Beyond Phototips

Point and Shoot cameras are notoriously difficult to keep steady in low light situations. Here are a couple of tips that should help you steady your swaying forearms when taking these photographs.

by Capt. Kodak

1. Don’t use the LCD display.

Using the LCD display to compose your photographs is possibly the easiest way to shoot with a digital Point ‘n Shoot, and yes, they dont make the viewfinders the way they used to. But low light conditions are not the best situation to test your forearm stability.

Squash your eye against that viewfinder, and peer into that little glass lens. Doing this supports the camera, and it’s less susceptible to sway (unless you’re drunk).

2. Brace yourself

Steady yourself by leaning against a rigid structure such as a wall or concrete post. Put your back against it, press as much of your body into it as possible. This should get you ready for your low-light hand-held point and shoot photograph.

You could also use a wall, chair or any other appropriate support to rest your camera or hands on when taking the photograph.

3. Slow n Steady…

Remember that this is not a race, the marines have a motto that they follow “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast”. This is true here too. If you’re in less of a hurry to take the photograph and move away, you’re more likely to keep the camera steady and in-position longer. This will give you a steady, shake-free photograph and absolutely no need to take another photograph.

4. Squeeze the ‘trigger’ don’t press

Since photographers use similar terminology (e.g.: I’m going outside to shoot some brilliant photographs), I’m quoting a Firearms guide. Use the same priciples when squeezing your shutter release. It works; no matter whether you’re using a point and shoot or a D-SLR.

Poor shooting is caused by the aim being disturbed before the bullet leaves the barrel of the weapon.  This is usually the result of the shooter jerking the trigger or flinching. Jerking is an effort to fire the weapon at the precise time when the slights align with the target, and flinching is a reflex caused by anticipating recoil.

Trigger squeeze is the independent rearward movement of the trigger finger without disturbance of the sight alignment until the weapon fires.  First, the slack in the trigger is taken up.  You will then hit the break point of the trigger.  Continue applying steadily increasing pressure until the weapon fires.  If the trigger is squeezed properly, you will not know exactly when the weapon will fire; thus, you will tend not to flinch or jerk.

- FirearmsPrimer.com

Squeeze the shutter release, don’t press the button.

5. Breathe right

Shallow, jagged breaths tend to bob your head and upper body up and down, keeping the camera moving at all times, and more likely to blur your photograph. Breathe calmly, in long, deep breaths, and squeeze the shutter release either when you’ve breathed in fully, or let out all the air in your lungs.

This way you will not be gasping for your next breath, and your chest and head will not be in motion.

6. Use a higher ISO

Is this obvious or what? Yes, but many people leave it to their cameras to decide. Some point n shoot cameras have rather shameful high ISO handling, but others are pretty good. Is your camera good for high ISO, low-light photography? Experiment; take some photographs for fun, before you absolutely ‘have to’ so that you know which settings are usable. This will leave you prepared to move to the highest usable ISO when you want / need to.

7. Use the self-timer

This is a good trick. Set up the camera in a stable position on a wall, or table, or hey, just use your mini tripod. Then set up the camera to shoot a photograph by itself, with a timed delay.

This will eliminate photographer-induced (that’s you, matey) shake and (here’s a bonus) you get to be in the photograph too… How cool is that?

Um, that’s it for now.

Do you have a tip that I’ve missed out? Help out your fellow photographers by adding to this list in the comments.

You’re an aspiring photographer or amateur photographer and want to show the world, or maybe just your relatives what you can do with a  camera and some good ol’ light. But where’s that brilliant photograph in which you’ve managed to time the shot just perfectly? Lost in the quagmire of shots that didn’t make the cut? Here’s one small tip with an illustration to help you out.

As a practice, I never used to carry more than two rolls of film on any photo shoot when I used to shoot on film. With digital, however, I’ve become a bit more careless and have found myself shooting around 200 frames on a reasonably long shoot.

At a recent photowalk, I decided to restrict myself just for the sake of old times, to seventy two frames (or two rolls of film. For those of you who don’t remember, film comes in cassettes of 24 frames and 36 frames, unless you buy some kinds of speciality film). I managed to restrict myself to around 100 frames, but I did find that I was actually watching my framing more carefully.

Here, I’m going to be sharing all the photographs that I took on that day. The shots that didn’t make it into my flickr stream as well as the ones that did make it (some that made it were included purely for sentimental reasons and not any aesthetic value).

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Please do note that the pictures above are straight out of the camera and have not been processed at all. What I want you to notice is the promise of a good photograph, or the absence there-of. As you can see, I’ve milked the whole batch of photographs for all that they’re worth, and then went a bit further… with all that, and digital post production, I’ve manage to turn only 10% of the photographs that I took into pieces that may reasonably be put onto people’s walls.

These photographs would never have seen the light of day if events didn’t conspire to bring this post to you today. Everyone would only have seen the pictures you see below (also on my flickr page).

See the difference?

Conclusion

So what is the intention of this long-winded un-necessarily dramatic post? The intention is to show you that you don’t have to post every single photograph that you take. I throw away 90% of my photographs, and I urge you to do the same. Well, not just to throw away 90% of your photos because I say so, but to realise that only some of them have potential and recognise them for what they are: some of your best photographs.

Go through your flickr collections, your family album, your photo drawer and throw the bad pictures away. They’re the ones you don’t show off your photography skills that have bad composition, lighting and telephone poles sticking out of uncle Joe’s head.

By all means, keep the ones that have sentiment attached, but do throw out the ones with bad composition or the ones where big uncle Ben’s butt was stuck in the lens. They’re not going to help show off your photography skills by any means.

I’d love you to share any experiences that you’ve had where a bad selection of photographs have come back later to haunt you. Even otherwise, a nice word wouldn’t hurt.

This is a guest post written by Aarathi Edward, an avid photographer and media relations expert. She is totally in love with the film dark-room and has, at my behest, consented to share the magic that she experienced when first introduced to the gloomy, un-illuminated side of photography.

Photo: WhiskygonebadThe first time I really took notice of a photograph was when I was about 8 or 9 and my Dad had taken a picture of my sister sitting on a tree. Looking at it, you could make out just what kind of person my sister is – prim and proper (even then – on a tree; aged 12 or 13) and always responsible.

I later found another one he had taken when we were much younger. This was also a posed photograph; not much scope for creativity – and yet, he managed to catch the little imp dancing in my eyes with the mischievous tilt of the head and the responsible, seriousness that always was my older sister (she has lightened up a lot in the last 5 years though). One glance at this picture and you knew which kid was the brat and which one the good child.

I think you get by now what I’m driving at. It always amazed me how just one static, two dimensional 5×8 frame could tell so much. Dad’s old Yashica range-finder was hallowed and we were never old enough or responsible enough to ever touch it… So I was thrilled when, in the second year of college we had a whole year devoted to the study of photography. This was when I discovered how to develop film… and began believing in Magic!

Photo: Violator3It kinda dragged in the beginning when we had to sit in class, look at the camera and learn the physics behind it when we were itching to load up and go clicking! Though appreciated a lot more now, it was with great delight that we finally abandoned our books to replace them with the third hand Pentax that the college loaned us. Armed with this and all the black n white film our allowances could buy, my classmates and I were off to make our pictures speak a thousand words.

The golden triangle, the rule of thirds, leading lines, depth of field, perspectives… everything we’d learnt so far had to be brought to life through that tiny viewfinder. Every curved corridor and staircase was photographed to death; every flower had its insides examined in great detail; every single arrangement of stationary, fruits, pretty glassware… Finally when all our rolls were exhausted, we were lead in groups of six to the dark room!

Photo: galo/*The boys were delighted at the opportunity to scare the living daylights out of the girls. The girls were apprehensive about wrecking their carefully manicured nails. I, being the most claustrophobic person I know, just wanted to get out! Not wanting to ruin the film and be made to start over again on a fresh one, I strained to remember everything I’d learnt on those boring afternoons at my desk. To my great surprise, I realized I actually had paid attention. The chemistry was taking over!

The only perfectly developed roll of film of my batch was my reward. The compliments of the faculty and the jealousy of the classmates helped me forget some of the claustrophobia and I was eager to get on with the printing process.

Photo: PujaThe next day I wrangled a spot in the first group so I wouldn’t have to use someone else’s used developer. The icy cold of the water mixed with the crystals made me a little skeptical; for some reason creating images always felt more like a warm process, full of energy. Anyway, we got the machine set up and the tubs filled with chemicals and water. The negative was slipped in place and the photo paper was taken out of its cover. Every single eye was on the timer.

Suddenly you could cut the silence with a knife. As the photo paper was exposed and then immersed in the developing solution, there was not a sound in the room. It was as if the whole bunch of us had stopped breathing. And then it appeared. MAGIC!

I knew immediately that I was hooked for life. I don’t have my own dark room yet; I just hope they still sell B&W film when I do!

Susheel’s Recommended DarkRoom Books and Tools on Amazon.com

One particular post didn’t make it to Beyond Phototips when we moved over from Photography Tip. I think it makes sense to re-post it here for the benefit of all those who missed out.

If you’re one of those who’s already read this post, why don’t you join in the fun? Add a tip in the comments; I’m sure we’ll all be able to learn something. Now, here’s the post:

Here are some thoughts that I’ve had while shooting on assignment during the last 2-3 months…

1. Make a checklist…
2. Check the checklist to make sure you’ve got everything you need.
3. Check that you’ve checked the checklist. Remember Santa… He made lists too…
4. Always take more equipment than necessary for the shoot.
5. Having someone on hand to assist you, and make sure that you have the equipment where you want it, and make sure you don’t leave anything behind is a great thing. Take a friend along if nobody else.
6. Stay Professional.
7. Stay Funny. It keeps people smiling, and your models pliant.
8. Things will go wrong. When they do, breathe deeply, think of the problem and figure out how to fix or bypass it.
9. Keep the Client satisfied, this may mean that you’ll have to take pictures that you wouldn’t take if you were shooting by yourself… Take them anyway…
10. Make sure you get the shots you want, even if they’re the ones that client said no to… they may actually like them!
11. Remember to have fun… if you’re not having fun, then you’ve got to change something.
12. Plan the entire shoot out.
13. Make a list of shots that you need to take, put down the additional ones to (the ones you think the client may not like, but think that you need to take anyway)
14. Get to the location on time.
15. If you can’t be there on time, blame it on the complexity of the job at hand and the tough choices you’ve had to make when it came to equipment selection.
16. Don’t blame the traffic, most likely your client got there the same way that you did.
17. If you find yourself shooting for one client while you’re supposed to be at another client’s location shoot, do the same as point 2. But remember to finish off the assignment at hand to the client’s satisfaction first.
18. Remember not to take on rush jobs in the first place. They can quickly get messy and will most likely entail more work than you thought they would.

There are a lot more where these came from, but I’d like to hear from you… do you have anything you’d like to add?

Here’s a short list of problems that you may encounter on your journey of discovery in photography, along with an equally short list of fixes to get you back on the road.

1. Red-Eye: Red, Alien-like eyes that appear to infest regular human-beings when using on-camera flash.

REASON: On-Camera Flash being too close to the lens’ axis.

FIX: Move your flash off camera; Get a little creative with it.

2. Blur: Blur were an English alternative rock band that formed in Colchester in 1989.// Oops, wrong Blur.

Blur is when objects in the frame or photograph seem soft, blurry (duh!) or streaky.

REASON: There are two main reasons, actually. 1) Relatively fast moving objects 2) Soft, or incorrect, focus

FIX:

1) Moving Objects. Use a faster shutter speed, fast enough to freeze it, or use a flash.

2) Soft Focus: Make sure you focus correctly, get better spectacles if you need ‘em. (I know I do…)

3. Shake: Similar to blur, but instigated by the camera and / or photographer.

REASON: Incorrect posture, bad camera holding technique, or use of a slow shutter speed

FIX:

1) Make sure your shooting posture ensures that you’re well balanced and stable when you actually press the shutter release

2) Learn how to grip the camera correctly. (Video)

3) Use faster shutter speeds, use flash to freeze your subject, or just shoot in better light.

4. Flash reflected off Glass: This is the all-too-famous blotch of white light that you see in airplane windows, in aquariums and offices.

REASON: Flash bouncing off the glass and back into the camera’s lens.

FIX: When shooting in to glass, remember not to shoot perpendicular to it if using flash. If possible, turn off your flash, else, if you have a camera with a lens that sticks out, go right up to the glass so that the lens is almost touching the glass itself, and then take a picture. That way you wont get reflections of your flash!

5. Flare: White diffused area next to a light source, or circles of light radiating out from a light source that’s directly in the photograph’s frame.

REASON: Light that comes directly into the lens sometimes does not get absorbed, but bounces off the surface of the lens. The best lenses have great coatings to reduce this, but a cheap filter most certainly will bounce light.

FIX: Use a lens hood to keep stray light out, get a lens with better coatings, Dont shoot directly into the light.

6. Vignetting: Dark edges in a photograph

REASON:

1) Light that is focussed by the lens starts falling-off towards the edges.

2) Filters on a wide-angle lens infringing on the corners of the frame

3) A Low quality lens

FIX:

1) All lenses have some degree of vignetting. The expensive ones just have less.

2) Don’t use filters that need step-down ring adaptors

3) Some cameras like the LOMO use low quality lenses intentionally. If you don’t want a vignette, don’t use them.

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You’ve all had digital pictures with “noise” in them… want to know why?

Digital cameras have sensors that receive photons (the thingies that make up light). These sensors are analogue devices that turn analogue signals into digital data. These charges are converted to digital data in cells that are sensitive to three different colours of light: Red, Green and Blue (RGB). The cells that receive more photons have a higher charge and are designated ‘lighter’ while the ones with a lower number of photons are darker.

Now, what happens when you take a photograph in a really dark place? Once you’ve opened up your aperture to the max, and used the lowest shutter speed possible, you turn the ISO up, right? And voila! Your sensor is more sensitive, right? Naah! The sensor can’t really adjust it ‘sensitivity’; instead, what your camera does is, it turns up the amplification of the photons that are received. Making them seem brighter. Simple!

So why are higher ISO photographs so grainy, and noisy? If you guessed “because of the amplification,” you’d be right… Its similar to amplification on your stereo. If the signal level is low, the more you amplify it, the more likely it is that you’re going to amplify the background static too. And this will give you lower quality sound.

Your camera’s sensor has a basic charge, so if we turn up the amplification because the signal level (number of photons) is too low, this charge, along with the charge from neighbouring cells interferes, creating ‘noise’. This ratio of ‘signal’ to ‘background noise’ (or static) is called, quite simply, Signal to Noise ratio. If the signal to noise ratio is high, you’ve most likely got a clear picture, if it is low, you’ll have a noisy one (how about that, next thing you know, I’ll be talking about loud-mouthed pictures!).

Simple Work -around
Ok, now don’t ask me how to keep the S/N ratio down, that’s something that the engineers who built the camera will have to figure out. What I can tell you, is that if you stick to lower ISO numbers, and use higher ISO numbers only you absolutely have to, you’ll have significantly less-noisy pictures (always keep in mind that a good picture is meant to be seen and not heard).

I’ve tried hard to keep this post jargon-free. Do let me know if you would like a more techie explanation, and I’ll give you the whole story with diagrams and tech-talk.

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