a1 Photo Tips

It occurred to me that I have mentioned polarizing filters in a few of my blog posts, without going into detail about what they really do. So here goes!

You may have used polarizing sunglasses? And noticed how they cut down glare and reflections in sunny weather. This is what a polarizing filter does when used as a filter with your digicam. Well - you need to have a screw-in thread on the front of the camera lens, or you can’t attach the filter. And simple point-and-shoot digicams usually don’t have that.

What to do then? OK, you can use those polarizing sunglasses instead! While not as convenient to use as a real polarizing filter, it is a workable solution. You need to rotate the sunglasses to find the angle which gives the best effect.

So what does that effect look like? Here below is an example (images by “Shiny Things“).

This is a scene from the harbour in Key West, Florida. Now, notice…

1. The water in the polarized version looks brighter and more transparent - you feel like diving into it!
2. The sky in the polarized version has a more saturated blue tone
3. And not only that, but: the palm trees in the distance have a more saturated green color!

Which version do you prefer? Yes, I thought so - the polarized version.

In sunny weather, a polarizing filter is extremely useful for making all kinds of objects look better. It is especially powerful for making the blue sky darker and more saturated. And as you can see in the example here, it also cuts down reflections in water - making the water look more like in those ads from the travel agents. Even the distant palm trees come out with a more natural-looking green color.

These effects will be most noticeable if you make the picture in sidelight - that is, with the sunlight coming in from either side. If you have the sun behind you, or shoot into the sun, you won’t notice much of an effect.

Also, there is no point in using a polarizing filter on overcast days - try it yourself, you won’t see any effect in such weather.

But on those sunny days a polarizer is really a must-have. For instance, if you have to take a picture through a glass window, then a polarizer may reduce those annoying reflections in the glass.

The most common type of polarizing filter is a “circular polarizer“. Such a filter is rotatable, and you rotate it until you see the maximum effect when looking through the viewfinder.

Photo credit: filter picture by “ninjapoodles“.

One of the most beloved subjects - our children! If you have children of your own, I bet you love taking pictures of them. (And maybe they haven’t gotten fed up with it yet, like my own son.)

The picture here by HAMED MASOUMI is a fine example of a child portrait. Note two things about it:

1. The camera was held at the boy’s eye level
2. The boy is NOT smiling

A common fault with pictures of little children is that the camera was positioned at the adult’s eye level - and therefore looking down at the child. Such a perspective is not flattering at all to the child and I suggest you avoid it - unless you have a specific purpose with it like emphasizing how small and vulnerable the child is. Which you might.

Another habit of some people is to expect every picture of a child to show off a SMILE. I have a close relative, for instance, who judges pictures of her grandchildren by whether they smile or not. Sure, children do smile sometimes but who expects them to do it ALL the time? What I mean is: if you manage to capture a child when it’s smiling, or laughing - great! But don’t try to force it.

Speaking of laughing children - behold this amusing example by “shouldbecleaning”!

This is a fantastic example of a so-called “snapshot”. The photographer simply managed to capture a spontaneous moment of life… in this case, a cake fight!

Generally, some of the best ways of getting good candid shots of children is when they are engaged in some activity and not aware of the camera.

Maybe they are engaged in cake fights… or perhaps in some other, less messy, activity like playing with some toy or riding around on a bicycle.

In such cases, when a child is moving around rapidly, you may try using the continous shooting mode of your digicam. In this mode, the camera snaps a series of pictures in rapid succession for as long as you keep your finger on the shutter release.

This is a great way of capturing the most interesting moment, which you’d likely miss otherwise.

Photographing babies:
This is a bit different than making pictures of older children. Since babies are so immobile, they are often photographed laying on a bed. This tends to again introduce a birds-eye perspective - the baby is seen from above and looks even smaller than it really is.

Things can get more interesting if for instance an adult is holding the baby, as in this fine photo by Raphael Goetter.

Such a little one is too small to put on any special “camera-look”, and simply IS. This I think is one of the things that make such baby-pictures so endearing. We feel the openness and freshness radiating from such a small child.

The important thing here is to simply make sure the baby feels comfortable and secure. If it does, then these positive feelings will show up clearly in the pictures.

- And of course you want to get some nice spooooky Halloween pictures, right? There is a wide range of subjects worth capturing - children trick-or-treating, Jack-o-Lanterns, people dressed out in more or less creative costumes (as in the picture here by “Bahman.“), and so on.

Much of the action happens after dark, which is the major challenge with Halloween photography.

1:St Halloween Photo Tip: Don’t Use Flash!

What? No flash? OK, I am not saying you should NEVER use flash for those Halloween-night shots - it might work if you do it right. What I’m thinking about is this mindless firing off of the built-in flash unit as soon as it gets a little bit dark… Often, a digital camera is pre-set to do this automatically when it detects that the ambient light is low, all due to the well-meaning intention from the camera manufacturer that people should NOT need to THINK!

What happens then is the Halloween atmosphere, which really is what you want to capture, is ruined. So what to do? Basically, I have covered that in a previous post about shooting in low light without flash, but I’ll repeat this in a nutshell.

- Use the highest ISO-setting the camera allows. This varies depending on how advanced your digicam is, but the higher the better. The pictures may come out a bit “grainy” but in this context it is OK.

- Find ways of supporting the camera on some solid object, or use a tripod. By doing that you can use very slow shutter speeds without getting blur due to camera shake.

Jack-o-Lanterns are tricky to get right. If you want to capture the effect in a night-shot, it is advisable to put two or three candles in it rather than just one.

The picture here by “orangeacid” is a rather successful example. Note that the highlights are very bright but not washed out. You may need to make several exposures at different settings to get it right.

Above all - have fun! Feel the special atmosphere. Go out and capture Halloween events from all different angles. For instance, try keeping the camera low and point it UP on people’s faces!
Happy Halloween!