Beyond Phototips

A Guide to Taking Critique

Susheel Chandradhas — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:14:45 +0000

Deep down, no matter what anyone says, we don’t like to be told that our pictures are no good. We love the pictures we take – the ‘art’ we make – no matter how lame it may actually be. I’ve got nothing against that.

There are some people who upload their work for others to dissect it, and there are those who love doing just that. They’ve made a hobby out of it. You’ll find them at places like the original DeleteMe! group on Flickr, photo.net critique forum, DPS critique forum, and a host of other places (let us know your favourite critique forum in the comments).

Groups like “Delete Me!” on flickr revel in picking apart people’s photographs. They go to the extent of directly assaulting the photographer’s ego. Does this help? Is that kind of critique even needed? I like to think that sometimes it is. Sometimes, our egos need to be bruised. And that can be a good thing…

You Need Harsh, Realistic Critique When:

You ask your friends what they think and they say: ‘Wow! Those photographs of your kids are FANTASTIC!’ or ‘I wish I had your camera’.
Everyone on your Facebook page (“yourname photography”) tells you that you’re brilliant, and ask you what you think of their pics.
When you expect people to ooh! and aah! over your latest photography escapade, and are disappointed when they’re not so thrilled after the first 50 photographs of your 250 picture slideshow.

But you don’t need it all the time. Remember to be selective about whom you take critique from and to take things slow. Sometimes criticism can be harsh to the point of ruining a person’s self esteem. Nobody wants that.

7 Tips on How to Take Critique:

Be humble; listen: You can’t receive something when your hands are already full. Don’t be full of yourself, don’t try to defend your work. Open up, listen. Yes, it’s your art, and criticism can hurt, but remember that you’ve asked for critique, zip your lips and listen. Also, nobody wants to suggest stuff to someone who’s not going to listen anyway…
Ask questions: Clarify what the critic really means. Asking a question also gives you time to process what they’ve said, clarify your own thoughts and ask for further information or suggestions. Asking questions could turn a one way critique into an exciting dialogue with ideas flowing like water.
Watch for patterns: When you’ve got some feedback on a few different photographs, watch for patterns… Ensure that you don’t repeat your mistakes. DO repeat your successes.
Go back to basics: It pays to revisit the basics now and then… People may try to teach you something you think you already know fully. Stay open to what they say: you never know when you may find a new perspective on using an old technique or tool. It may be directly from what they say, or their input could spark a new creative thought. It pays to know your basics inside and out, and twice as well on a Sunday or wedding day.
Thank the Critic: If someone has shared their thoughts and experience with you, and has taken the time to evaluate your work and respond, it’s only fair that the person is thanked.
Respond in Kind: Once you’ve benefited, be sure to respond in kind… Take the time to critique someone else’s work and keep the spirit alive…
Don’t take it personally: Sometimes critique can become a personal attack. Don’t take it personally, and don’t feed the fire. Trolls will always trudge this earth. Feeding them never helps.

Getting Critique When Not Requested

Sometimes people offer critique even when it’s best not offered. When that happens it pays to slow down your reaction, think about what the other person is really saying and figure whether you’ll be better off accepting it or leaving it. Often, you’ll find that if you put yourself in the other person’s shoes, you’ll understand what they’re saying much better. Of course, this is easier said than done.

Do you ask for your work to be critiqued? Where do you ask? and do you have any more tips? Let us know in the comments below.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

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Tiny Tips 18: How to get Great Bokeh from your Lens

Susheel Chandradhas — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 23:35:52 +0000

What’s ‘Bokeh’?

It’s a word of Japanese origin used to describe the aesthetic quality of the ‘out-of-focus’ area of a photograph. Typically referring to the more visible ‘circles of confusion’ that are visible in shallow depth of field photographs.

To get the best bokeh possible, do this:

Use a fast lens, with the aperture wide open.
Shoot subjects that are close to the minimum focusing distance.
Focus correctly. Having sharp, un-blurred areas in a photograph helps to make the un-focussed areas all the more beautiful.
Use prime lenses. While zooms also can produce fine bokeh, prime lenses have the habit of producing bokeh with an ethereal quality. If you have a choice, definitely choose a prime lens.
Bokeh shows up best when there are some light areas (or points of light) on a relatively dark background. In the case of points of light, they appear as circles of confusion, in other cases, it appears as a pleasing variation of light and shade, the tonality of this area affects the quality of the bokeh.
Keep interesting shapes in your frame even though they’re out of focus. Often, these are called ‘out of focus elements’. They lend context and atmosphere to a photograph.

Photo: vonSchnauzer

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The Best Way to View a Photographer’s Online Portfolio

Susheel Chandradhas — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:09:18 +0000

Art needs it’s own space. This is why art galleries offer an environment that an artist can mold and control to their need.

The online experience is a little different, and that’s expected; but how can you create the best ambience for an artist’s work to showcase itself online?

By clearing screen clutter.

If you’re like most people, your browser has a few toolbars, tabs and windows open. To add to this, there are the usual Twitter & Facebook notifications. In short, it’s not the best environment to take-in an artist’s work.

Here’s how you can clear up your browser screen quickly.

Full Screen shortcuts for Browsers

Mac

Google Chrome 14+ – Shift+Cmd+F – Presentation Mode
Mozilla Firefox – Shift+Cmd+F – Full Screen Mode
Plainview – Full Screen Browser

Windows

Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer - F11 – Full Screen Mode

I’m sorry, but Opera and Safari don’t seem to have full screen options. If you know a work-around for these browsers, do leave us a comment.

Photo by: eschipul

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A Compact Wedding

Andy Day — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:49:16 +0000

Back in May I finally treated myself to a Canon G12, a piece of kit that I’ve wanted since it was released the previous year, and I set myself a challenge: use it to photograph a friend’s wedding.

My good friend Ruth was getting married not far from Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland. Not having an official photographer she had asked all guests to take a load of snaps and share them afterwards. I was traveling up on the Caledonian Sleeper from London (highly recommended) and, given that my arrival was before 8am on the morning of the wedding, it made sense to head to the venue early, lend a hand with whatever needed doing and take lots of photographs of the preparations.

Normally, on the rare occasion that I photograph a wedding, I shoot with a Canon 5D, an EF 24-70mm, an EF 16-35mm, a Speedlight EX580 with extension cable, a pair of Pocket Wizards, a Vivitar 285 with light stand, and a reflector. Stripping this down to a compact camera was going to be interesting especially as I’d not used it before.

I read most of the manual on the way up on the train. Knowing how the autofocus and auto-exposure operates was crucial. I made sure that all face recognition was switched off and kept it simple. In the middle of the display is a box; point it at what you want to focus/expose on, half press, recompose, full press. 90% of the time, the thing you want in focus is the thing you want exposed correctly. In more tricky circumstances I knew that all of the G12’s controls would be right under my fingers, now even moreso with the appearance of the additional wheel next to the shutter release.

You have to work quickly at weddings and automatic settings on any camera are a godsend. This can of course present various issues, but if you know how and when they will arise, you can make sure you’re ready and react accordingly.

Next thing was to make sure the flash was off and didn’t mysteriously switch itself on. On-board flash is a truly horrible thing. I’d been tempted to take my Speedlight (compatible with the G12 hotshoe) and cable, but this was not in the spirit of the challenge and I have a habit of traveling light when possible. Typically at a wedding I shoot reportage parts of the day using available light but sooner or later the flash needs to go on. At this point you pray that the venue has white ceilings: point the Speedlight straight up and get a very flattering, diffused light. Compact cameras do not have a reputation for performing well in low light levels and with the G12 in hand, I was relying on recent technological progressions that have reduced grain at high ISO settings.

The G12 did an excellent job under the circumstances. On the odd occasion lack of light or a reflective surface would confuse the autofocus. If I did ignore its ability to focus, it still seemed to do a pretty good job. Its massive depth of field means that it’s tricky to mess it up completely.

This depth of field is also one of its disadvantages, however: it’s an inevitable aspect of any compact camera unless you’ve got a spare five grand lying down the back of the sofa and you buy yourself a Leica M9. The smaller sensors in compact cameras mean that you don’t get the gorgeous differential focus that you get with an SLR. This has its advantages (greater likelihood that your shots will be in focus) and disadvantages (can’t use out-of-focus regions for artistic emphasis).

Most wedding photographers will keep an eye out for any small details that make a wedding distinctive: flowers, table decorations, the bride’s corsage, the groomsmen’s button holes, etc. With an SLR, getting close and/or zooming in narrows the depth of field considerably which means that some regions will not be in focus. Sometimes this can be effective but often it means taking a number of versions to ensure that you can then pick the best one during post production. An option I will now consider is shooting any close-ups with the G12 as, yes, it will flatten the subject but it will mean that I can rule out differential focus when I don’t want it.

The G12 really impressed me when it came to shooting strongly back-lit subjects. Light creep was surprisingly controlled and even when I was careless with my initial ‘half-press’, it still made the right decision most of the time. Clever stuff.

Shooting at low light levels was impressive but I did run into a few problems that I hadn’t considered beforehand. Typically when shooting hand-held on a DSLR, your shutter speed can’t be allowed to drop below 1/60th of a second unless you’re in a situation where you can burn off a number of shots in the hope that you’ve held the camera steady enough in at least one photograph to be acceptable. Because of the physically smaller lens on the compact, slower shutter speeds are possible and I happily shot all the way down to 1/30th of a second without any camera shake blurring my shots. However, subjects’ movement became an issue and in my ‘keep everything auto’ approach, this was one occasion where I had to override, switching to AV mode to ensure a slightly quicker shutter speed.

The other massive difference is the lag on the shutter release. Weddings are about moments that convey emotion and not being able to rely on my own instinct was a frustration at times. The G12 comes with a ‘Quick Shot’ mode whereby the LCD is switched off and the lag between shutter release being pressed and the image being taken is dramatically reduced. This means relying on the viewfinder – not something I was prepared to do, especially wearing glasses. It also means that the autofocus and auto-exposure can’t be locked by half-pressing; instead, it readjusts constantly. I would have preferred some half-way house whereby I could focus and expose, trigger Quick Shot mode (ie, disabling the LCD) and shoot when the moment was right. All of that said, I was able to get used to the lag and get some half decent action shots.

Shooting the compact format of 4:3 as opposed to the SLR format of 3:2 was not a problem at the time but it’s something that frustrated me a little in post production as it just didn’t feel right. I massively prefer the 3:2 format but it seemed ridiculous not to use all of a compact camera’s sensor. Something I will get used to, no doubt.

The battery was superb. I took a spare but didn’t pack a charger and was a little apprehensive about my decision. As it turned out, I didn’t even dent the first battery despite shooting and reviewing over 400 shots.

Given its price you are likely to wonder whether it’s worth the investment; these days you can buy an incredible, entry-level DSLR for a very similar price. For me it is a great way to be able to chuck a camera in a bag full of other stuff, grab spontaneous, non-intrusive photos and still have a huge amount of control over what’s in my hands. I could easily have bought a smaller, less expensive compact but there’s something about the G12 that makes me feel more like a photographer.

So will I be shooting any future weddings with the G12? Probably not but it will certainly be in my bag.

This post is written by Andy Day. He is a professional photographer who primarily photographs the movement disciplines of Parkour and Buildering. He is well renowned for his skill and his photographs have appeared routinely in a number of magazines. Follow him on Twitter, Tumblr,

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The Best Walkabout Lenses

Susheel Chandradhas — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 19:55:33 +0000

If you’re buying your first dSLR camera, you are probably considering the purchase of a single lens that allows you to do ‘everything’ as you take a walk, a ‘walkabout lens’. Granted, this may not be the best quality lens around, but at least you won’t have to feel like your brand new dSLR camera is less capable than your old point and shoot.

So what are these magical creations, and which are the best walkabout lenses for your camera system?

Walkabout Lenses: What are they?

If you take a look at the old photography books, you won’t find a section on Walkabout Lenses. Instead, you’ll find lenses classified under Wide Angle, Telephoto, Zoom, and Special Purpose (Lenses like fish-eye lens, tilt-shift lenses, and catadioptric lenses). The walkabout lens is a relatively new concept to SLR photography. Quickly defined, it is a lens with a very large zoom range, with an emphasis on convenience instead of quality.

Walkabout lenses usually have a wide focal length range often between 7x and 14x. So, instead of carrying about 4-5 prime and zoom lenses, you have just one versatile lens mounted on your camera no matter what the subject. Modern optics allow for pretty decent image quality through the entire range of focal lengths.

On an APS-C sensor or crop-frame sensor the lenses start around 18mm and end around 135mm – 250mm. On a full-frame sensor, this corresponds to something like 28mm and 200mm-300mm. So expect to see focal lengths that look like 18-135mm or 28-300mm.

Positives:

One lens fills all (or almost all) needs.
Less bulk in the camera bag.
No clumsy swapping of lenses to get the right focal length.
Faster and more intuitive framing of photographs.
Less lens swapping means less dust in the camera, and on the sensor.
Less ‘walking about’ to frame your photograph just right. Easier.

Negatives:

Image quality is not the best, and can suffer badly at some focal lengths and apertures, usually the telephoto end of the lens.
Need to settle for f/3.5 or smaller apertures. (not good for low-light use).
Variable aperture means that f/5.6 is often the widest aperture available when zoomed in.
Less thought goes into previsualising your photograph.
Less ‘walking about’ to frame your photograph just right. You discover less.

Do you really need a walkabout lens?

The answer depends on where you are with your photography. If you’ve just upgraded from a bridge camera, or a point & shoot to a dSLR, you may find the transition less restrictive if you get yourself a ‘walkabout’ lens. The wide range of focal lengths of a walkabout lens will help you understand composition and the range of possibilities that your new camera can offer you. For example, with just a twist of the zoom ring, you can either take a wide angle photograph of the African Savannah as you roll across it in a dusty jeep, or you could zoom in to take close-up photographs of a pride of lions as they relax in the shade of a rock cluster.

Do remember that while these lenses do offer ‘lower’ quality images at some focal lengths, the term ‘quality’ is relative. For most people, the sharpness and colour that most of these lenses offer will be quite sufficient, and indeed superior to that of a point and shoot camera. At the same time, some more particular photographers would find that these lenses do not stack up to their quality needs, especially in comparison with some of their higher quality prime, and zoom lenses. This is only to be expected, given that the lenses are not really optimized for any one given focal length, but are tuned to perform decently across a range of focal lengths.

A novice dSLR photographer can later shift to either prime lenses or zoom lenses with a smaller range of focal lengths as they become more skilled, demanding and discerning in their photography.

What kinds of photography are they good for?

The beauty of the walkabout lens is that it’s good for almost any kind of photography – with a few exceptions, of course. You can easily use them for Landscape and Cityscape Photographs, Candid Street Photographs, Portraits, maybe even Macro Photography… The point of having this lens on your camera is to give you the widest range of opportunities when your camera is with you.

Top Walkabout Lenses

Canon

Nikon

Do you use a camera system other than Nikon or Canon? Do let us know which lenses you think fit this category.
What walkabout lens do you own? Do you like it?
Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Photos: Chaval Brasil, mainblanche, Stuck in Customs, zaqi

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How to Get More Detail in Your Photographs

Susheel Chandradhas — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:50:09 +0000

I know some people who like their images crisp and clear from foreground to background. Are you like that? You don’t like blurry edges framing your subject… You shoot in bright sunlight often, pointing away from the sun, or keeping the sun at a 30 degree angle… You’re not happy with your lens – it’s never sharp enough… Did you agree with me on at least two of these points? Yeah? Then you already know some of these tips that I’ve got for you, but read on, there’s more.

So, how do you satisfy your craving for detail, resolution and sharpness in your every photograph? You’ll find some tips in the lines above, but here are 10 more!

Focus carefully – Today’s cameras do a wonderful job of focusing automatically, but often enough, the autofocus point is not exactly where it should be, resulting in a slightly out-of-focus image. This is especially apparent in photographs with a shallow depth of field where correct focusing is super-important. Double check your camera’s focus point before you click.
Don’t stop-down your lens fully – This means that you should set your camera to photograph with your highest aperture number (smallest aperture size) minus 2 stops. The small aperture size gives you great depth of field, yes? So why not just just use the smallest aperture?
Because of a phenomenon called diffraction – read the complex explanation here.
Don’t open-up your lens fully – Don’t use your lens’s widest aperture unless it’s a professional grade lens. Most lenses have a sweet-spot. A range of apertures that produce the best resolution images (in terms of edge sharpness, not number of pixels). In regular consumer grade lenses, these are usually NOT the smallest and largest apertures. The same rule applies to Pro lenses too, but even at the extreme apertures, they usually produce better images than regular lenses.
Use a fast shutter speed – Often people find that their images are blurry even though they’re using a small aperture. Why? It’s most likely that either your camera or subject is moving, causing the image to move on the sensor during the time that the shutter is open. You can freeze your subject in the frame with a fast enough shutter speed. Usually a good guide is to use 1/’focal length of your lens X 2′. This means that if you’re using an 100mm lens, you should set your shutter speed at anything faster than 1/200th of a second to avoid shake. Depending on your subject, you may have to go even faster.
Keep the camera still, us a tripod – If your subject is not moving, and you have the leisure of arranging and framing your subject, why not use a tripod to ensure that no vibration filters down to the sensor? As an added benefit, you get to retain the exact same composition from frame to frame and make minute adjustments that would be difficult or impossible with a hand-held camera.
Shoot in sufficient light – Small aperture + fast shutter speed means that you need to have enough light to correctly expose the image. Take photographs in bright sunlight, halogens or off-camera flash strobes to ensure that the camera’s sensor gets enough light.
Do not use a high ISO – Depending on how you look at this, it may not make sense. I’ve been talking about high shutter speeds and small apertures, right? You need to use a high ISO to get there… right? The answer is: use as low an ISO as you can. Higher ISOs increase the level of noise that the sensor generates, degrading the quality and level of detail in the image as you go to higher ISOs. Stick to low numbers on this, and you’ll always get smoother images with more image detail.
Light from an angle – Angular lighting casts shadows, bringing out textures and giving the surface a more tactile quality. Most things look better when lit from an angle rather than straight-on.
Use the largest image capturing area possible – with dSLR cameras, this means use a full-frame camera or medium format camera. If you’re shooting film, it means use a medium or large format camera. More recording area automatically means that it can capture more detail. Think of the detail that can be seen in a miniature painting versus the detail in a 20ft giant of a painting.
Do not use a cheap lens – Expensive professional lenses cost an arm and then some… because the designers made sure they got it absolutely right. They picked the best materials, they combined these in the best way possible. They also picked the finest workers to build them. These do not come cheap. If you need a very high level of detail in your images you won’t be using a cheap-ass lens. The same goes for a filter.

Do you have any suggestions on how to get detail in your images? Do add them in the comments.

Photo: Alex is Late

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Composition: A Parkour Frame of Mind

Andy Day — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:34:30 +0000

This is a guest post by Andy ‘Kiell’ Day. He is a renowned Parkour photographer, practitioner of parkour himself, and rock climber / builderer. His book “The Moments Between” (see our review) is possibly the first ever book featuring parkour photography, and shows off why his images are so sought after by magazines such as Focus, Inside, Stern and Playboy among others. It also offers insights in to the discipline that only a long term Parkour practitioner can share. You’ll also see his images in Ad Campaigns by TBWA and Parkour specific publications. Read his blog at http://kiell.tumblr.com/. He is @kiell on twitter.

“There are no rules for good photographs. There are only good photographs.” Ansel Adams.

Until writing this article, composition is something that I’ve never really given a lot of thought. There are rarely any conscious decisions when I compose a shot, in the same way that there is rarely a conscious decision of when to pull the shutter. I just know (or at least I hope I do). And my assumption is that other experienced photographers are the same; I feel my way to what’s ‘right’ and in terms of composition, sometimes that’s as simple as making sure I don’t stick something slap bang in the middle of the frame.

There are various principles – rule of thirds being the most obvious – to give us an idea of what creates a pleasing image, and of course, there are plenty of occasions when those principles are irrelevant, forgotten entirely or deliberately undermined. I can’t think of one instance where I’ve looked through my lens and tried to find the four intersection points, nor have I ever used a viewfinder with a grid in place. The principles are a way in, an early nudge to start considering composition and, through repetition, to establish some unconscious habits.

In each frame I seek a sense of balance that pleases me, that feels right, and this is something that is quite difficult to describe. I want all parts of the image to work together which is perhaps why many of my images feature clean lines, diagonals and perspective. Anything messy can easily disrupt this balance and this probably explains the love of buildings and absence of trees throughout my work.

Parkour was my route into photography (and vice versa) to the extent that the two are inseparable. Thinking back to when I started, composing a parkour shot followed some basic logic; to create height and make a movement more dramatic, it made sense to create space beneath the athlete’s body. Instantly, this was an improvement when compared to simply placing the the subject matter in the centre of the frame. I guess I was fortunate to be photographing something that showed me how to compose photographs: creating this dramatic space led me to give more thought to how an image can be framed. Over time, and through lots of repetition and experimentation, photographing parkour began to inform all of my work. Whatever I shoot, you can usually see its influence.

Away from parkour, the subject matter does not always inform how one frames a photograph in such a direct way, but perhaps this is what makes good composition; that moment (and you can bet it’s not always deliberate) when composition and subject matter work together. Suddenly you’re creating images that speak to people, rather than just presenting something that was once in front of your lens. Instead, you have framed it and the medium is suddenly part of your message.

My sense of composition came about as a result of shooting loads and loads of photographs and spending hours editing them. I can only speak for myself, but there is no short cut; I shot as much as I could, developed my eye, and over time I absorbed a methodology. From this came my own style and judgement to the point that it became instinctive.

Just like parkour, there are no secrets. Just training.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

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Book Review: The Moments Between

Susheel Chandradhas — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:28:33 +0000

The Book is “the moments between” by Andy Day. Buy it here.

The Moments Between is an account of three traceurs – practitioners of Parkour – on a road trip through Italy – on a quest to discover themselves, their abilities, communities, new training grounds and new possibilities in their own Parkour training.

Two of these traceurs – Thomas Couetdic, and Chris ‘Blane’ Rowat – are Internationally acknowledged for what they’ve achieved and have given back to the community. The other traceur – Andy ‘Kiell’ Day – is a renowned Parkour photographer and documentarian. He is also the photographer and author of this book.

The Words

Andy’s style of writing is personal, simple, yet documentative and encompasses the entire experience of their journey. It is a personal recollection, and one has the distinct feeling that he would be able to indulge in a lengthy conversation about this trip if he ever met any of these three parkour practitioners.

Andy explains the reasons for their unconventional trip across France, and Italy – travelling in an antiquated Citroen 2CV, and when possible, taking the less frequently travelled roads; never once staying at a hotel. Instead they seek out places by the wayside to rest in sleeping bags, and where possible, staying with fellow traceurs who gladly welcome them into their homes, in exchange for the chance to talk shop, exchange training notes and to understand each other better.

Through the book, Andy writes like he is recounting his experiences to a friend.

Here’s an excerpt:

Both Blane and Thomas have a maturity that goes beyond their years, Thomas in particular possessing a wisdom that belies his age. I learnt that, at times, Thomas seemed to know Blane’s potential better than Blane did, and I later discovered that he also knew more of my ability than I had previously imagined … He does not simply challenge your body; he challenges your spirit and your soul … you must accept that this teaching will most likely come in the form of a series of questions that will challenge your understanding of yourself.

The Pictures

Andy is an excellent photographer and his style of photographing Parkour action and documenting traceurs is well known and easily identifiable by anyone in the global parkour community. His images are among the first high quality records of Parkour as it began it’s spread through the UK and across the globe. This makes him an icon in this new, and fast growing community.

This book is filled with around 200 images of this unique trip across Italy. The images take are in a ‘documentary’ style, and if you flip through the photographs in the book first and then get down to reading it – as I did – you’ll find that images take on new meaning as their context is established, completing a story. You’ll find images of their travel, the unique places where they stayed, and some great images of these world-famous traceurs in action.

From a Photographer’s Perspective

If you’re a photographer or a photo enthusiast, you won’t find anything in this book about how to take photographs or even how Andy has taken specific photographs. It’s not a book about photography. What it is, is a beautiful account of their trip, and a collection of beautiful parkour photographs.

Andy also talks about the challenge of participating in two diverse passions at the same time. To him, the parkour training, the interaction with new people, and the photography of the activity are equally important.

You won’t find pictures of landmarks, like you would in a traveller’s photo-book. Yet each of the images is significant to their travels and their experiences. Take a look through the pages and you’ll gain insight into how to keep things fresh and interesting with the turn of each page.

There are lessons to be learnt on framing images on-the-fly, remembering your camera and using it an interesting moments, and in setting yourself up to make the most of the photographic opportunities that you may encounter on a trip. But these lessons are not in writing, but in observing and questioning yourself.

Andy explains Thomas’ method of teaching parkour – how he teaches you – and helps you learn by asking questions. Whether he realises it or not, Andy does the same with this book, if you’re a photographer, you can’t help but learn something from these pictures if you ask the right questions.

From a Traceur’s Perspective

This book is filled with images of two renowned traceurs in action; photographed by yet another well-known name in the ‘art of movement’.

If you’re a traceur, each photograph with speak to you, and Andy’s recollection of their training will help you along with new ideas for your training. It will also encourage you to take a trip to meet your neighbouring traceurs, experience their training grounds, and to share a cameradrie and brotherhood that no other sport or discipline that I know has today.

More About the Book

The book is 116 pages of high quality imagery printed on premium luster paper in a 10 × 8 in softcover format. You can see a preview of the book here. You can buy the book at blurb.com.

More About the Author

Andy Day is a Parkour Photographer based in London. The photographs he has produced since his involvement with Parkour and it’s athletes in the UK and across the globe a have been hugely influential in the representation of the sport.

Having been at the heart of the growth of the UK scene, Andy’s work has defined parkour through his unique style and the reproduction of his work around the world. From Playboy to the Sunday Times, countless magazines and newspapers have used Andy’s work, as have the likes of Adidas and Canon in their advertising.

Andy’s interests extend to other forms of movement in built up urban environments, and encompasses ‘Buildering‘.

You can see more of his work at www.kiell.com

Read Andy’s blog at http://kiell.tumblr.com

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

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Helping Your Child Discover Photography

Susheel Chandradhas — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 22:15:05 +0000

How did you discover photography? When I was young, an aunt gave me a toy camera. The photographs it produced seemed magical. I was 6 at the time. photo by Muha

I remember looking though my father’s Tokina 110mm telephoto lens and trying to focus manually on a nearby bird while on vacation. Looking back, I think that was one of the defining moments that shaped my photography. I was 10 or 11 years old at that time. I have more memories, of trying to get motion to blur, but failing because I had no control over shutter speed… Of developing my first B&W photograph in school, guided by an experienced press photographer… Of developing photographs with a pin hole camera made out of cardboard and a bit of photographic paper in a spare bathroom when I was 15… And lots more… They all combined to create a magical world of photography while I was growing up.

What about your kids? How are you shaping their discovery of photography? Small things that you do can have a lasting impression on how they think about photography. Here are some thoughts that I have.

Film is good, because the experience engages their imagination. The gap between your kids depressing the shutter and them seeing the result when it comes back from a lab is the space where their creativity and imagination lives, breathes and grows. Without that gap, photography is no longer magical. And when you’re young, the longer the gap, the more magical the result.
Give them a camera with few or no controls and unleash them at an early age. Don’t get too technical, but do explain basic concepts as simply as possible. Sit beside them and flip through the photographs, if some pictures are not what they expect, try to explain why it came out that way. I remember flipping though my pictures and not seeing the photograph that I expected to see… I expected to see my sister blur as I took a photograph of her digging furiously on the beach, but it was sharp, my dad explained why it was so.
Expose them to great photography. Show them photographs that boggle the mind, pictures that inspire, photographs of wonderful and defining moments in history. You don’t have to be sitting beside them all the time while they look at these pictures, just make sure you subscribe to some pathbreaking magazines.
Teach them to ‘really’ see the world around them. It’s important to be an observer of things, for being a photographer is about seeing things that others would miss… Help them learn how to become more observant day by day, and you’ll be giving them an extremely useful tool for life.
Let them stay playful. Just because they’ve got a camera in their hands is no reason for them to grow up. If you’re worried about the camera itself, buy your kid a shockproof / waterproof camera, or just get them something cheap. That said, giving them a ‘real’ camera is an opportunity to teach them how to take care of equipment, and become responsible.

How are you shaping your child’s perception of the world and photography? Do you have more tips that you’d like to share? Do leave them in the comments.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

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Filter Care & Use

Susheel Chandradhas — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:35:16 +0000

So you’re using a filter on your lens, maybe to protect it from dust or finger smears or maybe for an effect that you want, what can you do to ensure that it does not degrade the quality of your expensive lens? Here are some pointers:

DOs:

Buy a good filter. A bad filter can do more harm than you expect.
Never touch the glass of the filter. The oil from your skin will rub off on the filter and could damage it’s coating. Some filters, are noted to retain fingerprints if not cleaned up immediately. Always touch a filter by the edges.
Store filters in their boxes. This ensures that dust and fingerprints stay away.
Clean it like you would clean your lens. Use a lens cleaning kit or a blower brush. Keep it clear of sand, dust and sea spray.
Keep a UV filter on at all times, especially if you’re likely to be visiting the beach or are in a sandy / humid location.

DONTs:

Don’t press the filter when screwing it on or unscrewing it. The filter mount is usually made of thin Aluminium and will warp if you press it or tighten it too much. This makes it difficult to remove and could spoil your lens’ filter mounting thread.
Don’t use your camera like it’s all fine now that you have a protective UV filter on it. It’s still the same lens, you’re only protecting the first element from dust and direct scratches. You still have to be careful with it.
Don’t point your camera in to direct sunlight or harsh lights. The filter’s anti-reflective coat (if it has one) is not as good as a lens’ and it will usually create a spot of lens flare.
Don’t forget to clean the filter regularly.
Don’t forget that you have a filter on. If you think that you’re going to get a group of unforgettable images and you have a great lens on your camera, take the filter off – capture the image in all it’s glory.

Got more tips?

If you’ve got any more thoughts on how you can take care of your filters and how to get the best quality image out of a filter, do leave a comment.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

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