Photography and Digital Camera

Portrait Photography

Filed Under Photography

           In portrait photography there are a few guidelines that you should review and think about when you take pictures of people.  The  three general types of portrait photography are: close-ups or facial shots, upper body shots, or environmental portraits (where you focus on the subject and the surrounding environment that gives the subject character). 

           Some of the best portraits are where the subjects look completely comfortable like their not looking at a camera.  When people try to smile or make a certain kind of face for the camera it usually doesn’t seem very genuine.  The trick is to capture the image when the subject(s) aren’t necessarily focused on the camera.  The main purpose of portrait photography is to capture the essence of the subject(s).  Different people have different techniques for doing this, one of which is taking a picture while the subject is planning on smiling and then take another couple while they are recovering.  Or another way would be to tell a funny joke where they can’t help but genuinely laugh and smile.  But probably the best way is just to catch them off guard by waiting for the right opportunity and snapping a picture right when they look at you not expecting a camera.

           Close-up portraits usually have the subject’s shoulders and head or less.  They are basically framed around the face.  These are the best to capture expressions and glamour shots. It is very important to have the light coming from a good angle for these.  If you want to accent wrinkles or small details you should have the light coming from the side or from the top.  If you want flattering pictures you should take these on a day that’s cloudy so there is a lot of diffused light and therefore no shadows. 

           You will get the best results if the subject is brighter than the background so there is not much distraction.  For these you should use a wide aperture (low f/stop) to make the background out of focus and less of a distraction.  Professionals usually use a fixed telephoto lens that’s 90 mm or a little higher for portraits for the reason that it de-emphasizes the subjects nose or any other unflattering feature because at that far away the nose or any other significant feature doesn’t seem closer to the camera than the rest of the face.

           Upper body shots or midrange portraits are a little less personal than close-ups.  These are easier to get satisfactory results from mainly because your subject is probably more relaxed plus you can include a little of the background.  These are probably the most commonly used for single subjects and multiple subjects.  The ideal lens would be around a 90 mm fixed telephoto lens but if there’s many subjects in your frame you will need more of a wide-angle lens.  These are usually used to mark occasions such as graduation, school yearbook, birthdays etc…

           Environmental portraiture are portraits that let us into the life of the subject.  These usually include the whole subject in a scenario or partaking in some hobby that they enjoy.  These are best for telling a story to the viewer about the subject in the pictures.  Photojournalists almost always use these to look into the lives of interesting people.  These also work very well in Black and White.

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Photography Exposure Basics

Filed Under Photography

           Exposure is the amount of light collected by the sensor in your camera during a single picture.  If the shot is exposed too long the photograph will be washed out.  If the shot is exposed too short the photograph will appear too dark.  Almost all cameras today have light meters which measure the light in the given shot and set an ideal exposure automatically.  Most people  depend on the light meter which is fine, but if  you know how to control your exposures you can get some creative and sometimes better pictures.  (The photo on the left is with low shutter speed and narrow aperture (high f/stop).

           The two primary controls your camera uses for exposure are shutter speed (the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light) and aperture (the size of the lens opening that lets light into the camera).  Shutter speeds are measured in seconds and more commonly fractions of a second. (1/2000 of a second is very fast and 8′ seconds is extremely slow).  Apertures are measured in something called f/stops (a very wide aperture is f/2.8 and a very small aperture is f/19).

           You might wonder why there is not just a constant shutter speed or a constant aperture so that you would only have to worry about one control.  The reason is that even though they both control the amount of light getting to the sensor they also control other aspects of the picture.  Shutter speed for example can be used to freeze subjects in midair with a fast speed or it can be used to blur water with a slow speed.  Aperture controls the depth-of-field which is what is in focus in the picture.  Aperture can be used to draw attention to one subject (like the flower on the right) by blurring the background with a wide aperture (low f/stop).  Aperture can also be used to focus everything in a picture with a narrow aperture (high f/stop).  (The photo on the left is with Wide aperture (low f/stop) and corresponding shutter speed).

           On most digital SLR’s (Single Lens Reflex) cameras today you can even change the sensitivity of the sensor when collecting light which is called the ISO speed.  The common span of ISO speed is 100 to 800.  The higher the ISO speed the faster the camera collects light but it also adds more noise to the photograph than the lower speeds.  For example if your trying to take pictures in dim light without a tripod you might want to raise the ISO speed in order to get a picture that’s not blurry.  Most of the time you should keep it at a lower ISO speed if there is enough light, but it makes a big difference when there isn’t.

Low shutter speed and slightly narrow aperture (pretty high f/stop)

The best way to learn how to use shutter speed and aperture is to just keep experimenting with them.

Source : www.picturecorrect.com

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Nikon D700

Filed Under Digital Camera

Nikon Corporation gives the introduction of its latest FX-format digital SLR, Nikon D700 - exceptional performance combined with superior versatility functional mobility and to provide serious photographers with excellent value.

The new Nikon D700 has a wide range of features such as high definition, 3-inch VGA TFT-LCD Monitor with wide viewing angle; 12.1 million pixels-FX format of a CMOS sensor surface 36, 0 x 23.9 mm, the sensitivity range of ISO 200 to 6400; gust up to 5 frames per second (and up to 8 frames per second with the option multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D10, Nikon’s exclusive 51-point AF - System; Scene Recognition System for better auto focus, auto exposure and white balance automatic detection.

Nikon D700 Features :
- Large image sensor, developed by Nikon; 12.1 effective megapixels
- Wide sensitivity range
- High-speed performance
- EXPEED image processing
- Scene Recognition System
- Picture Control System
- Active D-Lighting
- AF system with high-density 51-point AF
- Choose from two Live View modes
- DX cropping mode
- High-definition, 3-inch VGA, TFT LCD monitor with wide viewing angle
- Viewfinder provides 95% frame coverage, 0.72x magnification in FX format
- Image Sensor Cleaning
- Built-in flash with wireless commander function

Nikon D700 Specification :

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