Concepts of Photography Composition

From: Picturecorrect.com

Concepts of Photography Composition Posted: 15 Dec 2012 06:36 PM PST For most photographers, the rule of thirds has been pounded into their brain as a hard and fast rule to achieve great photography composition. It’s true that the rule of thirds has proven results,but rules were, after all, meant to be broken. During a seminar taught by master photographer, David Brommer, we learn that there are many other factors to take into consideration while setting up a frame. The seminar, which is two hours long, is available below for you to watch at your leisure. His teaching style will be especially helpful to those those who learn by example, as he showed up to class with an arsenal of stunning photography to keep the educational seminar fun and progressive (for those of you reading this by email, the seminar can be seen here): As promised, Brommer really takes it beyond the rule of thirds. Here are just a few examples of what he has to offer: Take advantage of positive and negative space. Positive Space – empty or void space, space around an object or form. Negative Space – Space that is filled with something, such as lines, subjects, color, or shapes. There are three points to a photograph: foreground, middleground, and background. Dramatic shapes can override the rule of thirds, just avoid placing on the center line. Understand studium and punctum, they are important parts to photographic composition. Studium general liking or intellectual commitment to the image. Punctum is a quality that transcends studium and puncuates the images into the consciousness of the viewer. “Contemplate your picture. Before you take it, contemplate it. Digital photography is beautiful, but slow yourself down a little.” Go to full article: Concepts of Photography Composition   Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

Keeping Your Camera Still for Sharp Night Photography Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:49 PM PST Learning how to begin taking photos at night is dependent on some very key photography practices. Taking photos in low light conditions, especially of the city, is a fantastic approach to get better in your shooting of long exposures. You must primarily learn how low light photography techniques work. Taking good photos at night needs a long shutter speed, a way to keep that camera rock steady and using aperture effectively. In this article I will not only tell you how to do it, but also give you some methods in which to start taking photos at night and have them turn out beautifully. “Manhattan Bridge HDR” captured by See-ming Lee. (Click image to see more from See-ming Lee.) Why is it so significant for the camera to remain still and steady? When you take photos at night you normally want to include a very slow shutter speed with your shots. You must keep the camera dead still if you want a slow shutter speed and sharp images simultaneously. This is why strong support is necessary. When you take photos at night the first thing to aim for is sharpness. Being able to keep that camera secure is equally as important as the shutter speed and aperture. You should consider buying a shutter release cable–an excellent piece of equipment that will improve your night photography. This cable is an elongated lead that attaches to your digital camera. At the other end is a small button that triggers the shutter to open and then close each time you press it. You need one of these so you don’t knock or touch the camera when working with a slow shutter speed. The smallest amount of movement can completely blur your photo. Without one of these handy little cords, you can create blur in your photo from the simple act of pressing the shutter button. Taking night photos is possible to do without a cable. After I purchased my Canon 5D I was without the right shutter cable for my camera. Because I had just upgraded to a better camera, I was eager to begin taking photos at night time. This included the city skyline and astrophotography. I decided I would use the self-timer feature. I set it to two seconds. In the length of time it took to make the count down to zero, the vibration from pressing the shutter open would cease. When the cameras timer went off and the shutter opened, it gave the camera time to be still again. “Dubai Panorama” captured by Navid Qureshi. (Click image to see more from Navid Qureshi.) Exposure bracketing can be enormously helpful. In my time as a photographer, every now and then, a photograph that I thought was overexposed was actually just right. This is the key reason why it is imperative to try different things. Put your shutter and f stop on a variety of speeds and just observe what happens. With practice and the right know-how you will be taking photos at night with ease. About the Author: Amy Renfrey writes for DigitalPhotographySuccess.com. She is a professional photographer and photography teacher. She shows you how to take the most breathtaking, brilliant and incredibly stunning photos every single time you press the shutter button, even if you know nothing about photography and have never used a digital camera before. Go to full article: Keeping Your Camera Still for Sharp Night Photography Article from: PictureCorrect Photography Tips

Fine Art Landscape Photography Tips Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:45 AM PST In the following video, Miles Morgan lectures about fine art landscape photography – his photography – as he, in fact, takes his own pictures as examples to demonstrate and describe how’s the creative process of his work, from conception to digital finishing. Please consider that the whole lecture/presentation lasts 1h and 50min. See it here (for those of you reading this by email, the lecture can be seen here): Miles Morgan, a self called amateur photographer, seeks the true beauty that nature itself can deliver to the human eyes. Miles, son of well-known photojournalist Hank Morgan, is actually new in photography, although his work have the scent of a well experienced professional. Nonetheless, Miles admittedly processes his photos digitally, as it is his philosophy of photography,  enhancing certain features of the landscape that, in reality, weren’t visible or couldn’t be captured. On a global note, the lecture is targeted for starters and intermediate photographers desiring more of landscape photography. Miles Morgan addresses to planning and preparation, through compositional rules and tips, to post processing tricks and techniques, so you can improve your landscape photographs just like he does. “The greatest gift that photography has given me is the return to nature that I was definitely missing in my life.” Go to full article: Fine Art Landscape Photography Tips