To avoid camera shake and blur, especially when using in a zoom lens, I’d recomend using an ISO setting of higher numbers to get a higher shutter speed.  Be aware of noise though and try to strike to right balance.  Using a tripod of monopod is also effective.

When hand holding the camera to take pictures, stand still opening your legs slightly a part, hold your elbows firmly against your chest, and hold the camera firmly against your face. 

If possible, lean against something to steady yourself or place the camera on something to secure the hold.  Especially when hand holding your camera, you will be steadier if you hold your breath, while you press the shutter button gently and firmly.

Now, given that there are no pictures on the radio, it may seem odd to you that I am “Wiltshire’s Favourite Radio Photographer” but please bear with me.  After all, in the days when “the wireless” meant the radio instead of 802.11n or Bluetooth, there was a BBC radio programme called “Educating Archie” that had a ventriloquist.   ”I swear that I heard his lips move…”  

"Christmas Present labels" by Gale Photography

You will recall that the last two blog posts have been all about creative Christmas photography.  Well, you can now listen to those tips on the radio as well as reading them.   They’re called “Cold Snaps” (I didn’t think of the title!), and are being broadcast on BBC Radio Wiltshire.  You can listen to my dulcet tones on Annie Weston’s splendid Sunday afternoon programme on 20th December between 1pm and 4pm.   

"Christmas presents" by Gale Photography

The first set of creative Christmas photography tips was broadcast on Sunday 13th December, so you’ve missed them!   Well actually you haven’t, because you can listen again on the BBC website.  The first Tip starts at 43m 13 secs into the programme.  You’ll have to be quick though as the listen again programme changes every week! 

"Creative camera movement" by Gale Photography

So, you can read the creative photography tips on the blog, listen to them on the radio, and come along to one of our training courses.  So there’s no excuse for your Christmas photographs not being as good as they can be! 

 Have a great Christmas!!!

I have been carrying my camera with me everywhere I go and it has allowed me the opportunity to catch some good shots. I really like this time of year when the sun is out and there is a clear sky. The sky blue contrasts nicely with the golden yellows, browns, reds and oranges of the leaves during the Autumn season. But, for me the longer shadows due to the sun remaining low in the sky creates a beautiful canvas from which to draw from.

On my way to work the other day I walked along the canal as the sky was clear and the sunlight bright. I was hoping for some nice shadows and if the water was still some shots of buildings reflected in the canal. I enjoy patterns and symmetry and try to capture landscapes using this simple composition. The canal has plenty of bridges and underneath you will see the light relfecting onto the underside of the bridge itself, shimmering with the gentle ripple of water caused by the many waterfowl who are yet to migrate for the Winter. A simple symmetrical shot is interesting, but so is one at a slight angle that accentuates the underline of the bridge.

I also managed to capture some really nice reflections of buildings that occupy the land along the canalside. I pass by a university which has over the last few years invested in new buildings that have interesting structures, designs and colour that seem to compliment the light for this time of year.

There are different settings to use on the camera and for these I use the landscape setting, although the shutter speed will alter according to the light available without the flash. I took some that were purely of the water itself and they look very interesting. The shots I have of the symmetry of the buildings and their reflection work well too. The camera display has a setting where you can get a simple grid that helps you to compose your shot so that crucial lines are parallel with the four sides of the image.

It was my wifes birthday and I booked a restaurant and two tickets to see Wicked the Musical in town. Another chance to use the portrait setting on the camera but also to see how well it captures softer light. In the restaurant as the afternoon light faded we had two candles on and I took a few shots of my wife at the table, trying to compose the shot to include just her head and arms as they were crossed on the table top. Often when people take portrait shots they tend to include load b ackground, I prefer to zoom in and cut out any uneccessary background, including thinking about what is behind – how often have you taken a shot and then when you have seen it afterwards there is something crawling over someone’s head or poking out the top! Just move yourself a few inches to one side, or ask the person to sit to one side helps and is easy to do or even look down rather than just across the table. You may find your image is more interesting for it.

At the theatre I also took some shots of the safety curtain and the surrounding set. If you have been to see Wicked you will know the Emerald City glistens during the break with a light that is quite effective. The camera does very well taking these shots without using the flash, but you have to make sure your hands are steady. It has a camera shake feature, but you can still get blurring in your photo if you are not careful. Bringing your arms firmly into your body helps reduce camera shake, but often you can rest your elbows on a chair, or even someones shoulders (only if you know them of course!).

You can see some of my latest images at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavidism/

How many times do I hear people say, “They’re just holiday snaps”?   Well, your holidays are the time off you’ve earned as a result of all the hard work you’ve done during the rest of the year, so shouldn’t your holiday photographs be the best they can be!   Luckily, there are techniques you can learn to get great holiday images. 

Here are some of my recent holiday images.  They were all taken with a digital compact camera, which shows that you don’t need a fancy camera to get great holiday images.

Holiday images need to capture the feelings you had on your holiday, or recreate the experiences.  This image of the sky at Whitstable in Kent sums up my feelings of relaxation on that day, and also the superb view.

"Sky at Whitstable" by Gale Photography

Once you have chosen your subject, you should then compose your shot to give the greatest impact.

"O2 Arena at dusk" by Gale Photography

With this image of the O2 Arena in London I’ve waited till sunset so I got the arena’s lights with an interesting sky behind the arena’s supports.  I’ve then cropped off  some of the foreground to give the best composition.  This is the “fill the frame only with interesting stuff” rule.

Some of our trips on holiday involve going to historic buildings where photography can be a bit of a challenge.  Here’s an example from Canterbury Cathedral.

Canterbury Cathedral ceiling by Gale Photography

I wanted to capture the fantastic vaulted ceiling on the “Bell Harry Tower”, but the exposure set by the camera meant that hand-holding wasn’t practical because of camera shake.  The little flash on my Lumix digital compact camera wasn’t anywhere near powerful enough to light it, so what could I do?  Easy !!  Put the camera on the floor underneath the centre of the ceiling, set the self-timer, press the shutter, and move out of the way.  The result is a sharp image showing just what I wanted.

"Ightham Mote panorama" by Gale Photography

Finally, there are times when you just can’t get everything in because your camera’s lens isn’t wide enough, or you just can’t get far enough away.  I had this problem at Ightham Mote in Kent.  I couldn’t fit it all in because a hedge stopped me going far enough back.  The solution was to take a number of images (6 I think) that covered the whole of the building, and then stitch them together afterwards to give one complete image of the whole building.  Sounds a bit complicated but it’s actually very easy.  I used a free program called Autostitch, but there are plenty of others available.

All of these tips, and plenty more, are covered in our “The Creative Eye” photographic training course which we’re running in the New Year.  Our website www.lifestylephotos.co.uk has details of the dates and venues.

1. Elbows In
As often as possible pull your elbows in to your body and exhale completely before depressing the shutter. When you’re working with a wide aperture or low shutter speed (or both), even a breath can introduce shake. Pulling your elbows tight to your body can really help keep you steady. I also press my elbows firmly into my chest for even greater stability.

2. Raise Your Left Shoulder….
I am definitely a right eyed photographer, but this tip that I learned from “The Moment It Clicks” by Joe McNally, requires that I shift for a moment to my left eye. What I’m doing here is raising my left shoulder, and bracing my left elbow into my rib-cage (no arrow for this one). For further stability, you can pull your right elbow in to your chest. As always, exhale completely before depressing the shutter to avoid introducing shake

3. Create a Tripod With Your Knee
You can create your own tripod by resting your elbow on your knee while in a seated position. Again, bring that other elbow in for greater support.

4. Lay Down
These two images illustrate perhaps the most obvious way to avoid shake without a tripod. Lie flat and let the lens sit directly on the ground. The problem with this is that you’re likely to have quite a downward tilt to the lens and unless you’re aiming to photograph the pavement, you probably won’t end up with the shot you’re hoping for. In the first image you’ll notice that I placed my hand flat against the cement and balanced the lens on top of it to give myself some height. In the second image you’ll see that I created a fist with my hand to give myself even greater height.

5. The Machine Gun Hold
This next technique is sometimes referred to as the machine gun hold. I rarely use this technique as I find it awkward and difficult to maintain for more than a second or two. Just because it doesn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t for you. . . give it a try.

6. Cradle It
In this next image you’ll see that I created a sort of cradle for the lens between my shoulder and my wrist. I also stabilized the hold by balancing my elbow on my knee.

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-avoid-camera-shake#ixzz0RBAGQmQU

How to Reduce Camera Shake – 6 Techniques

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Avid readers of the blog will know that I was due to run a “Creative Eye” photographic workshop at the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) HQ in Bath.  Well, it’s happened and was very enjoyable!

We had a full group of 10, and they had a good range of photographic skill and experience.  All came with a willingness to learn, and have fun while they did it.  Here they are, photographed during the “creative use of camera shake” exercise…

Fenton House, the RPS HQ, has an excellent range of spaces, and lots of photographic opportunities.  One of the training course exercises involved looking for textures and patterns, and we were spoilt for choice.

This shot of a Venetian blind is an optical illusion.  It is rectangular, with parallel sides, but your eyes keep wanting to make the diagonal lines straighter, so the image edges start to look crooked.  Try looking at it for a minute!

One of the exercises involved the group taking a “creative group photo”; this was hilarious.  They arranged themselves on the floor of Fenton House’s exhibition space, and let their feet do the talking.

All in all I, and more importantly the delegates, thought the “Creative Eye” workshop went really well.  We are planning to run this photographic workshop with the RPS again next year, so keep your eyes on the RPS website, or on our Training and Treks pages. http://www.lifestylephotos.co.uk/training.htm

Lower shutter speeds do not freeze action as higher settings, and make your camera more sensitive to movement (an unsteady hand, for example) while taking a photo. Using a wider aperture (lower “F” number) can allow you to shoot at a faster shutter speed, as can using a higher numbered ISO/ASA (film sensitivity). The drawbacks of these solutions are that a wider aperture will cause a more shallow depth of field (DOF), and a higher ISO may cause more grain/noise. The best solution for camera shake is to use a tripod and remote trigger. If you are in a pinch try using both hands and leaning against something grounded. Camera shake can often happen with digital cameras and also specific lenses.

Many of you have got digital cameras.  

Given that almost every mobile phone now has a camera built into it, and also that everyone seems to have at least one digital compact camera in their household, I think there must be many more digital cameras in the UK now than there are people.  That’s a very interesting statistic.   It would be interesting to know how many of the people who have a digital camera have read the manual or been on a photographic training course…

The automatic focusing and exposure systems on newer cameras are simply extraordinary.  They can identify faces, allow you to choose which person is the most important in a group, and then follow that person around the frame as they move.  Some cameras even take two pictures in quick succession, compare them, and then tell you if the people in the pictures have blinked, thus giving you a chance to retake it.  10 years ago this would all have seemed like science fiction.

Despite all this marvellous technology there are still an awful lot of images out there that can be improved.  The main problem I see has been around for ages; it’s camera shake.  Camera shake gives you images that are not sharp, so you aren’t getting the benefit of all those shiny new pixels.  Here’s an example that I took for this post:

So how can you stop camera shake?   The best way is to support the camera firmly during the exposure, and use the shortest shutter speed you can.  The trend for cameras to have a viewing screen on the back, and to not have an optical viewfinder hasn’t helped with supporting the camera.  Using the screen on the back forces you to hold the camera away from your body and this increases the risk of camera shake.  If you can, rest the camera on a wall, shelf, tree, or anything that will stop it from moving around as you take the picture.  I’ve even used the roof of my car – with the engine turned off of course. 

The second trend that increases the risk of camera shake is zooming the lens in order to get closer.  The more you zoom the more risk of shake there is.  If you can, it’s better to get closer to your subject by moving yourself and then using less zoom.   In these examples the first image shows shake, as I was further away and zoomed the lens as much as it would go.  Like the door and tiles image above, these two images were taken to deliberately to show how it can go wrong!

With this image I got closer to the flowers and used less zoom.  As you can see, the result is much sharper.

Digital cameras make it much easier to practice, so give it a try!

Once you have mastered the art of taking pictures without camera shake, you can move on to using it in a creative way, as shown in the first image of this post, and also below.

I’ll be writing more tips on improving your photography in future, so do keep checking the blog, or subscribe so you don’t miss any.

I was deliberately playing with camera-shake this time. I can’t say the results were great, but it’s all I really did with the camera that day.

Yeah I know, crazy camera shake. But sometimes, you just try the picture anyway, and 99% of the time it doesn’t work, but the other 1% of the time it works, for you at least. Other people may not like the shake. But I love the feeling of energy at night I get from the lights reflecting on wet concrete with that shake. And I especially like the energy of the one way arrow.

There’s only one way to go after all.

Here’s a way to approach getting these settings right:

Start by assessing the overall level of illumination to decide what ISO to use. Outdoors on a sunny day – set the ISO quite low, ISO 100 or 200. Indoors in a candle-lit restaurant and you want to shoot without flash? Go for a high ISO – 800, 1600 or even 3200. An overcast day, shooting in a well-lit room indoors, or in shade under trees – a medium ISO, 400-640 will work.

Then decide on your preferred aperture. Usually, as “people” photographers we want to concentrate attention on the subject and throw the background out of focus – so we choose a wide aperture; F4, F2.8 something like that. For groups where people are at different distances from the camera, a smaller aperture is preferred, maybe F5.6 to F8, so that there is enough depth of field to keep everybody sharp. Landscape photographers use very small apertures like F11 to F22 to get everything in the picture sharp.

Once those two variables (ISO and aperture) are set, the required shutter speed can be determined by metering the actual brightness of the scene. You can use the inbuilt camera meter, or a separate hand-held meter as Mark suggested. Use the histogram and LCD display to double-check that the exposure looks right and adjust if necessary – the camera meter can be fooled sometimes by subjects that are darker or brighter than average.

If you switch your camera to Aperture priority (AV) mode it will meter and determine the shutter speed for you, which is one less thing to think about when you are learning (and lots of pros use it too!)

The only thing to watch out for is that your shutter speed doesn’t drop too low so that you get camera shake, or movement blur if your subjects are not standing still. If that happens then you need to increase the ISO value, or use a wider aperture (smaller number).

64 ISO Kodachrome, I took these early 2007, it was a wet overcast day with some soft sky light through the windows. I shot these with a Canon 100mm macro lens on an EOS 3. The aperture was f/ 2.8 & the shutter speeds were around 1/15 and 1/8. I knew there would be camera shake, in fact I was happy to get some shake as it can look nice in certain situations.

Kodak have been making Kodachrome since 1935 & it will have its 75 year anniversary in 2010. It’s unlikely to last much longer however due to declining sales. It’s a colour transparency (slide) film but is developed in a different chemistry than E6 which is the standard positive process. Kodachrome goes through the K14 process & as of 2009 there is only one lab left in the world that runs it, Dwayne’s in Kansas.

It also hasn’t been sold in Australia for about 10 years, so to shoot it I buy some rolls from the USA, expose, post to Kansas for processing & also pay for it to be posted back to me. Difficult, but I like how it looks & I want to use it now while it’s still relatively easy. If Kodak discontinues production I predict that all current stocks will be snapped up & the only way to get any will be via the auction site at silly prices. This is exactly what happened with the colour & B&W infrared films recently discontinued by Kodak & also with Polaroid materials.

Many consumer level photographers dont find the need to invest in a tripod. Besides the cost, they can sometimes be a drag to carry around. There are alternate designs coming out on the market, which are slimmer, sleeker and lighter, and can be folded away easily

However here are some easy and fundamental steps to reduce camera shake without using a tripod

1. Hold the camera body with your right hand so that its your index finger that comes over the shutter release. The left hand can be used to cup the lens from beneath the camera which allows you to support the camera while using the focus. (this is for lens focusing. In many modern cameras the zoom can also be manipulated using the right hand)

2.  Stand with your legs apart and not together

3. Do not lean forward when your taking the photograph

4. Take the photo after breathing out, as this is a more stable method

5. Sit cross legged on the ground as this allows you to rest your elbows on your thighs and make an artificial (or natural ) tripod

6. Have you watched sharpshooters use things to balance their guns – its not too different when you stretch out on the ground when using long lens. Use the elbows to balance the camera and place it on a bag so its automatically supported

7. Lean against a  wall or tree, or by putting one arm around the post, so your shoulders rest on the static object. This is useful with slow shutter speeds when you absolutely have to focus properly for more than a second, and when using heavy lenses.

8. You would know this position if youve ever proposed marriage. Right knee bend and crouching, except this time your left hand elbow rests on the thigh of the left leg. This suuports the camera body, leaving the right hand free to control the shutter release.

Hasselblad 503CW camera and Hasselblad 50mm Distagon FLE T series lens with Kodak Professional Portra 160VC film

The view of a famous city, the feeling of exhilaration when beholding one of nature’s icons, the vastness of a desert landscape, the power of the animal world, the excitement of an ultra modern neon lit city, the assault on the senses when visiting a local market, the peace provided by a rainforest and the serenity one experiences when visiting a sacred site await the adventurous traveller. But what part does photography play in your travels? And how important is the making of great images to the success of your trip?

Photographs offer a way of effectively sharing our experiences with family and friends. Whether by the traditional photo album or via blog, website or email photography provides us with the opportunity to both re-live and share the color and excitement of our adventures. In time, what we photograph may be the only part of our trips that can be remembered clearly.

While many recognise the importance of recording these treasured moments, few are prepared for the experience of actually making the images. Here are a few tips that might be of help, particularly for those who place considerable value in their photography.

Instead of taking pictures of family and friends in familiar surroundings, you’ll likely be photographing strangers, in unfamiliar surroundings, and probably photographing more landscapes, architectural interiors and close-ups than you would otherwise.

The most amazing moments happen right before your eyes. This places you under pressure to make a great image of what may well be a once in a lifetime experience.

You’ll have much more chance of being able to make a great image, under such challenging circumstances, if you practice making the same sort of picture before you begin your trip. This is no different for a photographer than it would be for an elite athlete, musician or actor. Practice makes perfect, and to be able to make a great image you need to be able to anticipate the moment before it happens, have the familiarity with your equipment that will allow you to set and use it quickly and, know where best to stand to make the most out of your lens and achieve the best composition and lighting.

While this might seem like a tall order, you can prepare for most situations by finding similar events in your own part of the world. Let’s say you live in a small country town in Middle America. Every year there’s a parade that celebrates (for example) Independence Day. Though there might only be 200 people at the parade, you’ll likely face many of the same challenges making great pictures there that you will a month later photographing a major religious procession in India. The problems are often the same, just on a larger scale. To make good images you’ll need to research the event: it’s date, time, location and route; and determine the best vantage point for composition and light.

It’s essential that, unless you’re looking for a silhouette, that the sun be behind you so that the subject’s face and clothing are lit. This will also give you the opportunity to practice asking permission to make portraits, of both those involved in the parade and the spectators, as well as photographing moving subjects. You’ll only ever make great photographs if you use the camera in a way that empowers you. You might be very shy by nature but, with the camera in your hand, you can develop super hero confidence and abilities. The camera can be an obstacle or a passport into a new and exciting world. It all depends on your viewpoint.

Leica M6 camera and Leica 35mm f2 Summicron Lens with Kodak Ektachrome Elite 100 Extra Color film

You might be about to travel to Italy to visit St. Peter’s Basilica. Before undertaking your trip why not spend a few hours photographing a local church in your area. Of course it’s always advisable to ask permission, particularly if you’re going to be setting up a tripod in a doorway or planning to walk up onto the altar area. It would also be wise to send an email to your tour guide asking if tripods are allowed inside the Basilica. If not, practice making the same images, without a tripod, to determine the slowest Shutter Speed at which you can successfully hold your camera without experiencing camera shake. When your finally get to shoot inside St. Peter’s and you reach the Shutter Speed at which camera shake is likely to occur, set your lens to a wider aperture and/or higher ISO setting. This will provide you with a faster Shutter Speed ensuring a sharp result.

The next thing to do is study your images with a critical eye and understand the limitations of your equipment (e.g. the magnification of your lens) and under what conditions you’d be unable to make a satisfactory image. If you love photographing people you should take your camera along to as many parties, picnics and barbeques as possible before your travels begin. Practice making candid and more formalized portraits of people you know. Learn from disappointment the type of lighting conditions that produce poor results. Remember those conditions and allow that memory to remind you of the negative feelings you experienced when you failed to make good pictures.

While this might seem a strange thing to do, it is an essential strategy toward producing great results when it counts. Its not about embracing or dwelling on disappointment, it’s about using the power of negative emotions to cause us to learn from our mistakes and take action to ensure we don’t repeat them. Not wanting to experience the same negative feelings you will do what you need to do to produce a better result the next time you’re photographing under the same lighting conditions.

Leica M6 camera and Leica 35mm f2 Summicron lens with Kodak Ektachrome Elite 100 Extra Color film

On a bright, sunny day the solution may be as simple as asking the subject to move into the soft, flattering light offered by even shade. When they do you’ll notice that bright, shinny areas on their skin are reduced and that they stop squinting, which reduces visible lines on their face and allows you to see the color of their eyes. To get the right exposure ensure that there are no really bright areas, such as a sky or sunlit grass, in your composition.

One of the critical differences between a professional and amateur photographer is the pro’s determination to photograph under the best lighting possible. Sometimes that involves complicated lighting arrangements. Often it means looking around and determining what area (ground, table, wall, etc) is lit in a pleasing manner and having the confidence to move your subject into that light. Again, practice makes perfect.

With a better understanding of how to use your camera and what conditions produce the best possible results you’ll be well on the way to making great pictures on holiday and through the rest of your photographic adventures. Your increased skills and knowledge will allow you to photograph with more positive energy and confidence than you otherwise would have. You’ll begin to notice the color, direction and quality of light in your daily life and come to an understanding that photography is about other things than cameras, Shutter Speeds, Apertures and ISO.

© Copyright All Rights Reserved

Glenn Guy, Blue Sky Photography

Under low light conditions (eg. at the edges of the day, indoors or under heavy shade) it’s often best to shoot with a wide Aperture (eg. f4). This will provide a faster shutter speed than would otherwise be the case. As a result you have more chance of being able to freeze action, reduce camera movement and the need for a tripod or flash. A wider aperture may also concentrate the viewer’s attention on the subject by de-emphasising their surroundings.

For more contemplative work (eg. Landscape, Environmental Portraiture, etc) the use of narrower apertures (eg. f11) to increase Depth Of Field and display more detail throughout the scene may be appropriate. Of course narrower Apertures allow less light to reach the film and the resulting slower Shutter Speeds may require the use of a tripod to prevent camera movement.

It’s important to note that the quality of light produced under low light conditions can provide a beautiful soft, wrap-around type of illumination. It’s often the most flattering light under which to make photographs.

Leica M7 camera with Leica 21mm f2.8 Elmarit lens and Kodak Ektachrome Elite 100 Extra Color film

Leica M7 camera with 21mm Elmarit f2.8 lens and Kodak Ektachrome 100 Extra Color film

Minimizing Camera Shake

Under low light conditions camera shake is a problem when using the camera hand-held. To minimise camera shake, try utilising the following technique:

• Stand steady, with your legs slightly apart (a little like a tripod)
• Hold the camera steady
• Provide extra support by taking the weight of the camera and its lens by letting it rest on your left hand
• Tuck elbows into the body and use them as an alternative tripod

• Talk a series of deep breaths, exhaling in a slow, gentle manner            
• Take another deep breath, this time exhale 1/2 way to steady both camera and body

• Gently squeeze the shutter release without pushing down on the camera

While nothing beats the use of a quality tripod, particularly with mirror up engaged, many folks will be able to achieve acceptably sharp results down to and including 1/8 second. Due to a lack of impact/vibration cushioning inside the camera, this may be reduced to around 1/15 second with cheaper DSLR models. To confirm the images are in fact sharp it’s necessary to view them on the desktop at 100%. Making test prints is also advisable.

From my own experience I’ve had considerable success shooting, hand-held, down to ¼ second. This is particularly the case with brilliantly engineered equipment such as the traditional SLR-styled Leica R8 camera and the Leica M6, M7 and MP Rangefinder cameras. As a case in point, the above image was made with a 1/4 second exposure, utilizing the technique outlined above, to make the image at Norman Bay, Wilsons Promontory National Park, in Victoria, Australia. The grand sunrise I’d hoped for didn’t eventuate, so I employed a Leica 21mm f2.8 Elmarit wide angle lens on my Leica M7 camera to emphasize the color, texture and shape in the foreground.

As further evidence I can recall many an issue of National Geographic magazine featuring a slightly soft image no doubt included, despite the lack of sharpness, for the communicative power of the low light under which it was made.

Try making some images under low light. Where possible keep the ISO set as close to, and definitely no slower, than the camera’s default setting. Get used to looking at and working under a variety of low light sources. Don’t worry too much about sharpness initially, you’ll get better with practice.

You may choose to set your camera up to ISO 400 without too much concern. Nevertheless, except where subject movement is likely, I would advise you to only increase it to ISO 800 or above when you have reached the point (Shutter Speed) at which you are susceptible to camera shake. With practice you’ll learn the skills necessary to make wonderful, luminous images without the need for a cumbersome external flash or tripod. Of course when absolute quality is essential (still life, macro, architecture, etc) it’s best to employ a good tripod, together with your camera’s mirror up function engaged, to enhance sharpness and help control composition.

© Copyright All Rights Reserved

Glenn Guy, Blue Sky Photography

Yesterday my friend Ben took a picture of me for the EarthArk 001 shipping container document. I wanted to have a picture of him as the photographer because all too often the photographer doesn’t get any credit where credit is due. So, to link these two items and me in one picture, I took a long arm self portrait with Ben in the center. Unfortunately, being an indoor photo, the light was dim and the exposure a bit long and there was quite a bit of camera motion. I downloaded the program Focus Magic, which is supposed to remove camera motion and thought I would give it a try. Here is the result. First the original:

Probaway and Ben Fulcher

This picture looked a little underexposed and although I dislike cropping I felt this one was a legitimate crop because I couldn’t see the frame when it was being exposed at arm’s length and it was intentionally shot at wide angle.

Probaway and Ben enlightened and cropped

This picture shows me as blurry because I am quite close to the camera and I had intentionally pointed it at Ben so he would be in focus, which he is but he is blurry because of camera motion. Also, I didn’t like the table touching my lip so I moved it back a little with the clone tool. I loaded the program Focus Magic and took fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to make the controls do my bidding and came up with this …

Probaway and Ben with Focus Magic clean up

The picture of Ben is definitely sharper although it doesn’t show much at this resolution.

The Focus Magic image sharpened would be okey as a 4x6" print.

So here are some close ups of his shirt to show the difference.

Close up of Ben's shirt showing blurriness

Close up of Ben's shirt after Focus Magic treatment

The image is surprisingly sharper! Not so good as if it had been taken without camera motion but much better than it was. There are some strange artifacts for example, the blue to white transition line, in the upper left, is razor sharp in the original scene so everything about it that isn’t sharp is some artifact of degradation.

The Focus Magic image treated and sharpened.

Science and technology to the rescue of poor camera technique. The improvements seen here are reported to occure even with perfectly exposed photographs.

Seasons  Greetings to everyone!   All the  best wishes for a fine year end, I hope it’s a happy and memorable time.

For this entry, I’m posting an image I made for an LVS online course  assignment.  I started taking courses in digital photography there when I bought a used  Canon EOS 10D  DSLR (digital single lens reflex-big, heavy body;  interchangeable lenses) camera from an old friend, who swore it was driven only on weekends by a few students who needed a digital loaner to use while taking a course at his California central coast photographic institute.  I hadn’t used my old nikons for much more than taking pictures of my Hallowe’en pumpkin carving since the early 1990s and was sorely in need of an interpreter for the digital device.   The digital controls take a lot of getting used to ( I still keep trying to twist the base of the lens where the old lenses had the aperture control, now located on a dial function on the body) and the classes get me outside and looking for compositions in the yard.  The assignment that led to the picture  above was to take a two images of the same thing to compare image sharpness.  For one image, hand-hold the camera and take a slow exposure; hold it as steady as possible.  For the second image, mount the camera on a tripod, if possible lock the mirror up, attach a remote switch to the camera, and with all of these precautions against camera vibration, record the image.  …discuss…

I walked around the house, looking for something to shoot in the same yard that had supplied the images for the previous two or three courses, and an old trowel on an expanded mesh iron patio table caught my eye.  With the two leaves along the handle, it made a composition I liked,  not using the whole trowel but sort of nudging the ‘inner gardener’ to think about a garden lying fallow, absorbing nutrients and resting.  To take the portion of the handle and blade that I wanted, I had to place my left elbow across an old terrarium that was next to the trowel.  This allowed me to hang the camera down from above, while I stood on tiptoe,   and tried not to breathe.   Feeling (over)confident about the support, I set the camera to record enough depth of field, pushing my exposure down to 1/30th of a second, a good deal slower than the 1/160 sec. arrived at by the common rule of thumb for sharp pictures:  use a shutter speed at, or faster than, 1/focal length of the lens.  In the small LCD display on the camera, it looked to me like I had my shot.   It wasn’t until several days later that I would come back with the tripod to take the same subject with the camera on the tripod…and discovered I couldn’t!  The tripod legs spread wide enough that when the camera was at the right height, they hit the side of the table and could not be moved into place.  I had to settle for an unprepossessing image of more of the trowel, the leaves losing their framing effect,  the added attraction  of the very old, very cracked water sealing putty and filthy glass of the bottom of the terrarium. It was very ugly and I have not posted it, but it was undeniably tack-sharp!  On comparing the two in Photoshop at full size the difference became quite apparent. So,  I’ve become  a tripod enthusiast.  I’d be even *more*  enthusiastic with one of the new carbon-fiber lightweight tripods but  maybe if I keep doing “curls” with my old, heavy, tripod I can stay strong enough to use it.

Yes the picture is a bit ‘muzzy’;   I still like the ‘feel’ of the image.

Holiday Cheers!

pete

Continuing the series of posts where I try to explain some of the basic concepts of photography in “beginner speak”. If you like the concept, have anything to add, any futher questions or want to suggest another topic then let me know. Either add a comment below or email me.

Shutter speed is probably the first experience anyone has with the technicalities of photography. Remember when you were a kid trying to take photos with your parents camera and they kept telling you to keep the camera still. That was due to shutter speed, but what it is?

The shutter speed is the lenght of time that the shutter is open for, allowing the sensor (or film) to be exposed to the light a given amount of time. The longer the shutter is open for the more light will be let in. Shutter speed is measured in seconds or fractions of seconds so it’s not really a “speed” at all. It’s a time. Short exposure times are refered to as “fast” shutter speeds, long exposure times are refered to as “slow” shutter speeds.

Why do I need to worry about shutter speed?

Unlike aperture and depth of field shutter speed does not need to be controlled continuously to affect the creative aspects of a photo, instead you need to stick between certain min and max settings depending on what aspect you are trying to contol. Shutter speed is mostly used to control two aspect of photography…

• Camera Shake – This is where you have moved the camera while the shutter is open causing the image to be blured (bad!). You can avoid this affect by ensuring you shuuter speed is faster than a given minimum. This min is 1 over the focal lenght of your lens. Sounds complicated but is really simple. If your focal length is 60mm then use a shutter speed of 1/60 sec or faster. Focal length 200mm, min shutter speed 1/200. Simple.
• Motion blur – This is where an aspect of the scene you are photographing moves while you have the shutter open. The moving aspects will be blured while the stationary objects will be sharp. Generally shutter speed of 1/20 sec or slower will give motion blur but it really depends on how fast the subject is moving. You can create lots of creative photos with this effect such as panning, blured people, motion blur, silky water, zoom blur, light painting, light trails, the list goes on.

So shutter speed is really simple with just two things to consider when taking a shot.

Is my shutter speed fast enough to avoid camera shake?
Will my shutter speed allow motion blur or not and do I want it?

The second time I was able to use my shinny new DSLR was on a business trip to Hong Kong. Great I thought, spectacular cityscapes with which to try out my new found camera skills! It didn’t live up to expectations.

First of all it was a business trip which meant I wasn’t going to get any time to myself. Obviously most of the time I was in the office but even when your not at work your working on a trip like this. Secondly my new found camera skills where not all they were cracked up to be! I managed to sneak a small ammount of time while the rest of the party were having pre dinner drinks to get down to the waterfront at the harbour. I had ten mins in one of the most spectacular locations in the entire world and this is all I could come up with!

What did I do wrong?

• I didn’t take my time – I rushed and didn’t think about the shots, probably because I was only there for a limited time. Trying to fire of as many shots as I could to ensure I got one rather than taking a few more considered attempts
• I didn’t keep the camera steady – I only have a very ropey small tripod that I bought from the market. Not good when it’s quite windy and you are rushing! The sharke is quite visible in this shot even at a small resolution.
• Tried to be too clever – I had in my mind that the skyline would make a spectaular paoramic shot. I’m sure it would but in trying to capture it meant I didn’t get a single well composed normal shot. I also had it in mind that I could use HDR so I tried to bracket every shot. Rushing and shaking meant these shots were all useless to.
• I did shoot in RAW which was a good thing but when I converted this file to JPG I got the white ballance all wrong.

I’ve subsequently gone back to a few shots and had a go a rescuing them with better PP but the problems above have meant they are still very ropey.

Oh well, leasons learned for next time.

This is my attempt to create the slow shutter effect using my Powershot A580.

I don’t have direct control to the shutter speed on my Powershot A580. Instead, I made it to slow the shutter speed by choosing the indoor mode and move the camera purposely to create the blurring effect. So instead of the cool motion blur this was actually a camera shake blur which people usually hate.

I tried to rotate the camera so only miku face stays in focus while blurring her body parts and her background. Details on this miku shot:

ISO : 320
Aperture: f/2.6
Shutter speed: 3/10 (0.3 sec)
Exposure : 0/3 EV

This is another try on figma kagami. I failed to make her face stay in focus but her hand moves very fast haha.

This shot is almost identical to previous one:
ISO : 320
Aperture: f/2.6
Shutter speed: 1/4 (0.25 sec)
Exposure : 0/3 EV

Summary: The color turned out to be very dull and even with the blurring effect the two shot was nothing near interesting >< Still this is my first step to explore the slower shutter area and bringing the most of my camera.

HK skyline. Hand-held shot taken by Sherwin Dy.

Tremors can really spoil a picture at times. I mean, how many of you have pictures that could have turned out better if only you had held your hand steady? Not unless you have a physical construction of a rock, holding you cam steady can be a challenge. It still a challenge for me, by the way. How many of us asked the question “Hey, why is this picture blurry?” while looking at the LCD screen on our camera. I know I have. In my on-again, off-again hobby of photography, I’ve continuously looked for ways on how to keep my hands (and body) steady to reduce he likelihood of camera shake that can result in a blurry picture. I would like to share them with you.

Get a Firm and Correct Grip

Perhaps the most basic solution to eliminate camera shake is to have a firm and correct grip on your camera. You’d be surprised on how much this can reduce camera shake. While there’s really no professionally recommended way on how to correctly hold a camera, the best way is to hold your cam using both of your hands. Unless you’re hands are totally without tremor, it’s not advisable that you take a picture by holding the cam only with one hand unless your shooting situation requires you to take the shot using one hand.

If you have a point-and-shoot cam, you need to grasp the camera firmly on both sides with both of your hands. For D/SLR users, you could do this (hold the cam at both sides) only when you have made the proper adjustments with your lens. However, it would be best if you hold your SLR cam body with your dominant hand, while your non-dominant hand would support provide additional firm support by holding the lens. For point-and-shoot cam users, be careful so that your fingers don’t cover the viewfinder, the flash or the lens.

Try to also avoid white-knuckle grips. Similar with pistol and rifle shooting,
white-knuckle grips won’t work with photography. You’d know when you have this kind of grip when you see that the knuckles in your hands have already turned white due to the force that you’re exerting through your grip. White knuckle grips would never eliminate camera shake. Rather it can be the cause of camera shake. Why? Obvious reason – your hands would get tired and when they do, you’d definitely experience hand tremor. Also, the more force you exert, the more tremor your hand will produce

Arms and Body Steady

Once you get your grip corrected, it’s time for you to hold your body steady for your shot. If you’re using the viewfinder, brace the camera firmly against your face. You also need to keep your arms and your body steady.
For your arms, don’t shoot like you’re flying – elbows out. Always place your elbows firmly placed against your body – not to the sides, but to the front. Use your arms as a bipod of sorts. The steadier you can make your arms, the less chance that the camera would move.

Aside from your arms, you would also need to pay attention on your stance while taking your shot. For example, if you’re taking a photo standing up, it would be better if you would have both legs apart (shoulder width) rather than to have both legs together. This provides more stability. It is also not advisable to take a picture when you’re practically standing on one leg. When you’re taking your photo while standing on an uneven surface, try to find the balance where your weight is distributed evenly between both legs.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to take pictures where you have one leg in front of the other, it would be better if you can take the photo while leaning a bit forward with either your weight equally distributed between both legs or have the front leg bear a bit more of the weight. This is a much stable position compared to having part or all of your weight on your back leg. For those who are hand-gun enthusiast, you can experiment on how you can adapt the classic Weaver Stance to your photo shooting activities.

There are times when your subject would be low or close to ground. Therefore, you need to lower yourself near your subject to take a picture. This is most true for macro shots of flowers and plants. When taking pictures of subjects that are close to the ground, don’t do the squat routine and have all your weight rest on your heel or on your toes. This position is quite unstable and would cause your camera to shake. Instead, you can either kneel while resting your butt on your heel or sit-down in a lotus position. Better if you can lie prone to the ground. When you’re either kneeling or in a lotus position, you would still need to brace your elbows firmly against your body. If you’re in a prone position, brace your elbows on the ground. Some words of advice: these “stances” might cause some discomfort. Also, these do not guarantee the elimination of camera shake. However, these positions are fare more stable compared to the squat position. Comfort of course is a subjective word.

Brace It

There are several ways where you can brace your body (and camera) for a steady shot. Of course, the best way would be to use a tripod but you won’t always have a tripod handy. Here are some of the things that you can do to brace your body (and your cam) for that steady shot:

* If there is a wall behind you or on your side, you can lean against it to make your shooting a bit more steady.
* While taking pictures of birds or plants on a forested area, you can lean against a tree trunk or steady your arms by placing it in top of a low-lying branch.

Okay, so there you go. Mind you, all of these would take some getting used to, not to mention, practice so that steadying your self for a shot becomes second nature to you. You can invent your own stance or grip but the most important thing is to arrive at a position where you can always take steady, camera-shake free shots consistently.

Happy shooting!