Category: Technology

The image you are photographing is already framed inside the confines of the viewfinder, but placing your subject within another frame can be a good way to draw the viewer’s eyes toward the part of the image you’d like to emphasize (Figure 8.21). You can also give the image a feeling of depth and help…

There is almost nothing as timeless as a beautiful black-and-white landscape photo. For many, it is the purest form of photography. The genre conjures up thoughts of Ansel Adams out in Yosemite Valley, capturing stunning monoliths with his 8 x 10 view camera. Shooting with a digital camera doesn’t mean you can’t create your own…

As mentioned in previous chapters, it’s usually a good idea to avoid placing your subject directly in the center of the frame. Sticking to the rule of thirds principle—placing the subject or horizon line one-third of the way from the edge of the frame—typically results in a pleasing composition (Figure 8.20).

Balancing exposure in scenes that have a wide contrast in tonal ranges can be extremely challenging. The one thing you should never 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 white clouds, but it’s…

Finding ways to draw your viewer’s eyes toward the subject of your photo is important in photographic composition, and one way to do this is to incorporate leading lines in the image (Figure 8.18). You can also use this technique to create a vanishing point when the subject you’re photographing is creating the lines—for example,…

Color can play an extremely important part in composition, and understanding how color works will only help your images. In color theory, every color has an “opposite” color that is complementary. On a color wheel the main colors are red/yellow/blue, and their opposite colors are green/purple/orange. Using these colors correctly can add balance and symmetry…

When shooting landscapes, I always look for great color and contrast. This is one of the reasons that so many landscape shots are taken in the early morning or during sunset. The light is much more vibrant and colorful at these times of day and adds a sense of drama to an image. You can…

This probably seems like a no-brainer. If it’s sunny, select Daylight. If it’s overcast, choose the Shade or Cloudy setting. Those choices wouldn’t be wrong for those circumstances, but why not get creative? Sometimes you can actually make the mood of the photo more intriguing by selecting a white balance that doesn’t quite fit the…

One thing I love about photography is that I get to show the world what I see, and it’s always fun to try photographing a subject from a different point of view to see what I can create. You don’t have to change your perspective drastically to get results—sometimes you can capture a great image…

The temptation to use higher ISOs should always be avoided, as the end result will be more image noise and less detail. There can be an issue when using a low ISO setting: The sometimes lengthy shutter speeds can also introduce noise. This noise is a result of the heating of the camera sensor as…