Basics / TheoryComments disabled

It is almost impossible to take good pictures without understanding what ISO is and how it works. It is one of the basic things every photographer should be aware of.

Basically the ISO is the cameras sensitivity to light. The lower the ISO number is the less sensitive camera is to the light and opposite – higher number means camera is more sensitive to the light. This change of light sensitivity is possible, because of the cameras sensor – part of the camera, which is responsible for gathering the light and turning it into the image. When the light sensitivity is high, sensor can capture the image in lower light, but at the same tame it adds a lot of noises to the picture, so photographer needs to know, what ISO number is appropriate for each lightening.

Mostly all the pictures are taken with base ISO. That is the lowest ISO number possible in the camera. Usually it is 100 or 200. That makes pictures qualitative and reduces the noises. In normal or bright light the base ISO should be used, but in lower light photographer should change the ISO settings. Usually all the cameras have such ISO numbers as 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400. Some cameras have also higher numbers, but so high light sensitivity definitely will make the image noisy.

The higher ISO number also means that it takes less time to capture the image. For example, if ISO number is 100 it takes 1 second to capture the image, but with ISO number 200 it takes twice less time – only half a second. With ISO number 400 it would be only one fourth of a second and so on. So ISO also have a big impact of image quality, when moving objects are photographed. The higher the ISO number is, the lower impact the motion has on the image quality, but again, don’t forget that higher ISO also add more noises to the picture.

There is no magic formula for perfect ISO settings. Professional photographers with experience know what settings to use to get perfect photos. This skill comes with time and practice, but for beginners there are just some basic recommendations.

As it was mentioned before, for normal light always uses the basic ISO which is the lowest ISO number possible. Exception might be photographing moving objects, but also then use just little bit higher ISO than the basic ISO.

Higher ISO number is needed if you are shooting indoors without a flash. Depending on the amount of light in the room, you can change ISO to 400 or 800 to make a picture less blurry, but be aware that higher ISO will add some noises.

Some cameras have also auto ISO setting. Some might think that it is used only by very beginners, but that is not true. You can put some limits to this auto ISO for example from 100 to 400, so you don’t have to change it manually all the time, but also it doesn’t cross the needed limit.

CompositionComments disabled

Composition is important in any type of art including the art of photography. A good camera and other equipment alone is not enough to make some good pictures. If you want to become a good photographer not just someone who owns a camera, you should also know everything about composition and other artistic aspects of photography.

First, you should understand what does the term composition means in general. Composition doesn’t apply only for visual arts, but also for such types of arts as dance, music, literature etc., so it’s not only about how thing look. Composition is a placement of any kind of objects or elements in an art. For example, movements in a dance, lyrics in a song or objects in a photography. The key of success in any art work is to make a good composition.

If you know the meaning of composition in general, it shouldn’t be hard to understand the meaning of composition also in photography. Basically, it means the way photographer is arranging the objects in the image. It sound very understandable and easy, but actually it can be quite a challenging, especially if moving objects are being photographed. Photographer needs to find the most suitable and best looking order of objects and position within the frame. Also the angle and position of camera can change the composition, for example, wider aperture between objects and the background will blur the background more. So there are a lot of aspects that should be taken in consideration to make a good composition of the image.

The composition in photography is so important, because that is what makes the picture interesting and can turn simple, plain things into a masterpiece. For example, you can take a picture of a most stunning landscape, but if the composition is not good, it won’t be a piece of art, but just a simple photography just like any other. At the same time, you can take a picture of simple urban environment and if the placement of objects is harmonious, the picture will look great.

The hardest part of making pictures with good compositions is that there is no one right way to do that. Many people might doubt that, because composition is being taught in art schools and there are some basic rules of composition. That is true – by these rules anyone can take a picture that is pleasant for the eye, but art doesn’t work like that. Following these rules you can take a good picture, not a great one. However, if you are a beginner, these rules might help you to understand, how objects can be placed in the picture and later figure out what works well and what doesn’t.

The basic rule of composition, that most of the photographers’ uses, is the rule of thirds. That means the whole image should be divided into nine equal areas by four lines. Two of these lines have to cut the frame into thirds vertically and the other two horizontally. Then the most important objects of the image must be placed in the intersections of these lines. Of course, there is also lot of other composition rules, which works not only for photography, but for any visual arts. After learning the basics of composition it will be a lot easier to make creative and stunning photographies.

BasicsComments disabled

Macro photography is one of the most popular forms of photography, because it is very accessible. Photographer doesn’t need to go far away and look for places with stunning wives. Instead he can just go outside and find a lot of useful objects in nature. Although, anyone can find some good objects for macro photography, it takes some skills and knowledge to get a good macro picture. There are lots of things to be taken in consideration for photographer to make a really good shoot.

For those, who don’t know, macro photography is an extreme close-up photography of very tiny objects. In photography these objects are very sharp and look lot bigger than they are in real life. Objects of macro photography can be found anywhere and they can be photographed either in studio or in nature. Most popular objects of this form of photography are insects, water drops, parts of plants etc.

First thing you need, to get a good result, is appropriate equipment, staring with the camera itself. For macro photography you can use either DSLR or mirror less camera, but you need to pay attention to the parameters. First of all pay attention to the resolution. To get a good macro picture count of pixels is very important. More pixels mean clearer and sharpen photo. Of, course also optical zoom is important to get good pictures also from further distance. The third most important aspect is sensor of the camera. Macro photography starts only from 1:5 magnifications so the sensor should be no more than 1, 5 inches. Also there are lots of other aspects that should be taken into a consideration, but these are the basic ones.

Although, nowadays it is possible to get quite good shots with any digital camera, you can use some add-ons for the perfection. For example, you could use macro lens. It helps to prolong the working distance. That means you can take some quality shots from further distance, which is really helpful in situations when the object of the picture is dangerous or just difficult to access. Also camera stand and illumination equipment can be used, but those are not the basic things needed.

The last thing you need to know is which modes to set in your camera. Of course, the basic mode you need to set is the macro mode, because that is the best mode for close focusing, but at the same time this mode makes the camera loose lens aperture and shutter speed. For macro photography small lens aperture and shutter speed is important for sharpness, so you need more light for a good photography. If you are using professional DSLR, than best option would be to use purpose-built macro lens which is optimized to operate at closer than normal distances, but this is probably not for the beginners, because this lens is very expensive.

Those are the basic things every macro photographer should be aware of. The further success of the shooting depends on photographers’ artistic skills and imagination and creativity.