Photography Blog

Digital photography has arrived, and it is the way of the future. You don’t need an old photographer like me to tell you that.

Forget the traditionalists who insist that film is better. In some ways it definitely is; it is simply not practical in the digital world to continue taking your photos on film. However, that doesn’t mean you should throw your old photos away.

It may come as a shock to some young people, but great photography has existed for many years, done by true artists who relied on camera skills, not computers, to produce their images. Some manipulation was possible in the darkroom by the few who knew how, but most great photography was captured ‘in camera.’

What a shame, then, that so many of these great images are now gathering dust in closets around the world.

Our rush to embrace digital technology was not gradual. Digital cameras made film almost obsolete in just a few short years. With the cameras came computer software, USB cards, online storage and social networking. Almost overnight, everything related to photography involved digital technology. You really could not do anything with a photo unless it was on your computer.

Of course, this is no problem for photos taken now and in the future. Most of us now have digital cameras and are becoming comfortable with software. My concern is, what has happened to all those great photos from the past, taken on film and now out of place in the modern world?

I have been taking photos to sell in my gallery for over twenty years. I appreciate all the benefits of digital photography, but for now I have chosen not to buy a digital camera. I have thousands of photos from my many travels, all taken on colour slides, which I am determined to put to good use.

I just know that when I buy a digital SLR camera and start snapping, all these old slides will be forgotten. They will gather dust, fade, and eventually be good for nothing but throwing away. So my decision to continue working with film is about making sure that doesn’t happen.

These days I am trawling through years of images, picking out the shots that deserve to be seen, and scanning them. As long as they remain on film, they may be out of date; but once converted to digital files they are every bit as good as anything taken on a modern camera. Some people would argue that for quality, they are even better.

Since I started scanning my slides, I have rediscovered a treasure trove of photos from years past. For every photo I have printed and sold, there are ten more photos just as good that have never seen the light of day. Some photos I always knew were there. Others I had forgotten I ever shot. Some of those photos are now on sale and proving more popular than photos I had been selling for all these years.

When you revisit photos after many years, you start to notice things about them that you may not have appreciated before. Sometimes the photo you chose to print first is not the best, although you may have thought so at the time. After admiring one photo of a waterfall for ten years, it is a real eye-opener to remember you also have ten other angles of the same waterfall, taken on the same roll of film but never printed, and each spectacular in its own way.

Scanning your negatives and colour slides does not have to be expensive. You can buy a film scanner for just a few hundred dollars which has the resolution and the software to get the job done. After that, the only thing you have to spend is time.

If scanning them yourself doesn’t appeal, you can pay to have it done professionally. This can cost as little as a few dollars a file, and should include all the colour correction and spot removal you need to make your photos ready for printing. It may be too costly to have all your photos scanned commercially, but you could make a selection of your top 100 to save for posterity.

Whichever way you choose to go about it, I encourage you to revisit your old photos. Don’t allow them to fade and deteriorate in a corner until you get around to throwing them out. Scanning can breathe new life into old memories, and I guarantee you will find some real gems that are worth preserving.

After all your wedding ceremony is over, you just have photographs with you as the memory of the big day of your life! For this you need to have all the right pictures, so that all your good memories stay with you forever. Hiring a professional wedding photographer will help you to get all the perfect pictures which will narrate the story of your wedding. You need a photographer with excellent credentials to capture your wedding pictures and make your wedding story filled with fun and excitement. It totally depends on you to hire the best photographer for your wedding photography to make sure that your special day is captured in a special way.

First and foremost thing is to look how organized and efficient your photographer is. When you hire a quality photographer, say a professional London wedding photographer, make sure that you check his portfolio and the way he works. Provide him with all the specific details and explain him what exactly you need from him. This will help him to get all the best pictures possible. If you book photography firm, then find out which photographer will be working for you. Talk directly with the photographer to build up the much required rapport. If you are not comfortable with your photographer, then this will clearly be visible in your pictures. Make sure that he easily blends with your guest too to achieve the best results.

Every individual is different. So naturally, every wedding is also different. People have different needs and some even have unique requests. Always hire a more flexible and adaptable photographer, you never know what surprises await you. Talk to them in advance and see how they react to your unique request. This will let you know about their creativity and talent. The pictures once shot cannot be retaken, so choose the professional wedding photographer with utmost care. You cannot hold another wedding to correct any kind of photography mistakes. Here comes the role of an experienced photographer who does not think wedding pictures are just printed papers but a masterpiece which will always be closer to your heart.

Many people generally go for both pre and post wedding ceremony’s pictures. So give your photographer adequate time so that he doesn’t need to compromise on the quality. Ask your photographer to take pictures of every part of your wedding venue, food and guests. You need to understand the mindset of the photographer. Is he just doing his work or he is passionate about photography. You really need an artist who simply loves capturing pictures and is ready to put his heart and soul to provide you with the best pictures of your special day. Sometimes, couples even distribute their wedding pictures to relatives and friends, so make sure you have the best in your pocket. Hire the most talented wedding photography in London to have the best memory of your wedding day.

Digital photography has created a shift in the balance of art and technology. No matter how much you pride yourself on your traditional camera skills, you also need to know a lot more about software.

As a nature photographer who grew up with film, I like many others have been forced to change the way I see my role. In the past I knew that if chose the best light for a subject, and applied my camera skills, I would usually produce the photo I was after on film. More importantly, well-exposed film would always produce a high quality print, without the need for enhancement. If you weren’t happy with your photos, you didn’t try to rescue them with a computer; they were simply thrown away.

There are still many people of my era who see photography the same way. I have been surprised recently to find that there are also many new photographers who still want to produce their perfect image ‘in camera.They believe traditional skills should be sufficient for great photography; reliance on software shows a lack of ability.

Deep down, part of me applauds this philosophy. After all, if your photos are more the product of your skills with a computer than with a camera, can you really call yourself a good photographer?

But here is the problem.

Recently I was teaching a class that explained all the basics of good photography; aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, lighting etc. One member of the class took me aside during a break with a question about some of his photos. “I think there must be something wrong with my camera or my lens,” he told me. “I don’t think my photos are overexposed or underexposed. I don’t think I used the wrong ISO, and I think my photos are in focus. In fact I think I am doing everything right. But the photos look soft, they look flat…they have no life.”

I took a look at the images and I had to agree. The problem was, he wanted me to tell him what he was doing wrong with his camera. But if they weren’t poorly lit, out of focus or badly exposed, what could I tell him?

The problem certainly wasn’t with his DSLR camera. In a class of fifteen people and at least ten different camera models, his was the most advanced camera in the room.

We transferred one of his photos to my computer. I opened it in my editing software, and auto-adjusted the contrast and saturation levels for one of the images. The result was instant and dramatic. A photo that was flat and lifeless was suddenly rich and three-dimensional. The difference was even more apparent when we took another look at the original image. Now, by comparison, it looked like a poor quality photocopy.

Here was a digital file that contained all the information required to produce a perfect quality image. The information just need to be rearranged, using software, to make it happen.

Software has become one of the essential ingredients in modern photography. While it is understandable that old-school photographers view it with disdain, the truth is that to some extent, editing and enhancement are now simply part of the process.

I am not talking about using software to totally manufacture an image. This is certainly possible these days. You can take a sky from one photo, put it behind the foreground from another photo, move objects around and change the colours, all with the click of a mouse. It will always be a subject of debate as to whether this is real photography or not; I don’t think it is, but you may disagree and you are entitled to your point of view. There can be no doubt, however, that this is quite separate from capturing your photos using traditional camera skills alone.

No, what I am talking about here is using software just to ‘tweak’ an image, to bring it up to a standard that is comparable to film photography. You may often find this necessary to get the most out of your camera, and it is no reflection on your skills as a photographer.

For old-fashioned photographers like me, this may be hard to accept. But the sooner you swallow your pride and get to know your software a little better, the sooner you will start to produce the sort of photos you expect from your digital camera.

Still life photography has lots of practical and valuable uses. Perhaps you want to take a photograph of a beautiful bowl of fruit or perhaps you have learned that an important key to eBay success is uploading quality photos of your products. Learning still life photography can also give you opportunities for selling your photograph downloads on microstock sites or to food magazines. No matter what your reason, still life photography is a great skill to learn.

Unless you are photographing specific products or pictures for a magazine assignment, the subjects for your still life photography are endless. Fine art still lifes aren’t limited to just apples and grapes. Even super simple items like a few artfully arranged spools of thread can be interesting and attract attention. Microstock sites like Shutterstock and iStock that cater to commercial users have a high demand for all sorts of still life, often of very simple objects, like a cup of coffee or a key.

In one way, still life photography is a lot easier than other forms of photography like landscape, sports or pet photography. With still life pictures, you can arrange the objects exactly how you want them and have full control over the photo’s composition.

And sometimes, good quality still life pictures can be even more challenging to photograph. Because still lifes are taken up close, it’s easy to see imperfections on your subject that you would normally never see.

Despite its challenge, by using some basic photography skills and applying these tips, you can create stunning still life pictures with just a little practice.

Lighting for Still Life Photography

With most professional photographers, they use a light box or soft box to take their still life photos. Although soft boxes can help out a lot, they still aren’t absolutely necessary to get good results as you’ll see shortly. However, if you do want one, you can find a soft box online or you can easily make one using instructions you find online. The purpose of these tools is to provide good, even light.

You can also get a good quality of light by setting up your photo shoot outside. In fact, a high overcast (bright overcast) sky creates a soft box effect where you get good lighting without the harsh shadows.

Composing Still Life Pictures

When composing your photograph, you need to arrange the objects in a pleasing composition. You should consider using classical composition techniques like the “Rule of Thirds,” “Leading Lines” or “Frame within a Frame” for ideas of how to best compose your pictures. Artfully arrange the objects, and use your imagination. For example, if it’s a picture of a piece of cake, instead of including the entire table setting, place a gleaming, silver dessert fork upside down on the plate and remove a tiny bite from the cake.

Fill the Frame with Your Subject

Remember, the only thing that should be in your viewfinder or on your preview LCD screen is your composition. Remove any clutter and get up close with your camera. If you have a backdrop or background you don’t like don’t worry about it because it can be easily solved. The soft box or light box solves this issue, but if you are shooting outside, here’s something you can do: place a piece of white foam board or piece of material behind your subject, and voila no more distracting background. Be sure to use Macro mode so that you get a sharp image.

Look for a Good Angle and Shoot!

Rather than taking a picture from your head level, try holding the camera so that it’s at the same height as your subject. You should also try shooting from a variety of different angles.

Hopefully these tips have provided you some helpful information on taking still life photos that you can start putting to use immediately.

Still life photography has many uses. Perhaps you want to take a photograph of a beautiful bowl of fruit or perhaps you have learned that an important key to eBay success is uploading quality photos of your products. Other reasons for learning still life photography may include selling still life photograph downloads at microstock sites or to food magazines. No matter what your reason, still life photography is a great skill to learn.

Unless you are photographing specific products or pictures for a magazine assignment, the subjects for your still life photography are endless. Fine art still lifes aren’t limited to just apples and grapes. Even super simple items like a few artfully arranged spools of thread can be interesting and attract attention. There are a couple of microstock sites like Shutterstock and iStock that have a high demand for all sorts of still life pictures from simple to complex.

In one way, still life photography is a lot easier than other forms of photography like landscape, sports or pet photography. With stills, you often have full control over the composition and can arrange the inanimate objects exactly how you want them.

And sometimes, good quality still life pictures can be even more challenging to photograph. Because still lifes are taken up close, it’s easy to see imperfections on your subject that you would normally never see.

Despite its challenge, using basic photography skills and the following tips, you can create quality still life pictures.

Still Life Photography Lighting

Professional photographers usually use a soft box or a light box to shoot their still lifes. However this isn’t absolutely necessary as you will see in a moment, but it can be a big help. However, if you do want one, you can find a soft box online or you can easily make one using instructions you find online. The purpose of these tools is to provide good, even light.

You can also get a good quality of light by setting up your photo shoot outside. A high overcast or bright sky can create a natural soft box effect without having any of the harsh shadows.

Composition for Still Life Photography

Arrange your objects in a pleasing composition. Use a classical composition technique such as “Rule of Thirds” or “Leading Lines” or “Frame within a Frame” to create a good composition. Arrange the items artfully and use your imagination to get the exact placement that you want. For example, if it’s a picture of a piece of cake, instead of including the entire table setting, place a gleaming, silver dessert fork upside down on the plate and remove a tiny bite from the cake.

Fill the Frame with Your Still Life Subject

Remember, the only thing that should be in your viewfinder or on your preview LCD screen is your composition. Remove any clutter and get up close with your camera. If you have a backdrop or background you don’t like don’t worry about it because it can be easily solved. The soft box or light box solves this issue, but if you are shooting outside, here’s something you can do: place a piece of white foam board or piece of material behind your subject, and voila – no more distracting background. Be sure to use Macro mode so that you get a sharp image.

Look for a Good Angle and Start Shooting!

Instead of shooting from your height, hold the camera so that it is level with your subject. You should also try shooting from a variety of different angles.

Hopefully these tips have provided you some helpful information on taking still life photos that you can start putting to use immediately.

 

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