Sanjay Austa

Maggie Noodle – Photography Tips.

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(I am putting  up  this post with a disclaimer: I don’t believe you can learn photography in quick short tips as listed here. These `tips’  can at best be viewed as pointers.  That’s why I have titled this post -`Maggie Noodle Photography Tips’. A magazine however insisted I write few short  tips ( in 900 words) on the various aspects of photography,  so here they are for what they are worth.)

 

Photographing Monuments: Time of the day is of the essence.

Taj Mahal is beautiful but if you photograph it in the middle of the day you will be surprised how stark it looks. The  time of the day you photograph a monument will determine how good or bad the monument looks. The best time to shoot monuments  is early mornings or late afternoons when the soft golden sunlight  provides  perfect side-lighting that brings out the best  dimension of  the monuments. You also get a perfect  light and shadow effect. But because the light is soft in the evenings and mornings , the details in the shadow area are visible.  However make sure the sun is not directly behind you. That way  you would get a somewhat flat lighting.  Photograph the monument keeping the sun to either side of the monument.

 

What is  Good Composition?.

Composition, like most things in photography, can either make or break a photograph. There are perhaps more rules for composition than any other aspect of photography. One of the most bandied about is the rule of thirds. It is based on the human tendency to focus on one thirds of the frame. Even the painters use it. Therefore photographers try and keep the most important subject in one thirds of the frame. Use of leading lines –is another rule one can follow to  make one’s  pictures interesting.  The leading lines could be anything – the road markings, railings and even rows of people that lead your eye as it were to the important subject in the frame.  While photographing landscapes the general rule is to keep the horizon straight. One can obviously be creative and have a skewered horizon too but its important to know the rules before one breaks them. It’s a bad idea to have the horizon divide the frame in two equal halves. If the sky is more interesting  and the land has nothing captivating give more space to the sky and vice-versa.

 

Shooting in Low- Light conditions

There was a time when the only way to photograph in low-light was either to use a tripod or  flash. Now almost all cameras have very sensitive sensors and one can push the ISO’s to almost 1600 without getting the grain or `noise’ as its called in digital jargon. This is not to say that the tripod and the flash have become redundant. One should avoid using the pop-up flash of cameras but off- camera flash or speedlight can be used to get some very creative results. The tripod is good if you want to use the slow shutter to show movement. For example if you want to photograph the traffic movement at night or the movement of the stars.

 

Tips on Street Photography.

No matter how much you know about  photography if you don’t have interpersonal skills it won’t work. Besides your fancy camera you need to be armed with a smile if you want people to open upto you and allow you in their  personal spaces.  If you show genuine interest in the people whom you are photographing it will eventually show in the photos.

Use a wide angle lens for street photography. That way you can get as much in the frame as you want. Don’t stand on the sidewalks but get close to the subject. The photographs should show your involvement. Street photography is all about capturing the right moment. Anticipate moments that can happen and be ready to capture them.

 

Some Photography Myths

1. More the megapixels the better the camera.: What determines the resolution of the picture is the size of the sensor. More megapixels on a small sensor only means that the pixels are packed tightly together  which will only show as noise when you push the ISO in low light.

 

1. Using a tele-photo lens for street photography:  Some people’s idea of street photography is – stand at the street corner and zoom in on the people across the road.  Street photography requires engagement from the photographer. One has to go closer and be part of it all. A wide angle is the lens that should be used for this purpose.

 

1.  You don’t need a photography course . You can delete and reshoot anything you don’t like  on a digital camera.  Its true not all great photographers went to photography schools. But its equally true that almost all who did go did benefit from the formal training.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 20th, 2012 at 10:30 pm. It is filed under Photography Notes and tagged with photography tips, quick photography tips, tips on photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.