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November 20, 2009 |
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Created and Maintained by: The Photoimaging Information Council |
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Articles |
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‘One of the great privileges I've had as a photographer is being able to explore a lot of different subjects and styles. But if I had to keep only one subset of all the images I’ve created, there’s no question that it would be images of my family. As time goes by, I feel that I'm working on a documentary project about real-life people being themselves that has important and lasting value beyond my immediate family and friends.’
1. Turn off the flash. Nothing is more effective at stopping people from being themselves than a flash in the face. Flash also makes it impossible for people to forget you’re there shooting pictures. If you turn off your flash, you can be less obtrusive and shoot more. More importantly, things start looking more with real without the flash because you can capture the ambience of the moment and the environment you happen to be in.  2. Don't be afraid to turn up the sensitivity (ISO setting) on your camera. One of the great advantages of digital is that you can shoot a handful of pictures at high ISO without having to use a whole roll of film. So if you happen to be in a situation where it’s dark, you shoot at a high ISO even if it’s only five pictures. When you’re back in daylight, just reset the camera to the appropriate sensitivity.  3. Don't be afraid of blur. If you have to shoot in a low-light situation, don't stop just because you have to use a slower shutter speed than you need to get a sharp image. Oftentimes, showing some motion-blur in the photograph can be very effective in communicating the feeling of what's going on around you. If you know you're going to get some motion, sometimes it’s best thing to exaggerate the blur by using a much longer shutter speed. You might find some really interesting effects. Another advantage of digital is that you can see those effects immediately and know what's working and what's not.  4. For shooting pictures of kids, get down on their level. There’s a big difference in feeling and perspective between a photograph where you’re looking down at kids on the floor and pictures taken at their eye-level. I was looking at a bunch of photos of my children they were younger, and the most successful pictures were those when I was close to them and at their level.  5. For shooting candid pictures of people, use a wide-angle lens. I like it as wide as I can get it. My little point-and-shoot has a 28mm lens. When I'm shooting pictures with my DSLR, my normal lens is a 12mm to 24mm Nikkor, which is equivalent to an 18 mm lens. I use wide-angle because I like context. I like to see the room. I also like to get close because it exaggerates the size of the person compared to the surroundings. I’ve also found that young kids in particular move around so fast that it’s difficult to keep them in the frame and in focus when you’re shooting with a long lens. Wide-angle keeps them in the frame and in the camera's depth of field.   7. Don't be afraid to keep shooting and don't miss the picture because you’re reviewing images on the display. Many times, I've seen people shoot a picture and immediately start looking at it. The action in front of them is getting better and better but they’re not shooting it because they’re too busy looking at what they’ve already shot.  8. It’s a good practice to shoot a lot of pictures of a scene that interests you. But you need to have some system to handle the files so that you're not creating an unmanageable amount of images to work with on the back end.  9. Use image cataloging software to help you manage your whole archive. Lightroom is a great choice. After my family took a photo trip to Africa, I set my dad and my kids up with Lightroom, and it was perfect for them. They figured it out very quickly, got everything centralized and were able to do a very good job with the adjustments. There's also a great piece of software called Expression Media. It’s a dedicated cataloging application that doesn't have an image adjustment engine inside it.  10. Have fun with it. Photography is a great way to make those memories and document what's happening to the people around you. It’s also a great creative outlet that's within reach of anybody. One of the great joys I've had is seeing people get turned on by the creative possibilities of digital cameras, the ability to make something that they like and are having fun with. I strongly encourage people to consider having fun as an important part of their digital photography. 
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