5 Photo Tips

Tip 241 (Enjoy what you are doing, there will be many other days): Once I had gone to the zoo, and got some beautiful shots of a tiger who wandered close to the edge of the enclosure. I showed these photos to another friend, who was trying to get such shots for the last month, but the tiger did not cooperate. He could have shown his frustration at seeing my photos, but instead he was happy for the other photos he got, and did not spoil his composure. There will be more opportunities available.

Tip 242 (Getting the right pose of the animal): This is an incredibly tough subject to write about. You have a certain pose that you would like to see the animal in, but you are not able to get to that point; or, you get many shots, but don’t like
the pose of the animal. There is a certain logic in the pose - you would want that part to be highlighted which is most attractive. So, for a cobra snake, it has to be the hood and mouth with tongue out; for birds, it has to be a slightly angular
view since the eyes are on the side; for majestic animals such as lions and tigers, it would be a side pose or angled pose that shows the face of the animal and projects strength.

Tip 243 (Shooting angle depending on the position of the eyes): The previous tip talks about this, and this is an important point. You would want your shots to be such it appears that the eye of the animal is seeming to look at the viewer, while getting a larger cross-section of the face and upper body structure of the animal. However, for some birds (and other similar animals), where the attractiveness of the animal is due to some other part of the body, those should be the focus. Consider the case of a male peacock, where the power of the shot is in the colors on the body, as opposed to getting the eyes.

Tip 244 (Do some pre-visualization): It is said that when you rehearse well, the final act is just like another rehearsal. Similary, when you are going forth to shoot a series of photos of wild-life, run mentally through the list of images and poses that you would like to take. This helps you during the actual shooting, since you are now shooting against a blueprint, and likely to have a better focus on what you want.

Tip 245 (Be passionate defenders of wildlife): Taking photos of wildlife puts you in a rare position of being able to observe wildlife in its natural habitat. You cannot learn to be fully into the understanding mode of how wildlife behaves until you get into the mode of really caring for the conservation of wildlife; as a part of that, when you shoot, you should exhibit responsible behavior. Do not disturb the animals for taking your shot, do not tamper with their lairs / nests, do not move their young around, and so on.

July 1st, 2009 | Tags: Animals, Eyes, Face, Photo, Photography, Posing, Techniques, Tips, Wildlife | Category: Animals, Birds, Techniques, Tips, Wildlife | Leave a comment

Tip 1 (Look for the animal’s behaviour): Typically, if you have been watching the animal for some time, you will get to know the kind of behavior that the animal exhibits and be able to predict the behavior. So, if the animal is stalking a prey, and you have been observing this behavior for some time, you will be able to know with a fair degree of accuracy as to when you need to be ready with your camera.

Tip 2 (Try and get the eye in the shot): If you want your wildlife photos to be noticed, you need to be aware of what attracts people. People are attracted towards photographs that show the face and the eyes (even if the photo is those of animals). If it turns out that you are using some great zoom lenses that have a shallow depth of field, be sure to concentrate on getting the eyes in focus. If the eyes are not in focus, then there better a very striking feature that is instead the focus point.

Tip 3 (Timings): I believe I have stated this earlier, but it is worthy of repeating. Animals normally make their appearances in the transition between day and night, so dawn and dusk are when you will have the best chance of catching animals in your cameras.

Tip 4 (Learn to use equipment silently): Animals (especially wildlife) do not stand unknown sounds and will vanish if they hear something out of the ordinary. If your zoom lens does not have a silent motor, or the click when you take a photo is noticeable, there is a very good chance that your ability to get some good shots of wildlife will get compromised.

Tip 5 (Be unobtrusive): You might consider yourself to walk silently, but you may be actually be making a huge amount of noise, enough to scare away most animals. What you need to do is to compensate for your presence through using some techniques, such as knowing the timings of animals, which are the paths they follow (so that you can plan to be there long earlier), or even using equipment such as a remote trigger that means you can keep a slightly better distance from the animal.

July 1st, 2009 | Tags: Behavior, Photo, Photography, Silent, Timing, Tips, Unobtrusive, Wildlife | Category: Animals, Nature, Noise, Tips, Wildlife | Leave a comment

Tip 231 (Make yourself invisible): A lot of animals react very quickly to human presence, not something that helps you when you are trying to shoot photos of wildlife in actual wild conditions. You need to have some way of concealing your presence and not making quick movements after that; one way is to use blinds, something that makes it seem to the animal that you are not there. One way to do that is by hiding yourself in some natural hiding place (such as on a tree, behind some thick bushes; even vehicles can be effective blinds). Blinds are also available commercialy.

Tip 232 (Get closer): Good zoom lenses are an invaluable part of a wildlife photographer’s equipment. However, zoom lenses are not the only thing. You need to learn the art of how to get closer to the animal (keeping aspects such as safety in mind). Some of the greatest photos that you can see in wildlife books are taken from close range; there is a lot of literature available on how to get inside the trust zone of a wild animal.

Tip 233 (Need to decide about whether you want to use aperture control or shutter speed): Ideally, shutter speed and aperture control are both different ways of looking at exposure, except for the depth of field argument. As you should be knowing, aperture controls the depth of field, and hence the tricky choice of whether you want to use aperture control for getting that sharp depth of field (say capturing the animal in an out-of-focus surrounding) or using shutter speed to freeze capture the bear getting a fish out of the water.

Tip 234 (Look for behavior): Study the probable behavior of the animal before you go in for the shot. If it turns out that the animal likes to doze in the daytime and you go for a day shot, then you may not get anything much. Study the time zones, watering habits, mating habits, hunting habits, all of them enable you to learn about the animal even before setting out for the shoot.

Tip 235 (Try and capture different moods): Animals are known for differnet moods, and good photos come when you try to capture the mood. A tiger or lion watching a herd of deer makes for a nice hungry mood shot. These make the good shots that get fame and attention.

May 30th, 2009 | Tags: Aperture, Behavior, Exposure, Shutter Speed, Techniques, Tips, Wildlife | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Tip 226 (Read up about it): This is actually a tip that is valid for most photo scenarios, especially for wildlife cases. In the case of wildlife, with subjects that are elusive, or visible only at night, or fast moving; the photo gear and techniques are critical to get success in this area. One way to succeed in this area is to read articles / magazines / books that focus on wildlife photography, you get a lot of information and useful tips from the same area.

Tip 227 (Shoot a lot of photos): Expect to shoot a lot of photos when you are trying to shoot wildlife. Animals don’t pose, move around a lot, and many times the environmental conditions (night, etc) are not ideal; as a result, you would have to take a lot of photos to get the right photo. You should have a good battery (including backup), and large memory cards (fortunately, they are fairly cheap now).

Tip 228 (Be preapred to drop photos): For people who have been photographers for some time now, they are used to shooting and then being selective about the photos you want; however amateurs are more connected to the photos that they have shot and find it harder to delete photos even if the photos are not good. Not being able to quickly sort through photos and delete the ones that are not required can lead to a lot of clutter, something to be avoided.

Tip 229 (Patience): I spoke about patience some time back in terms of waiting for wildlife to be in the right patience, and the same thing holds good even when waiting to get a great shot of a beautiful butterfly. Insects, birds, etc flutter around a lot, and it is only rarely do they seem to be sitting down on a flower to get the great photo. You need a lot of patience for this kind of photo.

Tip 230 (Be attentive): When shooting wildlife, especially when shooting wildlife in the open, you need to be very attentive. Some of the great shots happen suddenly, where there is a fight at a watering hole, or a chase suddenly starts. Some of those happens irrespective of whether you are looking in that direction or another direction, so you should be able to quickly change your focus.

May 27th, 2009 | Tags: Patience, Photo, Photography, Techniques, Tips, Wildlife | Category: Animals, Birds, Techniques, Tips, Wildlife | Leave a comment

Tip 221 (Get down to the animal height): When shooting, we are used to shooting from a certain height (typical shoulder height). When shooting an animal, you may find that there is a different perspective to be gained when you do down and dirty shooting, that is when you crouch down to the animal height and shoot from there. It may look odd if somebody is looking, but you may get some good photos.

Tip 222 (Shooting through bars in a zoo): Face it, if you are shooting in a zoo, there will be those iron bars that could spoil most photos. You need to either shoot a classical shot that portrays those bars along with the animal, but for most shots, you would rather not have the bars in the set. What you need to do is to make your depth of field as shallow as possible (selecting a very large aperture f/2.8 would help).

Tip 223 (Plan your hours): You are going to the zoo to shoot animals, and have dedicated a fair amount of time for the same. That is perfectly fine, but unless you have worked out where and how you are going to spend your time, it is not very effective. You need to find out when animals are likely to be more active, when do they get fed, as these vary from animal to animal and are times when some great shots can be had.

Tip 224 (Spending time at enclosures): If you are an impatient kind of person, then you will have lots of problems. Suppose you see a majestic tiger, and want to get some great shots of the animal, you need to wait over there in an active mode, with camera ready and you ready to shoot at a second’s instance.

Tip 225 (Look for people shots): You are at the zoo, and are there to shoot wildlife; so far so good. But always keep a watchout for people and their reactions to seeing the animals. When an animal does something interesting, there is an instantaneous reaction that people have, and these make for interesting shots. Kids especially are very animated.

May 25th, 2009 | Tags: People, Photo, Photography, Profiles, Spontaneous, Techniques, Tips, Wildlife, Zoom | Category: Animals, Depth of Field, Nature, People, Tips, Wildlife, Zoo | Leave a comment

Tip 216 (Practice in zoos): Before you consider going out in the open for doing wildlife photography, practice the shooting of animals in your local zoo or wildlife park. This gives you practice with the concept of shooting animals, even though they are not in their natural habitat.

Tip 217 (Zoos vs. Wildlife parks): Continuing with the earlier part, if you have a choice, then you should shoot in a wildlife park rather than a zoo. A wildlife park is more open and closer to a natural habitat for an animal rather than a zoo. Of course, there is a greater chance that you may not find the animal in a wildlife park or an animal sanctuary.

Tip 218 (Patience while shooting): Even in the controlled environment of a zoo, you still need a lot of patience for wildlife shooting. I know of people who have tried to shoot some majestic animals such as lions and tigers, and it has taken multiple visits to get the proper shooting.

Tip 219 (Safety): Always keep in mind when shooting wildelife that the environment is not a controlled environment unless you are shooting from behind a cage or from inside a vehicle. Animals can react very differently to what you expect, and unless you are expert with these animals, always keep an outlook for your own safety.

Tip 220 (Spare the environment): When shooting wildelife, you should follow a dictum of being nature and animal friendly. Don’t make changes such as manipulating bird nests or disturbing animals when you are trying to shoot them. You are there to capture the beauty of nature’s creatures, and you should be at the front of efforts to ensure that they are not disturbed.

May 24th, 2009 | Tags: Camera, Photo, Photography, Techniques, Tips, Wildlife | Category: Animals, Birds, Nature, Techniques, Tips, Wildlife | Leave a comment

Tip 211 (Shooting modes - Single, Burst, Timer): Nowadays, cameras are starting to show different camera modes such as Single shot, Burst, and Timer modes (many cameras combine the timer mode with a remote mode as well). Burst mode is used for taking a single shot (one photo is taken at a time), and would be the default mode for most photos.

Tip 212 (Burst mode): Earlier tips have explained this, but can repeat. Burst mode is useful for capturing events such as sports, or other fast moving items. Burst mode captures multiple photos (3/5/more) when the shutter butter is kept pressed. Useful to capture multiple photos, giving you a better chance to get the exact photo you want.

Tip 213 (Timer mode): There are 2 prime reasons for using the timer mode. Reason # 1. If you need to take a self-portrait, or a photo of you and your significant other and can’t find somebody else to take the photo, or are in a group and want all of them to appear in the same photo, then use the timer mode (most cameras have the option of 2/10 seconds, and very few cameras have the option of both).

Tip 214 (Avoiding shake and timer mode): There are many cases where you need the camera to be absolutely rock solid and not shaking (such as taking a macro shot). Even when you put the camera on a tripod, just pressing the button for taking the photo can cause it to shake and destroy the photo, so you use the timer. Thus, when you press the shutter release, the camera takes the photo only after 10 seconds, by which time the shake of the camera has died down.

Tip 215 (Reading the manual): Cameras that are available nowadays have many more options that earlier cameras, to the extent that the buttons at the back give the same feeling that trying to program the VCR many years back used to feel (you start getting confused by the multiple options available). In such cases, the manual is your friend, and make sure that you have the manual available to quickly reference when required.

May 13th, 2009 | Tags: Buttons, Camera, Controls, Options, Timer | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Tip 206 (Image size on the camera): In earlier days, cameras used to be 4-7 MP, and these used to be good enough for everybody. However, even many higher-end point and shoot cameras are now coming with above 10 MP options. There is a temptation to shoot at the highest MP possible, but keep in mind that these images occupy space on the memory card, and then on the computer hard disk if you decide to store them. Make a grid about the types of image sizes you want to set - so natural beauty could be the highest possible size, photos of friends and families at a slighter lower size. If you are also fond of shooting a lot, then get in the habit of making sure that you are optimizing your image sizes.

Tip 207 (Using RAW or TIFF modes): You may have bought a camera that produces output in RAW or TIFF or DNG mode, but be sure whether you really need to do the kind of manipulation that you need for these modes. They occupy a lot of space, and this has an impact everywhere - imagine that you are trying to display your images to family, then keep in mind that RAW or TIFF will take slightly longer to render on the computer.

Tip 208 (Using RAW + JPG): If you are more of a casual photographer, but are impressed by RAW, then select the option of RAW + JPG. This tells the camera to produce a JPG along with the RAW, so that when you transfer to the computer, you have JPG’s to show to friends / family quickly, or even for your own review.

Tip 209 (Using Digital Zoom): Many cameras give the option of Optical Zoom, followed by digital Zoom. Digital Zoom may look great, since you would think about gettting 20 times the magnification, but the fact is that digital zoom is like taking the image on your computer and then zooming in (optical zoom in contrast actually manipulates the lend and results in no quality loss). Expect that there will be loss in quality if you use Digital Zoom.

Tip 210 (Camera buying and Zoom): If you are attracted to a camera by the prospect of the zoom it has, consider only optical zoom as the true factor (disregard digital zoom as a factor). Also consider that when you use a higher optical zoom, camera shake gets magnified, so using something like > 10X optical zoom will produce a lot of blurriness unless you use a tripod of shoot with a higher shutter speed.

May 10th, 2009 | Tags: Digital Zoom, Optical Zoom, RAW, Size, TIFF, Zoom | Category: RAW, Zoom | Leave a comment

Tip 201 (Building material): Shooting a building just does not mean shooting the glass facade (everbody does that). Look out for a sight such as digging of the foundations where a huge hole is made in the ground and then pile-drivers dig those holes for laying the foundation pillars.

Tip 202 (During construction): During construction of a building, you can get several human interest photos such as construction workers looking small at heights, or a group of workers with their hats nodding over a plan, or a worker taking a snooze at one corner. If you have a good zoom and are lucky, you can get shots of drops of sweat falling off the faces of tired workers.

Tip 203 (Look for symmetry, look for lines): The human eye is drawn to lines, but nature rarely makes straight lines or circles, or regular geometric patterns. It is mankind who has made these lines, and you should look to see how you can capture such straight lines in a urban setting. It could be a line of skyscrapers standing straight together, or it could be the tops of buses or trains running perpendicular to the upline of a building.

Tip 204 (Distance view): It seems an old shot of doing a distance shot of a city skyline, but it can be difficult to do, and if done well, can look real great. The difficulty is in trying to get a slightly higher vantage point from where you can get a good shot of the entire city / area.

Tip 205 (Look for contrasts in the area): Especially in the eastern part of the globe such as China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, etc, it is quite easy to find buildings that are a great contrast from each other; such as a modern building with a traditional building (including colors, tapestry, etc) right next door. If done well, can get a great shot of these 2 styles in one photo.

May 10th, 2009 | Tags: Digital Photography, Landscape, Photography, Tips, Urban | Category: Landscape, Urban | Leave a comment