Taking great pictures over Christmas

We had our first Wincham / Pickmere photography group last night and talked about how to get good shots over Xmas, without getting too technical. Hope you find them useful.

“The best camera is the one you have with you at the time”.

Always have your camera near you so that if something happens you are ready to grab the shot. Taking great photos often isn’t about knowing how to use all the different settings, but more about OPPORTUNITY and being able to SEE THE IMAGE.

Take a few practise shots, check the results, adjust settings if necessary and you’ll be well prepared.

The best shots of people are often the candid ones, especially children. Get them used to you taking photos all the time and they will be less self conscious.

For posed photographs help make people relax by talking to them, make them laugh. Try getting people to say “Cheeky Monkeys” or “Smelly Socks” and after you’ve done one shot get people to tickle each other or hug.

If you want a more informal group shot ask people to toast each other, meeting each others’ eyes rather than looking at the camera. This can also reduce red eye. (But don’t worry about red eye and don’t use “Red eye reduction” setting on camera as the double flash is off putting and it takes longer so you can miss the moment. Sort out red eye on the computer afterwards.)

Get people really close together, heads nice and close and all on the same plane (i.e. not some further in front or behind the others as you could risk some being out of focus).

Take several shots of groups in case anyone had their eyes closed.

Fill the frame when taking pictures of people. Use the zoom on your camera to catch candid shots of the kids—they won’t know you’re taking the shot and zooming in has the effect of blurring the background, making the person stand out.

Try different angles—get down to the same level as your children or shoot from low down or high up. Tilt the camera slightly and take the picture on an angle. Experiment.

At night time or in low light try using the night portrait setting on your camera to capture the lovely Christmas lights / candles etc behind or near your subject. Make sure the flash is on and select night portrait. The camera fires a quick burst of flash but then keeps the shutter open for a moment longer to allow light in. Hold the camera steady or you’ll risk camera shake. Rest the camera on a level surface if possible. Try taking pictures of the children by the Christmas tree like this. Or of the Christmas pudding as it is aflame.

If you want to take a picture of Christmas lights in a town or garden etc, rest the camera on a wall, make sure the flash is off and press the shutter. You can do this in AUTO mode. If the picture is too dark, use the TV mode (Might be “S” on some cameras) and slow down the shutter speed. Experiment until you are happy with the shot.

If you are taking pictures of people on a bright sunny day outdoors, use the flash to avoid harsh shadows. Overcast days are actually the best for photographing people. Snowy overcast days are great as colours of scarves, hats etc look really intense against the white snow.

On cold frosty days look for interesting details and zoom in close—use the MACRO setting. Frosted cobwebs, reeds, teasels etc look magical covered in frost.

Landscapes—use rule of thirds, try to lead the eye, have a clear focal point.

Get out there now!

This is one of my favourite times of year as a photographer. Crisp, clear days, a pure quality of light and an abundance of colours and fascinating subjects. If you are familiar with my photographic style you'll know that I don't usually go in for landscape photography as such, but prefer to find some detail in the landscape - whether that's a close up shot of a leaf, bark, plant etc or a feature within the landscape. I have a wonderful book by David Ward called "The Landscape Within", which has been the inspiration for many of my own shots.

Several years ago I did an assignment on Autumn as part of my A' Level in Photography. At that time I was still using a compact camera, so all the shots shown here are shot on that - a Panasonic Lumix - lovely cameras. Autumn leaves are the obvious autumnal shot and I went off to Tatton Park and Biddulph Grange in search of fiery acers. The red image on the left didn't require any special

techniques - it was just a case of framing the right shot and zooming in a little to blur the background.

 The small shot on the left is quite unusual - the sun had caught the outer branches and leaves of an acer, whilst the trees and bushes in the background were relatively dark as they were in deep shade. When I looked at this shot on the computer I decided to further deepen the shadows and brighten and saturate the leaves. Unusually for me I then applied an effect called cut out which simplifies the colour palette and emphasised the contrast between the leaves and the background (and my Photoshop skills were almost non-existent in those days!).

Although technical ability does play a part in creating a good shot (it makes it easier to achieve what you want), I strongly believe that it's having the all important eye and being constantly on the look out for an interesting composition that is the crucial factor. The shot of leaves under water remains one of my favourite images of Autumn and once I'd spotted it, it was only a matter of framing the shot and pressing the shutter (most likely all done on AUTO in those days!).

I mentioned the amazing clarity and quality of the light at this time of year - it must be something to do with atmospherics and temperature, but you can't beat a cold, clear autumnal day as far as I'm concerned. And as the sun sets earlier you are more likely to be out and about and able to get some great shots. The golden light makes for extremely flattering portraits - this is one of Abbie that I particularly like.

David Ward in "The Landscape Within" seeks out details which are different to the usual landscape shot. I tried to do the same with this shot of the Tyne Bridge at sunset. After firing off lots of shots of the entire bridge I zoomed in and focused on the idea of commuters on their way home, lifted by the wonderful sunset on the river.

As Autumn moves into Winter we'll get the first frosts (possibly sooner than we think as a cold spell is now forecast) and early in the morning the most mundane of objects is transformed by an icy coat. I love this shot of barbed wire and cobwebs and almost want to shiver as I look at the frosty fields beyond.

So dig out those scarves, hats and fingerless gloves and get out there now!!!

(And don't get me started on fungi - I spent a whole day photographing over 50 types of mushrooms - separate blog to follow!)

Don't let your favourite photos languish on your hard drive - get 'em out!!

We returned from our summer holiday in Cornwall with hundreds of lovely photos of the beautiful cornish scenery, the kids playing on the beach, surfing in the sea - the usual stuff. I sort of had a plan right from the start of the holiday to do something special with the pictures when we got back, rather than leave them on the computer, never to see the light of day. We don't use albums any more (does anyone?) and we only print a few pictures out every now and again - in fact I think it's almost a year ago since we last did.

I've put lots of photobooks together for clients but never for ourselves, so this time I was determined to. As ever I took photographs every day and almost everywhere we visited and

from time to time I spent a little time in the evening jotting down a few notes about the day's events, anything funny the kids had said or the dog had done!

I was all set up when I got home to put the book together and couldn't wait to get on with it. I used Bobsbooks for the first time as they offered full double page spreads, nice quality binding and a full colour wraparound hard cover. They are not the cheapest around but I think you get what you pay for. I downloaded their software and over the next couple of weeks I did a bit of the book at a time. The software for all the different companies is usually pretty intuitive - each has its little foibles which can be frustrating at times but overall it's drag and drop your image into a standard template, move it around and resize it if you want, add some text and so on.

Well, I don't know about you but I was absolutely delighted with the finished result and was dancing around in excitement when it was delivered. The quality is great, lovely vibrant colours, thick pages and just fab! It's slightly under A4 size and now sits in pride of place on my new cabinet in the family room. Any visitors to the house get it shoved into their hands but I've not had any complaints yet!

So go on - get those pictures off your computer and do something with them. I'm already planning a lot of Christmas presents and had better get started as I'm sure they'll get busy soon, as photo books are becoming increasingly popular and are replacing the traditional photo album. (And Bobsbooks are not paying me - I just think credit should be given where it's due!).

Make photos while the sun shines

 This sunny weather is fantastic but it doesn't half make photography tricky! Have a look at a few of my simples DO'S and DON'T'S of sunny day photography.

DO... Use your flash if the sun is high in the sky when photographing people who are in direct sunlight. Chances are they will have dark shadows across their faces which will look even darker on the photograph. make your flash fire by popping it up or switching it to "Forced flash on" depending on your camera type. (Don't forget to switch the flash off afterwards as your next shot might not need it). In the shot of Abbie and Sam on the statue at Kew I used the flash.

DON'T... make your subjects squint into the sun. Get them to turn sideways slightly.

Do... look for shady areas - umbrellas, shade of a tree etc and get your subjects to pose in the shade. You don't need the flash for this and your pictures will look very natural. In the ice cream pic and the tunnel one the kids are in natural shade and the light is nice and even.

 

DO... take photos in the late afternoon / early evening (or early morning if you're mad as it would have to be about 6am currently!), as the light is fantastic - the sun is lower down and the shadows are less harsh. In the photo of Abbie on the beach it was late afternoon - you can tell from her longer shadow. No flash was required and the colours are lovely and saturated.

Although mid-day can be a tricky time for portraits DO take landscape shots as the blue sky / green grass / azure seas etc lend themselves to picture postcard shots - no flash required and make sure your horizon is straight. Many cameras have a grid display on the LCD viewer that you can switch on, or you can straighten the shot up easily in PICASA and other software.

So, go enjoy the sunshine, put your suncream on and try out all these techniques. Meanwhile I'll be mostly found in my hammock with a chilled glass of wine!

Up close with a creepy critter

We came across this hairy beast on the boardwalk by Pickmere Lake - I'm amazed that Daisy didn't spot it and it therefore survived her passing by. The light was great - sunlight filtered by the high reeds and also bounced back up by the bleached wood of the boards. My first shot is a bit typical and although in focus and correctly exposed, it is, well, just boring!! So I decided to try another angle, which involved me lying down. The caterpillar wasn't going anywhere - frozen to the spot in fear of a strange giant - so I thought I'd play around a bit with camera settings. These shots are all taken with my compact camera - Panasonic DMC-FS12 - so no fancy lenses or kit. I set the camera to its Macro setting for a close up shot - just select the flower setting to do this. I then put the camera on the boardwalk, rather than hand holding it. This was partly to get right to eye level with my hairy model, but also because I was lying at an awkward angle and wanted to ensure I didn't get camera shake i.e. blurred picture. Then I took picture 2. This has started to look quite interesting but the point that is in focus is the middle of the caterpillar's body (where the + is).

When you select the flower / macro setting it gets your camera to start doing some quite clever things. Wherever you focus with the little square in the middle of your screen will be in focus but other areas will be out of focus - this can be a really nice effect and is called "shallow depth of field". But you really want to think about which bit of your picture is going to be in focus and which bit is blurred. In this case it would look better if the caterpillar's head were in focus. I decided to change my angle again for picture 3, looking along the length of the caterpillar and making sure I focused on its head - I actually wasn't sure which end was which so I may have focused on its bottom by accident! I still put the camera on the ground and just pressed the shutter to avoid camera shake. This is a much more interesting shot and I really love the blurry grey of the boardwalk and green of the reeds.

So next time you meet a hairy critter that is willing to model for you have a little play around with your macro / flower setting and don't be afraid to get up close and personal!

Look for a different angle

Give your photos a bit of interest and add some quirky humour by shooting at a different angle. In this shot I lay on the ground at Abigail's feet and shot up through the tree branches. The tree in question is a Canadian Redwood, a baby admittedly, as these can grow spectacularly high and I wanted to emphasise the height and the fact that the kids were fascinated by them. I also made sure the flash would fire so that Abbie's face wouldn't be in dark shadow. The flares across the picture are from the high sun coming through the branches. If this had been coming directly into the lens it would have ruined the shot and I would have changed my angle. As it is I quite like the effect here.

Zoom, zoom, zoom!!

I love my zoom lenses because...

• I can take candid shots without the subject being aware. Little Mathilde had no idea I was catching this lovely moment as she crouched to examine the flower she had picked.
• It makes people less nervous when you are further away. It can be very off putting when someone points the camera right in your face (Nic - please take note!)
• Zooming in blurs the background and isolates the subject. Background objects become less distracting and the blurring can create a very pleasing effect - the blues and greens of the bluebell wood in this shot.

I used a 70-300mm f4-5.6 Canon lens for this shot - it's a good lens to use for candid portraits as it has a good zoom range letting me get close up shots from a distance and has image stabilisation - a must if you want to avoid camera shake. (Imagine using binoculars to look at the moon and it seems to jump all over the place?) This lens is at its best when it's nice and bright but I have to watch out if the light is a bit low as f4 does not let a lot of light into the camera, so the shutter speed can be slow, with the result that movement can be blurred. In the shade of the trees it was occasionally too dark to get sharp shots of Mathilde running. I have my eye on a telephoto lens with a wider aperture (lower f number) but you wouldn't believe how much the cost jumps up for this sort of kit!

Many compact cameras now have great zoom lenses. My Panasonic DMC-FZ20 has a 12X zoom (i.e. a lot! equivalent to 36-432mm on a film camera) and also has built in image stabilisation. Be careful about "optical" zoom and "digital" zoom when you use your compact camera to zoom in. The optical zoom uses the lens to make the subject closer. Digital zoom isn't really zoom - it's actually just magnifying part of your image, a bit like zooming in on a picture on your computer screen to look at it closer. Image quality isn't as good once you start using the digital zoom so I usually avoid it. I can set my compact camera to only use the optical zoom but on some compacts the digital zoom kicks in after you have zoomed in as far as the optical zoom lets you. There's often a slight pause and you have to click/ press to zoom digitally. If I've lost you, then just look it up in your manual and have a go with your camera.

Otherwise, just get zooming, fill the frame and enjoy getting some lovely candid shots!

Use flash when it's really sunny outside

This might sound like complete madness - why make it brighter when it's already very bright and sunny?

Have you ever taken a picture on a sunny day and wondered why faces are so dark even when they didn't really look that way? With bright sunlight you also get very dark shadows. We don't see the contrast as starkly as our brains are used to reducing the effect. If the person you are photographing is standing against a very bright background - sky, snow, beach, in front of a window - then their faces may be in dark shadow unless you use the flash. I used flash in the picture above to make Abigail stand out against the blue background and to reduce the shadows. This was taken with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS12 compact camera.


Depending on what camera you are using you may have to "make" the camera fire the flash. On a compact camera on your flash settings you should be able to select "forced flash on". On a hyrbid or SLR you should be able to pop the flash up.

Try the shot with and without the flash and see which you prefer. Don't forget to put your flash back on AUTO once you have finished.