Photography Today

Proper EXPOSURE is a Critical Element

It is this "averaging out" process that makes it somewhat tricky to correctly exposure landscape photography pictures. Camera manufacturers have developed ingenious metering systems to try to solve this situation. Check your camera. You may find that there is a choice between center weighting, spot metering or weighted average. Unfortunately, none of the three metering approaches can guarantee a perfect result every time. (By the way, if there is a mountain icon on your camera, that does not mean landscape photography. Typically it means pictures where the focus is set for infinity since the subject is at a great distance from you.) We all get lulled into the temptation of thinking that your camera knows what it's doing. And, most of the time it does. The operative word here is most.

Exposure?

Why, you may be wondering, are we making such a big deal of exposure when it comes to landscape photography?. For most photography, you the photographer, generally don't need to be overly concerned about proper exposure. Exposure is the amount of light that falls onto the image sensor of a digital camera. Usually, the default setting for exposure is automatic. And, for the majority of your photographs, the automatic default will produce beautiful pictures. However, when the lighting conditions are challenging (as in landscape photography), the automatic setting may not produce an optimal photograph. The problem is that image sensors cannot record the entire range of contrast (black to white) that the human eye can see. And, landscape photography typically brings out a huge range of contrast. Your digital camera performs the daunting task of recording as much information as possible. By doing this, the camera's "factory installed instructions" will try to average out all the light levels and expose the image accordingly.

Composition - Outdoors

Without a doubt, composition is the most critical factor in creating great landscape pictures. Although all the technical aspects of landscape photography are important, their main purpose is to insure that your composition is accurately transferred into a digital image the way you want it to be. Bear in mind that depending on what model digital camera you have, you may not have much control over certain photographic functions. Does that mean you should pack up your camera and slink on home? What do you think? You can still take great landscape pictures, but there will be more limitations and challenges to deal with. However, you can still get creative and see how your landscape photography continues to improve. When and if you ever upgrade to a digital SLR or more advanced non-SLR camera, you will have working knowledge of the features you want in order to make it easier capturing pictures in nature.

Location Advice for Photography Poses

Taking indoor family photography, is very different than outdoor family photograph (duh!).
For INDOOR pictures...
1) Wide Angle You will tend to use the wide angle more often than your telephoto setting. Pay particular attention to your "end people" (those farthest to the right and the left in your viewfinder), and verify there is enough space in the picture, so that if cropping is required, the end people don't have to lose a limb.
2) The Flash Flash considerations are critical. Do not be outside your "flash range." For example, if at ISO 100, your flash can properly illuminate 12 feet, don't attempt any photography pose that requires anyone to stand at 14 feet (unless, of course, it's evil cousin Ira who you want to appear in darkness).
3) Plan "B" If you need to be further away than your on-camera flash allows, here are 3 things you can try...    1. Consider purchasing an external flash unit for your camera.    2. Increase the ISO setting (but not so much as to produce "noise")    3. Physically move to a significantly brighter location.
4) Watch Your Background If there are distracting (or competing) features, change the background. The best photography pose in the world won't look right with a distracting background. And finally...
5) Mirror, Mirror, on The Wall If there are mirrors or reflective surfaces in the background and you can't find a different location, only take the picture in such a way that the flash is not perpendicular to the surface, but at an angle (unless you want a nice photo of your flash).

Planning Advice for Photography Poses (that I stole from the web )

1) Prepare For The Event Prepare for the event by thinking about every photograph you want to take and what kind of photography pose or poses you would like to capture. Consider who, where, how, and the type of environment.
2) Take Multiple Photographs Take multiple shots of each photography pose (remember, digital memory is reusable, a.k.a. "free"). Regardless of what you say or do, people will blink. And don't count on spotting small problems on the tiny camera LCD screen (even on full magnification); which leads to...
3) Check the LCD Screen Check the digital camera's LCD screen only for general framing of the picture, extreme movements, visibility of faces, and the histogram. Do not use the LCD screen for any fine review of the picture! (That is what your computer is for.) Note that you can have a fantastic photography pose; arrange everyone perfectly; and, have the photograph "frozen" (no blinking, and no shaking of the camera)...but, when you check it out in the LCD, you see 2 drunks fighting in the background!
4) Funny Phrases Have some funny phrases handy to use just before you take the photo. Don't use it when setting up for the shot. And, don't use the same phrase all the time. Throw in funny anecdotes, phrases, names, words that you know your family will find more amusing than "cheese." A natural smile looks four times better than a fake one.

Practice

Practice: Taking photographs that you like won't take a lot of special, expensive equipment. But it will take lots of trial and error. Even professional photographers take many photographs of the same subject to get just one that they like. Remember, only practice makes perfect!

Lighting

Lighting is the third key ingredient. Photos that win competitions almost always show a skilled use of light. Try to photograph only at dawn, in the late afternoon, and at dusk, when the low angle of the sun produces rich, warm colors and long shadows. Avoid shooting at noon, a time when light is very "flat."

Composition

Composition is equally important. An artist's technique, called the "golden mean," is to divide the picture into imaginary thirds both vertically and horizontally, like a tic-tac-toe board. Then, place the subject of the photo on or near those imaginary lines or their intersections. Study photographs that you like and you'll see that almost every one has thirds that you can find.

Tips tips tips

Simplicity is actually a deceptively difficult element to capture. What you as a photographer need to do is let the camera help you simplify the things you see in front of you. You begin with a very busy canvas (everything in view) and have to work to simplify by eliminating some of the contents. You can do this either by getting physically closer to your subject, or by using a telephoto lens to zoom in and crop the shot tighter. When you photograph a person, for example, photograph his or her face only, rather than the whole person.

AMAZING!

Another example of natural perfection... men I wanna look like that on a picture! what do you think? besides, amazing lightning and facial expresion... pure art!