How to Photograph Fireworks Displays

Photo by hupaishi

Do you want to know how to photograph fireworks? With New Years Eve just days away I thought I’d refresh this article in which I give 10 Fireworks Photography tips to help you get started.

Fireworks Displays are something that evoke a lot of emotion in people as they are not only beautiful and spectacular to watch but they also are often used to celebrate momentous occasions.

I’ve had many emails from readers asking how to photograph fireworks displays, quite a few of whom have expressed concern that they might just be too hard to really photograph. My response is always the same – ‘give it a go – you might be surprised at what you end up with’.

My reason for this advice is that back when I bought my first ever SLR (a film one) one of the first things I photographed was fireworks and I was amazed by how easy it was and how spectacular the results were. I think it’s even easier with a digital camera as you can get immediate feedback as to whether the shots you’ve taken are good or not and then make adjustments.

Of course it’s not just a matter of going out finding a fireworks display – there are, as usual, things you can do to improve your results. With New Years Eve just around the corner I thought I’d share a few fireworks digital photography tips:

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1. Use a Tripod

Photo by Piero Sierra

Perhaps the most important tip is to secure your digital camera to something that will ensure it doesn’t move during the taking of your shots. This is especially important in photographing fireworks simply because you’ll be using longer shutter speeds which will not only capture the movement of the fireworks but any movement of the camera itself. The best way to keep your camera still is with a tripod (read our series on tripods and how to use and buy them). Alternatively – keep in mind that there are other non Tripod options for beating camera shake.

2. Remote Release

One way to ensure your camera is completely still during fireworks shots is to invest in a remote release device. These will vary from camera to camera but most have some sort of accessory made for them. The other way of taking shots without touching your camera is to use the self timer. This can work but you really need to be able to anticipate shots well and its very very hit and miss (read more on remote shutter releases).

3. Framing Your Shot

One of the most difficult parts of photographing fireworks is working out where to aim your camera. The challenge you’ll face in doing this is that you generally need to aim your camera before the fireworks that you’ll be photographing goes off – anticipation is key. Here are a few points on getting your framing right.

Photo by Stuck in Customs

• Scope out the location early – Planning is important with fireworks and getting to the location early in order to get a good, unobstructed position is important. Think about what is in the foreground and background of your shots and make sure you won’t have people’s heads bobbing up into your shots (also consider what impact you’ll have on others around you also). Take note of where fireworks are being set up and what parts of the sky they are likely to be shot into – you might also want to try to ask some of those setting up the display for a little information on what they are planning. Also consider what focal lengths you might want to use and choose appropriate lenses at this time (rather than in the middle of the show).
• Watch your Horizons - One thing that you should always consider when lining up fireworks shots is whether your camera is even or straight in it’s framing. This is especially important if you’re going to shooting with a wide focal length and will get other background elements in your shots (ie a cityscape). Keeping horizons straight is something we covered previously on this site and is important in fireworks shots also. As you get your camera on your tripod make sure it’s level right from the time you set up.
• Vertical or Horizontal? – There are two main ways of framing shots in all types of photography, vertically (portrait) or horizontally (landscape). Both can work in fireworks photography but I personally find a vertical perspective is better – particularly as there is a lot of vertical motion in fireworks. Horizontal shots can work if you’re going for more of a landscape shot with a wider focal length of if you’re wanting to capture multiple bursts of fireworks in the one shot – but I don’t tend to go there that often.
• Remember your framing – I find that when I photograph fireworks that I spend less time looking in my viewfinder and more looking at the sky directly. As a result it’s important to remember what framing you have and to watch that segment of the sky. Doing this will also help you to anticipate the right time for a shot as you’ll see the light trails of unexploded rockets shooting into the sky.

4. Focal Length?

Photo by asmundur

One of the hardest parts of photographing fireworks is having your camera trained on the right part of the sky at the right time. This is especially difficult if you’re shooting with a longer focal length and are trying to take more tightly cropped shots. I generally shoot at a wider focal length than a tight one but during a show will try a few tighter shots (I usually use a zoom lens to give me this option) to see if I can get lucky with them. Of course zoomed in shots like the one to the left can be quite effective also. They enable you to really fill the frame with great color. Keep in mind however that cropping of your wider angle fireworks shots can always be done later to get a similar impact in your photography.

5. Aperture

A common question around photographing fireworks displays is what aperture to use. Many people think you need a fast lens to get them but in reality it’s quite the opposite as the light that the fireworks emit is quite bright. I find that apertures in the mid to small range tend to work reasonably well and would usually shoot somewhere between f/8 to f/16.

6. Shutter Speed

Photo by *vlad*

Probably more important to get right than aperture is shutter speed. Fireworks move and as a result the best photographs of them capture this movement meaning you need a nice long exposure. The technique that I developed when I first photographed fireworks was to shoot in ‘bulb’ mode. This is a mode that allows you to keep the shutter open for as long as you hold down the shutter (preferably using a remote shutter release of some type). Using this technique you hit the shutter as the firework is about to explode and hold it down until it’s finished exploding (generally a few seconds).

You can also experiment with set shutter speeds to see what impact it will have but I find that unless you’re holding the shutter open for very long exposures that the bulb technique works pretty well.

Don’t keep your shutter open too long. The temptation is to think that because it’s dark that you can leave it open as long as you like. The problem with this is that fireworks are bright and it doesn’t take too much to over expose them, especially if your shutter is open for multiple bursts in the one area of the sky. By all means experiment with multiple burst shots – but most people end up finding that the simpler one burst shots can be best.

7. ISO

Photo by Mr Magoo ICU

Shooting at a low ISO is preferable to ensure the cleanest shots possible. Stick to ISO 100 and you should be fine.

8. Switch off your Flash

Shooting with a flash will have no impact upon your shots except to trick your camera into thinking it needs a short exposure time. Keep in mind that your camera’s flash will only have a reach of a few meters and in the case of fireworks even if they were this close a flash wouldn’t really have anything to light except for some smoke which would distract from the real action (the flashing lights).Switch your flash off.

9. Shoot in Manual Mode

I find I get the best results when shooting in manual exposure and manual focus modes. Auto focusing in low light can be very difficult for many cameras and you’ll end up missing a lot of shots. Once your focusing is set you’ll find you don’t really need to change it during the fireworks display – especially if you’re using a small aperture which increases depth of field. Keep in mind that changing focal lengths will mean you need to need to adjust your focusing on most lenses.

10. Experiment and Track Results

Photo by y entonces

Throughout the fireworks display periodically check your results. I generally will take a few shots at the start and do a quick check to see that they are OK before shooting any more. Don’t check after every shot once you’ve got things set up OK (or you’ll miss the action) but do monitor yours shots occasionally to ensure you’re not taking a completely bad batch.

Also experiment with taking shots that include a wider perspective, silhouettes and people around you watching the display. Having your camera pointed at the sky can get you some wonderful shots but sometimes if you look for different perspectives you can get a few shots that are a little less cliche and just as spectacular. Most of the best shots that I’ve seen in the researching of this article have included some other element than the fireworks themselves – whether it be people, buildings, landmarks or wider cityscape perspectives.

More Tips from DPS Readers

• “Find Out the Direction of the Wind – You want to shoot up wind, so it goes Camera, Fireworks, Smoke. Otherwise they’ll come out REALLY hazy.”
• “Also, I find that if you shoot from a little further back and with a little more lens, you can set the lens to manual focus, focus it at infinity and not have to worry about it after that.”
• “Remember to take advantage of a zero processing costs and take as many pictures as possible (more than you’d normally think necessary). That way, you’ll up your chances of getting that “perfect” shot.”
• “Make sure you are ready to take pictures of the first fireworks. If there isn’t much wind, you are going to end up with a lot of smoke in your shot. The first explosions are usually the sharpest one.”
• “Get some black foam core and set your camera to bulb. Start the exposure when the fireworks start with the piece of foam core in front of the lens. Every time a burst happens move the foam core out of the way. You will get multiple firework bursts in one exposure”
• “Another tip I would add to this is pre-focus if possible (need to be able to manually focus or lock down focus for good) before the show starts so other elements in the frame are sharp They did mention that you only need to focus once but its a lot easier to take a few shots before the show starts and check them carefully rather than wait until the show has begun and you are fiddling with focus instead of watching fireworks!”

Tell us your fireworks display photography tips in comments below. Don’t forget to tell us which city you’re in and what the fireworks are like there!

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PS: Got some fireworks photos to share with us? Head over to our forum where there are a few fireworks photography discussions taking place.

By Darren Rowse

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8 Posing Guides to Inspire Your Portraiture

We published the first in the series not intending to do much more than that – but the response from readers was so overwhelming that we kept going back to Kaspars for more.

Here’s the full series – enjoy!

Posing Guide: Sample Poses for Photographing Women Part 1

Posing Guide: Sample Poses for Photographing Women Part 2

Posing Guide: Sample Poses for Photographing Men

Posing Guide: Sample Poses for Photographing Children

Posing Guide: Sample Poses for Photographing Couples

Posing Guide: Sample Poses for Photographing Groups of People

Posing Guide: Sample Poses for Photographing Weddings

Posing Guide: Sample Poses to Get You Started with Glamour Photography

UPDATE

Kaspars has begun work on a followup series of posing guides – this time with some ‘real life’ example photos to illustrate how to build upon the poses in these guides. See the first of these at:

• Posing Guide for Photographing Women: 7 Poses and 21 Different Photos

By Kaspars Grinvalds

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7 Elements of Photography We Can Learn From The Hobbit

1. Dramatic Lighting

You will notice that in the majority of good portraiture, dramatic lighting is often a key element. It’s not too often you’ll find ‘flat’ lighting in a great picture (not to say it can’t be done however). It will either result in the lighting that appears directly on the person or dramatic lighting between the subject and the foreground or background. For example, in the images of Bilbo and Thorin Oakenshield, there is dramatic, directional lighting on their faces. There are many ways that dramatic lighting can manifest itself or be achieved.

2. Deep Blacks and Good Highlights

You may also notice in images created by someone who knows how to process their images, they’ll have excellent tonal range. The images from The Hobbit capitalize on this. Proper images have some deep blacks and some highlights as well. This is also another way to avoid having your image appear ‘flat.’ It doesn’t necessarily have to be a great deal of each, just so long as you’re touching on both ends of the spectrum. Some photographers like to use filters or they have a style of slightly muting everything which minimizes tonal range. This is fine. There are times when the photographer can make a decision not to have a high contrast image. They still produce a great image, however this style is to be intentional and purposeful.

3. Interesting Foregrounds and Backgrounds

Another element that can really enhance an image is including interesting foregrounds or backgrounds. These are two things that always need to be considered one way or the other. It’s very easy, especially if you’re new to photography, to forget about these and end up with distracting backgrounds or foregrounds. However, do not simply avoid them; they are useful tools to achieve a stronger image. Look at every example image from the movie. Don’t the backgrounds give interest, setting, and help tell a story? That’s what we’re wanting.

4. Find Unique Angles

Don’t be afraid to try new angles. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut of taking pictures from the same angle or height. Try spicing it up some; you may be shocked. Get high. Get low. Back away. Get close. This can add some variety to your shots and help you find a real keeper.

5. Be Color Smart

Be very aware of how your colors and image temperatures are telling a story. Are your colors too bright and vibrant or too muted? How does this affect the mood? Is the image temperature cold and moody or warm and cheerful? These are things that can be fined-tuned to help narrate your image. If you’re wanting a dramatic image like Gandalf’s photo, then a warm temperature would not be desired. Chances are you could put more thought into these details to improve your images. So often we take the picture concerned only with composition, lighting direction, and subject when the color can be considered more thoroughly.

6. Mind the Sky

If shooting outdoors, instead of allowing the sky to be a blown-out nuisance, view it as a resource, and use it to your advantage. Now, this may not always be possible due to equipment, desired effect, or setting. But there are ways that you can properly capture the clouds or the blue of the sky. You could either expose for the sky and light the subject with additional lighting, use HDR, or find a proper exposure with natural light that works for both your subject and the sky. But don’t always avoid the sky; learn to tame it. Notice the drama it adds to Gandalf and Bilbo’s images.

7. Don’t Use Shallow Depth of Field Every Time

Using a very large aperture and creating a shallow depth of field can be a great affect for portraiture and many other types of photography. This doesn’t mean, however, that it is the only effective use of DOF. Use a large DOF every so often, especially if your background could amplify the effect of the image. Make the image sharp throughout the entire image. Play around with both and learn in what situations it works best.

David Wahlman is a wedding and portrait photographer from Redding, CA. He works all around California and is aiming to get into destination photography. You can see his best work at www.wahlmanphotography.com and follow his updates on his facebook page.

By David Wahlman

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Combining Rules of Composition to Improve Your Landscape Images

One of the most elusive and frustrating elements of photography is finding the right composition. Many otherwise good images are often derailed by poor compositional choices. There are several primary rules of composition to be aware of, and by being aware of them, and then combining them, you can give your landscape photos a real boost in terms of interest.

In this image, I had a flat gray mist killing any interest in the sky. But when this lone sailboat began sailing right at the edge of the mist, I began to see possibilities. By placing the sailboat at the intersection of the rule of thirds, and placing the horizon line at the bottom third of the image, I allowed the negative space to take up a lot of room. That negative space gives the boat a place to go, and keeps the interest squarely on the sailboat.

The first and most basic rule is the Rule of Thirds.  This rule states simply that elements of interest in your photos should be positioned one third of the way in from top, bottom, left or right of the image.  Elements of primary importance should be positioned at the intersection of those thirds.  The rule of thirds tends to be the first rule I look to when composing my images.  But I find my strongest images happen when I am able to combine the rule of thirds with other rules.  These rules include using leading lines, using negative space, and using framing.  Of course, there are always times to break these “rules”- they are actually more guidelines than rules. But that’s another article altogether.

Use negative space to help your subject stand out. Too often photographers try to eliminate negative space, simply because there’s nothing of interest in that space. Negative space is simply an area of the image with nothing in it- a blank sky, a dark shadow area, a flat expanse of land.  However, that negative space can be used to contrast against your subject, ensuring the viewer’s eye goes right where you want it to.  Ideally, your subject should be heading or pointing IN to the negative space, to lead your eye into the composition.

The shoreline in this image leads the viewer's eye right to the lighthouse. The lighthouse is positioned right at the intersection of the rule of thirds, with the water on the right creating some nice negative space in contrast with the rocky shore. The horizon line is roughly at the top third of the image.

Leading lines are another excellent tool to use to help draw attention to your subject. Ideally these lines are created by other elements in your composition and help lead the viewer’s eye right to your subject.  Leading lines help create depth when used to lead the eye into the frame, giving a more three dimensional feel to the image.

A very effective way to draw attention to your subject is to use other elements to frame it within the image. Framing can be used to help keep interest where it belongs, and keep the eye from wandering aimlessly through the image.  Framing can add context to an image.  For instance, trees at the edges of an image, framing off a lake, or mountain peak, give a sense of where the photographer is when taking the image.  Eliminating those elements removes the context. This is not necessarily bad, but another variation to consider when photographing at a location. I’ve often found myself frustrated that a tree was in the way, or I couldn’t get the view I wanted because a building was in the way. Then I realize that I can use the trees, or use the building (by shooting through an open window), to add that context that gives an added layer of interest to a photo.

By keeping these four simple compositional guidelines in mind when shooting, you can create a variety of images from the same subject, increasing your keeper ratio finding images you may not have found otherwise.

In this image of Half Dome, foreground trees are used to set apart Half Dome and make it stand out, while providing a context. In addition, note that the trees are roughly at one third on each side of the image. This need not be exact, but it helps create a space within the image that the eye finds pleasing.

By Rick Berk

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How to make a DIY Ground Pod

I’ve written previously about the importance of getting down to eye level when photographing wildlife.  When eye-level means ground level, it can be awkward to support your camera whilst also supporting yourself and trying to keep your gear clean.

Most tripods allow you to get quite low by opening the legs out as wide as possible, many actually opening out fully so that the tripod sits flush to the ground.  Whilst this is very functional, it can be pretty awkward to handle, especially if trying to pan with your subject or if you have to move to follow your subject around.

One option to overcome this is what is known as a ground pod.  It is a plate/tray with upturned edges, that you attach your camera to, or for more flexibility, screw your tripod head to.  It supports your camera just a few inches from the ground, thus offering some protection from water splashes or sand/mud, whilst allowing easy movement in all directions.

Completed ground pod. You can see I'm using a ball head to mound my camera to the frying pan.

The commercially available options are pretty expensive (approx £80/$100 US) so I decided to try and make my own.  I in no way claim to be the first person to do this, but thought I would share how it is done to illustrate how easy it is to make your own low-level camera support.

You will need:

1. A cheap frying pan – approx 10-12” diameter.  You can chose whatever diameter frying pan suits you, but a wider pan will offer more support, especially for bulky telephoto lenses.  It is a good idea for the pan to be approx 1-1.5” deep – any deeper makes adjusting your tripod head more awkward, any shallower offers less protection from water splashes, mud or sand.
2. A 3/8” socket head bolt, approx ½” in length.  A ‘round’ headed or ‘truss’ headed bolt is preferable.  If the pan is thick enough, a counter sunk head would be ideal, however cheap pans are normally too thin to make this practical.  Imperial sized bolts are difficult to come by in UK hardware stores, so this might involve some internet searching.
3. A tripod head.  This is technically optional, but preferable and I am writing this post with the use of a tripod head in mind.  A cheap ball head can be found on eBay, and will be a good compromise between size and flexibility.  You don’t want anything too tall (defeats the point of trying to get so low) or anything with levers that are too wide (may be an awkward fit inside the pan).  If you don’t have a tripod head to use, you could try using a couple of blocks of wood to act as a riser to ensure the lens clears the edge of the pan)
4. A power drill to make a hole large enough for the 3/8” bolt.
5. A hex key/Allen key of the same size as the socket in the hex bolt.
6. A wing nut to screw onto the bolt when the pan is not in use so you do not lost the bolt.  Any kind of nut would work, but a wind nut is large enough to be difficult to lose, and easy to use with cold hands!

Left: Frying pan with handle removed, showing the riveted bracket. Left: A 3/8" hex bolt.

The construction of the ground pod is very simple:

1. First of all, remove the handle from the frying pan.  It should be easily unscrewed from the pan, and removing it will make the pan a less awkward shape to store.  You may well be left with a small, riveted bracket that the handle was screwed to, however this makes a convenient little place to hook the frying pan onto your camera bag using a carabiner, to save you having to carry it by hand.
2. Turn the pan upside down, and use the power drill to make a hole in the centre of the pan.  Don’t apply too much downward force when drilling; otherwise you will end up deforming the centre of the pan, meaning your tripod head will not fit flush to the pan base.
3. Once the hole is drilled, turn the pan back around, and use the hex key to screw the bolt through the pan and into your tripod head.

And that is it!  Simple.

You will want to ensure that the pan actually supports your camera and lens without toppling over before putting it to use.  If you chose a wide enough pan, this should not be a problem.

When out on a beach or in a field you will find that using a ground pod for support makes getting down low a lot easier whilst having some confidence that your camera gear will remain free from sand, mud and water.  The pan is a good deal lighter than most tripods too, meaning you can carry less weight when out on your next wildlife shoot.

If you already own a suitable tripod head, this project shouldn’t cost much more than the price of a cheap frying pan and is a great way of supporting your camera at ground level for those powerful and intimate wildlife portraits.

(Thanks to Rob Cain for taking the picture of my gear on the completed ground pod, above)

By Elliot Hook

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ColorTime Out Photoshops Photoshop On Mobile

If you love mobile device camera filters and special effects, you need not keep reading. This post takes a look at a new photo app for iOS (sorry Android users, it’s not ported there yet) devices that got me to switch off of using Photoshop Express, my previously preferred image editing app.

The app is called ColorTime. Yes, a little campy, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts. At first ColorTime looked to me to be yet another gimmicky app to ‘play’ with photos and then share them to the world. I don’t need one of those so I ignored it….then kicked myself when I saw what it can do for my mobile photos.

How It Works

While a fine, free app in its own right, what I find most lacking with Photoshop Express is the ability to control different areas of the image differently. It’s an all or nothing proposition, much unlike all of Adobe’s programs for desktop/laptop computers. I can’t bring up shadow detail or tone down highlights. I also can’t adjust the color temperature in shadows, something Adobe introduce in its latest version of Lightroom 4.0.

ColorTime achieves the ability to control different tonal areas while also attempting to simplify the process. A problem with adding too much functionality into a mobile app, especially for a phone, is the real estate available for controls. Think of all the icons for tools in Photoshop CS6, for instance, and then try to fit those on an iPhone screen. ColorTime skirts around this problem by allowing for multiple controls with one tool. It looked like this:

That circle allows for cooling or warming of colors as well as lightening and darkening of tones. It is fairly simple to use and once over the initial understanding of the function, it is fun to use. Tap once on the screen and then move around the circle to emphasize each color or tone. Drag away from the circle to increase that effect. Stack changed on top of each other with first applying one, then tapping and applying another effect.

The icons across the top allow users to adjust shadows, midtones and highlights. There is also “play” button where a range of changes will be shown as something of a movie and users can stop the show at any point when they see a rendition they like, without having to figure out all the enhancements to get there. Also on the top panel are tools to adjust saturation and to perform crops.

Along the bottom are icons to select the whole image, edges or just the middle areas. Photographers can also paint an area they want to change with the circle tool and it’s this function that has me switching sides away from Adobe. I can paint in an area where I want to increase the brightness, but leave the rest of the image alone. This is a more finite way to adjust than using only the Highlight tool at the top. I really like this feature and it is what I have been waiting for from Adobe.

The ‘camera’ part of the app simply uses the iDevices built in app to take pictures. Nothing ground breaking here and on par with Photoshop (although Photoshop Express does have some extra features that can be purchased). Sharing functions use the standard set of iOS tools to push your images onto the world.

In Real Life

I haven’t had a lot of time to shoot with ColorTime, just about a week, but I certainly have a large amount of photos to edit on my phone. And that’s the joy in using this app. I have been wary of most apps as they rely heavily on filters and flat out changing the original image toward anything that is not what appeared before the camera. That’s not ColorTime.

ColorTime fills my desire to edit images closer to what I saw when shooting. This is, of course, highly subjective territory but having that control to change just one area or the other, fixing what y iPhone’s camera didn’t get right the first time, is key for me. It’s not for every user. If you’re looking for more wonkiness, you can surely create it with ColorTime but that’s not where this app excels.

Some Gripes

Nothing’s perfect and there are some improvements I would like to see come to ColorTime.

1) The ability to undo. Right now, as far as I can see, I have to start completely over with the Reset tool. I can’t just take one step back after making a mistake.

2) I’m not always a straight shooter. I want the ability to rotate my images. Just a little. Or a lot.

3) Sometimes it’s easy to do the wrong thing. Such as, I don’t know what I want to change the very moment I put my finger to the screen, I end up waiting a fraction of a second too long and I activate the “Select” tool to paint in an area instead of using the selection I just had. This took some practice before I was accustomed to the flow.

Examples

Now then, what can it do? All these shots are starting with the iPhone 4s camera. I will first show the original and then my edit. I used a mixture with every image; selecting one area for adjustment then changing saturation differently for different areas. Removing some blue or magenta color cast by selecting the opposing color to highlight.

At the Taj Mahal, Agra, India.

Waipio Valley, Hawaii, The Big Island

Kilauea Caldera, Hawaii, The Big Island

Conclusion

ColorTime is something I have been waiting for. Mind you, I’m the type of guy who doesn’t like 5,000 filters and effects. I want to adjust the light and dark areas differently and make somewhat finite changes. Colortime gives me control over my images on my iPhone in a way that is intuitive and useful.

You can find ColorTime for free at the Apple App Store.

By Peter West Carey

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How To Approach Street Photography In 12 Easy Steps

Many photographers are timid about “shooting strangers” on the street which keeps them from even trying.  Street photography is all about telling a story in a single frame and that’s a beautiful thing.  It’s normal to be reluctant or shy, but these 12 steps will gently ease you into the wonderful world of street photography that exists in your hometown or anywhere else your travels take you. There are lots of stories out there waiting to be told.  Get your camera and let’s go!

There are stories waiting to be photographed everywhere you go.

1- Do I need permission?

In most countries, as long as you are in a public place, it is perfectly legal to photograph people for either editorial or fine art purposes. However, if you intend to use any of those images for stock photography, meaning using that photograph in advertising, then you need the proper model release form signed. Each country has its own laws and regulations about this, so please do your research before you photograph strangers in the streets.

2- Hit the streets with a friend.

It’s generally better to shoot street photography on your own.  Why?  You are more invisible that way. But if going on your own is a bit intimidating at first, take a friend along. It will help emboldened you, but also surprise you at how differently two people see the world.

3- Start in a crowd.

In my workshops I encourage new street photographers to start with a busy public place such as a street market or an outdoor event as a comfortable start.  You are more invisible in a crowd and can more easily overcome your fear of photographing strangers. Street performers are excellent street photography subjects to start shooting. After all, they are there to be seen and are used to being photographed plus they are part of the culture of the place you are visiting. Buskers perform to make a few bucks, so shoot away, and be generous with what you toss in their hat!

4- Find a stage.

As much as I enjoy walking for hours searching for that special moment, I often do a lot of standing and waiting if I find a really compelling background to use as a stage.  Once you find your stage, be patient and eventually the right people will walk through your frame.  When I am traveling I like to add a sense of place by carefully selecting the architecture in the background or finding signage in the local language.

5- Don’t forget silhouettes

Silhouettes are interesting subjects only if they are easily recognized. There should be no doubt as to what the image is. People with umbrellas, bicyclists or lovers holding hands are terrific silhouette images.

6- Street portraitures

I love the thrill of engaging a subject in a conversation!  For some of you this may be more intimidating than shooting candidly. For others, you can get over the apprehension by asking permission to make a portrait, so they are more at ease with the process. If you ask permission and it is granted, take your time. Then show them the picture on the back of your camera. Tell them why they caught your attention. Everyone enjoys a compliment!

7- Photographing children.

Basically, if they are in a public place, you have just as much right to photograph children as anybody else. Even so, it’s a good idea to get the okay from a parent first. My way is to simply nod towards them, show my camera and wait for their nod back. For the times when no one is around to give you the okay, use your best judgement.

8- Should you give a copy of the photograph to your subject?

When I do candid shots, I occasionally interact with my subject after I make the photograph. But mostly I’m invisible and they never know I took a picture. When I make a street portrait I engage them in a conversation and show them the picture on the back of the camera. If they ask for a copy I give them my card so they can email me for a digital file of their portrait. That’s the least you can do to thank them for their time.

9- Be confident and respectful. 

You are not doing anything wrong, but if someone objects to having their picture taken, don’t shoot! It’s not worth an argument. You may be well within your legal rights, but the most important thing is to be respectful of others. I would also urge you to avoid photographing people in vulnerable or embarrassing situations. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you feel comfortable being photographed that way? If the answer is no, then use your common sense and move on.

10- Follow your gut instinct. 

That’s an important step towards making street photography an enjoyable experience and one I always teach my students right away. If the situation feels wrong or dangerous, then it probably is. Trust your gut.

11- Color or B&W? 

This is totally a personal choice. There is no right or wrong answer. I prefer to process my images in black and white for its timeless quality, but some images are better in color and sometimes the subject is color. Let your artistic eye guide this decision.   But I will say that another advantage of monochrome is its ability to remove any distracting colorful elements from the frame, allowing the viewer to the be more drawn to the subject.

12- It’s your vision. 

Don’t let anyone tell you what does or doesn’t qualify as street photography, or what camera you should use. There are no official rules here. Street photography is all about telling a story, communicating an emotion. Your camera is an extension of your own artistic vision. Be patient. Trust your gut. Go out there and have fun!

 

Finding a stage and waiting for the right person to walk through your frame is part of story telling with a sense of place.

Silhouettes are interesting subjects only if the action is easily recognized.

When photographing children, use your best judgement if a parent is not present.

Street photography is about gesture and expression.

Street performers are great subjects, especially when you first get started.

Sometime the subject is all about color!

Street portraits are also part of street photography. I walked by this gentleman and thought he looked cool and told him so. He gave me the ok to make a portrait.

Several stories can happen in one frame.

The only time I bother to carry a tripod to do street photography is to shoot long exposures for some motion blur.

Street photography is not only about people...

By Valerie Jardin

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Stunning Portraits: Manipulating White Balance

I am always looking for more interesting and unique ways to take interesting and beautiful portraits. It is a personal challenge for me to push my own creative envelope as much as possible so that I am constantly broadening my own bold and colorful style. There are so many ways to take a portrait the possibilities are almost endless and the range of emotional and psychological expressions that can be achieved are truly spectacular. Portraits can be editorial, lifestyle, fashion, glamour or extremely creative in style and the true wonderment of any portrait is the amazingly, maddening ability of the human face to portray expression in so many captivating ways. So let’s look at a more creative way to take a portrait that I think gives the final photo a simply stunning look.

Before we get into the details of shooting, I think a little review of white balance is in order as this technique involves a basic understanding of the topic. Every light that we take photographs in, whether it be an incandescent light bulb indoors or the bright shining sun outdoors, is made of of a different spectrum of colors. Now when we look at objects under these light sources with our own eyes, we take it for granted that our vision compensates for all the different color casts of these lights amazingly well and we get a pretty standard representation of all colors in the scene. Basically, when we look at something that is supposed to be white in varying light conditions, our brain interprets the situation and our eye sees it as white. The camera works a little bit different.

The camera sees color in a much different way and has a less sophisticated way to interpret colors under different lighting situations. This is where the white balance setting helps us out. Many photographers that I know tend to keep there cameras white balance on the automatic setting. With the automatic white balance setting, your camera searches for a white reference point in the scene you are shooting. Then all of the other colors are set to this reference point. Therefore, your camera tries to make an educated guess to ensure the colors are represented correctly in your photo. The problem is that sometimes the camera is wrong and we have to bypass the automatic settings and go to that very scary place of setting the white balance in a more manual way, either by using the preset settings that the camera contains or even, heaven forbid, we might have to use some sort of white balancing device to help set our colors. There is a wealth of knowledge on this subject and I encourage you to pursue this topic at your leisure. You can also click on the following links for a decent explanation and breakdown of white balance (DPS-Intro to White Balance and White Balance in Digital Photography). The take home message is simply that we have to be conscious of how our camera views color and understand that we might have to give it some help by changing our camera’s white balance setting.

Now that we have introduced the concept of white balance let’s turn the tables on this subject and manipulate it to create some drama and eloquence in a portrait. The lighting setups for these portraits can be seen in the following diagrams:

Essentially, both diagrams are the same with the only difference being the placement of the light with the shoot through umbrella. I switched it from one side to the other just to see what sort of difference it made and concluded that both light placements worked just fine.

The overall concept for the shot was to contrast the old, decayed tree with the young beautiful model (Brittney) and to highlight each with some warm and cool tones for effect. So where does one start with getting the camera settings and flash setup properly?

First, lets talk about the manipulation of the white balance. I used an Alien Bees 1600 flash unit set at full power, covered with a full CTO (color temperature orange) gel, and modified with a shoot through umbrella. The CTO gel is commonly used to balance the color of light from the flash to that of a tungsten light bulb. Thus, when one is shooting flash in an indoor setting, the color of the flash matches the color of the light bulbs in the room and a camera white balance setting switched to tungsten will create a wonderfully balanced color palette in the photo. When used outdoors, a CTO gelled flash, combined with a white balance setting to tungsten, will balance the colors for anything upon which the flash falls. However, this tungsten white balance setting will also cause the sky and anything not receiving light from the flash to take on a majestic deep blue color cast that can be captivating. Compositionally, this simple white balance manipulation creates a mix of cool blue tones with warm orange tones that works fantastically well and makes the image pop.

Now, if you find yourself a little anxious about using flash outdoors you should go ahead and relax cause you can definitely pull off this shot. Before you start shooting with any flash at all, the very first thing you want to do is meter the scene and reduce your exposure about 2 stops so that the background is underexposed. Doing this in full daylight requires a few considerations and I recommend shooting either in the morning or the evening so that the sun is not too high in the sky, otherwise you will have a hard time getting your flash to overpower the sun. Camera settings are pretty easy to figure out. First, the white balance needs to be set to tungsten to get the desired effect. You are shooting in daylight and want the background underexposed so low ISO is a must which in my case was 200. The shutter speed cannot be too fast as it can only be that of your flashes sync speed which in my case was 1/200 seconds. What does this mean exactly? If you set your shutter speed faster than your flash can fire, the shutter will open and close before any light from the flash can be seen by the camera and you will never capture your flash in the image. So the only real variable was the aperture in this case which in order to get 2 stops underexposed for the background had to be at f/16. Basically, the environment for the shoot had already dictated my camera settings.

Since my camera settings were already determined, the only thing I needed to do was to turn on my CTO covered flash and adjust the power until I could see the effect in the image. Since I am shooting in daylight and trying to overpower the sun I knew I would need a lot of power from my flash and actually had brought a second flash unit just in case I needed more power then one flash head had to offer. I started with one flash about 5 feet from the subject at full power and took a few sample shots and it was just a little shy on power. I moved the flash as close to the subject as I could without it being in the frame (about 2.5 feet) and took a few more shots and it looked great. A few outfit changes and a serendipitous bit of sun flare from behind the tree and I had the makings for a stunning set of portraits. I hope this post encourages you to not only push your creative boundaries, but also to take a small step further into the excitingly surprising realm of flash photography.

By Alex Smith

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