Photography Basics Archives - Page 14 of 16

The Top Four Types of Flash Brackets

External flash brackets are another one of those subjects that can turn into War and Peace. The concept is relatively simple: A bracket that attaches to your camera and allows the attachment of a flash next to it. Simple, right? Not exactly.

Bracket technology has advanced over the years to include a bewildering array of options, some so complicated they look like the International Space Station. These aren’t your grandpa’s flash brackets anymore.

The Folding Bracket

Folding Flash bracket — Your grandpa started out with a bracket like this

Okay, actually this is your granpa’s flash bracket. A basic folding bracket with a hot shoe attachment for the flash. A quick release button on the side allows you to flip it from horizontal to vertical.

The Basic Bracket

The basic flash bracket has a plate with a mounting screw along the bottom, a handle on the side and a brace that holds the flash across the top. The top brace usually pivots to allow the flash head to pivot so the flash can still be over the lens whether the camera is oriented horizontally or vertically.

The Flip Bracket

Like the basic bracket but is hinged so you can flip the camera from horizontal to vertical without moving the flash.

These come in all kinds of configurations. Some have multiple extensions on the flash extension, like a tripod leg for really getting your flash up there.

The Rotating Bracket

A variation of the basic bracket built with a track that the bracket handle pivots around for changing camera orientation without moving the flash around.

Besides the rotation track, there are usually articulated arms that allow a longer extension and more options for positioning the flash above and off to the side of the lens.

As you can see the options, and price points, are limitless.

Building Your Photography Business With Social Media

Don't overlook social media when building your business

There are some businesses that lend themselves particularly well to promotion via modern social media and photography is one of those businesses. At a minimum you’ll want to create a Facebook group page and link to it from your personal page and your photography web site.

As part of the customer interview process get your customer’s permission to use social media to distribute some of the photos, but respect their wishes if they’d rather not. Online image collections of events are a great way to expose your customers entire social circle to your work. If the customer publishes the photos themselves, you lose that opportunity.

Online marketing pro Eric Hardenbrook explains, “Find out early if customers are comfortable opting in for online photo sharing. If they are send them a Facebook friend request. Post selected shots from a “life event” type shoot (wedding, baby, graduation, prom) to an online gallery and announce the post on your own wall. Their friends and family will rush to see your work and call you for theirs.”

The added service of loading the photos to an online gallery for your customers is another value angle for your business both in terms of service and exposure. The idea is to provide a path from their event photos to your contact information in a manner that respects the privacy of your clients.

Twitter is another convenient mechanism for communicating with customers and announcing the availability of photos or posting a few online with Twitpic. It’s also a convenient mechanism to advertise specials, like special deals on senior or family portraits. Twitter doesn’t tend to be a big money-maker but it is very convenient for communicating event information.

A LinkedIn account is important for anyone trying to build commercial and business contacts. Recruiters and media companies are increasingly using LinkedIn for locating local talent rather than putting out a hog call on the freelance boards or Craigslist. Getting location jobs these days really is a matter of who you know. Working your LinkedIn profile will build your business.

Another online marketing opportunity are microsites, small web sites focused on one particular facet of your business. Instead of just one big site that lists all your services, split off those services to individual sites focused on just one of those services and have it point back to your main site. “Many small companies are ignoring microsite strategies,” explains Eric. “They are inexpensive to build and greatly increase your web site footprint and search engine rating with back-links.”

Put your best foot forward with a great website - photo from Subtlevox Photography website

Blogging is another way to raise your web site profile and promote your individual brand value in the form of your unique selling points. “WordPress is a popular blogging platform that is very photo friendly,” explains Hardenbrook. “Use it as a gateway to your portfolio by posting slide shows of your shoots in different categories on your site. Adding links to your Facebook and LinkedIn profiles gives you a professional image.” Blogging is one of those activities that will get you business.

To get the most mileage from your online marketing efforts you have to make sure all your social media efforts are working together and echo your main selling points. Your social media message should be what sets you apart from others in the field of photography and why specifically customers should hire you. These are not “set and forget” advertising venues, but part of an ongoing relationship that eventually yields business.

“Remember that social media is all about the conversation. You want to be involved and available, allowing people to interact with you on their terms. Know who your clients are and use the media that they use.”

Boo! Tips For Frighteningly Good Halloween Photos

Halloween is a great time for capturing family and friends at their frightening best. Many people put a lot of time and work into their costumes, so it’s a photography field day.

Get In The Mood

Dress up yourself. Then you’re not so much an observer as a participant and you’ll notice it will change the way people interact with you. People will be more likely to open up and give you a more natural look to you if you’re part of the party.

Besides, it’s fun. You can buy enough novelty makeup for $20 to become the zombie photographer, just walk with a shuffle and you’re there. Just so it looks like you made an effort.

Light From Below

If you can get a sync cord or wireless trigger for your external flash and try lighting from extreme angles above and below the subject. The shadows will add to the drama.

You can also invest in an inexpensive set of stick on filters for your external flash to add a splash of color.

Or Skip The Flash All Together

Whenever possible, ditch the flash and go with natural lighting. That can be a little harder with point-and-shoot cameras than those with better manual controls. It also helps to have a fast lens.

Good glass that can get down to f/1.8 or f/1.4 will let you skip the harsh flash and preserve the darkened moment. The good news is those lenses don’t have to break the bank, with a few available for right around $100 USD.

You don’t have to have a Canon 5D MKII, either, any camera with a decent chip size should produce adequate performance in low light.

Watch The ISO

Some cameras are better than others in low light, almost any will start to introduce noise into photos at extremely high ISOs.

Personally, I think it’s better to bring more natural light or stop your flash power down than to deal with excessive noise.

The only way you know whether your camera is one that starts introducing noticeable artifacts at high ISOs is to experiment. Turn the flash off and shoot a series of pictures at high ISO values and take a look at the pictures.

The Differences Between Tripod Heads

Nature photographer Al Haley and his 600mm Nikkor on a gimble head

It’s no exaggeration to say I could write a book on tripod heads. If you can think of a specific need to have any kind of camera put in any imaginable position, there is someone who has designed a tripod head specifically for that job. It doesn’t matter if that camera is the size of a Subaru or a pocket-size point and shoot, the number of tripod head options is mind boggling.

Instead of trying to cover the universe of tripod heads, it might be better just to cover the broad general categories and let you search that sub-group for the particular model that suits your need.

The one key piece of information you will need is how much weight the head will need to support.

Ball Heads

Ball head with spirit level and quick release plate

Ball head tripod mounts have been around since the beginning of photographic time. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with and without quick release plates. Basically these are a ball-shaped swivel mechanism in a base that can be clamped into position.

The advantage to a ball head is they allow the camera to be set at any angle. The disadvantage to ball heads is…they allow the camera to be set at any angle. Sometimes it can be hard to get the camera back to level, especially in a low light situation.

Some models, like the one pictured, has a spirit level built in, just remember to take a flashlight.

Video and Combo Pan/Tilt Heads

Video fluid heads are made to provide a more fluid motion for panning, not necessarily because they have any kind of fluid in the head itself, although, just to confuse the topic, some of them actually do have oil or some other type of dampening fluid in the head.

Others have two handles instead of one and are kind of a hybrid between a video head and a ball head.

Video heads are not made to cant over at odd angles, since there are few instances when a video DP would want to do that. I use a fluid head video tripod because the majority of the time when I have my camera on a tripod, it’s because I’m shooting video. And I very seldom want to shoot at odd angles and if I do, I’d just pop it off the tripod anyway.

Gear Heads

Gear heads are like ball heads expect they have a gearing mechanism that lets you tilt and pitch your camera at very precise angles. Most often you’ll see gear heads in the bag of architectural photographers and other who need fine control over the pitch and angle of their camera set.

The advantage to gear heads is if your sticks are level and the gears set on 0,0 your camera is level.

Gimble Heads

Gimble heads are for nature and sports photographers and the way they work is you mount your big lens on the pivot point and let your camera hang off the back of the lens.

You thought paying $10,000 for that zoom lens was your only expense? Not so, my friend, gimble heads can be really expensive.

The bonus about a gimble tripod head is it gives you very smooth control over moving that big glass around its center of gravity.

Can’t Miss Landscape Tips

Every photographer hears the call of the wild at some point. I used to get up at 4 am to haul a Bush Pressman D model 4×5 out into the wilderness along with a steel tripod that was a handy companion in a bar fight but quite a load to pack around otherwise.

The great thing about shooting landscapes is they’re not moving very fast. It’s easy to keep a bead on them. All the same you keep seeing the same mistakes in shot after shot: The horizon splitting the shot across the middle, no point of interest, bad lighting, and no shot lines for continuity.

Luckily you don’t have to haul a camera the size of microwave oven up a mountain trail in the dark to get good landscape photos. Anyone with a decent camera and a tripod should be able to take postcard quality landscape shots by keeping a few simple rules in mind.

Use A Tripod

Today there are aluminum and carbon fiber tripods that weigh very little, or a Gorilla Pod that will easily fit in your backpack. Take one.

Two reasons for a tripod: One is so you can choose an f-stop to get the maximum depth of field. Unless you’re going for bokeh with a foreground object placement, most of the time you want the smallest aperture (highest f-stop) that you can swing for a landscape to capture the maximum amount of detail.

The other reason for a tripod is for water shots where a slow shutter speed will give the water a foggy, smooth appearance.

Don’t Split The Horizon

Look back on our tips for composition and remember those apply to landscapes as well.

When it comes to the horizon, it’s a rare shot that splits the horizon along the center line and still looks good. Decide whether you want to emphasis the foreground or the sky and align the horizon along the appropriate third.

Horizon line — The horizon line is a little too close to center in this shot

Look For a Foreground Subject

To make mental composition easier look for a foreground with some interesting detail and frame around that.

The biggest offender in this category tend to be beach shots. When the horizon is on the upper third, there’s this huge, featureless expanse of sand in the foreground. Try to find some dunes or beach grasses to break up all that sand.

Converging Lines

One pro tip for taking better landscapes is to start asking yourself what elements are leading the eye of the viewer in your shot.

If you don’t have good foreground lines, start looking around for roads, power lines, tree lines, anything that take a point of reference and lead it toward a subject.

Wait For It

In movie production the hour just on either side of sunset is called the “Golden Hour” for a reason. That’s when the quality of sunlight is at its warmest, with a reddish gold glow that saturates colors and brings out contrast.

That golden moment in lighting is worth waiting for. I try to get setup at least a half-hour early and shoot through the whole range of golden hour. As the light angle shifts you’ll be amazed at the different colors, patterns and shadows that change from one minute to the next. It is really quite a remarkable time of day.