How to Buy a Digital Camera – A 9 Step Guide

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Photography, Digital Cameras, How to buy a digital camera

By: Darren Rowse

Yesterday I asked ‘when is the best time to buy a digital camera?‘ Today I want to turn our attention to how to buy a digital camera.
I’m not going to talk you through all the different features on a digital camera or tell you which models are best (something that is really quite individual and which changes regularly over time) however there are a few questions and factors to keep in mind when making the decision of which camera is best for you.
When searching for a digital camera there are a few factors that I encourage people to keep in mind when they buy a digital camera (while there are 9 ‘steps’ they are not necessarily a sequence you follow)
So lets get onto some tips for buying digital cameras:

How to Buy a Digital Camera

1. Determine what you need

A mistake I see some digital camera buyers making is that they get sucked into buying cameras that are beyond what they really need. Some questions to ask yourself before you go shopping:

• What do you need the camera for?
• What type of photography will you be doing? (portraits, landscapes, macro, sports)
• What conditions will you be largely photographing in? (indoors, outdoors, low light, bright light)
• Will you largely stay in auto mode or do you want to learn the art of photography?
• What experience level do you have with cameras?
• What type of features are you looking for? (long zoom, image stabilization, large LCD display etc)
• How important is size and portability to you?
• What is your budget?

Ask yourself these questions before you go to buy a camera and you’ll be in a much better position to make a decision when you see what’s on offer. You’ll probably find the sales person asks you this question anyway – so to have thought about it before hand will help them help you get the right digital camera.

2. Megapixels are NOT everything

One of the features that you’ll see used to sell digital cameras is how many megapixels a digital camera has.
When I first got into digital photography, a few years back, the megapixel rating of cameras was actually quite important as most cameras were at the lower end of today’s modern day range and even a 1 megapixel increase was significant.
These days, with most new cameras coming out with at least 5 megapixels, it isn’t so crucial. In fact at the upper end of the range it can actually be a disadvantage to have images that are so large that they take up enormous amounts of space on memory cards and computers.
One of the main questions to ask when it comes to megapixels is ‘Will you be printing shots’? If so – how large will you be going with them? If you’re only printing images at a normal size then anything over 4 or so megapixels will be fine. If you’re going to start blowing your images up you might want to pay the extra money for something at the upper end of what’s on offer today.

3. Keep in mind the ‘extras’

Keep in mind as you look at cameras that the price quoted may not be the final outlay that you need to make as there are a variety of other extras that you might want (or need) to fork out for including:

• Camera Case
• Memory Cards
• Spare Batteries/Recharger
• Lenses (if you are getting a DSLR)
• Filters (and other lens attachments)
• Tripods/Monopods
• External Flashes
• Reflectors

Some retailers will bundle such extras with cameras or will at least give a discount when buying more than one item at once. Keep in mind though that what they offer in bundles might not meet you needs. For example it’s common to get a 16 or 32 megabyte memory card with cameras – however these days you’ll probably want something at least of 500 megabytes (if not a gigabyte or two).

4. Do you already own any potentially compatible gear?

Talking of extra gear – one way to save yourself some cash is if you have accessories from previous digital cameras that are compatible with your new one.
For example memory cards, batteries, lenses (remember that many film camera lenses are actually compatible with digital SLRs from the same manufacturers), flashes, filters etc.

5. DSLR or Point and Shoot?

While digital SLRs are getting more affordable they are not for everyone. Keep in mind that they are usually bigger, heavier, harder to keep clean (if you’re changing lenses) and can be more complicated to operate than point and shoot. Of course there are some upsides also.
If you’re trying to make a decision between a point and shoot and DSLR you might want to read my previous posts titled Should you buy a DSLR or a Point and Shoot Digital Camera? and it’s companion piece How to Choose a DSLR.

6. Optical Zooms are King

Not all ‘zooms’ are created equal.
When you’re looking at different models of digital cameras you’ll often hear their zooms talked about in two ways. Firstly there’s the ‘optical zoom’ and then there’s the ‘digital zoom’.
I would highly recommend that you only take into consideration the ‘optical zoom’ when making a decision about which camera to buy. Digital zooms simply enlarge the pixels in your shot which does make your subject look bigger, but it also makes it look more pixelated and your picture ‘noisier’ (like when you go up close to your TV).
If you’re looking for a zoom lens make sure it’s an optical zoom (most modern cameras have them of at least 3x in length – ie they’ll make your subject three times as big – with an increasing array of ‘super zooms’ coming onto the market at up to 12x Optical Zoom).

7. Read reviews

Before buying a digital camera take the time to do a little research. Don’t JUST rely upon the advice of the helpful sales person (who may or may not know anything about cameras and who may or may not have sales incentives for the camera they are recommending).
Read some reviews in digital camera magazines or online to help you narrow down the field. There are some great websites around that give expert and user reviews on virtually every camera on the market – use this wonderful and free resource.
A little self promotion here – one such site is my Digital Photography Blog which is a site that collates the reviews of many sites from around the web. To use it best enter the camera’s model name that you’re looking for a review on in the search feature in the top right side bar. It’ll give you a link to a central page that has information on the camera as well as links to any reviews published online on that camera from around the web.

8. Hands On Experience

Photo by erinmariepage

Once you’ve narrowed down your search to a handful of cameras head into your local digital camera shop and ask to see and play with them. There’s nothing like having the camera in your hands to work out whether it suits your needs.
When I shop for a camera I generally use the web to find reviews, then I head into a street in my city with 4 camera shops side by side and I go from shop to shop asking for recommendations and seeing the cameras live in the flash. In doing this I generally find the same camera or two are recommended in most shops and I get to see them demonstrated by different people (this gives a more well rounded demo). I also get to play with it and get a feel for which one I could see myself using.

9. Negotiate

After you’ve selected the right digital camera for you it’s time to find the best price.
Once again, I generally start online (on a site like our store) and do some searches to find the most competitive prices on the models I’m interested in. With these in hand I’m in a good position to be able to negotiate in person with local stores and/or with online stores. I generally find that retail stores will negotiate on price and will often throw in freebies. Online stores are more difficult – most bigger ones don’t give you the ability to negotiate but smaller ones often will if you email them.
Don’t forget to ask for free or discounted bonuses including camera cases, memory cards, extra batteries, filters, free prints, cases etc. I even know of a couple of stores that offer camera lessons that you can ask to be included. Some stores will also consider giving you a trade in on older gear.
I generally do negotiating from home on the phone and only go into a store to pick up the camera after a price is agreed upon.

10. Your Tips

The above is my advice on buying a digital camera and comes from my own experience of buying numerous cameras, but I’m sure others will have useful tips to add. Feel free to add your suggestions on how to buy a digital camera in comments below!  Share this article.



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When is the Best Time to Buy a Digital Camera? 3 Questions to Ask

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Photography, Digital Cameras

By: Darren Rowse  

If the emails that I get from readers asking for advice on Digital Cameras are anything to go by – there is currently a digital camera buying frenzy going on.
With Christmas looming and many shops having end of year sales there is obviously a lot of interest in digicams.

However is now the best time to buy a digital camera?

The answer to this question will depend upon your specific situation. Here’s three different ways of deciding if now is the best time for your purchase:

1. Do You Need a Digital Camera Now?

I’ll get the most obvious one out of the way first – do you need a digital camera now? I was in a digital camera shop recently and got chatting to a sales guy that I know and he said to me ‘ the best time to buy a digital camera is when you need one’. Sounds pretty obvious – but I think there’s something in it. You see many people in the market for a digital camera get into the ‘waiting game’. First they wait for the new models to come out, then when they are released they wait for them to come down in price, but then rumors start circulating on new models around the corner and so they wait for the new models…. you get the picture.
If you need a new digital camera now (maybe you’re going on a trip, maybe there’s a wedding coming up that you want to photograph etc) then now is probably the best time to buy. Do some shopping around, read some reviews, negotiate a good price and actually make a decision.
Buying Advice: If you need a digital camera now – buy it now.

2. Do you want ‘the latest’?

If you’re not in such a hurry for a digital camera but instead want the latest model it might be worth waiting a couple of months.

Digital camera manufacturers have an annual cycle of announcing and releasing new cameras and there are two main times of the year when they all come out.
The majority of digital cameras are announced early in the new year (January to February) and will actually make it to stores in February to March. There is a second round of announcements in September with those cameras hitting stores usually in November in the lead up to Christmas.
In my experience of covering the digicam market – there is generally less new cameras released at the end of the year and they tend to be more of a ‘tweak’ nature than real updates (although in the last year or two even many of the start of year releases are ‘tweak’ updates too).
While you could go out and get a fairly newly released camera today – it could be worth waiting a couple of months for the new range of digital cameras.
Of course when a new camera comes out you tend to pay a premium for it – which leads us onto our third question.
Buying Advice: If time and price isn’t an issue then wait for the next round of cameras to be released in February – March next year.

3. Is Price a Major Consideration?

Ok – so if the need for a camera isn’t urgent and you don’t mind if you don’t have the very very latest released camera – you might be more interested in getting a good deal.
If price is what you’re more interested in than features now could be a good time to start shopping around. This will probably vary a little from place to place but here in Australia the lead up to Christmas and the week or two after Christmas is a great time for shopping. We tend to have our biggest sales between Christmas and New Year while in the US there tends to be a lot of great sales after Thanksgiving (right now).
There are a lot of great sales online also. I’ve seen some real discounting happen around the web over the last week or two. Check out our digital camera shop which aggregates deals from a number of online sellers for a guide to prices. Amazon also has a ‘Today’s Deals Page for Digital Cameras‘ that is worth keeping an eye on.
The other reason that now is a good time to buy if price is your main consideration is that stores will be wanting to clear stock for the new releases to come out in the new year. Right up until all the new cameras hit the stores (and particularly in the days following them arriving) there can be some great deals to be had as retailers try to clear stock. Share this article.


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5 Tips for Photographing Street Portraits

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Street Portraits, Digital Cameras, Portraits, Toddlers, Photoshop, Wide Angle, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

By: Andy Callan  

Isn’t it always the way that the most daunting things in life are usually the most rewarding? It takes a certain amount of backbone to shoot street portraits. Whether it’s walking up to a total stranger and asking their permission, or taking a more candid, reportage style approach, many photographers get put off through lack of confidence.
It’s a great shame because there is no more fascinating photographic subject than people.

If you follow the Humans of New York project, you’ll know that every single person has a story to tell; sometimes uplifting, often heartbreaking, occasionally hilarious. The very best street portraits give us a glimpse at those stories in a single frame.
If you’ve always wanted to give it a go but have yet to summon up the courage, hopefully, the following tips will give you all the motivation you need.

The approach

The first time you approach a potential subject is going to be the hardest. It can sometimes feel like an insurmountable hurdle. But try and think about it from your potential subject’s point of view. He or she is going about their daily routine, possibly doing the same thing they have been for years and finding it all a little boring. Then, out of nowhere, someone has judged them interesting enough to want to take their picture. Chances are, you’ve just made that person’s day. At the very least, you’ve given them an anecdote to tell their friends.
He or she is going about their daily routine, possibly doing the same thing they have been for years and finding it all a little boring. Then, out of nowhere, someone has judged them interesting enough to want to take their picture. Chances are, you’ve just made that person’s day. At the very least, you’ve given them an anecdote to tell their friends.

Different methods

So, what’s the best way to approach someone? Different photographer’s stand by different techniques. Some just come straight out and ask if they can take a picture. Others want to try and make a connection first in a more roundabout way, striking up a conversation or asking questions.
One psychological technique favored by many salesmen is to first ask for a small, unrelated favor, such as directions or whether they have the correct time. Studies have shown that once someone has done you one favor, they’re much more likely to say yes to another, bigger one. Don’t ask me why—people are complex!
In any approach, confidence is obviously vital, but enthusiasm is just as important. Enthusiasm is contagious. Be genuinely interested, listen carefully to what they’re saying and be respectful. Also, if you can make them laugh, or at least smile, you’ll find all their barriers will start to lower.

The environment

Where you find your subject (i.e. their environment) can sometimes tell you as much about them as what they look like.
Finding an impeccably groomed city trader striding around the financial district is to be expected. But finding him in a crowded flea market hints at a story. If the environment adds to the portrait, include as much of it as you need to enhance the photograph.
If you want your portrait to be all about the person, if they have an interesting face or you want to highlight the way they dress, try and find a background that won’t distract from them. A busy background can confuse the eye and take away from the impact you’re trying to make. If you need to, open up your aperture to throw the background out of focus and bring attention back to where it should be.

The eyes have it

The most important part of your portrait will always be the eyes. The eyes tell us everything; how the person is feeling, what they’re thinking, if they’re happy or anxious, and even if they would rather you stopped taking their picture.

Eye contact

Eye contact is incredibly powerful in real life. If you’re talking to someone and they maintain a natural, unwavering eye contact, there’s something primeval that makes you trust them and creates a connection. It’s the same with a portrait. You need that eye contact to make a successful shot.
If you photograph a subject who’s not looking directly back at you, the natural instinct is to follow their gaze to see what they’re looking at. You can sometimes use this to your advantage to draw the viewer’s eye towards an element of the picture you want them to focus on. For example, in this shot of a man carrying baskets full of rabbits, the eye line of the two children always brings us back to the cages.

On a technical note; as I’m sure you’ve noticed, people tend to blink. Try to take a quick burst of shots of your subject to ensure you capture at least some with their eyes open. Autofocus systems can also tend to hunt around, and taking more shots increases your chances of grabbing a pin sharp image.

The candid street portrait

If you’re looking for a way to ease yourself into this genre, shooting candid street portraits holds some definite advantages. You do away with the whole nail-biting business of asking permission and perhaps suffering a rejection. You capture people as they really are rather than the front they put up when a camera’s pointed at them.
But that’s not to say candid street photography is easy. If anything, it’s more difficult (or, at least, a different kind of difficult) and can be just as nerve-wracking.

Your timing has to be split second in order to capture the spontaneous moments that occur all around you. You need to know your equipment inside out in order to be able to frame a great composition and adjust settings as needed quickly.
Capturing great candid street pictures takes a great deal of practice and a lot of luck. Whatever your personal feelings are on the ethics of taking someone’s photo without permission, there are people who really don’t appreciate it.
It would be very unlikely you’d get into any serious trouble, but it’s worth using your street smarts and common sense. As a personal rule of thumb, if a certain person looks too mean for me to even consider asking permission to photograph them, there’s no way I’d try and sneak a shot.

The technicalities

Whatever type of street portraits you’re taking, the one thing you don’t usually have on your side is time. With candid shots, you’re constantly reacting to the world as it unfolds in front of you at its usual breakneck pace, and with the more posed approach, you’re still cutting into someone’s, probably busy, day.
You need to be able to work quickly, without fussing over settings or lens changes or tripping over bags. Keep your equipment as simple as possible—a single camera body and a zoom lens that covers all eventualities. I put a lot of trust in my Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L. It might not have the widest aperture in the world, but I’m happy to trade that for the versatility.
I generally shoot in Aperture Priority as well. So I only really need to think about the depth of field I want in a shot and let the camera’s far superior brain work out the rest of the details for me.

One area where you do need to stock up is memory cards. Make sure you have plenty of storage space with you, you’ll be taking a lot of images—especially if you’re heading out for a day of sneaky candid shooting. Throw in a couple of freshly charged batteries as well, just in case.

Like every area of photography, shooting street portraits has challenges all of its own. By far the most difficult thing to overcome is finding the courage to approach your subjects.
The good news is, if you’ve always felt too intimidated to attempt this genre of photography, you’re in esteemed company. Legendary names such as Diane Arbus and Elliott Erwitt have said they’ve used their cameras as both a kind of license to take photos and to act as a barrier between them and their subject. There’s still something mysterious about a camera that intrigues people—even more so these days when most photos are taken on phones.

All it takes is a little daring, a projected air of confidence, and you can capture some unique moments and great street portraits. Share this article


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4 Ways To Make Better Street Portraits While Traveling

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Travel Photography, Digital Cameras, Portraits, Toddlers, Photoshop, Wide Angle, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

By: Andrew S. Gibson

One of my favorite things about travel photography is the opportunities it provides to meet interesting people in the street and make portraits of them. Here are some of the things that I have learned that you can put into practice when you are traveling and make street portraits.

1. Ask people for permission

It’s surprising how you often get the best results when you ask people for permission to make their portrait. This doesn’t apply all the time – you might see somebody interesting who doesn’t notice that you are there and you get the opportunity to make a great candid portrait.
But more often than not you can get a better result by approaching people and asking permission. The good thing about this approach is that it gives you a great excuse to go up to somebody and ask if you can make their portrait. A good way to phrase it is to explain that you are undertaking a project asking interesting people to pose for you.
Problems can arise with this approach if you don’t speak the local language. But that doesn’t stop you communicating with good body language and a smile. You can point to your camera to indicate you are asking for permission to make a portrait.

It’s worth overcoming the challenges

An alternative approach is to work with a local person who can translate for you. This may be a local photographer who you have made contact with and who is interested in helping you out. Or it may be a fixer who you pay to help you communicate with local people and find photo opportunities that you are unlikely to come across by yourself.
Once you have somebody’s permission you have an immediate advantage that you can spend some time with them to work on creating a good street portrait. For example, let’s say you see an interesting person who is standing in the sun and as a result, the light is too harsh to make a good portrait. If you approach them to ask for permission you can then ask them to stand in the shade so you get the best light.

That’s the approach I took with the portrait above, created in a mosque in Delhi. The man approached us in the mosque and explained a few things to us about what we were seeing. When we met him he was standing in the sun. After a few minutes of conversation, we asked if we could make a portrait of him and he said yes. It was easy to find a shady place for him to stand.

2. Photograph character, not beauty

It may be tempting to look for beautiful or handsome people to photograph. And who could blame you? But you’ll create more interesting street portraits full of character if you find interesting people. This means people of both genders and all ages (except children, see next point).
For example, I made the portrait below in the town of San Antonio de Areco in Argentina. This town is famous for its atmospheric bars and gauchos. While taking photos in one of the bars somebody told me there was an elderly couple down the road who loved talking to people and having their photo taken. We went to check out the situation and found the couple sitting out on the street. We had an interesting conversation and I made this portrait.

This also shows how you should be open to opportunity. If people are friendly and make suggestions like this, go with the flow and see where it takes you. Interesting things often happen this way.

3. Don’t take too many photos of children

A few years ago I traveled to the town of Tupiza in southern Bolivia. We were walking through the town’s main square and noticed there was a lot of children. It turned out that it was a national sports day and as part of that event, local school children were in the square to participate in sporting activities.
Eventually one of the children noticed that I had a camera and started jumping up and down in front of me, asking me to take his photo. Of course, then other children joined in and soon I had a mob of kids in front of me who all wanted their photos taken. Which I did, and I have a nice memory because of it.

Luckily a teacher came along and shooed the kids away. The point of this story is that kids are often easy to photograph, especially in places where they get excited whenever they see a foreigner. But they are not likely to feature in your most interesting or memorable photos.
As a subject, they are too easy. Plus, you have to consider that in some countries local people may view strangers photographing children as suspicious. You’ll get better results by avoiding kids and finding interesting adults.

4. Look for interesting backgrounds

My final tip is to look for interesting backgrounds or places and wait with your camera to see what happens. Have you noticed how some photographers walk rapidly from one place to another, taking photos of anything that catches their eye? The aim of this exercise is to get you to slow down and become attuned to the rhythm of the place you’re in.
If the background is interesting enough, you can wait for somebody to pass by and add an element of human interest. People will usually think that you’re photographing whatever’s in the background and probably won’t even realize they are in the photo.
Here’s an example of that. I found this beautiful scene in Guatemala and waited to see what would happen. Eventually, a man cycled by and I was able to make this photo.

When you are traveling with the intention of creating street portraits it takes some work to get the best results. Following the tips in this article, and getting used to approaching people to ask if you can make their portrait will help you a lot with the process. Share this article.

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Beach Photography and Digital Camera Maintenance

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Digital Cameras, Portraits, Toddlers, Photoshop, Wide Angle, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

By: Darren Rowse

In our post with tips on taking digital images at the beach I mentioned that taking photographs at the beach is not only a place of wonderful opportunity but one of challenges.
One of the major challenges of a place that has lots of sand, salt and often wind is keeping your digital camera protected from the elements.
Following are a few tips on how to care for your digital camera in the extreme conditions that a beach can throw at it.

Protective Filters – If you’re using a DSLR use a UV filter – in addition to the optical benefits it might offer a UV filter (or any other type in actual fact) offers another layer of protection to your lens both in terms of sand, grit and salt but also if it’s bumped or scratched. I’d much rather scratch a $50 filter than a $1000 lens!
Protect your Digital Camera’s Insides – Changing Lenses, batteries or memory cards should be done with incredible care. Try to keep the times that you open your camera up in any of these ways to a minimum while on the beach and if you have to do so make sure you’re well away from the water and if possible away from others in a sheltered place where sand will not find it’s way into the innards of your camera.
Clean Your Hands – After swimming try to rinse your hands in fresh water – salt from the ocean isn’t a good thing to introduce your camera to.
Clean Your Camera – After you day at the beach carefully clean your camera. At a minimum give it a good wipe down with a soft cloth (I use a micro fiber one which means I don’t need any cleaning fluid) to wipe any residue from the day and to get rid of any salt, sand, dust etc. It is probably worth investing in a camera cleaning kit for this purpose to utilize the different tools they give you (soft brushes, compressed air etc). Be very very careful in cleaning your cameras to use quality cleaning products because you can end up making them worse by spreading dirt around – especially when you do any cleaning on the inside. Be especially wary of anything that blows air – while this can get dirt out it can also blow it in!


Camera Bag – Obviously one of the main things to think about is how you’ll cary and store your camera when it’s not in use. On the one hand you want it to be secure and leaving it in a car might not be a wise move (partly for the security but also for the high temperatures in cars on hot days) but on the other hand you don’t want you camera sitting out on a beach all day, even in a bag, as sand tends to get into everything. Ideally a camera bag that allows you to seal your camera in will be ideal. Zip lock bags can also be useful for storing some of your gear (batteries, memory cards, filters etc). My motto for packing a camera bag when heading for the beach is to ‘pack light pack right’. Choosing to take a few useful items and leaving the rest at home can really save you problems later on.
Battling Condensation – My last trip to the tropical northern parts of Australia where it was incredibly humid presented me with the problem of condensation. The majority of the time my camera was in the air-conditioned, cool and dry confines of our hotel room (where it was inside it’s bag – even cooler) but this meant that when I took it outside to shoot that the lens and view finder immediately fogged up. It’s very difficult to combat this – although I found that the best strategy was simply to let the camera acclimatize before shooting. Some people suggest putting it in a sealed plastic bag when moving between temperatures – this might work well but is not particularly practical in many situations, especially when you have a large camera. Ideally you want to warm your camera up naturally and slowly – taking it out of it’s bag and allowing it to naturally warm up tended to fix the issue most times while I was away. I also travelled with a soft cloth which I used once the condensation had mainly gone to clean any marks it had left and to remove any last moisture that remained. One strategy that I have seen friends use is to use when visiting humid places where their camera can be exposed to condensation is to use little silica gel packs in their camera bags. These little packs absorb any moisture in your camera bag.
Set aside time for Photography and Fun – One last tip that I often do these days when I’m on holiday, especially to places like the beach where there is always the worry of camera damage. Often in these situations I take special visits to the beach just for taking photos and keep the ‘fun trips’ with family separate (and quite often leave my main camera at home). This way I have defined periods for photography where I can keep track of my gear and make sure it’s ok and then can truly relax when I head to the beach for fun. Of course when I go to the beach for fun I take my point and shoot with me for those fun shots – but I leave my more expensive gear at home where I know it won’t be damaged. I find this also means less frustration for those around me who can get sick of me always off taking photos when they want to relax with me.

Should I use the LCD or Viewfinder on my Digital Camera?

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Digital Cameras, Portraits, Toddlers, Photoshop, Wide Angle, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

By: Darren Rowse  

Photo by keturn

One of the things about digital cameras that makes them so appealing is the little LCD screen display on the back of them.
When I used a film SLR I used to take meticulous notes of the settings that I used when taking photos – noting frame number, aperture and shutter speed down after most shots so that a week or two later when I got my photos back from the lab I could compare my notes with the shots and work out how I might improve my photography.
The LCD screen on digital cameras cuts out the need for this process as images can be viewed immediately after they are taken and adjustments can be made to improve your shots straight away.
If you like to record your images settings for future analysis, most digital cameras will do this for you – to be viewed later either on your camera (using the ‘info’ function when in playback on many cameras) or on your computer.

LCD as a Viewfinder?

Photo by laurnm

One question I get asked a lot by readers is whether they should use their digital camera’s LCD screen or viewfinder to frame their shots. I suspect that the majority of camera owners do use the LCD but there are a number of arguments both for and against it. Let me explore a few:

Why to use the LCD to frame shots

• Convenience – Perhaps the main reason that people use the LCD is convenience. Rather than having to fire up the camera, raise it to your eye, squint through it (on many point and shoot models it’s quite small) etc… using the LCD means you simply switch the camera on and from almost any position you can snap a shot.
• Size – As I hinted above – many models of digital cameras have very small view finders and when compared with the LCD (usually between 1.5 and 2.5 inches these days) there is really not that much of a comparison.
• Instant Playback – shooting with the LCD means that after you take your shot you will immediately see the shot you’ve taken flashed onto the screen. You can see this if you use the viewfinder too by lowering the camera but it adds another action to the process.
• Creativity – using the LCD opens up all kinds of creative opportunities for your photography by meaning that you don’t have to have the camera at eye level to be able to get your framing right. You can instead put it up high or down low and still be able to line things up well.
• Framing Inaccuracy of Optical Viewfinders on Point and Shoots – one of the most common complaints about using the viewfinder on digital cameras is that what you see through it is slightly different to what the camera is actually seeing as the view finder is generally positioned above and to the left of the lens which means it is slightly different (a problem called parallax). Most viewfinders that have this will give you a guide as to where to frame your shot but it can be a little difficult – especially when taking close up/macro shots. (note that not all point and shoot cameras have optical viewfinders – some have electronic ones (see below).
• Obstructed View – on some models of point and shoot digital cameras a fully extended zoom can actually obstruct the view from your viewfinder. This can be quite frustrating.
• Glasses Wearers – if you wear glasses you might find using the viewfinder of your Digital camera more difficult. Many these days do come with a little diopter adjuster to help with this.

Why not to use LCD to frame shots

• Battery Killer – the LCD on your camera chews up battery power faster than almost any other feature on your camera. Use it not only for viewing shots taken but lining them up and you’ll need to recharge a lot more regularly.
• Camera Shake – when shooting with the LCD as a viewfinder you need to hold your camera away from your body (often at arms length). This takes the camera away from your solid and still torso and into midair (only supported by your outstretched arms) – this increased the chance that your camera will be moving as you take the shot which will result in blurry shots.
• Competing Light – one problem that you will often have with framing your shots using the LCD is that for many cameras, shooting in bright light will make it difficult to see the LCD – leaving it looking washed out. Digital camera manufacturers are trying to overcome this with brighter and clearer screens but using the viewfinder instead of the LCD will generally overcome the problem.
• DSLRs – most DSLRs do not give you the opportunity to use the LCD as a viewfinder at all. I suspect that this feature will become more available however as I hear it being asked for quite a bit. I’m not sure I’d ever use it though as DSLR view finders are generally larger and are a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) meaning you can be sure that what you’re looking at through the view finder is what the image will be when you shoot.
• Electronic View Finders (EVF) – another type of view finder that is found on some point and shoot digital cameras is the EVF one. This overcomes the problem of your viewfinder and camera seeing slightly different things by giving you an exact picture of the scene you’re photographing in the viewfinder. This happens simply by putting a little LCD in the viewfinder.

Ultimately the choice in using the LCD or viewfinder will come down to personal preference. I have used a variety of digital cameras over the past few years and find myself using both methods depending upon the shooting situation and the camera. Some cameras have large and clear viewfinders (like my DSLR) and so I use them. Others have tiny viewfinders (in fact my latest point and shoot, the Fujifilm Finepix F10, doesn’t have one at all).
Given the choice between a great viewfinder and great LCD I’d probably opt for the viewfinder – call me a traditionalist but it just feels right for me.  Share this article.

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Posing Tip for Portraits – Which Way Should Your Subject Lean?

By: Darren Rowse

I once took some body language classes in a previous job to help me learn both how to read people and how to present myself. One of the tips that stuck with me from it was that when you lean towards a person that you’re interacting with you present yourself as interested and engaging. Similarly – if someone else is leaning towards you they are probably listening to you and are engaging with what you’re saying.
A similar thing can be conveyed in portrait photography.
When taking an upper body portrait a simple way to make your subject more engaging and friendly is to have them lean in towards your camera a little.

You don’t need them to lean in or bend over too far – but even having them do it just a small bit can help. Another way to give the impression of your subject leaning in is to photograph them from slightly above (as in the image on this post).
Alternatively if you are wanting a more formal portrait you’ll probably want to post your subject in a more upright position with them sitting up straight.
Lastly, if you’re feeling like experimenting with leaning your subject back away from the camera it’s possible to create a feeling of joviality as if they are leaning back for a belly laugh. Of course leaning back can also make your subject look quite uncomfortable and even defensive and it’s a pose that I tend to avoid.


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Work It Baby Work It – A Secret to Portrait Photography

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Portraits, Toddlers, Photoshop, Wide Angle, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

By: Darren Rowse  

There’s a lot of good advice out there on how to pose subjects for portrait photography but a Pro Photographer once shared a little tidbit that has stayed in my mind ever since and that helps me add variety to my portrait shots….
He told me to ‘Work it Baby!’
He wasn’t joking either.
I didn’t quite understand what he was getting at at first – I thought ‘Work it Baby’ was just a cliche that photographers said to their subjects in the movies to get them to ‘work the camera’ and get some different poses going.
I soon worked out what he meant though when I saw him at work on a shoot with a subject when I saw how hard HE as the photographer worked it.
When he said ‘work it baby’ he was meaning as a photographer you should keep on the move around your subject, finding new angles, shooting from different distances, placing them in different parts of your frame and taking shots both incorporating their environment (wide angle) and close up and more intimate shots.
Instead of just expecting your subject to bring variety to the shots you take it is you as the photographer that needs to be working hard to bring life to the photo.
He told me that the great thing about this approach is that as your subject sees you ‘working it’ that they often catch the vibe and it can bring a real energy to the shot from their perspective too.
Of course I’m not suggesting this is the only way to get good portraits and that you can forget all other types of technique – but it’s one way to inject a little life and energy into your shots.
So next time you’re photographing a subject you know what to do – Work it Baby!


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I Rented the Nikon D6 - 7 Days, 3000+ Photos - My Full Review

How to Choose Your Camera Angle to Take Better Portraits

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Portraits, Toddlers, Photoshop, Wide Angle, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

 

By: Simon Ringsmuth

Taking portraits involves so many variables that it can feel overwhelming for a new photographer. What lenses do you use—zoom, prime, or a mix of both? Do you shoot full-frame or cropped sensor? Will you shoot indoors or outdoors. Even the subject matter can be tricky, with some portrait photographers working exclusively with families, others who only shoot high school seniors or newborn babies, and still more who do a mix of everything.

Nikon D750, 85mm, f/4, ISO 900, 1/250 second

While you are pondering all these variables it can be easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees and forget about a few key basics such as posing and lighting, and no matter what style of portraits you choose to pursue there is one thing that always comes into play which may not seem obvious: the camera angle from which you shoot. This can make all the difference between happy clients and complaining customers. Understanding how you can use camera angles and points of view can greatly enhance any portrait session.

Point of view – up high or down low

Understanding how your camera angle, or point of view, can affect your shots will go a long way towards improving not just your portraits, but your photography in general. How you position yourself in relation to your subjects can have a dramatic effect on the resulting pictures. As an illustration of how this works, here are two pictures of a family from a recent home-based session I did. Both show a very similar scene, and yet the different angles from which I shot them results in two vastly different images.

Nikon D750, 35mm, f/4, ISO 5600, 1/90 second

As I shot the image above I was very low to the ground. Crouching down on my hands and knees, I got very close physically to the family while the mother and father watched the boys play with their sister. It feels like the viewer is part of the scene, right there with them as they all share a fun moment together. This is entirely due to the low angle from which the picture was shot. Now take a look at virtually the exact same scene but shot from high above.

Nikon D750, 35mm, f/4, ISO 3600, 1/90 second

To get this picture I grabbed a dining room chair and stood on it to get a shot from a much higher angle. The result is a picture that feels quite different from the first one. It doesn’t seem like you are a part of the scene, but an outside observer looking at the family as they gather together.
While I like both images, each one creates a very different emotional response on the part of the viewer. Even though both were shot with the same camera and lens, at the same location, with the same subjects, the result is two pictures that are vastly different from one another all because of the angle from which they were taken.

Even subtle changes make a difference

You can see a similar, but more subtle, effect in this pair of portraits I took of a young girl near her birthday.

Nikon D750, 85mm, f/4, ISO 800, 1/500 second

The angle here isn’t as low as the first one of the family, but it’s low enough to be on the girl’s eye level. To get this I had to kneel down and stand a few meters back as her mother talked with her from my right-hand side. It gives a similar sense of intimacy as the first picture of the family and feels as though the viewer is near the girl and part of the scene.
This changes a bit when the girl is shot from an adult’s eye level looking down (below).

Nikon D750, 85mm, f/4, ISO 560, 1/250 second

While the effect here is not as dramatic as the example with the family, you will still note a similar result in terms of emotion and tone. Instead of getting down on eye level I shot this while standing up about the same distance away. It doesn’t feel like you, the viewer, are a part of the scene and instead it seems like you are merely an observer. Notice how the sidewalks in the background cut across the frame at odd angles whereas in the first one the sidewalks neatly cross in horizontal lines, adding a subtle touch without being too obvious or gaudy.
Once again I don’t think either picture is necessarily better or worse, but both are quite different as a result of the camera angle.

Kids – break the rules

This is, incidentally, one of the most common issues I see with people who are taking casual snapshots of their kids, whether with a fancy DSLR or just their mobile phone. Taking a few seconds to crouch down and get on eye level with the children can make all the difference in the world between an intimate moment frozen in time, and a boring snapshot.
However, I don’t want to give the mistaken impression that shooting from a high angle is necessarily a bad thing. It can be a very good thing indeed, and quite effective when used intentionally, such as this image of a girl with her two-week-old baby brother (below).

Nikon D750, 50mm, f/4, ISO 400, 1/125 second

This picture was a bit tricky, but the results were well worth it. I was doing this on location in the family’s home so I didn’t have a lot to work with, but I wanted to get something a bit unique. I put the two kids on a blanket on the floor, got a chair to stand on, and positioned myself directly above them while bouncing my flash off the ceiling.
It resulted in an image that feels more fun and playful as if the viewer is peeking in on a fun moment between the two siblings. The equipment here was nothing all that special (I could have just as easily used my old D7100 and 35mm lens to get the same shot) but paying attention to the angle made for a picture that stood out quite a bit from the rest of the image I shot that day.

Other camera angles to consider

Sometimes finding the right angle involves something as simple as choosing where to put yourself in relation to your subject, not necessarily whether to shoot from high above or down low. You can see this in the example below. After an hour of taking a variety of traditional portrait-style
After an hour of taking a variety of traditional portrait-style shots, I stood back while the family walked back to their car and took some pictures with the sunset casting a warm glow through the trees above.

Nikon D750, 85mm, f/4, ISO 180, 1/400 second

There are some elements that I could do without, such as the tree branches coming from the left-hand side. But overall the picture feels warm, cozy, and conveys a sense of comfortable intimacy as if I have captured the family in a quiet and sincere moment. It puts you, the viewer, as an outside observer to the scene and almost feels like you are watching from afar as the family shares a special time together.
This is in stark contrast to the next picture, which despite being at a different location is composed in almost exactly the same manner except for one variable: the angle.

Nikon D7100, 85mm, f/2.8, 1/250 second, ISO 100

This picture feels like it’s full of energy, excitement, and enthusiasm as the family holds hands and walks towards me. I like both pictures quite well, but changing the angle resulted in two images that are vastly different from one another.

Summary

Hopefully, these examples give you an idea of how your camera angle and point of view can dramatically affect the types of portraits you take. If you are looking to try something new and kick your photography up a notch without spending any money on more gear, try doing something as simple as changing your angle and see what happens.
In fact, this now makes me wonder about your favorite tips and tricks for shooting portraits at different angles. Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and feel free to share pictures as well!


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