Learn to take Photos and enjoy Photography

Learn to take Photos and enjoy Photography. Where do you start Photography? Start at home, right in your backyard. Shoot photos of places next to your house, where you can keep going back to the same subject and re-shooting it to develop your skills, become more aware of how things change in different light, different times of day, different weather, different seasons. Doing this again and again it will make us well versed. To work well in different places you need to not have to think about your camera, handling it should be second nature so you can respond quickly to the unexpected.

While learning to be good with the camera i have referred few books in improving my skills in photography. The best books i have referred to till now is from Rob Shepherd's book on what you can do best with your camera and take top class pictures. I would like to share some of the technical specs and the knowledge from the contents which will be helpful for you......

Well  Photography is a lot of fun. Anyone can take better pictures right from the start. To get consistently better photos, it helps to get both you and your camera ready for taking pictures. Most people know that focusing the camera is important, but in many ways, it can be just as important to focus the photographer. Choosing what and where to shoot is the first step that you must take before shooting. Read local newspapers, check out travel books, or browse online resources to find out what is happening in your area. You can find great photo opportunities at local fairs, botanical gardens, nature preserves, national parks, or even zoos; and when outside shooting is difficult, consider shooting indoors where conditions are controlled. A digital camera allows much more flexibility for indoor shooting than film ever did.

The more you know about your equipment, the more you can concentrate on getting the photographs that you want and not on learning how to use your camera. Open up the camera manual and spend time with it and your camera so that you know what controls are available and how to use them. When you go to shoot, you will be more satisfied if you are realistic; a day of shooting does not always result in lots of good photos. All photographers have bad days that end up with only mediocre photos — especially when the shooting conditions work against you! Enjoy the experience of having fun with digital photography and learn from it.

Select good

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES

When shooting wellphotographed

places such as

western mountains, take

the traditional shot and then

shoot creatively, too.

Being patient can pay off with the

right light. The early morning

light to look its best.

 

People are easiest to

photograph when they

are involved in activities

that keep their attention

away from the camera.

Gardens offer terrific

opportunities for interesting and

colorful close-up images, such as

this shot of a hollyhock blossom

in early morning light.

  

Photo Tip!

When you find a good

place to take

photographs, visit it

again and again. Your

images will improve

each time that you

return because you will

learn the best times and

subjects for photos.            

                                                 Did You Know?

                                             Some of the best photo

                                            opportunities may be in

                                              your own backyard.

                                            Explore details, shapes,

                                              or colors that might

                                           make good photographs

                                            and give them a try. A

                                             digital camera’s LCD

                                            review helps you refine

                                                      your shots.

                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                  Photo Tip!

                                                                                             Use the Internet to

                                                                                          learn where and when

                                                                                          to shoot. Many online

                                                                                            guides and forums

                                                                                               provide all the

                                                                                          information you need

                                                                                        to find wonderful places

                                                                                           and subjects to shoot

                                                                                              that will suit your

                                                                                                     interests.

It starts with FOUR LETTERS

Most photo enthusiasts have mixed feelings about the digital part of photography. Many of them enjoy the advantages of digital cameras, but they feel uncomfortable with computers. They often think that all this digital stuff adds a layer of complexity that can be difficult, so much so that it can prevent them from getting the most from new technology. By keeping in mind the letters I, C, A, and N, you can overcome any apprehension you may have about shooting digital photos.

I, C, A, and N represent possibility and potential. Put them together and you get “I can,” banishing the thought, “I can’t.” There is no question that a lot of photographers get stopped by some of the new digital

tools and throw up their hands saying, “I can’t do this.” Everyone from teenagers to octogenarians can learn digital photography and love its possibilities. “I can” does not mean that you can do everything right away. After all, no serious photographer understood everything about a film camera without some study and practice. You might not know it all right away, and you might still be working on learning the technology, but with practice, you will be able to accomplish great things with your digital camera and the computer!

         From your family to exotic

                            foreign locations, possibilities for

                            great photos are everywhere. A

                            lot of your success depends on

                            your ability to silence the selfcritic

                            and say, “I can do this!” for

                            your photography. At left, an

                            intimate portrait of brother and

                            sister shot to emphasize the close

                            relationship of the two people.

Travel gives you wonderful

chances for new subjects, but

remember that in popular

locations, a lot of photographers

have already taken pictures of

striking lights. Just taking an

attitude of “I can find something

different here” can lead to new

and interesting compositions.

Once you believe in

possibilities, you can

find good photographs

almost anywhere. I like

to keep a small digital

camera with me

wherever I go so I can

capture whatever

catches my eye, no

matter what the

location.

 Working with layers in an imageediting

program intimidates a lot

of photographers. It looks so alien

to photography that “I can’t”

escapes and runs amuck in their

heads. That does not have to be

the case. You might not

understand layers yet, but you

will discover how useful they are

so you will say, “I can do layers.”

Photo Tip!

When you know that you will share

a photo online, you do not need a

high image resolution. Try cropping

a detail from a large image before

you resize it for the Web. A small

bird in a mostly blue-sky print can

become a large bird that fills the

frame when it is cropped for the

Web.

MASTER YOUR CAMERA to get great photos

To consistently produce the best photos with your digital camera, learn all that you can about it. Today’s sophisticated digital cameras are amazing. Even pocket point-and-shoot cameras enable you to take excellent photographs with their superb automatic features and high sensor and lens quality. However, most digital cameras offer many additional features worth learning so that you gain important creative control over how photos are taken and ensure that you get exactly what you want.

One of the best features of all digital cameras is the LCD screen that lets you review the image and camera settings immediately after taking the photo. This enables you to check that you have composed the photo as you want and that the camera settings were set as you expected. Some cameras even include a swivel or rotating LCD for more versatility. Many digital cameras even provide a histogram to give you a visual impression of the exposure. These review features encourage you to make adjustments while you are still there with your subject.

You have made an investment

in purchasing a digital camera.

Although you do not have to

know everything about it in order

to use it well, the more controls

you master on your camera, the

better the return on your

investment.

The instant review LCD monitor

on a digital camera gives every

photographer the chance to

check the shot. This lets everyone

become a better photographer

because camera controls can be

adjusted, and then the results

immediately seen on the LCD.

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Digital cameras house a

lot of great technology

that works in the

photographer’s favor. A

rotating LCD can be a

great help in composing

your picture when the

camera must be held

low or high.

Advanced compact digital

cameras and digital SLRs can

display a histogram with the

image on the LCD. You can get

consistently better exposures if

you learn to read a histogram

Did You Know?

The more you learn about and use different features on your camera, the more possibilities you have for creative control. However, sooner or later you may forget what settings you have changed and shoot using the wrong settings. Use your camera’s LCD review to make a quick check of things like exposure and white balance. Learn how to quickly check other settings or to set them to the defaults in order to avoid shooting with the wrong settings.

Caution!

Many digital camera shave shooting modes that automatically choose a faster ISO setting if there is not sufficient light. Make sure that you know what shooting modes allow this to avoid taking photos that have too much digital noise (which can come from high ISO settings).

CHOOSE THE IMAGE FILE FORMAT

to suit your needs

RAW format images are

proprietary, data-rich files that

you must convert before you can

view and edit them.

Did You Know?

You can shoot more JPEG images in a row compared to RAW before the camera’s memory buffer is filled, making the camera stop in order to catch up. On the other hand, RAW allows instant changes to white balance after the shoot with no effect on the image quality.

Did You Know?

The RAW format is the best image format to use if you want to get the best possible pictures from your

digital camera. Camera settings, such as white balance, contrast, saturation levels, sharpening, and other settings, are not applied to a RAW image file. After you shoot, you have control over these settings when processing them with a RAW image converter. Many photo enthusiasts shoot in RAW format most of the time, or choose RAW + JPEG if the camera offers that setting.

Set the IMAGE RESOLUTION AND COMPRESSION LEVEL

In addition to letting you choose a file format for your photos, most digital cameras enable you to choose the image resolution. Usually, you will choose the highest resolution — after all, that is what you paid for in the camera.

Image resolution is expressed in terms of pixels, such as 3648x2736 pixels. If you multiply these two numbers together, you get the total pixel count — for example, 3658x2736 = 10,053,888, or 10 megapixels (10MP). For most photography, 10MP easily gives excellent prints up to 13x18. More pixels in a picture are not about quality, but about image size. More pixels enable you to print at larger sizes, which could be one reason to buy a digital camera with a higher megapixel rating.

This is not a simple decision, however. More pixels on a small sensor can mean increased noise in the image (noise looks like grain in film or “snow” on a TV with poor reception). Also, as pixel counts increase, so does file size, meaning you need more memory to hold the same number of images, requiring you to purchase higher-capacity memory cards for extended shoots. You could gain space by choosing a smaller image resolution or a low JPEG compression. Unfortunately, both of these options reduce image quality. Choose the highest resolution and highest quality JPEG compression unless you have special need for small images, such as those used only on the Web (which needs a much lower resolution).

This photo is cropped slightly

from a 10-megapixel camera with

an image size of 3771x2514

pixels. This particular photo is the

full image file.

This image is at a much reduced

resolution of 1200x900 pixels.

Yet, both look fine at this size

because either resolution

supports the small size of the

images as shown on this page.

 

The cropped image

shows the difference.

The top photo is

cropped from the larger

image file and looks fine

printed here.

The second one comes from the

smaller file and starts to show loss

of sharpness and pixilation. The

point is that the small file is much

more limited on how large it can

be displayed or printed compared

to the big image file.

Did You Know?

By reducing the image resolution to store more photos in your camera, you reduce your ability to crop photos later and the opportunity to get the largest possible prints. Memory card prices are very reasonable for high storage capacities, so buy either extra or big cards so that you can store your images at the maximum image resolution and with the least image compression. This helps you avoid taking a prized shot that is too small or has too much compression to make a good print.

Each time you save a JPEG file after editing it, your image degrades. Therefore, JPEG should not be used as a working file format when adjusting it in Photoshop Elements or any other program. Save a working file in an uncompressed image format such as TIFF (.tif) or Photoshop (.psd). JPEG can be used later for archiving finished files to save disk space.

Control your camera’s light sensitivity with the ISO SETTING

In traditional film photography, you choose film for a certain sensitivity based upon an ISO rating, such as ISO 100 or ISO 400. Digital cameras also enable you to change ISO settings, which are similar to, but not the same as, film ratings. Digital camera ISO settings come from the camera amplifying the signal from the sensor rather than a built-in rating as in film. This sensitivity affects how you can deal with certain photo needs, from the amount of light to a desired shutter speed. Low settings such as ISO 100 are less sensitive, or “slower,” than ISO 400 because it takes a slower shutter speed to properly expose the image. A higher ISO setting enables an image to be recorded with a faster shutter speed. Choosing an ISO setting is one of the most important settings that you can make. High ISO settings, such as ISO 800, enable you to shoot in lower-light settings with faster shutter speeds, but you may end up with more digital noise in your photos. Digital noise is similar to grain in traditional photography and is minimized when you choose a low ISO setting.

This photo was shot at ISO 1600

to enable a faster shutter speed,

avoiding image blur in low levels

of indoor light.

Digital noise is easily visible in

most of this photo as a speckled

pattern. Still, people expect

indoor photos like this to have

noise.

This photo was shot at

ISO 100 to give the

image the highest color

and sharpness, plus best

tonalities, while keeping

noise low.

Digital noise is minimal throughout

this photo, but it did require using

a tripod because a slower shutter

speed (1/3 second) was used.

Did You Know?

You generally get the best picture quality by using the lowest ISO setting your camera offers, such as ISO 100 or 200. A high setting, such as ISO 1600, will have considerably more digital noise.

  

Photo Tip!

Although digital noise is generally an unwanted characteristic of a digital photo, you can use it as a creative design element. In the days of traditional film, photographers often used grain to add a romantic look to their people and travel photos.

Did You Know?

When you edit a digital photo with an image editor such as Photoshop Elements, you are likely to get more noticeable digital noise when you perform steps such as increasing contrast, adjusting saturation, and sharpening an image.

Improve color with the WHITE BALANCE SETTING

Color photography has always had a challenge with getting accurate color. A common problem is an undesirable color cast, such as a red, blue, or green haze over the image. This was difficult to deal with when using film and often required special films or filters to balance the color with the light. Digital photography has really changed this because of white balance settings. Now you can select an in-camera white balance setting so that your camera records correct colors when shooting under a variety of different lighting conditions, such as incandescent light, tungsten light, sunshine, or clouds. You find icons representing presets for each of these in the white balance setting area. Auto white balance (AWB) gives less consistent results (even when working with RAW files).

Besides letting you choose an appropriate white balance setting, many digital cameras have a custom white balance setting that can record very accurate colors. Each camera deals with this setting differently, so you need to check your manual, though custom white balance requires that you have a neutral white or gray card for the control. If your camera offers such a feature (and most do), it is worth learning about and using.

This photowas taken

at sunset with the white balance

set to cloudy. Cloudy gives a

warm sunset that looks more like

traditional film-captured sunsets.

This photo was taken at sunset

with the white balance set to

AWB or auto white balance. With

AWB, the camera does not know

that a sunset should look warm

and takes out much of that

warmth in order to make a more

neutral image.

A strongly colored

background can cause

AWB to give false

results. This portrait of a

Peruvian girl was made

using the shade preset.

The slight warm color cast to this

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image is important because it

reflects the time of day it was

captured. A daylight preset was

used to preserve that color cast.

Photo Tip!

Sometimes you can add a preset white balance setting to add an attractive color tone to a photo. For example, using a cloudy white balance setting can add warmth to an otherwise cold or blue-toned scene.

Did You Know?

Most digital image-processing software offers several color-correction tools. However, many of them work best if you have a pure white or neutral gray tone in your image. If your subject requires absolutely accurate color, consider placing a white or gray card in the same light as your subject for a reference shot, and then remove the card for your real photos. You can then use that reference shot to help you get very accurate color in your final photos.

SHOOT YOUR BEST from the start

Digital photography is so adaptable and flexible that many photographers start thinking they do not have to worry so much when taking pictures because they can “fix it in Photoshop.” That idea can get you into trouble. Underexposure can cause problems with color in dark areas, as well as dramatically increased noise, no matter what camera you use. Overexposure can change highlights to detail-less white that can never be recovered. The wrong shutter speed will cause sharpness problems from camera movement during exposure to blurred subjects. An incorrect white balance can create colorcast problems.

You do not have to be a pro to shoot your images correctly from the start. Simply know your camera and be sure to make wise decisions for how you use it. This requires a little discipline and knowledge of photographic craft, which this book is designed to help you with. Although image-processing software provides you with tremendous image-adjustment power, you can always do more with well-crafted photos than you can with marginally acceptable ones. You spend less time working on an image in the computer if you have an excellent image to begin with.

 

The wrong exposure and detail

will also be captured wrong in a

photo like this that holds a large

range of tones.

Part of the appeal of this photo

of grapevines in a vineyard is its

sharpness. That comes from the

right technique of using a tripod,

careful focusing, and exposure

control from the start.

 

Choosing the right

white balance preset

(Tungsten) gave this

warehouse shot the

proper colors for the

wine barrels.

The wrong exposure on this shot

would have washed out the white

details of this western dogwood flower.

Photo Tip!

Once you have your digital camera, get a good-sized memory card (prices are very reasonable now). Taking photos costs nothing, so get out and shoot as much as you can. This is the best way to become a better photographer. Try different exposure settings and compositions, compare them in the LCD, and shoot plenty of photos so that you have a choice among them.

Did You Know?

You can use any camera to quickly adjust exposure without using any dials. Point your camera at something dark, lock exposure (usually by pressing the shutter halfway), and then move the camera back to the composition in order to add exposure. Do the same with something bright to darken exposure. You do need to be careful of distances here because locking exposure on many cameras also locks focus. The “something,” bright or dark, can be at a different distance from the camera than the subject, which would cause sharpness problems.

Pack for a SUCCESSFUL SHOOT

Every photographer has a different comfort level with how much gear he or she needs to bring along, but it is easy to carry too much. Photographers develop back and shoulder problems from the weighty gear bags they tote around.

If you really must bring a lot of gear, take along a smaller bag and use it when you know you do not need the whole kit. It can be literally painful to lug a heavy camera backpack along steep trails when you never really needed that heavy telephoto lens that was included.

Staying comfortable during shooting also helps you photograph more successfully. It is hard to be creative if you are cold, bug bitten, hungry, or sunburned. Bring along items that will make your outing more enjoyable, productive, and safe. Before you head off for a shoot, carefully consider what you should take with you in addition to your photography equipment. A few nutrition bars, water, gloves, bug repellent, sunscreen, and a hat can unquestionably contribute to your taking better photographs.

 

Think about what you need for

any photo excursion. Avoid

bringing more gear than you

will likely use, but be sure to

include the equipment needed

for a specific subject, such as a

telephoto for wildlife photography.

Water, sunscreen, insect repellent

and bite medication, and snacks

are just a few things that will

make your picture-taking time

more enjoyable.

This photo is a nice shot

from Cape Cod when it

was raining! Not having

appropriate rain gear

would have made this

shot impossible.

Take a hat to protect yourself

from the sun and use a

headlamp, such as the Princeton-

Tec, to make your walks safe

when walking in the dark.

For The User 

******Usman ahmed owner of this blog created this post with his knowledge.All content provided on this blog is not copied from any other blog and site and is for informational purposes only and  The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.