Telephoto lenses - tips for good photography

A telephoto lens brings you closer to distance subjects. Very useful when you are photographing wildlife and sport. Also useful when you want to take candid shots of people at a wedding, you can stay remote and observe the action from a distance. If you are not using a flash they may not even know you have taken a picture.

The pictures below were taken at telephoto focal lengths.

 

Focal length 90mm using a 'prime lens', not a zoom

Focal length 160mm using a zoom lens which can go from 28 to 160mm

Focal length 160mm using a zoom lens which can go from 28 to 160mm

Focal length 330mm using a zoom lens which can go from 105 to 450mm
I wonder what the groom had just said to his dad?

Telephoto lenses do two key things to the image. They foreshorten perspective, making things not only look closer to you but also distances between objects at different distances away appear closer together. Secondly, the depth of field, the amount in focus is also shallower, which generally means distracting detail in the background is lost to blurring and the 'bokeh' effect seen clearly in the highlights in the vegetation in the last picture.

Have fun playing with your zoom and telephoto lenses but use their effects knowingly, and creatively.

Wide angle lenses - tips for good Photography

Currently my widest angle lens is 18mm and I use it mostly for landscape shots and when I am forced to stand too close to the subject and want to get more of them, or the background, into the frame. I don't tend to use it for deliberate distortion effects but may do if the right subject comes along.

The first picture is of Buckstone Edge. With the wide angle I was able to include the grass in the foreground which I also lightened by 'dodging' in photoshop to add depth to the image. Depth is a perspective advantage of wide angled lenses. It also fitted with the sunshine and shadow weather. The second is of Talacre Lighthouse. The wide angle makes the lighthouse appear to lean backwards but I chose not to correct it as the effect added to the height of this sad derelict building. The last shot is of Eliseg's Pillar and although I have partly corrected it, there is still a slipping away on the right due to the distortion of a wide angled lens. In all three images getting a lower perspective added to the wide angled effect. If you photograph people with a wide angled lens up close from a  low or high point of view then either their feet or their heads look disproportionally big! Try it and see.

Distortion increases towards the edges which can be a problem when photographing buildings and people at the edge of the frame. Convergence of lines is also a greater issue with wide angle lenses, bit all can be either corrected or reduced afterwards with the right software and willingness to learn how to use it. An extremely wide angled lens is also called a 'fish-eye' because the distortion is so great but sometimes this effect can work to the advantage of the photographer with the right subject and situation.

To zoom or not to zoom? - tips for good Photography

Many cameras have a zoom lens as standard now. Even when you buy a 'big' DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex Camera) the lens that comes with them as a standard is usually some kind of zoom. It is because we all want the detail, the close-up, the intimate, to be able to catch the distant action. These three images of the beautiful Raffaelle Monti marble statue of a Veiled Vestal Virgin show how a true optical zoom work, all the increasing detail is real detail. The stone seemed almost semi-transparent, an amazing carving. It is to be seen in the Oak room at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. It was featured in the recent film version "Pride and Prejudice". The alternative to zoom is to actually  get in closer and not to be 'lazy' about composition by using the zoom.

The Human eye has no zoom, but is remarkably good at differentiating light and dark and colour. We have designed cameras and binoculars to do with lenses what we cannot do ourselves, and that is to get up close and personal even when we are sometimes physically remote.

Do not however trust digital zoom. As mentioned in a previous post digital zooms are filling in the tone and colour between the known tones and colours using software prediction. Any real detail is not being recorded. Optical zooms are actually using a set of lenses to effectively get closer to the subject and real detail is being seen, just as if we were walking up the the object to see it better with our eyes. Unfortunately all those lenses and the distance makes the image dimmer and poor quality lenses not only create a blurred image, but one that is often darker and flat in tone. Of course the higher the quality of the lens then the higher the price, but for good quality images there is no shortcut.

Next blog will be on wide angle and telephoto lenses and some of the interesting effects you can get when using your different lenses.

Babies - tips for good Photography

Once again it is the eyes that need the photographers attention. Make sure they are in focus and have that all important catch-light. Most babies cannot hold themselves up, so a watchful parent and a quick shutter release finger are also essential. Also getting down to them is very important, don't be afraid to roll around on the floor to get something a little different.

Mums and Dads work hard during a photo shoot, helping to keep the baby amused and photogenic. Sometimes photographing them asleep works really well with the right lighting. Resting them on some comfortable cushions and getting in close is good.

Always be prepared for the candid shot and the unusual angle that sometimes results. You cannot pose children, you just have to keep your eyes open to the possibilities.

It is always a pleasure photographing young ones, they only have to be themselves, something many adults struggle with.

Photographing bands - tips for good Photography

It was my pleasure last weekend to photograph a Manchester band called Rachael and the Red Socks. Despite the weather, their determination to be filmed for a website and have me do a few promotional shots carried them through the elements. It was also great when they played- being only one of two in the audience, not counting the sound and videographer, was a privileged position. If you want to get more information and to see and hear the band please visit their website at Rachael and the Red Socks. Perhaps when the weather is more clement I will get a chance to photograph them again with more time to think about the set up and atmosphere - perhaps look to do something more moody.

Photographing musicians is great because they love what they do and have beautiful instruments which make for an automatically photogenic pose and portrait even when they are not playing them. I am very lucky to be married to a beautiful harpist and enjoy photographing Oona with her harp. You can hear my wife play by following this link to Oona's website.

Live concerts pose a whole separate set of problems especially if it is an orchestra. A tip from an earlier post is that you try to get in close, but that's easier said than done. With a camera with a really good optical zoom you do stand more chance. Make sure it is an optical zoom though, digital zoom is not really more detailed, it is just the enhancement of the pixels through software. This is the Jan Modelski Orchestra who asked me to take some pictures. They are a friendly group and their website can be found at The Jan Modelski Orchestra.

Ask a musician if they would like a photo of themselves with their instrument, they might just say yes!

Amazing software - tips for good Photography

Modern software is amazing! I use 'Adobe photoshop CS4' but there are plenty of simple and more sophisticated programs out there to suit all abilities. One thing you can do in photoshop is merge pictures to produce a panorama. I did this recently of a place in Snowdonia called Cwm Idwal and this is the result.

To view this image properly click on it!

This image consists of 5 pictures that the program stitched together despite issues of perspective and variation in exposure. To do it personally would have taken hours, CS4 did it in seconds!

Cwm Idwal is one of my favourite places in the world and I have gone there nearly every year of my life. Have yet to climb Glyder Fawr, the mountain in the background, need to do it soon my bones tell me.

Statues make good models - tips for good Photography

If you want to practise your composition a good way to do it is to use statues. As models they work cheap, never answer back, can hold a pose forever and are not worrying over hair, make-up and clothing. Actually, the real life models I have worked with have always been extremely professional and apart from already knowing just how to stand and hold themselves, they are also lovely people always prepared to try a new pose.

Anyway, back to statues. Not only will they help you with composition, but they also allow you to work on your exposure control. In fact you can take a variety of shots of a statue playing with your camera's shutter and aperture to learn how they work together to give you the exposure and focus in terms of depth of field you want.

I have always enjoyed statues, impressed with the artistry and skill required to render rough stone into something so beautiful  and lifelike. It is the traditional lifelike statues which I prefer, although I do also appreciate some of the aesthetics of form, and the deep meanings sometimes given to more modern works.