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Here are ten things I wish I knew when starting photography:

By Andrew Childress

From Phototuts

There is a myth that you can only get great outdoor images either very early or very late in the day. The “sweet hour” is best just before the sun goes down or comes up. Those are spectacular times to photograph, but you can still get great images any time of the day. You just have to find that soft light. It’s easy to find, just look for open shade.

Understanding Open ShadeOpen shade is found anywhere a shadow is cast. It’s called Open Shade because of the low contrast and nearly no shadow in the shade. Open Shade will have a bluish cast, so you will have to adjust your camera’s color setting. On the dial it’s usually beside the sun symbol and looks like the side of a building with clouds beside it. This setting will remove the colorcast.

Even at high noon, you can find this light. It could be a sliver of shade under a building’s eves overhang, the shadow of a car, or maybe a solid bank of trees. Just remember that with trees or other foliage you will need to watch out for speckling – this is where the harsh light sneaks through creating a hot spot. Don’t let any of that light fall on your subject. It will “burn” them out in your image.

There is deep shade up close to the source, and edge shade which is just before your subject would step into the harsh light. Always put your subject at the shade’s edge. The light is softest with some direction still. Also, by turning your subject different directions you will find the “sweet” part of the shade. You can spot this by the look of the eyes. You will catch lights–bright hot spots–in the eyes that give it shape.

Controlling The Light: For added control of the lighting, you may want to try bouncing light onto your subject. If you have a reflector –which can be something as simple as a white sweater or sheet–try bouncing light onto your subject to brighten them up.

Here’s a trick for when you are shooting in shade: open your exposure up – this means you slightly over-expose the image, or expose for the shadows. This will give their skin tones a wonderful glow. The image overall will be more delicate and pleasing.You might have to increase your camera’s ISO since open shade is a darker space to photograph in. With this trick you should be able to photograph anyone, at any time of day, and still get amazing images.

From Picture Correct
About the Author:
Mark Laurie is a Master Photographer, international speaker, author and studio mentor. You can find information on his books, photography, and training at http://www.InnerSpiritPhoto.com. He is on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/innerspiritphoto. He teaches extensively in England and Canada. His Revealing Venus Nude & Glamour Photography Workshop is run in Italy. Mark has published 7 books.

Just about everything in or related to recording an image, photographically speaking,  will lead back to the following 6 areas. Understanding these 6 areas will help minimize the confusion in other areas of photography as you become more involved with your craft.

The 6 basic requirements of photography are:

Light - Basically you just cannot have a photo without light in some way, shape or form
Medium -  This is the type of material that the light, or more precisely image, is recorded onto
Aperture - the opening that the light MUST pass through
Time - The amount of time the light is permitted to pass through the hole in order to be recorded
Composition - The subject in your photo and how it is composed
Optics - Different lenses allow you to focus and magnify the light or image for greater variety in recording the image

I will go into greater depth on each of these 6 requirements in future blog posts.

In aperture priority mode you should select a wide enough aperture to shoot handheld if you do not have a tripod or mono pod and then decide if you wan to shoot wide or crop in on a specific area. .

If you decide to shoot wide then using the ruling of 3rds see if their is anything in the scene that you can position along one of those lines or at one the intersecting lines.  Once you have done this and put the subject in one of these areas, see if there are any other features or objects in the foreground that can lead the viewers eye into the frame. 

Depending on whether its a line or object that leads the eye into the frame, the next step will vary. If its a object, The next step you should do is then get as close as you can to the object and position it so that it is the dominant subject in the photo and that is also dominates the top or bottom third of the frame almost to the point where it exaggerates the perspective. On the other hand if its a line, then you will want to position the leading line so that it leads the viewers eye from the bottom corner (s) of the frame toward the subject in the photo or to the horizon.

If you decide to crop the landscape photo, then one of the things you should consider is if there are any repetitive lines or shapes in the scene. For example, hills receding to the horizon or a row of hedges that could possibly form part of your composition.  If there are no obvious shapes or patterns,  then you should see if there are any empty spaces to perhaps make a more abstract photo.. If there aren't any shapes or patterns,then you should probably recompose the shot or look for another vantage point that may offer this.

A headstart in getting the best out of your next Global Photography Tour: Some of these tips you may have already heard of and some may be new to you and might help.. In either case take a look and let us know what you think:

INCLUDE PEOPLE
Sometimes when people shoot what they thought were spectacular scenic images they are often disappointed by the resulting photo. What they eventually realize ( or maybe never do) is that if they had been shooting backgrounds, and with nothing of interest in the foreground, the photos were pretty dull. One suggestion is to wait until someone – anyone – passes in front of your background. A woman walking her dog, a kid on a bicycle, a stray cat – anything at all that was alive will make make the photo more often then not work better.

FACES
Human faces draw viewers into a photograph. Make an effort to capture expressions of the people in your photos. Your photos will look livelier, and they will better convey a sense of the place you are photographing.

Depth of Field and Photography: Simply put, depth-of-field is how much of a photograph is in sharp focus from front to back. Whenever possible you should take control of aperture selection and use either an aperture-priority or manual mode.

One technique that many photographers use to add a ‘wow factor’ to their images is to shoot with a shallow depth of field. In doing so they isolate part of the shot which is nicely in focus while throwing elements in the background (and sometimes the foreground) out of focus and into a lovely blur. 

There are three main factors that can be used to control depth-of-field:

The lens aperture.
There's a simple, direct relationship between aperture and depth-of-field - the smaller the aperture, the more extensive the depth-of-field. So if you want to keep as much as possible sharp, you should set as small an aperture as possible - preferably f/16, or even f/22 if your lens has the capability.

If, however, you want to concentrate the viewers attention on just one part of the scene, and throw the rest out-of-focus, you should select a large aperture. Exactly how large will depend on the maximum aperture of the lens you're using. For example. on a 50mm standard lens it will be f/1.7, f/1.8 or f/2, but on a standard zoom it will typically be f/3.5 or f/4.5.For general picture-taking, when you want most of the picture to be in focus, you might want to set a middling aperture of around f/8 to f/11.


The focal length of the lens.
Attach a wide-angle lens and you'll benefit from extensive depth-of-field, which makes it easy to keep everything in focus. The wider the angle-of-view, the greater the depth-of-field. Choose a telephoto lens and the depth-of-field is immediately more limited. The longer the focal length, the more restricted the zone of sharpness is.


The Camera-to-Subject Distance
For various technical reasons, the closer you get to the subject the more limited the depth becomes. In fact, when shooting close-up subjects it can extend to just a few millimeters in front of and behind the subject.


Four common ways for using depth-of-field

Everything sharp.
With subjects such as landscapes, groups, interiors and travel you'll usually want to keep everything sharp. Using a wide-angle lens set to a small aperture will give you extensive depth-of-field, perhaps from around one meter through to infinity. But there will be times when foreground interest is closer than that. Here you need to resort to a neat little technique called hyperfocal focusing that allows you to increase the depth-of-field.

As a rule-of-thumb, there's twice more depth-of-field behind the subject than in front of it. So if you photograph a distant subject such as a landscape and focus on infinity you waste lots of depth-of-field. By focusing a little closer, you'll extend the depth-of-field at the front so it comes nearer to the camera, while still making sure that infinity falls within the depth-of-field behind the actual point of focus.


Main subject sharp with background completely out-of-focus.

There are some subjects where you want the main subject to stand out strongly from an out-of-focus background. Portraiture, where the emphasis is on the person, rather than the location, is probably the most popular area. What you need here is a use a telephoto lens at its widest aperture. It's also worth moving the subject as far away as possible from the background - in cramped studio situations this is often impossible but outside against a wall or foliage it's usually easier.


Main subject sharp, with background out-of-focus but still recognizable.
Sometimes throwing the background completely out-of-focus is going too far. You want to show the subject in its natural environment, but with the background toned down to it doesn't compete for attention. A person on the beach, for instance, an animal in the zoo, or a flower in a garden. Here a standard to short telephoto lens, somewhere from 50mm to 135mm, is ideal - especially if it's coupled with a middle range aperture of around f/8.

Zone of sharpness deliberately limited.
Occasionally you may want to limit the depth-of-field to a very specific zone. Maybe in a portrait you want just the eyes in focus, and not even the ears or the tip of the nose. Here you may want to check your depth-of-field preview on your camera, This will give a visual indication of what will and won't be in focus by manually stopping down the lens.


Summary
Overall, the practical use of depth-of-field can be summed up as follows: To maximise depth-of-field and have as much sharp as possible use a wide-angle lens, set a small aperture and stand back from your subject. To minimise depth-of-field with only a small zone of the scene sharp use a telephoto lens, set a large aperture, and get closer to your subject.

Bhutan is an ideal place and a frequent haunt for photographers offering immense opportunities for photography . You can photograph almost everywhere in Bhutan. The people are highly photogenic and everyone seems to wear a smile. However, very often the Bhutanese are camera shy so use your discretion at all times and when in doubt ask verbally or by gesture. Also while photographing Dzongs, monasteries and temples, please check with your guide. That said, here are some more specific tips on your next photo tour to Bhutan.

Lens selection. A three lens kit composed of the 17-40mm f/4, 24-105mm f/4, and 70-200mm f/4 zooms on a full frame camera (Canon 5d Mk II) seems to work best. For the vast majority of shooting, these lenses provided adequate coverage. The only time when you may want more length is at the Thimphu Tsechu because it may be difficult at times to get close enough to the dancers.

Appropriate dress and behavior. Bhutanese are generally tolerant if you convey respect and courtesy. If others around you look embarrassed it’s a clue. Your guide will help you. Like most Asian countries, they require modest clothing (eg women’s upper arms are covered); shoes and hats off inside religious places; pointing with upturned hand towards others or religious paintings and objects (not one finger); sitting with the soles of your feet not facing another person when sitting. If you wouldn’t wear it in your church at home or visiting your future in-laws, then maybe it’s not appropriate in a dzong. Bhutanese, for example, must wear their national dress inside dzongs and at other formal occasions.

Photographing people. The best images come from engagement and knowing when to put the camera down.Most Bhutanese (especially children) are very friendly and open to having you take their picture so don’t be afraid to ask. However this is changing especially in the bigger cities and you may get a more typical western response.. If you take time to ‘arrive’ and engage with people before you take their photograph there is rarely an issue. It is not necessary to speak the language if you smile, compliment and laugh together. Then the image will be something more, it will have energy. In a market for example you can ask with a questioning tilt of the camera and if they agree, then work fast as they have work to do. If they say ‘no’, you smile, lower your camera and let your dream photo go.

Know where you can photograph. You can photograph in most Dzongs and Lhakhangs except in the assembly halls or religious temples. You may need to leave your bags outside before entering these areas.

Photographing Tsechus: These are real living cultural events full of meaning to their communities, so be respectful guests. For many people, the highlight of their trip to Bhutan is attending the religious Tsechus which are festivals that can last several days with accompanying dances and music.. In general, the tsechu is very hectic early in the day with photographers jockeying for the best position. In the afternoon, the competition for the best photo spots lessens as many photographers have already gotten their pictures and break for the day. Generally, you can walk around the edge of the courtyard in front of the audience, but try not to block people’s view. Having two bodies really helps (telephoto, mid-range zoom) as sometimes the action moves fast and you won’t have enough time to change lenses. Remember that you can’t wear a hat, so choose your location well.

Here are some ideas for shooting outdoors with a flash and you want your subject to be front lit.

First thing you should consider is if you want the background to be correctly exposed for a balanced shot or slightly underexposed in order to create a more moody and mean feel. If you go with the balanced approach then set your camera to manual mode and put your ISO to 100 and your aperture to f/4 or wider for a shallow depth of field and f8 or narrower for deeper depth of field.

You will then want to set a shutter speed that will ensure the background is well exposed  and then increase the shutter speed by too stops. For example you currently were at a shutter speed of 1/125 you would then need to go to 1/500. If you cannot handhold your camera at this setting because it is not fast enough then increase your ISO until you can.