide angle zoom lens, which is great for capturing those expansive landscapes and “taking it all in.”

But, a telephoto zoom lens can also be helpful when photographing landscapes. To understand why, it’s important to know what determines perspective and how perspective can help convey a particular feeling in a photograph.

What determines perspective?

As Ansel Adams repeats so often in his wonderful book, The Camera: “perspective is a function of camera-to-subject distance.”

There’s a common misconception that perspective is determined by focal length, but in reality, the only thing that determines perspective is where you put the camera.

There are at least two rules of perspective that you should be familiar with:

  1. the closer you get to a subject, the larger it will appear on the image frame (yeah, this one’s obvious)
  2. as you move closer to your scene, the closest objects will increase in size faster than the distant objects (not so obvious)

The second rule is the one we often forget, and it’s best illustrated with an example, so take a look at this photo I took in the Eastern Sierra of California:
telephoto-example.jpg

In this photo, I was standing about 100 ft (30 m) from those boulders in the foreground. As a result, the dominant object in this shot is the mountain in the background, which stood miles away from the boulders.

Now, look what happens when I move just 50 ft (15 m) closer to those boulders:

telephoto-landscape.jpg

All of a sudden, the mountains in the background don’t look so mighty, and now those boulders in the foreground are the dominant objects. This photo has a drastically different feeling than the previous one. The perspective you choose for a landscape will depend on the feeling you’re trying to convey.

Personally, in this case I prefer the first photo, because as I stood there in front of the scene, I felt like the mountain was in charge: it had an overpowering effect on me. So, I decided to give it an overpowering effect in the final image.

Another lesson to learn here: you probably noticed how different the lighting conditions are between the two photos above. The first shot was taken about 15 minutes before sunrise and the second shot was about 15 minutes after sunrise. Lighting conditions can change in milliseconds, so make sure you’re there for the entire show and be prepared to capture that light at any moment!

So, why do you need a telephoto zoom lens?

Since perspective is determined solely by where you put the camera, you’ll sometimes find that the most pleasing perspective is viewed from a great distance. So, to fill the frame with this perspective, you’ll need to zoom in to it with a longer focal length.

For example, the first photo above was taken at 70mm (on a 1.6x crop factor camera). I could have shot it at 40mm, but I wouldn’t have filled the frame: I would have inadvertently captured many of the surrounding elements of the scene.

The second shot was taken at 40mm, and this shorter focal length was necessary because I was much closer to those boulders in the foreground.

So, the lesson here is that carrying a wide range of focal lengths allows you to capture a wide range of perspectives.

What’s the best telephoto zoom lens for landscape photography?

This is definitely debatable, but most photographers would recommend the 70-200mm range (available from most camera manufacturers). Personally, I use Canon’s 70-200mm F/4L and it is easily my favorite lens (it’s great for wildflowers too!).

steve-berardi.jpgAbout the AuthorSteve Berardi is a naturalist, photographer, and computer scientist. You can usually find him hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains or the Mojave Desert, both located in the beautiful state of California. Read more of his articles on nature photography at thePhotoNaturalist.


2009年6月27日

A Basic Food Photography Kit

A Basic Food Photography Kit

food-photography-kit-1.jpgSteve Buchanan is a commercial photographer in Maryland and a contributor on Photocrati’s Photography Blog. His work can be seen at www.buchanan-studios.com.

Many of the photographers I know are gadget hounds. They love their toys. They love to talk about them, read about them, argue about them and drool over the ones they can’t afford. I’m not so much of a gadget hound. I have my share of gear, and it will occasionally (ok, regularly) spill out of the equipment room and into the rest of the house, but I’ve made a point to try and keep things simple in my business, and in my work. For those looking to get started in food photography I’ve compiled a list of equipment that I would recommend getting, in order.

1. Any Canon or Nikon DSLR.

I don’t care how many megapixels, or if it shoots video, or whether its full frame or dx sized. Just so you like it and you’re comfortable using it. I know Sony, Fuji, Pentax and others make perfectly good dslrs, but Canon and Nikon have the largest user base and accessory range, and that will be important to you some day. Also, when it’s time to upgrade, Canon and Nikon usually have a better resale value. My primary camera is a Canon 5D.

2. A Macro Lens

Manufacturer branded lenses are best, and of course most expensive. Most of the major aftermarket brands are fine (Sigma, Tamron) but do your research on those first and I’ve heard of some quality issues from time to time with aftermarket gear. I would not recommend the close up filters that screw into the front of a lens and allow you to focus closer. They’re terrible in terms of sharpness and flatness of field. My primary lens, Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro.

3. A Good Tripod

food-photography-kit-2.jpg

Since food photography is all about slowly building the image from test shot to test shot, a sturdy tripod is a must. One commonly overlooked spec on tripods is the minimum height when in use. I have several tripods but the one I use the most often is a Bogen/Manfrotton 3001 with a 3035 head. It’s a relatively light tripod and a heavy head, but I shoot in a lot of restaurants. Standard table height is 30 inches and sometimes I want to be right at that height. My larger, more sturdy tripods won’t allow me to get that low.

4. Homemade Reflectors

A trip to the art store will set this up for you. A couple half sheets of fomecore, some silver boards, a utility knife, some funtak and a couple of artists manikins and you’ve got yourself all that you need for making reflector cards and a means to keep them in place.

5. A Computer Workstation Capable of Shooting Tethered

Specifying a computer workstation setup is a whole other can of worms, but chances are you’re already working with one so the big thing to notice here is the ability to shoot tethered. I shoot Canon and EOS capture came with my camera. I don’t know if Nikon includes their Capture program or not but it’s worth getting if need be. Again, shooting food requires you to shoot, look, repeat. It’s a whole lot easier to evaluate your shots on a laptop screen than on that little lcd viewer on the back of your camera.

6. A Color Checker

food-photography-kit.jpg

Something like the Expodisc or a Macbeth color checker is crucial. I ALWAYS shoot a color chart on every shoot. This is even more crucial when using available light since available light rarely matches those preset white balances on your camera. Nothing looks less appetizing than a green banana.

7. Studio Strobes or Monolights

These can be fairly expensive, or relatively cheap. It all depends on how much you shoot and how hard you are on your gear. One key factor to keep in mind is the availability and diversity of light modifiers for your particular system. A typical studio setup for me contains 2 or 3 lights with fairly focused light modifiers like grid spots or snoots and 1 soft fill light, usually a softbox overhead or slightly behind.

You’ll notice that the strobes are at the bottom. It’s entirely possible to do some great shots with just available light and some basic gear. If you have the first three I think you’ve got all you need to do some top notch work. Sure, if you’re going to hang a shingle and start selling yourself as a pro, you’ll need more. But if you want to get started and learn your way around food photography this will get you moving. I think a lot of photographers use their lack of funds to buy really cool gear as a crutch - don’t.

From the Editor (Darren Rowse)Thanks to Stephen for this post. Of course his point on Canon/Nikon cameras is probably going to cause some debate (going on past experience). I’m more than happy for this debate to happen below - just please be civilized.

For the record - DPS loves great images - not any particular brand of camera. If you can take a great shot with a Sony, Pentax, Sigma or even a Kodak… that’s fantastic! Use what your finances, preferences and situation leads you to and keep shooting!

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

A Basic Food Photography Kit


2009年6月19日

Classic Portrait Lighting Styles Part I

http://cameradojo.com/2009/06/13/classic-portrait-lighting-styles-part-i/


As we continue our series on portrait lighting we now need to look at the different types of classic portrait lighting and see the effect it has on someone so we can decided when to use each type. By choosing the proper lighting for a particular person, we can help them to look their best by making them appear to be thinner or wider or to accent or minimize certain facial features.

How to get the lighting we want

By now we would hope you wouldn’t be asking how to get your lighting setup dialed in, but if you need a little refresher you should start off with the following articles:

For the rest of the article, different images will also be presented with lighting diagrams to help illustrate exactly how each look was obtained.

Broad Lighting

Broad lighting is certainly the easiest lighting style to use since the camera side of the face is lit brighter than the far side of the face. This look is easily obtained by simply bouncing your flash off a wall or reflector to the side of the camera back onto the subject. Broad lighting used to be taught as the “feminine lighting” but that is certainly not always the case. Broad lighting will tend to make a face look wider which is not always a look that is the most flattering. With the right subject, broad lighting can certainly achieve very nice results.

20090603-6-2

LightingSetup

With the subject facing to the camera right and a large light source to the camera left a broad light effect is created putting the side of the face furthest from the camera into shadow. With the tilt of her head it gave her face a more rounded appearance.

Short Lighting

Short lighting is considered by many to be the most flattering style and is certainly my personal favorite. Short lighting will tend to make a face look thinner. Short lighting is also harder to achieve because it virtually requires off-camera lighting since the light is coming from behind the subject.

shortlighting

LightingSetup

With the shadow on the camera side of the face, the face looks thinner. Keep in mind, the examples so far have been achieved on the same location spot using only natural light and simply moving the subject and camera position to get the desired look.

Split Lighting

Split lighting is not very popular and is probably the least used of the different lighting styles. In split lighting the light is split down the middle of the subject’s face dividing it in half. The lighting setup is fairly simple with two lights on either side of the subject and one using less power than the other. I personally really like the split lighting effect to give someone some images that will have a different look than they are likely to get from other photographers.

splitlighting splitlighting2

LightingSetup

As you can see, split lighting can be very effective and with just a slight turn of the head can look like a mix of split lighting and short lighting,

Summary

I hope this has given you a new set of tools to use to improve your portrait lighting techniques, done properly you can achieve a very classic, timeless look that your clients will love. The key to mastering any of these is to practice, practice, practice. Get some lights setup for one style, maybe get a model from a place like Model Mayhem, and work on each style until you really have it nailed down. Next time we will look at Rembrandt and Butterfly lighting.