Category: Technology

Thanks to the image stabilizer (IS), you can squeeze two stops of exposure out of your camera when shooting without a tripod (Figures 8.2 and 8.3). Typically, the average person can handhold their camera down to about 1/60 of a second before blurriness results due to hand shake. As the lens is zoomed, the ability…

Let’s begin with the obvious ways to keep shooting when the lights get low. One option is to use the flash, but its limited range (15–20 feet) might not work for the situation. Also, the light from the built-in flash can too often be harsher than what you’re looking for. You could be in a…

For most of this book, I’ve focused on how to take a great shot—one exposure, one image. But shooting digital opens other options that combine several shots into one better photo. The following two sections, covering panoramas and high dynamic range (HDR) images, require you to use image-processing software to complete the photograph. They are,…

As a photographer, it’s your job to lead the viewer through your image. You accomplish this by utilizing the principles of composition, which is the arrangement of elements in the scene that draws the viewer’s eye through the image and holds their attention. As the director, you need to understand how people see, and then…

There’s nothing quite as satisfying for the landscape shooter as capturing a silky waterfall shot. Creating the smooth-flowing effect is as simple as adjusting your shutter speed to allow the water to be in motion while the shutter is open. The key is to have your camera on a stable platform (such as a tripod)…

There’s no denying that the automatic focus features on the G12 are great, but sometimes it pays to turn them off and go manual. This is especially true if you are shooting on a tripod: Once you have your shot composed in the viewfinder and you are ready to focus, chances are the area you…

Large landscape scenes are great fun to photograph, but they can present a problem: Where exactly do you focus when you want everything to be sharp? Since our goal is to create a great landscape photo, we will need to concentrate on how to best create an image that is tack sharp, with a depth…

If you ask any professional landscape photographer what their favorite time of day to shoot is, chances are they will tell you it’s the hours surrounding daybreak and sunset (Figures 7.8 and 7.9). Light comes from a very low angle to the landscape, which creates shadows and gives depth and character. There is also a…

Balancing the exposure in scenes that have a wide contrast in tonal ranges can be extremely challenging. The one thing you should try not to do is overexpose your skies to the point of blowing out your highlights (unless, of course, that is the look you are going for). It’s one thing to have a…