Posts Tagged Tips
HDR Photography
HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography refers to increasing the color range of a photo.
Our eyes are an amazing contraption. They quickly adapt to many lighting conditions, and the brain kicks in whenever help is needed. In certain conditions, your camera will fail dramatically (or just fail, depends how you look at it), be it a camera mounted on a spy pen or a new Canon 5D Mark II. The conditions I’m referring to are ones which include very bright and very dark areas. Correct exposure to the dark areas will burn the bright areas, correct expose to the bright areas will result in very grim dark areas.
Consider the following photos of average exposure, correct exposure to bright areas and correct exposure to dark areas:
 People's Park, Shanghai - EV 0 |
 People's Park, Shanghai - EV -2 |
 People's Park, Shanghai - EV +2 |
So what do we do? We take multiple shots with EV compensation! The photos above were taken at aperture priority with an aperture of f/16. The first image shutter speed determined by the camera for correct exposure: 1/640 seconds (high ISO used). For the underexposed image, the shutter speed went up to 1/2500 seconds (-2 means 2 stops under, so multiplied by 4). The overexposed image’s shutter speed was 1/160 seconds. Notice how the first photo is nice, but it loses details which are found in the other 2 photos (at a cost of ruining the remaining details of the image).
Next, we combine the photos into a single picture, by taking the correctly exposed areas from each photo. You can do it in Photoshop (many tutorials online) or use a program doing that thing exactly. I achieved the following result using the trial version of Photomatix (so forgive the watermark):
People's Park, Shanghai - HDR
Detailed building from the underexposed photo, details in the tree and water from the overexposed photo.
Check your camera user manual, usually it will offer you an auto-bracketing feature, which will take a normal photo when you first release the shutter, an underexposed on the second release and an overexposed on the third. You can also determine by how much do you want the EV compensation to be. By the way, using a tripod is recommended.
Model Photography
I had another photo shoot with Ofer Yeger last night for her blog Cupcakes.co.il
I’m not used to taking photos of people posing. I’ve first reached Ofer by chance and I’m glad we’ve been cooperating for several of her posts in her cupcakes and fashion blog. I’ve been learning quite a lot in the process. The wonders of magic hour, the advantages and disadvantages of shooting in direct sunlight and the need to direct the scene. I’m not used to tell someone “Now move here” or “Try looking that way”. I’m still quite dependant on Ofer moving around and me waiting for the moment when I release the shutter.
But I am trying. And am quite pleased with the results so far.
What have I learned? Shoot before sunset. White balance set to “Shade” produces nice and warm pictures. Higher ISO as the sun sets to avoid blurs. If the model is in direct sunlight, watch for the shadows. Tele lens help with shallow DOF, giving emphasis on the model. And in the words of Baz Luhrmann: wear sunscreen.
 Ofer portrait 1 |
 Ofer portrait 2 |
Click the images to enlarge. You can also see Ofer’s full post with more pictures on http://cupcakes.co.il/?p=1707
Night time photography
Okay. I’ve been meaning to write part 2 of the image exposure piece, but last night I went to this sixties party. I’ve been struggling to take photos in the dark. I know I’ve written about it, but the camera has limits. Even with maximum aperture, you will have either use long exposure, or use a flash.
Now I won’t trouble you with all the crappy photos I took there. All my attempts of not using the flash resulted in a terribly shaky scene. Using an external flash would have been best I believe, but I’ve yet to acquire one. So I used the Lucille’s built in flash:
Danna blowing bubbles
This picture was shot at 1/6 seconds at maximum aperture (f/4.5… I also need new lens?).
I used a flash, but I was far away enough not to overexpose Danna. I also used a nice trick here: right after the flash fired I zoomed in, blurring the surroundings. Had she been moving, the photo would have been messed up, but slowly blowing bubbles made Danna quite static.
And the party itself? It wasn’t Woodstock but the beer was free 