Photography Tips (Page 35)

There probably isn't a week that goes by without someone asking me which camera I think they should buy. Usually they expect me to tell them buy Canon or Nikon or some other big manufacturer. They often ask me to compare features such as mega pixels for them and they seem to spend hours agonising over which camera is the best value for money. When I tell them to forget all this they think I have gone mad. But once they understand my three golden rules life becomes much simpler.

Have you ever hiked for two or three hours to get somewhere; took tons of photos, but when they came back you were disappointed? Somehow you lost the magic; it just didn’t feel the same. How do you know the difference between a waterfall that is 200 feet tall, or an extreme close-up of a creek trickling over some rock 2 inches tall? In some cases you don’t. Now if you are doing that on purpose, that’s cool. It’s called an optical illusion. But . . . if you’re doing it by accident, that’s called poor photography.

Following on from the previous post on Fall photography tips, here are three filters that can help you take better Fall photos. You don't need any filters to take great Fall photos, but these filters can help you enhance reflections and color, and give moving water a silky look.

Fall is a great time of year for photography, with the changing colors, early misty mornings, and the days closing in means you don't have to get up at an unearthly hour capture a nice sunrise. In this article I'll share some tips to help you get better Fall photos.

Geotagging (also known as geocoding or geoencoding) your photos allows you to view your photos on a map and see where they were taken. There are also a variety of photo sharing services that allow you to add geotagged photos, so that others can see exactly where your photos were taken as well.

This can be a great idea with photos taken out on a walk, or while on vacation. It also works well with photos of wildlife and flowers, allowing you to see where and what sort of habitat the photo was taken in from the map.

If you are a keen landscape photographer one of your main challenges will be how to locate places that will provide excellent opportunities to create stand out photographs.  Your first port of call will probably be the work of other photographers in your area.  You can see their work at exhibitions or at photography clubs or via their personal websites or blogs.

Another way to view photographer's work of your area is to browse social networking sites such as Flickr.  Flickr gives you the ability to search for photographs across the millions that are stored in its database.  If you search by town name or county you will end up with a filtered list of photographs that have been taken in your area. Flickr encourages tagging of photographs with keywords, so as long as the contributor has tagged their photograph with the relevant place name it will appear in the search results.

Portholland by Johan J.Ingles-Le Nobel on flickr (licensed CC-BY-ND)

Repetition is a creative tool. When you repeat a certain size, shape, or color you add strength to the overall image. Repetition is a basic concept in the art world. A really good photo tip worth remembering is: if you repeat something once or twice it becomes more interesting. If you repeat something many times it becomes a pattern and takes on a life of its own. Patterns give us order in an otherwise chaotic world. There's something fundamentally pleasing about seeing order in a photo and knowing what to expect. In most cases, repetition is a tool used to calm the viewer, making them feel comfortable and at peace while enjoying the view.

Stars and Stripes by Scott Anderson on flickr (licensed CC-BY)

Taking attractive photos of interior spaces can be challenging but it's a skill that any photographer can develop. Dealing with difficult lighting situations, subjects that may not be aware of what is happening, and an ever-changing landscape are just small parts of what makes interior photography both fun and challenging. Here are five easy tips to help get you started taking interior photos all with just a little bit of photo gear.

Modern digital cameras tend to have very good long lasting batteries. However, if you are out somewhere special all day taking photos, you don't want the camera battery to die just as it comes to the beautiful light of sunset.

So here are a few ways you can make your existing battery last longer, as well as options you can purchase for longer lasting power.

Is there such a thing as the perfect exposure? To get the perfect exposure, you will first need to identify the main subject of the picture you are taking.