Le photographe numérique

So, if you’ve read anything about photography you will no doubt have come across the rule of thirds as demonstrated by the picture Cheesy Mouse below and if not, here is a free lesson here on the subject (http://goo.gl/Iatg6).

 

For a series of complex reasons, areas of importance in a picture are best placed where the lines intersect and most cameras and apps can provide you with an on screen grid to help your composition. It’s a great starting place to help you take better pictures, but it’s really only a dumbed down version of composition for photographers.

 

The golden ratio can be seen in artwork as early as 300 b.c, and in the 16th century it was dubbed the divine proportion. It is a mathematical formula called PHI and crops up in an extraordinarily diverse range of nature, artwork and design (from the Mona Lisa to the Great Pyramids) and has fascinated some of the greatest thinkers of our time.

 

Essentially, scientists have proven that when you read a picture (yes read…more on that in my forthcoming book and advanced lessons) your brain is looking for the presence of the Golden ration as it defines beauty.

For our purposes and to keep it simple, we are going to look at the Golden Spiral, as it is about placement and flow; helping guide the viewer’s eye and deliver satisfaction.

 

The Spiral is the natural path your follows as your brain tries to make sense of what it is viewing (like listening to a joke) and by placing the focal point at the end of the spiral you are delivering the punch line.

 

So, by understanding this, your compositions can deliver more impact and you’ll produce more successful pictures.

 

Read more : http://goo.gl/AP1wf

 

 

Time-lapse photography is an interesting technique that records a scene or objects that has a slow state-of-change and turns it into a video that plays back in high speed. The easiest way to do it is to have your camera stationary on something that changes slowly (e.g. clouds, plants growing, etc) and start taking series of photo for hours or even days. Hours and hour’s worth of photos are compressed into a video with merely few minutes playtime, thus creating a time lapsing effect.

 

In another word, it allows us to see the progress faster without having to wait along the actual time. Spotting sun’s movement from sunrise to sunset takes about 12 hours; it’s boring and you probably won’t notice the changes. But seeing it rise and set in 10 seconds, that’s pretty interesting!

In this article, we’ll show you how to create your own Time-lapse video.

 

To make things easier to digest, we’ve split the content up to several sections:

1. Understanding Time-lapse fundamentals

2. Choosing your camera for Time-lapse project

3. Post-editing your Time-lapse photos

4. Combining photos into Time-lapse video

 

Ready? Let’s do it : http://goo.gl/ZHlUb

 

 

In this tutorial we show you 6 simple studio light setups that will help you capture some of the most classic portrait lighting effects.

 

f you’re looking to take your photography further you’ll probably want to learn how to use off-camera flash. In this tutorial we show you 6 simple studio light setups that will help you capture some of the classic portrait lighting effects.

What’s more, these lighting techniques will provide you with a solid foundation from which you can start experimenting to find your own style.

 

In our lighting setups cheat sheet below you’ll learn how to use high contrast light at a 90-degree angle; diffused light and a reflector; high contrast light at 45 degrees; high contrast light at 45 degrees with a reflector; low contrast light at 45 degrees with a reflector; and finally rim lighting from behind.

 

Read more : http://goo.gl/GVVw9

 

 

To take a good photograph you need to know what good looks like….sounds daft I know, but training your eye is very important.
In this article, I’m going to show you several free sources of amazing photography one of which even tells you ‘pro tip’ per picture.
Plus an exercise to train your eyes.

 

The first and my all time favorite is the British newspaper; The Guardian;  eyewitness series and although photo journalism is not my thing you can’t help but be amazed, intrigued and learn so much from these images. It’s available on web (http://goo.gl/Y5l6c) or where it really shines is on an Ipad,  if you have one.

 

The pro tips are on the right hand side online, or behind the info button bottom left hand side on an Ipad.

 

This tells a story with a single powerful image and I feel its simplicity is its strength. When you take a look at each image I want you to start to do the following exercise:

 

Your mind analyses pictures in a fraction of a second without you consciously understanding the logic or the process. I want you to become very aware of the process, its super quick so pay attention.

 

Your eye will enter an image at a point it is drawn too, then wanders around gathering information until it can exit and move on to the next task. That’s why some images hold your eye for longer than others.

 

I often close my eyes load the images and then concentrate on observing my mind and my eyes.

 

1. Put your finger on the point your eye is draw towards
(often the lightest, brightest or most colourful point)

 

2. Mentally trace the path your eye takes around the picture.
(spot any S shapes or reverse S shapes?)

 

3. Has the photographer used the rule of thirds?
(Here’s a link to one of our 10 easy lessons on composition : http://goo.gl/NmIh8)

 

4. Has the photographer shot from his eye level
(a lower or higher perspective make a huge difference) 

 

5. What is the photographer trying to SAY?
(Strong pictures have a narrative) 

 

6. How has the photographer used the environment to do this? 

 

7. How has the photographer used light?
(i.e: Darker edges keep your eye in the picture for longer)

 

8. Why does the picture work?

 

9. Does it evoke an emotional response? 

 

10. From the above list, what could you apply to your pictures?

 

The Second source I can recommend is from the news agency Reuters called The Wider Image and is only available as an Ipad app.  It has a lead image and then a slideshow per story, but no pro tips I’m afraid.

 

Give the exercise a try; I want you to become very conscious of good images and why they work. Once you have mastered this, I’ll teach you to apply it to your own images.

I want share some tips which you should always keep in mind while Tilt shift Photography

+ The photo must be taken from above, but not directly overhead.
This only reflects what someone taking a photo of a miniature scene would likely do; it’s unlikely they would (or even could) be level to the subject. If you have a direct over shot, you won’t be able to get a decent depth of field that is required.

+ A simple scene is usually better than a complicated one.
This is because miniature scenes are usually very simple; you wouldn’t find a dense city block, for example, in a model railroad scene.

+ Photo sharpness is a must, as well as good lighting.
There will be enough blur in the photo as it is; your focal point must be sharp.

+ If people are in the scene, they need to be fairly obscure and small.
Again, reflecting what you’d see in a real miniature scene. People are very small, and not well detailed in miniature scenery.

+ Generally, avoid wide shots, and make sure the scene is interesting
For instance, an aerial photo of a cathedral with spires and flying buttresses is interesting, while an aerial photo of a flat-topped shopping mall would not be.

Once the photo is selected, then the tilt shift treatment can begin. I use Photoshop, and while a complete tutorial is out of the scope of this post. Yet, I can give you a brief over view of the process. First, you determine what your point of interest (and therefore focus) will be in the photo. You create a mask, they use the gradient tool on the mask to select was is to be in focus, and how the blur gradient will be placed. The the Lens Blur filter is applied. The gradient placement and amount of Lens Blur usually requires some trial and error to get right. Once it is satisfactory, the look of being a miniature is already apparent. Next, I kick up the master saturation level about 30%, giving more to greens sometimes, or other colors that you want to pop out. In miniature scenes, typically colors are very bold and saturated, hence this step. Finally, using the Curves tool, I will enhance the contrast in the high tonal highlights of the photo. That’s pretty much it, in brief.

Below are some more great stuff recommended by Patrick Ashley. Its really worth reading such a awesome stuff.

Tilt-Shift Photography Photoshop Tutorial (http://goo.gl/IPTkO)

Tilt-Shift Miniature Fake Technique in Photoshop CS: A Simple How-To (http://goo.gl/Mg3gW)

How to Photoshop Tilt Shift a video tutorial (http://goo.gl/eQ2sG)

Tilt Shift Photoshop Tutorial: How to Fake Miniature Scenes (http://goo.gl/XIc0z)

Simulated tilt-shift using Photoshop Elements (http://goo.gl/IKO3H)

Faking Tilt-Shift – a Tutorial for Realistic Miniaturised Photos (http://goo.gl/QU1mA)

Fake Model Photography (http://goo.gl/ospOs)

Simulate original pictures as model photography http://goo.gl/MI1K5)

Create Tilt-shift Miniature Effect in Photoshop (http://goo.gl/WuuQq)

Your digital camera’s histogram serves as a guide to help you better underststand your exposure. To this end, it aims to illustrate the range of tones in a scene. On the left of your histogram you’ll find the extreme of dark shadows, while on the far right you will find your bright highlights. But it’s not always that simple to read a histogram (find out What your histogram says about your landscapes).

In the latest of our photography cheat sheet series we’ve compiled this handy guide for explaining how this exposure chart represents the range of tones withing your scene. Simply drag and drop this chart on to your desktop and keep it for a handy reference the next time you find yourself confused as to how to read a histogram.

 

Find out how aperture, focus distance and focal length affect what will appear sharp with our free depth of field photography cheat sheet.

 

Depth of field, or ability to control which parts of your pictures are sharp, is one of the main advantages of owning an SLR camera. Look at a scene with your own eyes, and everything from your feet to the horizon is usually in focus. But your pictures do not need to look like this.

 

You can set up your digital camera so that only certain parts of the shot are in sharp focus, and others are artistically blurred. This allows you to create emphasis where you want it – and to hide elements that would otherwise prove distracting.

 

Your lens can only focus sharply at one distance. However, due to the optical property known as ‘depth of field’ a range of distances will actually appear sharp. This zone of sharpness will vary enormously.

 

Our latest photography cheat sheet examines three common ways you can affect depth of field. Our infographic looks at how aperture, focus distance and focal length will affect what appears sharp in your images (for more on this you might also find useful our guide to Depth of field: what you need to know for successful images (http://goo.gl/WcrBk).

 

 

 

 

If you want to give your portraits more of a professional look or simply expand your repertoire as a portrait photographer, you’ll want to start experimenting with studio lighting techniques.

 

Chances are you’ve dabbled with flash or tried a simple lighting set-up at home, but if you want to really start taking control of your lighting and drawing out the character of your subject, you’ll want to broaden your horizons a bit.

Below we’ve suggested three straightforward studio lighting techniques using two-head lighting set-ups you can use to fine tune your light.

 

We’ve also compiled these advanced studio lighting techniques as a photography cheat sheet, which you can either drag and drop to your desktop or click on directly to view in higher resolution.

 

No. 1 : Add a hair light to lift your subject

 

Most studio lighting set-ups only emphsasise one facet of your subject’s face. By adding an additional light to the rear of the set, you can start to create a more three-dimensional effect.

 

The hair light should be positioned carefully behind your sitter to one side, but not so it shines directly into the lens. Meter this light separately with all others switched off, so that it’s half a stop dimmer than your main light.

Use a snoot to create a small but direct patch of light that picks up the texture of the hair.

 

No. 2: The Tri-flector technique

 

A real innovation in lighting gadgets is the tri-flector. Three mini reflectors are designed into a single unit, which is placed on a low stand underneath your subject.

 

Each of the panels can move independently to remove shadows from the right, left and underneath, leaving a stark but glamorous result.

 

Add a single light slightly above the model’s eye level pointing down and you’ll achieve a flawless result every time. Add a hair light behind to emphasise the shape of your sitter.

 

No. 3: Light the background

 

Most backgrounds serve a secondary purpose and are rarely included in lighting techniques, yet this set-up can give real depth. Assemble your lighting as above, with a second light behind your model out of shot.

Place this low to the ground and fix a snoot or honeycomb to force the light in one direction.

 

Point the light at the background with the centre of the light exactly behind the centre of your subject’s face. Meter independently so it’s one stop over your main light reading.

 

 

Download the Advanced Studio Lighting Techniques Cheat Sheet : http://goo.gl/aet3C

 

 

 

What is hyperfocal distance?

 

Before the introduction of autofocus cameras, the use of ‘hyperfocal distance’ was a popular focus technique used by photographers – and it’s still one of the really neat camera tricks for times when your camera struggles to autofocus in difficult lighting conditions.

 

Hyperfocal distance is basically the distance that you can focus to at any given aperture, where the resulting depth of field will retain sharpness in the scene from as far away as infinity to the closest possible point.

The depth of field increases greatly when combining smaller apertures with wider-angle zoom settings, so using the hyperfocal distance technique is particularly useful for landscape photography, especially when you’re using a lens that has a built-in distance scale.

 

For our latest photography cheat sheet we put together an easy-to-follow table charting the hyperfocal distance at common focal lengths and apertures for cameras with both APS-C or full frame sensor sizes.

 

Read all : http://goo.gl/CtWCm