Welcome to our extensive photography tips & technique
database.
If you have a tip to add, then please send it to submissions@focalfix.com
along with your name, e-mail and website (if applicable).
Tip #39
Negatives Tip by Irene
Kuniyuki
Before placing negative strips into the sleeves, I cut
the corners off of both ends and then slide them in. This
way when youneed to print them it's less of a struggle to
get them out.
Tip #38
Flower Photography Tip by Brian Allen
You need a very small aperture
for maximum depth of field to get sharpness through the
subject. To avoid movement, set aperture on, say, f22 and
put a small flashgun on tripod. It can be anywhere close
to the subject, at any angle according to choice for lighting
effect (as long as out of view!).
Use the Guide Number (GN) to determine how close to place
the flash gun to the subject. For example, if GN is 80 feet
for 100 ISO film, divide the 80 by the aperture, say f22,
to get approx 4 feet, so set the gun at 4 feet from the
main part of the subject. By using a long flash extension
lead (TIP: Get a 3 metre straight one - the coiled are a
pain as even slight stretching will pull the tripod over!),
you can use any lens and handhold, as the flash will both
freeze the subject and eliminate camera shake. It is also
easier to frame and compose without the camera being on
a tripod.
To get natural looking pictures, use 'fill-in daylight'.
Yes, that's right - not fill-in flash! Use your meter to
take an average reading from the background. You will obviously
need to set the shutter speed to synchronize with the flash
and you will find that to get anything other than a maximum
mid-tone from the background, at f22, you would most likely
need a shutter speed, even in sunshine, of slower than required
for the maximum flash sync speed you can use. This means
the background exposure, using the daylight, will simply
give a mid tone - movement is irrelevant as the main subject
will have been captured via the flash. The full technique
needs knowledge of the Zone System so you can "place" the
background value but this simple method works quite well
even without such knowledge. This is one technique taught
in workshops but if you are not quite sure, just e-mail
me for help!
Tip #37
Darkroom: Burning Tip by Jen
Sometimes it is not always
easy to burn in areas of your photo. I had this problem
with a photo of a tree, where the branches stretched out,
leaving many little spaces that were white. A good way to
darken any part of a photo is to use a pencil. Shave off
some lead from the pencil and grind it into a fine powder.
Then, using your finger smear the ground lead where needed.
Take a straight edge to erase any lead that went outside
of your frame.
Tip #36
Learning the Ropes Tip by D Lucas
Try reducing your technology,
and you will probably find you learn more quickly. I have
two high tech autofocus, auto exposure SLR's, but the camera
I like most is my 1938 Rolleicord. 6X6 negatives, Zeiss
lens, inexpensive, and completely manual. Because it is
manual, you must consider every setting. What part of the
photo do I want to base my exposure on... Why am I using
f/5.6... why am I using 1/300th exposure time... what do
I want to focus on... and what is my depth of field. And
most importantly, what am I trying to achieve with this
photo. I also find people are more open to being photographed
when approached with a quiet, 'harmless' and interesting
camera.
Tip #35
Rule of Thirds Explaination by Cacing
This is by far the most common
rule used bynoives and beginners and it's intended to achieve
visual balance in a picture. All you need to do is to divide
up your camera's viewfinder into sections using vertical
and horizontal lines, forming 9 boxes. Now, your main subject
and focal point should then be positioned to one of the
four intersection points created. However, this rule won't
work with every picture you take. If you have a small focal
point, then it makes all the difference.
Tip #34
Outdoor Tip by Dave Farrant
When you want to work outdoors
in damp/wet conditions, bring along a pair of gardener's
knee pads. They're usually made out of thick, soft foam
rubber, attach easily with velcro straps, are virtually
weightless and very inexpensive. The benefit: you can kneel
in dry, padded comfort as you compose low-angle shots or
work on closeups.
Tip #33
Query by Franco Albano
In tip #11 and tip #20 there
seems to be a contradiction. The problem is that the increase
in saturation depends on which type of film you use. When
using print film, more saturation is obtained by exposing
the film between one half and one and a half more stops.
When using chrome (slide), more saturation is obtained by
exposing less a half or one full stop. In these cases, it's
always good to bracket.
Tip #32
Lighting Tip by Vardan
If your camera has a slow-synch
mode or night mode (flash with long exposures) you will
get excellent pictures in daytime shots as well. Both background
and foreground will be well exposed.
Tip #32
Portrait Tip by Walt
- Website
When shooting analog (film)
portraits, use your digital camera to take a few test shots.
Show them to the subject to get their reaction to the pose,
their hair, and background. If your digital syncs to your
studio flash system, use it to your advantage. If not, put
the digi on a tripod and use the modeling lights. Don't
have a studio flash? Get an adapter and mount your flash
off to the side at a 45 degree angle. Use a diffuser on
the flash and pop for a inexpensive slave trigger. Bounce
the digicam's flash away from the subject and let the off
camera flash do the work. Two for one tip.
Tip #31
Lighting Tip by Jeff
When taking pictures outdoors,
do not be misled by what appears to be 'poor lighting'.
Sometimes an overcast or dim early morning/late evening
sky can provide a more interesting light on your subject
than harsh full sunlight. Also, moonlight can provide light
for night pictures and streetlights can add even more interesting
effects.
Tip #30
Buying Tips for Beginners by Lim Yew Sze
(1) Ask your friends for recommended
retailers, the ones that really know about photography and
not just their camera.
(2) Get to know the retailer’s
sales person by their first name, it’s more personal
and besides even if they forgot yours, they’ll be to
shy to ask anyway and they’ll probably just treat you
like an old friend.
(3) Drop in once a while even
just to get couple of films and ask them some questions
or for their recommendations. The sales person will feel
that their opinions are valued and they might even give
you a discount!
(4) Have a BUDGET
(5) Buy what you NEED and
NOT what you WANT. I used to have a 'Professional' camera
with all the wonderful features packed in. Now all I used
is my Canon EOS 500 to (a) load the film, (b) turn to program
mode, (c) take the picture.
(6) Understand what is your
specific field of interest and buy the appropriate equipment.
A Tamron 28-200mm or 28-300mm zoom lens can’t be wrong
for beginners. It covers sufficiently from wide angle (Landscape)
to telephoto (Portrait, Candid, Sports and Nature). I’m
using a 35-80 mm (It comes along in the EOS 500 kit) and
I’m not complaining!
(7) Know what is important.
It is the lens quality that will show in the photographs,
not the camera. It’s foolish buy an expensive camera
till you don’t have the money to buy a good lens.
Tip #29
Perspective Tip by Lim Yew Sze
The reason why most photographs
turn out so unspectacular is because we do not put in an
extra effort to see things differently. Try changing your
point of view by learning to see things differently. The
next time you pick up a camera, try to position yourself
a little to the left, right, higher, lower etc. or tilt
your camera diagonally and you'll discover that there's
some improvement. Finally, if you're not pleased with what
you see, DON'T press the shutter! Either wait OR shift your
position again.
Tip #28
Portrait Tip by Rajeev
Deshprabhu
If you need a hint of color
on your portrait, hold a gelatin paper of the required color
on your flash and not on the camera lens. Also shoot portraits
from a lower height than the shoulder of your subject. Shooting
while standing erect bemeans the subject.
Tip #27
Metering Tip by Maroško
When making a photo where
the face is most important, stand into the same light as
the model and read the exposure by putting your hand in
front of the lens.
Tip #26
Sharpness Tip by Lewis
Lang - Website
Confessions of a (former)
sharpness addict...
Throughout the 1980's (and
early 90's) I bounced between different 35mm camera systems
in my search for the sharpest lenses. To make a short (O.K.,
a long) story shorter, I used to blow up my prints to 20x30"
and 30x40" (from 35mm) with quite good results. Usually
I would stop the aperture of my lens down to f/11 or more
for maximum depth of field to get my subjects sharp from
just a few inches from the lens out to infinity.
Recently, during the past
year or two I have been 'focusing on' (pardon the deliberate
pun) incorporating more selective focus effects into my
shots by deliberately using lenses (of all different focal
lengths) at or close to their maximum aperture (wide open)
when appropriate to the subject. This gives not only a nice
soft to out of focus far background, but subjects nearer
to the plane of focus 'disolve' into more and more out of
focus as they get further away from the plane of focus -
a really nice effect...
My suggestion is to try using
different depth of fields (apertures) for your shots, not
just the one you think would be most appropriate. A shot
may work well at f/16 but even better at f/2 (or even, possibly
f/4 or f/5.6) if you are able to compose w/ some interesting
overlapping foreground and/or background elements (as opposed
to the more standard '2 dimensional effect' of sharp subject
against soft background). Not everything always has to be
in sharp focus front to back. Heresy? No, just good photo
sense and sensitivity to the depth of field/compositional
possibilities around each of us.
Try it; you might like it
:-)
Tip #25
Sports Tip by Marcus
J. Wilson
Shooting sports is all about
great timing. Practice your timing on fast moving subjects,
such as flying birds, keeping a car in focus as it travels
down an interstate highway or kids playing baseball, softball
or football. Technique is great, but timing makes the picture.
Tip #24
General Tip by Anonymous
Here's a tip from the painter's
world to go to the photographer's world. Make sure your
photos don't have too much 'negative space', or space that
doesn't do anything for the photo. Too much 'blankness'
can lead to boring shots.
Tip #23
Beginner's Tip from SLR Photography Beginner
If you are a beginner, here
is my tip for you. It takes practice and experimental approach
to get good pictures. We, beginners, need to experiment
and practice with camera. e.g. various f stops and shutter
speed combinations, till you are satisfied with pictures.
Hope this simple and basic tip will help beginners.
Tip #22
Stereographic Tip by Anonymous
Intro to 3D photography
Take 1st shot and then change weight to other foot,
so that camera moves about 6mm (thedistance between the
pupils of your eyes).
Works well with transparencies, also great for standard
size prints - effect seen using inexpensive views.
Sound, easy, and affordable. This is nothing new - the Victorians
were doing it with print material.
Tip #21
Camera Shake Prevention Tip by S. Gammo
If you are going on a trip
and don't wan't to cary a tripod, you can tie a string to
your camera (around the quick release of your tripod head
that is mounted to your camera) about 5-6 feet long and
let it hang down and step on it. Put tention on the string
and it will keep your camera steady. You can adjust the
height by adjusting the string under your foot.
Tip #20
Correction by Gerald Biggs
In Tip #11, the writer states that to get better saturation
on film, slides, of course, you decrease the ASA that you
set on your camera. Wrong! Wrong! If you decrease the ASA,
you will overexpose the film, therefore you must INCREASE
the set ASA. For example, using an ISO 400 film, if you
want to increase the saturation by one-half stop, set the
ASA to 600. This will underexpose the film by one-half stop
and result in a more saturated appearance. Don't underexpose
the high saturation films such as Fuji Velvia or you will
get very muddy slides!
Your particular camera's ISO setting may also not be exact,
so you should shoot a test batch of slides to see what setting
should be used for each film. For instance, one of my cameras
must be set at ASA 160 for ISO 100 film to get the saturation
that I like, which is two-thirds stop underexposed from
the actual ISO 100 of the film.
Tip #19
Wedding Photography Tip by Lim Yew Sze
What to pack?
1-2 Auto Focus SLR (1 for spare OR different types of film
e.g. B&W), 28-200 zoom OR 28-300 zoom (Tamron), Soft
Focus filters (Nikon/ Cokin), 6 Rolls of your favorite film
(Max! More than 6 and you're gonna have a lot of duplicate/
similar shots). My personal preference is Kodak 160 Pro
(Keep it in the fridge/ Not the freezer, till you're gonna
use it)- good skin tone, Flash with tilt head, Flash Diffuser
(an expensive piece of plastic that you fit on top of your
flash) and battery pack/ lots of spare battery for your
flash. Bring extra change of clothes in the event that you
glow, perspire or sweat. Put on some body deodorant as well
before you start the day of shooting. The night before,
get enough rest!
Tip #18
General Tip by Brian
Van Thiel (Website)
Many people give up photography
because they think their work is too cliche'.
You may think you're work is boring because you constantly
see it over and over again. Have other people look at your
photo's and don't tell them which you think is your favorite.
You'll know by the expression on their face.
Tip #17
General Tip by J.
Evelyne
Instant Romantic Feeling:
Use soft focus filters, I use Nikon & Cokin. Both work
equally well. If you're going to print it on 3R or 4R, you're
NOT going to notice the difference anyway! Use the gentler
of the soft focus filter on Wedding Photography or especially
when photographing females to get that loving feeling.
Tip #16
Lighting Tip by Lim Yew Sze
Just a tip with using flash
especially when you're indoor. How do you pump in extra
lighting without the subject appearing too unnatural? Just
tilt your flash upward (60-90 Degree will do fine) to bounce
off the ceiling. It produces a gentle lighting on the subject
without all the harsh shadow behind the background. Just
make sure that the ceiling is of a light pastel color (White/
Beige etc.) and watch the ceiling height (2-3 meter off
the ground). Point to note: The flash will pump out more
output when you're using bounce flash, so be prepared to
take a couple more extra batteries/ battery pack. Alternatively
use a flash diffuser if your ceiling is too high
Tip #15
Sport Tip by Joe
Poggi
Good sports shots are possible
by closely watching what I call the end target of the sport.
In hockey, the goalie, baseball the cather, football the
quarterback or reciever. When the ball or puck is released,
the target will visibly tense, trigger your camera at that
time, and the ball or puck will be a part of your shot
Tip #14
Depth of Field Tip by Michael Wells
Double exposures can be used
to gain immense depth of field. A photograph can at once
hold an image of rain on a window and the scenery in the
distance (thorugh the window!) by focusing on each separately,
and overlaying the shots. Since, in both frames, the other
focus point will be blurred, no real interference is apparent.
Use a tripod and lower the exposure time to reduce the light
levels, otherwise your shot will be over-exposed.
Tip #13
General Tip by J.
Evelyne
If you are a nature or landscape
photographer the most important utensil is your tripod no
matter how young or old you are - a monopod will do if you
do not want to take pictures with an exposure longer than
1/30s.
Tip #12
Flash Tip by Stephanie Scott
I read Tip #6 (above) about
how to reduce red eye. Another way of doing this is to pre-flash
to ready the subject(s) retina before the actual photo is
taken. This will reduce the reflection of the blood vessels
in the retina. Some cameras may already have this feature,
but it can be done with an external flash's 'test' button
about half a second before the photograph is taken with
the camera.
Tip #11
Film Tip by Darryl May
For good colour saturation
under rate your film speed, for example set ASA 400 film
to 320 ASA, but ensure that the lab are aware of this when
they process your film(s).
Tip #10
Lens Tip by Lewis
Lang (Website)
Use the 'Power of the Force'.
'Force' yourself to use one prime lens constantly. It forces
you to be more creative with composition and design and
to discover the advantages/disadvantages of a particular
focal length. You still might want to consider a variation
of this even if you use only a zoom(s). Unfortunately, many
people use their zooms to replace walking. While a zoom
is excellent for quick cropping in camera, you might want
to fix your zoom to one focal length and see how this affects
both your vision and shooting style - sometimes in limitations
there is freedom as you discover different ways to compose
a shot's design/composition as well as play with perspective
in different ways that wouldn't have occured to you if you'd
just used your zoom as "the lazy man's substitute legs".
Tip # 9
Film Tip by Ryan
Miles
Lately, a lot of people have
been putting too much emphasis on using new high-tech, higher
speed films because they think low speed films aren't fast
enough and don't work well under low-light conditions. I
really recommend you use lower speed films because they
have great colour saturation and fine grain. And if you
have a good tripod, it works in just about any condition.
Tip # 8
Internet Imaging Tip by G.
Patton Hughes
(Website)
Presentation of photos on
the web is strictly a matter of compromise. If you make
the images too big, no one waits around to view them. Too
small, and ... well. we all love proof sheets.
One of the cool things about computers is they can zoom
in and out... but not the web.
The way around that is to use Adobe Acrobat which lets you
put your images into this quasi 'postscript' file for distribution.
Not only can viewers zoom in and out, but you can do it
for them and even create slide shows.
For an example of one use, check out this file
...which is an example of an 'online auction catalog'.
Tip # 7
Lighting Tip by Lewis
Lang (Website)
One time I 'deli-bagged it'.
I once took some circular fisheye shots of a statue(s) with
a flash that had a wide angle diffuser on it to get out
to a 28mm angle of coverage. Not having any fancy equipment
around to turn my flash's coverage out to the equivalent
of an 8mm? circular fisheye, I took a white deli bag and
put it around my flash's head to turn it into a mini 'Japanese
lantern' and spread the coverage of the light.
Tip # 6
Flash Tip by Dave
Messinger
RED EYE is the reflection
of light off the retina. REMOVE your flash from the camera
and keep it a minimum of 17" from the center of the lens
(lens axis). The photos will look their best when the flash
is held to the above right or left.
Tip # 5
General Tip by Lewis
Lang (Website)
Too much emphasis is placed
on bracketing/nailing your exposures in photography. Better
yet to bracket your ideas/interpretations of the subject/scene.
The subject of a photo is more than a subject, the subject
of a photo is how you see your subject. Bracket/try different
idea variations on your subject. Use your mind - and bracket
with your heart :-) - LL.
Tip # 4
Camera Tip by John
van Zijl (Website)
The self-timer on your camera
need not only be used for self portraits. When doing landscape
photography I often use it instead of a cable release. If
you are in a hurry and don't want the hassle of fishing
out the cable release from your bag and screwing it in,
just use your self-timer for a hands-free sharp image. Even
the human heart beat can blur a picture so use a tripod
whenever you can and you'll be surprised at how sharp your
images are.
Tip # 3
Landscape Tip by Steve Anthony
(Website)
When shooting landscapes,
consider a zoom lens. The long focal length can provide
some very interesting perspectives and compression effects.
Tip # 2
Camera Tip by Jerry
Cannon
I think that too much emphasis
is put on the kind of camera that you use rather than knowing
how to use the camera that you have.
If you want to take good pictures, practice, practice, practice
and learn all about the camera that you are using. You can
take just as good of pictures with an all manual camera
as you can with the latest auto everything camera.
Tip # 1
Macro Tip by David Aniston
When shooting macro photos
in a windy day, the use of a tripod to get more depth of
field by shooting with larger exposure times becomes useless
because of the movement of the subject caused by the wind.
To avoid this and also get more light, you should use a
(big) reflectant surface put against wind direction, covering
the subject of the picture, so that it minimizes the wind
reaching the subject and increases the amount of light.
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