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Lens Flare | Dark Sky
Sun Sets | Damp Conditions
Color Filters in B&W | Color Filters
Diffusers | Focusing | Experiment in Time
Close Ups | Color Temperature | Primary Colors
Using Color Expression | Batteries
Relational Art | Cleaning and Storing
Lens Flare
Lens flare can be greatly
reduced by taking a few simple actions. Use of a coated or preferably multi-coated
lens design will greatly reduce lens flare when shooting into bright light sources.
A proper lens hood, of the correct angle, length, and shape to minimize off-axis
light sources, is very helpful too. Lens hoods need to be long enough to do
the job, but not cause vignetting due to improper design or use. Careful checking
in your viewfinder will enable you to stop down so flare and ghost image effects
are minimized. Finally, you can compose your photos to remove bright light sources
and reflections. With care, you can beat flare!
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Basic Dark Sky Lightning
 Assuming that you have this,
the simplest form of lightning photography is done well after sunset, with a
dark sky. In essence, you find a part of the sky where lightning is happening,
aim your camera that way, focus on infinity, set the f-stop, open the shutter
with the cable release, and close the shutter after lightning happens. In effect,
the lightning takes its own picture, while you wait with the shutter open. After
some amount of lightning happens (or not, as the case may be), you close the
shutter, advance the film, and shoot again (or not, as the case may be) ...
the amount of lightning that you choose to include in your image depends on
the circumstances. In most cases, one vivid cloud-to-ground (CG) strike is sufficient,
but your goals may be to include more than one strike. Experience will tell
you what gives you the most pleasing results to your eyes. When the sky is dark,
there is no limit to how long you can wait with the shutter open ... although
you may get some "strobing" (see below) or perhaps some distant artificial light
will become intrusive with very long exposures. The choice of an f-stop is perhaps
more difficult ... more on that later.
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Vacations don't end when
the sun sets
Vacations don't end when
the sun sets, so be prepared for night photography. To simplify your vacation
photography, use a high-speed film. High-speed films give you the versatility
to cover any situation from dawn to dusk, from midday beach to evening campfire.
Good choices include 400 or 800 Speed(iso) film.
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So! It's wet out.
 When you want to work outdoors
in damp/wet conditions, bring along a pair of gardener's knee pads. They're
usually made out of thick, soft foam rubber, attach easily with Velcro straps,
and are virtually weightless and very inexpensive. The benefit: you can kneel
in dry, padded comfort as you compose low-angle shots or work on close-ups.
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What use are colored
filters in black and white?
This is actually a very
large area for you to explore. Essentially, colored filters will lighten the
objects in the frame which match their color, and darken colors that are opposite
to them on the spectrum. For example, a green filter can be used to lighten
grass and leaves, while darkening skin tones, while a red filter will dramatically
darken the blue sky.
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Using color filters
Even without understanding
the discussion thus far, anyone should be able to see that putting a blue filter
in front of the lens will result in a blue photograph. Just the same as putting
tinted glasses on. But if you understand how colors work, you can see that a
blue filter will make a subject which is yellow (the complement of blue) close
to colorless (white); or that a green subject will appear cyan. Understanding
colors will help you to predict the effects of using filters.
Color filters work by absorbing
their complementary color, to adjust the color of the whole image. This means
that using a dense filter substantially reduces the amount of light passing
through
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What's a diffuser?
Diffusers come in two kinds,
the kind with tiny spherical lenses on the filter, like the Zeiss Softar, which
discreetly soften the image by obscuring fine details, smoothing down skin blemishes
and the like. Then there's the diffusion kind which introduces flare into the
shot to give an obvious, romantic feel to the shot.
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Focus on your subject.
Practice shooting with different
apertures and monitor the results from the lab to learn how depth-of-field effects
your photo. You will find that a smaller depth-of-field (and smaller f-stop
#) focuses all the attention upon your subject. This is great for taking a picture
of your child, your dog, or your husband; subjects stand out against a blurry
background. Likewise, you will find that a greater depth-of-field (bigger f-stop
number) will make everything from here to eternity appear in focus. This will
help make those landscapes fascinating and lovely to look at.
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Experiment in time.
 One of the most basic, overlooked,
and fun aspects of photography is that you have the power to slow time down
or catch a split second. One image happens so slowly that we could never see
it and the other happens so quickly in real time that we would never notice
it. Play with shutter speed! Use a slow shutter speed and a tripod to make a
pretty picture of any creek or stream. On the other hand, you can use a fast
shutter speed (1/500 and up) to capture an object in motion. Combining a fast
shutter speed with a long lens, you sports buffs can get a trophy of your own
when you are able to catch the expression on your favorite runningback's face
as he slips past the final defense toward a winning touchdown. Remember, catching
the moment in fast-paced action photography may take a little more practice
so - hang in there.
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Move in close.
Each time you spot a subject,
snap a shot and then move in closer for a better shot. Having your subject almost
fill the frame helps your viewer understand and appreciate your photo. Also,
details are often more interesting than an overall view Keep moving in closer
until you are sure a 4 x 6 photo will successfully represent your subject. At
the same time, it is a good idea to keep your distance from wild animals and
the like; balance boldness with consideration and wisdom.
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What is color temperature
?
As you may know, color temperature
is one simple measure for showing the color characteristics of a light source.
It's a very familiar term in photography. If a metal object (which we think
of ideally as a black body) is heated, it gradually begins to glow, first with
a red tinge, which turns progressively to yellow, and then to white. With even
further heating the color takes on a bluish tinge.
It is because of this fixed
relationship between temperature and color that the color temperature has come
to be used as a yardstick.
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What are the primary
colors ?
The concept of three primary
colors is central, of course, not only to photography, but also to other technologies
such as television and printing involved in color reproduction. Thus understanding
the basic principles of the primary colors will help you handle colors effectively.
O.K. then, what are the
three primary colors ? Many people, if asked, would reply "Red, yellow, and
blue," remembering how they mixed paint colors at school. But actually the answer
is slightly more complicated. There are two sets of primary colors. The primary
colors for additive systems (combining light) are red, green, and blue. Then
the primary colors for subtractive systems (combining pigment) are cyan, magenta,
and yellow. Cyan and magenta are not such familiar colors, but after reading
this article you should have a clear impression of them
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Using color for expression
Sometimes in television
drama programs or photographs in magazines you will see arresting colors, which
are clearly a long way removed from reality. The whole image may be bright blue,
or bright red, yet somehow not look unnatural. This is the use of color to convey
a message in the most convincing way.
Nowadays we are surrounded
by innumerable images, through television and photography. We subconsciously
absorb the language of these images, but when it comes to taking our own photographs
or video, we realize we have no idea of the principles behind making such images.
This is why we must start by learning how to produce "true" representations,
while realizing that this is not sufficient for all the ideas we may want to
express. The interesting thing is that sometimes choosing the "wrong" way allows
us for the first time to a particular idea. Using the "wrong" color, or unrealistic
color may be the key to expression.
Because of this, we start
not from the idea of a photograph being poor because the colors are "wrong,"
but by thinking of the color in a photograph as just that: color, which can
be enjoyed for its own sake. Taking this new approach, we may be surprised at
the treasures we can find from among the photographs we have taken in the past.
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Batteries.
Batteries have been improving
in performance and quality in recent years and problems with leaking electrolyte
(alkaline batteries more than manganese) have become quite uncommon, but even
so we recommend taking out the batteries if you are going to store your camera
for a long period of time. If you do so, it is a good idea to put them back
in once every month and check camera operation. Speedlights (flash unites) and
cameras with internal Speedlights should be charged.
A number of people have
said that the life of the capacitor in a speedlight will vary considerably depending
on whether you charge it once every month or not.
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Photography has been
called a "relational art"
Because the result varies
with the relationship existing between the photographer and the subject. For
example, if the photographer is tense, the model will also be tense. If the
photographer is angry, the model may also become angry or frightened.
In any case, the results
are visible in the final photo.
The photograph will be considerably
different depending on whether you and the model are enjoying the photo session
or not.
I often feel that when people
take photographs of children or family, they worry so much about being seen
by other people that they don't enjoy themselves.
Instead of worrying about
how to take the photograph exactly as it says in a book, I think it would usually
be better to relax and try taking photographs that you feel are what you want.
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Storing and cleaning
camera lenses.
The most important point
here is to prevent cameras and lenses from getting dirty enough to need cleaning.
The next point is to read the user's manual thoroughly. It usually provides
tips on cleaning and storage. For dust and dirt on a camera, first try blasting
with a blower (remove the brushes) or aerosol air spray, then wipe with a soft
cotton cloth. Be sure to clean your soft case, hard case and strap, too.
Lens surfaces should be
sent to the service center for cleaning. It's best not to touch them yourself.
Reflex mirrors and focusing screens should be blasted with a blower, but not
touched at all, even with a soft cloth.
If you are willing to take
the risk, you may consider cleaning them with special camera lens-cleaning paper
(available commercially), dampened with a very small amount of lens cleaner.
Be very careful. A certain camera manufacturer used to use alcohol (ethyl alcohol)
as lens-cleaning fluid.
Over 20 years ago, this
manufacturer was mixing a little ether with the ethyl alcohol. However, due
to the fact that ether causes health problems (ether is highly poisonous and
a person can fall into coma just by inhaling the vapor), they have abandoned
this practice. Commercially available lens-cleaning fluid is generally water-soluble,
basically consisting of a neutral detergent or soap water mixed with a surfactant.
Both are difficult to dry cleanly, and if the lens-cleaning paper is excessively
wet it will leave streaks. Never directly allow drops of cleaning fluid to fall
on the lens.
Always use lens-cleaning
paper, and never tissues or other papers which easily leave fibers. Water-soluble
papers like toilet paper are the worst possible choice of all. Always use a
clean cloth or paper to wipe lenses; never use one that has already been used
to wipe the exterior.
Be especially careful of
silicone cloths, often sold for polishing furniture (sometimes camera stores
give you one free when you buy a camera). Perhaps you might want to use one
on the wooden frame of large-format cameras, but never, ever let one touch your
lenses, because it will seriously degrade optical performance.
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