Share one photography tips!

Share one photography tips! Enough with those equipment buying tips thread...

Here is my contribution:

Dont be afraid of the flash! Flash photography is essential for all kinds of photos, especially portrait IMO...

The typical problem user has is having harsh lighting... You will need to find ways to soften it! adding a flash will give you the extra pop in a photo and make it stand out! Example, see fashion magazine, is the way they control light that make them stand out!

I dont post portrait in this forum, is just too scary... but below is a example of light control!

a amateur might think is just a simple shoot with a flash trigger to it... Well, if you think so, look again!

Notice how there are no spill of light to the background? Try doing that with just a speedlight!

What I have done here is, I use what's call a barn door. Using a barn door gives me control to the directly of the light. You can try making a barn door yourself! There are just so many way to play with light, it will help you learn more about photography

Learn and understand the rule of thirds and when to use it.

Some common tips:

-Crouch, sit, stand on a bench. Shot taken at shoulder height can be made more interesting just by changing the angle of the camera.

-Try shooting early or late. Midday light is tough to work with - dawn or dusk lends shadows, rich, colorful light, and can make an uninteresting composition, well, more interesting.

-Walk around to frame your shot to improve the background. Try to exclude power lines and stuff whenever you can - don't just say you'll edit later.

-When taking a shot with a shallow depth of field, try to make sure your background isn't distracting - a closeup of a yellow flower, for example, will be much more appealing with a dark green background of foliage than with a background that has distracting blobs of color from other out of focus flowers.

-Use a tripod.

-Use a tripod.

-Use a tripod.

-Also, use a tripod.

-The best advice you'll ever get:

Buy a small, nondescript shoulder bag just large enough for your camera with a favourite lens mounted. Carry it everywhere you can - you can't take pictures if you don't have your camera with you!

a neat trick i got off of FM is one photog was doing a wedding. instead of using the garyfong with amber dome he used his hand to bounce the light off the speedlite. this gave a really warm colour which complimented the already warm light shining on them from behind. i was amazed at the results. it looked like he stopped down maybe 1 or 1.5 stops and filled the couple with the flash. try it! its amazing what you can achieve with some creative thinking.

Shoot from different angles, not just the one you approach your subject as. Eg, with flowers, don't shoot overhead most of the time, as that's the way people always see them.

So, any tips on HOW to use a Polarizing Filter? Rotating the filter will help?

Originally Posted by rubberband

Some common tips:

-Use a tripod.

-Use a tripod.

-Use a tripod.

-Also, use a tripod.

OR train yourself to have a very steady hand and impress all your friends .

300mm at 1/20sec
50mm at 1/5sec

yeah!!!!.!

Originally Posted by nden

So, any tips on HOW to use a Polarizing Filter? Rotating the filter will help?

Polarizing filters work best when the sun is at a 3 or 9 o'clock position from where you are shooting, not when it is in front or directly behind you. Rotate the wheel to get the desired effect. Generally, people go for the most extreme effect that the filter provides to minimize reflections or get that really deep blue sky.

My tip: framing can work really well. Use something like tree branches, arches, or windows to "frame" a scene within it, giving a picture-within-picture effect.