How to Take Vibrant, Razor-Sharp Macro Photos of Flowers

 Tags: Photography for Beginners, Photography, Macro Photography

 

By: Ramakant Sharda

Macro photography is a very interesting subject for photographers. People love to shoot small objects like insects, flowers, waterdrops, etc. With macro photography, a photographer can show the tiniest details about the subject – details that are not possible to see with the naked eye. Today, let’s find out how to amaze viewers by taking colorful and razor-sharp macro photos of flowers.

What you’ll need to capture razor-sharp macro photos of flowers

Camera body

You’ll be taking photographs, which means you will obviously need a camera body. But which camera body is good for macro photography – a full-frame or a crop-sensor camera?

Different photographers have different answers to this question. Each body has advantages over the other. With a crop-sensor camera, you can get a larger focal length with the same lens so that you don’t have to get very close to the subject. A crop sensor also gives you a deeper depth of field as compared to a full-frame body, which means you can keep more of the subject in focus.

On the other hand, a full-frame body reveals more details because of the larger sensor size. It also performs better in low-light conditions. So, ultimately, all bodies are good for macro photography, whether you have a crop-sensor camera or a full-frame camera, or whether it’s a DSLR or mirrorless.

Lens

Lens choice is important in macro photography.

A true macro lens gives you 1:1 magnification, which means the size of your subject can be the same as your sensor size. In other words, if you have a full-frame body that has a 36mm x 24mm sensor size, you can fill the entire frame with a subject that is 36mm x 24mm in size. This gives you the opportunity to get really close to the subject and capture all the details.

However, don’t worry if you don’t have a dedicated macro lens. You can use extension tubes or a reverse ring with two lenses. Alternatively, you can use a cheaper option called macro close-up filters.

Flash and diffuser

A flash is a very important piece of equipment in macro photography. It helps you take razor-sharp pictures and capture bright colors. It also helps you avoid blurry images resulting from the shake of the camera.

A flash diffuser is equally as important as the flash. It softens the light and brings out the details and colors. You can use a mini softbox or domes or MagSphere, or you can simply put a diffuser cloth in front of the flash or bounce it with a white card.

You can use the flash on the camera hot-shoe or, if you have wireless flash triggers, you can use the off-camera flash. This will give you better results, but you will need someone to hold it.

Things to remember:

1. Depth of field

The first thing to remember when it comes to getting razor-sharp macro photos of flowers is depth of field (DOF). DOF is very important in macro photography. If you are shooting with a true macro lens with 1:1 magnification and your aperture is f/4, you’ll get only 1-2mm of total DOF. So, chances are, you won’t get everything you want in focus.

The solution is a smaller aperture. With an f/16 aperture, you can easily get 5-6mm total DOF and have everything you want in focus.

However, with such a small aperture, you’ll need lots of light. That’s why a flash is necessary for macro photography.

2. Focusing

Many photographers suggest that manual focus is better for macro photography, but I disagree with them.

I always use autofocus when taking macro pictures.

Why?

Because it’s easy, it’s fast, and you have fewer chances of taking out-of-focus pictures because both hands are free to hold the camera.

Just make sure that your hands and camera don’t move between focus lock and taking the picture.

3. Background

To achieve razor-sharp macro photos of flowers, you should always consider the background. In most cases, the background will be blurred, but, still, it should be clean and have contrasting colors.

4. Look from different angles

When we take photos of flowers, we usually take them from the top or the side. However, sometimes a flower can be very beautiful from the back, too.

When you are searching for a subject to shoot, always look it from different angles so that you can see and click something extraordinary – something that others can’t.

5. Dead flowers can be great subjects, too

We always try to take photos of fresh flowers, but sometimes dead flowers can be great subjects, as in the following image. When a flower is dead, and all the petals have fallen, it starts preparing seeds.

Sometimes those seeds look very beautiful and can be good subjects to shoot macro.

6. Shoot in RAW

To achieve razor-sharp macro photos of flowers, always shoot in RAW format because RAW files contain more details. Therefore, when you sharpen the image and enhance the colors in post-processing, you’ll get better results.

When you open a RAW image in post-processing software, it’ll look dull and lack sharpness, colors, and contrast. Don’t lose heart after seeing this. After a little bit of post-processing, it can often be better than a JPG image from the camera.

7. Keep your hands steady

A tripod is not a useful tool in macro photography because you’ll need to click at unusual angles.

If you have a moving subject, like insects, chances are, they’ll go away before you set up your tripod. So, it’s better to take photos with a handheld camera. Keep your elbows inside, which will give you support and lower your chances of camera shake.

8. Practice and be patient

If, after doing everything you have read in this article, you take photos that aren’t coming out sharp, don’t be disheartened. Have patience, and keep practicing. Eventually, you’ll get razor-sharp macro photos of flowers.

Keep clicking and share your pictures here. Share this article.

5 DIY Macro Photography Hacks for Stunning Macro Photos (on a Budget)

 

 

By: Jaymes Dempsey

Do you want to take stunning macro photos…

…on a budget?

In this article, I’m going to show you exactly how you can capture amazing macro photos (without breaking the bank). You’ll discover 5 DIY macro photography hacks which you can use for consistently gorgeous images.

Sound good?

Let’s dive right in, starting with:

1. Use a board for a stunning macro photography background

First things first:

In macro photography, the background matters almost as much as your main subject. Because the background is what makes your main subject stand out.

One of my favorite backgrounds is a solid, uniform color:

Dark black.

Black backgrounds allow you to capture somber, moodier macro photography. Like this:

Now, achieving a natural black background in nature can be tough. Which is why this DIY hack is so valuable. Because you can use it to create a deep black background in all of your macro photos.

Here’s what you do:

Step 1: Go to your local hardware store and purchase a plywood board. I’d suggest something ultra-thin (because wood can get heavy, fast). I’d also go for a decent size: at least two feet on all sides.

Step 2: Purchase black paint and primer. I recommend getting a sample paint pot (one should be more than enough). These are cheap and work just fine. The primer is to prevent the wood from tainting the color.

Step 3: Add the primer and paint the board. I’d recommend two coats of black paint for that ultra-dark look.

Step 4: Let the board dry.

Now comes the fun part:

Actually taking the photos!

You should choose a main subject that’s fairly light (e.g., yellow and white flowers). Position your main subject so that it’s in the sun, with the black board in the shade, a foot or so behind it. You want to create as much contrast as possible between the board and your subject. That is, you want a light subject on a dark board.

The goal is to lose absolutely all detail in the background. If you don’t fully achieve this in-camera, you can use an editing program to drop the blacks in your images.

You can still make this work with diffused (i.e., cloudy) light. But you’ll need to do a bit more work in post-processing to bring down the blacks.

Bottom line?

You can work some serious magic with just a board and some paint.

Try it yourself! And watch as you capture amazing macro images.

2. Use a lightbox for a stunning high-key, transparent look

Have you ever wanted to capture macro photos that look bright and high-key? Maybe even transparent?

With this DIY hack, you can!

All you need is a basic lightbox, often used by artists for tracing. You can purchase one for around 20 dollars on Amazon. While a bigger lightbox is generally better, anything A4 and above should work fine.

Once you have your lightbox, you’ll need to choose a main subject. Flowers with translucent petals work best. And the flatter the flower, the better.

You’ll want to work in a room that has only diffused ambient light. You want your flowers to have a soft, even look.

Then turn on the lightboard, and place your flowers on top of it.

I recommend shooting parallel to the lightbox from above. While you can do everything handheld, I don’t recommend this, especially if your flowers are more three dimensional. Instead, mount your camera on a tripod and use a narrow aperture (i.e., f/8 and above) to ensure perfect sharpness.

Once you have your shots, you’ll probably need to do a bit of post-processing. I recommend increasing the whites, to give a slightly brighter, airier look.

3. Shoot with one flower in a vase for powerful compositions

There’s no doubt about it:

The way that flowers are positioned can make a macro shot look amazing…or terrible. If several flowers are overlapping, your photo may fall flat.

But if you can isolate a single flower…

…that’s when things start to look really compelling.

Now, when you’re shooting in nature, you don’t have much control over this. You have to work with what you’ve got.

But if you use this DIY macro photography hack, you can capture a gorgeous set of macro flower photos.

Guaranteed.

Here’s how it works:

Go to your local grocery store, and purchase a bouquet of your favorite flowers. I like to work with tulips, but you can really use anything!

When you get home, check over the flowers for blemishes and other issues. Find the biggest, best-looking flowers of the bunch.

And then put them all in separate vases (or cups).

Note: You want the flowers to extend pretty far over the top of the vase, which is why I suggest you avoid taller vases.

The next time the light is good, take all the vases outside. Place them in front of a gorgeous background.

(I often use an orange sky at sunset.)

And then photograph all the flowers, individually. Because they’re in separate vases, they’ll all be perfectly isolated. And this will allow you to easily capture powerful compositions.

Try it.

You’ll love the final product.

4. Detach your lens for an artistic macro look

If you’re bored of getting the same macro look over and over again, then this DIY macro photography hack is for you.

It’ll help you capture photos with brilliant light leaks, like this:

If you’re familiar with the concept of freelensing, it’s like that, but with a twist.

Here’s how you do it:

Choose a backup camera body and a cheap camera lens in the 50mm range. (There’s a slight risk of exposing your camera sensor to dirt.)

Focus your lens to infinity.

Then turn off your camera, and detach the lens.

Next, turn the camera back on, and pull the lens just slightly away from the camera (it should still be detached!).

This will actually magnify your subject, while often giving you some amazingly artistic light leaks.

And while the technique may require a bit of experimentation, you’ll get the hang of it pretty quick, and you’ll capture some gorgeous macro photos.

5. Use fairy lights for amazing background bokeh

Here’s your final DIY macro photography hack (and it’s one of my favorites):

Use fairy lights for gorgeous macro backgrounds. They’ll get you photos like this:

To start, grab a set of fairy lights on Amazon (for around 10 dollars). I recommend a neutral or warmer color.

Go out to shoot around dusk, when the light is really starting to fade.

Find a nice subject, and position the fairy lights directly behind it. You can dangle them from surrounding vegetation, or you can hold them with your left hand.

Now, you don’t want to position the fairy lights too close, or else you’ll capture the wiring in your photos. Instead, you want them to show some nice bright light without being prominently featured.

You should also make sure to use a shallow aperture, in the area of f/2.8 to f/5.6. That way, the fairy lights will be fully blurred, creating some stunning bokeh.

The trick is an easy one, but it’ll get you amazing macro photos!

DIY macro photography hacks for stunning macro images:

You’ve now discovered five DIY macro photography hacks.

And you can use them for stunning macro photos all the time.

So go ahead and start. Make your black board. Grab yourself some fairy lights.

And take some amazing macro photos!  Share this article.

Do you have any DIY hacks of your own for beautiful macro shots? Share them in the comments!

 

 

This week's Photography Freebie

Ebook Photography Freebies

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Access these freebies here: https://amzn.to/3b76mGJ
You are NOT limited to just Photography Titles with this subscription.  And remember, you do NOT have to continue the FREE subscription past 30 days.  If you choose to cancel before day 30, the subscription cost you nothing.

Please share this post so others can enjoy the freebies too.  Thank you.

 

DIY Photography Backdrops for Still Life and Product Photography

Tags:  Photography for beginners, backdrop, Photography backdrop

 

By: Darina Kopcok 

Your choice of backdrop can have a big impact on the final look of your photos.

You may have purchased expensive professional photography backdrops because you know this. 

But whether you’re a hobbyist or pro, you probably already spend enough on your photography that you don’t want to shell out the big bucks for your props. Luckily, with a bit of creativity, you don’t have to.

Here are some of the best ways to create beautiful DIY photography backdrops for still life and product photography.

Painted canvas backdrop

For a magazine-quality look, my top pick for a still life photography backdrop is painted canvas.

Professional canvas backdrops are expensive, but you can make your own for a fraction of the retail price.

Go to your local hardware store and buy a canvas painter’s drop cloth.  These are pieces of canvas you use to protect the floor when painting interiors.

Canvas drop cloths are usually large, so you can cut them into four pieces to get four backgrounds out of one stretch of fabric. Make that eight if you go double-sided. 

While you’re at the hardware store, purchase two or three paint samples in a similar tone for each backdrop. Note that the canvas soaks up a lot of the paint, so you may need to purchase primer as well, or use more paint than you thought. 

Layer the paint onto the canvas with a small, good-quality roller, moving the roller in different directions.

To add more texture, scrunch up a rag or use a large sea sponge and dip it into the paints. Randomly press the rag onto the canvas.

Your backdrops will have a natural texture that enhances but doesn’t compete with your subject. The canvas also has a great subtle texture, too. 

Ceramic flooring tile

Another beautiful yet simple background is porcelain or ceramic tiles. You can get them from your local home improvement store. These are inexpensive and look great. They’re easily wipeable, which is a bonus if you’re dealing with food or liquid products.

Just make sure that any tiles you pick aren’t shiny, so you don’t get glare.  Good colors to choose are grey, black, white, or cool brown tones like taupe. These neutrals will enhance and complement a wide variety of products or still life subjects. They are better for smaller subjects because they tend to not be very large.

Painted wooden backdrops

These days, there are a lot of suppliers selling painted custom backdrops for still life photography, but painting some yourself can be a lot less costly, and you don’t need any special skills. 

To make your own, buy thin plywood sheets at the home improvement store. Pieces that are at least 2×3 feet should accommodate most of your set-ups. The bigger stores like Home Depot can also cut larger pieces into smaller ones for you, so you can get more mileage out them.

You can purchase paint samples from the hardware store as well, or use craft paints. Just make sure that any paints or varnishes you use are matte. Even some of the satin types can cause unwanted shine in your images. 

Choose three or four colors in a similar color family and pour them together in the middle of the board. Take a large sea sponge and dab the paint all over the board to create a blended and subtle, mottled effect.

Finish with a thin coat of matte, water-resistant sealer. 

Linens

Having a variety of linens on hand will make your life a lot easier as a still life photographer. 

Depending on what you shoot, these can run the gamut from natural fabric like linen to lightly patterned damask tablecloths.

You can use the fabric as the entire backdrop, as shown in the image below, or just to cover a portion of another backdrop.

When covering your entire surface with a piece of linen or tablecloth, place another layer of fabric underneath. This will plump it up and make it look more attractive.

Again, when choosing your colors, stick to neutrals. Shades of blue also look good, especially in dark and moody images. You can choose a pastel or brighter color depending on what you’re shooting and your desired result.

The key is that you don’t want your photography backgrounds competing with and drawing the eye away from your main subjects.

Vintage Tray

Don’t get rid of any old or vintage trays you may have kicking around. They also make great photography backgrounds for still life. 

Depending on the metal, they will often have a lovely patina that will add something special to your shots. They look great close up or at a distance, or can be used as an element in telling your story.

You can often find vintage trays for an affordable price at secondhand or antique stores.

As with any backdrop, it should not be reflective. 

Note that in the images below, the tray doesn’t look overly shiny, even though I backlit my subjects. It has a nice and subtle texture. 

Colored papers

Colored or textured craft or construction paper can make pretty and inexpensive photography backdrops that are light and easy to store.

Source large pieces of craft paper or construction paper at your local craft supply store, or check out sites like Amazon for packages of paper offering a variety of colors.

In the image below, I used a large piece of yellow construction paper as my background. To recreate this look, distance your paper a fair bit away from your set. This will help you get a blurred out horizon line and so your subject doesn’t look “stuck” to your background.

Wooden cutting boards

Depending on the size, a wooden cutting board can function as a nice backdrop or be used as a layering piece in some types of still life shoots, like food photography.

Be careful about purchasing boards with a warm, orange, or yellowish tinge. Since most food is quite warm in tone, an image that is warm throughout can end up looking dated.

Also, the camera tends to exaggerate this orange tone. I find that I have to decrease the orange saturation in all of my images to start with.

Look for light boards like pine, or boards in deep espresso for darker shots. You can also paint these in whatever color you want. In the image below, I painted mine white and distressed it with fine sandpaper.

Be sure to keep painted boards for photography purposes only, because they won’t be food safe.

To sum up

There are so many different ways to create stunning still life and product photography backdrops without the expense of buying and shipping wooden backdrops from specialist suppliers.

These are just a few ideas, but also look at contact paper, wallpaper, burlap, and old pieces of wood.

Experiment with the items you already own before spending a lot of money on costly photography backdrops. 

Do you have other tips for DIY photography backdrops? Share with us in the comments section!

Share this article.

 

 

DIY Photography: How to Make Your Own DIY Lightstick for Cool Photos!

Tags: Photography for beginners, Lightstick, DIY

 

 

A Post By: Simon Bond

In this article, you’ll learn how to make your own DIY lightstick.

You’ll be able to use this to create fascinating light paintings, and the best thing is, you can do it on a budget!

The simple DIY lightstick is made with easily available household objects and a set of fairy lights. Once it’s made, you’ll be able to create beautiful light patterns during long exposure photos.

Using a light stick for light painting can transform a scene.

What is light painting

Light painting is a long exposure technique.

To achieve this kind of photo, you’ll need a camera on a tripod, and usually, the photo will be taken at night. The exception to this would be a studio that is completely dark – this too can be used for light painting.

Most people will know light painting as simply spelling something in the sky with a torch.

There are two main forms of light painting, kinetic light painting, and regular light painting. In this article, you’ll learn about using a light stick to create regular light paintings.

There are light sticks out there you can buy. This photo was taken using a pixelstick.

Lightsticks you can buy

You can buy a ready-made lightstick.

Indeed, some of these are already quite cheap and will give you the chance to practice some of the ideas presented in this article. There are also those sticks that are more expensive.

It’s worth keeping the more expensive sticks in mind, as they will give you more options when compared to a stick like the one you’ll be shown how to make in this article.

• LED light sticks – The creme of the crop are the LED light sticks made by pixelstick and magilight.
• Glow sticks – The glow sticks often seen at parties and festivals. They’re cheap, and can be used for light painting.
• Toy light stick – Head down to your local toy shop and pick up a light saber. Indulge your inner child, and it also makes some great photos!
• Light painting swords – These are similar to kids’ toys, but are made specifically with photographers’ needs in mind. They are available through this site.

You’ll use tie straps to attach the wire to the tube.

How to make a DIY light stick

There are some very good cheap options when it comes to light sticks, and you might decide to pursue one of those instead of making a DIY lightstick. If you want a little challenge, then read on and see what you can make.

The supplies you’ll need

First of all, let’s gather the supplies you’ll need. You can find most at home, however, you may need to visit your local DIY store or look online for some too.

• Battery operated fairy lights.
• A piece of plumbing pipe. Around one meter long, and 2cm in diameter.
• A plumbing pipe connection piece. A t-shape variety is best, and also 2cm in diameter.
• A set of tie straps.
• A copper piping half-circle bracket.
• Wire cutters.
• A saw.
• Solder and soldering iron.
• Electrical tape.
• Glue gun.
• Bungee cord.

The battery pack needs to be glued onto the stick as well.

Putting the whole thing together

Now you have everything you need, take the following steps to put it all together.

The task is fairly simple. It’s really just attaching some fairy lights to a stick. Why the plumbing tube? That’s so you can break it down to a stick that’s half of its size in an easy way.

Attaching the fairy lights

1. Take your length of plumbing tube and use the saw to cut it in half. The length of the 2 halves is optional. In my case, I went with 50cm.
2. Attach the two pieces together using the connection piece.
3. Now Attach the end of the fairy light wire to the end of your tube use a tie strap.
4. Pull out the fairy lights to the length of the tube. Then give a little slack to allow the tube to be detached at the connection point.
5. Use another tie strap to attach the fairy light wire to the other end of the tube.
6. Run the wire back down the length of tubing again, and then attach the wire to the tube using another tie strap.
7. You’ll now have excess wire and fairy lights left over. You could repeat steps 4,5 and 6 if you wish, or continue to the next part.

This stick divides into two. This makes it easier to carry around and gives you the option of using the 

stick at half its full length.

Putting the battery pack on, and finishing the stick.

1. Use the wire cutters to cut away the excess wire, leaving around 20cm to the battery pack.
2. Strip away some of the plastic coatings on the wire on the side with the battery pack, and the side attached to the piping.
3. Solder the two pieces of wire back together again. Make sure the correct wire is soldered together or the lights won’t work. When you cut the wire, two wires will be revealed on each side of the wiring. You need to solder this back together to re-complete the circuit.
4. Use the electrical tape to cover up the soldered wire, or if you have it, plastic that shrinks when heated to cover the join.
5. Test the lights, they should now work, and you should now have a light stick!
6. Take the copper bracket and hoop it around the pipe, and touch it to the battery pack to ensure it connects.
7. Use the glue gun and add glue to the joining section on the battery pack, the pipe, and the copper bracket.
8. Hold everything in place until the glue has dried hard.
9. Finally, run the length of the bungee cord through the piping, and knot it at both ends. The cord should be tight enough to hold the pipe together, but loose enough that you can easily detach the two halves of the stick.

The stick is now ready, it just needs the bungee cord put through the middle.

Light painting with a lightstick

Now you have a DIY lightstick you can use to create interesting light paintings.

Lightsticks work because of the repetition factor – lots of lights moving altogether in a uniform pattern. It’s best to keep your light paintings relatively simple. Use defined movements, like spinning around, to create light cones. Spin the stick around to create circles, or simply walking along with the stick to create light ribbons.

What you do creatively with the stick is now up to you, but enjoy experimenting!

It’s usually a good idea to keep light paintings simple, with a defined message.

It’s always fun to make something for your photography. Have you ever tried to make an accessory yourself? Maybe it was for flash photography, something like a snoot?

Here at digital photography school, we love to hear from you, so please share your experiences. If you have any light painting photos taken with a light stick that you would like to share, that would also be great!

 

Nine Ways to Boost Your Kit Lens Creativity

 Tags: Photography for beginners, Kit lens, Light Painting

 

 By: Simon Bond

The first lens many photographers will own is the kit lens. This lens typically covers a focal range of 18-55mm and has a variable maximum aperture. So before you move onto other lenses, how can you get the most out of this particular lens? Well, there is an awful lot that can be achieved with this lens when you put your mind to it. There are limitations of course, but there is even more room to experiment with your kit lens creativity! So let’s look at some of the ways you can do just that.

This photo used the kit lenses ability to zoom to do some kinetic light painting.

1 – Kinetic Light Painting

Light painting is an exciting form of photography and one that you can experiment with using a humble kit lens. What the kit lens is well suited for is a niche form of light painting, called kinetic light painting. This form of light painting involves moving the camera, as opposed to moving the light source. Light painting uses a long exposure, and as with all long exposure shots, it’s a good idea to use a tripod. So what types of kinetic light painting will work well?

• Camera rotation – This is a type of light painting that involves moving the camera around while it is attached to a tripod. Use a wide focal length, and experiment with light sources that are above the camera. Tall structures like skyscrapers often work well for this technique.
• Zoom – The 18-55mm focal range is ideal for zoom light painting work, good for kit lens creativity. In fact, perhaps the only better lens would be a superzoom 18-300mm. This time you’ll change the focal length of the lens during the photo, causing light to be painted across the scene.

Panning is a great technique to practice, and it’s fun.

2 – Panning

While it’s true you can use more or less any lens for panning, you don’t need an upgrade from your kit lens to make this type of photo either. In fact, a focal length of around 55mm is often ideal for this particular technique. You simply require a shutter speed of around 1/20th second. There are some excellent guides on this subject, and the technique is simple and fun to master.

1. Find an area where you’re moving subject will move across the area you intend to photograph. You’ll want your moving object to run parallel to you, relative to where you’re positioned.
2. Use a shutter speed of around 1/20th. You can increase or decrease this if you wish. At slower shutter speeds the chance of camera shake increases, so you will need to be very steady when tracking the motion of the object you’re panning. It’s possible to use a faster shutter speed for panning, but then you’ll need a fast moving object to pan with.
3. As the object you’re panning approaches, begin to follow the motion with your camera. When you’re confident you’re following the motion steadily, press your shutter gently as you continue to move with the object.

Using your lens for long exposure photos can be creative.

3 – Zoom Burst

You’ll notice zoom is a kinetic light painting technique. It can also be used during the day, to create a dynamic feel to your photo. The shutter speed needed is similar to that of panning, so around 1/20th. You can also use a tripod for extra stabilization of your photo. It’s best to zoom into your subject when practicing this technique, which can work very nicely for portrait photos. Once again the kit lens is well suited to this since it allows a zoom range from 18mm to 55mm.

4 – Glass Ball Refraction Photography

Refraction photography is a niche that can use any kind of camera. You can certainly use a kit lens to get this type of photograph. The technique revolves around using a crystal ball, though other objects such as wine glasses filled with water will work. When you consider that a glass ball works like an external lens optic, in a sense, you’re getting your creativity from another lens. However, you still need a kit lens to take the photo! As these photos work best with a blurred background look to photograph at 55mm, and with the largest aperture you can.

In this photo, a wine glass was used to show refraction.

5 – Low-Key Light Portrait

You don’t need low light to create low-key portraits, and with that in mind, the kit lens can be a very useful lens. Using your lens at around 50mm will work nicely for your portrait, and you can use your camera body to expose at -2 or -3 exposure value. You’ll need to set your aperture and shutter speed to the appropriate settings to get this exposure value, depending on the environment you’re in. To make a low-key photo you’ll need a large difference in light from model to the background. This can be achieved through finding a place where a shard of sunlight comes through a gap in the roofing, perhaps at a market. You now need your model to be lit up by the sun, while the background will be underexposed, and therefore dark.

You can use any lens for low-key portraits, including the kit lens.

6 – Long Exposure Photography

Your kit lens will not restrict your ability to take long exposure photos. The limiting factor here will be a lack of a tripod, and perhaps a lack of the correct filter. That means you can take amazing long exposure photos with a kit lens, so long as you have the correct additional equipment.

• Car light trails – Find the right location above a road with plenty of traffic, and you can take photos of light trails produced by cars. Close down the aperture, and you’ll also create a starburst effect with any street lights nearby. You’ll need exposure times of 5 seconds or more for this type of photo.
• Moving water – Moving water can look attractive in your photo, and a kit lens can certainly capture this. Exposure times of around 1 second or more will give moving water a silky look when photographed.
• Light painting – The merits of the kit lens for kinetic light painting has already been discussed. It’s no surprise you can also up your kit lens creativity with light painting of any type.

Fireworks can be recorded using a kit lens, and it’s great for capturing the whole scene at wide focal 

lengths.

7 – Attaching a Filter

A great way to increase your kit lens creativity is to add a filter, and that’s not the digital kind. There are a good variety of filters you can add to your kit lens that will give you extra options as a photographer. These can be graduated sunset filters, that add warms tones to the sky. Alternatively, a strong ND filter will allow you to take long exposure photos during the day, using your kit lens and a tripod. This article will give you an idea of some of the available filters you can use. You’ll need to use the correct sized filter, with 52mm or 58mm being typical for a kit lens.

 

Filters can be attached to your kit lens. This photo was taken with an infra-red filter attached to a kit lens.

8 – Get Wide

At 18mm your kit lens is wide enough to capture a good amount of the scene in a landscape photo. This means as you travel with this lens you can take some photos of amazing viewpoints. Combine this with a technique such as long exposure or kinetic light painting and you will get your kit lens creativity! Note that if you’re using a crop sensor APS-C camera 18mm is effectively 28.8mm on a full-frame camera.

9 – Portrait Work

At the other end of the scale with your kit lens is 55mm. Once again when using an APS-C camera this will effectively be 88mm if this was used on a full-frame camera. These focal lengths are ideal for portrait photography though. Any compression of the face won’t be too extreme at the effective focal length of 88mm. So focal lengths from around 30mm through to 55mm will give you some good compression ratios to work with for portrait photography.

Whether your portraits are street photos, posed, or travel, the kit lens is going to give you nice results.

How Will You Get Your Kit Lens Creativity?

The drive for more creativity is always there with photography. There is a lot you can do using your kit lens if you choose to. The list above gives you some examples of how you might go about doing that. Have you tried any of these techniques with the kit lens? Are there any other ways you’ve taken interesting photos with this particular lens? Please share your thoughts, and photos in the comments section.

 

Shooting in the Twilight Zone

 Tags:  Photography for beginners, Twilight

 

By: Anne McKinnell

For most photographers, the best time to shoot is during the golden hours – those times right around sunrise or sunset when the sky is full of drama.

For me though, the best time to shoot is a little while after all that drama happens and all the other photographers have packed up and gone home – twilight – when the skies become calm and peaceful.

Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California

The length of twilight varies dramatically depending on the time of year and your position on earth. At the poles twilight can last as long as 2 weeks! But generally speaking, twilight usually starts shortly after the sun drops below the horizon and continues for another 40-60 minutes or so before the sky is completely dark.

During this time the sky still has plenty of rich colour but there is no longer any direct light. You might be surprised how much colour there really is in the sky during twilight since a camera’s sensor can pick up more light than we are able to see with our eyes.

The images in this post demonstrate how different the sky can look between the early stages of twilight to the end of twilight.

Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, Georgia

I prefer to shoot twilight after sunset, but of course it happens in reverse order in the morning too!

Assuming you are shooting after sunset, the first stage of twilight is when the subtle pinks begin to show in the sky. Slowly the blues will begin to appear. I love to shoot landscapes during this early stage when there is still a lot of ambient light so the land is not entirely dark.

Basin Head, Prince Edward Island, Canada

During this early stage the sky is often much brighter than your subject which makes exposure difficult. It’s a great time to use high dynamic range (HDR) photography and blend multiple exposures to maintain detail in the landscape. Or, depending on the type of scene you are photographing, you can use graduated neutral density filters to even out the exposure.

Soon the sky will begin to get darker and the pinks and blues will deepen. The exposure will even out so that neither HDR nor graduated neutral density filters are needed.

Mule Ears, Bid Bend National Park, Texas

During the later stages of twilight the pinks will fade and the blues will intensify to a dark cobalt shade. This is a great time to photograph cityscapes. The combination of natural light in the sky and artificial city lights is magical.

Seattle, Washington

To make the most of the limited amount of time you have to shoot during twilight, scout out your location before hand. Twilight doesn’t last long so you need to be prepared. If you can’t make a separate scouting trip at least go an hour or two early so you have plenty of time to explore before deciding what to shoot.

Find a subject with a distinct shape and take some test shots to figure out the best composition and perspective. Keep your eye out for good foreground elements and any artificial light sources that might be present later.

Tips:

• Use a low ISO to reduce the amount of noise in the image.
• Long shutter speeds will allow the camera to pick up lots of colour.
• If there are city lights in your image use a small aperture, like f/22, to turn the lights into star bursts.
• A tripod is an absolute requirement if you want a low ISO, long shutter speed, and small aperture.
• You may need a polarizing filter and/or a graduated neutral density filter for the early stages of twilight.
• Use a cable release and/or a 2 second timer so you do not introduce camera shake.
• Use your mirror lock-up feature so the movement of the mirror does not introduce camera shake.
• Your camera’s auto-focus may not work in low light conditions. If you set up ahead of time, you can use your auto-focus while there is still light in the sky and then turn auto-focus off to prevent your camera from attempting to refocus when it is is darker outside. Otherwise you will need to focus manually.
• Use your histogram to ensure you are getting a good exposure.
• Bring a flashlight so you can find your way home.
• Wear or bring bug spray so the little bugs don’t ruin your good time.
• Bring warm clothes! Don’t miss the perfect shot because you got cold and left too early.

Shooting at twilight can sometimes take a little preparation and planning but the rewards are definitely worth it.  Share this article.