With the increase in popularity of the smaller, more portable Mirrorless Four Thirds cameras I’m curious to see where you stand on this discussion. Personally I’m ready to jump on and get myself an Olympus OM-D EM-5, only thing holding me back as of now is justifying the cost of having a second camera.
I’m in the “I’m not ditching my full sized DSLR just yet” camp as I still use it for teaching and doing portraits. However the more travelling and photography tours I do, the more appealing the Olympus becomes. One of the guys on my Cuba tour had one and it took great images, and video as well! I was really impressed.
We could have this debate all day but some of the pros and cons generally tossed about include:
PROS of Mirrorless cameras (as understood by myself who does not own one yet):
small and lightweight (that’s a given)
you can pack more lenses in a small bag for travel
less intimidating to people you photograph, especially when doing street photography
ability to accept and use adaptors to fit just about any lens, including those from your DSLR
the sensors in many of them rival DSLR APS-C sensors, and in the case of the Sony A7R they might even have the edge
CONS of Mirrorless cameras (as understood by myself who does not own one yet):
they are some that are less expensive than the full sized DSLRs, but in some cases they are more expensive. You pay for compactness
they CAN be slower to focus, so shooting moving subjects is more challenging
the electronic viewfinder – this is a bane of many DSLR owners who are used to seeing through an optical one
because of the point above, they can be battery hogs
So – you tell me, where do you sit on this issue?
Are your feet firmly planted one side of the fence or the other? Or are you still on the fence, as yet undecided like our little friends here?
By KENNETH BARKER
By hehaden
By MALC
Have you invested in a Mirrorless or 4/3s camera yet?
Yes I am or have replaced my DSLR with it (11%, 5,666 Votes)
Yes I am or have replaced my point and shoot camera with it (5%, 2,509 Votes)
Yes I bought one in addition to my DSLR (14%, 7,050 Votes)
Yes I bought on in addition to my Point and Shoot camera (3%, 1,710 Votes)
Yes it is my first digital camera (3%, 1,699 Votes)
I'm still on the fence as a solid "maybe" (15%, 7,286 Votes)
No way, they are still lacking something in my opinion (21%, 10,683 Votes)
What's "mirrorless"? (27%, 13,336 Votes)
Total Voters: 49,937
Are there greener pastures on the other side?
Is this where the future is taking us? Are full frame cameras obsolete? Who knows – but maybe I’ll see you over there!
Digital photography is really a two-part process. Isn’t it?
You put a lot of energy into creating the photograph.
If you don’t follow through with the second step… You are REALLY doing your images a disservice.
This is true even if you don’t like a lot of photo manipulation or special effects.
Digital photography needs that little “push” to become the best it can be!
Stacey Hill has written us a three-part series on how to produce professional level still life photography.
So far, you should have studied the “basic principles of setting up a still life photograph,” and, secondly, “how to light a still life photograph.”
In this third and final installment, she will guide you through the post-processing of your still life photographs.
In this eBook she will cover...
Image file formats
The basic edits for any digital still life photo
How to get creative, save time, and produce a variety of finished products using Lightroom presets
Adding the “Wow Factor” to a still life photograph by applying textures, text, and brush effects
Special finishing touches that will make your image standout
Why settle for the BLAND image on the left?
When you can read this FREE eBook and then produce the stylish image on the right! Photo Credit: Stacey Hill
Still life is a wonderful genre. It traditionally depicts inanimate objects such as flowers, fruit, vases and books in a visually appealing way. While it can look straightforward, still life is a genre that will engage many of your photography skills. Of course, composition is key – you'll need to nail your subject, story and mood; the background; your elements in your still life and their layout. Then of course there is lighting – ensuring that your composition pops.
One of the objects most associated with beautiful still lifes is flowers. To capture flowers in all their glory, take a look at Leanne Cleavely's guide Photographing Fabulous Flowers. It will take your flower photography from ordinary to exceptional.
To inspire you on your still life photography journey, we've collated 23 stunning images for your enjoyment.
Ritesh Saini has chosen 3 fantastic and free ebooks that cover everything you need to start with still life photography. Read what Ritesh has to say about these ebooks in the article – 3 Free E-Books on Still Life Photography That Will Help You Master the Craft, and I've also linked them here if you want to go straight to these great guides:
Of course, if you want to take your flower photography to the next level please take a look at photographer Leanne Cleavely's phenomenal guide Photographing Fabulous Flowers.
In photography, teaching and learning can only get you so far. At some point, you will get to a skill level where it’s up to you to put in the time and effort to continue improving. However, dedication and self-learning aside, here are some advanced street photography tips that I think can help you significantly improve your skill level in this area.
1. Use your eyes instead of the viewfinder
When photographing, it is very common for people to look straight into the viewfinder and forget about the world around them, but this can make street photography tougher. Your vision through the viewfinder is hindered significantly, and that can hurt your ability to capture spontaneous moments. You need to see everything that is happening around you. This will help you to anticipate the special moments that are about to occur in front of your camera.
Your eyes are the real viewfinder, and you will be able to notice much more if you use them. Scan the area and look for subjects that are both near and far. Wait until you notice something with your eyes, then put your viewfinder to your eye to capture the moment. If you start with your head in the viewfinder, by the time the moment happens, your ability to notice it will be a half-second too slow.
2. Embrace spontaneity
This was one of the early tips that Garry Winogrand received in his photography education that set him on a path to become one of the most renowned photographers of all time. You should certainly spend a lot of time thinking about your work and what you like to shoot, but when you are out there going through the motions, embrace your gut feelings. Instead of worrying about every little detail and thinking about if you are doing a good job or not, put that all aside and have fun.
There is no need to worry about what other people will think. If you feel like there might be a chance for a good photograph, then go for it, no matter how weird the image may be. Don’t let your brain talk you out of it. That gut feeling exists for a reason, so use it to your advantage. If you use your instincts and shoot confidently, that will show in your photographs. They will feel more real and more you. Of course, you will probably take more bad photographs as well, but the good ones will be that much better. Trust your gut.
Keep in mind that some people may take this suggestion too far and machine-gun fire their camera every time they have an inkling that there’s a good photograph. That’s taking this tip too far. Turn off continuous shooting and make sure that you are able to recognize and capture tha moment with a shot or two.
3. Think about how your photos are going to age
It is important to think about your work in a historical context. Think about classic photographs and what makes them special. Simple old photographs of window displays and fashions look incredible, but those photographs might have seemed very ordinary back then. If you could go back in time to photograph, what you might see as interesting then would probably be much different than what most photographers were shooting at that time.
What about your life and area is going to be interesting in the future? What is going to change? Are people still going to be staring at their cell phones every second with huge headphones on and completely disconnected from reality? Who knows, maybe?
Try not to take anything for granted, and if you notice yourself disregarding something, then think about why you feel that way. Occasionally, these situations can make the best photographs.
4. Create themes and consistency in your photography
The more you shoot, the more you will notice that you are attracted to certain types of photographs. Find these consistencies when you are editing and embrace them. Over time, these ideas can blossom into full-fledged projects and books.
Group these images together into collections, and think about the type of photographs that you would like to add to them. Then the next time you come across a moment that fits into that category, you will be quick to notice and capture it. Each individual photograph is a piece of art, but a collection of photographs is its own work of art. Play with the order of your photographs and the meaning that comes out with different sequences of them.
Consistency does not mean that you can’t photograph different types of subject matter or in both color and black and white. You can be very diverse in how you shoot, and you can change and evolve as you go along, but you can still group these consistencies into projects that fit well together.
5. Repetition
The real key to improving your photography is through repetition. It is necessary to photograph frequently to keep your eyes sharp and your hand-eye coordination ready. Your instincts will improve. The more often you do it, the better you will be. Keep the rust away. Even the best photographers need to continually photograph to keep their skills up.
The more you learn to enjoy the act of photographing, the easier it will be to walk out the door to shoot more. Photography shouldn’t be about feeling inspired or uninspired. You do not need to feel inspired to photograph if you enjoy the act of walking. Create a plan for how often you will photograph, just like the gym, and stick to it. Over time, it will become routine and your enjoyment for it will continue to grow.
There is no need to worry about coming back with good photographs. That is going to happen, and you shouldn’t feel sad if you didn’t get anything good in a session. The good photographs will come, but if you feel frustrated too often, then that will affect how you photograph. Just enjoy the process of being out in the world doing something you love. The more you enjoy that, the better you will be.
6. Photograph where you live
No matter where you live, whether it’s in the middle of a big city or in a small suburb, use that as a backdrop for a project. That is the area that you frequent the most, and know the best. Go to places that you think would be incredibly boring for photographs and figure out how to get a good photograph there. Don’t take things for granted. Absolutely anything can make a good and beautiful photograph. All it takes is dedication.
7. Emotion and gesture
As photographers, our job is to pass on an idea or an emotion to the viewers of our work. How you do that is something for you to figure out. Search for feeling and emotion when you are shooting. Aim to create evocative photographs.
If you are photographing people, it is important to capture them when they are portraying an emotion. This can be shown in a facial expression, what they are doing, or the gesture of their body. Sometimes, you will capture a unique looking person with no emotion or gesture and that will ruin the photograph. Other times, you will capture someone that you did not think would be a good subject, but the emotion shown on their face make the entire photograph. When you photograph people, this emotion is vital to focus on.
8. Zone focusing
Zone focusing is the toughest technical skill to learn in street photography, but it is very important to learn. At first, you will screw up a lot of photographs, but over time it becomes a more accurate way of obtaining sharp photographs.
Zone focusing works particularly well in busy areas, but it can be used any time once you get good at it. I tend to zone focus 60% of the time and autofocus the rest. If your subject isn’t moving and you have time to autofocus, it is always good to do that as it will guarantee perfect focus. But the rest of the time zone focusing can be the way to go.
What is zone focusing and how is it done?
This strategy of zone focusing is basically just using manual focus your camera and guessing the distance to subjects. Because of this, you will need a distance meter on either your lens or in your camera. You then want to turn your camera (or lens) to manual focus. Set the focus at a certain distance away from the camera. I prefer 8-10 feet, although I will do a smaller distance if I’m in a really busy area where people are closer together. Next, figure out how far that distance is away from your camera, and now you know that everything at that distance away from you will be sharp.
Zone focusing can be done well at very large apertures, even f/2, but it becomes much more difficult to do well. This focusing strategy works much better with apertures of f/16, f/11, and f/8 and a wide-angle lens such as 35mm. That will ensure there is a large depth of field in your image (make sure to also raise your ISO to achieve this and still keep an adequately fast shutter speed). Thus, there will be a significant area both in front and behind of the spot that you are focused on that will all be in sharp focus. This helps for situations where you miscalculate the distance when the perfect moment happens and it’s not exactly where are focused, and when you have multiple subjects at different distances that you want to be relatively sharp.
This is why it is always good to start off zone focusing in bright sunlight with a wide-angle lens. This will allow you to shoot at f/11 or f/16 so that a lot of your image will be sharp and you will barely have to worry. Set your focus to 8 or 10 feet away and pay attention to your subjects more than your focusing. It is a very freeing feeling, and the extra time you save not having to focus will aid you in catching those spontaneous and instantaneous moments that appear before you.
If you want even more street photography tips, check out: The Ultimate Guide to Street Photography (you can even download it as a PDF).
What things to you practice to up your street photography game? Please share your comments and images in the section below.
If you’d like to learn more about Street Photography, then please check out my ebook The Essentials of Street Photography.
7 Tips for Capturing the Decisive Moment in Street Photography
There is probably no other term as often cited as “The Decisive Moment” in Street Photography. Yet there is no real agreement what a decisive moment defines.
The street is normally a very chaotic place. People are walking in every direction and there isn’t much “sense” when putting everything together. The decisive moment is different. Suddenly every single detail that is captured in the photograph has a meaning. Subjects that are normally not connected are in a relation to each other, they don’t know it, but the picture clearly shows it.
Creating such images is not an easy task in a candid genre. While some state luck as the most important factor, I believe that you can work towards the Decisive Moment and capture it more regularly. Here are seven tips to help you.
#1 – Become Quicker
The street is not a place where you can slack off and take all the time you want to take a shot. There is no second chance to catch candid moments. A decisive moment can last for a few seconds and be gone forever. If you don’t catch it in time, you lose it for eternity.
Photographing is a 2-step process. First, You have to be familiar with your gear. After spotting a beautiful scene, there is no time for adjusting the camera or learning how your equipment actually works. Take your time to experiment with different settings beforehand so you know what works and what doesn’t. Use the technique of zone-focusing and you will be a lot faster capturing interesting subjects too.
The second step is spotting potential scenes in time and developing an instinct even before something interesting happens.
#2 – Get in The Zone
To spot interesting scenes instinctively, you need the right mindset for street photography. Just going out with your thoughts somewhere else, won’t land you the money shot very often. Concentration is needed to absorb the chaotic environment and scan it for potential decisive moments.
There are a lot of distractions in the modern world. Smartphones and your camera are two of the main distractions that can keep your mind away from the street. Before going out on the street, make sure to not have anything important scheduled for the time being and for the best results, turn off your smartphone.
Also, don’t get too distracted by your camera. It is just a tool that helps you to display your vision. You don’t need to have a look at every image that you have taken at the very moment. If possible, try out an analog camera and see how pure minimalism can help you to get in the zone.
#3 – Overcome your Fear
Spotting a scene is only the first step to capture the decisive moment. Afterwards, you have to translate your vision into the form of a photograph. When you still have fear to get close or take an image, it will limit your creative freedom.
There is no need to be afraid of the street and strangers. After years of experience, I can assure you that with a minimum of common sense nothing truly bad will happen to you. In reality, the worst that can happen is that someone asks you to delete the picture, but that’s pretty much it.
The fear on the street is mostly irrational and your mind is playing tricks on you. Part of it is socialization and I will admit, that every social being feels this way, when starting in street photography. Not invading the “private space” of others has been beneficial for forming social groups, historically speaking. But it doesn’t make much sense in our modern world and is only a hindrance for street photography.
To overcome your fear, you could try to get rejected purposely by asking for posed portraits pictures. It will show you that most people are actually very relaxed and even if you do get rejected, it isn’t the end of the world.
#4 – Perfect the Composition
There are a lot of situations happening on the street that you aren’t able to display to their full potential. This is heavily dependent on the way you frame the image and display it.
Lots of images are destroyed because the composition is simply off. I know that street photography is often seen as a genre of freedom. But when it comes to aesthetics, there are natural formulas that are more pleasant than others.
The rule of thirds is not a myth, but a fact. To embrace this in your photography will make your images visually more profound than ignoring your natural instincts.
Additionally to the rule of thirds, I would also focus on leading lines, not pointing away from the main subject. For an even more interesting picture try to fill every layer from the foreground to the background with interesting details.
#5 – Be Inspired
The right mood can also influence you in finding a potential scene that can lead to an outstanding image. Inspiration can stem not only from other photographers that you admire but from any creative source.
Listen to music, watch your favorite movie or read a good book. Anything that helps you to open your mind for creating something outstanding, is suitable to bring you closer to the decisive moment.
#6 – Dedication
Street Photography is not a discipline where you can expect quick results after following a simple guide. It takes years or even decades of dedication to street photography to be able to create the decisive moment, seemingly out of nowhere.
Developing a photographer’s eye takes a lot of training. Therefore, I would recommend forming a group of other photographers who have the same goals in mind. Walking the street with multiple photographers can also open your eyes to their vision. They are able to point out scenes that wouldn’t even cross your mind on your own.
#7 – Stay Curious
Whatever you do, don’t lose interest in your environment and mankind in general. Curiosity can lead you to interesting scenes that otherwise would seem as if they had no potential. Embrace the tourist in your town.
Do you remember the last time you were on vacation and took some holiday pictures? Suddenly even the most mundane places can become interesting when you are in a foreign location. The little ice parlor might be totally boring to the residents, but for you, it was worth a picture.
Follow the same instincts in your own neighborhood. Rather take an image too much, than missing out on the decisive moment. But most importantly, keep the fun. Don’t force yourself too much.
The process of doing street photography should always be fulfilling even when the results might not satisfy you. Get out on the street, be mindful, have fun, and over time the results will follow.
With the increase in popularity of the smaller, more portable Mirrorless Four Thirds cameras I’m curious to see where you stand on this discussion. Personally I’m ready to jump on and get myself an Olympus OM-D EM-5, only thing holding me back as of now is justifying the cost of having a second camera.
small and lightweight (that’s a given)
